JOHN WILLIAM PYE 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 TICKNOR AND FIELDS 
 
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T H E 
 
 FRIENDS OF CHRIS' 
 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 BY 
 
 NEHEMIAH ADAMS, D. D., 
 
 FASTOR OF THE ESSEX STREET CHURCH, BOSTON 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 TICKNOR AND FIELDS. 
 
 180 . 5 . 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1863, by 
 
 N. ADAMS, 
 
 In the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the District oi Maesachusctte 
 
 RIVERSIDE, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. 0. HOUGHTON 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Boston, April 26 , 18 - 52 . 
 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : — 
 
 At a meeting of the members of your congregation, we 
 have been appointed a committee to convey to you their earnest request that 
 you will favor them, for publication, with a copy of the series of Sermons on 
 “ The Friends of Christ,’ 7 which you have just closed. 
 
 We perform the duty assigned to us with great pleasure, and take leave to add 
 to the wishes of the congregation our own, that those who heard the discourses 
 may be indulged with an opportunity to peruse, thoughtfully and repeatedly, 
 what they listened to with so much interest; and that those who did not hear 
 them may be enabled to partake of their seasonable and important instructions. 
 
 We are, with sentiments of the highest regard and affection, 
 
 Your friends, 
 
 Rufus Choate, 
 George Rogers, 
 
 A. Wilkinson, 
 
 Geo. W. Thayer, 
 David Pike, 
 
 To Rev. N. Adams, D. D. John Tappan. 
 
 Boston, May 4, 1852. 
 
 To the Committee of the Essex Street Congregation, 
 
 Dear Sirs: The request in your kind letter has induced 
 me to think that the Sermons referred to, which were prepared in the ordinary 
 course of ministerial labor, may be owned by Him whom they were intended to 
 honor, as a means of further good. I therefore submit them to your disposal. 
 
 With great respect and affection, 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 To Messrs. Rufus Choate, 
 George Rogers, 
 A. Wilkinson, 
 Geo. W. Thayer, 
 David Pike, 
 
 John Tappan. 
 
 N. Adams. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/friendsofchristi00adam_1 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 I. THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST,.7 
 
 II, SIMEON, .... .36 
 
 III. JOHN THE BAPTIST,.57 
 
 IV. THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA, . . 82 
 
 V. THE TWELVE APOSTLES,.103 
 
 VI. THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE, .... 128 
 
 VII. THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX, . . 155 
 
 VIII. MARTHA AND MARY,.174 
 
 IX. SIMON THE CYRENIAN,.197 
 
 X. THE PENITENT THIEF,.217 
 
 XI. THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER,.233 
 
 XII. JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA.257 
 
 XIII. THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE.274 
 
 1 * 
 

THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 - 4 - 
 
 NOW WHEN JESUS WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM, IN THE DAYS OF HEROD THB 
 RING, BEHOLD, THERE CAME WISE MEN FROM THE EAST TO JERUSALEM, 
 SAYING, WHERE IS HE THAT IS BORN KING OF THE JEWS P FOR WE HAYE 
 SEEN HIS STAR IN THE EAST, AND ARE COME TO WORSHIP HIM. 
 
 Oyer those mountains and wastes divided by the 
 Tigris and Euphrates, a caravan shaped its way 
 toward Jerusalem. 
 
 Departing from Persia, (according to the most 
 approved opinion,) we see it winding its way over 
 and around the steep, rough places of Kurdistan, 
 penetrating the fertile Assyrian plain, toiling through 
 the parched places of Mesopotamia, and the deserts 
 of Syria. It was a wearisome journey. Ezra, with 
 a large company, and therefore travelling at a slow 
 rate, was four months on his way from Persia to 
 Jerusalem ; so that probably not far from three 
 months were occupied by this caravan in a journey 
 of about fifteen hundred miles. 
 
 (?) 
 
8 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 It was a company of Magi. They were the learned 
 class among the people of the east, employed chiefly 
 with the study of religion, medicine, and astronomy, 
 including the superstitious observance and worship 
 of the heavenly bodies, to which were assigned special 
 influences over the destinies of men. The evening- 
 sky was to these Magi their book of revelation. 
 Each orb and constellation had a certain character 
 and certain influences ascribed to it; and in advising 
 kings, in going forth with them to battle, and in 
 directing the movements of armies, the Magi noted 
 carefully what constellations and planets were in 
 the ascendant. The nearness of one of the planets 
 to the earth at the birth of a royal personage 
 was used to foretell his character, and that of his 
 reign. 
 
 For some time previous to the Saviour’s birth, 
 there was a wide-spread expectation among the na¬ 
 tions, that a king was soon to be born who would 
 rule the whole world. By means of the captivity of 
 the Jews, their expectation of the Messiah, founded 
 on the prophecies of their sacred books, was, of 
 course, widely known; and these prophecies repre¬ 
 sented that Judea would be his birthplace, that he 
 would be a benevolent king, bringing abundance of 
 peace to the wiiole human race, the author of a gold¬ 
 en age, unparalleled blessings from Heaven attending 
 Ills reign, so that he became, long before his birth, 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 9 
 
 according to the prediction of one of the Hebrew 
 prophets, “ the desire of all nations.” 
 
 About the time of the Saviour’s birth, it pleased 
 God to publish the event in far distant Persia, by a 
 method coinciding with the habits of the people in 
 the east. Toward the west, the astrologers saw an 
 unusual meteor; their books of science and their 
 astronomical calculations had made no provision for 
 such a sign, but, as the new king of the Jews was 
 then expected, they hailed that strange orb as the 
 announcement of his birth. We see the forbearance 
 and kindness of God in thus falling in with the 
 superstitions of these idolaters. 
 
 Had this star been one of the regular heavenly 
 bodies, it is plain that no such unusual impression 
 would have been made by it as was made by this new 
 sign in the heavens. The evening star had always 
 been seen in the west without exciting any special 
 attention ; the special brightness of a fixed star, for 
 several nights in succession, would not have roused 
 the Magi in so extraordinary a manner. 
 
 It is well known that the celebrated mathematician, 
 Kepler, regarded the star of the wise men as the 
 result of a conjunction between three heavenly bodies, 
 such as occurred in the year of our Lord 1604, when 
 Tupiter, Saturn, and Mars blended their rays, as he 
 supposed; those planets being, at that time, in the 
 sign of the Fishes, and a heavenly body then shed 
 
10 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 ding forth a strange and wonderful light in that 
 quarter. Kepler calculated the conjunction of these 
 planets as having taken place, with two of them, in 
 the year of Rome 747, and with the three, in 748; in 
 one of which years it is generally agreed that Christ 
 was born. Some, who wish to reduce the number 
 of miracles in the Bible, and the corresponding tax 
 upon their faith, as low as possible, account in this 
 manner for the star which the wise men saw. But 
 even if the star had an orbit among the regular stars, 
 its sudden appearance makes no great demand upon 
 credulity, for He who “maketh peace in his high 
 places ” has, from the beginning, led forth, and has 
 also taken away, heavenly bodies from the eyes of 
 men. 
 
 An illustration of this is the celebrated star, first 
 described by Tycho Brahe, which appeared on an 
 evening of November, 1572, in the sign of Cassio¬ 
 peia. It surpassed, in size and brilliancy, the planet 
 Jupiter, and was visible sometimes at noon, which 
 is never the case with any other planet but Venus. 
 When other heavenly bodies were hidden by clouds, 
 this new and strange orb was frequently seen through 
 them. Its color was, at different times, white, yellow, 
 red, gray, and leaden blue. In sixteen months from 
 its first appearance it passed away, and has never 
 since that time reappeared. This may serve to help 
 the faith of some with regard to the appearance of a 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 11 
 
 new and singular heavenly body at the birth of 
 Christ. But there is the strongest reason to believe 
 that the star which appeared to the wise men was 
 not a fixed, nor a regular planetary, orb.* 
 
 God, who ordained it for a special purpose, dis¬ 
 posed the minds of the Magi to fulfil that purpose, 
 by creating among them an enthusiasm with regard 
 to the wonderful sign in the west. Night after 
 night, perhaps, they watched the stranger, till, at 
 length, all doubt that it heralded a royal birth de¬ 
 parted. It hung in the west toward Judea, the 
 region where they had been expecting that a great 
 king would soon appear; and their long-cherished 
 interest in that event was greatly quickened by the 
 special appointment, as it were, of a messenger which 
 seemed to beckon them. They could not resist the. 
 divine call. No more would they watch the Pleiades, 
 till they had followed after that new star. Arcturus 
 and his sons might, for a season, measure their zone, 
 the crooked Serpent sweep through his orbit, and 
 the sworded Orion lie along the sky, unheeded, as to 
 
 any prophetic signs in their spheres. The Star of 
 
 • 
 
 Jacob was then in the ascendant, and filled the 
 thoughts of the wise men; and so, impelled by an 
 
 * See “ The Star of the Wise Men, being a Commentary on the second 
 Chapter of Matthew, by Richard Chevenix Trench, B. D.to which val¬ 
 uable treatise I am greatly indebted in revising this Sermon for the 
 
 press. 
 
12 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 invisible hand, a company of them commenced a 
 pilgrimage toward Jerusalem. 
 
 Interesting men ! We love you as we follow your 
 caravan in its dreary way along the beaten road or 
 pathless wastes. None ever braved the desert for an 
 object so great as that which excites your zeal. 
 
 The presence of a deputation of Magi from the 
 east, in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is he that is 
 born King of the Jews 1 ” moved the whole city. 
 No doubt the Magi expected to find Jerusalem 
 excited with joy at the birth of the new king. “We 
 have seen his star in the east, and are come to wor¬ 
 ship him; ” to join with you in your joy, and bring 
 you the congratulations of the eastern world. 
 
 Herod the Great was now in the thirty-fifth year 
 •of his reign. The appearance of a successor inde¬ 
 pendently of him, of course, filled him with conster¬ 
 nation ; and whatever disturbed him, especially if it 
 were the prospect of being supplanted, would fill 
 Jerusalem with apprehensions of political disturb¬ 
 ance, inasmuch as the Magi might prove to be the 
 representatives of some combination in behalf of a 
 new civil power. 
 
 So far was Herod from knowing that Christ was 
 born, that he called the Jewish scribes, (for he was 
 an Edomite,) and inquired of them what place their 
 sacred books named as the Messiah’s birthplace. It 
 appears strange, perhaps, that, having ascertained 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 13 
 
 tliis, he did not take secret measures to find and 
 slay the infant, instead of waiting, as he proposed, 
 for the Magi to return. For, though Herod was des¬ 
 perately wicked, all agree that he was a shrewd 
 man, and of no common ability in the management 
 of affairs. His shrewdness and tact are seen in this 
 very transaction. He called the wise men privily, 
 that his interest in the object of their mission might 
 not be generally known. The only inquiry which 
 he made of them was one which indicated no hostile 
 purpose; while, bent as he was on finding and de¬ 
 stroying the infant, he was employing the very best 
 means to effect his object. 
 
 Had he sent forth messengers at once to find and 
 slay the child, he could hardly hope to succeed, with 
 nothing to point out which of the infants then in 
 Bethlehem was the child sought, and with the risk, 
 also, of giving alarm to the friends of the child in 
 season to ensure its safety. Honorable men from 
 the east, seeking the child “ to worship him,” would 
 be far more likely to find him. “Go,” said he, “and 
 search diligently for the young child, and, when ye 
 have found him, bring me word again, that I may 
 come and worship him also.” But this cunning and 
 well-contrived arrangement, hiding a bloody purpose, 
 enabled the wise men to fulfil the object for which 
 God brought them from their far country. 
 
 And now the star which had beckoned them to 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Judea, and which, perhaps, they did not expect to 
 see any more after their entrance into Jerusalem, 
 “ came and stood over the place where the ypung 
 child was.” Words cannot express more intense 
 feelings than the original of the passage which fol¬ 
 lows : “ And when they saw the star, they joyed 
 a great joy very much.” The morning star of their 
 hope had become the evening star of their desire 
 accomplished. That lost guide, in confidence of 
 whose truthful promise they had trod the desert, 
 perhaps in conflict with many doubts, lest, after all, 
 some meteor had only shone to bewilder and deceive 
 them — behold, that kind friend, that faithful light¬ 
 house, shines forth again, and, instead of tracking a 
 way for them into far distant regions, it comes and 
 rests very low, no higher, perhaps, than the smoke 
 which curls from our chimneys, over the place where 
 the young child was. They need not go from street 
 to street, and from house to house, nor tax their 
 patience, nor exercise their faith, any more. It was 
 as though “Immanuel” were emblazoned on the 
 door, or “ King of kings and Lord of lords ” were 
 written on the wall. 
 
 The question whether this star were an orb of 
 heaven, or a special sign created for this purpose, it 
 would seem, must be removed, when we consider its 
 position over the dwelling where the child was. It 
 is plain that one of the regular heavenly bodies 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 15 
 
 could not point to one dwelling more than to 
 another. 
 
 From the three kinds of gifts which they present¬ 
 ed, many have supposed that the number of the 
 Magi was three. The Nestorian church generally 
 taught that it was twelve. Three was the number 
 ascribed to them in the prevailing traditions; names 
 also being given to them, as, among others, Mel¬ 
 chior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. They were held to be 
 kings, representing the grand divisions of men — 
 Melchior being put for Shem, Gaspar for Ham, and 
 Balthazar for Japhet. This explains the Ethiopian 
 complexion given to one of them in the pictures of 
 the “ Adoration.” The passages which are s$ uni¬ 
 formly regarded as being fulfilled by them, “ And the 
 Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the 
 brightness of thy rising,” (Isa. lx. 3,) and “ The kings 
 of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents, the 
 kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts,” (Ps. lxxii. 
 10,) have given rise to the belief that they were 
 kings, and accordingly the Feast of Epiphany was, in 
 the middle ages, most commonly called the Feast of 
 the Three Kings. The literature which has been 
 connected with this brief account by Matthew, of the 
 wise men, is hardly exceeded in variety by that of 
 any other part of the New Testament. Cologne, 
 upon the Rhine, the u City of the Ihree Kings, 
 claims to possess their relics, and has given them a 
 
16 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 splendid shrine.* But it is needless to say that all 
 this lore is probably the fruit of the imagination. 
 If they were only sheiks, or emirs, the word “ kings, 
 in the prophetic passages just quoted, would be 
 proper. Whether the apostle Thomas baptized them, 
 and whether they helped him to evangelize India, and 
 whether they died as martyrs, or what became of 
 them upon their return from Judea, are questions 
 upon which the Bible gives us no information. But 
 the brief, inspired record respecting them is full of 
 interest and instruction. 
 
 I. The coming of the wise men to the infant 
 Jesus was an act of adoration. 
 
 The word rendered “worshipped,” in the passage 
 which speaks of the prostration of the wise men, it 
 is said, does not necessarily imply any thing more 
 than an act of respectful salutation, the same 
 word being used in speaking of acts of courtesy 
 between man and man. 
 
 But as Peter refused to receive the worship ex¬ 
 pressed by this same word, from Cornelius, saying, 
 “ I myself also am a man,” and as the angel said to 
 the evangelist John, who fell down before him, with 
 the same worship, “ See thou do it not; worship 
 God,” we cannot conclude, from the word itself, that 
 
 *' See a most interesting 1 article on the Cathedral at Cologne, in the 
 London Quarterly Review, vol. Ixxviii., 1846. 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 17 
 
 adoration was not intended by the wise men. Let 
 us look, then, at the probabilities of the case. 
 
 Had the wise men regarded the Messiah merely 
 as an earthly king, it would have been a most con¬ 
 temptuous and daring act to have proclaimed in Her¬ 
 od’s dominions, nay, in the metropolis itself, “We 
 have come to worship him.” This would not be 
 an act of “ wise men.” While they called the Mes¬ 
 siah “ King of the Jews,” they must have regarded 
 him as having a kingdom which did not conflict with 
 that of Herod, of a heavenly nature, warranting, as 
 the birth of an heir to no earthly kingdom would 
 warrant, such a journey, and such respect as theirs 
 
 Here let it be considered, that the wise men ma) 
 not have known, to its full extent, the intention of 
 an overruling Providence in their coming to the feet 
 of Christ; nor may they have understood their enthu¬ 
 siasm, with regard to this new-born personage, which 
 brought them so far. Their habits and customs as 
 astrologers made this act natural to them, while they 
 may have been, and we believe that they were, like 
 the prophets, under the excitement of inspiration, 
 who did not fully know the vast import of many of 
 their predictions. 
 
 We cannot believe — indeed, it is too great a tax 
 on our credulity to ask us to believe — that God 
 
 appointed this miraculous star to bring those sages 
 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 from their distant land merely to pay their respects 
 to a remarkable child. There is an air about the 
 narrative which conveys something more to the 
 mind than this. Self-interest did not prompt them. 
 They had no favors to ask or expect of that child ; 
 they would be dead or far away when he should be 
 old enough to ascend a throne; but they laded their 
 camels with gifts for him evidently from a disinter¬ 
 ested desire to pay some homage to him. What, 
 then, w T as the nature of that homage ? 
 
 Let us read this narrative, and learn to read the 
 Bible in the same way, not with the unbeliever’s eyes 
 and heart, but with our own eyes, and our own believ¬ 
 ing hearts. It is one of the pernicious effects of scep¬ 
 tical opinions, that we subject the Bible in our own 
 thoughts, even when we read it for devotional pur¬ 
 poses, to the criticisms made by unbelievers; we are 
 injuriously affected by the doubts and cavils of oth¬ 
 ers. These may help us to examine narrowly the ev¬ 
 idences of our faith, but let them not have the effect 
 upon us, if we can help it, to make our faith timid. 
 As those who honor the Son even as they honor the 
 Father; as those who need not still to be laying the 
 foundations of their faith in the Saviour; as those 
 who have learned to say. to him, My Lord and my 
 God, let us contemplate this coming of the wise men 
 to Christ, and see if there be not every probability 
 
THE WISE MEN EEOM THE EAST. 
 
 19 
 
 of its being intended by the divine Spirit as an act 
 of adoration. 
 
 That young child, then, whom we see in his moth¬ 
 er’s arms, while Persian wise men fall before him on 
 the humble floor, who is he % whom do we believe 
 him to be ? It is he of whom we read, “ In the 
 beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 
 God, and the Word was God.” It is the great 
 66 mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.” 
 It is he who afterward stilled the tempest, opened 
 the eyes of the blind, raised the dead. It is he who 
 came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; 
 “ the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin 
 of the world.” It is he before whom the heav¬ 
 enly hosts were afterward seen prostrate, crying, 
 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive pow¬ 
 er, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
 and glory, and blessing.” That scene between the 
 wise men and the child Jesus is more than a mere 
 act of respect to a remarkable infant. In their 
 imperfect state of knowledge, as was just before ob¬ 
 served, these wise men probably did not know the 
 full extent and meaning of their worship. We, to 
 whom Christ is more fully revealed, can see in that 
 prostration of the wise men an act of religious devo¬ 
 tion intended by the divine Spirit, though the wise 
 men may not fully have comprehended the meaning 
 of their own act. Our souls join with those Gen- 
 
20 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 tiles to worship that babe who was God manifest in 
 the flesh, having then those attributes of Deity which 
 he will have when he comes in his glory and all his 
 holy angels with him, and before him are gathered 
 all nations. 
 
 While many see nothing in the visit of the wise 
 men to Christ but superstition, oriental reverence for 
 royalty, and the zeal of courtly men to find or make 
 occasion for acts of condescending respect, he who 
 sees dwelling in Christ all the fulness of the God¬ 
 head bodily will not ask the lexicographer nor the 
 unregenerate commentator whether the passage im¬ 
 ports real worship. “ When he bringeth in his first 
 begotten into the world, he saith, Let all the angels 
 of God worship him.” He who believes that by the 
 Son all things were created that are in heaven or in 
 earth, visible and invisible, whether they he thrones, 
 or dominions, or principalities, or powers, has no 
 question what worship the angels, his creatures, paid 
 him, when he assumed man’s nature. 
 
 It may truly be said that a large part of the 
 “ comfort of the Scriptures,” as the apostle expresses 
 it, to a pious heart, is derived from comparing spirit¬ 
 ual things with spiritual, from the confirmatory in¬ 
 fluence of the several parts of the Bible in their 
 relation to each other, and from the discovery of 
 probable allusions and intended coincidences, as well 
 as from the more explicit fulfilment of types and 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 21 
 
 prophecies, and truths directly asserted. Over this 
 source of spiritual enjoyment in reading the Bible a 
 sound discretion should, of course, preside. 
 
 Believing, then, that the babe at Bethlehem was 
 Immanuel, God with us, we believe that the visit of 
 the wise men was intended by the divine Spirit to be 
 an act of adoration in honor of the incarnate Word, 
 and also for the comfort and encouragement of all 
 who at that time were waiting for the Messiah. As 
 a choir may sing a piece which some more spiritual 
 and devout hearers will enjoy far more than they, 
 and adopt it as their own offering of praise to God, 
 so this act of the wise men, no doubt, was received 
 and seconded, by many a pious heart in Jerusalem 
 and elsewhere, as a sacrifice to the Saviour. Many a 
 heart that had waited long for the consolation of 
 Israel, would see in the coming of the wise men a 
 strong confirmation of their faith and hope. In 
 that Jerusalem which is said to be “ troubled ” at the 
 arrival of these men from the east, there was a hid¬ 
 den Israel, the Simeons and Annas, who did not share 
 in the consternation of the king and the unbelieving 
 world. God visited this his chosen people in the 
 coming of the wise men, and gave them a glimpse of 
 the way in which the prophetic Psalms and the vis¬ 
 ions of Isaiah and of the minor prophets would be 
 fulfilled. God will not leave his people comfortless 
 who wait for him. Were nothing else effected 
 
22 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 by the visit of the wise men, this warranted their 
 mission, that their coming fulfilled the hopes of the 
 devout men and women who were longing and wait¬ 
 ing for the promised Saviour. 
 
 Nor did the friends and worshippers of Christ at 
 that day alone receive comfort and joy from the act 
 of the wise men. All of every age who love him 
 and espouse his cause, and are praying and waiting 
 for his final triumph in the earth, may see in this 
 adoration by the wise men a prophecy and illustra¬ 
 tion of the future glory of Christ, when he shall be 
 King of nations as he is now King of saints. “ The 
 kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring pres¬ 
 ents : the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 
 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all na¬ 
 tions shall serve him.” Ps. lxxii. 10, 11. This act 
 of the wise men we adopt as ours, the future homage 
 of the nations w T e make our own, and our personal 
 gratitude and thanksgiving take the form of earnest 
 prayer that the Saviour may soon receive the love 
 and adoration of all the earth. The cause of foreign 
 missions rises in majesty and beauty, and affords 
 us ways in which to express, by the consecration of 
 ourselves and our children to Christ, our love and 
 thankfulness, while our full hearts find relief in 
 those assemblies for prayer and praise which have 
 regard to the universal extension of the Redeemer’s 
 conquests in the earth. 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 23 
 
 II. The HISTORY OF THE WISE MEN IS AN INSTANCE 
 OF THE INCREASE AND THE REWARDS OF EARNEST 
 FAITH. 
 
 Though we may need nothing to persuade us 
 of the power of God to fulfil those promises which 
 relate to the conversion of the world, yet when we 
 see the eastern world aroused by a meteor, and turn¬ 
 ing their eyes to the birthplace of Christ, we are fur¬ 
 nished with an illustration of the infinite ease with 
 which God can and will, in the fulness of time, make 
 nation after nation bow to the sceptre of the Re¬ 
 deemer. By some events of Providence, no less inter¬ 
 esting in their kind than the appearance of the star 
 to the Persian sages, and falling in with the habits 
 or circumstances of the different nations as that star 
 coincided -with the thoughts and pursuits of the 
 Magi, revolutions of popular opinion will occur 
 which will fulfil the prediction, A nation shall be 
 born in a day. Happy will those missionaries, and 
 ministers, and Christians be, who, with long patience, 
 shall be found laboring and praying for those 
 days, and shall have their faith rewarded, when, by 
 the great outpouring of his Spirit, the Lord, whom 
 they seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. 
 
 Not merely to the Simeons and Annas of Jerusa¬ 
 lem, nor to those who already love and worship him, 
 but to every soul for whom Christ came to be a 
 Saviour, does this act of the wise men speak encour- 
 
24 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 agement. The object of these discourses is, to pre¬ 
 sent the Saviour as an object of faith, and love, and 
 worship; to excite those feelings which sinners 
 should have to their Saviour; and if any are ashamed 
 of Christ, to show them in what ways some of our 
 fellow-men, from every rank and in every condition, 
 have expressed their love and worship ; and to make 
 it appear that all things are but loss compared with 
 the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our 
 Lord. Perhaps Christ, as a sacrifice for sin, is be¬ 
 yond the present measure of your faith. He is the 
 great mystery of godliness, which, because you can¬ 
 not fathom it, you do not receive; and, as Judge 
 of the living and the dead, perhaps he awakens 
 your fears. 
 
 Begin, then, where the wise men began* supposing 
 your knowledge and your belief to be even as limited 
 as theirs; but, adopting their desire and zeal to 
 know something more of Christ, like them, ‘follow 
 on to know the Lord/ Let us trace the progress of 
 their faith. 
 
 The star shone at a great distance, but in the 
 direction of Judea; and these wise men arose and 
 followed it. But when they had entered on their 
 way, the star, for a large part of the time, if not en¬ 
 tirely, must have disappeared. In the daytime, of 
 course, they could not see it; in stormy and dark 
 nights it was veiled; and thus, through their long 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 25 
 
 and wearisome journey, they must, to a great degree, 
 have walked by faith. 
 
 Not supposing that a king could be born out of 
 the metropolis, they bent their way toward Jerusa¬ 
 lem, inquiring for Christ. Instead of finding the 
 great city moved with joy at his birth, it would seem 
 as though the city had the first information of it 
 from these Persians. The story of the shepherds, 
 perhaps, had been treated with ridicule, and was for¬ 
 gotten ; and the arrival of the Magi, with such an 
 inquiry, only had the effect to trouble the king, and 
 the whole city with him. Nothing daunted by this, 
 nothing chilled in their faith and zeal, they literally 
 followed on to know the Lord, seeking him with all 
 the heart; and, pursuing their way to humble Beth¬ 
 lehem, behold, the star which they saw in the east 
 came and stood over the place where the young 
 child was. 
 
 If we were half as zealous to know the truth 
 respecting Christ, and the way of salvation by him, 
 as these heathen were to find him, all our wishes 
 would be crowned with complete success. We are 
 strongly disposed to hope and to believe that they 
 were not moved to perform such a journey, and such 
 an act of love and worship, to die, after all, without a 
 saving knowledge of the Redeemer. Supposing them 
 to have become acquainted with the gospel, they 
 must have reflected with great satisfaction on the 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 pains they took to find the Saviour, the faith they 
 exercised, their perseverance, and, finally, their not 
 being offended at the lowly condition in which they 
 found him, though their imaginations had, no doubt, 
 presented him to their minds in a manner corre¬ 
 sponding with the sublime sign which had distin¬ 
 guished his birth. If they took with them to their 
 home the sacred books of the Jews; if devout men 
 had been moved, during their brief sojourn in the 
 neighborhood of Jerusalem, to disclose to them such 
 thoughts and feelings, concerning Jesus, as Zacha- 
 rias, and Elizabeth, and Simeon, and others like 
 them entertained; if, along their homeward jour¬ 
 ney, by day and by night, they read, and prayed, and 
 talked concerning the Messiah, and found that they 
 could worship still at the feet of that every where 
 present Saviour, in the desert, and in Persia, as well 
 as in Bethlehem; and if, returning to their people 
 with this song in their hearts and upon their lips, 
 “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, 
 and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 
 the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince 
 of Peace,” they thus became the worshippers of the 
 true God and the Redeemer, what gain must they 
 have felt that their long and dreary journey had 
 brought them ; what caravan ever brought back 
 treasures to be compared with those unsearchable 
 riches of Christ, of which they had become possessed; 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 27 
 
 and wliat must have been their joy as they turned, 
 from worshipping the host of heaven, 6 to serve the 
 living and true God, and to wait for his Son from 
 heaven, even Jesus, which delivered us from the 
 wrath to come.’ 
 
 No distant, silent star beckons us, like them, to 
 seek Christ. We have a more sure word of prophecy 
 — a Bible, in which prophets and apostles conspire 
 to bring us to the Saviour; his history is finished ; 
 we have not only his manger, but his cross, his tomb. 
 Judea, Samaria, Galilee are imprinted with his 
 familiar footsteps; his resurrection and ascension, 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost, the testimony and blood 
 of martyrs, the conversion of souls already without 
 number, all perform that office for us which that 
 solitary star rendered to these wise men. But faith 
 is not in proportion to the amount of evidence. 
 ‘ Brophets teach the Jews in vain; a silent star 
 beckons the Gentiles; they arise and follow.’ Still, 
 the same promise assures us of success, if we follow 
 after the small portion of light which our unbeliev¬ 
 ing eyes take in; still, he that seeketh findeth, if he 
 seeks, like these wise men, with all the heart. 
 
 These wise men will, hereafter, condemn those 
 nations who, on the first news of Christ, and salva¬ 
 tion by him, should have received the gospel, but still 
 reject it. The Queen of Sheba, it seems, is summoned 
 as a witness, at the last judgment, against the men of 
 
28 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the Saviour’s time; for she came from the utmost 
 parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, 
 
 while a greater than Solomon was with the unbe- 
 
 / 
 
 lieving men of that age. So if we, with all our 
 knowledge of Christ, should fail to believe on him, 
 the sight of that company of wise men from the east, 
 appearing, in the last judgment, before the Saviour, 
 to be openly acknowledged by him, as a consequence 
 of their faith and zeal, would powerfully condemn 
 our indolence and unbelief, and leave us without 
 excuse. Could we then return to earth, no pilgrim¬ 
 ages, sufferings, zeal, and love would seem too much 
 for so great an object as a personal interest in the 
 work of redemption. Yet this is offered to us every 
 Sabbath, and as often as we open the Scriptures. 
 With the example of the wise men before us, and all 
 that serves to illustrate and enforce the privilege and 
 duty of believing on Christ, with every opportunity 
 to obtain all that others have been obliged to pur¬ 
 chase at vast expense, let us be sure that we be not 
 thrust down from such exalted privileges to a deeper 
 hell. It is not enough to commend religion by 
 approving its doctrines and its influence. “ He that 
 believeth not is condemned already, because he hath 
 not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son 
 of God.” 
 
 If those wise men are now among the redeemed, 
 having washed their robes and made them white in 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 29 
 
 the blood of the Lamb, what thoughts and feelings 
 they must have, as they recollect the star in its first 
 appearance to them; the difficulties which they over¬ 
 came in following after it; the joy they felt when it 
 reappeared, and gave a divine seal of approbation to 
 their effort; their first sight of the infant Jesus; the 
 impressions made upon them when, in this young 
 mysterious potentate, as they believed him to be, they 
 found the King of kings and Lord of lords ! As 
 they cast their crowns at his feet, they remember the 
 gold, and frankincense, and myrrh which they once 
 brought so far and laid there; they adore the sover¬ 
 eign love which selected them in their idolatrous 
 land, and brought them to worship at those feet, and 
 now rewards their gifts and their zeal, which were 
 themselves the work of divine grace, with heavenly 
 blessings. Among the happy spirits in heaven, these 
 wise men must have no common joy in thinking of the 
 method by which they were brought to the knowledge 
 of Christ, and their salvation was secured. Who, of 
 all the armies of heaven, fall at the feet of Christ with 
 more affecting recollections, or with greater reason 
 for gratitude and praise? Of the innumerable 
 friends of Christ in heaven, who more suitably lead 
 the Gentile church than those who were the first 
 fruits of his advent, the trophies of victories won by 
 him while yet in his manger at Bethlehem ? And 
 yet every r one of us who shall be saved will be an 
 
 3 * 
 
30 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 instance and illustration of sovereign mercy; and 
 in proportion to the strength of our faith and love 
 shall we be happy in the recollections of earth, in 
 the society of just men made perfect, and be quali¬ 
 fied for future employment in the service of God. 
 
 We read no more of these wise men but that they 
 returned to their own country. They carried with 
 them, of course, the news of the Saviour, and no 
 doubt were instrumental in advancing the new reli¬ 
 gion in the east. Were we allowed to indulge our 
 
 fancy, as the Christian writers of the middle ages 
 have done, and embellish the history of these wise 
 men with imaginary incidents, we might do it, per¬ 
 haps, after this manner. Persia, we would say, has 
 not yet ceased to feel the benefit, indirectly, of their 
 early homage at the feet of the infant Saviour. We 
 cannot fail to remember, in connection with these 
 Magi, that to their fellow-countrymen, the Nestorians 
 of Persia, we are now sending the means of reestab¬ 
 lishing among them a pure Christianity. That people 
 are remarkable from early times for their substantial 
 orthodoxy. Nestorius was excommunicated by the 
 Papal church for denying that Mary was the mother 
 of God, and refusing to worship her; and it is inter¬ 
 esting to notice here that the wise men paid no hom¬ 
 age to Mary. A peculiar tone of piety character¬ 
 izes the Nestorian converts, and it may be that 
 they are blessed, and that great blessings are yet in 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 31 
 
 reserve for them, in consequence of the zealous efforts 
 of the Magi to find Christ. For God is a rewarder 
 of them that diligently seek him, and he remembers 
 mercy to a thousand generations.* 
 
 # Extract from the memoir of Mrs. Judith S. Grant, late missionary 
 to Persia, pp. 176-178: — 
 
 “The place of her sepulture is within the outer enclosure or court of 
 a Christian church, where, for many centuries, the lamp of truth, if not 
 of vital piety, has been kept burning, though with a dim and flickering 
 light. It is the Church of Mary, the mother of Jesus ; and you may be 
 interested to learn the tradition of the Nestorians regarding its history. 
 They are confident of the truth of the general belief that Oroomiah was 
 the residence of the renowned Zoroaster, the reformer of that primitive 
 system of idolatry which found a God in the sun, moon, and stars, and 
 the unextinguished fires on their holy altars. Zoroaster, say the Nesto 
 rians, was a disciple of Jeremiah, and having learned from him the prom¬ 
 ised advent of the Messiah, he taught it to his followers, assuring them 
 that, directed by his star, they would be the first to pay him reverence. 
 
 As their tradition is remarkably corroborated by Abulpharagius, I will 
 quote his language : “ Zeradusht (Zoroaster,) the preceptor of the Magi, 
 taught the Persians concerning the manifestations of Christ, and ordered 
 them to bring gifts to him in token of their reverence and submission. 
 He declared that in the latter days a pure virgin should conceive, and 
 that as soon as the child was born a star would appear, blazing, even at 
 noonday, with undiminished lustre. ‘ You, my sons,’ exclaimed the ven ¬ 
 erable seer, 4 will perceive its rising before any other nation. As soon, 
 therefore, as you shall see the star, follow it whithersoever it shall lead 
 you, and adore the mysterious child — offering your gifts to him with 
 the profoundest humility. He is the Almighty Word, which created 
 the heavens.’ 4 It came to pass,’ say the Nestorians, 4 as Zoroaster 
 predicted. The Magi (“wise men”) of Persia were the first to discover 
 the promised star ; and, in obedience to their prophet, they hastened to 
 pay their devotions to the new-born King. They took with them gold 
 as a suitable present, if he were an earthly king; but as they had been 
 apprised of his celestial character, they also brought frankincense and 
 myrrh, which they were accustomed to burn as a perfume in their reli¬ 
 gious adoration.’ On their return to the native abode of their prophet at 
 Oroomiah, they brought with them some of the swaddling clothes of the 
 incarnate Divinity, which were subsequently used as a sacred relic in 
 consecrating the first Christian church of this land, which they named 
 in honor of the blessed mother Mary, (Nana Mariam.)” 
 
32 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 We have named the Wise men from the East, 
 4 Friends of Christ,’ and have given them a prominent 
 place among that honorable number whom we are to 
 consider in these discourses under that name. It is 
 encouraging to notice how little of true faith in 
 Christ, and what imperfect knowledge of him, they 
 probably had when they came to his feet. And yet 
 what consequences have flowed to them in their use¬ 
 fulness, during their lives, in directing the attention 
 of others to Christ, in comforting the mourning peo¬ 
 ple of God, in giving an example of zeal and faith 
 to those who have more knowledge of Christ than 
 they. This teaches us that with whatever motive we 
 seek" Christ, or however imperfect and deficient our 
 knowledge of him, we cannot seek in vain, nor will 
 our sincere efforts to know him better fail to be re¬ 
 warded. “ A bruised reed he will not break; and 
 smoking flax he will not quench.” 
 
 It deserves a passing notice, in conclusion, that 
 
 III. The adoration of the Magi affords a 
 
 REMARKABLE ILLUSTRATION OF OUR SAVIOUR’S HU¬ 
 MILITY AND MEEKNESS. 
 
 We cannot suppose that the knowledge of this 
 adoration was withheld from him when he came to 
 years of understanding. What effect might we sup¬ 
 pose it would have had on any one of us, had he 
 been told that, when he was an infant, learned men 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 33 
 
 came in a company and did him reverence; that 
 wise men from the continent of Europe made a pil¬ 
 grimage to his feet ? But the Saviour was subject to 
 his parents, and worked at his trade as a carpenter. 
 When he began his public ministry, and selected his 
 first apostles, did he choose Magi for his ministers \ 
 No, but Andrew, and Peter, and Philip, and Barthol¬ 
 omew, and the sons of Zebedee. With what truth¬ 
 fulness and beauty, then, does that gracious invita¬ 
 tion to each of us proceed from his lips: “ Come 
 unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, mid 
 I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
 learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and 
 ye shall find rest to your souls.” There is only one 
 instance in the New Testament in which the Man of 
 Sorrows is said to have rejoiced; and this was in 
 connection with the truth that God had hid the 
 things of his kingdom from the “ wise and prudent,” 
 and had u revealed them unto babes.” It gratified 
 the benevolence of Christ to think that the humble, 
 unlettered poor of our race were specially the ob¬ 
 jects of divine compassion, while those who were 
 wise in their own conceit, in consequence of their 
 human learning or gifts, were passed by. When 
 the Saviour, who had had the wise men of the east 
 at his feet, stretches forth his hand, and says, 
 Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of 
 God, he excites the confidence and joy of every one* 
 
34 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 whom lie honors with being* his ambassador, and 
 he should draw all men unto him. 
 
 The title, 4 Friends of Christ,’ naturally leads to the 
 inquiry, Am I a friend of Christ? Perhaps every 
 one will readily answer, Yes. Mention some proof 
 of it. Take time, and see if you are a friend of 
 Christ by any such proof as commonly evinces 
 friendship. How much do you pray to Christ? what 
 communion have you with him ? how often do you 
 repeat with yourself his precious name? on whom of 
 his disciples have you ever bestowed a gift, a kind 
 word or look, for the reason, and for that reason 
 only, that you believed him to be a friend of Christ ? 
 what have you ever done for that cause which is all 
 in this world that Christ holds dear ? 
 
 It is a truth to which everv minister of Christ 
 testifies from personal experience, that every thing 
 which man can do to influence his fellow-men is 
 easier than to make them love Him who is 44 the chief- 
 est among ten thousand,” and 44 altogether lovely.” 
 Amid unsuccessful efforts for this object, saying, 
 Who hath believed our report? and mourning that 
 w r e can persuade so few to love and honor the Sa¬ 
 viour, it is always refreshing and encouraging to 
 look into the New Testament and contemplate the 
 instances of love to Christ as there recorded. It 
 reassures us of the Saviour’s infinite excellence; it 
 "shows us how the human heart has responded to his 
 
THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST. 
 
 35 
 
 claims upon its love and homage, while the prophe¬ 
 cies and promises of the Bible come to our aid, show¬ 
 ing that He, whom, haying not seen, we love, shall 
 yet be loved and adored on earth and in every land, 
 and by myriads of our race in heaven. 
 
 This series of discourses on the Friends of Christ 
 in the New Testament, is begun, therefore, with the 
 view and in the hope of assisting every one, by 
 example, to love and honor the Saviour of the world, 
 to become his friend, and to secure the friendship of 
 Him whose loving kindness is better than life. You 
 will find the question constantly recurring, Are you 
 a friend of Christ l The answer to this question will, 
 at the great harvest of the earth, determine whether 
 the reaping angels shall place us with the wheat or 
 with the tares. The Judge himself will assign, as the 
 reason for the sentence which he will pronounce upon 
 us, the evidence which our present lives afforded 
 whether we were, or were not, his friends. 
 
II. 
 
 SIMEON. 
 
 AND BEHOLD, THERE WAS A MAN IN JERUSALEM, WHOSE NAME WAS SIMEON; 
 AND THE SAME MAN WAS JUST AND DEVOUT, WAITING FOR THE CONSOLATION 
 OF ISRAEL ; AND THE HOLY GHOST WAS UPON HIM. AND IT WAS REVEALED 
 UNTO HIM BY THE HOLY GHOST THAT HE SHOULD NOT SEE DEATH BEFORE 
 HE HAD SEEN THE LORD’S CHRIST. 
 
 Though the world that was made by Him knew 
 Him not, there were those who, by the Spirit of God, 
 were moved to honor and welcome the Redeemer, at 
 his entrance upon earth. 
 
 One of the first that we read of was an aged man, 
 distinguished for the uprightness and piety of his 
 life, by the name of Simeon. It is nowhere asserted 
 that he was an old man, but when we find that a 
 passage of Scripture, and especially a narrative, has 
 made a certain impression, we should be slow to call 
 it in question; for we may suppose that the Bible 
 has had, among its millions of readers, minds as 
 shrewd and critical as any at the present day. 
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 37 
 
 Though the old age of Simeon is nowhere assert¬ 
 ed, it may be easily inferred from the brief account of 
 him before us. It was revealed to him by the Holy 
 Ghost that he should not see death till he had seen 
 the Lord’s Christ. This makes the impression that, 
 in the course of nature, he had reason to be expect¬ 
 ing death, and that a special exemption from it had 
 been assured to him until he should see Christ; so 
 that, when he saw him, he regarded it as the sign 
 of his speedy departure from the world, which he 
 would not have done had there not been reason, in 
 his condition, to feel that his continuance in life was 
 not long to be expected. 
 
 We may, therefore, regard him as an old man, 
 and full of days, with those infirmities and sorrows 
 which are peculiar to advanced years ; and yet, in 
 the midst of them, there was an earnest hope and 
 expectation to see that promised Lord, and this 
 desire was like a staff to him while he daily waited 
 for the tidings of the Saviour’s birth, which his 
 own great age, and the near approach of death, in 
 the natural order of things, convinced him could not 
 be far off. 
 
 He was “ a just man,” of blameless life, “ a devout 
 man,” living under the influence of religious contem¬ 
 plations, and performing his duties to God, in public 
 and private, with sincerity and in an exemplary 
 
 manner. 
 
38 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 He “ waited for the consolation of Israel.” The 
 prophets had spoken of the Saviour’s birth as an 
 event that would bring great consolation with it to 
 the hearts of all who loved God. Thus Isaiah, pre¬ 
 dicting the coming Messiah, said, “ Comfort ye, com¬ 
 fort ye my people, saith your God.” “ Sing, O 
 heavens, and be joyful, O earth, for the Lord hath 
 comforted his people.” “ As one whom his mother 
 comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be 
 comforted in Jerusalem.” Jeremiah, the weeping 
 prophet, had spoken in the same manner, and Zecha- 
 riah, so near to the time of Christ, had said, “ For 
 the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose 
 Jerusalem.” The modern Jews speak of the days of 
 the Messiah, whom they still expect, as the days of 
 consolation, and a form of oath among them is this: 
 “ I swear by my desire of seeing the consolation.” 
 When we call to mind how kings and prophets had 
 desired to see the times of Christ, hut died without 
 the sight, how the glowing rhapsodies of Isaiah, and 
 the revelations made to Daniel, with regard to Mes¬ 
 siah’s kingdom, had excited the national mind, while 
 those who had correct spiritual views of the Redeem¬ 
 er had associated him with the forgiveness of sins, 
 through faith in the blood which was to abolish the 
 ceremonial law, and speak that peace to the guilty 
 conscience which types and forms could do only by 
 a borrowed power, we can easily suppose that the 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 39 
 
 desire to see Christ was a most intense desire, com¬ 
 bining all the patriotic feeling, and the love of liber¬ 
 ty, and the hope of deliverance from the Homan 
 power; and also in some, like Simeon, the more 
 spiritual expectation of coming nearer to God than 
 by the help of altars and slain beasts; as the prophet 
 had said: “ But he is wounded for our transgressions, 
 he is bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of 
 our peace is upon him, and with his stripes we are 
 healed.” To see that which Abraham, their great 
 ancestor, desired to see, and of which, by faith, he 
 had a distinct idea presented to his mind, and was 
 glad ; to see him whom great Aaron typified, but 
 before whom Aaron must resign his mitre and his 
 breastplate ; to look on him that was greater than 
 Moses, bringing grace and truth instead of a broken 
 and fiery law; to see him who was David’s Lord, and 
 yet David’s son, — this expectation surpassed all that 
 we can imagine, and, as the time drew near, the 
 desire must have risen to intensity. 
 
 This aged Simeon feared that he should close his 
 eyes in death before that day should dawn and that 
 daystar arise in his heart. How we sometimes long 
 to live that we may behold certain things which, if 
 we are in heaven, we shall enjoy as fully, and, 
 indeed, more perfectly, than here. And yet we feel 
 that to see those things in our day, among the living, 
 to share in the joy of others in beholding the fulfil 
 
40 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 mcnt of a promise or hope, will comfort our last 
 hours, gently break our hold on life, and make us 
 more willing to die. God had graciously conde¬ 
 scended to grant the desires of Simeon in this partic¬ 
 ular, and the time drew near. 
 
 One day he “ came by the Spirit into the temple,” 
 moved by a divine impulse to repair to the house 
 of God, no doubt to perform his devotions. God had 
 ordered it that, at that moment, the parents of Jesus 
 should bring him in for the rite of presentation. 
 There the disclosure was made to this aged man that 
 his desire was fulfilled: c The Lord whom ye seek ’ 
 has c suddenly come to his temple; even the messen¬ 
 ger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold, he is 
 come, saith the Lord of hosts.’ 
 
 No doubt some divine communicatioh was made to 
 the mind of Simeon at that time; for we are told that 
 the Holy Ghost was upon him, so that he was in¬ 
 spired to know who the child was, and to utter the 
 predictions which followed. “ Then took he him up 
 in his arms, and blessed God.” 
 
 See now the heart of the old man, long buffeting 
 with infirmity and the signs of approaching disso¬ 
 lution. He speaks, first of all, concerning the laying 
 down of the load of life, with that desire gratified 
 which alone had made life tolerable. “ Lord,” he 
 says, “ now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 
 according to thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy 
 
SIM E O X. 
 
 41 
 
 salvation.” Come, death, so long waiting for me ; I 
 have nothing more to live for ; my hopes and washes 
 are fulfilled, for I have seen the Lord’s Christ. I 
 leave the world with the Messiah born into it. My 
 people, my kindred, ye Gentile nations, your Saviour 
 has come. Farewell. 
 
 The act of the venerable old man in the temple, 
 evidently under the influence of a prophetic spirit, 
 must, of course, have astonished the parents of 
 Christ. “ And Joseph and his mother marvelled 
 at those things which were spoken of him.” Mine 
 eyes, he said, have seen thy salvation, which thou 
 hast prepared before the face of all people; a light 
 to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 
 Israel. To the simple, humble parents of the child, 
 these solemn words, and, no doubt, the most impres¬ 
 sive and affecting appearance of the old man, holding 
 the child in his arms, and pouring out utterances of 
 prophetic ecstasy, were more than they could com¬ 
 prehend, notwithstanding the wonders attending his 
 conception and birth. But, to their marvel, the holy 
 seer replied with other words no less surprising. 
 “ And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his 
 mother,” (how much nature there is in speaking to 
 the mother about the child, rather than to the 
 father,) u Behold, this child is set for the fall and 
 rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that 
 shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce 
 
 4 * 
 
42 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 through thine own soul also;) that the thoughts of 
 many hearts may be revealed.” 
 
 The brief history of this aged worshipper of the 
 child Jesus, as well as his words of significant 
 import, furnish much instruction. The object of 
 these discourses, as already stated, is to illustrate the 
 faith and love of which Christ has been the object, 
 and thereby to encourage and quicken our faith and 
 love, and, if need be, to remove the coldness of our 
 affections. 
 
 I. Simeon is an example to us of faith in 
 Christ, and of strong affection towards him. 
 
 Is this the promised Messiah, this babe in the 
 arms of a poor woman of Bethlehem, her husband 
 bearing in his basket “ a pair of turtle doves or two 
 young pigeons,” unable to bring the usual offering 
 of a lamb, but availing himself of the alternative 
 offering prescribed for the poor'? What a sight is 
 this ! What an entrance into the world, if this be 
 the Messiah! Does this meet and fulfil Isaiah’s 
 vision, “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a 
 son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
 Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 
 the Prince of Peace ” ? Is this “ the desire of 
 nations,” “ the Lord whom ye seek,” “ even the mes¬ 
 senger of the- covenant ”'? Is this ^ the King of the 
 Jews,” this “the man that is my fellow, saith the 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 43 
 
 Lord of hosts ” % What faith Simeon must have 
 had, to believe the simple word of God in the face of 
 all the disparaging and contradictory circumstances 
 of that child. 
 
 But perhaps we are tempted to say, No wonder 
 that he believed, notwithstanding all these unfa¬ 
 vorable circumstances; for he was moved by the 
 Holy Ghost, and so was led, by a secret impulse 
 upon his mind, to feel that that child was the 
 Messiah. 
 
 And is it so easy to believe under strong impres¬ 
 sions, when every thing that is circumstantial dis¬ 
 courages faith'? How is it with US'? We have 
 a persuasion that certain doctrines are taught in 
 Scripture, but there is opposition to them. Some 
 treat them with scorn, and, what is worse, we cannot 
 explain the mysteries in them, and must confess that 
 they are above reason. Ho we still embrace the 
 truth, as Simeon did the child Jesus, and say, Mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation \ 
 
 We have a strong persuasion, confirmed by obser¬ 
 vation, that we ought, without delay, to make our 
 peace with God. By impressions upon our minds, as 
 strong as can be made consistently with our freedom, 
 the Holy Ghost says, 44 To-day, after so long a time, 
 if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” 
 But our companions entice us, the world charms us, 
 pleasure sings with enchanting voice, alluring us to 
 
44 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 fancied future joys, which we feel we must obtain 
 before we give our hearts to God, and procrastina¬ 
 tion promises a future time for repentance; and so 
 we pass, heedless, by opening graves and alarming 
 providences, and stop our ears against conscience 
 and the Bible, and put our souls in jeopardy for that 
 endless duration after death. Is it easy to obey 
 strong impulses made upon our feelings \ Are these 
 admonitions of the Holy Ghost never resisted % Is 
 faith the most natural and obvious thing with these 
 hearts of ours ] Let us be reproved and rebuked by 
 this example of the aged saint in the temple. I say, 
 this aged saint. For the days of credulity with him 
 had passed away. Old people are slow to believe 
 new things. They shake their heads at the sanguine 
 hopes and the ready acquiescence of the young in 
 promising enterprises and pretended recent discov¬ 
 eries. The frosts of many winters had extinguished 
 the natural ardors of this old man, and, for him, the 
 sun and the light, and the moon and the stars, were 
 darkened, and the clouds returned after the rain. Fie 
 was afraid of that which is high, and fears were 
 in his way, and the almond tree flourished, and 
 desire failed, for it was time that he should go to 
 his long home, and for the mourners to go about the 
 streets. 
 
 We must agree, then, that, in his circumstances, 
 his faith was a great triumph over unfavorable 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 45 
 
 appearances ; indeed, there could not possibly be less 
 to encourage faith than at the moment when he took 
 that child to his arms. Had he the heart of Naaman 
 the Syrian, who went away in a rage from the 
 prophet’s door, because he was told to go and wash 
 in Jordan, instead of receiving a cure from the 
 prophet with ceremonious application of his hand 
 to the leprosy, Simeon might have turned away 
 offended, saying, Is this root out of dry ground, my 
 Saviour ? Where did he find in that humble scene 
 any thing to gratify his fancy, any thing answering 
 to those pictures with which imagination, perhaps, 
 had filled his mind, while expecting the Lord’s 
 Christ 1 And have I waited for this f is this what 
 Abraham desired to seel is this David’s Lord and 
 David’s son % is this the burden of Isaiah 1 There is 
 no beauty in him that I should desire him. It must 
 have been the purest and the strongest faith that 
 made that aged saint feel and act as he did. Love 
 mingled with it, and made his faith perfect; and so, 
 faith, working by love, purified his heart from all 
 those worldly, pompous, and merely Jewish feelings 
 which would have made him despise the infant Mes¬ 
 siah. Perhaps he subjected himself to the wonder, 
 if not to the scoffs, of bystanders, taking a young 
 child out of the arms of his mother, a stranger to 
 him, and uttering such words of worship, such unin¬ 
 telligible words— “ Mine eyes have seen thy salva- 
 
46 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 tion; ” 44 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the 
 glory of thy people Israel.” Blessed saint, we need, 
 and would emulate, thy faith and love. To the world 
 around us Christ yet has no form nor comeliness, 
 and when they see him there is no beauty in him 
 that they should desire him. He is despised and 
 rejected of men. He requires a cross daily of each 
 of his followers. He bids them lay aside resentments, 
 and lusts, and covetousness, which is idolatry, and 
 all worldliness, and to be heavenly minded, and to 
 learn of him who is meek and lowly in heart, that 
 they may find rest unto their souls. Our hearts are 
 slow to take all this to our arms and to our bosoms. 
 We need Simeon’s faith and Simeon’s love to make 
 us embrace Jesus Christ, with his soul-humbling 
 doctrines and precepts, as he is offered to us in the 
 gospel, and, regardless of the frowns and favors of 
 men, say, Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. We 
 need to be absorbed more in promoting the cause of 
 that Saviour whom Simeon declared to be 44 a light 
 to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of the people 
 of Israel.” What zeal that good man would have 
 had for the conversion of the world, had he lived 
 in our day. He would have had no rest till every 
 fellow-creature had, by faith and love, seen and 
 embraced the Lord’s Christ. 
 
 We will make use of Simeon’s words to the 
 mother of our Lord for further instruction. We 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 47 
 
 may derive this admonition from the scene before us 
 in the temple: 
 
 II. If we dedicate our children to God, we 
 
 MUST BE PREPARED TO HAVE THEM SUFFER GREAT 
 THINGS FOR THE SALVATION OF MEN. 
 
 All Christian parents dedicate their children to 
 God. The forms in which they do it vary, but the 
 consecration of children to the service of God is one 
 of the most natural, as it is a solemn and affecting, 
 duty, and is felt to be a great privilege by pious 
 parents, whether it he attended with a public offer¬ 
 ing of the children in a religious assembly, or not. 
 When we consecrate our children to God, we must 
 reckon upon great sacrifices and trials, if God will, 
 in their history. 
 
 The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, and said, 
 “ flail, thou that art highly favored among women ; 
 the Lord is with thee.” Mary afterward exclaimed, 
 in the joy and fulness of her heart, “ Henceforth all 
 generations shall call me blessed.” Her child grew 
 in stature, and in favor with God and man, and, 
 at length, entered upon his public ministry. Her 
 thoughts and feelings, as a mother, as she heard 
 of his mighty works, his opening the eyes and the 
 ears, and loosing the tongue, and feeding the mul¬ 
 titudes, and walking on the sea, and raising the dead, 
 and casting out devils, and healing the sick, can 
 
48 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 better be imagined than described. These feelings, 
 however, were mixed with other feelings, as she 
 perceived how the chief priests and rulers of the 
 people conspired against him to take his life. 
 
 Can we suppose that there never were any of 
 those interviews between them, which a good son, 
 though grown to manhood, loves to have with the 
 mother that bare him % Did he never retreat from 
 the world to her humble dwelling, and tell her of 
 his joys and sorrows; the mighty work which God 
 had given him to do; the toil and pain which 
 marked his daily life; the thronging multitudes and 
 the insidious Pharisee ; the love and joy of the Mag¬ 
 dalene, and Bartimeus, and the envy and subtle crafti¬ 
 ness of the sanhedrim ] How did she feel, as she 
 looked upon the marks which care and toil had made 
 upon that child of hers, the object of such wonder in 
 her secret meditations, — for such marks his life 
 of sorrow had made, — “ his visage was so marred 
 more than any man’s, and his form more than 
 the sons of men.” What did that mother want, when 
 she stood without, with his brethren, desiring to 
 speak with him % She saw that things were coming 
 to a crisis with him ; her heart was burdened, on his 
 behalf, with a heavy load; all the mother’s soli¬ 
 citude, and conscious right to interfere, made her 
 eager to withdraw him from destruction ; but her 
 grief swelled like a mountain torrent when she 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 49 
 
 heard that he was betrayed ; and where was she, and 
 what were her thoughts and feelings, when the 
 scenes of his mock trial passed on, and he was finally 
 condemned to be crucified ? and what sword was 
 that which passed through her own soul also, as she, 
 with the omnipotent energy of a mother’s love, stood 
 by and saw him take his place between two thieves, 
 to expire on the accursed tree, as a public male¬ 
 factor? For we read in John, “ Now there stood 
 by the cross of Jesus his mother,”— Enough —no 
 matter who else were there — his mother! O God, 
 our heavenly Father, to what baptisms of sufferings 
 we are called in this world, and how wonderful is 
 that grace which sustains poor creatures like us, 
 under loads which would crush angels, without thine 
 everlasting arm. His mother saw him die — his 
 widowed mother, as we must conclude she was, for 
 the beloved disciple took her, thenceforth, to his 
 own home. “ Hail, thou that art highly favored 
 among women,” some one at the cross, instigated by 
 the power of darkness, may have whispered, mock¬ 
 ing, through her, as she stood by her expiring son, 
 the pretensions of Jesus, and, with him, the fab¬ 
 ulous story of his pretended miraculous birth, in the 
 circulation of which she, of course, was implicated. 
 How is it now with thee, O woman ? from hence¬ 
 forth shall all generations call thee blessed? O, sad 
 reward of faith and hope ! We will not wonder to 
 
 o 
 
50 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 hear thee echo thy Son’s dying cry, My God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me ? But, it was for 
 this, though she knew it not, that, in his infancy, she 
 dedicated him to God. 
 
 Could you foresee that God would make that little 
 child of yours an instrument of great good, by means 
 of suffering and a dreadful death, would you shrink 
 to consecrate it, by prayer and vows, to God ? Dear 
 Christian parents, what an honor it is to have chil¬ 
 dren whom God shall count worthy to suffer for his 
 name’s sake. Indifferent servants of God are not 
 selected for this high honor; they are not “ counted 
 worthy to suffer; ” but God seeks those who, by 
 nature and grace, (both his gift,) are capable of great 
 endurance, superior to the frowns and flatteries of 
 the world, willing to be cast out and trodden under 
 foot by feet that have also trodden under foot the 
 Son of God, ready to suffer the loss of all things, 
 able to bear martyrdom, and to endure unto the end. 
 When we consecrate our children to God, let us fancy 
 that we hear him say to us, Are ye able that the child 
 shall drink of the cup that I drank of, and be bap¬ 
 tized with the baptism wherewith I was baptized? 
 Let us say, By thy grace, Lord, we are able. We ask 
 not for them length of days, nor riches, nor favor, 
 nor pleasure, nor to sit on thy right hand and on thy 
 left in thy kingdom, but, that thou wilt qualify them, 
 and employ them, to serve thee, wherever, and in 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 51 
 
 whatever way thou shalt appoint. Then, should we 
 hear even that they are devoured by cannibals whom 
 they go to save, we shall say, Had I now a hundred 
 children, I would give them all to Christ, if he 
 would employ them. The reward is great in heav¬ 
 en ; and not only so, but in this world, also, a 
 44 hundred fold.” 
 
 It was so with the mother of Jesus. Weeping 
 endured for a night, but joy came in the morning. 
 
 What were her feelings when they told her, Thy 
 son liveth ! when she looked into the deserted sepul¬ 
 chre; when Jesus met her; when she stood with 
 him in Olivet, 4 all power given unto ’ him 4 in heaven 
 and on earth,’ and saw him ascend to his throne in 
 heaven. 44 Hail, thou that art highly favored among 
 women; all generations shall call thee blessed.” If 
 she wished for consolation, and were capable of 
 pride, what must her feelings be at the worship paid 
 her by the millions of the Papal and Greek churches, 
 by kings and nobles, and by the imaginative young 
 devotees of nunneries, who make her their patron 
 saint; — 44 our lady,” 44 ora pro nobis,” 44 miserere,” and 
 all that incense of worship — what reward has she in 
 this, if that could be reward, for all she snfiered ? 
 Without question, however, it is a sword that is 
 fitted to pierce her more than the nails and spear 
 of her Son’s cross, to hear herself worshipped ; every 
 44 ora pro nobis,” every bended knee, every votive 
 
52 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 offering made to her, is an affliction beyond endur¬ 
 ance, were it not that, in heaven, God wipes away 
 all tears from her eyes. 
 
 Let us consecrate our children to God, and pray 
 that that holy child Jesus will own them as his 
 servants ; then, if they have a fellowship with him in 
 suffering, or serve him amid the temptations and 
 trials of prosperity and ease, to them to live will be 
 Christ; and, when we meet them in heaven, there 
 will be an “ over-payment of delight ” in saying of 
 them, beloved and honored of Christ, Here am I, and 
 the children which thou hast given me. 
 
 III. The words of Simeon, with regard to 
 Christ, teach us that Christ is the great test 
 
 OF HUMAN CHARACTER. 
 
 “ Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising 
 again of many in Israel — that the thoughts of many 
 hearts may be revealed.” 
 
 So it came to pass in his day. Some, by means of 
 him, fell, as it were, over a stumbling stone, into 
 perdition. The chief priests and scribes; the amiable 
 young ruler; the man that wished to go and bid them 
 farewell that were at home at his house; those who, 
 on a certain occasion, went away, and walked no 
 more with him, — these were tried as to their secret 
 thoughts and characters, and were found wanting 
 While, on the other hand, Simeon, and John the 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 53 
 
 Baptist, and the Eleven, and thousands of the poor 
 and humble, found him to be the Saviour that 
 they needed, for he was meek and lowly in heart, 
 and they were poor in spirit, and theirs was the 
 kingdom of heaven. So they built their hopes upon 
 him for eternity. 
 
 Christ is a touchstone to every one of us. What 
 think ye of Christ 1 is a question whose answer 
 decides the truth or error of our belief. If he be to 
 you only a creature, however exalted, superangclic, 
 but still a creature, your views of the character of 
 God, and of your own character, and of the way to 
 be saved, and of future retribution, must be wrong. 
 If Christ is God, and you worship him, and he made 
 atonement for your sins, this affects the whole char¬ 
 acter of your belief. “ He that hath the Son hath 
 life; ” “ Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath 
 not the Father.” So with regard to our secret 
 thoughts and our character ; tell us how you feel 
 toward Christ, and we will tell you whether you are 
 a Christian, and, if a Christian, what sort of Chris¬ 
 tian ; for this depends on our feelings toward him 
 whose character and whose relation to us, as a 
 Saviour, were intended to affect the human heart 
 more intensely than any thing else. And such is the 
 case. There are no feelings so intense as the feelings 
 which Christ awakens, for or against himself. There 
 was Julian the Apostate, who, falling in battle, 
 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 seized a handful of sand and flung it toward the sky, 
 saying, Thou hast conquered, O Galilean. Dying 
 Stephen, heedless of the shower of stones, cries, 
 Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Some are never 
 greatly excited to anger, except by religion; Christ 
 brings no peace to their homes, but a sword. In 
 contrast with them, there are those to whom the 
 name of Christ is music, and they are most happy 
 when they are counted worthy to do any thing for 
 him, and for those who love him. Each of us may 
 see just what we are, by our feelings toward Christ: 
 if we are indifferent, we are opposed to him; we 
 dislike his spiritual character and precepts, and the 
 way to be saved through him. If we love him, we 
 are loved of his Father also. As a proof of all this, 
 we have only to consider that last, dread sentence 
 which Christ says he will pronounce, with the 
 reasons on which it is based: Inasmuch as ye did it, 
 or did it not, to one of the least of these my brethren, 
 ye did it, or did it not, to me. And what follows 1 
 “ And these shall go away into everlasting punish¬ 
 ment, but the righteous into life eternal.” Are my 
 feelings toward Christ, indicated by my treatment of 
 those who love him, to settle the question, where I 
 shall spend eternity % Let me see to it, that I think 
 of Christ, and feel toward him, as the word of God 
 requires. 
 
 The words of Simeon, as he took the infant 
 
SIMEON. 
 
 55 
 
 Saviour in his arms, suggest one more remark, 
 which is properly deduced from his feelings and 
 expressions. 
 
 TV. We are reminded, by Simeon’s experience, 
 
 THAT A SIGHT OF ClIRIST MAKES DEATH EASY. 
 
 There is, most commonly, an effort, with the 
 dying, to be assured of the favor of Christ; and that 
 willingness to die, which so often changes the views 
 and feelings of those who are approaching the grave, 
 is owing, in most cases, to an increased sense of 
 the Saviour’s presence. For such purposes, among 
 others, he became flesh, that we, in the hour of 
 weakness and death, might apprehend him, as we 
 cannot apprehend the infinite God. The presence 
 of Christ makes death easy. He comes, and finishes 
 his redeeming work with the believer, at death, and 
 the sight of him makes the Christian willing to 
 depart; and not only willing, but frequently, he 
 says, to depart and be with Christ is far better. 
 Simeon, with Christ in his embrace, longing to die, 
 is a good emblem of a believer on his dying bed, 
 when Christ, whose friend he has been, reveals 
 himself as his Friend. 
 
 We, who preach to you, would love, as dying 
 men, to take each of you by the hand, and say, Dear 
 friend, you and we must have a dying bed. We 
 know not how soon we shall find ourselves upon it. 
 
56 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 There, the friendship and the presence of Christ is 
 every thing; no matter what your pains are, or 
 whom you are called to part with, the presence of 
 Christ will make death easy. Are you friend of 
 Christ ? When you come to die, may you claim 
 him as a friend, by reason of your friendship to 
 him'? To have him show himself to us while the 
 shadows fall between us and time, and to have him 
 whisper, Fear not, for I am with thee, is worth 
 more than a life of sinful pleasure. Be a friend of 
 Christ in your youth, in your prime, in your ad¬ 
 vanced years, in your declining age. Many a time 
 he will make you feel that he is your Friend, and 
 that promise shall be yours : “ And I will not blot 
 
 OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, BUT I WILL 
 CONFESS HIS NAME BEFORE MY FATHER, AND BEFORE 
 HIS ANGELS.” 
 
III. 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 -«- 
 
 VERILY I SAY UNTO Y'OU, AMONG THEM THAT ARE BORN OF WOMEN, THERE HATH 
 NOT RISEN A GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST ; NOTWITHSTANDING, HE 
 THAT IS LEAST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS GREATER THAN HE. 
 
 What a testimony was this for a man to receive 
 from the Saviour of the world! He is the Judge of 
 character, himself the perfect Man. They who love 
 and serve him have this assurance, that he appre¬ 
 ciates and loves every thing in them which is praise¬ 
 worthy. There is no such honor and happiness as 
 to have the approbation and commendation of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 As we read this testimony of Christ respecting 
 John, we naturally think of Abraham, and Moses, 
 and Samuel, and David, and Solomon, and Elijah, and 
 Isaiah, seven men who, in their respective classes of 
 character and talent, have no equals in history. But 
 of them, and of all others up to that time, the 
 Saviour says there had not risen a greater than 
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
58 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 John the Baptist. Not merely was he the greatest 
 of Prophets, as he certainly was, in being so long pre¬ 
 dicted and expected ; in being the herald of Christ; 
 and in his remarkable knowledge of the Saviour, 
 as expressed in his testimony concerning him; but 
 Christ prefers him to an equality with all who 
 ever lived. He might not, perhaps, write such lyrics 
 as David, or utter such strains of finished eloquence 
 as Isaiah, or possess the quick sagacity of Solomon ; 
 but, taking him altogether, the Saviour says he had 
 never had his superior among men. For, though 
 another evangelist represents Christ as speaking of 
 John as the greatest prophet, we must believe that 
 there were intrinsic elements in his character which 
 made him so, in addition to the outward circum¬ 
 stances of his mission. As a man, not merely as a 
 prophet, no one had been greater than he. 
 
 With such brief notices of him as we find in the 
 New Testament, we cannot fully analyze his charac¬ 
 ter and determine in what respects, or for what rea¬ 
 sons, in particular, he was equal to any mere man. 
 But we know enough to see that he was truly 
 great. 
 
 I. John the Baptist was marked by the great 
 
 STRENGTH OF HIS NATURAL FACULTIES, SHOWING ITSELF 
 IN ENERGETIC, INTREPID WORDS AND CONDUCT. 
 
 It is said of him, “ And the child grew, and waxed 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 59 
 
 strong in spirit, and was in the desert until his show¬ 
 ing unto Israel.” 
 
 It is interesting to notice, in the Scripture biogra¬ 
 phies, what part solitude had in the formation of 
 character. Abraham goes forth from his home, and 
 dwells in a strange land, a pilgrim and sojourner. 
 Thus his faith grew by living alone with God, and 
 he became the father of all them that believe. 
 Jacob pursues a lonely journey on foot, and sleeps in 
 the field all night; heaven is opened to him, and he 
 vows a vow which, with the vision, decides his whole 
 future life. Moses is a shepherd; he leads his flock 
 to the back side of the desert, and there he comes to 
 Horeb, and sees the burning bush, and, by his soli¬ 
 tary meditations and communion with God, is pre¬ 
 pared for his eventful w T ork. Elijah was the son of 
 the desert. David had great experience of caves, and 
 dens, and holes in the rock. David’s Son and David’s 
 Lord must be driven into the wilderness, and be with 
 wild beasts before he can preach. Four, at least, of 
 the first apostles were taken from the solitary and 
 contemplative employment of fishers; and John the 
 Baptist lived in the wilds of Judea, on the locust and 
 the wild honey, covered only with the shaggy cloth of 
 camel’s hair, so different from any fabric known to us 
 by that name, his waist girded by no belt from Tyre, 
 or scarf from Persia, but with a leathern thong. 
 
 There, in those wilds, from the commencement of 
 
60 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 his youth till near the age of thirty, his parents, who 
 were well stricken in years before he was born, being, 
 in all probability, dead, he lived apart from the busy 
 paths of men, not, perhaps, as a hermit, for there 
 were scattered dwellings in that wilderness. He 
 was, however, conversant with the rough face of 
 Nature, in her tangled thickets, dark, pathless woods, 
 overhanging cliffs, swollen streams, diversified, all, 
 with spring-tide beauty, and summer’s glory, and 
 autumn’s melancholy, and winter’s rage; his courage 
 nurtured by darkness and storms, perhaps by con- 
 diets with wild beasts, and by the solemn awe with 
 which solitude and stillness sometimes oppress even 
 the bravest spirit. 
 
 Three things, of great importance in his future 
 work, were secured by this solitary life. 
 
 He was delivered from the superstitions and cor¬ 
 rupting influence of the ecclesiastical rulers, and the 
 sad degeneracy of the times. 
 
 He had the best opportunities for religious im¬ 
 provement. He was not idle in that desert; for he, 
 no doubt, spent much time in communion with God 
 — not, perhaps, with frequent enjoyment of visions 
 and dreams, for they, in too great a proportion, 
 would prevent the most vigorous growth of faith; 
 but in fastings, and watchings, and prayers. This 
 prepared him for his work of calling on men to 
 repent. And once more, 
 
JOHN TTIE BAPTIST. 
 
 61 
 
 His sudden appearance from the desert, with all 
 the marks and influences of an austere life, gave 
 him a power over the popular mind, which he could 
 not have had if he had risen up among those 
 who had been connected with him from childhood. 
 So that he came to the people with all the boldness 
 and authority of a superior being, who had talked 
 with God more than with men. 
 
 He came forth, not like the soft, luxurious teachers 
 of his time, nor clothed as they who are in kings’ 
 palaces; nor with a supple, pliant spirit — a reed 
 shaken by the wind. The melancholy which hunger 
 brings with it, as in the case of Elijah, he had over¬ 
 come by an austere mode of life, so that, probably, 
 no man was ever more indifferent and superior to the 
 body than he. His parents could not have failed to 
 tell him of the prophecies which accompanied his 
 birth; his mind must have been filled with premoni¬ 
 tions and forecastings of the great work to which he 
 was destined, as the greatest of reformers, and the 
 Spirit of God endued him with a disposition and 
 with feelings which fitted him to be a son of 
 thunder to that corrupt age. Every word of his, 
 even to the last, is marked with decision and en¬ 
 ergy, to which we scarce find a parallel, while the 
 service he performed required an intrepidity of spirit 
 which is never associated but with the noblest 
 nature. 
 
62 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 II. John’s true greatness is also seen in iiis 
 
 UNAFFECTED SUPERIORITY TO THE FLATTERIES AND 
 FROWNS OF MEN. 
 
 As soon as lie began to preach that Messiah’s 
 kingdom was at hand, and to call upon the people to 
 receive the rite of baptism, in token of their repent¬ 
 ance and preparation to receive Christ, all the people 
 came to him, and among them the scribes and Phar¬ 
 isees. This was a great honor. It was fitted to 
 flatter him, and make him a flatterer. But, with 
 Elijah’s spirit before Ahab and Jezebel, he said to 
 them, “ O generation of vipers, who hath warned 
 you to flee from the wrath to cornel” With no fear 
 of being charged with uncharitableness or illiberality, 
 — one of the severest trials to a tame-spirited, time¬ 
 serving man, — nor afraid of repulsing his adherents 
 and losing his popularity, nor dreading the imputa¬ 
 tion of rudeness or rashness, he spake, we may say, 
 as never man spake, to those whose position in soci¬ 
 ety would have made an inferior spirit quail before 
 them. He might truly say with Job, “Did I fear a 
 great multitude, or did the contempt of families ter¬ 
 rify me, that I kept silence and went not out at the 
 door'?” His boldness and courage were in advance 
 of those qualities in Elijah, who rebuked two 
 crowned heads, and fled from them to the shade of 
 the juniper tree in the desert. John rebuked whole 
 classes of men, and continued to live among them, 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 63 
 
 ♦ 
 
 which was the severest test of moral courage, com- 
 
 o 1 
 
 pellecl, as he was, to meet them, day after day, in 
 every mood of his own mind, and of theirs. Instead 
 of feeling complimented at seeing the scholars of his 
 time coming to he baptized of him, and the most 
 esteemed religionists consenting to his ordinance, 
 instead of swerving from his duty, or speaking 
 smooth things, he addressed them, as they deserved, 
 with awful pungency. What a salutation : — 44 gen¬ 
 eration of vipers.” What a reception to baptism: — 
 44 Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to 
 come % ” What an exhortation for Pharisees to hear: 
 — 44 Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance.” 
 What a threatening: — 44 And now, therefore, the axe 
 is laid at the root of the tree.” Surely, where shall 
 we look for conscious greatness superior to tins'? 
 The circumstances of his position were such as try 
 and mark the quality of man in a way not surpassed 
 by any thing in human experience. 
 
 But after all, 
 
 III. The true greatness of John appeared, in a 
 
 SPECIAL MANNER, IN HIS HUMILITY. 
 
 His mother and the mother of Christ were cousins. 
 But notwithstanding his relationship to Christ, it 
 seems that he did not know him after the period of 
 early youth, even if he did before. He is careful to 
 say more than once, 4 And I knew him not; but he 
 
64 
 
 TTTE FRTENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 that sent me to baptize with water, the same said 
 unto me, This is he.’ The reason of this undoubt¬ 
 edly was, to prevent any suspicion of agreement be¬ 
 tween them as to this popular movement, and to 
 show that it was directed wholly by God. The 
 Spirit had taught him that he was to be the herald, 
 only, of his kinsman ; a kinsman younger by half a 
 year than himself, the son of a carpenter, while 
 John was a son of one of the priests; of such an 
 one he must be the herald, and prepare the way for 
 him; for him whose shoe latcliet, he, though the 
 greatest of men, would not be worthy to stoop down 
 and unloose. 
 
 “Art thou the Christ'?” they said to him; “Art 
 thou that prophet?” “No.” “Who art thou?” 
 The rulers are ready to acknowledge you in any 
 capacity which you assume. “I am the voice of one 
 crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the 
 Lord, make his paths straight.” Christ appeared. 
 John had gathered personal friends and followers to 
 himself. One day he saw Jesus passing by, and he 
 said to his disciples, “ Behold the Lamb of God.” 
 He turned their thoughts from himself: “ Behold 
 the Lamb of God.” Jesus came to him to be bap¬ 
 tized. John had never refused to baptize any digni¬ 
 tary of the Jewish church. He would have baptized 
 Annas, or Caiaphas, or whoever was high-priest that 
 year, had he come to him, as perhaps he did; but 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 65 
 
 Jesus came to him; and John said, “ I have need to 
 be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me l ” 
 Jesus entered on his ministry. The vast popularity 
 of John had reached its full flood tide. “ And they 
 came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that 
 was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest 
 witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men 
 come to him. John answered and said, A man can 
 receive nothing, except it be given him from God. 
 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not 
 the Christ, but that I am sent before him.” He 
 then added these words of tenderness and beauty; — 
 for there is always a degree of softness and delicacy 
 in the sternest nature: “ He that hath the bride is 
 the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, 
 which standeth and hearetli him, rejoiceth greatly 
 because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy, 
 therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, but I 
 must decrease.” 
 
 If he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, we 
 very plainly see that there is, at least, probable 
 ground for the declaration of the Saviour respecting 
 John. But the great man passed away. The morn¬ 
 ing star grew pale, for the sun was up. The friend 
 of the bridegroom is forgotten, for all eyes are 
 directed to the bridegroom himself. He passes away, 
 and finally goes to prison to end his days. His great 
 
 Lord and Master had begun his wonderful works, and 
 
 6 * 
 
66 
 
 THE FRTENHS OF CHRTST. 
 
 the fame thereof reaches the prison-house of this 
 forerunner. What man of us would not have been 
 tempted to send and know, if, after our self-denying 
 and self-sacrificing efforts in heralding Christ, and 
 preparing the way for him, it was a suitable return 
 that we should be left to languish in Herod’s prison ? 
 O faith and patience! what a trial! Has Christ, in 
 his zeal for God, forgotten him; in his reception by 
 the people, does he not remember his faithful fore¬ 
 runner'? Joseph, in Pharaoh’s prison, took care to 
 speak a word for himself to the chief butler, that he 
 should remember Joseph when Pharaoh should lift 
 up his head; but he was forgotten. Has Christ, also, 
 forgotten John? Will not the great and good man 
 send a message to Christ, reminding him that his 
 forerunner is in prison'? 
 
 He sends a message to him by two of his disciples; 
 but what a message. “ Art thou he that should 
 come, or look we for another'?” All his thoughts 
 are upon Christ. There is doubt in the minds of 
 critics as to the cause of this question. We are told, 
 that John heard in prison the works of Christ, and 
 sent two of his disciples to him with this inquiry. 
 Some say that this looks like hesitancy on his part 
 with regard to Christ, and that some things in 
 Christ’s appearance, without form and comeliness, so 
 different from the common expectation, or, the 
 Saviour’s omission to visit him in prison, may 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 67 
 
 have led him to doubt whether Jesus were the 
 Messiah. 
 
 But this is incredible. He who had seen the 
 Holy Ghost descending and resting like a dove on 
 Jesus, and who, by a divine impulse, had previously 
 said of him, c Behold the Lamb of God,’ cannot be sup¬ 
 posed to have wavered in his confidence that he was 
 the Christ. As to the Saviour’s omission to visit his 
 imprisoned friend, we forget that Herod’s prison did 
 not enjoy the benignant influences of modern refine¬ 
 ment and kindness, and that on no account, probably, 
 would any one, in sympathy with John, have been 
 admitted to his cell. The more probable explanation 
 of John’s message to Christ is, that he wished to 
 convince his own disciples that Christ had come, and 
 therefore sent them in an inquiring state of mind, 
 aided by an inquiring message, to see Christ. Not a 
 word of himself, however, have we in this message; 
 his only thought is to detach his followers from 
 himself, and bind them to Christ. Here is true 
 greatness, which has no superior. John is not 
 merely a bold, intrepid reprover and reformer. He 
 is humble and meek, gentle and patient, disinterested 
 and generous, willing to be forgotten and to perish 
 obscurely in the service of his Master. True great¬ 
 ness is always accompanied with childlikeness in the 
 less obvious parts of the character, and appropriate 
 circumstances will always reveal it. John excites 
 
68 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 our love, as well as our reverence, and He who 
 searches the hearts knew that he was altogether 
 worthy of the greatest commendation. 
 
 Christ adds to the declaration, that there is none 
 greater among men than John, this remarkable say¬ 
 ing: “Notwithstanding, he that is least in the king¬ 
 dom of heaven is greater than he.” 
 
 We cannot understand by this that every humble 
 Christian is superior to John in those things in 
 which John was, by nature and grace, distinguished. 
 But the meaning is this: the humblest Christian 
 who lives under the full influences of the gospel will, 
 by his greater advantages, know more, and be further 
 advanced in those things of which Christ is the 
 revealer, than John, — as a child on a hill can see 
 more than a man in a plain. 
 
 John knew nothing, by observation or experience, 
 of the special coming and work of the Holy Spirit. 
 He died before the day of Pentecost, and had no 
 share in the marvels of divine grace and power 
 which accompanied the descent of the Spirit. He 
 was not a witness of the crucifixion and resurrection 
 of his Lord; he knew far less, therefore, than those 
 humble women who, at the sepulchre, learned how 
 life and immortality had been brought to light. 
 
 The inferior nature of John’s dispensation may 
 be learned from two things. One has already been 
 named ; it was antecedent to the descent of the Holy 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 69 
 
 Ghost, and the beginning of his special work as the 
 third person in the Godhead. And secondly, His 
 baptism was not Christian baptism. That John’s 
 baptism was not Christian baptism we learn from the 
 lips of certain of the disciples whom Paul found at 
 Ephesus, and said, Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
 since ye believed % They said, We have not so much 
 as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Unto 
 what, then, were ye baptized ? They said, Unto 
 John’s baptism. 
 
 Baptism, in the name of the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, was not administered till after the 
 ascension of Christ. John’s baptism, therefore, was 
 merely a rite by which to impress the minds of the 
 people with the idea of repentance and reformation. 
 The time had not come for men to be initiated into 
 
 the new dispensation, of which the Father, Son, 
 
 and Holy Ghost were the proclaimed agents ; “ for 
 
 the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that 
 
 Jesus was not yet glorified.” This baptism, then, 
 being a mere preparatory dispensation, to call atten¬ 
 tion to Christ and his spiritual kingdom, it is ev¬ 
 ident that he who enjoys the full privileges of that 
 kingdom is greater than John, even though it be a 
 child, or the humblest servant in the church of Christ, 
 if he but have Christ in him the hope of glory. 
 
 The instruction which the character and history 
 of John the Baptist is well suited to impart is this: — 
 
70 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 i 
 
 1. It is the highest honor and privilege to be 
 most intimately identified with the Saviour of the 
 world. 
 
 The greatest of men was appointed to be the 
 immediate herald of Christ. The church of God 
 had, for many centuries, looked for this forerunner 
 to announce the Saviour, and it is deeply interest¬ 
 ing and instructive to notice in what terms the an¬ 
 nunciation is made. Consider that this man is raised 
 up expressly to make Christ known to men; he, the 
 greatest prophet who had ever appeared, his simple 
 purpose being to tell the world who and what Christ 
 is, and to prepare the way for him. Had the church 
 of God known the moment at which the forerunner 
 would make the annunciation, what intense interest 
 would have been felt, what breathless attention 
 would have been given, while he prepared to utter 
 the first words of his revelation. There was such 
 a moment; and what are the words of annunciation ] 
 Let them sink deep into the heart of every human 
 being ; let every one, especially, who inquires, con¬ 
 cerning Christ, who and what he is, and why he 
 came into the world, attend. John, first looking on 
 Jesus, as he walked, said, 44 Behold the Lamb of God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world.” These 
 words, spoken in the ears of Jews, had a peculiar 
 significance. A lamb is not a teacher, nor, in the 
 mind of a Jew, an example ; a lamb was a sacrifice 
 for sim 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 71 
 
 Here, too, was the greatest of those who, up to the 
 moment of his birth, had been born into the world ; 
 and we have this testimony from him respecting 
 Jesus: “ This is he who, coming after me, is pre¬ 
 ferred before me, for he was before me.” But Jesus 
 was born six months after John : in what way, then, 
 was he before him, except as the preexistent Word, 
 of whom John evidently speaks when he says again, 
 “ He that cometh from heaven is above all. He 
 that is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of the 
 earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.” 
 Surely we are all prepared with an answer to the 
 question, What think ye of Christ 1 
 
 The name or title by which a stranger or any dis¬ 
 tinguished personage is announced to a company, or 
 to the public, is always well considered ; the first 
 associations formed with his name being regarded as 
 of importance. The great prophet, sent for no other 
 purpose than to announce the Messiah, and prepare 
 for his reception, inspired, of course, to proclaim, 
 in suitable terms, the character and office of the 
 Saviour, utters, in this one word, the concentrated 
 language of the prophets and the ritual types and 
 ceremonies of four thousand years — Lamb of God: 
 “ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
 sin of the world.” 
 
 No honor or privilege had ever been conferred 
 on a man compared with this. Abraham, we may 
 
72 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 suppose, would gladly have changed places with 
 John; so would Moses, and Elijah, and David. 
 Identified with the Saviour of the world, he is a part 
 of the new dispensation of grace, to the same degree, 
 and for the same reason, that the morning star is 
 a part of the new day. No words of prophets, nor 
 of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, are to be compared 
 with these : 4 Behold the Lamb of God; ’ — behold 
 him, not far off, not through distant years, not in 
 types and shadows: there he is, just by yonder 
 sycamore; he turns the corner of the street; go, 
 speak with him; the Lamb of God is come to take 
 away the sin of the world. 
 
 Two of John’s disciples heard him speak, and they 
 followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them follow¬ 
 ing, and said unto them, What seek ye 1 They said 
 unto him, Rabbi, which is, being interpreted, Master, 
 where dwellest thou ] He said unto them, Come 
 and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and 
 abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth 
 hour -—a short remnant of a day, from four in the 
 afternoon; but great consequences ensued upon that 
 interview. One of the two which followed Jesus 
 was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth 
 his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We 
 have found him of whom Moses, in the law, and the 
 prophets did write. And he brought him to Jesus. 
 John’s work is virtually done; he has struck a spark 
 
JOHN THE B A.PTIST. 
 
 73 
 
 in the hearts of two or three men, which will en¬ 
 lighten the whole world. How interesting and 
 instructive this humble, simple way in which the old 
 dispensation was connected with the new, and then 
 was superseded by it, just by attaching one or two 
 humble, plain men to Jesus Christ. 
 
 Who of us may not be a forerunner to Christ, 
 preparing the way for him in some heart, by saying, 
 in the language of instruction, and exhortation, and 
 kind persuasion, Behold the Lamb of God \ To the 
 self-righteous, who feel no need of a Mediator, and 
 to whom God appears only as a Father, with no 
 broken law and avenging justice, let us say, in every 
 suitable form, Behold the Lamb of God. To the 
 careless, let us speak of him who came from heaven 
 to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and who 
 will come again to judge the world ; and to him who 
 labors and is heavy laden let us only say, Behold the 
 Lamb of God. To be identified with Christ and 
 salvation in the mind of one immortal spirit, and, 
 more especially, to be known to Christ as his herald 
 and forerunner, opening the way for him to those for 
 whom he died, is enough to satisfy the ambition of a 
 Caesar, or Alexander, if directed aright. It is a great 
 honor and privilege to be a minister of Jesus, a mis¬ 
 sionary, a tract distributer, Sabbath school teacher, 
 visitor of the unevangelized in the town and city, a 
 
 helper in any and every form of presenting Christ to 
 
 7 
 
74 
 
 TIIE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the minds of men. It should be the business toward 
 which our thoughts and efforts should concentrate, 
 to prepare the way for Christ. All our instructions 
 are vain, unless they lead, in some way, to Christ. 
 Surely it was no great thing for one who felt proper¬ 
 ly, to say of Christ, in comparison with himself, He 
 must increase, but I must decrease. John did not 
 say this in a sad, murmuring tone, as we should 
 say it of a rival, but with joy at the thought of 
 coming so near to Christ that his light should eclipse 
 him. He was glad to have his own hour of rising 
 so near sunrise. O that we might all of us suffer 
 such eclipse ! There is no one who may not, and 
 who should not, in his proper place and sphere, say 
 to others, with every hope of success, Behold the 
 Lamb of God. If permanent reputation, and ever¬ 
 lasting remembrance, be sought by us, the surest 
 way to effect it is, to be identified with Jesus Christ. 
 He himself appeals to such a motive, and approves 
 it, when he says, “ If any man serve me, let him 
 follow me, and where I am there shall also my 
 servant be; if any man serve me, him shall my 
 Father honor.” 
 
 2. The death of this friend of Christ is one of the 
 most affecting and instructive illustrations of God's 
 providence. 
 
 Any one who disbelieved in God, or who could 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 75 
 
 have supposed John to be an impostor, could not 
 have imagined a death which, in all its circum¬ 
 stances, seemed more directly to contradict the doc¬ 
 trine of the overruling providence of God, or to 
 confute the claims of John, as his messenger. A girl 
 danced before a wicked king, and, in the excitement 
 of the moment, he promised to give her any thing 
 she should ask. Her mother had retained her spite 
 against John, for trying to prevent her own marriage 
 with her brother-in-law, Herod; and though she had 
 obtained his imprisonment, her vengeance was not 
 satisfied. She had instructed the girl what to ask if 
 Herod should be captivated by her; and, straight¬ 
 way, upon Herod’s promise and oath, she says, 
 “ Give me here the head of John the Baptist in a 
 charger; ” and soon the head comes in ; the girl takes 
 it, and brings it to her mother. 
 
 No doubt she was a most accomplished person, 
 danced well, and moved in the best society, so called; 
 for she lived at court. But the noise of the viol and 
 the tab ret has long ago ceased with her, and, per¬ 
 haps, a frantic spirit in hell, she spends eternity with 
 that charger before her eyes always, and that head, 
 the price of her dance, haunting her from one deep 
 to another deep in the bottomless pit. O mother, 
 mother, she cries, you taught me every worldly 
 accomplishment, and also, by your example, to for¬ 
 get God; and brought innocent blood on my soul. 
 
76 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Take this head from before my eyes. Her wretched 
 mother has anguish enough of her own to hear, 
 without the addition of her daughter’s curses. Yet 
 will not those curses follow her, and every mother 
 who brings up her daughter for this world only ? 
 Are they the only mother and accomplished daughter 
 that will have this present world for their only por¬ 
 tion, and endless sorrow at the end of it ? 44 I tell 
 
 you nay, but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
 perish.” 
 
 What mischief one wicked girl can do! “ She 
 
 hath cast down many wounded, and many strong 
 men have been slain by her.” 44 Whoso pleaseth 
 God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall 
 be taken by her.” 44 He shall die without instruc¬ 
 tion, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go 
 astray.” If any young friend is dallying with 
 temptation from such a source, 44 deliver thyself as a 
 bird from the snare of the fowler, and as a roe from 
 the hand of the hunter.” 44 For the ways of man are 
 before the eyes of the Lord, and lie pondereth all 
 his goings.” 
 
 This blessed friend and servant of God was pre¬ 
 pared to die ; and it was well that he was, for but a 
 very few minutes, probably, intervened between the 
 entrance of the executioner to his cell and the 
 appearance of the ransomed spirit before God. Fie 
 needed no protracted space between the warning and 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 77 
 
 the stroke of the sword. He was as ready to die 
 instantly as after long notice ; and yet, to the eye of 
 man, how sad, how strange. You might say, Will 
 God make no distinction between the righteous and 
 the wicked \ No, not in this world, in his prov¬ 
 idence. “This is one thing,” Job says, “therefore I 
 said it: he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. If 
 the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial 
 of the innocent.” There is one event to the right¬ 
 eous and to the wicked. John the Baptist, there¬ 
 fore, must not plead exemption from a death which is 
 the mere wanton suggestion of a wanton woman ; he 
 must be ready, like all good men, to illustrate, by his 
 own sufferings and death, the great truth, that this 
 life is not a state of reward, but of trial. He must 
 be willing to die in his prime ; for he was not over 
 thirty-five years of age, though he is sometimes 
 thought of as a venerable old man, and full of days. 
 He must not refuse to he carried to the grave a 
 headless trunk. Whether Herodias shall pierce his 
 tongue with her bodkin, or whether his head shall be 
 devoured by dogs, or be thrown into the Jordan, 
 John must yield himself to that law of providence 
 which does not discriminate between the evil and 
 the good. 
 
 Jonathan Edwards, than whom, of all that are 
 
 born of women, there is none greater in intellectual 
 
 endowments, must submit to have that earthly taber- 
 
 7 * 
 
78 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 nacle of his destroyed by the loathsome and hideous 
 small-pox, as well as the most common and ordinary 
 of his fellow-men. And yet we read, and still it is 
 true, “ Precious, in the sight of the Lord, is the 
 death of his saints.” God did not cast off these 
 servants of his; and the outward circumstances of 
 their death were really not worth regarding, by them 
 nor by Him, compared with the far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory which awaited them. 
 We are taught by this that, to him who is a true 
 friend of Christ, death is easy with the head on a 
 block, or the body wrapped in flames, or covered 
 with honey to attract the bees and wasps, or smoth¬ 
 ered in a bag with snakes, or sawn asunder with a 
 saw of wood; while, to one who has no Saviour 
 whom he has befriended, it is hard to die on the 
 softest and richest bed of down, unless this greatest 
 curse be added to that dying bed of the sinner, that 
 “ there are no bands in his death,” but with peace 
 and with apparent resignation, like that smooth brim 
 of the cataract just where it bends over to the abyss, 
 he falls asleep, and wakes in hell. 
 
 3. The prominent doctrines and exhortations of 
 such a man as we have seen John to he, deserve 
 our most serious consideration . 
 
 We have already considered the testimony which 
 he gave to the preexistence of Christ, and to the 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 79 
 
 great object of his coming, namely, to make atone¬ 
 ment for sin. We may also notice his designation 
 of Christ as a purifier of his church. 
 
 He represents him as having a husbandman’s 
 fan, with which he would thoroughly purge his 
 threshing floor, gather the wheat into his garner, 
 and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 
 Now, Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for¬ 
 ever. He has not come to save men in their sins, but 
 from their sins. We may not plead that we have 
 pious parents, or pious relatives in our ancestral line ; 
 for God can of the stones raise up heirs of grace. 
 Nor can we plead, I am a member of the church ; 
 for 4 now, also, the axe is laid at the root of the tree; 
 every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good 
 fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire.’ 
 
 We are also instructed by this great and faithful 
 servant of Christ, and by what Christ says of our 
 privileges, — making us greater, in some respects, 
 than John, if we improve them, — that it is a solemn 
 thing to live under such privileges as we enjoy in 
 these days. What accumulated testimony, from 
 heathen lands, to the truth and power of the gospel; 
 what instructions are we furnished with by the 
 religious press; what calls, in revivals of religion — 
 the Spirit and the bride saying, Come. John closes 
 up his testimony, with regard to Christ, with these 
 words: “ The Father loveth the Son, and hath given 
 
80 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 all things into his hands. He that believeth on the 
 Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not 
 the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God 
 abideth on him.” Do I believe, or does the wrath 
 of God abide upon me % 
 
 Would we testify our love for this friend of Christ, 
 we can do nothing more appropriate than to obey 
 him, as, by his words left on record, he seeks to lead 
 us to Christ. Let us say, as his hearers did, “ And 
 what shall we do ? ” How faithfully he would speak, 
 and tell us to bring forth works meet for repentance ; 
 to break off sin by righteousness, and iniquity by turn¬ 
 ing unto God. How he would terrify sinners, by ex¬ 
 posing their secret wickedness, and ringing the alarms 
 of death and hell in their ears. How he would urge 
 the awakened to go, without delay, to Christ, the 
 Lamb of God. And how he would weep over some 
 who have long refused Christ, saying of him, “ And 
 no man receiveth his testimony.” 
 
 Llerod, hearing of Christ, said, “ John have I 
 beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such 
 things l And he desired to see him.” You shall see 
 him, Herod, when he comes in the clouds, and brings 
 with him those that sleep in Jesus. You shall see, 
 also, the man whom you beheaded, ‘ risen from the 
 dead,’ as your guilty conscience once made you fear 
 Avas the case before. And there, at that dread tribu¬ 
 nal, where John and Herod are to meet once more, 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 81 
 
 each of us must appear, and each of us be assigned 
 to the company of Herod, or of John, for eternity; — 
 to which of them, will be decided by the question, 
 Am I a friend of Christ 1 How this question would 
 be answered, if we were pressed to a decision now, 
 may be seen by this consideration: If called sud¬ 
 denly to a dying man who should ask, “ What must 
 I do to be saved 1 ” could I, from my own experience, 
 say, Behold the Lamb of God \ If not, the fore¬ 
 runner has spoken to us, the Lamb of God has been 
 offered for us, thus far, in vain. If we cannot point 
 a dying: sinner to Christ, what shall we do when we 
 are dying 1 How can we hope to cast our anchor 
 then ‘ within the veil, whither the ’ great 4 fore¬ 
 runner HATH FOR US ENTERED ’ % 
 
IV. 
 
 THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 
 
 AND THE THIRD DAY THERE WAS A MARRIAGE IN CANA OF GALILEE ; AND THE 
 MOTHER OF JESUS WAS THERE. AND BOTH JESUS WAS CALLED, AND HIS 
 DISCIPLES, TO THE MARRIAGE. 
 
 In a humble town of Palestine, more than eighteen 
 hundred years ago, a marriage took place which has 
 been more widely known, and more permanently 
 remembered, than the nuptials of any other human 
 pair. More eyes have read the account of it, more 
 ears have listened to the story of its interesting inci¬ 
 dents, than all the royal weddings of the world can 
 boast; and hearts which were never filled with emo¬ 
 tion by hearing of oriental nuptials, have been inter¬ 
 ested by the account of this wedding. It will con¬ 
 tinue to be read and pondered when the impressions 
 of every brilliant, imposing pageantry have passed 
 away ; nor will any future marriage occupy such a 
 place in history. 
 
 The cause of the celebrity given to this wedding 
 
 (P3) 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 83 
 
 at Cana was simply this — that the Saviour was 
 invited to be present. It is the only marriage ever 
 mentioned to which the parties called him. “ And 
 both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the mar¬ 
 riage.” The mother of Jesus seems to have been 
 there as a matter of course. It was not a matter of 
 course that her Son should be invited; but, for some 
 reason, an invitation was extended to him, and not 
 only so, but (as we may suppose, from regard to him) 
 three strangers from other places, Andrew, Peter, and 
 Philip, who had attached themselves to him as his 
 personal friends and disciples, were invited to attend. 
 It is no unwarrantable presumption that this bride¬ 
 groom and bride were friends of Christ; we may, 
 accordingly, reckon them with those whose charac¬ 
 ters or actions we are considering in these dis¬ 
 courses. 
 
 The account of this wedding is given for the pur¬ 
 pose of relating the beginning of the Saviour’s 
 miracles. For some reason, the wine was deficient. 
 We are not informed whether this was owing to the 
 failure of a tradesman to keep an engagement, or to 
 a mistake on the part of the provider, or to an unex¬ 
 pected increase in the number of guests. The 
 mother of Jesus told him of the casualty, with the 
 view of obtaining a supply by his miraculous power. 
 His answer had nothing disrespectful in it. The 
 appellation, 4 Woman,’ was the common oriental form 
 
84 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 of address, even to persons of high degree ; and the 
 Saviour uses it when, on the cross, he turned the 
 attention of his mother to John, saying, “Woman, 
 behold thy Son.” The expression, “ What have I to 
 do with thee 1 ” does not have, in the original, precise¬ 
 ly the tone which the English words seem to ex¬ 
 press ; but the translation is as near as any English 
 phrase could approach to the exceedingly condensed 
 form of expression. It was a mode of signifying an 
 unwillingness to be interfered with, or dictated to, 
 joined with some disapprobation. But in the case 
 before us, the intimation annexed, that Christ would 
 work a miracle, the time of which had not yet come, 
 softens the disapprobation. There was evidently 
 good reason for such disapprobation on the part of 
 Christ. His mother sought to make an irreverent 
 use of his divine power. She did not seek for a 
 miracle that God might be honored, nor that the 
 spectators might receive spiritual benefit; but she 
 applied to her Son in some such way as she would 
 have applied to a magician. All that she thought 
 of was the consternation of her friends at finding 
 that the principal means of entertaining the com¬ 
 pany had failed, and, therefore, she requested her 
 Son to exert his miraculous power, and help them 
 out of their difficulty. That this was her purpose in 
 what she said to Christ, and not merely to make the 
 casual remark, that the wine had failed, we learn 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 85 
 
 from her secret admonition to the servants, “ What¬ 
 soever he saith unto you, do it,” showing that she 
 still expected him to work a miracle. 
 
 It was derogatory to the Saviour’s character and 
 office, that he should he a repairer of accidents, and 
 put forth divine power merely to gratify wishes which 
 had no higher end than relief from awkward embar¬ 
 rassments. Such was the limit of his mother’s mo¬ 
 tives, and the Saviour stands before us in the true 
 dignity of his nature and office, in reproving such 
 motives. Whatever he may see fit to do afterward, 
 let no one think that he is a mere convenient 
 servant. He went to that wedding to work a mira¬ 
 cle. He reproved the improper feelings and motives 
 of his mother, and yet informed her that he should, 
 in time, accomplish his purpose. Strange, that, after 
 reading and considering this, so large a portion of 
 our race have insisted on using Mary’s advocacy with 
 her Son in heaven, saying, Mother, command thy 
 Son; and this addressed to one who showed herself 
 to be an erring mortal, deserving of the Saviour’s 
 calm, respectful, dignified reproof. 
 
 Jesus proceeded to do as he had purposed, and 
 changed a large quantity of water into wine. Six 
 water pots of stone, used instead of cisterns or reser¬ 
 voirs, holding each about nine gallons of our measure, 
 and kept near at hand, on account of the super¬ 
 stitious or ceremonial habits of the people to wash 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 often, (as the evangelist says, 44 after the manner 
 of the purifying of the Jews,”) stood within or near 
 the house. The servants were commanded by the 
 Saviour to till them with water; and they tilled them 
 (by his direction, no doubt) to the brim, leaving no 
 ground for suspicion of any admixture. Without 
 pronouncing any words of charm or incantation, 
 Christ simply told the servants to draw, and to pre¬ 
 sent the draught to him who presided at the table, 
 usually some friend of the parties. He had, officially, 
 a deep interest in the proceedings, and, on this occa¬ 
 sion, unwittingly gave the strongest testimony to the 
 perfection of the miracle. 
 
 The evangelist adds the following words to this 
 account: 44 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in 
 Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and 
 his disciples believed on him.” 
 
 There is useful instruction to be derived from the 
 simple act of this bridegroom and bride at Cana, 
 in calling Christ to their wedding, and from his 
 presence there. 
 
 I. As Christ began his miracles at a wedding, 
 
 WE MAY INFER THAT HE, AND HIS RELIGION, ARE 
 FRIENDLY TO HUMAN HAPPINESS. 
 
 It cannot be supposed that it was by mere acci¬ 
 dent that the Saviour began his miracles at a wed¬ 
 ding, rather than at the grave of Lazarus, or the 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 87 
 
 gates of Nain. His brief sojourn on earth, after he 
 had entered on his ministry, was only three years 
 and a half. Now, considering what an eventful life 
 that was to be, constituting the New Testament his¬ 
 tory, forming the basis for the opinions and feelings 
 of all coming generations with regard to him, it was, 
 no doubt, viewed, by infinite wisdom, as of the first 
 importance that all his public acts should be ar¬ 
 ranged with regard to the best effect upon the great 
 end for which he came into the world. Thus, though 
 his daily life seems wholly unpremeditated, his great 
 works accidental, depending only on his happening 
 to meet this or that object of compassion, we must 
 suppose that all was planned beforehand, and that 
 it was the suggestion of divine wisdom and goodness 
 that he should begin his miracles at a scene which, 
 more than any other, interests every one, of whatever 
 time or nation. The Saviour takes his place by the 
 side of a bridegroom and bride, and at their wed¬ 
 ding, in their presence, and for their happiness, he 
 first manifests forth his glory ; and his disciples, who 
 had thus far believed through the testimony of John 
 the Baptist, now receive him and testify of him as the 
 Christ, from their own knowledge. He could have 
 produced this effect on them and others, by casting 
 out a devil, or destroying a herd of swine, or by 
 curing the palsy, or opening a grave. “ How great 
 is his wisdom, and how great is his beauty.” He 
 
88 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 goes to a wedding ; he meets the human race, whom 
 he came to bless, first of all, at a nuptial ceremony. 
 He mingles his sympathies with their joys, before he 
 mourns with them in their sorrows. He thus tells 
 them that he has not come to look on the dark side 
 of their condition alone, but to take a just view of 
 it; to rejoice with them that rejoice, as well as to 
 weep with them that weep, recognizing the truth, 
 that there is much in this world to make us happy, 
 and nothing more so than the love of kindred hearts, 
 united in those bonds which the benevolent Creator 
 constituted in Paradise. He has come to deliver us 
 from hell, and he wishes us to know that there is a 
 heaven. We are subject to miseries innumerable and 
 great, our danger is fearful, our liability to eternal 
 sorrow is alarming ; but other things also are true, 
 — that God loves us with a benevolent and compas¬ 
 sionate love, seeks our perfect happiness, and would 
 restore us to that which our first parents lost by the 
 fall; and not only would he make us happy here¬ 
 after ; he wishes us to know that the ways of wisdom, 
 here, are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace; that religion is not only consistent with 
 present happiness, but eminently promotes it; that 
 Christ and religion do not frown upon human joys, 
 but, on the contrary, purify them, hallow them, 
 impart a zest to them, and give with them that 
 richest and sweetest ingredient, a sense of God’s 
 approbation and love. 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 89 
 
 So that if any are tempted to look upon religion 
 as an enemy to innocent pleasure, and feel that to be 
 followers of Christ is to take the veil; that to enter 
 the Christian church is to shake hands at the door 
 with every innocent mirth; that putting on the new 
 man is to put on stiffness and austerity; that being 
 converted is being made unfit for social life; and that 
 religion means the surrendering of every thing and 
 gaining nothing, they may see their error corrected 
 by this testimony of Christ our Saviour, in favor of 
 human happiness, in his being present at a wedding, 
 and in his beginning the work for which he came 
 from heaven by contributing to the hilarity of a 
 wedding feast. So far from being unfriendly to 
 human happiness, religion alone warrants and ena¬ 
 bles us to be perfectly happy in this world. The 
 church of Christ is spoken of in the Bible as the 
 only portion of the human race that have claims to 
 perfect happiness. Christians are represented, by 
 this same figure of marriage, as raised to the height 
 of earthly happiness, in being the bride of Christ. 
 Is this an austere, melancholy creature, that comes 
 floating by us on the wings of fancy, to whom are 
 addressed such words as these: “ All thy garments 
 smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the 
 ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad; ” 
 c The king’s daughter is all glorious within ; her 
 clothing is of wrought gold”? Though spiritual 
 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 things, it might be said, are designated by these met¬ 
 aphors, which describe the church of God in its holi¬ 
 ness and happiness, yet if such effects, pictured by 
 such images of beauty, can be the result of religious 
 joy, surely religion is eminently favorable to the 
 highest bliss. 
 
 But religion, it is said, forbids us to frequent play¬ 
 houses, and frowns on dancing between the sexes. 
 There is a great mistake here. Religion is not 
 responsible for making these things obnoxious. 
 Must a man or woman be a Christian in order to feel 
 disapprobation of waltzing? Do none but church 
 members think that such a thing is unsuitable ? Do 
 we need to be converted before we can disapprove of 
 things which the devotees of Juggernaut’s temple, 
 and before his blood-stained car, practise; are Chris¬ 
 tians only blessed with the light of nature, to disallow 
 tilings which the light of nature surely condemns ? 
 Were we to argue against theatres, we would not, or 
 we need not, quote one passage of the Bible; for 
 wise and good men and women, out of the Christian 
 church, are among the very best authorities as to the 
 pernicious effect of playacting ; and with regard to 
 novels, (not, simply, works of imagination,) perni¬ 
 cious, not for the imagination in them, but for 
 exaggerated, false views of things, and for the bad 
 effect, even when they are true, of dwelling too much 
 upon fictitious scenes, if one were to preach against 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 91 
 
 reading novels, so called, and should quote the Bible, 
 he would perhaps, lirst of all, cite from it a quota¬ 
 tion which Paul makes from a heathen poet; for he 
 quotes Euripides, or Menander, for they both have it, 
 when he says, 66 Evil communications corrupt good 
 manners.” 
 
 Let not the friends of promiscuous dancing, and 
 of theatres, and of certain novels, lay their condemna¬ 
 tion at the door of religion ; they are tried and con¬ 
 demned, as it were, in the Common Pleas of moral 
 sentiments, not first of all in the higher judicatory of 
 religion; though if they take their appeal to that, 
 the judgment of the lower court will certainly be 
 affirmed against them. 
 
 While with their knowledge of their own hearts, 
 compared with the holiness of God, and with their 
 self-disapprobation, and with opposition, from the 
 world around them, to that which they hold most 
 dear, Christians, if in this life only they had hope in 
 Christ, would of all men be the most miserable, yet, 
 with the hope of future blessedness, which enters 
 greatly into all their present joys, and assures them 
 that their faith is not in vain, Christians are of all 
 men the happiest, and the most to he envied. Take 
 them in the moments of their highest earthly joy, 
 when their best earthly affections are crowned with 
 all that heart can wish. A Christian, from those 
 heights of happiness which, to an unregenerate man, 
 
92 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 are the highest conceivable, can say, There is a hap¬ 
 piness, now, and hereafter, which is superior to this. 
 4 O God, thou art my God.’ 4 Whom have I in 
 heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I 
 desire beside thee.’ Sometimes, in the midst of the 
 highest earthly joys, we are visited by this feeling ; — 
 4 After all, this does not satisfy me; my soul craves 
 something else.’ It may be said of every form of 
 earthly pleasure, 44 Whoso drinketh of this water 
 shall thirst again.” And is there any thing else more 
 satisfying than the highest earthly joy? Yes, and 
 something which leaves no desire unsatisfied. And 
 here we have the explanation of those wonderful 
 words of Christ, which none can properly understand 
 till they experience the truth of them: 44 1 am the 
 bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hun¬ 
 ger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” 
 Religion alone satisfies the wants of the soul; it is an 
 addition to every form of human happiness; there is 
 not one human joy which is not made richer and 
 sweeter by the consciousness that, with it, we have 
 peace with God. Then, too, the thoughts of change, 
 and decay, and the end of every fond enjoyment, will 
 come unbidden into every bower of earthly happi¬ 
 ness ; and the Christian alone can triumph over such 
 thoughts, knowing that the happiness which is 
 above all to him, is superior to time, and change, 
 and death; for 44 things present and things to come. 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 93 
 
 all are yours — and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is 
 God’s.” 
 
 We have not followed cunningly-devised fables, 
 and we have no private end to secure, when we say 
 to you that, if you would be truly happy in this 
 world, you must be a Christian. We would select 
 some young friend, whose prospects are the fairest, 
 and whose present happiness is all which the world 
 can ever give, and would say to that young friend, 
 Your happiness is greatly deficient. One thing thou 
 lackest. Thousands like you have 4 clasped these 
 phantoms, and have found them air.’ Jesus said to the 
 people around him, 44 Your fathers did eat manna in the 
 wilderness, and are dead.” So we may say to you, 
 These joys seem to you like angels’ food, but all before 
 us, who have fed upon them, nevertheless are dead. 
 All like you who have had the world for their chief 
 good, 4 did eat manna in the wilderness ; ’ and what 
 are they the better for it ? they had not that bread 
 from heaven, but Christ giveth you that true bread 
 from heaven. 
 
 It is deeply affecting to think of those who had 
 this world for their portion, and lived in pleasure, 
 finding, in another world, that Christians were, even 
 in this life, happier than they; but they received 
 their good things, as they esteemed them, and like¬ 
 wise Christians evil things in their conflicts with evil, 
 but now they are comforted, while the sinner is tor- 
 
94 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 mented. What a different thing religion will seem 
 to many in another world. Here they connect it 
 only with austerity, self-denial, weeping; all seems 
 cold and repulsive to them. How will it seem when 
 the beauty of the Lord our God is upon us, when 
 every form and every face is angelic — nay, more than 
 this — like Christ, for 44 we shall be like him ; ” — 
 when our dwelling-place is the metropolis of suns 
 and stars, where the God of creation has lavished 
 the exceeding riches of his power and skill; 44 where 
 angels walk and seraphs are the warders; ” where 
 we shall have music, and eloquence, and genius, and 
 landscapes, and travels, and society, and friendships, 
 and great congregations, and homes, and friends 
 restored to each other; and the walls, and founda¬ 
 tions, and gates, and pavements of our place of habi¬ 
 tation shall be of prodigal affluence, but forgotten 
 by us in the incomparable joys of the heart and 
 mind \ Is this the Christian’s heaven \ the lost sinner, 
 the devotee of fashion, the voluptuous man, will say; 
 have Christians gained all this by their religion ] 
 Their happiness, in full tide, is just beginning, for 
 eternity, and ours is ended. Then they will lie down 
 in sorrow; but they were forewarned of this, and 
 were assured that godliness has 44 the promise of this 
 life and of that which is to come.” 
 
 And yet the Saviour himself complained that while 
 he tried to make men feel that religion was something 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 
 
 cheerful, and fitted to make them perfectly happy, he 
 was repulsed by them, as much as when he warned 
 them of the consequences of sin. “ Whereunto,” 
 he says “ shall I liken this generation \ ” For the bur 
 den of John’s mission was repentance and reformation ; 
 and he enforced it by his own austere life ; but this 
 repulsed them, when the excitement of novelty was 
 over, and they said, 6 He hath a devil; ’ he is so pecu¬ 
 liar, such a bigot, frowning upon every worldly 
 pleasure, denouncing us with such vehemence, and 
 living in such a supernatural way, that he must he 
 possessed. The Son of man came eating and drink¬ 
 ing, that is, like other people; he began his public 
 ministry at a wedding, and the first thing which he 
 did was to create the means of a festive entertain- 
 ment. Did he suit the tastes and wishes of men any 
 better ? “ And they said, Behold a man gluttonous, 
 
 and a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. 
 But wisdom is justified of her children.” Every 
 one who is truly wise will appreciate the wisdom of 
 his course in trying to conciliate men by being cheer¬ 
 ful and kind, though, alas! to no purpose. But let 
 the disposition of Christ, as presented to us in this 
 narrative, convince every one that the nature of reli¬ 
 gion is cheerful, and intended to make men happy; 
 that the path of the just ls like the shining light; 
 and that a happy Christian life, with heaven at the 
 end of it, is better than a life of sin with hell for its 
 
96 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 reward. If you will begin a religious life, if you 
 will make Christ your friend, and be a friend to 
 him, he will surprise you with the blessings of good¬ 
 ness, and with his power to make you happier, in¬ 
 finitely happier, even in this life, than the world can 
 ever do. 
 
 See that bright and cheerful face of the ruler of 
 the feast, at the head of the table, after he has tasted 
 Christ’s wine. He beckons to the bridegroom, and 
 compliments him upon his affluent, generous conduct 
 to his guests. Thus many a friend of yours gets 
 praise from you, and gratitude, for goodness and kind¬ 
 ness which are Christ’s doings. O that you could 
 see his hand and his heart in all that makes your life 
 happy, and be persuaded that he is the best of 
 friends, and that to be a friend of his is the best 
 relation and character which you can sustain. 
 
 II. The Saviour should be a specially invited 
 
 GUEST AT EVERY WEDDING. 
 
 In the first place, he is willing to come and to be 
 wherever his friends are. He is with them in prison, 
 and poverty, and sickness, and in the valley of death, 
 by his special presence ; and will he not rejoice with 
 them that do rejoice, as well as weep with them that 
 weep? Yes ; for, In the second place, he has testified 
 his great interest in marriage by beginning his public 
 ministry at a wedding. It was not a royal wedding. 
 
TIIE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 
 
 97 
 
 It was not even in Jerusalem. The place is not 
 mentioned in the Old Testament; for Kanahovas in 
 the tribe of Asher ; but this Cana, in Zebulon. It was 
 the Saviour’s interest in marriage, as relating to the 
 welfare and happiness of the whole human family, that 
 brought him to that wedding. He is that Creator, 
 whose first miracle, in the beginning of the old world, 
 was the creation of a companion for man; and now, 
 as he brings in the new creation, his first miracle is 
 at a marriage. How can we forget and neglect him 
 in this transaction ? If we ever need the Saviour’s 
 blessing and love, we need it, and it is specially pre¬ 
 cious, in that transaction which, more than any other, 
 affects the whole life. 
 
 But, perhaps, when this great event of our lives 
 was taking place, some of us forgot the Saviour. 
 We made a careful scrutiny as to the guests whom 
 we ought to invite, or whom we thought that we 
 should gratify with an invitation; and we were ex¬ 
 tremely careful to give no offence by any neglect or 
 slight, knowing how keenly such a thing at such a 
 time is felt. But, of all our friends, there was one 
 whom, perhaps, after all, we neglected; and he was 
 the very best friend we had. Perhaps he had more 
 to do with the acquaintance and love which led to 
 our marriage than any other; he took pleasure in 
 the progress of events, and brought them to their 
 consummation; and when the happy day came, and 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 every friend, who had a claim, was present, and all 
 was bright and joyous, he was neglected, and was not 
 so much as thought of as one of the guests. 
 
 And yet it might truly have been said to those 
 guests, as John the Baptist said of Christ, “ There 
 standeth one among you whom ye know not.” 
 Christ was there, an unwelcomed, unthought-of 
 spectator. He looked upon the company, the bride¬ 
 groom, and the bride; and may he not have said to 
 himself, They do not know that I loved them before 
 they loved each other; loved them, and gave myself 
 for them; and that all they enjoy is the fruit of my 
 love and sufferings for them. How much they need 
 my friendship. Once, and but a little while since, 
 they were utter strangers to each other. This union 
 is earthly; it breaks asunder at the touch of death; 
 could they but love me, were they my friends, they 
 would have in me a security to their present bliss, 
 and heaven to crown them at the end. 
 
 Months and years have rolled away, and how has 
 it fared with us, in this relation % Some of you had 
 Christ for an invited guest on the occasion of your 
 marriage ; and if you have since, consistently with 
 this, acknowledged him in all your ways, he has 
 blessed you, making you happy in your union, 
 smoothing those little asperities which happen to all, 
 and which, sometimes, grow to alienation and bitter 
 sorrow. In times of affliction he has rewarded you, 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 9£ 
 
 for your love to him, by a peace that passeth all 
 understanding. 
 
 If we have not been happy, if domestic trials and 
 sorrows have made our path gloomy, let us only 
 recollect whether we called the Saviour to the wed¬ 
 ding. Some contract marriage without thinking of 
 their God and Saviour in connection with it; but, on 
 the contrary, a suggestion that his guidance and his 
 approbation are essential to happiness, is regarded as 
 interfering with their feelings, and marring their 
 pleasure. Religion is most unwelcome, to many, in 
 these seasons of pleasurable acquaintanceship and 
 the interchange of hearts. What a mistake to think 
 that he who is called “ Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
 Mighty God,” is out of place in giving us counsel 
 about our intentions of marriage. One humble, 
 heartfelt prayer to Christ, in connection with this 
 important step, would, in thousands of cases, have 
 prevented anguish of soul from which there has been 
 no refuge but the grave. 
 
 The Saviour, whether called, or not, to the wed¬ 
 ding, heard the vows we uttered, as we took and 
 gave the right hand, and, calling God to witness, 
 swore to be faithful to each other till death. Many 
 who were witnesses of your marriage (in some 
 instances, O, how many) have gone the way of all 
 the earth ; but Christ was there ; Christ is a witness 
 of the vows, and of the manner in which they have 
 
100 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 been kept. His approbation of our kindness, for¬ 
 bearance, gentleness, faithfulness, and love unfeigned, 
 in this relation, is indispensable to peace and hap¬ 
 piness. There is no one who can appreciate such 
 things like Christ. 
 
 Christ is one day to have a marriage of his own. 
 The announcement will soon be heard, “ Let us 
 rejoice, and be glad, and give honor to him; for the 
 marriage of the Lamb is come, and the bride hath 
 made herself ready.” She has been seen by one 
 who has made a report of her, a messenger being sent 
 to him to say, 4 Come up hither; I will show thee the 
 bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ He saw the city which the 
 bridegroom had built for her, compared with which 
 the city that Solomon built for Pharaoh’s daughter 
 was a dark place. There never was such a bride as 
 this; and all the weddings of earth, should they com¬ 
 bine their festivities and brilliancy, would not be 
 seen nor thought of in that exceeding great joy. 
 Jesus Christ is to be publicly united, before the 
 universe, to this bride, and, through eternity, is to re¬ 
 joice over her with joy, and rest in his love. Bunyan, 
 when, in his dream, he saw the gates of heaven shut, 
 after the arrival of the pilgrims, says, 4 which, when 1 
 saw, I wished myself among them.’ I feel the same 
 desire. I want to see that marriage. I have been 
 invited, and I am happy to say I have, in my hands, 
 an invitation for each of you, which I now deliver. 
 
THE BRIDEGROOM AND BRIDE AT CANA. 101 
 
 signed and sealed with the Saviour’s own hand. Let 
 no man’s heart fail him at the thought of having 
 
 O O 
 
 slighted Christ in the matter of his own marriage, 
 for it is not too late, even now, to repair the injury. 
 If the anniversary of your wedding is near, let that 
 day be a time of special prayer, and reconciliation 
 with this beloved, heavenly Friend. Whether it be 
 near, or at some distance, go this day with her who, 
 with you, neglected Christ on that occasion, and, 
 hand in hand, kneel before him, and implore his 
 presence and his blessing for the remainder of your 
 way. But, if that companion be no more, seek him 
 who knows all your history ; and, in the multitude 
 of your thoughts within you, his comforts will 
 delight your soul. 
 
 Many a scene of joy and gladness will yet be 
 celebrated by many to whom I have the pleasure to 
 preach. Let me charge you to take no step in such 
 a transaction without making Christ your Friend and 
 Counsellor. He will be specially interested in all 
 that you propose, and in all that is proposed to 
 you, in such connection. Make Christ one of your 
 guests. Send to him by special prayer, and, with 
 your chosen friend and future companion, say to 
 him, 4 If thy presence go not with us, carry us not 
 up hence.’ . We read in the subsequent history of 
 Christ, 4 So Jesus came again into Cana, where he 
 made the water wine.’ Can we doubt that his inter- 
 
 9 * 
 
102 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 est in that transaction, and in those friends who bade 
 him to their wedding, led him to visit them in their 
 abode 1 Thus, though your dwelling be like humble 
 Cana, and you, like the bridegroom and bride there, 
 may not be widely known, Jesus, being specially 
 honored by you in the beginning of your marriage 
 relation, will often visit your abode, turn every com¬ 
 mon pleasure of your life into a witness that his 
 hand is in it, and seal your earthly happiness by 
 enabling you to appropriate those words: “ Blessed 
 
 ARE THEY WHICH ARE CALLED UNTO THE MARRIAGE 
 SUPPER OF THE LAMB.” 
 
V. 
 
 THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 - « - 
 
 4.NI) THE WALL OF THE CITY HAD TWELVE FOUNDATIONS, AND IN THEM THE 
 NAMES OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE LAMB. 
 
 The object of the representation in the text is, no 
 doubt, in part, to bestow exceeding honor upon the 
 apostles of Christ. Heaven is represented as a city, 
 with a wall great and high, with twelve courses of 
 foundation stones, most precious; and conspicuous 
 in those twelve stones are inscribed, here and there, 
 the names of the apostles. It would be difficult to 
 conceive of a greater mark of honor. The builders 
 of cities are celebrated in history, but here are men 
 whose names are associated with the very founda¬ 
 tions of that heavenly city, the “ new Jerusalem,” 
 “ which is above all.” We will consider 
 
 I. The call of these men to the apostleship. 
 
 The Saviour, after that John was put in prison, 
 came into Galilee, “ preaching the gospel of the 
 
 ( 103 ) 
 
104 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, 
 and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and 
 believe the gospel.” Walking by the Sea of Galilee, 
 he saw 44 Simon Peter and Andrew his brother cast¬ 
 ing a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And 
 Jesus said unto them, Follow me, and I will make 
 you to become fishers of men. And straightway 
 they forsook their nets, and followed him.” 
 
 There had been a previous interview between him 
 and these two men, in consequence of the words 
 spoken by John the Baptist to Andrew and another. 
 Simon had been brought by Andrew, his brother, to 
 Christ, and Christ had surnamed him Peter. They 
 had not, however, followed him constantly, as disci¬ 
 ples, till they were called from their boat, on the 
 same day that the two sons of Zebedee, James and 
 John, received a similar call from their boat, and 
 followed Christ. These were with their father in 
 the ship, 44 mending their nets; and they left their 
 father in the ship with the hired servants, and went 
 after him.” Their mother was Salome. 
 
 Passing by the place where the customs were 
 received, Christ saw Matthew sitting at his business, 
 and he said, “ Follow me; ” and he arose, left all, and 
 followed him. Matthew is also called Levi, who 
 made a feast for Christ, and many publicans sat down 
 with him. The day following the interview with 
 Andrew and Peter, Jesus 44 would go forth into 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 105 
 
 Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saitli unto him, 
 Follow me.” 
 
 These six disciples are all of the twelve of whose 
 call we have any account. The other six are 
 these: — 
 
 Bartholomew, of whom we know nothing. Some, 
 indeed, suppose that he was the same as Nathanael 
 of Cana, because he is mentioned by John, in the 
 last chapter of his Gospel, as present, with the 
 disciples, when Christ appeared to them, and ate 
 with them, on the sea shore. But this is a mere 
 supposition. 
 
 Simon, the Canaanite, or Zelotes, — not that he 
 was from Cana, but the word, Canaanite, is a Syro- 
 Chaldaic word, whose Greek translation is, Zelotes, 
 or a man of zeal. The sect of “ Zealots,” so called, 
 were men distinguished for their zeal in sustaining 
 Jewish institutions, and procuring the punishment 
 of offences against the ceremonial law and the 
 traditions of the elders; though the sect did not 
 prevail, to any great extent, till just before the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. Of this Simon, also, we 
 know nothing; it being probable that in all the 
 cases in which Simon is named, Peter is intended, as 
 being the elder of the two. It is doubtful whether 
 he is the Simon, as some think he is, who was 
 named by the Jews, on one occasion, with James, 
 and Joses, and Jude, as the brother of our I.ord, or 
 
106 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 (as we know that the name, in this connection, 
 means) his kinsman. — The next two were brothers. 
 
 James, the son of Alpheus, (or Cleophas,) was the 
 cousin of Jesus, being the son of ‘the other Mary.’ 
 He is called James the Less, or the younger, to dis¬ 
 tinguish him from the brother of John. James the 
 Less was the writer of one of the Epistles. 
 
 Lebbeus, or Thaddeus, is Jude, who also wrote 
 one of the Epistles. It was he who asked the ques¬ 
 tion, “ Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself 
 unto us, and not unto the world ] ” 
 
 Thomas, translated Didymus, or a twin, is known 
 to us chiefly by his doubts respecting the resurrec¬ 
 tion of Christ, and his subsequent exclamation, “ My 
 Lord and my God.” 
 
 Judas Iscariot is so called from his belonging to a 
 place called Kerioth, in the tribe of Judah, —- Ish 
 Carioth, (or Is Cariot,) meaning a man of Carioth. 
 
 When and how these six were called to be 
 disciples of Christ, we do not learn. Their appoint¬ 
 ment with the other six, as the twelve apostles, is 
 distinctly mentioned. A disciple is a learner; an 
 apostle is a messenger; and the time came for Christ 
 to select from his disciples, or attendant learners, 
 some whom he should commission as apostles. 
 
 Their appointment is thus mentioned by the evan¬ 
 gelist Luke: “ And it came to pass, in those days, 
 that he went out into a mountain to pray, and 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 107 
 
 continued all night in prayer to God. And when 
 it was day, he called unto him his disciples, and 
 of them he chose twelve, whom he also named 
 apostles.” 
 
 The selection and appointment of the twelve 
 apostles was preceded by a whole night of prayer. 
 Even the perfect man, Christ Jesus, would not 
 approach so momentous a work as the selection of 
 those who were to be the inspired apostles, without 
 prayer, and that of no ordinary kind. On the mor¬ 
 row, he had purposed to make choice of the men to 
 whom all succeeding generations would look, as the 
 first authorized expounders of the Christian religion. 
 Never was the selection of cabinet ministers and 
 privy councillors, ambassadors, or commissioners, so 
 important as that selection of the apostles, the prime 
 ministers of a kingdom which was to be an everlast¬ 
 ing kingdom; ambassadors, on the high concerns of 
 eternity, between God and man. The great impor¬ 
 tance of this selection, perhaps, kept the Saviour 
 awake all night, and, in communion with God, he 
 sought and obtained direction. Here is an instance 
 in which his human nature is seen to retain all its 
 dependence, its need of prayer and of divine guid¬ 
 ance ; the presence, in his person, of the divine TV ord, 
 never confounding the distinction between the human 
 and the divine, but leaving him still 4 the man Christ 
 Jesus.’ And let us note, that, if such as he needed 
 
108 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 to pray, and if he spent so much time in prayer to 
 qualify himself for important transactions in his 
 earthly life, we cannot safely perform our duties, and, 
 especially, we cannot discharge important trusts com 
 mitted to us, unless we pray in a manner that shows 
 us to be in earnest, with much deliberation and reflec¬ 
 tion, and repeated and protracted waiting upon God. 
 There is nothing more profitable for one who has a 
 solemn and important duty to perform, or question 
 to settle, or difficulty to manage, than to retire for a 
 longer time than an ordinary season of devotion, and 
 spend it with God. All who have been eminently 
 blessed as useful men, refer to such seasons as having 
 had an important connection with their success. If 
 churches seeking pastors were to meet frequently 
 for special prayer, and, while using proper means to 
 obtain information respecting candidates, would place 
 their chief dependence on Him who, at his ascension, 
 received such 44 gifts for men,” they would imitate 
 him in his selection of his first ministers. 
 
 Having appointed these twelve disciples, the first 
 thing which he did, as we learn from Luke, was, to 
 deliver in their hearing, addressing himself specially to 
 them, the Sermon on the Mount. In this, he unfolded 
 to them some of the first principles of his religion, as 
 they were able to bear them, deferring the more im¬ 
 portant mysteries, the deep things of God, till after 
 his ascension, when they should have been with him 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 109 
 
 longer, ancl thus be fully prepared for truths which, 
 with their ignorance and Jewish notions, they would 
 not have been able to receive. Having kept them 
 for about three years with him, taking advantage of 
 every event to instruct them and to correct them, 
 sometimes reproving and even chiding them, but 
 always treating them with affection, the time came 
 for him to leave them ; and we may easily imagine the 
 sorrow with which the announcement of that pur¬ 
 pose filled their hearts. The account of the farewell 
 scenes between him and them, beginning with the 
 celebration of the last passover, and his discourse to 
 them, and the last prayer on that occasion, are not 
 surpassed in interest and instructiveness by any thing 
 in the Saviour’s life. He finally stood with them on 
 Mount Olivet, and gave them their great commission 
 to go 4 into all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature ’; and it came to pass, while he blessed 
 them, that he was parted from them, and carried up 
 into heaven, and a cloud received him out of their 
 sight. 
 
 At an early meeting after the ascension of their 
 
 Lord, they proceeded to fill the vacancy made by the 
 
 apostasy and death of Judas, and chose Matthias by 
 
 lot; but no mention is afterward made of him; and 
 
 this has led some strangely to question whether they 
 
 did not transcend their duty and the necessities of the 
 
 case, and whether it was not intended that the place 
 
 10 
 
no 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 of Judas should continue vacant, or be filled by the 
 apostle Paul. But all this implies a doubt of their 
 inspiration. The New Testament is also silent with 
 regard to the life and labors of Bartholomew, and 
 Simon Zelotes. That the place of Judas was to be 
 filled, we learn from the Psalm quoted by Peter at 
 the election of a new apostle; quoted, surely, not as 
 a verse of poetry, having a mere accidental resem¬ 
 blance to the case, but as an inspired prophecy, say¬ 
 ing of Judas, 44 Let his habitation be desolate, and 
 his bishopric let another take.” Paul was appointed 
 independently of any connection with the original 
 apostles, for special reasons, as a new, independent 
 witness for Christ, which he takes pains to insist 
 upon, where he says, that, when it pleased God 
 who had separated him from his birth, 44 to reveal his 
 Son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh 
 and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them 
 that were apostles before me.” We cannot reasona¬ 
 bly question that Matthias was divinely designated 
 to complete the number of the twelve, after that 
 Judas had gone to his own place. Fame or notoriety 
 is not essential to usefulness or acceptableness with 
 God. The labors and faith of those apostles who 
 have no reward in the applause of men, were not 
 disregarded or forgotten by Him unto whom 4 belong- 
 eth mercy; for he rendereth to every man according 
 to his work.’ 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 II. The FIRST APOSTLES ARE AN ILLUSTRATION OF 
 THAT SOVEREIGN LOVE IN CHRIST WHICH IS INDE¬ 
 PENDENT OF HUMAN MERIT. 
 
 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, 
 and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth 
 fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” John says 
 of Christ, We love him because he first loved us. 
 If David had occasion, as the son of Jesse the Beth- 
 lehemite, to say, in wonder at God’s covenant prom¬ 
 ises to him, “ Who am I, O Lord God, and what is 
 my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto 1 ” 
 surely the fishermen of Galilee, and Matthew the 
 publican, might exclaim, with, at least, equal wonder 
 and humility, “ Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, 
 but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for 
 thy truth’s sake.” 
 
 Here were tw T o men, Andrew and Peter, busy at 
 their work, spreading their net in the sea. They had 
 already seen Him of whom Moses in the law and the 
 prophets did write; and now, as they plied their task 
 as fishermen, perhaps they talked together of Him 
 whom kings and prophets had desired to see, but had 
 not seen him, while these two fishermen had seen 
 where he dwelt and had abode with him for a part 
 of a day, They were brothers. They were kind 
 brothers. The first thing which Andrew did, when 
 John the Baptist pointed out Christ to him, was, to 
 find his own brother Simon. No family quarrel, or 
 
112 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 small jealousy, or alienated affection, severed them ; 
 but Andrew brought his brother, Simon, to Jesus; 
 and now, as they go back to their lake and their 
 nets, behold, how good and pleasant they find it for 
 brethren to dwell together in unity. Jesus called 
 them as brothers, and blessed them as brothers. As 
 they cast out their net together into the lake, intent 
 only on the shoal of fishes which they see, or expect, 
 in that place, a voice behind them, from the shore, 
 speaks, 44 Come ye after me, and I will make you 
 fishers of men.” It is their new Friend. Some 
 irresistible influence accompanied the word; 44 and 
 straightway they forsook their nets, and followed 
 him. And when he had gone a little farther thence, 
 he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his 
 brother, who also were in the ship, mending their 
 nets,” with their father and hired servants. The 
 busy group, at work on their fishing tackle, lifted up 
 their heads at the sound of a strange, but wonder¬ 
 working voice, directed to those two brothers, com¬ 
 manding them to follow. And they left their father, 
 Zebedee, in the ship, with the hired servants, and 
 went after him. Two brothers, again, coming to¬ 
 gether to Christ, to spend life and eternity together, 
 in his service. In the last chapter of John, we read 
 of Judas, the brother of James, and, turning to the 
 Epistle of this Judas, or Jude, we also read, 4 Jude, 
 the servant of Christ, and brother of James.’ Three 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 113 
 
 pairs of brothers, then, among the first twelve apos¬ 
 tles. Brothers, Christ has consecrated your rela¬ 
 tionship. He loves to have brothers joined in his 
 service. 
 
 There is another apostle, still, whom Christ must 
 find, and for that purpose he would go forth into 
 tfalilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, 
 Follow me. What condescension and kindness, to 
 go after him, as though he were a personage of 
 importance. 
 
 Again : he passes by the place where the customs, 
 or taxes, are payable; a man sits there, with his 
 parchments and writing materials around him, and 
 Christ says to him, Follow me. And he arose, and 
 followed him. 
 
 O Saviour, the prophecy is fulfilled in thee: “ I am 
 sought of them that asked not for me, I am found 
 of them that sought me not; I said, Behold me, 
 behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my 
 name.” Behold, thus thou 4 shalt call a nation which 
 thou knewest not, and nations that knew not thee 
 shall run unto thee.’ 
 
 There is no one of us, Christian brethren and 
 friends, who is not, in like manner, an instance of 
 sovereign, selecting mercy. Never, while memory 
 remains, can you cease to say, 
 
 “ Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
 
 Wandering from the fold of God.” 
 
 10 * 
 
114 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 With all the distinctness and separateness with 
 which Christ called Andrew, and Peter, and Philip, 
 and Matthew, did he fix bis thoughts on you, and 
 call you. He came “ to seek and to save ” you. 
 There was a time when, at your work, or in your 
 travels, or in your home, or in your pew, or on the 
 deep; sick, bereaved, or rejoicing in some great bless¬ 
 ing, Christ stood, and said to you, Follow me; and 
 you arose and followed him. See, in the calling of 
 these men, how Christ has treated you; and be pre¬ 
 pared, by adoring thoughts of his sovereign love, to 
 cast your crowns, with the apostles, at his feet, saying, 
 “ And hath made us kings and priests unto God and 
 his Father.” What humility it should excite in us ; 
 how destitute of pride, and haughtiness, and cold¬ 
 ness, and repulsiveness, how meek, and gentle, and 
 affable, as Christians, we ought to be, to think that, 
 if we are Christians, it is of pure grace, mercy to the 
 undeserving, the voluntary search of the good Shep¬ 
 herd after sheep that had wandered, and had loved 
 to wander. 
 
 III. Christ, in his selection of the apostles, 
 
 TEACHES US, THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BELONGS 
 TO THE POOR IN SPIRIT. 
 
 These men had no ambitious, aspiring thoughts, 
 such as learning, and riches, and rank, and talents 
 too often excite. Passing by, that very morning, 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 115 
 
 perhaps, the place where the sanhedrim were in 
 session, or the scribes and Pharisees, and all the 
 doctors of the law, were gathering together, — neg¬ 
 lecting, too, the whole priesthood, — Jesus goes to 
 some obscure men, poor in spirit, and makes them 
 rulers over all that he had. 
 
 It is a great satisfaction, when God calls us to 
 any promotion, whether of happiness or honor, to 
 reflect that we had not been laying ambitious plans 
 for it, but were meekly and patiently following our 
 humble business, or our appointed work, whatever it 
 may have been; and that he, in his own good time, 
 called us to inherit and to serve in the place which 
 he had chosen for us. Even if we have been so 
 unwise as to hasten the events of Providence, in any 
 thing upon which we had set our hearts, we have 
 found, afterwards, that God’s time and plan were 
 the best, and, if patience had had her perfect work, 
 our satisfaction in his allotments would have been 
 more perfect. That is the best honor and happiness, 
 to which God calls a man when he is not expecting 
 it, but is contentedly doing his duty, as unto God 
 and not unto men, in the place which Providence 
 had assigned him. In like manner, if we but feel 
 our unworthiness, and that the least of God’s mercies 
 is more than we merit, and when he afflicts us, that 
 it is far less than we deserve, we shall be sure to 
 receive great spiritual blessings. The reason why 
 
116 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 many a man is not converted is, he is lofty, and self- 
 sufficient, and feels that he is rich, and in need of 
 nothing. So he sits in judgment on the doctrines 
 and word of God, and rejects all which does not 
 please his fancy, and disdains to come as a humble 
 inquirer, and ask, What must I do to be saved 1 
 The fishermen and the publican go into the kingdom 
 of heaven, and become great there, while the proud 
 Pharisee stalks by, blows his trumpet, gives alms, 
 kneels at the corner of the street to say his prayers, 
 and goes to the council, where Jesus stands ar¬ 
 raigned, and cries, Crucify him, crucify him. Let us 
 be sure of this, as we see how Christ began to gather 
 together his disciples and apostles, that many things 
 which are highly esteemed among men are abomina¬ 
 tion in the sight of God ; and that 4 whoso doth not 
 receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in 
 no wise enter therein.’ 
 
 We are to feel encouraged, also, as we see our 
 calling, how that not many wise, not many mighty, 
 not many noble, are called. The kingdom of Christ 
 is like a free republic, in which any citizen, without 
 distinction, may be admitted to the highest privileges 
 and honors. How unlike the spirit of tyrannical 
 lords spiritual, and the systems of ecclesiastical pre¬ 
 rogatives. God will take a man from the sheepfold 
 and make him the progenitor of the Messiah, who, 
 while he is David’s Lord, shall be David’s son 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 in 
 
 When that Messiah sets up his kingdom, he will turn 
 away from the seats of learning for his first apostles, 
 and go down to the beach among the fishing boats, 
 and four men in their fishing garb, with their nets in 
 their hand, shall hear his voice, and follow him. 
 “ Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of 
 God. 1 ’ 
 
 Our learning, and cultivation, and wealth, and 
 honors are nothing to Christ. 44 He poureth con¬ 
 tempt upon princes, and raiseth the poor out of the 
 dunghill.” So that if we would enter the kingdom 
 of heaven, while we need not change our condition 
 in life, we must have the temper and spirit of the 
 humble poor; for 4 to this man God will look, even to 
 him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trem¬ 
 ble tli at his word.’ 
 
 IV. The promptness with which the apostles 
 
 FORSOOK ALL FOR CHRIST, TEACHES US HOW WE SHOULD 
 OBEY HIS CALL. 
 
 We have all been called by him. He is calling 
 some of us now. See how these men responded, 
 when Jesus said to them, as he now says to some of 
 us, Follow me. Andrew and Peter left their nets and 
 followed him. Some of us, there is reason to fear, 
 would have said, Lord, suffer us first to enclose this 
 draught of fishes. We are poor. We need to labor 
 diligently for our livelihood. James' and John, had 
 
118 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 they felt like some of us, would have said to their 
 father, What shall we do ] Matthew the publican 
 would have pleaded his pressing business. 
 
 There is something — shall we call it sublime, or 
 beautiful! — in the way in which those men obeyed 
 Christ. Half the merit of obedience consists in 
 promptness. A lingering, hesitating child never sat¬ 
 isfies a parent’s wishes and feelings; but, “ Here am 
 I; send me,” always awakens love. The conduct of 
 many with regard to their religious feelings and prac¬ 
 tice, reminds one of Solomon’s exclamation: “As 
 vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is a 
 sluggard to them that send him.” The wise man 
 seems to have had a great repugnance to sluggards. 
 Dilatoriness, want of punctuality, in one employed to 
 serve you, is a trial. The Laodicean church, by its 
 indifference in religion, excited the peculiar repre¬ 
 hension of Christ. There is nothing more suitable 
 than an immediate compliance with the first call 
 which Christ makes. To hesitate, to question, to be 
 afraid, how unworthy all this is of Christ, and of the 
 infinite blessedness of that service to which he calls 
 men. It is a winder of mercy that he ever calls us 
 a second time ; that he “ will wait to be gracious.” 
 These apostles forsook every thing, risked every 
 thing, to follow Christ. They did not sit in their 
 boats, feeling the pulse of their affections, question 
 ing if they really loved Christ, or if they should per 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES; 
 
 119 
 
 severe in serving him, thinking how bad it would be 
 to follow Christ a while and then falter; but they 
 rose up and followed him; and that effort, and that 
 full committal of their all to him, were the means, by 
 his grace, of securing their affections and obedience. 
 The whole cause of sluggishness in coming to Christ 
 is, a want of proper confidence in him, an unwilling¬ 
 ness or fear to commit ourselves to him. If any man 
 ever had reason to hesitate about following Christ, it 
 was Peter. He knew how prone he was to waver 
 in his feelings, how inconstant his affections; and 
 though bold as a lion sometimes, yet, as the king of 
 beasts is said to tremble at the crowing of the cock, 
 so Peter was easily shaken ; and he was the last man, 
 knowing his own heart, who, we should have sup¬ 
 posed, would have ventured to follow Christ. But he 
 said to the Saviour, “ Lo, we have left all, and have 
 followed thee.” What was the consequence? He 
 did falter. His faith sometimes failed him. He un¬ 
 dertakes to walk on the water to Christ, and sinks, 
 and cries for help. He follows Christ afar off at the 
 time of the Saviour’s arrest. He denies him with 
 oaths and cursing. But Christ has prayed for him, 
 that his faith fail not, and he becomes, at last, that 
 which Christ surnamed him, a rock; He built his 
 church on him, as one of the foundations, and thei 
 gates of hell have never prevailed against it. And 
 now the walls of that emblematical heavenly city 
 
120 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 bear, in the foundations of jasper, emerald, and sap¬ 
 phire, the name of Simon Peter, the man who did 
 not stop to think, when Christ called him, Shall I 
 persevere ? but threw himself at the Saviour's feet, 
 and found him able to keep that which he had com¬ 
 mitted unto him against that day. We, who profess 
 to have followed Christ, sometimes wish that we 
 could, with our present knowledge and experience, 
 have the opportunity again to obey the first call of 
 Christ. We would have you improve upon our 
 backwardness, and be admonished by our error; and 
 we, as Christians, would follow Christ now in such a 
 way as to show to you, and to all, that we, too, have 
 forsaken all to follow him. 
 
 V. The history of the apostles teaches us the 
 
 REWARDS WHICH CHRIST GIVES HIS FAITHFUL SERVANTS. 
 
 No one ever served him for nothing. If he re¬ 
 quires much of us, he gives more. 44 He that loveth 
 son and daughter more than me is not worthy of 
 me.” 44 If any man come after me, and forsake not 
 all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” 4 If any 
 man hate not his own life also, he cannot be my dis¬ 
 ciple.’ Such are his requisitions. What did he 
 give these followers to recompense them for their self- 
 sacrifice % In the first place, The pleasure they had 
 in doing it was reward enough. But, in the second 
 place, They enjoyed the richest of blessings. They 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 121 
 
 had the Saviour’s constant instructions. They en¬ 
 joyed his constant watch and care. 4 Those whom 
 thou hast given me I have kept.’ 4 While I was in 
 the world I kept them in thy name.’ They enjoyed 
 his love. 4 Having loved his own which were in the 
 world, he loved them unto the end.’ He bestowed 
 great favors upon them. Three of them went to the 
 mount of transfiguration with him, and, though they 
 were sore afraid, the remembrance of it, afterward, 
 was inexpressibly interesting to them. They went 
 with him, also, unto Gethsemane; and though they 
 slept there, yet the recollection of such friendship, 
 in making them companions in his sore distress, after¬ 
 ward bound them to his cause with bonds which were 
 
 stronger than death. He took them with him to Oli- 
 
 % 
 
 vet; prayed with them ; gave them their commission 
 to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature; endowed them with miraculous gifts ; 
 and went up to heaven in their sight, promising still 
 to be with them alway, even unto the end of the 
 world. They received the Holy Ghost and the gift 
 
 of tongues. They spread the knowledge of his 
 
 * 
 
 name to the ends of the earth. Two of them wrote 
 the most important of the four Gospels; and four 
 of them, Epistles, which are guiding generations of 
 men to heaven ; and one of them was employed to 
 reveal heaven itself to men. Thus we see with 
 what appropriateness their names are symbolically 
 
122 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 represented to us as inscribed in the foundation 
 stones of heaven, because they were honored with 
 the work of building up the kingdom of Christ from 
 its foundations ; and all who are saved are said to be 
 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. 
 
 What though the most of them died by martyr¬ 
 dom 1 They rejoiced that they were counted worthy 
 to suffer. When Peter came to be crucified, he only 
 requested to die with his head downward, as not 
 worthy to suffer like his Master. Their pains were 
 sharp, but they were short; and the end was life 
 everlasting. What must be the reflections of those 
 men in heaven. Some of them look back to that 
 Lake of Galilee; they think of that moment when 
 Christ called them. Matthew recollects his seat at 
 the customs — how Christ came by and said, “Fol¬ 
 low me; ” and from the moment of their prompt 
 obedience they date the beginning of their blissful 
 eternity. Had one of us, perhaps they say, had one 
 of us hesitated to follow Christ; had we loved the 
 world; had we been afraid to commit our all to 
 Christ; or had we feared that we should not hold 
 out, and so had not set out, — what should we have 
 lost. Where in the universe is there wealth enough, 
 honor enough, bliss enough, to make one of them 
 willing that his emblazoned name should be rased 
 from that foundation stone! Where else in the 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 123 
 
 universe would they give one poor thought or wish 
 to have it recorded ? All this is the consequence of 
 that which is written in this brief verse: “And Jesus 
 said unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and fol¬ 
 lowed him.” 
 
 When Christ calls us, we know not what he in¬ 
 tends to do by us and with us. Would we but give 
 ourselves up to him at once, with cheerfulness and 
 entire confidence, thinking not of our weakness and 
 unworthiness, but of his power and faithfulness, he 
 might employ us to glorify him; and thus identify 
 our names with that kingdom which is to be eternal. 
 
 When you think of what these men did in the 
 brief period of their lives, and what the consequences 
 were and will be, what an imperishable happiness 
 they have secured for themselves, what glory and 
 honor will forever belong to their names, and then 
 consider that Christ calls us to be his servants, tell¬ 
 ing us that, if we be faithful over few things, he will 
 make us rulers over many things, and then reflect 
 how fast life passes away, how much of it is gone 
 with many, how earnest and laborious they must be 
 if they would answer life’s great end, it would seem 
 that every one would respond to the first call of his 
 God and Saviour, and, without delay, consecrate 
 himself to Christ, who calls him to his eternal king¬ 
 dom and glory. What if we fail at last to have a 
 place within that heavenly city, where the fruits of 
 
124 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the gospel are gathered from this world 1 Where 
 shall we be, if not included in those walls whose 
 foundations are sealed with the names of the apos¬ 
 tles of the Lamb 1 
 
 VI. The name of Judas stands in affecting 
 
 CONTRAST TO THE NAMES OF THE APOSTLES. 
 
 Good were it for that man, the Saviour said, if he 
 had never been born. Of course he will not, even 
 after the lapse of ages, be received to heaven ; for then 
 an eternity of happiness would compensate for all 
 that he had suffered. He has gone to his own place. 
 His name is covered with eternal infamy. So long 
 as redemption is remembered, so long as Jesus reigns 
 in glory, and the Lamb is the light of heaven, so 
 long the name and history of Judas will be remem¬ 
 bered for shame and everlasting contempt. The 
 names of the other apostles grace the foundations of 
 heaven; those precious stones are a shrine to their 
 names, themselves more precious than rubies. His 
 name is on the walls of hell, and his deeds are cov¬ 
 ered with the blackness of darkness forever. 
 
 How true it is that whoever has any thing to do 
 with Christ, whoever is distinguished at all by the 
 Saviour s favor, whoever has his name coupled, for 
 good or ill, with the cause of Christ, is raised by it 
 to a proud distinction or to a bad eminence, accord¬ 
 ing to his deeds. To be a friend of Christ is glory 
 
TIIE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 125 
 
 and honor; and this in proportion to the ardor and 
 constancy of your love. To be an enemy to Christ, 
 or, in other words, not to he his friend, is to have 
 our portion with the lost, in sufferings and sorrows 
 proportionate to our opportunities of knowing, lov¬ 
 ing, and serving Christ. 
 
 Those days, when Jesus walked and talked with 
 him, ate with him, and even kneeled to wash his feet, 
 occur to the unhappy Judas, as the day of grace 
 with him, when he, too, might have had his name 
 written with the rest of the apostles in the founda¬ 
 tions of heaven. There is no vacant place in those 
 walls marked with outlines of sable stone, no 
 mourning tablet, where the name of Judas should 
 have been, and testifying sorrow at his loss. The 
 place of his name is filled with that of another. 
 So, “ If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself, and 
 if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.” Christ 
 offers you a place in glory, and, what is, surely, an 
 additional honor and privilege, if you can believe it, 
 a place in his church here, and an apostleship to 
 your fellow-men, and then a place in heaven, where 
 you shall see and enjoy the fruit of your labor. But, 
 if you refuse, there are others that will take that 
 which you reject. And you will be left to think, 
 What did I gain by rejecting Christ and religion % 
 Perhaps as much, and perhaps not so much, as Judas 
 
 gained in exchange for his apostleship, his Christian 
 
 11* 
 
] 26 
 
 THE FRTENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 character, his interest in Christ, his inheritance in 
 heaven. Thus it may be with you. Some bawble, 
 some idolatrous desire for show or pleasure, some 
 lust, some secret shame, or sloth, is the price for 
 which many are parting with Christ, and their 
 eternal all; and some of them are members of 
 Christ’s church. You will lose even the price of 
 your iniquity, which will perish with the using, or 
 be taken from you at death. Those thirty pieces of 
 silver were flung down, and flung away, upon the 
 stone floor of the temple. O sinner, you are bar¬ 
 tering heaven, selling Christ, putting your soul into 
 the hands of Satan, in exchange for that which will 
 soon seem to be nothing. False professors, you are 
 preparing for an eternity with Judas, going from the 
 company of Christ’s disciples to your own place. 
 Ye friends of Christ, not in name only, but in deed 
 and truth his friends, hear his promise: “ He that 
 confessetli me before men, him will I also confess 
 before my Father, and before his angels.” “Ye are 
 they that have continued with me in my temptations, 
 and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father 
 hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink 
 at my table, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel.” Are Andrew, and Peter, and 
 Matthew, and Philip, raised from obscurity, by being 
 each a devoted friend to Jesus'? So shall it be with 
 you, if you live for Christ. “ And behold, there are 
 
THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
 
 127 
 
 last that shall be first.” Consecrate yourselves to 
 him. Do it with a promptness, with a confidence in 
 him, with an entireness, which shall testify for you in 
 the day of his appearing. Simon Peter appeals to 
 us, with the true motive, and the great reward: — 
 
 “ THAT, WHEN HIS GLORY SHALL BE REVEALED, YE MAY 
 BE GLAD ALSO, WITH EXCEEDING JOY.” 
 
VI. 
 
 THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 - «- 
 
 HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID. 
 
 The obligations of children to the Saviour of the 
 world are peculiar, and deeply interesting. We 
 should expect to find some demonstration from them 
 to their infinite Friend, among the testimonials of 
 love and worship given to him during his earthly life. 
 
 Their hosanna, in the temple, is a part of a most 
 interesting passage in the Saviour’s history, which 
 we must attentively consider, to understand the chil¬ 
 dren’s worship. 
 
 One of the most affecting things connected with 
 the Saviour’s sufferings and death, is, the zeal with 
 which he hastened to suffer, at the time appointed. 
 44 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem ; 
 and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed.” 
 The disciples knew that this was his last journey to 
 Jerusalem, where he was to be crucified ; and yet 
 
 ( 1Q8 ) 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 129 
 
 there was an earnestness in his manner, at which, as 
 the evangelist says, the companions of his journey 
 4 were amazed.’ He passed on at some distance before 
 them, leaving them behind, in his apparent zeal to 
 reach the city. Supernatural impressions seemed to 
 be upon him, making his whole appearance some¬ 
 what strange and marvellous, whereupon he repeated 
 the information already given: 44 Behold, we go up 
 to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered 
 unto the chief priests and scribes, and they shall 
 condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to tlm 
 Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and shall scourge 
 him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him; 
 and the third day he shall rise again.” In full 
 knowledge of all this, he hasted to the place of sacri¬ 
 fice, fulfilling his own words respecting the yielding 
 up of his life: 44 No man taketh it from me, but I lay 
 it down of myself; I have power to lay it down, 
 and I have power to take it again.” Thus we see 
 him 44 pouring out his soul unto death, and making 
 intercession for the transgressors.” 
 
 Arriving at Bethphage, which was a village whose 
 site has perished, but near Bethany, and between 
 two and three miles from Jerusalem, he paused 
 before he entered the great city. He was never to 
 leave the place again till he left it for heaven, except 
 as he retired at night to Bethany, to sleep. 
 
 He prepared for his entrance into Jerusalem in a 
 
130 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 remarkable manner. Instead of passing into the 
 city as usual, like a worn and weary traveller, 
 undistinguished from the multitude, and unnoticed, 
 he proposes to make a sort of triumphal entry. It 
 was the only instance of the kind, in his history, 
 in which he departed from the plain and ordinary 
 methods of common life; but, now, he will manifest 
 himself, not as a man of sorrows, but as King 
 of Zion. When the time had come for him to suffer 
 and die, you remember that he said, “ Now is the 
 Son of man glorified ”; therefore, when he entered 
 the city to die, he entered it as a king. It is plain 
 that Christ regarded his death as the grand event of 
 his coming into the world. It was not, principally, 
 to be a teacher, nor an example; he is the 4 Lamb of 
 God ’; he came to make a sacrifice 44 of his body, 
 once for all,” 44 to give his life a ransom for many.” 
 When the time to do this arrives, he begins to 
 assume the character of a king ; and it was only 
 when he came to die, that he assumed to be a king. 
 Death was his coronation. The reed for a sceptre, 
 the purple robe, the bowing of the knee before him, 
 Pilate’s inscription on the cross, 4 This is the King 
 of the Jews,’ were all truly significant of his kingly 
 character, though his enemies meant them for mock¬ 
 ery. In passing to the altar of sacrifice, Jesus goes 
 triumphantly as king. 
 
 Now, we will look at this King as he passes by 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 131 
 
 We know that he is “ the Prince of the kings of the 
 earth.” He is to “ reign till all enemies are put 
 under his feet.” He is to have upon his head “many 
 crowns.” He is to see the whole earth at his feet, 
 and the hosts of heaven. Jerusalem, as the metrop¬ 
 olis of the church of God, and representing the seat 
 of his spiritual government, is now to be entered by 
 him in his royal capacity; but, strange to say, he 
 enters there to reach his kingdom and ascend his 
 throne by suffering and dying on a cross, between 
 two thieves. 
 
 He directed two of his disciples to bring him a 
 young ass, with her colt; and that colt, whereon 
 never man sat, was chosen by him to ride upon into 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 They who think that there was something low or 
 mean in this, are wholly mistaken. The general use 
 of the horse was prohibited to the Jews, because it 
 excited a reliance upon outward means of defence 
 in war, to the neglect of immediate help from God. 
 The ass was not held in such contempt as in coun¬ 
 tries where the horse is common. Deborah thus 
 addresses the governors of Israel, as those 4 that ride 
 upon white asses.’ David rode upon a mule, and 
 directed that Solomon should do the same at his 
 coronation. 
 
 So that all which was remarkable in what Christ 
 did on this occasion was, that He, who is Lord of 
 
132 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 lords and King of kings, should ride like other men; 
 which was literally the case, if we except two or 
 three things, in this instance, which indicate humil¬ 
 ity, but nothing affected, and nothing mean. One 
 is, that he had no animal of his own ; for he “ had 
 not where to lay his head.” He borrowed either of 
 one who was a friend, or, by his almighty power, in¬ 
 clined the heart of the owner, a stranger, to lend to 
 him. Another is, that he made no show of ornament 
 or rank. They brought no Roman saddle, with 
 housing of purple and gold, nor curious bridle; but 
 just as a man in those days would ride, with the 
 halter or string, which tied the animal, and merely 
 his own loose upper garment thrown upon the crea¬ 
 ture’s back, with nothing to attract notice, just as 
 John would have rode, or Philip, so Jesus rode 
 toward the city of the great King. 
 
 And now, though, as before observed, there was 
 nothing mean or affected in this, we perceive in it 
 wonderful meekness and condescension. True, it is 
 all in keeping with the history of Him who was laid 
 in the manger. Why did he enter Jerusalem in this 
 manner'? We are expressly informed upon this 
 question. “ All this w T as done, that it might be ful¬ 
 filled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell 
 ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh 
 unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, 
 the foal of an ass.” We find this prophecy in 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 133 
 
 Zechariah: “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; 
 shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King 
 cometh unto thee ; he is just, and having salvation ; 
 lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the 
 foal of an ass.” 
 
 The kings of the earth, in those days, would have 
 come with horses, and chariots, and bands of music; 
 with a body guard, and a great retinue. The King 
 of heaven proceeds to his throne in humble mien ; 
 and, when they saw him, there was 6 no beauty in 
 him, that they should desire him.’ He wished to 
 make men see that, in all his feelings and sympa¬ 
 thies, he was one of them, and to be able, with the 
 powerful proof of a consistent life, to say, “ Take 
 my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek 
 and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your 
 souls.” But the full meaning of this humble entrance 
 into Jerusalem did not appear to the disciples at the 
 time, as one of them, the evangelist John, tells us: 
 “ These things understood not his disciples at the 
 first; but, when Jesus was glorified, then remem¬ 
 bered they that these things were written of him, 
 and that they had done these things unto him.” 
 How they must have wondered when they saw him 
 pouring out his Spirit, and converting the tribes of 
 the earth; how John, in Patmos, must have won¬ 
 dered, when he saw him on the throne of the 
 
 universe; how we shall wonder, when we see him 
 
 12 
 
134 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 coming in the clouds of heaven, and all his holy 
 angels with him, to think that, when he entered 
 Jerusalem to suffer and die, nay, in his kingly char¬ 
 acter, taking the last step from the cross to his 
 universal throne, he should have rode upon that 
 humble beast, with Simon Peter’s garment, it may 
 be, or Iscariot’s, thrown upon the creature, with no 
 regard to style or attractiveness in his manner. Our 
 hearts bow before this great God and Saviour; our 
 pride is hateful, and our vanity is sickening. Are we 
 offended at the thought of such a Saviour % “ Blessed 
 is he,” Christ said, “ whosoever shall not be offended 
 in me.” 
 
 This entrance of Christ was, nevertheless, a tri¬ 
 umph, as will now appear. 
 
 It was the week of the Passover. Jerusalem was 
 filled with people from all parts of the land, and this 
 time was chosen for this triumphal, emblematical 
 coming of the King of Zion. It was a preternatural 
 influence that moved the multitude of the disciples, 
 just at that time, to do honor to Christ. As soon as 
 Christ began to ride, the whole population around 
 him seemed to be moved by an impulse as sudden as 
 when a rising wind shakes the tree tops, and the 
 woods begin to rustle, and bend before the breeze. 
 Why the multitude of disciples should have been 
 affected in this manner, just at this time, you cannot 
 explain, except as you attribute it to the special 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 135 
 
 power of Gocl. It was like some revivals of religion, 
 — the sudden, special presence of God’s Spirit, that 
 heavenly wind, blowing where it listeth. For we 
 read, “ And a very great multitude spread their gar¬ 
 ments in the way; others cut down branches from 
 the trees, and strewed them in the way.” Like a 
 popular enthusiasm, as when a multitude detach the 
 horses from the chariot of a distinguished guest, and 
 draw it themselves in triumph, and others strew 
 dowers and garlands along the road, so, in this 
 strange and sudden demonstration, the multitude 
 that were attracted by the news that Christ was on 
 his way to Jerusalem, threw down their garments for 
 this King, while others gathered branches from the 
 trees, and made the path before him green. “ And 
 the multitudes that went before, and that followed, 
 cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed 
 is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; hosanna 
 in the highest.” John says, “ The people, therefore, 
 that was with him when he called Lazarus out of 
 his grave, and raised him from the dead, hear record. 
 For this cause the people also met him; for that 
 tliev heard that he had done this miracle.” “ And 
 when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was 
 moved, saying, Who is this 1 ” We may answer them, 
 and say, What is this % He has been daily with you 
 m the temple, and ye never cried, Hosanna, in this 
 manner, nor gave him such a triumphal reception. 
 
136 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST 
 
 We see in all this that wonderful stream, that under 
 current, of prophetic events, bearing forward the great 
 mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the day of days, 
 when Moses and Aaron, and the prophets, altars and 
 visions, are all to be superseded, being fulfilled, by 
 the great atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God. 
 John afterward in vision said, 44 And I looked, and 
 io, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him 
 a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his 
 Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I 
 heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many 
 waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, and I 
 heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” 
 The 4 Lamb ’ was now on his way to the earthly 
 4 Mount Zion ’; thence he goes to Calvary, and thence 
 to Mount Zion above, where, as Redeemer, he is to 
 be loved and worshipped. 
 
 How easy it is for God to move the hearts of men 
 to fulfil his purposes. 44 Thy people shall be willing 
 in the day of thy power.” Christ must receive the 
 acclamations of the people now, and ride prosperously 
 into the great city of David, as an emblem of his 
 coming ascendency over the house of David, as well 
 as over the Gentiles. But let us follow this triumph¬ 
 ant King, Whither does he lead us % Surely to the 
 palace, where he will proclaim his kingdom; or to 
 some high place, where he will summon the world to 
 do him homage. Instead of this, he moves directlv 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 137 
 
 to the temple. There, what a sight do we behold. 
 The vacant spaces have been seized upon by traffick¬ 
 ers in articles for sacrifice, and by men who changed 
 foreign coin into current money, and large sums into 
 half shekels, which were demanded in religious trib¬ 
 ute. The near approach of the passover, with its 
 sacrifices and offerings, made the temple like a mar¬ 
 ket house before some great festival, and sheep, and 
 oxen, and doves for sale, crowded out all appearance 
 of devotion. These traders he cast out of the temple, 
 and overthrew the tables of the money changers, 
 spilling their coins on the floor, and turning over the 
 seats of those that sold doves. All this he had done 
 once before, at the first passover which occurred after 
 his public ministry began, when he made a scourge of 
 small cords, and put the whole crew of them to 
 flight, with their sheep and cattle. The fourth and 
 last passover during his life has come, and he again 
 vindicates God’s house from its abuses, and having 
 cleared the place, he begins his works of mercy there. 
 “ And the blind and the lame came to him in the 
 temple, and he healed them.” 
 
 Then all they that were waiting for the consolation 
 of Israel were glad, and there was great joy in that 
 city. Many a humble, yet strong believer triumphed, 
 that day, at the thought of his meek and lowly Sa¬ 
 viour riding, as he did, into the great city, and there 
 
 purging the temple, and manifesting forth his glory as 
 
 12 * 
 
138 
 
 THE FRIENDS £F CHRIST. 
 
 the benefactor of the poor, the Saviour of the broken¬ 
 hearted, the friend of sinners. We can fancy that 
 we hear voluntary choirs of them singing praises, in 
 the words of one of the Psalms: “ In Judah is God 
 known, his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is 
 his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. There 
 brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the 
 sword, and the battle. Thou art more glorious and 
 excellent than the mountains of prey. At thy re¬ 
 buke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and the 
 horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, 
 art to be feared; and who may stand in thy sight 
 when once thou art angry] Thou didst cause judg¬ 
 ment to be heard from heaven ; the earth feared and 
 was still, when God arose to judgment, to save all 
 the meek of the earth. Surely the wrath of man 
 shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt 
 thou restrain. Vow, and pay unto the Lord your 
 God; let all that be round about him bring presents 
 unto him that ought to be feared. He shall cut off 
 the spirit of princes; he is terrible to the kings of 
 the earth.” 
 
 Probably this was, to many, the happiest hour, 
 thus far, of their lives. Christ had manifested forth 
 his glory; Zechariah’s vision was fulfilled, and his 
 exhortation was obeyed: “ Rejoice greatly, O daugh¬ 
 ter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; be¬ 
 hold thy King cometh to thee ; he is just and hav 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 139 
 
 mg salvation.” Well might they rejoice, to see him 
 clothing himself with majesty, and reforming abuses 
 which had made their hearts burn with indignation. 
 We love bold, strong measures in reforming great 
 abuses, in opposing wicked and violent men ; and 
 the moral courage and the energetic arm which are 
 adequate for such emergencies, are regarded by us 
 with a veneration and love not far from worship. 
 But when he who, in this superhuman manner, had 
 scattered these traders, and their sheep, and oxen, 
 and doves, and money, proceeded, with condescend¬ 
 ing kindness, to heal the blind and the lame, joy 
 and praise were without bounds. 
 
 There were some striking and deeply-interesting 
 sounds in those shouts of praise. Children, who 
 had been brought to the temple by their devout 
 parents, or who had resorted thither as a place of 
 public gathering, began to sing, “ Hosanna to the 
 Son of David.” Their demonstration of joy was so 
 conspicuous amid the whole scene of triumph, that 
 the chief priests and scribes had their attention 
 attracted by it, and they were sore displeased. They 
 appealed to Christ, saying, ‘ Hearest thou what these 
 say,’ these young idolaters, offering divine worship in 
 a senseless manner, knowing nothing of what their 
 words import ] 4 Hearest thou what these say \ ’ 
 
 “ And Jesus saith unto them, Yea, have ye never 
 read, Out of the mouths of babes and suckling? 
 
140 
 
 TTTE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 thou nast perfected praise 1 ” He did not finish the 
 passage, but left it to them to supply the words, 
 “that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” 
 
 This choir of young voices must be regarded as a 
 part of the whole scene of triumph and joy, which 
 we have considered at length as forming the back¬ 
 ground to this more conspicuous group, which at¬ 
 tracted the notice of the envious and angry priests 
 and scribes. It was ordered that the children should 
 hear a part in the Saviour’s triumph, that the chil¬ 
 dren should swell the praises of Zion’s King, wel¬ 
 coming him, and cheering his spirit as he came to the 
 last, awful scenes of suffering and death. 
 
 Amidst the praises of the children in the temple, 
 we see him, according to Jacob’s dying words con¬ 
 cerning him, “ binding his foal to the vine, and his 
 ass’s colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments 
 in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.” 
 
 Should a multitude of children, on a public occa¬ 
 sion, be seized with an enthusiasm in favor of some 
 personage, the more that it seemed suggested by no 
 obvious cause, the more would it have the effect of a 
 supernatural impulse directly imparted to them ; for, 
 in popular commotions, a crowd of women and chil¬ 
 dren, borne forward by their excited feelings, are far 
 more irresistible than so many men. Bayonets and 
 swords lose their power in such a presence. Atten¬ 
 tion is forcibly drawn to them. Their enthusiastic 
 
THE CHILDHEN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 141 
 
 actions and words strike harshly upon the feelings 
 of the churlish and irritable among the spectators, 
 who are not in sympathy with the occasion. 
 
 This sudden impulse upon the minds of the chil¬ 
 dren, in praising Christ, must have had a grateful ef¬ 
 fect upon his feelings, considering the near approach 
 of his sufferings and death; and their love, at such 
 a time, is, perhaps, a fulfilment of another prophecy 
 concerning him: 44 He shall drink of the brook by 
 the way; therefore shall he lift up the head; ” that is, 
 as he goes to suffer and die, his spirits shall be cheered 
 by manifestations of love, which are like unexpected 
 brooks to a weary traveller. The alabaster box of 
 ointment was another brook; the angel in Geth- 
 sernane was another; and the great company of 
 women, following him to Calvary, and lamenting 
 him, was another. 
 
 Some may say, 4 This act of the children in the 
 temple was a mere childish and thoughtless thing. 
 Children are great imitators. No account is to be 
 made of their hosanna.’ Christ did not think so. 
 He considered it as an offering made to him, and 
 quoted Scripture to explain and justify it. Is it the 
 spirit of the scribes and Pharisees within us, that 
 leads us to think lightly of the children’s hosanna \ 
 
 It is easy to show cause 
 been moved with interest in the triumph of Christ, 
 and should have joined to love and worship him. 
 
 why children should have 
 
142 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Perhaps it is safe to assert that 
 
 There is no class of the human race which, 
 
 AS A CLASS, IS UNDER SUCH OBLIGATIONS TO CHRIST 
 AS YOUNG CHILDREN. 
 
 It is probable that Christ has saved the souls of 
 more young children than of grown persons. It is 
 estimated that more than two thirds of all who are 
 born, die in infancy and early childhood. We have 
 reason to hope and believe that they who are incapa¬ 
 ble of repentance and faith, though partakers of a 
 corrupt nature through Adam, share in the benefits 
 of redemption by Christ; so that, where sin abound¬ 
 ed, grace doth much more abound. Some insist that 
 children are saved because it would be injustice to 
 them if they should be lost. With such feelings, 
 we should have said, beforehand, that it would be 
 unjust that children should suffer in this world for 
 the vices and crimes of their parents, as they do. We 
 must not put the salvation of infants and children 
 on the ground of any thing due to them; nor should 
 we sit in judgment on the question, What is God 
 bound in justice to do ? Should he, in his holy 
 and wise decrees, have ordained that the child of 
 every enemy of his should perish with the wicked 
 parent, we should, perhaps, only have said, 4 How 
 unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
 finding out.’ Some are far too ready to say what 
 God should do and what he should not do, who 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 143 
 
 might, with profit to themselves, have such a vision 
 as Eliphaz, the friend of Job, had, when a spirit 
 passed before his face, and the hair of his flesh stood 
 up. “ It stood still, and there was silence; and I 
 heard a voice, saying, Shall mortal man he more just 
 than God? Shall a man he more pure than his 
 Maker % Behold, he put no trust in his servants, and 
 his angels he charged with folly. How much less 
 in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose founda¬ 
 tion is the dust, and which are crushed before the 
 moth.” 
 
 While the Bible is silent on the subject, there is 
 reason to hope and to believe that God has glorified 
 himself by saving the myriads of children who have 
 perished by disease, war, famine, infanticide. Salva¬ 
 tion being, in every case, an act of grace, grace is 
 especially honored in rescuing the poor, wretched 
 heirs of sin, who die in early years, and making 
 them the subjects of Christ’s redeeming work, — they 
 being renewed by the Holy Ghost, and thus made the 
 fruits of the Saviour’s death. Unless they are saved 
 in this way, there will be a majority in heaven who 
 will not sing the song of heaven, “ Unto him that 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood.” That vast multitude would then say, We 
 owe it to the justice of God, — it is something which 
 God was obliged in justice to bestow on us, that we 
 are here. John saw and heard nothing like this in 
 
144 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 heaven. Now, if young children are saved by Christ, 
 if they owe heaven to his death, of course they need¬ 
 ed redemption, on account of their being involved in 
 the fall. If it would have been unjust to punish 
 them for Adam’s sin, it does not follow that their 
 being saved is not an act of grace. Their rescue 
 from all liability to perish, by actual transgression, 
 had they lived, is enough to lay them under infinite 
 obligations to Christ. An old epitaph reads thus: 
 
 “ Bold Infidelity, turn pale and die; 
 
 Beneath this stone four infants’ ashes lie. 
 
 Say, are they lost or saved ? 
 
 If death’s by sin, they sinned, — for they lie here ; 
 
 If heaven’s by works, in heaven they can’t appear. 
 
 Reason, ah, how depraved ; revere the sacred page ; 
 
 They died, for Adam sinned; they live, for Jesus died.” 
 
 It is interesting to think, that of all who have, 
 thus far, been saved, the majority are children. 
 Think of the great proportion who die in childhood, 
 in Christian lands. Then think of lands and of gen¬ 
 erations from which very few adults have gone to 
 heaven, and you see how children have multiplied 
 the numbers of the redeemed. When Christ said, 
 " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid 
 them not, for of such is the kingdom of God,’ no 
 doubt he meant to say, These, also, are included in 
 the offers and intentions of the gospel. And when 
 he saw children, it must have reminded him of his 
 home in heaven, where 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 145 
 
 “Millions of infant souls compose 
 The family above.” 
 
 lie had always known, that, of all the souls who 
 arrive at heaven’s gate, the vast majority are chil¬ 
 dren ; and he might also have implied, The kingdom 
 of God is composed, in the larger proportion, of 
 such. 
 
 To those of our race who go to heaven in adult 
 years, this large admixture of children in the society 
 of heaven must be inexpressibly pleasant. There 
 are no scribes and Pharisees there; no temper morose 
 and sour, to be offended by children. There is suf¬ 
 ficient age and maturity there, to redeem the society 
 of heaven from an infantile character, even if the 
 children remained children ; but what freshness and 
 beauty the sight, the joy, the voices of the young in 
 heaven must impart to that world. If “ a child in a 
 house is a well-spring of pleasure,” and if childhood 
 in heaven rejoices the hearts of men and women as 
 it does on earth, there must be joy unspeakable 
 there. Christ warned his disciples not to despise a 
 child, for the reason that the angels, who minister to 
 them, are ‘ presence angels “ for I say unto you, their 
 angels do always behold the face of my Father which 
 is in heaven.” It must be to Christ a sight of in¬ 
 expressible love and satisfaction, as he sees these 
 millions on millions redeemed from their helpless 
 state of sin and ruin. What is their song ] Surely 
 
 13 
 
146 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 this: 4 Not by works of righteousness which we 
 had done, but of his mercy he saved us, by the 
 washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly, 
 through Jesus Christ our Saviour.’ As each feeble 
 spirit of an infant, and of a young child, comes up 
 from earth, there must be unutterable tenderness and 
 love toward it on the part of many there, knowing, 
 as they do, what weeping and lamentation, in many 
 cases, the little spirit has left in the household; there 
 must be joy over it, to think of its early escape from 
 a world of sin ; and, in some cases, there must be an 
 exultation which, perhaps, would seem strange to us; 
 and that is, when a child arrives from a family where 
 one or both the parents are not the friends of God. 
 Sweet child, you can no more have your salvation 
 perilled by a prayerless, godless father. The mother 
 that bare you never said, 44 For this child I prayed,” 
 nor consecrated you to your Maker and Redeemer; 
 nor, had you lived, would she have thought of any 
 thing else for you than the world, and sinful or 
 transitory joys. God set his love on you; the 
 prayers of some pious ancestor, perhaps, have been 
 for a memorial before God, and he determined that, 
 at least, one of that family should be saved. Wel¬ 
 come, welcome to this place of safety; welcome 
 from the dangers of a prayerless house. 44 Is not this 
 a brand plucked out of the fire ? ” 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 in 
 
 Wh at is more interesting than the opening mind 
 of a child, when the world begins to break in upon 
 it, and wonder and delight are felt at every new dis¬ 
 covery? What must it be to contemplate the joy of 
 those souls as heaven breaks in upon their senses % 
 Every spirit that enters heaven is, in some sense, like a 
 child, amid those new and strange scenes; and so was 
 every new-born angel; they remember their first im¬ 
 pressions always, and it gives them the deeper inter¬ 
 est in those whose tender age makes slower progress 
 in the conceptions of heavenly things. Some anony¬ 
 mous lines on the statuary of 66 the chanting cher¬ 
 ubs” represent the conversation of a child with its 
 guardian angel, on its way from earth to heaven ; in 
 which the child says, as it draws near the light which 
 no man can see and live, — 
 
 “ O, I cannot bear this glory : 
 
 Sister spirit, how canst thou ? ” 
 
 The angel answers,— 
 
 “ I will tell thee all my story ; 
 
 I was once as thou art now.” 
 
 As to the state and the progress of these children 
 in heaven, we know nothing. Saved by grace, as we 
 suppose they are, Jesus receives no crowns laid at his 
 feet, nor listens to any hosannas, more acceptable and 
 pleasing to him than those of the young ; in whom 
 he sees the consciousness of peculiar obligations to 
 
148 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 him, and the greatest illustrations of his love to oui 
 ruined race. 
 
 If this be so, should not children here on earth, 
 on some occasion, have honored Christ 1 Had they 
 held their peace, would not the very stones have 
 cried out 1 They say that there is something in the 
 sea corresponding to every thing on the land — curi¬ 
 ous and beautiful resemblances to terrestrial things. 
 We love to think that there are correspondences be¬ 
 tween the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven; 
 and among them we naturally require that the pat¬ 
 tern of the heavenly world, in its joys felt and ex¬ 
 pressed by the young there, should have some coun¬ 
 terpart on earth. So, when Christ came to Jerusalem 
 to die, in the temple of God children’s voices sung 
 hosannas to the Son of David. What must have 
 been the feelings of children in heaven, acquainted 
 with the work that Christ was doing here on earth, 
 as they saw him hastening to the accursed death of 
 the cross. How they would have flocked around 
 him had they been permitted; how they would have 
 wept with him, and yet how they would have tried 
 to cheer his spirits on the way to the cross, saying, 
 Do not faint ere it is finished. Remember thy family 
 in heaven and on earth, and millions yet unborn; 
 and pay the ransom for us. And so, as they could 
 not themselves sing with audible voices out of heaven 
 to him, these children, their fellow-heirs, —■ it may be. 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 149 
 
 many of them, of heavenly bliss, — at least their rep¬ 
 resentatives, did it for them, and made such music 
 and such determined adoration, that the angry scribes 
 exclaimed with indignation, “ Hearest thou what 
 these say l ” 
 
 Two practical remarks are naturally suggested by 
 this subject. 
 
 I. Children can love and worship Christ. 
 
 Many a child in our congregations, who does not 
 think of his duty to love and serve Christ, is old 
 enough to be lost; and if he should die in his present 
 state, we could not think that he is included in the 
 number of those who are saved without repentance 
 and faith because they are incapable of it. 
 
 Children that are old enough to sin knowingly, 
 are old enough to repent. If they are old enough 
 to say wicked words, lie, steal, disobey their parents, 
 and quarrel, they are old enough to be punished. 
 As there are very many children in heaven, so there 
 is reason to believe there are many young persons in 
 hell. Those forty and two children who mocked 
 Elisha, it is to be feared, are there, and others like 
 them have perished in their sins. Instead of making 
 excuses for young sinners, always, no doubt God is 
 sometimes peculiarly angry with them, especially if 
 they have pious parents, who have done every thing 
 
 13 * 
 
150 
 
 THE FRTENDS OF CHRTST. 
 
 to make them good. They need a Saviour as much 
 as older people, and must suffer forever, if they die 
 without repenting and accepting Christ. Are any 
 of our children past the age when we could hope for 
 salvation for them without repentance and faith, and 
 are they yet in their sins ? Have we been faithful ? 
 Are we prepared to stand with them at the judgment 
 seat of Christ ? What testimony will those children 
 render before Christ with regard to us ? 
 
 We should look to see our children converted 
 early. To repeat and enforce a former remark: 
 when some rebuked those that brought children to 
 him, and Christ said, “ Of such is the kingdom of 
 God,” he undoubtedly meant, I include children in 
 my offers of salvation ; my kingdom here on earth is 
 to be made up, in part, of them. It must be accept¬ 
 able to Christ to have a child love and serve him. 
 We must not limit the power or the grace of Christ, 
 and he displeased at the thought of children being 
 converted. Were we more childlike ourselves, we 
 should be more in sympathy with the experience of 
 children, more wise in our treatment of it, and more 
 successful. As the kingdom of Christ advances, we 
 are to expect that conversions will take place earlier 
 m life. O that we might see, among other signs of 
 the times, this proof that his kingdom is advancing 
 among us — that children are early impressed with 
 their obligations to their Redeemer and Friend. A 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE 
 
 151 
 
 pastor seldom feels happier than when a child meets 
 him in the street with a joyous face and a kind, re¬ 
 spectful greeting. How Christ must love those young 
 friends of his when they go in secret and pray to him, 
 and sing his praise. He said that it would be better 
 that a millstone should be hanged about the neck 
 of any one, and he drowned in the sea, than that he 
 should offend one of these little ones that believe 
 in him. 
 
 Some parents greatly err who omit to teach and 
 pray with their children, looking only to the act of 
 conversion to make them religious. While instruc¬ 
 tion will be useless without a change of heart, the 
 surest way to secure that change for the child is, to 
 surround it with a pious example and every Christian 
 influence ; and, besides, its conversion will then be 
 the perfecting of a progressive preparation for intel¬ 
 ligent piety, stability, and usefulness. A quaint 
 preacher once said to parents, as an encouragement 
 to instruct their children in the knowledge of God 
 and spiritual things, “ Fill the water pots with water, 
 and Christ may turn it into wine.” But let us seek 
 and expect the early acknowledgment, by every child, 
 of its obligations to God, and its acceptance of the 
 gospel. What sorrow and misery we may prevent, 
 in ourselves and others, if we are faithful as Christian 
 parents. It is a fearful thing for parents to send 
 forth into society a family of unconverted children 
 
152 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Their last account will be rendered, not with joy, 
 but with grief. 
 
 II. Christian parents, if they are faithful, 
 
 SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED AND COMFORTED WITH REGARD 
 TO THEIR CHILDREN, IN VIEW OF THE SAVIOUR’S POWER 
 AND GRACE. 
 
 Have any of us a child grown beyond our control, 
 disobedient, wicked, a candidate for ruin 1 While 
 we weep, perhaps, over our sad mistakes or neglect, 
 let us not be discouraged. Pray with the child, 
 again and again ; it will help your efforts ; it will 
 secure the help of Christ. The creature on which 
 Christ rode in triumph to the place where the chil¬ 
 dren sung hosanna to him, was one on which never 
 man sat. So Christ can break or tame the uncurbed 
 spirit of a son or daughter with infinite ease, and 
 make that child the honored instrument of glorify¬ 
 ing him. What steed, with his caparisons of royal 
 wealth, ever bore such a king, or walked in such 
 triumph, as that young, untamed colt which bore 
 Christ so gently amid shouts and over branches 
 thrown dow T n into his path. Let every unbridled, 
 untamed spirit be brought to Christ, with implicit 
 and obedient faith. He can make it willing in the 
 day of his power. 
 
 Some of you have representatives among those 
 children whom Christ has gathered into his kingdom 
 
THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 153 
 
 Could you have seen the reception of your child in 
 heaven, and heard the words that were spoken con¬ 
 cerning it, and concerning you, — could you behold 
 it in some circle of the redeemed; the leader of some 
 little choir, or awakening love and wonder at the 
 development of no common power, or the youngest, 
 sweetest singer there; a servant of Christ, doing his 
 commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word; 
 sitting among good men and angels, as Christ sat, at 
 twelve years of age, hearing, and asking questions, 
 — you would cease to weep, except for joy. 
 
 What a contrast there is between such a child and 
 you, unconverted parent; for, without doubt, many 
 an unconverted parent has a child in heaven. How 
 much worse than at the dying pillow, and the little 
 grave, will the separation be, when you see the 
 child in the kingdom of God, and you yourself shut 
 out. O miracle of sin ; a parent, with a child in 
 heaven, going to hell. Dreadful scenes await us at 
 the judgment seat of Christ. There will be scenes 
 of bliss there, when parents meet their long-lost 
 ones, and find themselves standing in the relation of 
 parents to youthful seraphs, who, in heaven, during 
 these years of parental sorrow, have been growing 
 wise, and excellent in beauty. They will make their 
 parents feel more than old Jacob did, when they told 
 him, 4 Joseph is yet alive, and is governor over all 
 Egypt.’ Your 4 Joseph,’ whom they cast into a pit 
 
154 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 is yet alive, and sees the face of the King; he thinks 
 of yon, and, perhaps, inquires for you, of those who 
 come to heaven, as Joseph did concerning his father. 
 If your bereavement shall be the means of making 
 you a Christian, it will prove that God, in his kind 
 and wise providence, sent the child before you “ to 
 preserve life,” in the sense of saving your soul. 
 
 Have your children ever heard you sing, or repeat, 
 a hymn in praise of Christ, or seen you bow the 
 knee to him? You love your children, and, it may 
 be, idolize them. What if you be bereaved, in the 
 other world, of parental joys ; what if you fail to 
 look on that heavenly society, where the young 
 now make it perpetual morning and spring; where 
 children are not unlike bowers and birds to the 
 earth, and where the redemption which was bestowed 
 upon millions of them will pour forth treasures of 
 its love forever, on the happy spirits of the redeemed. 
 Childhood, with some of you, is gone, and Christ 
 had no worship from you. Youth is gone, and the 
 Saviour had no dew of your youth. Kipe years, with 
 you, are falling into the 4 sere and yellow leaf,’ and 
 you are without Christ. You have a great work to 
 
 do, and much time to redeem, if you would be found 
 
 % 
 
 in the number of those who will, at last, appear 
 before Christ, and say, “ Behold, I and the chil¬ 
 dren which God hath given me.” 
 
VII. 
 
 THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 
 
 - « - 
 
 AND BEHOLD, A WOMAN IN THE CITY, WHICH WAS A SINNER, WHEN SHE KNEW 
 THAT JESUS SAT AT MEAT IN THE PHARISEE’S HOUSE, BROUGHT AN ALABAS¬ 
 TER BOX OF OINTMENT, AND STOOD AT HIS FEET BEHIND HIM, WEEPING, 
 AND BEGAN TO WASH HIS FEET WITH TEARS, AND DID WIPE THEM WITH 
 THE HAIRS OF HER HEAD, AND KISSED HIS FEET, AND ANOINTED THEM 
 WITH THE OINTMENT. 
 
 Here is a scene and a transaction, expressing the 
 most intense love, in which not a word is spoken by 
 the principal character. Her feelings were too deep 
 for words. The whole occurrence will appear natu¬ 
 ral and easy, if we transfer it to our own times. 
 
 Suppose that you are sitting at your table, with 
 a company of friends. A stranger glides into the 
 room, with an air of deep grief, earnest, negligent in 
 apparel, yet interesting and striking in her whole 
 appearance. Passing round to one of your guests, 
 and standing behind him, with a look that indicates 
 love blended with sorrow, she bursts into a flood 
 of tears. 
 
156 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 If there were any reason to suspect her of insan¬ 
 ity, or of a design to insult that guest, or to obtain 
 redress from him by exposing his offences against 
 her to the company, your first impulse would be to 
 have her removed. But if you saw’ that she was 
 overcome by love and tenderness, and that your guest 
 turned toward her with no forbidding look, but in a 
 way that encouraged her tears, and especially if 
 that guest were a distinguished and good man, for 
 whom you had made that company, your respect for 
 him, and confidence in him, would make you wait 
 in silence to see what he would say and do with 
 regard to that incident, which you would suspect 
 had a meaning and an object, with which you 
 would not feel at liberty to interfere. 
 
 We may account, therefore, for the intrusion of 
 this woman into the Pharisee’s house at dinner, and 
 his not commanding her to be removed, by making 
 his case our own. He saw that there was some con¬ 
 nection between his guest and this stranger, which 
 made it unsuitable for him to interpose. He felt 
 that Christ would treat the stranger in a way becom¬ 
 ing the civility and courtesy due to the master of the 
 house. We see his sense of propriety in not making 
 the remark to Christ, but ‘within himself’: “This 
 man, if he were a prophet, would have known who 
 and what manner of woman this is that toucheth 
 him ; for she is a sinner.” 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 157 
 
 We see the Saviour reclining, according to the 
 oriental custom, at the table of a Pharisee, upon the 
 couch ; and a woman, impelled by the deepest emo¬ 
 tion, entering into the presence of the Pharisee, a 
 stranger to him, unbidden, for the purpose of finding 
 Christ. Let us see what she will do. She stands at 
 the Saviour’s feet, as he reclined, with his feet 
 extended, upon the couch; and immediately, as the 
 original has it, she began to rain tears upon his feet. 
 She did not come for that purpose, however. This 
 was an involuntary prelude to her main object. She 
 had something for his feet besides tears; but, as she 
 prepared herself to bestow that other token upon 
 them, her emotions were excited, and the rain de¬ 
 scended from her eyes so as to prevent, for a time, 
 her purpose. As fast as her eyes were clouded with 
 her weeping, and overflowed, she wiped the feet on 
 which they fell, with her dishevelled hair, to prepare 
 them for what she had brought. As fast as she dried 
 them thus, they were wet again; till, at length, she 
 grew composed; when, with ardent love and worship, 
 she kissed the feet, and poured on them her alabaster 
 box of ointment. This was a service frequently done 
 to invited guests in the houses of the rich. Their 
 feet were washed to cool them, their heads were 
 anointed with oil, and sometimes their feet were 
 softened and refreshed by anointing them with oil. 
 This woman had bought an alabaster box, filled, not 
 
 14 
 
158 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 with common oil, but with a prepared ointment 
 She would not pour it upon Christ’s head; she was 
 not worthy to touch that head ; she went to his feet, 
 and there poured out the gift, which would have 
 been a creditable offering for the richest man to pour 
 upon the head of a guest. 
 
 In the Saviour’s own words, we have an explana¬ 
 tion of this act. 44 Her sins, which are many, are 
 forgiven; for she loved much.” This tells the whole 
 secret of those tears, that kiss, that precious gift, and 
 of the impassioned freedom which carried her into 
 the presence, and to the very table, of the Pharisee. 
 This woman was a sinner. Her history, could we 
 read it, would, doubtless, make us weep. Whatever 
 of wrong, or suffering, she had experienced, is con¬ 
 cealed from us, and all we know is, that she was a 
 sinner. It was not a case of injured innocence, pal¬ 
 liating guilt. She was a sinner ; and the compas¬ 
 sionate Saviour himself tells us, her sins were 
 44 many.” 
 
 The city mentioned in this chapter, previously to 
 this narrative, is Nain; and nothing forbids us to 
 adopt the supposition of some critics, that this 
 woman lived there. She had met with Christ, then, 
 in his public ministrations in the city of Nain. 
 There she had heard, perhaps she was an eye-witness, 
 of his stopping a funeral procession, and raising to 
 life a young man, the only son of his mother, and 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 159 
 
 she a widow. She had known of his feelings toward 
 that widow; for it is said, “ And when the Lord saw 
 her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, 
 Weep not.” This act of kindness and power had 
 produced a great effect in the city. “And there 
 came a fear on all; and they glorified God, saying, 
 That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, 
 That God hath visited his people.” 
 
 In that same city, and at that time, (we have the 
 same reason as above named to suppose,) John’s two 
 disciples had come to Jesus, to know if he were indeed 
 the Christ. To convince them, it is said that “ in that 
 same hour, he cured many of their infirmities, and 
 plagues, and evil spirits ; and unto many that were 
 blind he gave sight.” Never had there been such 
 scenes in that city. Wonder, joy, thanksgiving, 
 reigned in all those streets. The impression which 
 Christ had made on the mind of this woman was that 
 which he intended all his miracles should produce, 
 namely, that he had come to save men from their sins. 
 He would not have men think that he was a mere 
 worker of miracles; he did not put forth his power 
 to astonish men; he used them to give effect to his 
 exhortations, and to his promises of pardon and 
 salvation to the guilty. 
 
 This was precisely that which this woman needed. 
 She was an outcast, and among the offscouring of 
 the earth. She probably felt that she had not a 
 
160 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 friend in the world. Her father’s house, if that re¬ 
 mained, she had forsaken ; perhaps it was shut 
 against her. Not a relative or former friend would 
 speak to her. She was alone in every company ; she 
 was solitary in the throng. But what was this to 
 the consciousness of shame; and what was the 
 reproach of the world to a sense of unforgiven sin ? 
 Soon she must die, and be buried, with no one to 
 weep for her ; but what was this to her expected 
 meeting with a holy God % Despair had made her 
 his prey; no door of hope appeared, leading to 
 restoration amongst the virtuous; she felt like a 
 damned spirit, and waited for a deeper hell in the 
 inevitable doom, which, she had reason to fear, would 
 come on sinners like her. 
 
 Who can imagine her feelings when she met with 
 Christ, and heard him preach repentance, forgiveness, 
 and the love of God toward the vilest of the vile l 
 Perhaps at first it only made her weep, as one in 
 bondage awakes and weeps over a dream of his home 
 and friends. But, when she heard of his raising the 
 young man from the bier, out of compassion to his 
 widowed mother; when she saw him as they brought 
 demoniacs before him, and he cast out the devils, and 
 the cured men threw themselves at the feet of their 
 Saviour, she took courage ; hope dawned ; she began 
 to feel that there was mercy even for her. Whether 
 she had any interview with Christ previously to her 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 161 
 
 meeting him in the Pharisee’s house, we cannot tell; 
 we only know that, in consequence of what she had 
 heard from Christ, she found access to God. This, 
 this, was the great truth which lifted her up from 
 the very gates of death: that God the Saviour loves 
 even the guilty ; that sin, a whole life of sin, sins of 
 the foulest name, sins which ruin the sinner in the 
 view of the world, and till his soul with the shame 
 which leads to despair, cannot shut the sinner out 
 from God’s compassion, but that Christ had come to 
 find such sinners, and forgive them, and make them 
 tit for heaven. 
 
 Could there be a greater change in the feelings of 
 the human soul than took place in her at this dis¬ 
 covery \ She began to feel that it was of use to 
 repent. Repentance before only took the form of 
 remorse ; now, it brought her even to heaven’s gate. 
 She had begun to cherish the hope of being pardoned 
 and saved; that God would be her Friend; that her 
 pollution could be washed away. Let others think 
 of her as they would, God and the Saviour would 
 smile upon her; her peace was beginning to be like 
 a river; and soon there was not a spirit in heaven 
 whose joy surpassed her joy. 
 
 She was told that Christ had gone to eat with the 
 
 Pharisee. She felt that she must see him. She was 
 
 determined to see him; no earthly power should 
 
 keep her from her Saviour. But there must be some 
 
 11* 
 
102 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 seeming apology, or object, in her intrusion into the 
 Pharisee’s house. She remembered the customary act 
 of hospitality when strangers came into the house. 
 The thought was enough for her. She would mingle 
 with the servants, would take the place of those who 
 anointed the guest. She hastened for the ointment; 
 she saw the beautiful, the costly alabaster box upon 
 the shelf of the apothecary. Though it were the 
 most costly box that he could sell, it was not too 
 much for her love. Her heart, her soul, her all, she 
 had given to Christ; that box she would have, even 
 if she spent all to buy it. Then, without being 
 invited by the Pharisee, or by his guest, she pressed 
 into the house, and loved and worshipped Him who 
 had brought her to repentance and to hope by his 
 assurances of pardon to the lost. Love seeks for 
 gifts to bestow upon the beloved object, and the 
 Saviour excites the desire in one who has been for¬ 
 given, to bring offerings to him. Thus, in times of 
 special interest in the subject of religion, we fre¬ 
 quently find articles of jewelry in the contributions 
 to religious and charitable objects, special donations 
 are made in the form of thank offerings, which are 
 secret expressions of love and gratitude to Christ, 
 corresponding to the alabaster box of ointment and 
 the 4 pound of spikenard very costly.’ These gifts 
 have the effect to strengthen the confidence of the 
 giver in his feelings toward the object of his love 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 163 
 
 The woman in the text showed her confidence in her 
 love to Christ by this voluntary offering. 
 
 We are taught a most interesting, practical truth 
 by this narrative, viz.: — 
 
 The REPRESENTATION OF CHRIST, AS A SAVIOUR, IS 
 THE ONLY EFFECTUAL MEANS OF BRINGING TO REPENT¬ 
 ANCE THOSE WHO ARE CONSCIOUS OF GUILT. 
 
 To preach hope and mercy, through atoning blood 
 to those who feel their sins, is the appointed way of 
 bringing them to God. Heaven and hope do more 
 in preaching than hell and despair. Our object 
 must be to persuade men when we use the terrors of 
 the Lord; the law, with its requirements and penal¬ 
 ty, must point to Christ; otherwise, we awaken only 
 wrath, or sullen recklessness, or despair. Our min¬ 
 istry, with all its alarms and threatenings, must be a 
 ministry of reconciliation, and the definition of our 
 great object must be this: “ But we preach Christ 
 crucified.” 
 
 Let us suppose that, instead of meeting with 
 Christ, this woman had been addressed by one of the 
 Jewish teachers, who should have undertaken merely 
 to reprove, upbraid, and terrify the sinner, by an 
 exhibition of her guilt and its consequences. He 
 might have filled her with remorse ; he might have 
 plunged her into the depths of sorrow; and the 
 effect would have been to fasten upon her conscience 
 
164 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 that burden of guilt which, perhaps, before was 
 greater than she could bear. It might, indeed, have 
 reformed her, but still she would have been likely to 
 die under her increasing sense of unworthiness ; and 
 every day that she continued to live a better life 
 would have -only brought to her mind, in contrast, 
 the wickedness of her former days. She might have 
 sunk into the grave under the corroding effect of 
 shame and sorrow; or her unavailing efforts to re¬ 
 cover the confidence of the world might have made 
 her desperate; and she would then have plunged 
 again into sin. She might have said, I know that I 
 am as guilty and vile as you represent; but my char¬ 
 acter is gone; my happiness is blasted ; I am ruined 
 for this world and the next. I cannot suffer more 
 than I have suffered already, and I am determined to 
 take the consequences of my sin. 
 
 We see this very effect of conviction of sin in 
 many who sit under the preaching of the gospel. 
 For some reasons, which it is not difficult to explain, 
 men are apt to despair, grow reckless, and thus resist 
 the influences of the gospel. One reason is, they 
 have failed in their efforts to overcome their sins, and 
 having fallen anew* under the power of temptation, 
 they conclude that there is no hope of their ever 
 being any better; and thus they listen to preaching 
 with no interest, or only to be hardened by it. When 
 such men hear exhibitions of guilt, and of their 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 165 
 
 exposure to punishment, it sometimes creates in them 
 a desperate and daring state of mind. The more 
 vivid you make their sins, and future misery, to their 
 thoughts, either they are angry, and sullen, and hate 
 God, and religion, and every thing connected with 
 religion, or, they settle down in a stupid and brut¬ 
 ish condition. 4 The law worketh wrath.’ It makes 
 men think of wrath, and only wrath, and it fills 
 them with wrath. Now, if preaching has this for its 
 great object, or if it produces this as its chief effect, 
 to make men feel guilty, and does nothing else, its 
 tendency is to ruin the soul. The gospel may be 
 professedly preached so as to destroy the effect which 
 the gospel was intended to produce. Conviction of 
 sin is useful only as a means of preparing the mind 
 to receive the offers of the gospel; but if we make 
 men feel guilty, and do nothing more, we are like a 
 physician who deals with nothing but a probe, and 
 never mollifies the wound, nor binds it up with oint¬ 
 ment. It has an equally bad effect never to present 
 any thing to the minds of men but mercy and hope. 
 This begets stupidity and carelessness, and is like 
 laying ointment on a wound which has not been 
 searched and cleansed. Both extremes are ruinous. 
 The great secret in the successful preaching of the 
 gospel is, to make men feel that they are sinners, and 
 that, as sinners, they are the objects of divine com¬ 
 passion ; that their sins are as scarlet, but may be 
 
166 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIS T. 
 
 white as snow ; red like crimson, but that they may 
 be as wool. 
 
 The preaching of Christ crucified will produce 
 conviction of sin and repentance better than any 
 thing else; for this theme will lead us to be full in 
 our instructions about the nature and extent of the 
 sinner’s guilt, and its fearful consequences, which 
 demanded such a ransom. Where conscience has 
 been enlightened from any sources, and the truth 
 has been felt respecting our guilt and danger as 
 sinners, it is the duty, and the blessed privilege, of 
 ministers to hold forth the gospel of reconciliation. 
 All who have had the care of children, or have been 
 called to use moral influences with their fellow-men, 
 know that law and its sanctions are instruments 
 inferior to love and mercy; that it is easier to melt 
 than to break, to draw than to drive, and that per¬ 
 suasion triumphs where conviction and admonition 
 have utterly failed. God regards this principle in 
 his creatures, a principle established by his own cre¬ 
 ative wisdom; and, accordingly, the gospel, rather 
 than the law, is the perfection of his progressive 
 administration in a world of sin and a world of 
 hope. 4 For what ’the law could not do, in that it 
 was weak through the ’ obstinate and despairing ten¬ 
 dencies of sinful 4 flesh, God sending his own Son in 
 the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,’ has been 
 able to accomplish. 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 1(11 
 
 In dealing with sinners, and in dealing with our 
 selves as sinners, we. never ought to forget, that to 
 break the law of God, times without number, is not 
 so great guilt as to reject mercy. Therefore, when 
 we are conscious of guilt, we ought not to feel that 
 we have shut ourselves out from hope. This is not 
 all. Though we have oftentimes rejected mercy, and 
 turned away from Christ, we ought not to feel that 
 even this is an unpardonable sin. None of us under¬ 
 stand fully, even if we think we have learned much of 
 it, none of us fully understand the love and compas- 
 sion of God toward the guilty. To blaspheme the 
 Holy Ghost, to sjieak profanely of his gracious influ¬ 
 ences, seals a sinner’s doom. Any thing short of this, 
 though it were blasphemy against Christ, is pardon¬ 
 able ; and no one may feel that there is no hope for 
 him, whatever his sins may have been, if he has not 
 spoken against the Spirit. It is wrong for the 
 unconverted to indulge in despondency and gloom 
 about themselves. Their argument against them¬ 
 selves is, that they have sinned against light and 
 conviction ; that they have known their duty, and 
 have refused to do it; and that they have offended 
 God beyond the probability of mercy. They shut 
 the door of hope upon themselves; but God opens it 
 continually, and assures them that his mercy is 
 above the heavens. 
 
 There is one illustration of the way in which God 
 
168 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 treats us, as sinners, which will serve to open to our 
 minds his feelings toward the guilty. I refer to the 
 way in which we are warned and cautioned against 
 the lusts of the flesh. Such warnings and cautions 
 are so often accompanied by expressions of love and 
 tenderness as to make you think that the connection 
 is not accidental. Hear how the Holy Ghost speaks 
 to us, in warning us of certain sins, the consciousness 
 of which disposes us, perhaps, more than any thing 
 else, to indulge fear and despair. 44 Dearly beloved,” 
 he says, (mark the kindness of the appeal,) 44 Dearly 
 beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, ab¬ 
 stain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 
 Again : 44 Having these promises, dearly beloved, let 
 us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
 spirit.” Again : 44 Be ye, therefore, followers of God, 
 as dear children ; and walk in love, as Christ also 
 hath loved us.” Then follows an exhortation against 
 uncleanness. Once more: 44 When Christ, who is 
 your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with 
 him in glory.” What follows \ 44 Mortify, therefore, 
 
 your members which are upon the earth.” O, what 
 tenderness there is in God, in dealing with us as 
 sinners, in this world of mercy. 44 For he knoweth 
 our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.” 
 
 This example of it, now quoted, illustrates the 
 whole tenor of the divine feelings toward us, in 
 seeking to withdraw us from sin, and raise us to 
 glory and virtue. 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX, 169 
 
 Now, upon this same principle of encouraging the 
 guilty to return, of awakening hope and effort in 
 the minds of sinners, by a sense of his compassion 
 toward the lost, God sent his Son to be the Saviour 
 >of the world. Christ began his work by acts of 
 kindness toward the poorest, the lowest, the most 
 helpless; and toward the greatest sinners. The 
 objects which surrounded him, day after day, as sub¬ 
 jects of his grace, and in which his soul delighted, 
 were such as now fill our almshouses, insane hos¬ 
 pitals, infirmaries, and our chambers of protracted 
 sickness and disease, together with the subjects of 
 demoniacal possession. But he had an object in the 
 bestowment of his healing power upon these suffer¬ 
 ers, beyond their relief from pain. He said to those 
 whom he healed, when he saw that they were pre¬ 
 pared for his word of grace, “ Thy sins are forgiven 
 thee.” Matthew, and Zaccheus, and other publicans 
 and sinners, found in him a Friend to the soul, and 
 experienced in his mercy a joy surpassing that of 
 mitigated pain. By his acts of kindness to the lost 
 and wretched, he established, in the minds of the 
 common people, this truth, that there is love in 
 the heart of God for every miserable sinner; that his 
 vileness, and his abandonment by the world, only com¬ 
 mend him to God as an object of his compassion ; 
 that the Son of God came down from the skies to 
 save the worst of men ; and that it is impossible 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 for a sinner to be sunk too low for his hand to find 
 him, or for his grace to lift him up. Christ could 
 not look on human woe without compassion. He 
 could not see the widow following her ‘only son to 
 the grave, without pity, and he spoiled the monster, 
 death, of his prey. John the Baptist, in prison, 
 wished to know whether Christ was indeed that 
 Messiah promised in the garden of Eden, foretold by 
 prophets, and sung by the inspired bards; whom 
 kings waited for, and the wise men went to worship. 
 How did he convince John that he was that Mes¬ 
 siah % He called a motley crowd of blind, lame, 
 leprous, withered, squalid sufferers around him, with 
 here and there a raving demoniac, and healed them. 
 Then, to the two disciples that came to look at his 
 credentials from heaven, and the sign manual from 
 God, and to know if he were the Christ, he said, 4 Go 
 and show John again those things which ye do hear 
 and see.’ These are my credentials ; this crowd is 
 my witness that I am he. 
 
 As the Saviour of the soul, he used these proofs 
 of his love and power to draw the guilty and perish¬ 
 ing sinner to his side. Such a sinner was she whose 
 brief history we read in our text. Did Christ up¬ 
 braid her, and send her away convinced of sin and 
 of judgment to come'? What wonderful charm did 
 he employ to work such an overwhelming conviction 
 in her, and, at the same time, make this conviction 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 171 
 
 the means of the greatest joy she had ever felt 1 It 
 was love and mercy that saved her; it was forgive¬ 
 ness that broke her hard heart; it was confidence in 
 God and Christ that made her, a weak and friendless 
 woman, courageous and strong. The Pharisees and 
 scribes might have convinced her of her guilt, but 
 she would never have bought an alabaster box of 
 ointment to anoint their feet. “ Behold the Lamb of 
 God, that taketh away the sin of the world; ” — it 
 was this direction, imparted by the divine Spirit, that 
 rescued her from despair. In the dark recesses of 
 her guilt, hope and peace were shed abroad by one 
 who had words of comfort for her, and wounded her 
 only that he might bind her up. It could be said of 
 her soul, as it is said of heaven, The Lamb is the 
 light thereof. 
 
 Many are the instances in which conversion seems 
 to be the immediate consequence of love and grat¬ 
 itude, and no anguish is felt, at the time, in view 
 of sin. A need of Christ, as a Saviour, of course 
 exists; but the overwhelming emotion is approbation 
 of God’s character and dealings, complacency in 
 some particular attribute, gratitude to Christ for 
 what he has done, an assurance of safety in looking 
 at the cross of Christ, a conviction of the infinite 
 willingness of God to save sinners. There is nothing 
 more absurd than to suppose that there is one 
 process through which every mind must go, in oh 
 
172 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 taming peace with God. Some have fallen asleep 
 upon their pillows with strong crying and tears, and 
 have waked from sleep in the morning, feeling that 
 all creation was praising God, and with a heart to 
 praise him too. Submission to God, in Christ, had 
 taken place in that weeping, and, as a consequence, 
 joy came in the morning, with the return of con¬ 
 sciousness, after the composure of sleep. We cannot 
 say that this, or that, or another order of thought 
 and feeling is the way to find peace with God. 
 
 * Are you, then, a sinner l are you discouraged ? are 
 you almost, if not quite, inclined to abandon hope, 
 and all effort to save your soul, and to let the conse- 
 quences of guilt come as fast and as fearful as they 
 may ? Does conversion, does religion, seem to you a 
 mighty work, unattainable by you ? and do you sink 
 down, dismayed, at what you must do to be a Chris¬ 
 tian, and in despair at the recollection of past efforts, 
 so fruitless, and, as you think, aggravating your 
 guilt ? How was it with this woman in our text ] 
 Love and gratitude led her on, and a sense of guilt 
 and ruin made her come to the Saviour. Begin to love 
 Christ, and all the conviction, and repentance, and 
 faith, and hope, that you ever wished for, will flow 
 forth from a regenerated heart; for 4 he that loveth 
 is born of God, and knoweth God.’ I would go, 
 then, to my secret place, as this woman went to the 
 Pharisee’s house, to find Christ. Press vour way to 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER BOX. 173 
 
 him, as she did with her box of ointment in her 
 hand, to that chamber where Christ waits for you; 
 there begin to thank and praise him for all that he 
 suffered and has done for you. Think of nothing 
 else ; your sins, your ill desert, your past ill success, 
 your future weakness, your fears; let all be forgotten, 
 and begin to love your infinite Redeemer and Friend. 
 What a way to be saved is this : to love the Saviour 
 of the world. Thousands have proved it sure ; why 
 may not you ? 
 
 “ Canst thou not love the Friend who died 
 Thy burden to assume ? 
 
 Who shrunk not from the crown of thorns, 
 The scourge, the cross, the tomb ? 
 
 “ If heavy is thy weight of guilt, 
 
 Thy love should greater be; 
 
 Then He, whose blood for man was spilt, 
 Will shed his peace on thee.” 
 
 15* 
 
V»I. 
 
 MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 -♦- 
 
 VOW IT CAME TO PASS, AS THEY WENT, THAT HE ENTERED INTO A CERTAIN 
 TILLAGE ; AND A CERTAIN WOMAN, NAMED MARTHA, RECEIVED HIM INTO 
 HER HOUSE. AND SHE HAD A SISTER CALLED MARY, WHICH ALSO SAT 
 AT JESUS’ FEET, AND HEARD HIS WORD. 
 
 The characters of these two friends of Christ have 
 always been deeply interesting to the readers of the 
 New Testament. They are mentioned together in 
 three places by the evangelists. The first is in the 
 chapter of which the text is a part. 
 
 Martha seems to have been the head of the familv, 
 composed of herself, her sister Mary, and her brother 
 Lazarus. That they were in easy, if not affluent, 
 circumstances, appears from several incidents in their 
 history. On the occasion mentioned in the text, it 
 seems that Christ, and probably some, if not all, of 
 his disciples with him, who went with him in his 
 daily walks, were entertained by Martha at her 
 house. The sudden entrance of so many strangers 
 
 074 ) 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 175 
 
 imposed much care and responsibility upon the head 
 of the household; and hospitality being a great 
 study, and one of the most important of customs in 
 the East, the mistress of the family had many things 
 to think of and to do, especially for such a guest 
 as she esteemed Christ to be. We may infer that* 
 Martha was a woman who took great pains with 
 
 i 
 
 every thing which she did, and made much of every 
 duty, and perhaps of every trouble; being of an anx¬ 
 ious disposition, and yet a woman of great energy, 
 of stirring habits, thorough, and ambitious to have 
 every thing done in the best manner. So, as soon as 
 her guests had entered the house, it may be without 
 much previous notice, her whole soul was absorbed 
 with entertaining them. The servants must provide 
 water for the hands and feet of the guests ; refresh¬ 
 ments must be immediately set before them, and 
 afterward a repast in the form of a regular meal. 
 
 But Martha was not content to let things proceed 
 in a simple manner, with a word now and then to 
 direct the course of affairs; but she laid herself out 
 to do more than was necessary, and was 4 cumbered 
 about much serving.’ In the midst of her anxiety 
 to provide and arrange her entertainment, she missed 
 her sister, and found that she was seated, according 
 to the custom of inquirers in those days, at the feet 
 of Christ, and was listening eagerly to his conver¬ 
 sation. 
 
176 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 The excitement and hurry of an important occasion 
 are not favorable to a calm and equable temper, nor 
 to deliberate and well-considered words; and Martha 
 at this time, in an impatient and fretful mood, quite 
 forgot the proprieties of life, and the kindness due to 
 a sister, by appealing to her guest against that sister. 
 Entering the room where Jesus and the company 
 were sitting, with Mary at his feet, she said, “ Lord, 
 dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to 
 serve alone % Bid her, therefore, that she help me.” 
 Her wish was, that the guests should excuse them 
 both until all needful preparations were made for 
 the repast; her only care at Jesus’ presence in her 
 house being, What shall we provide for him to eat ] 
 Not so with Mary. It was an inestimable blessing, 
 in her view, to have the Saviour under her roof. 
 She saw that he was neither famished nor weary; 
 and so, instead of occupying herself with the thought 
 of an entertainment, she took that opportunity to 
 satisfy the wants of her soul, which hungered and 
 thirsted after righteousness. Now she had found 
 one who could resolve all her difficulties in religion, 
 lead her to an established hope, satisfy her desire to 
 know more of God and spiritual things, and comfort 
 her with the consolations of religion. Suppose that 
 her brother Lazarus were then travelling in Persia or 
 India, and Christ were a friend who had just arrived 
 from those parts, and had come to her house to tell 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 177 
 
 her that he had seen Lazarus. It would have been 
 out of place for her to leave him before obtaining 
 from him all the information which she so much 
 desired, and leave him, too, to provide a feast, as 
 though all that he came for was to eat. Now, Christ 
 had come into her dwelling to tell her of things 
 transcendently interesting and important, in which 
 her soul was wrapped up; and could she, should 
 she, leave him, and think only of a handsome enter¬ 
 tainment at table 1 That would be disparaging to 
 her guest; it would embarrass him to see that his 
 coming had been the signal for such dismay and 
 labor; it would be treating him as no visitor loves to 
 be treated who comes for an important errand, or from 
 love for his friends, and is not intent merely on being 
 warmed and fed. At a proper time, no doubt, Mary 
 would do her part toward providing a suitable enter¬ 
 tainment ; there would be a season in the visit when 
 she might properly be excused, and when a due regard 
 for him, whom she had engaged so long in conversa¬ 
 tion, might require her to leave him for a while. But 
 Martha, from the time that he came into the house, 
 was cumbered with her plans and labors to serve him 
 as a guest; was taking no pleasure, and receiving no 
 profit from him in the great concerns of her soul; 
 and as the sorrow of the world worketh death, so 
 worldly cares had a deadly influence on her feelings, 
 and she wished that Christ, who knew what was due 
 
178 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 to strangers, and how much needed to be done to 
 prepare an entertainment, would send her sister to 
 her household work. 
 
 “ And Jesus answered, and said unto her, Martha, 
 Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many 
 things.” 
 
 Here we must understand Christ as referring to 
 her general character and disposition. The idea, 
 suggested even by some good men, that Christ meant 
 to say that Martha was unduly anxious to provide 
 many things for their entertainment, and that only 
 one article of food was really needful, is, in the lan¬ 
 guage of another good man and able critic, almost 
 “unpardonable.” The Saviour’s concluding remark 
 about Mary shows that he refers to the general 
 disposition and choice. He says to Martha, twice 
 repeating her name, for emphasis, c Thou art careful 
 and troubled about many things.’ Every thing 
 excites in you an anxious, troubled mind. You mag¬ 
 nify every thing which you have to do, by dispropor- 
 tioned solicitude; and by being wholly absorbed, in 
 domestic cares and labors, are really losing sight of 
 that one great thing, which alone is of real impor¬ 
 tance. The Saviour then approved of Mary’s dispo¬ 
 sition, as of one who had placed things in their true 
 light, and had chosen the good part which should 
 never be taken away from her. 
 
 The characters of these friends of Christ, thus far 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 179 
 
 suggest two thoughts, which we will consider, before 
 we turn a leaf in their history. 
 
 1. There may he sin in being very busy. 
 
 It is not enough for us, it will not satisfy Christ, 
 nor he for our justification in the great day, that we 
 were constantly at work. The question will be, 
 What were you doing ? Always working with your 
 hands and head, and finding no time to sit at Christ’s 
 feet; opening the store, or shop, or room, early; leaving 
 it only for a hasty meal; closing it, tired and sleepy, 
 at night; and later and more fatigued on Saturday 
 night than any other ; sitting at your desk or table 
 incessantly, with no time for God and heaven ; or 
 working from morning to night for the family, to 
 provide the meat that perisheth, or raiment, and oth¬ 
 er necessaries of life % God requires diligence, and 
 rebukes those who deal with a slack hand. But to 
 how many would the Saviour’s just reproof apply: 
 4 Thou art careful and troubled about many things ; ’ 
 to many who think that they are the best of fathers 
 and mothers, and sons and daughters, and tradesmen 
 and mechanics. They who think only of this life 
 and their business, of the body and the supply of its 
 wants, with no reference to the soul and eternity, are 
 like a ship’s company who should put to sea with 
 nothing but provisions on board. On they sail, from 
 day to day; but they only know that they are going 
 
180 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 across the water; they have no freight for trade, nor 
 money to buy a cargo ; and yet they work hard at the 
 ropes, buffet the storms, escape shipwreck, endure cold 
 and heat, only with the fhought of living from day 
 to day. Such is a picture of many who are sailing 
 over this sea of time, and are doing nothing but get¬ 
 ting across the sea. What will become of them there, 
 or what they shall do, they seldom, if ever, think. 
 
 Christ says, Take heed that your hearts be not 
 overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and 
 cares of this life. What company is this in which 
 many will find their employment, which they think 
 so exemplary ? — the cares of life are classed with sur¬ 
 feiting and drunkenness. Yes, there may be sin in 
 being busy. Are you seeking first the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness 'l Do you work merely to 
 live, or do you live for man’s chief end, to glorify 
 God and enjoy him forever ] If not, the Saviour 
 reproves you ; though you were doing all this for his 
 bodily comfort, he reproves you; and surely, then, if 
 it be for yourselves and families, he reproves you; 
 and sets in contrast before you the example of one 
 who has a higher aim, a nobler spirit, an enduring 
 portion. 
 
 Some say, I cannot attend to the subject of reli¬ 
 gion, my business is so great and pressing. But who 
 made it so ? Has God thus disabled you ] Have 
 you not yourself made the net which confines you % 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 181 
 
 and do you not feel satisfied with it ] God will not 
 accept it as an excuse for neglecting him. 
 
 2. Religion is the only thing which we cannot lose. 
 
 What will be the result of all these careful and 
 troubled thoughts, and the end of these busy days 
 and nights, and of this occupation, which is so inces¬ 
 sant that you cannot save your soul] What will 
 you have to show for them in a dying hour, at the 
 bar of God, and in the other world ] Every thing 
 is worthless which is not subservient to religion and 
 the soul. c Whose shall these things be which thou 
 hast provided ] ’ and where shall they be for whom 
 thou hast provided them ? It is a most interesting 
 sight — Mary sitting at Christ’s feet, absorbed, for 
 the time, in the one thing needful, and securing for 
 
 / 
 
 herself that good part which change and death cannot 
 
 take from her. Every one ought sincerely to ask 
 
 himself, at his daily business, — he should put the 
 
 question frequently; let him write it, if he will, 
 
 inside his desk, or in something which comes in 
 
 occasional use, — What am I living for ] Let him 
 
 consider whether, by all his care and trouble, he is 
 
 securing any thing which will avail him for more 
 
 than a little period of time, which, compared with 
 
 eternity, is like a drop of water on the finger’s end, 
 
 taken from the measureless sea. O, sad choice, to 
 
 .prefer the world, and care, and labor, and the 
 
 16 
 
182 
 
 THE FRTENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 pleasure of being indifferent about religion, and 
 freedom from anxiety about the soul, to the blessed¬ 
 ness of being a child of God. All that indifference 
 will be taken away from you, with every thing else, 
 and you must be intensely interested in the things 
 unseen and eternal. Look at those busy hands. 
 Soon, folded over your breast, in your long, long 
 sleep, they will consume away in the grave. 
 
 “ And must this body die, 
 
 This mortal frame decay ? 
 
 And must these active limbs of mine 
 Lie mouldering in the clay ? ” 
 
 Where shall the soul that never dies, find herself 
 then \ What has she, what am I providing for her, 
 which shall never be taken away from her ? 
 
 Thus far we see these two sisters representing two 
 great classes, the one, losing sight of the one thing 
 needful, by inordinate occupation with the duties and 
 cares of life, and the other, seeking first the kingdom - 
 of God and his righteousness. The sisters of the 
 same family, the brothers, the husband and wife, and 
 all of them together, are admonished by this family 
 picture to consider how Christ regards the manner 
 of their life. ‘ One thing is needful.’ What place 
 and proportion does this one thing needful hold in 
 our thoughts \ 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 183 
 
 \ 
 
 We cannot conclude with certainty that Martha 
 was not, up to this time, a pious woman ; and yet 
 we fail to get satisfying evidence of it. Some think 
 that, because it is said of Mary, she 4 also ’ sat at 
 Jesus’ feet, it is implied that Martha, too, was of 
 the same religious disposition with her sister. But 
 the sitting at Jesus* feet, here spoken of, does not 
 refer to a habit or disposition, but to a certain act 
 done at that time ; and the word, 4 also,’ rather joins 
 Mary with the twelve disciples than Martha with 
 Mary. The comparison which Christ makes in favor 
 of Mary is a strong reflection upon Martha. Still, 
 we read, 44 Now Jesus loved Martha, and Mary, and 
 her brother Lazarus.” Whether this was more than 
 the love which he felt for the young ruler, who, nev¬ 
 ertheless, like Martha, was also cumbered with the 
 world, so that he went away from Christ sorrowful, 
 we cannot tell. v But we will pass to another chapter 
 in her history, and there we shall see evidence that 
 Martha had then, if not before, like Mary, chosen the 
 good part. 
 
 Affliction visited the house where Jesus had been 
 a guest. The brother was sick. The sisters sent a 
 pathetic message to Christ, saying, 4 Lord, he whom 
 thou lovest is sick.’ The prayer reached him, and 
 touched his heart; and we see in his conduct the 
 manner in which he frequently hears and treats our 
 
184 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 prayers. 4 When, therefore, he heard that he was 
 sick, he abode two days still in the same place where 
 he w r as ; ’ and in the mean time, Lazarus died. The 
 all-seeing eye of Christ had been upon him, and saw 
 him die ; for he said to his disciples, 4 Lazarus is 
 dead. And I am glad, for your sakes, that I was 
 not there, to the intent ye may believe. Nevertheless, 
 let us go unto him.’ 
 
 The sisters heard that he w r as coming; and here 
 we have them before us again, each in her proper 
 character, affected, however, by new circumstances, 
 and, in Martha’s case, by some great change for the 
 better. Observe how the natural disposition of the 
 two sisters runs into their religious character and 
 conduct. 44 Then Martha, as soon as she knew that 
 he was coming, went and met him ; but Mary sat 
 still in the house.” This contemplative sister, in¬ 
 clined to deep, serious views and feelings, in her 
 affliction had no disposition to move abroad, even to 
 meet Christ. Surely now her sister appears to the 
 best advantage. Mary broods over her affliction, 
 nurses her sorrows, indulges in the luxury of grief. 
 The news that Jesus is coming stirs Martha to go 
 and meet him; and she goes to him with as heavy a 
 burden of sorrow as Mary felt; but how much wiser 
 than she, to go and lay it at Jesus’ feet. 4 There are 
 last that shall be first.’ Would we not have supposed 
 that Mary would have been the first to go to Christ'* 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 185 
 
 The prompt, active, energetic spirit of Martha goes 
 with her into religion; the Saviour’s rebuke had 
 been blessed to her; she will show that she is no 
 longer careful and troubled about worldly things; 
 she, also, will sit at Jesus’ feet, and hear his words. 
 
 Martha’s conversation with Christ shows her to 
 have had faith ; still it was weak ; and yet, no weaker 
 than that of Mary, who, afterward, said the same 
 words: 44 Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother 
 had not died.” Martha professed to believe that 
 whatsoever he should ask of God, God would give it 
 to him. She forgot, or did not understand, that, 4 as 
 the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, 
 even so the Son quickeneth whom he will; ’ 4 And 
 as the Father hath life in himself, even so hath he 
 given to the Son to have life in himself.’ Martha’s 
 words, 44 Even now I know that whatsoever thou 
 wilt ask of God, God will give it thee,” seem to 
 imply that she was thinking of her brother being 
 raised from the dead, and yet she does not give form 
 to that thought; it seems somewhat like one of those 
 presentiments which are unaccountable. Even when 
 Christ said, 4 Thy brother shall rise again,’ she did not 
 apply the words to an immediate resurrection, but to 
 the last great day. Her remark respecting it shows, 
 that the hope of that far-distant resurrection failed 
 to satisfy her, as it fails to satisfy us when we feel 
 the strong: desire to bring back the lost one to our 
 
 o o 
 
 16 * 
 
186 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 present enjoyment and love. Christ, on this occasion, 
 uttered words which, it is generally agreed, are not 
 equalled in sublimity, except where it is written, 
 “ And God said, Let there be light, and there was 
 light.” “ Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection 
 and the life.” Every paraphrase and explanation 
 fails to make these words more impressive. “ I am 
 the resurrection.” What is that resurrection % What 
 will it be for all the pious dead to rise l Christ is 
 the author of it, and the author of all that follows it 
 — eternal life. We are willing to worship Christ as 
 God, at such words as these. He adds words which 
 turn the thoughts of the world to him, as the Author 
 of salvation: “ He that believeth in me, though he 
 were dead, yet shall he live; ” and wonderful still, 
 “ and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall 
 never die ”; death shall not be to him what nature 
 makes it, and sinners find it; but it will be to him 
 an experience of Christ’s presence and love, the wak¬ 
 ing to life, by the soul, instead of its falling asleep. 
 4 Believest thou this ] ’ said Christ to his weep¬ 
 ing friend. She professed her faith there. ‘Yea, 
 Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of 
 God, which should come into the world.’ Martha is 
 surely a believer, and we may no more look to see 
 her careful and troubled about many things. 
 
 Once she called Mary away from Christ, and 
 prayed Christ to reprove her sister, at his feet; now, 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 187 
 
 she goes in haste, and sends her sister to those same 
 feet. “ And when she had so said, she went away, 
 and called Mary, her sister, secretly,” (because the 
 Jews sought to stone Christ,) “ saying, The Master 
 is come, and calletli for thee.” Affliction, joined 
 with the Saviours reproof, had been blessed to 
 Martha. “ The rod and reproof give wisdom ”; 
 and “ a reproof entereth more into a wise man, than 
 a hundred stripes into a fool.” 
 
 Mary, in her turn, now comes again before us. 
 Does she remain at home, sullen and unbelieving, or 
 harboring sorrow at Christ’s omission to come and 
 save the precious life of her brother 1 4 As soon as 
 
 she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto 
 him. And when she was come where Jesus was, 
 and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto 
 him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had 
 not died.’ More passionate than Martha, her nature 
 disposed more to love and tenderness, she falls at 
 those feet again, where she had chosen and received 
 eternal happiness. 
 
 We must pass by the events at the grave; nor will 
 we stop to contemplate that scene where these sisters 
 received that brother to life again. Their love and 
 transport at the sight of each other, and of their 
 Saviour, presented the most perfect representation of 
 the great rising day which is on record. That day 
 may be, to you, all and more than this resurrection 
 
188 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 and meeting were to these sisters and their brother. 
 See in them a picture of your family circle at the 
 grave, on the morning of the resurrection. May it 
 be a picture of our households. Can we say of our 
 families, as John Eliot said of his, “We are all 
 in Christ, or with Christ ” % If we can, the opened 
 grave at Bethany, with the scene around it, is an 
 emblem of our burying-place, at the last day. If 
 not, it is because ail have not chosen the good part 
 which shall never be taken from them. 
 
 Several topics are suggested by this second chapter 
 in the history of these friends of Christ, upon which, 
 however, a remark in passing will suffice. 
 
 1. Judicious and kind treatment has great power. 
 It probably saved Martha’s soul. We should be will¬ 
 ing to give such reproof. We should be willing to 
 receive it, so that our souls mav live. 
 
 2. When a friend is sick, it is a great comfort if 
 we can say of him to Christ, 4 Lord, he whom t thou 
 lovest is sick.’ If physicians heal him, Christ does 
 it by them. If he dies, it will be for the glory of 
 God, the last earthly act, to him, of redeeming love. 
 
 3. When our friends die, we should not sit still, to 
 nourish grief, but go to Christ with it. “ Trust in ' 
 him at all times ; ye people, pour out your hearts 
 before him ; God is a refuge for us.” 
 
 4 
 
 * # 
 
 We come now to the third and last scene in 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 189 
 
 which these friends of Christ appear to us. Jesus is 
 within a week of his crucifixion. 4 Then Jesus, six 
 days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where 
 Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised 
 from the dead. There,’ (Mark says that it was at 
 the house of Simon the leper — probably a friend of 
 Martha and Mary —) 4 they made him a supper; and 
 Martha served.’ Yes, Martha, of course we shall 
 find you serving. Your energy, zeal, and hospitality 
 are not quenched by your religion. You are a noble- 
 hearted woman; we wall put tenderness into our 
 love for Mary, and respect into our love for you. 
 We love you all the more for your original fault, now 
 corrected; we love you the more for having once 
 blamed you. Mary, so far as we see her, never went 
 astray; but now, we almost rejoice more over you 
 than over ninety and nine like her. We have a fellow 
 feeling for you, because we are so much like you, 
 careful and troubled about many things, and tempted 
 to impatience and haste; and it seems as though you, 
 like Christ, could he touched with the feeling of our 
 
 . v 
 
 infirmities. We love you for taking reproof so well, 
 •» 
 
 loving the hand that smote you; w T e love you for 
 being willing still to serve, with no wounded pride, 
 nor rankling thought at having been corrected. . If 
 Mary was more like an angel, you are more like a 
 redeemed sinner; and those redeemed sinners who 
 have had the most to contend with, will owe more to 
 divine grace, and sing the sweetest praise. 
 
190 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 “ But Lazarus was one of them that sat at table 
 with him.” 
 
 There breathed the man, one of the very few 
 whom death has released, for a season, from his awful 
 grasp, for whom the grave had opened her doors that 
 he might escape. He sits there with his Redeemer. 
 We, at the table of Christ, in the presence of our 
 Redeemer, have been raised from a death more ter¬ 
 rible than the king of terrors, and, indeed, from that 
 which alone makes death the king of terrors. Let 
 the feelings of Lazarus on that occasion be our feel¬ 
 ings, his gratitude and love ours, his faith and confi¬ 
 dence ours. It is an emblem, too, of a risen church 
 at the table of Christ.* We shall sit at that table of 
 Christ, in heaven, with all his friends, where the 
 thought that we must die will no more come to us, 
 as no doubt it did to Lazarus, at that table; but we 
 shall sit with him who is the resurrection and the 
 life, and our supper shall be no more the showing 
 forth of his death, but the marriage supper of the 
 Lamb. 
 
 The scene, and the history of these friends of 
 Christ, now closes with an incident as interesting as 
 any previous part of it. 
 
 “ Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spike¬ 
 nard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and 
 wiped his feet with her hair ; and the house was 
 filled with the odor of the ointment.” 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 191 
 
 This is one of the incidents which show that this 
 family were in circumstances of more than comfort. 
 That ointment was not a Syrian product, but an im¬ 
 ported article, the celebrated Indian spikenard, a 
 compound of the most rare and costly aromatics, of 
 which spikenard was the basis, and which gave the 
 compound its name. It is mentioned in Solomon’s 
 Song with the chief of perfumes. The poet Horace 
 speaks of a small stone box of it as worth a cask of 
 wine. Judas Iscariot said that it might have been 
 sold for three hundred pence; each of those pence, 
 or denarii, being about seventeen cents of our money, 
 making the ointment worth about fifty dollars. Very 
 precious, indeed, was such an anointing, and Judas 
 remonstrated at what he pretended to consider an 
 enormous waste. The Saviour justified Mary. Her 
 love seeks for the most costly offering; and let her 
 bring it. She seems to have had some information 
 of Christ’s approaching death; for Christ had told 
 the twelve apostles of it, and from his regard for 
 that family at Bethany, we may suppose that he had 
 told them. That anointing, then, was an honor done 
 to him in view of his approaching end; and Mary’s 
 love to her Saviour, and the character of that 
 Saviour as God’s Anointed, warranted this costly 
 offering. Mark says, “ She poured it on his head.” 
 John does not contradict this, but he adds the more 
 striking incident that his feet also were anointed. 
 
192 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 This ointment was nearly liquid, of exceeding* deli¬ 
 cacy, used by rich women for the hair; to which 
 Mary appropriately applied the superfluous ointment 
 from the Saviour’s feet. The house was filled with 
 the odorous balsam ; and the more extensive fra¬ 
 grance of the deed fulfils the word of Christ as 
 recorded by Mark: “ Wheresoever this gospel shall 
 be preached throughout the whole world, this also 
 that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial 
 of her.” 
 
 We have now seen Mary three times, and every 
 time at the Saviour’s feet; first, as a learner; sec¬ 
 ondly, as a mourner; thirdly, as a servant and wor¬ 
 shipper. She is there to-day. She has long since 
 cast her crown at those feet. She enjoys to-day that 
 good part which cannot be taken away from her. 
 Lazarus is dead. Neither he, nor any other mere 
 mortal, was “ the first fruits of them that slept.” 
 Death again brought him to the narrow house, but 
 it must have been a joyful day for him when he 
 returned to heaven, like an angel revisiting his throne. 
 Martha has exchanged her toils and cares for the rest 
 of heaven ; but her active mind, and heart, and hands 
 
 “find sweet employ 
 In that eternal world of joy.” 
 
 Ye friends of Christ, we must copy your example, 
 catch your spirit, love and serve your Saviour, and 
 reign with him and with you. As they would cele- 
 
MARTHA AND MARY 
 
 193 
 
 brate the sacramental supper, as they would go away 
 from it, as they would live hereafter, in view of such 
 a privilege, Lord, help us so to eat of this bread, and 
 drink of this cup. 
 
 Several reflections are suggested by this whole 
 narrative. 
 
 1. The Saviour is a friend of individuals and of 
 families . That house in Bethany was a place where 
 he loved to resort. The three inmates deeply inter¬ 
 ested him; and with regard to two of them, we have 
 seen some of the obvious reasons. 
 
 He loved John, also. He would have loved that 
 young ruler, had not that amiable youth been like 
 many others, foolish, and gone away sorrowful from 
 his presence. Christ has objects of special affection ; 
 they are such as love him and serve him with no or¬ 
 dinary love, and whose characters are such as he, the 
 perfect Judge of character, can approve. Blessed be 
 his name, they are none of them perfect. But he loves 
 to help them in their endeavors to be so. He loves 
 certain families ; families of prayer; families whose 
 members love one another; families where he is 
 exalted, and his cause and his friends are cherished, 
 and his name is most precious, and where the whole 
 life of the household is one hymn of praise to Christ, 
 a fragrant sacrifice of devoted service to his honor 
 and glory. 
 
 17 
 
194 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 2. Christ loves special acts and testimonials of love. 
 If you have children, and earnestly pray the Saviour 
 to use them for his glory, he will be pleased with the 
 offering and consecration. 
 
 If you ever have a gift which you desire to make 
 to him, some gold, or silver, or ornament, which no 
 one requires you to give away, and with love to 
 Christ you come to him in prayer, and break that 
 box upon his head and his feet, he will love you for 
 it, and you will love him. But it must not be a mere 
 sense of duty that prompts it. 
 
 If you have only 4 two mites, which make a far¬ 
 thing,’ and they are your all, and yet your love and 
 gratitude impel you to offer them to Christ, and any 
 one would remonstrate, Christ takes your part, and 
 says, Let them alone. He will take the gift, and en¬ 
 rich your souls. Ministers sometimes hear of incidents 
 among their people, in their contributions, for exam¬ 
 ple, to foreign missions—which make them feel that 
 perhaps Christ loves individuals among them very 
 much. Some of you shed spikenard on the Saviour, 
 bestowing your gifts upon him through his cause, or 
 his suffering friends ; and wherever you go, you will 
 be sure to carry the joy of it in your heart, as Mary 
 carried in her hair the perfume which she took from 
 Jesus’ feet. It was little, it may be, in your esteem, 
 and you thought only how small it seemed; but you 
 were not ashamed of it, nor was Christ. Let us 
 
MARTHA AND MARY. 
 
 195 
 
 ■e* 
 
 make every contribution to the cause of Christ an 
 express offering to him; sometimes let us bring 
 special gifts to him who gave his blood for us. The 
 oftener, like Mary, we are at his feet, for any pur¬ 
 pose, to learn, to be comforted, or to give gifts, the 
 wiser, the safer, the happier, shall we be. A lady, 
 once had a rare and beautiful plant, which bloomed 
 with such surpassing richness that it seemed due to 
 her sovereign, and, as the highest expression of her 
 love and respect, she sent it to the Queen. With 
 the same feelings did Hannah give her Samuel, the 
 object of such desire and love, to God; and, more 
 distinguished still, a poor widow, no doubt with the 
 same emotions, in offering one farthing to her God, 
 
 4 cast in more than they all.’ Let secret prayer and 
 consecration precede religious and charitable offer¬ 
 ings, and they will be new cords of love between 
 your soul and Christ. 
 
 3. Whenever we come to the table of Christ , we 
 may say , by faith , This is Bethany. Can there be 
 places or scenes on earth more interesting to Christ 
 than those in which his people partake of the memo¬ 
 rials of his death l If he is ever specially present 
 with us, it is in connection with that which he bids 
 us do in remembrance of him, and which, more than 
 any thing else, reminds him of us. 
 
 Would that we could always receive him and com¬ 
 mune with him in the spirit of Mary, who forgot 
 
196 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 every thing but Christ as soon as he entered her 
 dwelling. 
 
 Would that we could honor him by a room full 
 of guests. We have invited several hundreds of our 
 friends to join with us in communion with Christ at 
 •his table, but hitherto they have said, I pray thee 
 have me excused. 
 
 But, after all, our chief thought at the table of 
 Christ must be with regard to ourselves, if we would 
 profit by the sacramental season. 4 The Master is 
 come, and calleth for tlieef Let him search your 
 heart, reprove you, not sparing your faults, but set¬ 
 ting them in order before you. If he would treat us 
 all as he did Martha, it would be well for us. He 
 knows our faults; we may also say to him, with 
 David, 44 Thou knowest my foolishness.” Let us 
 never go away without feeling reproved for some 
 particular fault'or sin. Nor may he depart without 
 bearing with him some new proofs of our love, some 
 purposes of amendment, a consecration to him of all 
 that we have and are, and with new bonds between 
 him and us, whose influence shall be felt by us not 
 only in life and in death, but when we shall 4 eat 
 
 AND DRINK AT HIS TABLE, IN HIS KINGDOM.’ 
 
IX. 
 
 SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 —♦— 
 
 AND AS THEY LED HIM AWAY, THEY LAID HOLD UPON ONE SIMON, A CYRENIAN, 
 COMING OUT OF THE COUNTRY, AND ON HIM THEY LAID THE CROSS, THAT HE 
 MIGHT BEAR IT AFTER JESUS. 
 
 The cross was so ignominious and hateful, that no 
 menial servant was willing to carry it to the place of 
 execution, and the people were unwilling that any 
 man who was not in disgrace should be compelled to 
 bear it through the public ways. 
 
 It woidd seem that when they led Jesus away to 
 be crucified, they laid the transverse beam of the 
 cross upon him, according to the custom of making 
 the criminal bear the instrument of his own torture 
 and death. But either out of compassion to Christ, 
 which is hardly probable, or because his strength, 
 reduced by previous sufferings, was insufficient for 
 the load, or because they feared that their victim, 
 who was already much exhausted by the loss of blood, 
 
 17 * ( 197 ) 
 
198 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 might faint and die before they had executed their 
 purposes, they found it expedient to relieve him of 
 the burden. John says, “ And they took Jesus, and 
 led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went forth 
 into a place called the place of a skull.” But the 
 other evangelists say that another bore the cross. 
 Both statements are consistent, Christ carried his 
 cross through the city, and was then relieved of it, 
 as one of the evangelists says, “ when they came out.” 
 
 It is generally supposed, that this Simon was 
 suspected, or known to be a friend, or a disciple, 
 of Christ. Commentators agree in this impression. 
 The reason seems to be, that only one who was 
 odious ever had such ignominy put upon him as to 
 bear a cross in public. Mark says, that 4 this man 
 was the father of Alexander and Rufus,’ who are 
 thus named familiarly, as though they were two dis¬ 
 ciples of ChrisI, well known. Two of the three 
 evangelists who mention him, however, use the word 
 4 compel,’ in speaking of the act of the people in 
 laying the cross upon him. Still, this may be intend¬ 
 ed merely to describe the act as it would appear 
 generally to spectators, without intending to intimate 
 the feelings of Simon at the force which the people 
 would naturally use, whether he were, or were not, 
 a friend. 
 
 He was on his way from the country into the city, 
 when the crowd met him as they went to the exe- 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 199 
 
 eution. For some reason, he was a marked man; 
 perhaps of such ill repute that the people felt at 
 liberty to lay hold on him, and compel him to per¬ 
 form this most degrading and revolting service of 
 carrying a cross to the place of punishment. It 
 may have been that he was a fugitive from justice; or 
 that he had made himself notorious by former crimes 
 and punishment; or that, in appearance, he was a 
 vagrant, whom the excited populace felt it safe to 
 insult with this compulsion. 
 
 On the other hand, it may have been the case that 
 he had made himself offensive by some prominent act 
 of friendship to Christ, in opposition to the popular 
 feeling. We only know that they met him acci¬ 
 dentally, and forced upon him a service which they 
 thought too great a disgrace for any of their number, 
 or for one not already ignominious ; and which, 
 perhaps, no one of the disciples of Christ would 
 have undertaken to perform, without, at first, a feeF 
 ing of abhorrence. 
 
 While we adopt the general impression, that 
 Simon was a friend of Christ, the possibility of doubt 
 respecting his character and disposition affords an 
 opportunity to speak of the different feelings which 
 the professed followers of Christ, and men in gen¬ 
 eral, have, with regard to the cross of Christ; by 
 which I mean the different ways in which our feel¬ 
 ings lead us to regard our religious duties. Some 
 
200 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 are like Simon, if lie were an unconverted man, when 
 compelled to bear the cross. 
 
 Suppose, then, that he was not a good man ; or, at 
 least, suppose that he was indifferent to Christ, and 
 had taken no part, for him or against him, and was 
 too much engrossed in his own affairs to be inter¬ 
 ested in the controversy respecting Jesus. 
 
 He was coming out of the country, and was going 
 into the city, and, accidentally, passed along the way 
 to Calvary at the time that the crowd were moving 
 to the place of execution. They laid hold on him, 
 and thrust the cross upon his shoulder. We see the 
 angry, furious fellow, with the heavy cross laid on 
 his unwilling neck. With oaths and curses he stag¬ 
 gers along, restrained only by fear of the mob from 
 resistance and flight. He deplores his bad luck that 
 led him that way just at that moment. Had he been 
 a few minutes earlier or later, he might have escaped 
 this great disgrace. Now he feels that he has had a 
 reproach put upon him which he can never wipe off. 
 His family, his friends, or his acquaintances, will 
 hear of this. What would they say if they could 
 see him marching, at the head of a mob that follows 
 the executioners, with a cross on his shoulders, help¬ 
 ing a miserable victim on his way to Golgotha l Such 
 a load he never bore ; a heavier weight of sorrow he 
 never expects to bear in this world. What right 
 had the people to stop him in his lawful business ? 
 
SIMON THE CYEENIAN. 201 
 
 Perhaps he had engagements in the city ; perhaps he 
 is losing some employment by this interruption. It 
 may be that the mob will take it upon themselves to 
 crucify him with Christ, Altogether, no man could 
 be placed in a condition more vexatious and afflic¬ 
 tive than his, short of death itself. He probably 
 looked on himself as the most insulted, disgraced, 
 and injured man on earth. His feelings toward the 
 victim that walked before him could not have been 
 of an agreeable nature. It may be that he vented 
 his spite and anger upon him; it would have been 
 natural, in his state of mind, to have had feelings of 
 contempt and cruelty toward the sufferer, who had 
 been the innocent occasion of his disgrace. If you 
 wish for a picture of a man subjected against his 
 will to do a direful act of necessity, from which he 
 cannot escape, we have it in him who, with such 
 feelings, bore the cross after Jesus. 
 
 But this man, with these supposed feelings, repre- 
 sents many who would not suspect that they could 
 be compared to him. Yet the resemblance is strik¬ 
 ing, and far from being uncommon. 
 
 Here is a heartless professor of religion. He 
 wishes that he had never taken upon himself the 
 vows of God and joined the church of Christ, for he 
 feels no interest in religion. He does not love prayer, 
 nor the word of God, nor spiritual truths, nor spirit” 
 ual pleasures. It is a trial to him to have the Lord's 
 
202 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 supper recur. He doubts whether he ought to go 
 to the Lord’s table, feeling so indifferent to Christ, 
 and to religious duties and pleasures. He questions 
 with himself whether he ought not to ask for a dis¬ 
 mission from the church ; but then he remembers that 
 a church cannot dismiss him back to the world ; that 
 they have no right to give him up his vows to God ; 
 that they were only witnesses of those vows, put¬ 
 ting them on record for him; but from his promises 
 to God they cannot absolve him. 
 
 Perhaps, however, he could be contented to live in 
 this secret state of apostasy, with a name to live 
 while he is dead, saying nothing respecting his feel¬ 
 ings, and passing on with the crowd, under a fair 
 exterior; but there is one objection and difficulty. 
 He wishes to do some things which are inconsistent 
 with a Christian profession. He wishes to indulge 
 in worldly pleasures, gratify his sinful appetites, com¬ 
 mit gross sins to a degree which would subject him 
 to censure from a Christian church; and from the 
 commission and indulgence of these things he is 
 hindered only by his fear of reproach and disgrace. 
 Perhaps he wishes to send his children to places of 
 amusement which are not approved by Christians gen¬ 
 erally, or to indulge in these pleasures himself. The 
 fascinations of such pleasures are exceedingly sweet 
 to him, and he wishes that the customs of the 
 churches were such as to allow of such indulgences. 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 . .< 203 
 
 As it is, he leads a hard life in many things ; he 
 wishes that he could escape from his Christian pro¬ 
 fession ; but alas ! he has been taken in an evil hour, 
 and compelled to bear the cross after Jesus. He 
 looks on the world around him, and envies them 
 their liberty; perhaps they say things to him which 
 are peculiarly obnoxious, and their taunts against 
 religion and godly people excite the most painful 
 feelings in his breast — not of jealousy for the in¬ 
 jured cause of religion and for the church of Christ, 
 but to think that he has had the cross put on him, 
 and that he cannot shake it off. He is not bearing 
 that cross to heaven, but, as it were, to a place of 
 execution; he is not a follower of Christ, in a true 
 sense, though he walks behind him, but a victim, 
 who is made to walk in the train of Christ. If there 
 he an unhappy man, it is he who is compelled to 
 govern his sinful inclinations and wishes against his 
 will, merely from fear of public opinion ; to act a 
 forced part; to keep up the name and profession of 
 godliness, when his heart is not in it. Such a man 
 envies those who are out of the church ; as Simon, 
 probably, would have been willing to change places 
 with the poorest and lowest of the wretches who 
 were exulting about him in their freedom from that 
 accursed cross, which he was compelled to bear. 
 What a way to hell is the way of a false and heart¬ 
 less professor of religion. It would seem that the 
 
204 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 god of this world must have some special malice 
 against certain individuals, who vex him by not 
 going to a full length in transgression ; and so he 
 vents his rage on them, and exercises his cruelty, by 
 letting them join the church of Christ with an 
 unconverted heart, and compelling them, as the Jews 
 did Simon, to bear the cross after Jesus. How sad 
 this is; — to have no comfort in the pleasures of sin 
 for a season; to be deprived of sinful gratifications 
 in this life, with nothing to compensate for the depri¬ 
 vation here ; and then to lie down in sorrow with the 
 name and the recollections of one who once profess¬ 
 edly bore the cross after Jesus. 
 
 There is another class of persons whose feelings 
 are illustrated by those of Simon, if we may suppose 
 him to have been apprehended against his will to 
 
 bear the cross for Christ. They are some of those in 
 
 * 
 
 a Christian congregation who are urged to become 
 Christians, but are unwilling to repent and believe 
 in the Saviour. Our efforts to make them the follow¬ 
 ers of Christ seem to them as unwelcome as did the 
 approach of the Jewish officers and Roman soldiers 
 to Simon, to make him bear the cross. To be a 
 Christian seems to them to be like putting on them a 
 most unwelcome, and a very heavy, burden. They 
 have no heart for religion, nor for any of its spiritual 
 truths, nor for any of its duties. If God will suffer 
 them to go to heaven in their own way, they are 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 205 
 
 willing to go ; but to give up their sins, to submit 
 to such humiliation and mortification as it would in¬ 
 volve to be converted, is more than they can patient¬ 
 ly endure. Probably, some of these persons cannot 
 conceive of a more irksome condition than to be 
 compelled to feel and act like Christians, with their 
 present state of mind ; and how to change this state 
 of mind, or to make religion consistent with their 
 feelings and tastes, is beyond their power to conceive. 
 It is like compelling the Cyrenian to help Christ bear 
 his cross. They look on those who would urge them 
 to be followers of Christ and members of the church, 
 as having a design against their happiness ; perhaps 
 as being selfish, over-zealous, and enthusiastic; and 
 sometimes they congratulate themselves that they are 
 able to withstand their persuasions, and are not 
 deluded, like others, into a Christian profession. 
 They associate with the idea of religion nothing 
 which is pleasant; all is gloomy and repulsive ; it 
 is self-denial, mortification, perhaps pusillanimity; 
 compared with which the pleasure of being their 
 own masters, and the sense of independence in act¬ 
 ing according to their own wishes, is bliss. If they 
 should ever happen to be compelled, by affliction and 
 sorrow, to become Christians, it seems to them that it 
 will be no less a calamity than it was to this Simon 
 to be caught by the mob and have his shoulders load¬ 
 ed with the hateful cross. It is nothing short of 
 
206 
 
 THE FRIEtfDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 some terribly calamity, in their view, which can ever 
 make them willing to be converted. If they should 
 ever be so humbled and crushed by the hand of God 
 as to be willing to be Christians, they suppose that 
 they will submit to their fate. Looking on the pro¬ 
 cession that went with Christ to his crucifixion, there 
 is no one, not even the innocent Jesus himself, for 
 whom they, with their present feelings, would have 
 had more sympathy, or whose feelings they would 
 have appreciated or pitied more, than those of him 
 who was caught and made cross-bearer to the Saviour 
 of the world. They think that some have tried, in 
 like manner, to put the cross on them ; but they have 
 escaped. When, in our solemn assemblies, the Sa¬ 
 viour is, as it were, presented, on his way to Calvary, 
 as, for example, in our sacramental lectures, and at 
 the Lord’s supper, they fear to expose themselves to 
 the influences of such scenes, lest they should, in 
 some way, be constrained, against their will, to take 
 up the cross. We say these things with tender 
 compassion, and not with reproachful feelings. We 
 speak as those who have known the wormwood and 
 the gall of an unrenewed and wicked heart. 
 
 We will turn to a more agreeable strain. Let us 
 now suppose that Simon w T as a friend of Christ, and 
 that his sons were disciples, and that the knowledge 
 of these things led the Jews to lay the Saviour’s 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 207 
 
 This being so, it is not impossible that Simon was 
 on bis way into the city to show bis love and attach 
 ment to bis Saviour and Friend. Perhaps be bad 
 heard in the country the report of the Saviour’s 
 betrayal by one of bis disciples, bis apprehension, 
 bis mock trial, and the cruel treatment he had re¬ 
 ceived from the populace. It may be that he, or 
 some of bis family, had been healed by Christ, or 
 that Christ bad forgiven bis sins, and that be had 
 become an heir of everlasting life. We can then 
 imagine bis feelings as be saw Christ in the hands 
 of the mob, bleeding from the crown of thorns and 
 from the scourging, bearing bis cross without the 
 gate to Calvary, and fainting under the load. His 
 feeling may have been, O that I might die for him ; 
 O that they would take me, and release him, as they 
 did Barabbas; O that I might be assisted to do 
 something to show my love to Jesus. Perhaps these 
 feelings were so evident that the people took advan¬ 
 tage of them, and said, If you are such a friend and 
 devotee of Christ, you surely will make no objection 
 to carry his cross for him ; and so, without further 
 ceremony, “ on him they laid the cross, that he might 
 bear it after Jesus.” 
 
 Here, then, we have this man again with the cross 
 upon his shoulder; but a far different man is he from 
 that which we have before supposed, and with far 
 different feelings does he bear his load. What may 
 
208 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 we suppose his feelings to have been ? Probably he 
 was at that hour the happiest, and, in truth, the only 
 happy, man in that crowd. The Saviour himself was 
 exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; John, and 
 Mary, and all the friends of Christ followed weeping; 
 the wicked crew who were persecuting, &nd about to 
 crucify, Christ, were not happy even in their exulta¬ 
 tion, for it was the laughter of fools. Simon may 
 have been the only happy man in the whole crowd, 
 and that because he was counted worthy to bear 
 shame and reproach for Christ. It seems to him a 
 providential kindness, that he was permitted to pass 
 along the road just in time to meet Christ and the 
 multitude ; just in time to lift this dreadful burden 
 from the Saviour, and have it laid on his own neck. 
 He goes forward with it with more joy than though 
 he were an honored attendant of Caesar in a triumph¬ 
 al procession. He would rather bear the cross after 
 Christ than the royal train for the emperor. The 
 people around him, it may be, mock him, and call 
 him a friend of the malefactor, and, in many ways, 
 insult him under his burden; but to all their provo¬ 
 cations and jeers he makes no answer, except it be a 
 prayer, Lord, that their eyes may be opened. They 
 tell him, perhaps, that he will always be known, 
 hereafter, as the man that had the Nazarene’s cross 
 laid on his shoulders, on the way to Golgotha. If 
 he is really a friend of Jesus, he esteems the re- 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 209 
 
 proach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of 
 Egypt. 
 
 “ If on my face, for thy dear name, 
 
 Shame and reproaches be, 
 
 I’ll hail reproach, and welcome shame, 
 
 If thou remember me.” 
 
 He knows but little, with all his joy, he yet 
 knows but little of the honor that is put upon him. 
 What is that cross to be ? It is the altar for the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
 world. That cross is the instrument of our redemp¬ 
 tion from hell, and Simon bore it for us, and all the 
 redeemed in heaven will feel that he was their friend 
 in helping on that cross to Calvary. What would 
 Simon, in heaven, take in exchange for the honor and 
 privilege of having borne that cross after Jesus? You 
 could not purchase it of him with an earthly throne ; 
 you could not make him feel that any disciple of 
 Christ on the earth, or any martyr since his time, has 
 more to make him happy than he has in his recollec¬ 
 tions of the* hour when he bore the cross after Jesus. 
 What happiness will that man enjoy forever. As 
 the redeemed, of all ages and nations, think over and 
 rehearse to one another the history of the cross, they 
 will remember the man, however humble and obscure 
 he may have been, that man of Cyrene, that African, 
 who was so highly honored as to be a copartner with 
 Emmanuel in the labor of carrying the cross to the 
 
 13 * 
 
210 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 mount of sacrifice. Happy, happy man ! You may 
 respond to Paul’s exultation: “ God forbid that 1 
 should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.” Not that there was any merit in the act, to 
 justify his soul; not that the piece of wood had any 
 virtue in it more than any other tree ; but because 
 the grace of God enabled him to show his faithful 
 love to the Saviour by this act, and to be associated 
 with that which is the instrument of a world’s salva¬ 
 tion, and of his own. 
 
 One practical truth is well illustrated by this nar¬ 
 rative : — 
 
 Our feelings make religion, and every thing 
 
 CONNECTED WITH IT, EASY OR DIFFICULT, PLEASANT 
 OR REPULSIVE. 
 
 We know that this principle holds good in com¬ 
 mon things; in our business and professions, in 
 labors and sacrifices. Love impels us to every kind 
 action ; we feel no burden, no sacrifice, where love 
 reigns in the heart. A parent, a husband, a wife, or 
 child, will labor and suffer for a beloved object in 
 forms and to a degree, which no wealth could induce 
 them to do or to bear for one whom they did not 
 love, or for a stranger. We can all enter into the 
 feelings of Simon in bearing this cross, if he were a 
 truly good man and an ardent friend of Christ; we 
 know that, if we felt toward the Saviour, or toward 
 any friend, as he may have done, nothing could give 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 211 
 
 us greater joy than to perform such an act as his, 
 Let the multitude sneer and insult; let hell join with 
 earth to mock us; love to the injured and suffering 
 Friend would bear us on, and make us more than 
 conquerors, through Him that loved us. 
 
 Religion is the highest joy, or the greatest afflic¬ 
 tion, according to the state of our feelings toward 
 God and spiritual things. 
 
 If we love the world, and our sins, and worldly 
 company; if we hanker after sinful pleasures and 
 vain amusements; if we dislike prayer, and the 
 Bible, and self-denial, and contemplations on death 
 and heaven, and feel no interest in doing good to the 
 souls, but only to the bodies, of men, — of course 
 religion is a great hardship. If we profess religion, 
 we then wish we had never done so; and if we are 
 not, professedly, Christians, nothing is more unwel¬ 
 come than the thought of being such. So that religion 
 is to every one of us, without exception, just what 
 the cross of Christ was to Simon, in one of the states 
 of mind in which we have supposed him to be. 
 
 Now. if any one of us is sorry that he ever pro¬ 
 fessed to be a Christian, and thinks that he is not one, 
 and would be glad to be released from his obliga¬ 
 tions, we would say, Your only hope of happiness 
 and safety, here and hereafter, and the only relief for 
 you from your present embarrassment, lies in your 
 becoming a faithful follower and friend of your 
 
212 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Redeemer. As for escaping from your vows to God, 
 which your lips have uttered, and which your soul 
 made when you were in trouble, you cannot do it. 
 If yon should receive a letter signed by your pastor, 
 the office-bearers, and the members of the church, 
 releasing you from the church, you might feel re¬ 
 lieved for a while; but that letter would soon be 
 to you a heavier burden than poor Simon bore, if, 
 with unwilling neck, he endured the reproach of 
 Christ. On a dying bed, that letter would seem to 
 you, in your dreams and visions, like a great gate, 
 shutting you out of heaven. What a sight it would 
 be, to see you before the Lord your Judge, with that 
 letter in your hand. It would be the last thing 
 which you would take with you to the bar of God; 
 but suppose that you should be summoned to appear 
 with the letter, and it should be read before the 
 
 Judge, thus: “ This certifies that-is, at his (or 
 
 her) own request, this day released from covenant 
 obligations to God and the Lord Jesus, and is no 
 more a member of the Saviour’s visible church, 
 which is his body.” Pastors are sometimes request¬ 
 ed to procure a letter of release for some from the 
 church of Christ. What would induce them to put 
 their names to such a letter, to be read before Christ, 
 and so to stand in the place of your last, dread sen¬ 
 tence, as to make it needless that Christ should say 
 unto you, Depart? 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 213 
 
 No, dear friend, who have lost your interest in 
 religion, ensnared with the fascinations of this pres- 
 sent evil world, or who have, by some unhappy 
 means, left your first love to Christ, and on whose 
 shoulders the cross is heavy, too heavy for you to 
 bear; to whom will you go, if you go from Christ ? 
 The Saviour speaks to you as he did to Simon Peter: 
 
 44 Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift 
 thee as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy 
 faith may not fail.” You know that religion is of 
 intrinsic importance, though you think you never 
 felt its power ; now, the same almighty grace which 
 has given to others 4 a new heart,’ and 4 a new spirit,’ 
 can do this for you. Repentance, and faith in the 
 blood of Jesus Christ, will he as efficacious in your 
 case as in theirs. Personal religion, or Christian 
 character, is not like a garment which is spoiled . 
 when made, without remedy. Therefore do not cast 
 off your Christian profession, and say that you are a 
 hypocrite in professing that which you do not feel. 
 Keep your Christian profession, and conform to it, 
 by obtaining grace from him who 44 upbraideth not.” 
 
 It seems that you must hear the cross, willingly or 
 unwillingly; Christ will gently lay it on you, or the 
 world, knowing what you have professed, will thrust 
 it upon you. But Christ says, My yoke is easy, and 
 my burden is light. Was it heavy and galling to the 
 pious and faithful Simon % Even you may obtain 
 
214 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 those feelings which will make the cross of Christ 
 your joy and your crown. 
 
 It would be in vain for an unconverted man to 
 think of being happy, as a Christian, while he 
 retains his love of the world and sin. No wonder 
 that religion is uninviting to him, and the service of 
 Christ a cross from which he flies, so long as he is 
 conscious of no love to Christ. But religion does 
 not take your pleasures from you, and give you 
 nothing in exchange. On the contrary, it substitutes 
 for your poor, unsatisfying pleasures, joys which, 
 once tasted, will make your worldly joys distasteful. 
 Begin to love the Saviour who loved you, and, in the 
 same sense, loves you still. Then we shall put no 
 cross upon you, in bringing you into his kingdom; 
 but that which others consider a cross, you will 
 esteem your glory and your crown. 
 
 While we live here, with these natures but partly 
 sanctified, we shall always have to bear some cross, 
 if we would live holy, and righteously, and godly, in 
 this present evil world. May we, instead of shun¬ 
 ning the cross, be willing to walk so near to Christ 
 that we could (as some interpret Simon’s bearing 
 the cross “ after Jesus ”) feel and bear one end of his 
 cross on our necks, and, instead of fearing reproach, 
 and seeking for reputation and pleasure in the world, 
 plant our feet in his very footsteps, though they lead 
 to Calvary, taking part with him, despised and 
 
SIMON THE CYRENIAN. 
 
 215 
 
 rejected of men, and, if need be, 4 filling up that 
 which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his 
 body’s sake, which is the church.’ No man ever had 
 a nearer and sweeter union with Christ than the 
 man who, willingly and joyfully, bore the cross 
 which was taken from the Saviour’s neck, and laid 
 on him. We may question whether it were not 
 a greater honor, and is not now a greater happiness, 
 to Simon, if in heaven, to have been thus joined to 
 Christ by his cross, than it was, or is, to the beloved 
 disciple merely to have leaned on his breast. Who 
 would not as willingly be Simon, with the Saviour’s 
 cross, as John upon the Saviour’s bosom? 
 
 Of the two pictures which have been drawn of 
 Simon, one of them corresponds to the character and 
 feelings of each of us, in our public and private life. 
 If we are not fugitives from the cross, and from Christ, 
 as he may have tried to be, we are compelled to keep 
 up the profession of a Christian, feeling unhappy, 
 and looking this way and that to escape; or, if a 
 picture could be made of us, it would represent us 
 as coming to Christ, offering ourselves to be the part¬ 
 ners of his shame and of his cause. We almost 
 envy some who have the opportunity to make a 
 sacrifice of feeling and worldly interest in becoming 
 Christians. If Simon the Cyrenian is with Christ 
 in heaven, we would all of us give the whole world, 
 could we do so, for his jov, and for that love which 
 
216 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Christ bears him. He who turned his back toward 
 him on the way to Calvary, and suffered him to bear 
 his cross, now turns his face on him with a smile 
 which is a heaven in Heaven. 
 
 Ho not wait till it is easier for you, as you sup¬ 
 pose it may hereafter be, to become a Christian. 
 That might be an irreparable loss, and, when Christ 
 distributes our last rewards, an occasion for great 
 regret. Come then, take up your cross. “ Jesus, 
 also, that he might sanctify the people with his 
 own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go 
 
 FORTH, THEREFORE, UNTO HIM WITHOUT THE CAMP, 
 BEARING HIS REPROACH. FOR HERE HAVE WE NO 
 CONTINUING CITY, BUT WE SEEK ONE TO COME.” And, 
 “ If WE SUFFER, WE SHALL ALSO REIGN WITH HIM.” 
 
X. 
 
 THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 AND HE SAID UNTO JESUS, LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN THOU COMEST INTO 
 THY KINGDOM. AND JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, YERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, 
 TO-DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE. 
 
 The three crosses which stood together on Mount 
 Calvary, are a continual emblem of our world. A 
 dying Saviour had, on one side of him, an enemy and 
 unbeliever, and on the other side, a friend and believ¬ 
 er. Thus it is to-day in every part of the globe 
 where Christ is preached; thus it is in every Chris¬ 
 tian congregation. 
 
 This narrative is an instance of those discrepancies 
 which we find in the several accounts of the same 
 events by the different evangelists. One of them 
 says, 44 The thieves which were crucified with him 
 cast the same in his teeth,” that is, the same reproaches 
 with the scribes : 4 If thou be the Christ, save thy¬ 
 self.’ But another evangelist represents that only 
 one of the thieves upbraided Christ; and therefore 
 
 19 • ' ( 217 ) 
 
218 
 
 THE EKIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 some are disposed to reflect upon the accuracy and 
 trustworthiness of the sacred penmen. 
 
 The discrepancy is satisfactorily explained in either 
 of two ways. 1. It is a common method of speak¬ 
 ing to use the plural number, when only one of a 
 multitude may have been intended. We have an 
 instance of the same kind in the story of the alabas¬ 
 ter box of ointment. “ And they that sat at meat 
 with him had indignation, saying, To what purpose 
 is this waste! ” But another evangelist says that this 
 remark was made by Judas Iscariot; and his motives 
 are given. All that one of the evangelists wished to 
 intimate was, that fault was found at table with this 
 precious gift; while the other historian enters into 
 particulars. We use the same method of speaking. 
 If a mob surrounds a house, and we say, They threw 
 stones, this would be true, though but one man threw 
 them. The idea is, stones were thrown; and this 
 mode of speech is deemed sufficiently accurate in a 
 general narrative, while, in a court of justice, the nar¬ 
 rator might be required to tell whether he saw more 
 than one man commit the outrage. So, one evange¬ 
 list merely notices, in passing, the affecting circum¬ 
 stance that Jesus, in the agonies of crucifixion, 
 received insult from among the two who were them¬ 
 selves dying by crucifixion. Even they who were 
 crucified with him contributed to his sufferings. 
 This is sufficiently accurate for the purpose. 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 219 
 
 But there is another way of explaining and recon¬ 
 ciling this discrepancy. 2. It is possible that, at the 
 first, both of the thieves did join to insult Christ. 
 Who will undertake to say that they did not, or to 
 deny that one of them afterward relented, and took 
 the Saviour s part against his fellow l 
 
 Many interesting and important truths are illus¬ 
 trated by this narrative. 
 
 I. The history of the penitent thief is a 
 
 STRIKING ILLUSTRATION OF FAITH. 
 
 There are two remarkable expressions in the brief 
 prayer which he addressed to Christ, both of them 
 exhibiting wonderful faith. One is, “ thy kingdom.” 
 Thy kingdom ! — as though the suffering, dying 
 Jesus had a kingdom. This idea was a subject of 
 sport and ridicule below,' while on the cross it was an 
 object of faith. Above the cross, even Pilate writes 
 a caricature: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King 
 of the Jews.” To let every man of every tongue in 
 that motley crowd have his chance to understand the 
 criminal pretensions of Jesus, this accusation was 
 written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. But let 
 the Hebrews, and the Greeks, and the Homans, with 
 Pilate at their head — let the whole priesthood, and 
 all the scribes —- insult at the idea of that crucified vic¬ 
 tim having a kingdom ; nevertheless, this poor thief 
 speaks to the Saviour of his “kingdom.” Numbers, 
 
220 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 rank, laughter, jests, nails, and spears, have no effect 
 on him. His faith is like Mount Zion, which cannot 
 be moved. It was a singular word, indeed, that 
 ascended amid the hellish revelry around the cross, 
 addressed to him who was despised and rejected of 
 men, — “ When thou comest into thy kingdom.” 
 
 What evidence had this penitent thief that Christ 
 had a kingdom l What did he know which was not 
 known to his fellow on the other side of Christ ] 
 Absolutely nothing. Yet we hear him expressing 
 his faith in Jesus as being all which he professed to 
 be. His ideas were necessarily vague with regard 
 to Christ’s kingdom, but his faith was nevertheless 
 genuine faith. 
 
 What a reproof this is to unbelief — the unbelief 
 of those who, with all the accumulated evidence 
 which a Christian education affords, still say that 
 they cannot bring themselves to believe. Surely un¬ 
 belief is not always owing to a want of evidence; 
 nor is faith always proportioned to evidence ; for the 
 penitent thief had, in the circumstances of the case, 
 very little warrant for his belief. What, then, is the 
 explanation of such faith ? It is simply this: his 
 heart was touched ; his feelings were disposed to 
 look favorably on Christ. So true it is, as the in¬ 
 spired word declares, that “ with the heart man 
 believeth unto righteousness.” Where the feelings 
 are inclined toward any view of the case, it is easy 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 221 
 
 to refute, in our own minds, accusations made against 
 beloved objects, and to see excellences where others 
 see only faults. 
 
 In religion, the great difficulty with all who are 
 not deficient in knowledge, and yet do not believe, is, 
 they have no heart for it. That which we dislike, it 
 is comparatively easy to disprove, or, at least, to heap 
 up objections to it. 
 
 This gives us an affecting view of unbelief in reli¬ 
 gion, as criminal. It is not a mere dissatisfaction 
 with evidence; for there is evidence enough in reli¬ 
 gion— evidence which has convinced the most preju¬ 
 diced, the most learned, the most ignorant. But one 
 says, I am not responsible for them, nor they for me. 
 What if all the world are satisfied with certain evi¬ 
 dence ; must I believe merely because they believe 1 
 Certainly not; but we have reason, in such a case, to 
 inquire, whether the fault lies most in the head or 
 the heart; that is, whether we are so dull that we 
 cannot reason as well as the rest of the world, or 
 whether a deceived heart has turned us aside. 
 
 We see, then, why it is that belief and unbelief 
 are subjects of reward and punishment. It would 
 not be just to say, ‘ He that believeth shall be saved, 
 and he that believeth not shall be damned,’ unless a 
 man’s heart, his will, were concerned in the unbelief, 
 as they are in every case. Many a man is fortifying 
 himself against the claims of religion, on the ground 
 
 19 * 
 
222 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 that his mind cannot receive certain truths ; whereas 
 it is not because the evidence is defective; for, should 
 he meet with affliction, or, in some way, be humbled, 
 so that his feelings should be changed, his perplexi¬ 
 ties would be cleared up, showing that the difficulty is 
 not with the evidence, but in the state of the heart. 
 It is also said, “ He that doeth evil hateth the light, 
 neither cometh to the light, that his deeds may be 
 reproved.” So that the common declaration, I am 
 not responsible for my belief, is not true, because in 
 religion, where there is sufficient knowledge, our 
 belief is determined by our feelings ; if we feel right, 
 we believe aright. It was so with the penitent thief. 
 The silent Sufferer by his side affected his subdued 
 heart with relentings, and with sympathy; while the 
 effect on the hard heart of the other thief, was, to 
 make him upbraid Christ. 
 
 The other expression in the penitent thief’s prayer, 
 which expresses his faith, is this: “ Lord, remember 
 me.” The other words, “ thy kingdom,” expressed a 
 general belief in Christ. These words, “ Remember 
 me,” were the triumph of faith. Grant that Christ 
 has a kingdom, and is on his way to his throne; it 
 would have been natural for the thief to have been 
 overawed by the thought of that dying Potentate, 
 and to have feared to make any request of him. Yet 
 he prefers this request: “ Lord, remember me.” He 
 was not, in his own esteem, too wicked, and too far 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 223 
 
 below the notice of Christ; though he had the worst 
 possible thoughts of himself as a malefactor, who 
 received the due reward of his deeds in being cruci¬ 
 fied. What boldness, and 4 confidence of access, by 
 
 ' %/ 
 
 the faith of him,’ did this poor creature have, in thus 
 appealing to Christ. See in it a perfect illustration 
 of faith, which cannot be explained, or made any 
 more forcible, by words. It is hung up by the side 
 of the very cross of Christ, that if any wish to know 
 what faith in Christ is, and whether they can be for¬ 
 given, and whether they are not too wicked, and too 
 unworthy to hope for the favor of God, they have 
 the answer, recorded in the most conspicuous place 
 of all the earth; not in St. Peter’s Cathedral, nor at 
 the side of the highways, but by the cross of Jesus. 
 It stands, the most perfect illustration of the way to 
 believe in Christ, and a refutation of the error that 
 believing and not believing depend on the amount 
 of evidence, and a rebuke of the pride which keeps 
 many a sinner, conscious of guilt, from asking for 
 mercy. 
 
 Once more look at this picture: there is another 
 feature which we have not noticed, another illustra¬ 
 tion of the faith in the dying thief. 44 Bernember 
 me,” he cries, -— not merely now, but 44 when thou 
 comest into thy kingdom.” He might, by great 
 faith, have asked Christ to help him die easily, 
 to forgive his sins; but, while all this is included, 
 
224 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 we are astonished at the reach and grasp of this 
 man’s faith. Will Christ have nothing to do, 01 
 to think of] When Jesus comes in his kingly 
 majesty, will he, can he, spend time or thought, then, 
 on a poor, crucified thief] Is not this presumption, 
 pretending to ask for a remembrance amid the glory 
 and honor of the coronation day] Was there ever 
 such faith as this] Did not Jesus rebuke it] He 
 seems to forget his own dying agonies, to applaud 
 and reward such faith, promising that, that very day, 
 this man should be with him in paradise. 
 
 Let us never say, I cannot believe. Or, if we 
 cannot, let us go with the hearts which keep us from 
 believing, and, at the cross of Christ, take a lesson 
 from that dying malefactor. It does not appear that, 
 up to the time when Christ replied to his prayer, the 
 Saviour had said one w r ord to him. Christ had not 
 looked to those malefactors for sympathy. While 
 he, notwithstanding his own sufferings, must have 
 felt compassion for them, it might not have been of 
 good effect for him to speak with them at such an 
 hour ; for his enemies would have misunderstood his 
 motives, and might have said, He has fellow-feeling 
 with malefactors. There was propriety, and wisdom 
 too, in this — that when he was brought as a lamb 
 to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers he 
 was dumb ; he opened not his mouth. We find no 
 evidence of the common and natural appeal from 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 225 
 
 him which companions in misery, though strangers, 
 make to each other for sympathy. 
 
 Bearing the burden of the world’s atonement; 
 tasting death for every man; finishing, by the last 
 act of suffering and dying, the work of propitia¬ 
 tion ; fulfilling, in that hour, all that Moses and the 
 prophets had written, — he stands, with two thieves, 
 in one group, waiting each to be nailed to his respec¬ 
 tive cross. O Saviour, we are glad that at that hour 
 there was one who spoke for some of us, and ex¬ 
 pressed the feelings of penitent sinners in all ages, 
 and took thy part, and witnessed a good confession. 
 He puts us to shame by his wonderful faith. How 
 timid and slow we are to commit our souls to thee, 
 while this poor thief spake to thee, hanging on the 
 cross, of thy kingdom, and asked thee to remember 
 him — to remember him amid the glories of thy king¬ 
 dom. Paul’s faith, at his conversion, was not so 
 great as this. Christ spoke to him from heaven. 
 The penitent thief spoke first to Christ. “ Blessed 
 are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.'’ 
 
 Perhaps some will say, Would that I could have 
 just such faith as this: why may I not have it 1 how 
 can I obtain it ? 
 
 It may be, if Christ had not done so much for you, 
 it might have been easier to believe in him. He has 
 knocked at the door of your heart ever since you 
 were a child ; he has spared you, and interceded for 
 
226 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 you, and blessed you ; he has followed you with the 
 means of salvation, employing ministers to plead his 
 love for you, and his willingness to forgive you and 
 save you. All this he has done, and you ask, Why 
 may I not believe in Christ, and have strong faith in 
 him ? A question more easily answered is one like 
 these: What guilt, without excuse, is mine, to have 
 rejected Christ, with the accumulated evidence of his 
 Godhead, and of his sufferings for me % Who is a 
 greater sinner than I, to have treated the Saviour as 
 I have done % How can I stand in the judgment, if I 
 plead that I did not know how to believe in Christ, 
 especially if the penitent thief should be permitted 
 to ask me there, In what way do you suppose that I, 
 a dying thief, knew what it was to believe in Christ \ 
 
 II. The history of the penitent thief illus¬ 
 trates THE NATURE OF FREE GRACE IN JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 Grace is favor to the guilty, and of course to the 
 undeserving. It never had a more vivid illustration 
 than in the case before us. 
 
 The closing act of the Saviour s life was the salva¬ 
 tion of a sinner. While earth and hell were tri¬ 
 umphing over his supposed defeat, he rescued an 
 immortal spirit from hell, and thus carried into effect 
 the object of his death, even while lie was dying. 
 
 But who is he that is selected as the subject of 
 this victorious grace, at such a moment 1 All heaven 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 227 
 
 are intently watching that scene ; the redeemed look 
 down upon that cross with feelings of unutterable 
 interest. They are waiting to receive the soul of 
 Jesus as it passes from earth to heaven ; and behold, 
 a spirit passes up, also, to heaven from the side of 
 Christ. And who is it ? The Emperor of Rome, 
 perhaps, or the high priest; the beloved disciple, 
 or Mary the mother of Jesus. It is the soul of a 
 thief, taken from prison and adjudged to an ignomin¬ 
 ious death ; he is the companion of Jesus in death, 
 and in his entrance into heaven. 
 
 This is characteristic of Christ and of divine grace. 
 Here was a dying malefactor. The sorrows of death 
 gat hold upon him, and the pains of hell compassed 
 him about. He found trouble and sorrow. Then 
 called he upon the name of the Lord: O Lord, I 
 beseech thee, deliver my soul. The faithful saying 
 is verified, and is worthy of all acceptation, that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-— 
 
 0 
 
 even the chief. We are glad that it was not an 
 emperor, nor a disciple, it is so beautiful an illus¬ 
 tration of grace. We can understand it further by 
 supposing what the feelings of that thief must have 
 been at finding himself in heaven. A few hours be¬ 
 fore, he was in prison, awaiting death for his crimes. 
 Now he is before the throne of God, now he is in 
 the presence of just men made perfect, now he hears 
 joy in the presence of the angels of God over him. 
 
228 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 What must have been his strange joy as he looked 
 round in heaven, and with what feelings afterward 
 must he have regarded that Saviour who delivered 
 him from the wrath to come. 
 
 Such is grace ; and every one of us — strange as 
 some may think it — every one of us, if saved, will be 
 saved in the same way; every one of us who are 
 saved, will vie with that penitent thief to show that 
 we owe as much to Christ as he. We shall, perhaps, 
 contest his claims to preeminence as a subject of 
 wonderful grace ; for many of us will say to him, 
 You were forgiven and saved without ever having 
 heard of and rejected Christ. We lived till we w^ere 
 ten or twelve years old, or twenty, or forty, or sixty, 
 rejecting that Saviour on whom you believed the 
 first time that you heard him. Did you, O penitent 
 thief, ever turn your back on the body and blood of 
 Christ offered to you % We did, for years. Did you 
 live in known sin, for years, rejecting the offer of 
 redeeming love ] Were you ever at the point of 
 death, by accident or sickness ; and, being snatched 
 from death, did you go on rejecting Christ 1 Did 
 you have a seat in a Christian temple, pious parents, 
 meetings for religious inquiry, Bibles, the Holy Spirit 
 striving with you, all in vain — for years in vain \ 
 Take away that crown, O penitent thief, which you 
 have cast at Jesus’ feet as the crown of one who 
 owes most to the grace of God ; to mine, as much as 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 229 
 
 to yours, belongs that great distinction, and let it 
 have, at least, an equal place there. Here, Saviour, 
 is the crown of a redeemed sinner, from a Christian 
 land, in the nineteenth century — a sinner against 
 light and love unparalleled, spared and forgiven, and 
 saved from a hell which would have been more toler¬ 
 able for thieves, and for Sodom, than for me. 
 
 The penitent thief did no more and no less than 
 men now do when they come to Christ. He came 
 just as he was. He did not wait to feel more — to 
 know that Christ would receive him before he came 
 to him; he did not complain that he was convinced 
 but not persuaded ; he did not wish to make himself 
 better before he applied to Christ; he came to Christ 
 in all his vileness, and cast himself upon the Sa¬ 
 viour’s mercy. Precisely so do sinners now come to 
 the Saviour,—just as they are. Their appropriate 
 language is, — 
 
 '• The dying thief rejoiced to see 
 That fountain in his day ; 
 
 And there have I, as vile as he, 
 
 Washed all my sins away.” # 
 
 There is not one way of salvation, therefore, for 
 the penitent thief, and another for us. He, and the 
 jailer at Philippi, and the three thousand at Pente¬ 
 cost, and all others, are saved in the same way. 
 “ For other foundation can no man lay than that is 
 laid, which is Jesus Christ.” “ For by grace are we 
 
 * Thus Cowper wrote it. See Grimshaw’s Cowper. 
 
230 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; — 
 it is the gift of God.” 
 
 Let it be borne in mind, then, for without it this sub¬ 
 ject, and the case in Scripture on which it is founded, 
 will have no useful influence upon us — that this meth¬ 
 od of saving the thief was nothing strange. He was 
 not saved in one way, and we in another. The only 
 peculiarity in his case was, that so late, and with 
 such small evidence as he enjoyed, he should have 
 been saved. But he was saved precisely as we shall 
 be, if we are saved; on the very same principles, and 
 for the same reasons; that is to say, renouncing all 
 merit, and trusting only and wholly to Christ. The 
 most virtuous man has no more merit before Christ 
 than that thief. “ All our righteousnesses (that is, 
 the things which we set up as meritorious, or grounds 
 of claim) are as filthy rags,” and, in the sight of 
 God, as filthy as those of the thief. If you are saved, 
 you must be saved, not, perhaps, as a penitent thief, 
 
 but as a penitent- How shall we fill the blank ? 
 
 A large blank will he required, for “ who can under¬ 
 stand his errors ? ” Even Job said, “ How t many are 
 mine iniquities and sins! Make me to know my 
 transgression and my sin.” We must each be 
 saved by mercy to the lost and perishing; and the 
 penitent thief was no more lost and perishing than 
 we are, except that his dying hour had actually 
 
 come. 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 231 
 
 III. The case of the penitent thief is a warn¬ 
 ing to THOSE who defer repentance. 
 
 If we should see a man who went over the falls 
 of Niagara in a boat, and was saved, should it en¬ 
 courage us to venture into the rapids 1 What a risk 
 this thief ran; how near he came to losing that 
 heaven which he has now secured. Here is the only 
 case in the Bible of repentance at the close of life. 
 One instance is given, that none may despair; and 
 only one, that none may presume. 
 
 Some think that sickness and suffering will arouse 
 them. But stupidity in religion is voluntary. It is 
 not like being frozen or stunned. Stupidity in reli¬ 
 gion is voluntary. No one need be stupid; no one 
 is stupid who does his known duty. 
 
 As to the effect of suffering to arouse and persuade, 
 look on the other side of Christ upon the cross. 
 Suffering hardens as frequently as it softens. The 
 probability is extremely small that a man who has 
 all his lifetime known his duty and neglected reli¬ 
 gion, will come to his senses in death. Men gener¬ 
 ally die as they live. God agrees to no such proposal 
 as this : — I will repent at the last hour. He some¬ 
 times says, “ Because I have called and ye have 
 refused, I also will laugh at your calamity, I will 
 mock when your fear cometh.” 
 
 A sick man is afraid to prepare to die, because 
 that is an admission to his own mind, that he may not, 
 
232 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 or will not, recover; so he puts it off till it is too late. 
 Disease has wasted him; wandering thoughts and 
 weakness of mind frequently prevent him from say¬ 
 ing or doing any thing that requires the least effort: 
 the little child must not be brought into the room, 
 for its bright face is too exciting; and if you lift a 
 bunch of dowers to his eye, even that sight disturbs 
 him, and he involuntarily wishes you to let him 
 alone. Think of trying to do, in such a moment, 
 that which for years, in health and full strength, 
 a man has complained that he could not undertake, 
 or do. “ If thou hast run with the footmen, and they 
 have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with 
 horses ? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou 
 trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do 
 in the swellings of Jordan ? ” Even if we could be 
 saved at the last hour, what treatment is this of God 
 our Saviour, to give him the miserable remnant of a 
 misspent life. Some are of the opinion that this 
 thief was penitent before he went to the cross. If 
 so, there is not even one instance in the Bible of 
 true repentance in the dying hour. There is great 
 kindness, as well as solemn admonition, in the words 
 of the Holy Ghost: “ To-day, if ye will hear his 
 voice, harden not your hearts.” This is followed by 
 saying that c he limiteth a certain day.’ The meaning 
 is, the offers of pardon are made on condition of their 
 being accepted at the time. They do not include 
 to-morrow. 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 233 
 
 IV. The case of the thief is a proof of instan¬ 
 taneous RETRIBUTION AFTER DEATH. 
 
 We learn from Paul’s account of his being caught 
 up into the third heaven, or, as he says in a subse¬ 
 quent verse, into paradise, that paradise is the third 
 heaven. It certainly is the place where the Saviour 
 spent the interval between death and the resurrec¬ 
 tion. Can any Protestant believe that he spent it 
 elsewhere than in the heaven of heavens 1 
 
 There is no reason to suppose that departed souls 
 are in a state of happiness inferior to that which 
 they will enjoy after the resurrection, except that the 
 addition of the body will contribute greatly to their 
 happiness, and make, perhaps, the difference of 
 gazing for a time, in full health and strength, at the 
 starry heavens, enjoying the sight in the company of 
 intelligent friends ; and afterward possessing the ad¬ 
 vantages of a telescope. The telescope is an addition 
 to your means of enjoyment, but not to your char¬ 
 acter, or consciousness. The Westminster Assembly’s 
 Shorter Catechism expresses the scriptural truth: 
 44 The souls of believers are, at their death, made 
 perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into 
 glory; their bodies, being still united to Christ, do 
 rest in their graves until the resurrection.” 
 
 If so, how near the Christian is, continually, to 
 his home in heaven. A sudden accident, a sharp, 
 
 short sickness may dismiss his spirit, and immediately 
 
 20 * 
 
234 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 it takes 4 its mansion near the throne.’ Suppose that 
 there were, in a certain room of your house, a com¬ 
 pany of angels who were waiting to convey you to 
 heaven, and you knew it. What manner of persons 
 would you be in all holy conversation and godliness ] 
 We ought to live, continually, seeing that we look 
 for these things, in such a manner that we may, at 
 any time, 44 be found of him in peace, without spot, 
 and blameless.” 
 
 It is also true that sinners are, in like manner, 
 living on the very brink of hell. A blow, a fall, a 
 sudden sickness, may launch them forth into eterni¬ 
 ty, and all is over with them forever. We are 
 dividing, every day, or week, or month, like the two 
 on the cross, on either side of Christ; and each of 
 us will follow one or the other of them, to his para¬ 
 dise or to his punishment. Some are crying, 44 Lord, 
 remember me ” ; some are perishing at the side of 
 Christ. He who hung at Christ’s side, but reviled 
 him, will think forever: 4 What an opportunity I had, 
 with my fellow, to be saved, at the very side of Jesus.’ 
 Like him, some one who reads these lines may often 
 have said, with a complaining feeling, If thou be 
 the Christ, save me ; why have I never found par¬ 
 don, when I have asked for it so long ? 44 Dost 
 
 thou not fear God, seeing thou art” justly 44 in a state 
 of condemnation \ ” When you feel this, you will 
 acquit Christ of all blame at his delay, saying, This 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 235 
 
 man hath done nothing amiss; but this man (smiting 
 your breast) hath done every thing amiss. 
 
 Finally, it would be doing injustice to the sub¬ 
 ject, if the closing impression should not be made 
 by the truth illustrated so strikingly by this narra¬ 
 tive, namely: — 
 
 V. Christ is able and willing to save great 
 
 SINNERS. 
 
 He illustrated this in three remarkable ways: — 
 
 On the cross, while making the atonement, he 
 manifested his power and willingness to save great 
 sinners, by saving a dying thief. 
 
 After he had risen from the dead, he told his 
 disciples to offer pardon to men in his name, 4 begin¬ 
 ning at Jerusalem.’ Go, first of all, to my crucifiers; 
 tell them that I loved them, and gave myself for 
 them. This was actually done; and many believed, 
 and were saved. Once more : 
 
 When he selected an apostle to the Gentile world, 
 he chose one who was a persecutor, a blasphemer, 
 and injurious, and made him a pattern of what he 
 was able and willing to do in the case of great 
 transgressors. We hear that convert say, 44 This 
 is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin¬ 
 ners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit, for this cause 
 T obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 
 
236 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 might show forth a pattern to all who should here¬ 
 after believe on him to life everlasting.” The great¬ 
 ness of guilt, then, is no reason, in itself, why it may 
 not be forgiven. 44 Wherefore he is able also to 
 save them to the uttermost that come unto God by 
 him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession 
 for them.” 
 
 We shall each see a time when the prayer of the 
 penitent thief will seem to us the most appropriate to 
 our case. Christ is coming into his kingdom; coming, 
 in his own glory, and in the glory of the Father, and 
 of the holy angels. 4 Every eye shall see him.’ While 
 the heavens are on fire, the elements melting, the 
 graves opening, the risen dead preparing to ascend 
 to judgment, and the Son of man is throned above 
 the clouds, is there a petition that you would love to 
 have answered more than this — Lord, remember me 1 ? 
 Could you, by any means, induce Christ to remember 
 you at such a time, and obtain from him a token of 
 favor, what would you not give 1 You can secure 
 a remembrance of yourself then. The way to do it 
 is, to remember him now. Remember him, in the 
 midst of your follies, and worldliness, and sins, and 
 give yourself to him. Remember him, while you ask, 
 What must I do to be saved % and commit yourself to 
 him, like this thief. Remember him at his table; for 
 he has said, 4 Do this in remembrance of me.’ Re¬ 
 member him in your temptations, and keep his word 
 
THE PENITENT THIEF. 
 
 237 
 
 Remember him always, as your Example, Guide, 
 Friend, and Saviour. “ For every one that seeth 
 the Son, and believeth on him, hath everlast¬ 
 ing LIFE ; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST 
 DAY.” 
 
XI. 
 
 THE RELENTING CRUCIRER. 
 
 - 4 - 
 
 AND STRAIGHTWAY ONE OF THEM RAN, AND TOOK A SPONGE, AND FILLED IT 
 
 WITH VINEGAR, AND PUT IT ON A REED, AND GAVE^HIM TO DRINK. 
 
 Among the friends of Christ, we find a relenting 
 crucifier. In companies where we should least ex¬ 
 pect it God secures witnesses for himself; and in 
 hearts which appear to be the most unpromising soil 
 we find the work of the Spirit. 
 
 The act performed by this partner of the crucifix¬ 
 ion was so very slight, and evinces so little interest 
 in Christ, that his claim to a place among the friends 
 of Christ may naturally be questioned. It is not 
 with the expectation of proving his claim, by any 
 argument founded on his cursory act of kindness, 
 that he is here included in the number of the 
 Saviour’s friends ; but for the purpose of showing 
 that the infinite condescension of the Saviour, in 
 recognizing a cup of cold water given to one of his 
 
 ( 238 ) 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIEIER. 
 
 239 
 
 disciples in the name of a disciple, as worthy of his 
 reward, and in sparing a braised reed, and treating 
 with forbearance and hopefulness the smoking flax, 
 may have found an object of grace even among those 
 who were employed to bruise him and put him tc 
 grief. It may encourage some to see how slight a 
 feeling of interest in Christ, how inconsiderable an 
 act of kindness done for him, may bring a man 
 within the wide circumference of that grace which 
 rejoices in showing mercy where sin has abounded, 
 nor is turned away from scenes the most revolting 
 and hopeless to the eye of our faith. Besides, if all 
 who befriended Christ were endowed with great tal¬ 
 ents, or were in affluent circumstances, or if all of 
 them belonged to the intelligent classes of society, 
 or even if they all enjoyed and exercised clear and 
 strong faith, it is easy to see that very many might 
 be discouraged. By including the penitent thief and 
 the relenting crucifier in the number of the Saviour’s 
 friends, we feel sure that we act in accordance with 
 the spirit of that “ faithful saying, worthy of all ac¬ 
 ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
 save sinners,” “ and that the Son of man came to 
 seek and to save that which is lost.” 
 
 Crucifixion always occasioned an intolerable thirst. 
 To make the victims insensible, stupefying drinks 
 were humanely offered. Christ refused such a 
 
240 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 draught, and died with an unclouded mind. His fol¬ 
 lowers may innocently receive alleviations of pain, 
 and use them, even to the suspension of their con¬ 
 sciousness, if they choose, or their friends so deter¬ 
 mine for them; but the manner in which Christ 
 chose to meet death, illustrates the common reflection 
 of suffering Christians, that their pains are not to be 
 compared with those which Christ endured on their 
 account; while it should serve to strengthen them for 
 “ all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.” 
 
 The dreadful scenes and agonies of the cross drew 
 near their end. The last act of the Saviour’s life 
 was to commend his mother to the beloved disci¬ 
 ple, who was standing near the cross, and who 
 thus continues the account of the scene: “ After 
 this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now ac¬ 
 complished, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, 
 saith, I thirst.” 
 
 The seeming digression will not be found incon¬ 
 sistent with unity of effect, if we consider here the 
 wonderful minuteness with which the sufferings of 
 Christ were foretold, and their extreme coincidence 
 with the predictions. 
 
 As soon as Christ was nailed to the cross, the sol¬ 
 diers, rapacious and poor, seized upon his garments, 
 which his crucifiers had stripped from him, and as 
 there were four of these soldiers, probably, who were 
 detailed to attend the execution, they apportioned 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER. 
 
 241 
 
 his garments between them ; his coat, making a fifth 
 portion, consisting of one piece of cloth, without a 
 seam, fell to one of them by lot. 
 
 Who but Omniscience could have foreseen that 
 little incident of division, and the casting of the lot, 
 in the distribution of the Saviour’s garments \ What 
 a wonderful book the Bible appears to be; the more 
 wonderful, the more minutely it is examined. God 
 is in it, as in nature, wherever the eye rests or 
 penetrates. 
 
 With respect to the manner in which the bodies 
 of the three victims on those crosses were treated, 
 there is the same remarkable fulfilment of prophecy. 
 The Jews were unwilling that the bodies of men cru¬ 
 cified should remain on the cross during the Sab¬ 
 bath ; indeed, it was their custom always to remove 
 a crucified body from the cross before sundown ; but 
 the near approach of the Sabbath, beginning at six 
 o’cl ick of the preceding afternoon, made them anx¬ 
 ious to dispose of the bodies without delay. They 
 therefore begged the Bo man governor, that the usual 
 mode of hastening death might be resorted to; viz., 
 a violent breaking of the legs of the victims. By 
 this means, the two thieves were hastened out of the 
 world. When they came to Christ to do the same, 
 they found that he was already dead. Whether his 
 death took place before the thieves had, either or 
 
 both of them, died, does not appear; but, at least, 
 
 21 
 
242 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 when they were dead, it was found that he was dead, 
 and they therefore brake not his legs. 
 
 In this apparently simple incident we find a proof 
 of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, as our passover slain 
 for us. Among the directions for offering and eating 
 the passover lamb, this is given: 44 Neither shall ye 
 break a bone thereof.” It was to be eaten in haste, 
 while the family stood round the table, girded for a 
 journey, with their shoes upon them, and their staves 
 in their hands. They must not wait to break the 
 bones ; and the delay which it would occasion was 
 the immediate, the obvious, reason for that com¬ 
 mandment. 
 
 But there was a deeper reason why the limbs of 
 Christ should not be broken. That body must not 
 be mutilated in one degree more than the necessities 
 of crucifixion required. That body was to ascend in¬ 
 to heaven ; it must preserve its perfectness, except so 
 far as the instruments of death should fix their prints 
 in it. The breaking of any of the limbs of Christ 
 would forever have conveyed to the mind the idea of 
 weakness, which would subtract from certain associa¬ 
 tions which it seemed desirable should be connected 
 with his body. He must be 4 crucified in weakness ; ’ 
 but no needless indignity must be offered to his per¬ 
 son. Therefore a bone of him must not be broken. 
 He was not set to honor the paschal lamb ; but the 
 paschal lamb was appointed to honor him, and there- 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER. 
 
 243 
 
 fore, that the passover lamb might be like Christ, it 
 was ordered that the Israelites should not break one 
 of its bones. Again we are struck with the wonder¬ 
 ful character of the Bible, in its minute points. 
 While the thieves had their bones broken, it was 
 appointed that the Saviour should not need it to has¬ 
 ten his death ; and so he escaped this indignity, and 
 thus fulfilled the type of the lamb at the passover. 
 
 But to make it certain that he was dead, a soldier, 
 having a spear, thrust it into his side, “ and forthwith 
 there came out blood and water.” This, according * 
 to the testimony of medical men, would have pro¬ 
 duced death, had he not been already dead; — the min¬ 
 gled blood and water coming from the region of the 
 heart, where the spear had pierced. Again, another 
 scripture saith, 4 They shall look on him whom they 
 have pierced ! ’ 
 
 All these prophecies were familiar to Christ, and 
 the knowledge of them bore him through his suffer¬ 
 ings until they were finished. One suffering, one 
 pang only, remained; one prophetic touch in the 
 picture of his agony, alone, was yet to be fulfilled. 
 
 “ Jesus, knowing that all things were now accom¬ 
 plished, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, said, I 
 thirst.” 
 
 This was necessary to prove that his sufferings 
 were the ordinary sufferings of the cross. Had there 
 been no thirst, as there alwavs was in other cases, 
 
244 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the inference would have been that he did not suffer, 
 but was supported and relieved by supernatural 
 
 V 
 
 power, and so did not “ bear our sins in bis own body 
 on the tree.” But that cup must not pass from him 
 except he drink it. The sufferings of Christ are 
 portrayed by David. Among them we read: “ In my 
 thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.” Jesus said, 
 44 1 thirst.” It was an involuntary outcry; cruci¬ 
 fixion was draining every nerve and fibre of its 
 natural moisture; and that suffering, probably the 
 greatest of which the human body is capable, the 
 suffering occasioned by thirst, compared with which 
 the pains of hunger are slight, made him cry with a 
 pitiable distress. 
 
 That cry struck to the heart of one of them that 
 stood by, participating in the bloody deed. There 
 stood by the cross a vessel filled with the common 
 drink of the Homan soldiers, called 4 posca,’ or sour 
 wine, which, when mixed with water, was a palatable 
 acid. It was one of the preparations for crucifixion 
 to place that liquid by the cross. This relenting 
 crucifier ran, and filled a sponge with it, and fixing 
 it on a reed, or a stalk of the hyssop, reached it to 
 the Saviour’s dying and parched lips. Christ had 
 refused the wine and myrrh; he would not be made 
 insensible to his sufferings; but he was willing to 
 receive this act of kindness, and when he had tasted 
 the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his 
 
THE RELENTING CRTTCIFIER. 
 
 245 
 
 head, and gave up the ghost. It would seem that 
 the restlessness of dying had come over his exhaust¬ 
 ed system ; the rending asunder of soul and body 
 was taking place ; the cooling, grateful taste of the 
 vinegar gave him, as it were, a little strength to die, 
 excited a pleasurable sensation which itself ex¬ 
 hausted his remaining strength ; as we often see a 
 patient die instantly, after being lifted a little in his 
 bed, or turned on his pillow. With a feeling of 
 relief, he uttered those words whose meaning is coex¬ 
 tensive with the whole plan of salvation, from the 
 foundation of the world: “ It is finished.” In that 
 moment, “ he tasted death for every man.” 
 
 He who performed the last act of kindness which 
 the Saviour of the world received before his death, 
 was by no means a believer, as we learn from the 
 account of him by Mark. While he was performing 
 this act of kindness, Matthew says, “ The rest said, 
 Let be; let us see whether Elias will come to save 
 him.” This is erroneously understood as a pro¬ 
 hibition : Ho not give him the vinegar; let Elias 
 relieve him if he will. That this is not the meaning, 
 appears from Mark, who makes the man himself 
 utter these words. Mark says, “ And one ran, and 
 filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on a reed, 
 and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see 
 whether Elias will come to take him down.” Of 
 
 course, the expression, ‘ Let alone,’ in his lips, could 
 
 21 * 
 
246 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 not mean, Do not give him the vinegar. The word 
 rendered 4 Let alone ’ is one of those common phrases 
 which people of all languages use when they are 
 at work, to cheer, and rally, or check one another. 
 We should say, 44 Hold on ”; the Romans said, 
 44 Come on ”; the Greeks said, 44 Let alone.” Of 
 course, the man himself would not have said, Let 
 the vinegar alone, or, Let the sufferer alone, while 
 he was in the act of giving him the vinegar. No ; 
 but while he gave it, he himself, in the exciting lan¬ 
 guage of the moment, cries out, Come, or, Let alone; 
 let us see whether Elias will come to take him 
 down. 
 
 Is not this an inconsistency 'l that the man should 
 have done an act of kindness to Christ, and at the 
 same time have said this about Elias 1 How shall 
 we explain it! He could not have been intelligently 
 a friend of Christ. But it is certain that his act was 
 a friendly act. No ill motive could have prompted 
 this relief. We can make several suppositions with 
 regard to the state of mind in which he performed 
 this kindness, and all of them w T ill suggest some 
 instruction; for the friends of Christ are of all 
 varieties, and their faith and their love is of every 
 degree and shade. 
 
 When this man gave Christ the cooling drink, say¬ 
 ing, at the same time, Let us see whether Elias will 
 come to save him, I observe, — 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER. 
 
 247 
 
 I. THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER MAY HAVE WISHED 
 TO CONCEAL HIS INTEREST IN CHRIST. 
 
 It is not uncommon for those who are really con- 
 
 •/ 
 
 vinced upon the subject of religion, and deeply- 
 impressed, to use arts to conceal their feelings. 
 Shame is one of the most powerful principles of the 
 human mind. Not unfrequently, when an individual 
 in a family, or company of friends, is strongly inter¬ 
 ested in religion, many devices are resorted to, in 
 order that others may not discover or suspect him. 
 For this purpose, some leave the house of God where 
 they have been weeping under the exhibition of their 
 condition and danger as sinners, and will immediately 
 enter into conversation with others with more than 
 usual interest and earnestness, upon ordinary topics, 
 sometimes even of a jocose nature, to prevent suspi¬ 
 cion of any unusual interest in religion. Having 
 succeeded, they go to their places of retirement, and 
 seek to renew the feelings which they had in the 
 sanctuary. But, alas ! they find those feelings dead¬ 
 ened ; they wonder that they cannot feel as they did 
 Yu thin the hour. There is, however, no cause for 
 wonder. They have grieved the Holy Spirit of God 
 by whom they would have been sealed unto the day 
 of redemption. They have been ashamed of Christ. 
 They have denied him before men. They cannot 
 reasonably hope that their feelings will be the same 
 as they were, before they, by this unhappy means, 
 grieved the Spirit. 
 
248 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 Sometimes, in the company of those with whom 
 religion is unpalatable, one is impelled to speak a 
 serious word, or give a serious tone to the conversa¬ 
 tion, or involuntarily use a religious expression. 
 Then, for fear that his friends will shout, or wink, 
 he follows his accidental or impulsive expression 
 with some slight levity, or sort of apology, to screen 
 himself from ridicule. What hearts these are, to be 
 ashamed of God, and of Christ; to blush at that 
 which should be our glory, to cower and quake be¬ 
 fore those whom, perhaps, we shall one day hear 
 calling on rocks and mountains to cover them, and, 
 it may be, for some once-despised Lazarus to bring 
 them a drop of water. Yet many do deny Christ in 
 the presence of his enemies in this manner, even 
 when they have a bias wholly in his favor, and, 
 indeed, if left to themselves, do feel and express no 
 little interest in religion. We may go further, and 
 say, that some real follower of Christ may be so much 
 overawed by opposition, or ridicule, or silent con¬ 
 tempt, or by the presence of some whom he fears or 
 respects, as to do that which, in his reflecting mo¬ 
 ments, will All him with shame and pain. This 
 was the case with Peter, who followed Christ afar 
 off, and, being accused by a little maid before a 
 company of just such men as we least like to en¬ 
 counter,-— a company of idlers and loungers round 
 a fire in a public place, — denied, with oaths and 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER. 
 
 249 
 
 cursing, that he knew Christ. Yet Simon Peter was 
 a friend of Christ, and went out and wept bitterly at 
 having been ashamed of him. 
 
 But it may he that this man in the text, while he 
 sought to practise concealment with regard to his 
 feelings, acted only a prudent part. Wishing to do 
 Christ a kind act, and yet knowing that any kindness 
 to him would expose him to insult, and perhaps 
 death ; — with more reason than in any one of the 
 cases which I have used as an illustration, perhaps 
 he sought to conceal his interest in Christ, while he 
 gave him a proof of his compassion. After all, there 
 may have been nothing careless or wanton in his 
 remark, 44 Let us see whether Elias will come to save 
 him.” When Christ said, “ Eloi, Eloi,” the resem¬ 
 blance of the word to the original of 4 Elias ’ was 
 such as to justify the mistake which the people 
 made, saying, 4 This man calleth for Elias.’ The 
 man in the text might innocently have supposed that 
 Elias was expected to appear and rescue him, and so 
 he may have used those words, which others were 
 using, to cover an act of humanity, and not to ex¬ 
 pose his real feelings, which, in those circumstances, 
 would have been to give that which is holy to the 
 dogs. Without any stretch of charity, we may sup¬ 
 pose that this was the state of the man’s mind; for 
 had he been exulting over Christ, and taunting him 
 
 with 4 Elias,’ surely he would not have run to relieve 
 
 ^ •/ 
 
THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 250 
 
 the Saviours thirst. He took some little time in 
 doing it, making it a deliberate act. His arm is too 
 short to reach the Saviour's lips; he snatches a stick 
 from a boy in the crowd, or sees a tall stalk growing in 
 the rocks of Golgotha, and breaks it off, and thrusts 
 it into the sponge, and moistens the parched mouth 
 of the sufferer ; and while some might turn upon 
 him and say, You are one of his friends, then-—you 
 begin to believe in the impostor — he hides his feel¬ 
 ings, and prevents suspicion, by crying out, ‘ Let us 
 see whether Elias will come to save him.’ How 
 natural is all this ; the human heart is the same in 
 all ages and in all circumstances. His concealment 
 may not have been sinful; he effected his object, 
 namely, to relieve Christ, and it may not have been 
 his duty to say or do more or less than he did, from 
 a prudent and justifiable regard for his own safety. 
 
 There is another supposition which is natural and 
 instructive. 
 
 II. The relenting crucifier may have been a 
 
 SINCERE INQUIRER. 
 
 He may have been a candid man, looking for evi¬ 
 dence, deceived by others, and not having had oppor¬ 
 tunities for knowing the truth. Prejudiced against 
 Christ by seeing him crucified, and in such company, 
 he nevertheless would not join to insult him, but 
 took opportunity to show him a kindness, saying, at 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER. 
 
 251 
 
 the same time, He expects - Elias; let us see if he 
 will come. In such a case, he was a bold man, act¬ 
 ing up to the degree of light which he enjoyed, and 
 determined that the sufferer on the cross should not 
 be further abused; but if he were innocent, and 
 supernatural power would, therefore, soon befriend 
 him, he was ready and willing to be convinced; in 
 testimony of which, he slakes the thirst of Christ, as 
 though he would, do every thing to prolong life, till 
 the question should be decided whether Elias would 
 come. But whatever motive we ascribe to him, we 
 are bound to believe, not only by that charity which 
 hopeth all things, but by the nature of his act, 
 which surely is not contradicted by his words, that 
 he had feelings of kindness and compassion toward 
 the Saviour. 
 
 As we contemplate this incident at the cross, sev¬ 
 eral reflections are naturally suggested. 
 
 1. Christ , on the cross for our sins , is reduced to 
 such extremity that the most common act of humanity 
 is grateful to him. 
 
 And has it come to this — God manifest in the 
 flesh ! Is there, for thee, a depth of degradation so 
 low, a depth of misery so great, that to sip the vine¬ 
 gar from a sponge is acceptable and comforting ? 
 O, wretched man that I am, to have brought Christ to 
 this condition by my sins. For us he became obedient 
 
252 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 unto death, even the death of the cross, and with 
 it submitted to all the humiliating circumstances of 
 crucifixion. Yet how many have read and heard 
 this, and have never said, It was for me; nor has it 
 interested them to consider whether Christ received 
 the vinegar or the wine, from a sponge or from a 
 cup. Well does he say, “Is it nothing to you, all 
 ye that pass by ? Behold, and see if there be any 
 sorrow like unto my sorrow.” In sickness, we have 
 ministering angels about us, in human shape, and 
 there is nothing that ingenuity can invent, or love 
 and kindness furnish, which does not abound toward 
 us. But when the Saviour dies, it is upon the nails 
 driven through his hands and feet; the thirst made 
 by his intolerable anguish is served with a sponge 
 full of vinegar; and all the spectators propose to 
 wait and see whether Elias will come to help him. 
 This is not related of one in whom we have no con¬ 
 cern except as his fellow-creatures ; all this was for 
 each of us; “he was wounded for our transgressions, 
 he was bruised for our iniquities.” The recital of 
 these sutferings on the part of Christ should move 
 the soul of every man to say, What can I do, and 
 what should I be, for Him who loved me, and gave 
 himself for me? Nothing can be more reasonable 
 than that every one who hears and believes such 
 things as these should be a decided and earnest 
 friend of his Redeemer. 
 
THE RELENTING CRUCIFIER. 
 
 253 
 
 2. Christ will one day behold each of us in the same 
 need of compassion and help in which we have now 
 contemplated him. 
 
 We see Christ suffering, in humiliation and pain 
 beyond degree; we see him accepting the meanest 
 offering, gratefully, to relieve his anguish. 
 
 The hour of nature’s extremity is approaching to 
 every one of us. Helpless, as infancy, we shall de¬ 
 pend wholly upon other hearts and hands, and they 
 will be ready, nay, too anxious, to comfort and serve 
 us. But there is a help in that hour which friends 
 cannot render. We shall forget the body and its 
 pains in the thought of the soul and its vast con- 
 cerns. In that hour, beloved friend, companion in 
 tribulation, one thought of Christ as your compas¬ 
 sionating Friend, will be to you inexpressibly precious. 
 It can be secured by being now, while in health and 
 strength, a friend of Christ. What if his sufferings 
 never excited your compassion; you cannot expect 
 that yours will excite his. If you never gave him 
 the smallest testimony of your love, what can you 
 expect from him'? All these incidents of Christ's 
 sufferings are recorded expressly to move our feelings, 
 to bring Christ very near to us, by exciting us to 
 sympathize with him; but, if our hearts are not 
 moved, let us fear lest, when we, too, are dying, he 
 who tasted the bitter cup for us will not feel that he 
 
 can, consistently, bestow upon us his compassion, or, 
 
 22 
 
254 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 lest we feel ashamed or unwilling to ask an injured, 
 neglected Saviour for his aid. 
 
 But there is another hour, more affecting even 
 than the hour of sickness and dying — the hour 
 when we shall see him face to face. There we shall 
 think of his death for us; there, the minutest cir¬ 
 cumstances of his pain and shame will visit our 
 thoughts. If they never led us to befriend him, we 
 cannot look for any thing from him but neglect. 
 And when he comes with clouds, and every eye 
 shall see him, and they also that pierced him, and all 
 kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. and 
 
 we, with his crucifiers, are at his bar, we shall be 
 
 > 
 
 numbered with his unrelenting crucifiers, unless we 
 have repented and accepted the offered Redeemer. 
 They who drove the nails and spear into him were 
 by no means sinners above all others. We, who have 
 enjoyed such light, have 4 pierced him’ more, by our 
 treatment of him, than they. 
 
 If this relenting cruciher really believed on Jesus, 
 then or afterward, his kindness to the Saviour will 
 be to him a source of recollection which the world 
 could not purchase. So may we do something for 
 Christ, for his cause, for his poor, afflicted saints, of 
 which he will hereafter say, Ye did it unto me. 
 But unless we love Christ, our motives are defective. 
 
 Let us stand, in imagination, at the cross. All 
 those sufferings, that entire atoning sacrifice, are 
 
THE RELENTING CRTJCIFIER. 
 
 255 
 
 necessary to save one soul. We do not, we cannot, 
 divide our interest in Christ with the race, nor with 
 one of them; the whole sacrifice of the Redeemer is 
 required for the justification of each sinner. It was 
 necessary for Christ to become flesh, for Christ to 
 die, in order to save your soul. If so, then each of 
 us may say, I am the occasion of that cross. I 
 brought the Saviour from heaven to the accursed 
 tree. 
 
 Does this excite no contrite feeling within us? 
 We see at the cross some who are befriending Christ; 
 the beloved disciple and Mary Magdalene. Are we 
 at heart with them ? or does our interest in the suf¬ 
 ferer not even rise so high as that of a relenting cru- 
 cifier? One single emotion of love and gratitude to 
 Christ, from you, will be as grateful to him as was 
 that cooling draught to his lips. One look, with an 
 eye of faith, upon the Son of man lifted up for you, 
 would enable him to say for you, “ It is finished ; ” 
 and all the benefits of his death would, by one act of 
 a believing, contrite heart, become yours. 
 
 But, while you hesitate, or pass carelessly by the 
 cross, as though it were nothing to you, the time 
 draws nigh, when, instead of his knocking at the 
 door of our hearts, we shall knock at his door, and 
 any delay to admit us will bring with it alarm and 
 dismay. The Man of Calvary is now exalted to be a 
 Prince and Saviour, to give repentance and remission 
 
256 
 
 TTTE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 of sins. Now is the time to ensure forgiveness and 
 acceptance through his death, and to prove the sin¬ 
 cerity of our love to him by deeds of kindness and 
 affection toward him, his people, and his cause. No 
 more will he come dependent upon a relenting 
 crucifier for a slight act of mercy to refresh his dying 
 lips; no more will it be at the option of sinners to 
 accept or to reject him. “ Behold, he cometh with 
 
 CLOUDS ; AND EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM, AND THEY 
 ALSO THAT PIERCED HIM ; AND ALL KINDREDS OF THE 
 EARTH SHALL WAIL BECAUSE OF HIM. EVEN SO, 
 
 Amen.” 
 
XII. 
 
 JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 -<>- 
 
 WHEN THE EVEN WAS COME, THERE CAME A RICH MAN OF ARIMATHEA, 
 NAMED JOSEPH, WHO ALSO HIMSELF WAS JESUS’ DISCIPLE. HE WENT TO 
 PILATE, AND BEGGED THE BODY OF JESUS. THEN PILATE COMMANDED 
 THE BODY TO BE DELIVERED. 
 
 Among the dark things of the ancient Scriptures 
 to the mind of a pious Jew, no doubt this prophecy 
 respecting the Messiah was mysterious and perplex¬ 
 ing: “ And he made his grave with the wicked, and 
 with the rich in his death.” A celebrated Jewish 
 infidel rejected the prophecy of Isaiah chiefly on 
 account of the remarkable coincidences between its 
 prophetic descriptions of Christ’s death and the 
 actual circumstances of it, proving, as he contended, 
 that a description so minutely exact, must have been 
 written by an eye-witness. 
 
 The allusion, in this prophecy, to the death and 
 burial of Christ, contains, seemingly, a contradiction ; 
 and there was, indeed, a strange contrast between his 
 
 22 * (257 ) 
 
258 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 death and his burial. “ He made his grave with the 
 wicked.” The word “ grave ” is here used in an 
 extended sense for a place of death; the passage 
 may, therefore, be paraphrased thus: He was joined 
 both with the wicked, and with rich men, in his death 
 and burial. Josepli of Arimathea was a rich man, 
 and also an honorable councillor, a member of the 
 great Jewish council, the sanhedrim. In burying 
 Christ, he was assisted by another honorable man, a 
 ruler, Nicodemus. “ And there came also Nicode¬ 
 mus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and 
 brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 
 a hundred pound weight.” We infer that he 
 was rich. 
 
 Behold these eminent men fulfilling the prophecy 
 of Isaiah. That dark passage is made clear, and 
 the reason annexed to the prophecy is also explained. 
 These two rich men and rulers knew that he was a 
 good man, that “he had done no violence, neither 
 was any deceit in his mouth.” The burial of Christ 
 by these two men of reputation, was a testimony 
 that he was all that he claimed to be, and no im¬ 
 postor. These incidental proofs that the Christian 
 religion is from God, were arranged by its great 
 Author, to convince and persuade men. 
 
 There are three things which are placed in a strong 
 light by this interesting transaction — the burial of 
 the Saviour by Joseph, assisted by Nicodemus. 
 
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 259 
 
 I. The burial of the Saviour by Joseph and 
 
 HIS FRIEND IS AN INTERESTING ILLUSTRATION OF 
 FAITH. 
 
 Christ was numbered with the transgressors. In 
 the opinion of the multitude, his character as an im¬ 
 postor was proved by his inability to deliver himself 
 from his enemies. 4 He saved others, himself he can¬ 
 not save.’ 4 If he be the King of Israel, let him 
 now come down from the cross, and we will believe 
 on him.’ 4 If thou be the Son of God, come down 
 from the cross.’ Little did they think that he bore 
 their insults in silence because he was, in that hour, 
 while suspended on those nails, making atonement for 
 their sins, as some of them, there is reason to hope, 
 learned afterward, at the day of Pentecost, when, 
 with an eye of faith, they looked on him whom they 
 had pierced, and mourned, and were in bitterness 
 for him, as a man is in bitterness for a first-born. 
 Though Joseph belonged to the council which con¬ 
 demned Christ, it is said of him, 44 The same had not 
 consented to the counsel and deed of them.” He 
 had accepted the evidence that Jesus was the Christ. 
 The popular fury had not affected his faith. He 
 knew whom he believed. The sight of his Saviour 
 blindfolded, spit upon, arrayed in mock royalty, hold¬ 
 ing a reed for a sceptre, and finally bearing the 
 accursed cross, then nailed to the tree, and more than 
 all, crying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 
260 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 me! did not shake the faith of this man. We 
 wonder not that any disbelieved, but the wonder is 
 that any maintained their confidence. Such was the 
 confidence of Joseph in the Saviour that he went to 
 Pilate and begged the body of Jesus for interment, 
 which of course he would not have done, had he 
 supposed that Christ was not all which he professed 
 to be. It seems as though his faith had rather 
 increased than lessened, amid the terrible events of 
 that day ; for it inspired him with a desire to mani¬ 
 fest his attachment to his Lord and Master by honor¬ 
 ing his body. It would have been sufficient, in the 
 view of many, to have believed on Christ privately, to 
 have been a Christian at home, and to have kept his 
 opinions to himself. Joseph made a public profession 
 of his faith. Before the whole people of the Jews, 
 and in the presence of that Homan governor who 
 delivered Christ to be crucified, and w T ho tried to 
 wash the stain of that guilt from his soul by washing 
 his hands, he took the dishonored form of Jesus from 
 the cross and buried it. 
 
 He stood before the Homan governor. Notice the 
 manner of his address. It is said that he ‘went in 
 boldly unto Pilate ’ ; but though inspired with this 
 great moral courage, still, it is said, he 44 begged ” the 
 body of Jesus. He knew his place as a subject. He 
 did not revile the heathen governor, nor in any way 
 behave himself unseemly. Calm and dignified in his 
 
JOSEPH OF AKIMATHEA. 
 
 261 
 
 faith and confidence, he respectfully makes his re¬ 
 quest : Grant me the body of the man who has been 
 crucified between the thieves. Surely this was the 
 triumph of faith, and, like his divine Master, this 
 Joseph, in the presence of Pontius Pilate, witnessed 
 a good confession. ‘ 
 
 To be a Christian seems, perhaps, to some of us, 
 as difficult and impossible as it would have been to 
 some, at the crucifixion, to do what Joseph did, and 
 which, in their view, was a great reproach to him. 
 What would have induced a scribe or priest to give 
 the Saviour a reputable burial ? The answer is 
 easy: Faith, like Joseph’s. It was because Joseph 
 believed, that he made this act of confession. ” The 
 apostles, when they were charged not to speak any 
 more in the Saviour’s name, said, “ We cannot but 
 speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 
 So, when we believe with all the heart, we shall not 
 be hindered by trifles or great difficulties from pro¬ 
 fessing Christ. Any man among us, however far he 
 may now be from religion, may soon be seen confess¬ 
 ing his divine and crucified Redeemer. The grace 
 of God can make any man so strong in faith that he 
 will long to profess, before all on earth and all in 
 heaven, as Joseph did, that he is not ashamed of 
 Christ. If our desires and faith were greater, we 
 might oftener see wonderful instances of conversion, 
 and of consecration to Christ. 
 
262 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 II. In the conduct of Joseph, we have an 
 
 ILLUSTRATION OF MORAL COURAGE AND DECISION OF 
 
 Christian character. 
 
 In the view of many, the Saviour was the greatest 
 malefactor of the three who were hanging on the 
 cross. But even if he were not a malefactor, he had 
 been disgraced; for it is written, “ Cursed is every 
 one that liangeth on a tree.” It exposed any man 
 to the loss of reputation to favor one who was sub¬ 
 jected to crucifixion. But we read of Joseph, “ This 
 man went in boldly unto Pilate, and begged the 
 body of Jesus.” It was the body of one whom that 
 governor had delivered to the accursed death of the 
 cross, and the request of Joseph was an implied 
 reflection on the governor. At the next meeting of 
 the sanhedrim, what might Joseph expect would be 
 his reception by them ] There is the man, they might 
 say, who took the body of the impostor from the 
 cross, and buried it in his own tomb. Every epithet 
 which scorn and hatred could heap upon him, he 
 might expect would be in requisition against him. 
 What a sight must that have been when this honor¬ 
 able man went boldly to the cross with his servants, 
 and took from it the body of Jesus. Overhead re¬ 
 mained the inscription designed for insult and tri¬ 
 umph : “ This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the 
 Jews.” Beneath the cross, the rapacious soldiers 
 were parting the garments of the Saviour, and for 
 
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 263 
 
 his vesture casting lots. Passing by, the infidel Jew 
 was repeating aloud the assurance which he strove 
 to maintain, notwithstanding the miraculous dark¬ 
 ness and the earthquake : 44 He saved others, himself 
 he cannot save.” But still, in this bold and public 
 manner, this friend of Jesus conveys away that form 
 on which earth and hell had poured their contempt; 
 and he bestows upon it an honorable and costly 
 burial. Who does not entertain for such a man a 
 feeling of the deepest respect and reverence ? 
 
 Yet with all the light which eighteen centuries 
 have accumulated around the name of Christ and his 
 religion, there are many who are ashamed of Christ. 
 One hinderance to their conversion and salvation is, 
 they are not willing to have it known that they are 
 seeking religion. The thought of having certain 
 persons look at them with the reflection, He is 
 anxious about his salvation, or, He has become a 
 Christian, is more than they can bear. How do they 
 appear by the side of Joseph of Arimathea, who, 
 with all that was repugnant to the natural and social 
 feelings, in the circumstances of the Saviour, not 
 only espoused his cause, but cherished his dishonored 
 body, and committed his reputation, for evil or for 
 good report, to that Redeemer whom his associates 
 had slain and hanged upon a tree ? 
 
 The Saviour said, 44 Whosoever cometh not after 
 me, and taketh not up his cross daily, cannot be mj 
 
264 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 disciple.’' Is there no opportunity for cross-bearing 
 in our situation in life % Do none of us ever meet 
 with occasions for it ] Are you not thrown in con¬ 
 nection with some to whom your sentiments and 
 practice are obnoxious, or to whom they would be, if 
 you were to become a Christian % How do you bear 
 being called a 4 bigot,’ or 4 exclusive,’ because you 
 will not admit that all are $afe, believe as they may, 
 and because you will not countenance those who 
 reject truths which, with you, are essential to salva¬ 
 tion, nor join with them in acts of religious fellow¬ 
 ship \ It is easy to swim with the tide; but we must 
 stem the flood. There is a cross for every one to 
 bear who is consistently and ardently devoted to 
 Christ, and the promotion of his cause. The great¬ 
 est part of the trial which it occasions, if not the 
 whole of it, is in taking it up; afterward, as the 
 Saviour said, 4 the yoke is easy, and the burden 
 light.’ We shall next see what it was which im¬ 
 parted moral courage, and made the cross so light a 
 burden, to the rich man of Arimathea. 
 
 III. The conduct of Joseph is an illustration 
 
 OF THE POWER WHICH ARDENT LOVE FOR CHRIST HAS 
 IN THE LIFE AND CONDUCT. 
 
 Here was the secret of his courage, the hiding of 
 its power. He loved Christ; the Saviour’s rejection 
 and sufferings had raised the affections of this friend 
 
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 265 
 
 to their highest pitch; and he bestowed upon the 
 dead body of his Redeemer the utmost proofs of 
 love. 
 
 He had prepared for himself a family tomb. No 
 member of his family had yet occupied it. As he 
 prepared that sepulchre, no doubt he sometimes 
 thought of the first interment which should be made 
 there, and he asked himself, unwillingly, which mem¬ 
 ber of his household would he the first occupant of 
 that sacred place. Had any applied to him for leave 
 to bury an entire stranger there, perhaps his feelings 
 would have revolted at the request. He might have 
 said to himself, It is my family tomb ; far distant be 
 the day when we shall follow one of our number to 
 the spot; yet, until the place is hallowed in this 
 mournful manner, I would keep it sealed. But now, 
 behold, the first occupant of that tomb is taken from 
 what we should call the scaffold, the gibbet; from 
 between two thieves; amid the execrations of a great 
 city; and in the face of contempt and scorn without 
 measure. 
 
 The body is detached from the cross; that £ descent 
 from the cross ’ is the subject of the masterpiece 
 of Rubens; but Rubens, even, could not paint the 
 beauty and love of that attachment which moved 
 this friend of the Saviour in performing the offices 
 of this interment. 
 
 Let us follow the bier. Few, very few, even of the 
 
 23 
 
266 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 friends of Christ, are there. The women that fol¬ 
 lowed him from Galilee, ministering unto him, are 
 there. The rest have smitten their breasts and re¬ 
 turned. The miraculous darkness, the earthquake, 
 the rending of the rocks, and the rumor that the 
 graves themselves are opening, have withdrawn the 
 multitudes from the cross. Mary Magdalene, of 
 course, is there, and the beloved John. The body is 
 laid on the bier, and borne in silence to a neighbor¬ 
 ing garden. Was there ever such a funeral proces¬ 
 sion 1 The Prince of life is going to the tomb. The 
 Son of God is tasting death for every man. Where 
 are the thronged streets, the sea of people, the bands 
 of hired mourners and of them that make a noise ? 
 where are the chariots of state, and of private opu¬ 
 lence ? where the train of nobles 1 where is Jerusalem % 
 A more obscure and neglected burial seldom took 
 place. But what more could be expected in the 
 burial of a crucified man 1 Arrived at the tomb, the 
 body is prepared for the long sleep of death, by the 
 two men who had thus showed their love to Christ. 
 “ Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in 
 linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the 
 Jews is to bury.” Though their love seems to be 
 made perfect, their knowledge, or else their faith, is 
 deficient. They appear to be expecting that he is to 
 sleep like other men in death. Very little impres¬ 
 sion seems to have been made upon any of the 
 
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 267 
 
 disciples, by the Saviour’s promise that he would rise 
 again at the third day. Ere we blame them, or even 
 wonder at them, let us consider, that promises, full as 
 explicit and plain, are, by us, in the hour of our sorest 
 need, wholly disregarded, and frequently forgotten. 
 
 There, in the new tomb, where he had expected first 
 of all to be laid himself, or to lay some object of his 
 love, Joseph places the body of his Lord, who was 
 crucified in weakness, and in whom none but an eye 
 of faith and a heart which had felt the power of a 
 Saviour’s love could see, amid all his humiliation and 
 ignominious wounds, the Son of God and Saviour of 
 the world. Herein is love. Joseph has bestowed on 
 his deceased Master the greatest proof of sincere 
 affection. John took the Saviour’s mother to his 
 own family and home; Joseph took the Saviour’s 
 body to his own family tomb. What price would 
 have purchased an interment for that body in the 
 high priest’s tomb, or in the tomb of any other mem¬ 
 ber of the sanhedrim except Joseph'? What makes 
 the difference l Love. Love can do miracles ; love 
 regards not human opinion, numbers, influence; 
 intent on its object, it sees no difficulties, feels no 
 burden. It was such love for us that brought the 
 Saviour from heaven, and carried him to the cross. 
 It was love for his and our Saviour, by which Joseph 
 prepared a place in his own new tomb for him 
 whom we by our sins had crucified. 
 
268 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 This act of Joseph and of Nicodemus, in connec¬ 
 tion with their previous history, illustrates another 
 and an encouraging truth. 
 
 IV. The grace of God can prevail over hin- 
 
 DERANCES TO FAITH AND CHRISTIAN ZEAL IN THE 
 CHARACTERS AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF MEN. 
 
 Here we have two men performing an act which 
 required more courage and decision than any thing 
 connected with the trying duty of professing Christ 
 before his enemies, and as much real affection. Now, 
 who are these two men % John describes both of 
 them in succession: ‘And after this, Joseph of Ari- 
 mathea, being a disciple of Jesus, (but secretly for 
 fear of the Jews,) besought Pilate that he might take 
 away the body of Jesus.’ “ And there came also Nic¬ 
 odemus, (which at the first came to Jesus by night,) 
 and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a 
 hundred pounds weight.” 
 
 It is certainly remarkable that the two men who 
 performed this courageous act were men who once 
 were exceedingly cautious, reserved, prudent, and, it 
 may be, timid: —we cannot assert this;—but certainly 
 they were careful and slow in their profession of faith 
 in the Saviour. We do not find Peter here — that 
 dear friend and ardent man, who said, “ Though all 
 men forsake thee, yet will not I.” Where is Peter 1 
 Good at heart, but like his own lake of Galilee, sub* 
 
JOSEPH OF ARJMATHEA. 
 
 269 
 
 ject to sudden and violent gusts of feeling, — Where 
 is Peter 1 Perhaps he is finishing his repentance at 
 his fall, while two men, who at first would not own 
 themselves the disciples of Christ, are taking down His 
 body from the accursed tree, and putting it into the 
 tomb. God can place us in circumstances where our 
 faith, though now like a bruised reed, shall suddenly 
 acquire the strength of years, and as Joseph and 
 Nicodemus, no doubt, wondered at themselves, and 
 may have said, Can it be that we, once so reserved, 
 are the only men in Jerusalem that dare to bury 
 Jesus ? so we, if we walk according to the light 
 already given, may be permitted to perform acts of 
 love for the Saviour which will fill us with wonder 
 and joy. We naturally love to have men declare 
 themselves on the side of Christ at once; and it is 
 desirable that they should do so. John is an exam¬ 
 ple of this—- John, who was to his Lord and Master 
 like the morning star, which glows in the sunrising, 
 and in subsequent months shines as brightly in the 
 west, the beautiful witness, still, of the monarch of 
 the day when lost from our sight. Some are like 
 John, bold and constant, from first to last; while 
 others are slow and cautious. We must make allow¬ 
 ance for the differences in natural disposition and 
 temperament. Let us not despise the day of small 
 things with regard to those who are backward, when 
 they seem to have true grace; but let them increase 
 
 23 * 
 
270 
 
 the Friends of christ. 
 
 in love to Christ, and love will, to them, be like a 
 hood tide to a stranded ship, lifting and bearing 
 them over every obstacle. Love Christ, and though 
 you may have come to him, at first, “ by night,” the 
 noonday will not be too bright, at last, to illustrate 
 the full power of your attachment to him in acts of 
 devotion. 
 
 V. The reward which Joseph had for his 
 
 CONDUCT, IS AN INSTANCE OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF 
 THOSE WHO LOVE AND SERVE CHRIST. 
 
 In two days, Joseph’s tomb became the scene 
 of an event second to the scene on Calvary only 
 in the order of time. There, in that tomb, life 
 and immortality were brought to light. Never had 
 man a house or palace so honored as Joseph’s 
 tomb. It was occupied, first, by the lifeless form 
 of the Son of God. Who may fully imagine what 
 transpired there, as that form came to life again; 
 what angelic ministrations were there; and what 
 presence' of glorified souls, to witness in the Sa¬ 
 viour’s resurrection the type and earnest of their 
 own ? “ And behold, there was a great earthquake; 
 for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, 
 and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat 
 upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and 
 his raiment wdiite as snow; and for fear of him 
 the keepers did shake, and became as dead men ” 
 
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 271 
 
 In progress of time, other guards and warriors 
 have encircled Joseph’s tomb. The armies of 
 Europe and Asia have done battle for it; the wars 
 of the crusaders were waged to rescue that same 
 tomb from the infidels. To Joseph and his house- 
 hold, what associations must have been connected 
 with that family tomb; and with what peace must 
 he and they have buried their dead, to sleep in the 
 Saviour’s own bed of death. All the church of 
 God thank and love thee, Joseph, for thy love and 
 services to their Lord. They who give burial to a 
 friend of ours that dies on a foreign shore, receive 
 our thanks. He who took our Saviour from his 
 cross, and laid him in his own new r tomb, is a bene¬ 
 factor to the church of God. Forever, in the history 
 of redemption, Joseph will be remembered in con¬ 
 nection with his Saviour’s death. As he bows in 
 heaven at those sacred feet, he remembers that he 
 once composed those bleeding feet, those bleeding 
 hands, that bleeding head, for burial. At the last 
 day, when, Judge of the world, Jesus shall sit with 
 the nations at his bar, Joseph will remember, I laid 
 him once in my own new tomb. 
 
 If, then, we wish for enduring honor and happi¬ 
 ness, we must connect our names and influence with 
 Christ and his cause. To be the builder and owner 
 of all the pyramids, mausoleums, and obelisks of 
 Egypt, and have your names and deeds emblazoned 
 there, is not to be compared with being Joseph of 
 
272 the friends of christ. 
 
 Arimathea, and the owner of that tomb. It is as 
 true with regard to the most desirable reputation, as 
 it is with regard to salvation, that other foundation 
 can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus 
 Christ. If you have influence to exert, it will, at 
 last, be comparatively or wholly lost, unless it is 
 in some way connected with his cause. If you 
 have riches, you will perish with them, unless you 
 and they are connected with the Saviour. If you 
 have talents and genius, you will come to nought, 
 unless they are consecrated to Christ and his king¬ 
 dom. The greatest earthly statesmen, compared with 
 angelic greatness, or with many of the spirits of just 
 men made perfect, would be unnoticed, like lamps, 
 or watch fires, left burning after the sun is high. 
 
 Every one of us has his own peculiar opportunity 
 of showing to Christ his attachment to him. Joseph 
 had his ; that act of love was his profession of faith 
 and piety. There is something for each of us to do, 
 to test and show our love for Christ. It may not be 
 published; but Christ, who sees in secret, will know 
 it, and that will be sufficient reward. It is, there¬ 
 fore, a great mistake to think of religion only as 
 w T e think of a shroud — an accompaniment of death. 
 Lost time is most to be deplored for the loss of 
 opportunities to serve and honor Christ. 
 
 While you have been considering this narrative, 
 perhaps your love has been awakened toward Jo¬ 
 seph for his conduct. Do you love Joseph for 
 
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA. 
 
 273 
 
 taking that body from the cross, and laying it in 
 his own tomb ] The Redeemer himself gave up 
 that body to the cross for you; he went to the tomb 
 for you; will you love the friend of Christ, and 
 not love your infinite Friend X Your sensibilities 
 can be moved by the tale of generous love and at¬ 
 tachment in a fellow-creature ; have you no emotion 
 and no tears at the thought of Him who endured 
 such grief, and bore such shame, and drank that bit¬ 
 ter cup, and went from the ignominious cross to the 
 sepulchre for you] Joseph begged the body of Je¬ 
 sus of the Roman governor. Jesus, when your soul 
 and body were captives to Satan, encountered Satan, 
 with agony unknown, and rescued you; “ and hav¬ 
 ing spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show 
 of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” 
 
 The door of the tomb will soon open, or a new- 
 made grave wait, for you. Rut faith in Christ and 
 
 love toward him will enable you to say, as David in 
 
 ♦ 
 
 spirit said on behalf of his Lord and Saviour, “ My 
 flesh also shall rest in hope.” Your dust will then 
 be the object of love and care to Christ, far more than 
 his body was to the rich man of Arimathea; and at 
 length you shall follow him from the sleep of the 
 grave into life everlasting. “For if we have been 
 
 PLANTED TOGETHER IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH, 
 WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESUR¬ 
 RECTION.” 
 
XIII. 
 
 THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 -$- 
 
 OD THERE WAS MARY MAGDALENE, AND THE OTHER MARY, SITTING OVER 
 
 AGAINST THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 Joseph and his companions had rolled a great 
 stone to the door of the sepulchre, and had departed. 
 The silence of death and the grave had succeeded to 
 the excitement of the crucifixion; the disciples were 
 4 scattered every one to his own,’ and left their Mas¬ 
 ter in the narrow house. Two women, however, 
 could not leave the spot. Enchained there as by a 
 spell or trance, they sat down in the garden, when 
 others had left the place, and gave themselves up to 
 the luxury of grief. 44 And there was Mary Magda¬ 
 lene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the 
 sepulchre.” 
 
 44 The other Mary,” here mentioned, was the mother 
 of James, and Judas, (not Iscariot,) and Joses, and, 
 some say, Simon Zelotes. Two, if not three, of her 
 sons were of the twelve apostles Happy mother! 
 
 : 274 ) 
 
TIIE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 275 
 
 By what methods of pious faithfulness and a godly 
 life did so many of tliy sons become such men that 
 Jesus honored them with so great a distinction 1 Thou 
 art called simply 66 the other Mary.” But what a 
 mother she must have been. We should expect that 
 such a mother would love Christ ardently ; and here 
 we find her, while a great stone is rolled between 
 her and the burying-place of her Redeemer, sitting 
 over against it, as the dearest spot on earth in her 
 affections. 
 
 Her companion is Mary Magdalene, a name to 
 which, in the opinion of many judicious critics, in¬ 
 justice has unintentionally been done, partly through 
 the inadvertence of readers of the Bible. Asylums 
 for once depraved but penitent women are distin¬ 
 guished by her name, as though she were at the 
 head of this class of sinners and penitents. But 
 some insist that there is not a word in the Bible to 
 show that she herself was a depraved woman. She 
 is named in honorable connection with Joanna, the 
 wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, who, it is thought, 
 would not have subjected herself, being the wife of a 
 high officer under government, to an association with 
 such a woman as many suppose Mary Magdalene to 
 have been. That seven devils had had possession of 
 her, it is said, is no sufficient proof of her loose char¬ 
 acter. We are reminded that children were subject 
 to demoniacal possession, and Mary’s good standing 
 
276 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 and influence in society would, perhaps, have been 
 as likely as any thing to attract the notice and excite 
 the malignity of the devil and his angels. 4 Magda¬ 
 lene ’ is derived from the name of the town, Magdala. 
 There is not the least reason to suppose that she was 
 the 44 woman that was a sinner,” who wept at Jesus’ 
 feet, and who, without any authority for it, is gen¬ 
 erally called 44 Mary.” 
 
 If she were immoral, still it is not necessary to 
 suppose that she was a common, low character; we 
 need not impute to her all that was vulgar and in¬ 
 famous in debauchery. Her continual association, 
 however, in the minds of many, with persons of such 
 a stamp, awakens in others a disposition to vindicate 
 her even from every kindred imputation. 
 
 But while she may have been a woman of rank 
 and influence, no one can positively assert that she 
 was not a courtesan, — a select and private trans¬ 
 gressor, preeminent in her arts and in mischief. Yet, 
 in the absence of a word of proof to this effect, our 
 feelings naturally incline us to hope better things. 
 Whether she had been a great sinner or not, she had 
 been a great sufferer. Seven devils had made her 
 their prey. The gates of hell had almost prevailed 
 against her, when the mighty Conqueror, Jesus, had 
 plucked her out of their hands. No one had more 
 to be grateful for than she; and well might she 
 linger at the tomb of her infinite Friend, to her the 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 277 
 
 dearest spot on earth. Will those fiends assail her 
 again, now that Jesus is dead] Has hell triumphed] 
 What a loss to her, apparently, is the death of 
 Christ. To whom shall she go but unto him ] 
 
 Approaching night at last compelled these women 
 to leave the tomb. But when they left the sepulchre, 
 it was on an errand of love to Christ. “ And they 
 returned, and prepared spices and ointments.” Jo¬ 
 seph and Nicodemus had wrapped the body in a hun¬ 
 dred pounds of dry spices, such as myrrh and aloes, 
 by which the bleeding wounds were stanched, and 
 the body would seem to be kept for some time in a 
 state of preservation. The women had no intention, 
 of course, of embalming the body, properly speaking ; 
 but they meant to anoint the face, and hands, and 
 feet, with fragrant oils and balm, with just the feel¬ 
 ing with which we strew flowers around the dead. 
 To embalm the body was not the work of women. 
 Their purpose was the beautiful suggestion of love 
 and honor, to bestow some expression of care and 
 affection upon the precious remains. 
 
 “ And they returned, and prepared spices and 
 ointments ” that same night; and the very next 
 morning, by daybreak, we may expect that they will 
 visit the tomb, and execute their purpose. But no ; 
 they waited one whole day. Why is this ] Is their 
 love so suddenly grown cold ] “ They rested the 
 
 Sabbath day, according to the commandment.” 
 
278 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 What pious reverence for the day of God do we 
 find here. Even the desire to bestow honor upon 
 Jesus does not lead these women to visit his tomb on 
 the Sabbath. Christ was the Lord of the Sabbath. 
 Will not this give them permission to leave their 
 place of worship \ They will think of nothing but 
 the sepulchre, if they go to public worship; and 
 may they not properly go where their hearts are 1 
 Can they serve God better than by showing respect 
 to the body of his Son % Thus many would reason 
 for them, and excuse them. We respect, we rever¬ 
 ence them, for this powerful example of regard for 
 the day of holy rest. It is a gentle and kind admoni¬ 
 tion to those who visit cemeteries on the Sabbath, to 
 weep at the graves of kindred. Jesus was left alone 
 in his tomb on the Sabbath; a Sabbath which then 
 commemorated only the creation of the world. We 
 should not prize and honor our Christian Sabbath, 
 with its more precious associations, less. Our regard 
 for holy time should restrain us from doing that 
 which the piety of these Jewesses would not do 
 even for the Saviour of the world. 
 
 And was it any real deprivation and loss to those 
 women that they could not visit the sepulchre on the 
 Sabbath % In their secret places, and in the house 
 of God, separated from the object that would move 
 their sensibilities to no good purpose, they spent a 
 far more profitable day than by c sitting over against 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 279 
 
 the sepulchre.’ There, the dead body of Christ would 
 engage their thoughts ; but at home, in communion 
 with God, who is a Spirit, to whom they owed a duty 
 superior to their regard for the mortal part even of 
 Jesus, they could worship their Maker in spirit and 
 in truth. Though they had known Christ after the 
 flesh, yet, for that day, they would know even him, 
 in that respect, no more. 
 
 Such a Sabbath was never beheld before or since. 
 The Prince of Life was in the grave ; the Word that 
 was made flesh had left his body in the sepulchre; 
 the earth, in that one revolution on its axis, bore a 
 strange freight, a priceless treasure, in its bosom. 
 ‘ The Resurrection and the Life ’ is sleeping the short 
 sleep of death. The almighty Saviour has with him, 
 in that tomb, our hopes, and our heaven, and the 
 keys of death and hell. What if ensuing weeks should 
 still behold the Saviour in the tomb. It is easy to 
 see why all who love Christ cherish the day when 
 he arose. They do not need laws and prohibitions 
 to give them that superior relish for the sacred pleas¬ 
 ures of the Lord’s day which makes the world and its 
 pleasures distasteful. There is enough in the sacred 
 recollections suggested by the Lord’s day to fill up 
 the hours with profitable thoughts and duties, if we 
 have the feelings of true believers in Christ. Then, 
 we have no need to ask concerning any amusement 
 or business, Is it lawful to do this on the Sabbath 
 
280 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 clay 1 A heart that is right with God is a sound 
 casuist. 
 
 It was “yet dark” on the first day of the week 
 when these women came to the sepulchre. It was 
 an interesting, a touching instance of that presump¬ 
 tion to wdiich love is prone, that these women should 
 have gone to that place with the purpose for which 
 they had prepared themselves. There was a guard 
 around the tomb. Would that guard suffer Christ’s 
 disciples to have access to his body 1 Surely not. 
 Suppose that they would; how were these women 
 to roll that stone away 1 They said to themselves, 
 as though they had just thought of it, “Who shall 
 roll us away the stone from the door of the sepul¬ 
 chre 1 ” This is a beautiful instance of womanly 
 forgetfulness of difficulty, in pursuit of a favorite 
 object. Woman will go close up to a mighty stone 
 between herself and the object of her enterprising 
 love, with no prospect of its being removed, yet 
 borne on by something which can hardly be called 
 hope, it being more like presumption; when man 
 would foresee all the difficulties, and more prudently 
 avoid them. But it is interesting to see how God 
 oftentimes appears, and rolls aw r ay great stones for 
 those who, with faith and love, march boldly on to 
 the utmost limit of seeming possibility. Had we 
 this simple love and courage, we might say to many 
 a thing that obstructs our path, 4 Who art thou, O 
 great mountain 1 thou shalt become a plain.’ 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 281 
 
 (“ And when they looked, they saw that the stone 
 was rolled away;) for it was very great.” The words 
 following the parenthesis, give the reason why they 
 asked among themselves for help. But some one 
 had been there before them. “ And behold, there 
 was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord 
 descended from heaven and rolled back the stone 
 from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance 
 was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow; 
 and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and be¬ 
 came as dead men.” 
 
 And did this heavenly being, able thus to strike 
 terror into those lioman soldiers by his presence, sit 
 quietly in heaven, while that Saviour was in the 
 hands of his enemies, and they were nailing him to 
 the cross ? Has he not come too late ? Why not 
 interpose at the cross, instead of the tomb ? How 
 easy it would have been for this bright seraph to 
 have routed that host of crucifiers, priests and 
 scribes, and soldiers, by appearing to them in his 
 heavenly glory. Twelve legions of them, too, would 
 have had their hands upon their swords, at one word 
 of Christ. But how would the Scriptures have been 
 fulfilled, that thus it must be ? What means this 
 forbearance, and why did Christ thus patiently suf¬ 
 fer? For you, O my soul, for you, angels stand 
 aloof, till men had c killed the Prince of Life ’ ; 6 that 
 he by the grace of God should taste death for every 
 
 24 * 
 
282 the friends of Christ. 
 
 man.’ It is finished ! the day of triumph has ar¬ 
 rived; now we shall see all heaven, “the helmed 
 cherubim and sworded seraphim,” around the tomb. 
 It is not so. What economy of strength, what for¬ 
 bearance from needless display. One angel is com¬ 
 missioned to do this work of preparing- for the Sa¬ 
 viour’s resurrection. Christ, by his own word, could 
 have rolled the stone away; but it is deemed proper 
 that one of his servants shall do it for him. Hap¬ 
 py, honored spirit, to be selected for such a work. 
 Worlds of treasure, ages of bliss, for that privilege, 
 to unseal that stone, to look in and see the Resurrec- 
 
 ■ft 
 
 tion and the Life revive ! 
 
 There is something remarkable and instructive 
 here. Christ was crucified publicly, and all who 
 wished, might exult, and reject him, and insult over 
 him. He rises from the dead, as he promised, on 
 the third day, but he rises in secret. No mortal eye 
 beholds that triumph. Why was not his resurrec¬ 
 tion as public as his crucifixion ? Why was not Je¬ 
 rusalem, or the sanhedrim at least, gathered round his 
 tomb, to see his triumph \ What an opportunity to 
 convince and convert them. They could not pretend 
 that he was not dead, and that the sleep of the grave 
 had revived him. The blood and water following 
 the soldier’s spear, every anatomist among them 
 knew, was proof positive of death ; but before that, 
 the soldiers had forborne to break his legs, because 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 283 
 
 they saw that he was dead. Now, to see that great 
 stone roll away before the single-handed effort of a 
 crucified man, alone within the tomb, and his com¬ 
 ing out to life and strength before his enemies, 
 would have struck them with confusion; it would 
 have established his claims forever as the Christ. 
 Why was it not so ? Why crucified in public, and 
 raised without one mortal eye to witness the resur¬ 
 rection ? and after he was risen, seen only by com¬ 
 panies of his friends \ enough, indeed, to establish 
 his resurrection beyond reasonable dispute, and yet 
 in so private a manner, when a public demonstra¬ 
 tion could have confuted every gainsayer'? 
 
 Thus God deals with men while on probation. 
 He is never lavish with his proof; he will never 
 over-persuade ; but we are free agents; and this, we 
 may truly say, is the great characteristic of the gov¬ 
 ernment of God: it is based on our being free, and 
 not machines; or, in other words, we are governed 
 by motives, and not by force. 
 
 In pursuance of the great plan of governing men, 
 God, in his infinite majesty, refuses to afford his 
 enemies more evidence than he sees to be suitable 
 for their conviction. Christ spake in parables for 
 this same reason, that they who were disposed to 
 learn might inquire further, and they who were dis¬ 
 posed to cavil might be offended, if they chose to be, 
 at the appearance of difficulty which the parable 
 
284 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 gave to the truth. It required attention and thought 
 to search out the meaning of the parable ; which was 
 plain, or would be made so, to the humble inquirer, 
 while the unbeliever was repulsed by the appear¬ 
 ance of mystery. 
 
 There is something sublime and deeply impressive 
 in this feature of God’s dealings with men. The 
 doctrines of the gospel are so plainly revealed, that 
 the humblest mind can find them on the surface; 
 but the proud and self-sufficient reasoner, with all 
 his books before him, cannot find that which is per¬ 
 fectly obvious to the ‘ Dairyman’s daughter,’ and the 
 ‘Shepherd of Salisbury Plain.’ We cannot fail to 
 reverence that reserve in the divine sovereignty which 
 forbore to make the resurrection of Christ as pub¬ 
 lic as his crucifixion. The great thing for man to 
 do, is, to believe; but, to cultivate faith, there must 
 not be too much sight. So that, if we are in any 
 degree sceptical with regard to the evidences of re¬ 
 ligion, we must remember that if God had made 
 the subject any plainer, it might have been to our 
 spiritual injury; at the same time, all who are dis¬ 
 posed to believe, find sufficient, and more than 
 sufficient, evidence to support their faith. 
 
 The angel that terrified the guard spoke kindly 
 to the women, and assured them that Christ had 
 risen; and he sent them to the disciples with the 
 news. “ They fled from the sepulchre with fear and 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 285 
 
 great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. And 
 their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they 
 believed them not.” 
 
 And yet how often Christ had told these disciples, 
 saying, The Son of man shall be crucified, and the 
 third day he shall rise again. When the people 
 asked him for a sign, he said that no sign should be 
 given them but that of Jonas the prophet. For as 
 Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s 
 belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and 
 three nights in the heart of the earth. Still, when 
 the news came that all this was done as Christ had 
 foretold them, they believed not. 
 
 Not wholly unlike this incredulity, this unbelief 
 of theirs, is that which we mourn over in ourselves. 
 How slow of heart we are to believe the Scriptures, 
 the promises and the threatenings. How little effect 
 the descriptions of the last judgment, and of heaven 
 and hell, have upon us. Let us be reproved by these 
 disciples, whom Christ afterward upbraided because 
 they believed not them which had seen him after 
 that he was risen. 
 
 John and Peter ran together to the sepulchre. 
 John outran Peter, and reached the place before him, 
 yet went he not in. He tells us himself that he 
 went not in. This is not strange, in such a man as 
 John. His feelings were too deep, too powerful, to 
 allow him to enter that place. Suppose that the 
 
286 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 body of Christ were there ; he shrunk from the sight 
 of his Master sleeping in the grave. Suppose that 
 he were not there; the shock which the certainty 
 that he had risen would give him, he dreaded; he 
 lingered a while, prolonging the painful pleasure of 
 uncertainty. Peter soon arrives, and with the char¬ 
 acteristic boldness with which he twice threw himself 
 into the sea to meet Christ, he goes directly into the 
 tomb. 6 Then went in also that other disciple which 
 came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed.' 
 
 Some of the minute incidents of Scripture are of 
 great importance, and whatever is thought worthy of 
 being recorded by the pen of inspiration we ought 
 not to overlook. An illustration of this is the 
 account which is given of the manner in which the 
 grave clothes were found in the tomb. Peter c seeth 
 the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about 
 his head not lying with the grave clothes, but 
 wrapped together in a place by itself. Of what im¬ 
 portance are these two incidents % They are of very 
 great importance; they are circumstantial proof that 
 the body of Christ was not stolen away, either by the 
 hand of affection or by rapine, by friends or foes. 
 Had friends carried the body away, it would have 
 been unnatural, and without any assignable reason, 
 that they should not have taken it in its wrappings. 
 Had enemies taken it, the linen cloth and the spices 
 in it were more valuable than the dead body, and too 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 287 
 
 valuable to leave behind. Besides, there is design, 
 deliberation, care, manifest in the disposition of these 
 clothes. Thieves would not have wrapped together 
 that napkin so carefully, and laid it in a place by it¬ 
 self. Some hand has been at work here which had 
 no need of haste. 
 
 There is an air of truth about this whole narra¬ 
 tive ; for, instead of reading that all the disciples 
 were convinced beyond a doubt that Christ was risen, 
 and calling upon all men to believe it without waver¬ 
 ing, we are told that Peter went away from the sep¬ 
 ulchre, and from the circumstantial evidence there 
 of Christ’s resurrection, wondering in himself at that 
 which had come to pass. We may appeal to any 
 doubting mind, Was it an impostor who wrote this ? 
 An impostor would have shunned to let you see his 
 lingering doubts; his great reluctance to believe; the 
 weakness of his faith. He would have been full of 
 assurance and demonstration, and would have de¬ 
 manded your belief, like a highwayman ; but these 
 apostles tell us that they themselves, at first, did 
 not believe, and that it took very much to convince 
 them. What a book, we say again, is the Bible, not 
 only in its subjects, but in the methods by which it 
 kindly gains credit for itself with the human under¬ 
 standing. What candor, simplicity, perfect transpar¬ 
 ency, in these writers; men who afterward, in attes¬ 
 tation of the gospel, sealed their record with their 
 
288 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 blood. Who, after reading some of these incidents 
 of the resurrection and of the apostles’ feelings and 
 conduct, and their own simple-hearted account of 
 things, can doubt that they are honest and true % If 
 honest and true, all they say is true; if so, the New 
 Testament is true; if the New Testament is true, 
 the Old Testament, which Christ fully confirmed, is 
 true also; and if the Bible is true, we must receive 
 it as the word of God, with all its mysteries and 
 doctrines. 
 
 These wondering disciples left the empty sepul¬ 
 chre and went home. But Mary Magdalene stood 
 without at the sepulchre weeping. What can she 
 want more % That spot was the last at which she 
 saw Jesus, and she cannot, will not, leave it. Peter 
 and John have told her that it is empty, and told her, 
 also, how they found the clothes lying. Why does she 
 not go home with them % Infatuation of love ! She 
 will stay at that empty and forsaken place, and weep. 
 But see her strange behavior. “ And as she wept, she 
 stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre.” What 
 can she look for % Will she believe even her own 
 senses, if she does not believe the angel and the two 
 disciples \ Probably not; she is in a maze of grief; 
 she loves Christ with an intenseness of love which 
 seems to have no parallel. ITe delivered her out of 
 the hand of the devil ; if she never finds him again, 
 she will never more find peace; and so, with an 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 289 
 
 unsatisfied, restless feeling, she stoops down, and 
 looks into the vacant and dark tomb. 
 
 But O, there is something there to see — two 
 angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the 
 other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 
 They did not appear to Peter and John, but they 
 were doubtless there. Angels have the power of 
 making themselves visible or invisible in a moment. 
 They did not appear to these apostles; they were 
 not in a frame of mind to be rewarded by such a 
 heavenly favor. But this weeping woman sought 
 Christ with a hope which nothing could subdue. 
 Like the ship, which makes the sure and steadfast 
 anchor hold its place the more that the adverse wind 
 urges her away from it, this mourner felt herself 
 moored to the spot where every thing that she saw 
 only made her weep. Such a sight as this was a rec¬ 
 ompense for all her constancy of love. As in the 
 holy of holies the two cherubim stood over the ark 
 of the covenant, looking at each other, so over the 
 place where the body of Jesus had lain, these two 
 angels sat, face to face. Ye heavenly spirits! why 
 should that place be so dear to you 1 What is the 
 grave to you ] Why watch upon the ground where 
 Jesus lay, when he has departed 1 4 These things 
 
 angels desire to look into/ It was their God incar- 
 nate, as well as our Saviour. That tomb was the 
 place where the gospel received its last confirmation ; 
 
290 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 every miracle, every word of Christ, every claim, 
 every promise, every threatening, would have gone 
 for nothing with men, had he failed to rise from the 
 dead. There he was declared 4 to be the Son of God 
 with power.’ Those angels might have sat there to 
 this day, and never yet have exhausted the theme of 
 wonder and joy suggested by that spot. It is a place 
 for our thoughts to visit with the deepest interest 
 every Sabbath morning, as soon as we regain our con¬ 
 sciousness, and think, This is the Lord’s day. O, 
 what a day to the Christian is the Sabbath. He does 
 not need Sinai to thunder it in his ears: — 44 Remem¬ 
 ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” 
 
 Woman, why weepest thou \ said these heavenly 
 friends. So may it be said to us, as often as w^e look 
 down into a sepulchre of a dear friend, or the place 
 of our own expected burial, if we belong to Christ. 
 Why weepest thou \ As soon as she had replied, 
 They have taken away my Lord, and I know not 
 where they have laid him, she turned suddenly, per¬ 
 haps at the sound of a step, and saw Jesus standing, 
 and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 
 Woman, why weepest thou'? She thought him to 
 be the gardener. With a respectful salutation she 
 addresses that servant, who, she supposes, may have 
 removed the body of her injured and despised Lord. 
 Could he have been offended at having the crucified 
 one in his master’s new tomb ? Sir, if thou have 
 
THE WOMEN AT TIIE SEPUI CURE. 
 
 291 
 
 borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, 
 and I will take him away. 
 
 Jesus saith unto her, Mary ! She turned herself; 
 for she had spoken to the supposed gardener without 
 looking at him. She turned herself, and saith unto 
 him, Itabboni! Master! Jesus saith unto her, Touch 
 me not; that is, Do not stay to manifest your love 
 to me, for I am not immediately to ascend to my Fa- 
 ther ; but go to my brethren, and say to them, I 
 ascend to my Father, and to your Father, to my God, 
 and to your God. 
 
 Having fulfilled this errand, Mary Magdalene, 
 with the other Mary, falls into the company of 
 believers and friends, undistinguished by any further 
 mention of them, till, at last," they rise, one after 
 another, to meet that Saviour face to face, and to 
 enjoy in heaven the fulness of that love, of which 
 the foretaste here was heaven upon earth. 
 
 And what must heaven he to Mary Magdalene, 
 delivered from such a bondage to Satan, and made 
 one of the principal friends of Christ. Can we sup¬ 
 pose that after such intimate love between her and 
 her Saviour, he, in his kingdom, keeps her at a dis¬ 
 tance, and looks at her and speaks to her with royal 
 dignity, and the cold propriety of earthly courts ? 
 He prayed that his friends might be with him, to 
 behold his glory. We must believe that among that 
 redeemed company, there is no one who loves Christ 
 
292 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 with more fervor and joy than Mary Magdalene. 
 -Her probable happiness in her intimacy w T ith Christ, 
 in heaven, shows what we shall enjoy, if, like her, 
 we have “ loved much.” 
 
 We might all vie with her in heaven, had we as 
 much to be grateful for to Christ as she,—had Christ 
 done as much for us, as for her. 
 
 Has not Christ done as much, personally, for some 
 of us % Has he not delivered us not merely from 
 seven devils, indeed, but from the devil and his 
 angels 1 When you see Satan and his angels doomed 
 to fire, and lost men doomed with them, and going 
 to be their prey, which of you would suffer Mary 
 Magdalene to say that she owes more to Christ than 
 you 1 If we but saw and felt our ruined condition, 
 the evil of sin, and our fearful danger, w T e should, 
 even here, love Christ as Mary loved him. What 
 might not some of us have been, had we not been 
 converted 1 Our hardened hearts, and stubborn wills, 
 and depraved passions, and our fearful transgressions, 
 might have been more dreadful than to have had 
 seven evil spirits, as Mary had. Yes, each of us 
 owes, or will owe, to Christ as large a debt of grati¬ 
 tude as she. We shall be forever paying it at his 
 feet, and in his blissful service, or, for neglecting to 
 love such a Saviour, 4 depart,’ accursed by Christ. 
 
 Those friends of Christ whom, in these discourses 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 293 
 
 we have contemplated, and of whom, as a class, we 
 now take our leave, have witnessed to us, in every 
 condition and age of life, that Christ is worthy to be 
 believed, and to be loved; that he deserves all the 
 heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. 
 
 The wise men have travelled in our sight from the 
 distant east, to worship Christ. Aged Simeon has 
 held him forth to us in his arms. John the Baptist, 
 than whom there is no greater among men, has re¬ 
 joiced to perceive the light of his glory become pale 
 before his Emmanuel and ours. The wedded pair at 
 Cana have spoken to the young that they remember 
 Christ in the season of their espousals. The twelve 
 apostles of the Lamb present their names to us in 
 the foundations of the new Jerusalem, as witnesses 
 for Jesus. The children in the temple have called 
 upon children every where to sing hosannas to the 
 Son of David. A woman that was a sinner presses 
 by you to the Saviour’s feet, her repentance and her 
 love contending for the mastery. Martha has turned 
 at his rebuke, from being careful and troubled about 
 many things, and has joined her sister, at Jesus’ feet, 
 m choosing the good part which shall never be taken 
 away from her. Simon the Cyrenian, that African, 
 staggering under the ignominious cross which he bore 
 for his Saviour, has said to you, Let us go forth there¬ 
 fore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 
 The penitent thief has reproved the unbelief of every, 
 
 25 * 
 
294 
 
 THE FRIENDS OF CHRIST. 
 
 even the greatest, sinner, and has gone with Christ 
 from the cross to a more than earthly paradise. The re¬ 
 lenting crucifier has rebuked those who, familiar with 
 the Saviour’s sufferings, are crucifying him afresh. 
 Joseph of Arimathea, once a secret disciple of Christ, 
 and Nicodemus, who also came to Jesus by night, 
 have instructed those who are intellectual and cau¬ 
 tious, how to be bold, and to confess Christ before 
 men. Once more, that love to Christ, which is 
 stronger than death, is represented to us again in 
 those women sitting over against his sepulchre and 
 manifesting an ardor of love, which many waters 
 could not quench, nor floods drown. 
 
 Our feelings and our lives may be such that, in 
 heaven, when angels speak of the friends of Christ 
 on earth, honorable mention can be made of us as 
 the sincere and ardent, though it may be, as in some 
 of these instances before us, humble, friends of the 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Friend or enemy, each of us soon will meet Christ. 
 Life, then, as a season of preparation for eternity, 
 life, in all its precious privileges and opportunities, 
 will seem to have been of infinite value. That life 
 we enjoy to-day; and this day we may repent, be¬ 
 lieve, and have a friendship formed between ourselves 
 and Christ, the history of which, on earth and in 
 heaven, may be such as to make angels lean upon 
 their harps, to learn new wonders in redeeming love. 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. 
 
 295 
 
 By his manger, his infancy, his interest in oui 
 happiness, his efforts for our good in his life; by his 
 betrayal, and sufferings, and death; by his cross and 
 by his tomb ; by his resurrection and by his second 
 coming, he invites us to be his friends. Jesus, the 
 Saviour, should never be left to ask a second time for 
 our friendship. His friends are multiplying. His 
 cause is advancing, till it shall fill the earth. No 
 one of us professes to be among his enemies ; yet 
 this is his own decision: “ He that is not for me is 
 against me, and he that gathereth not with me scat 
 tereth abroad.” Many are leaving you for the ser¬ 
 vice and the kingdom of Christ; will you forego the 
 privileges and blessedness of being his friend \ 
 
 Beloved brethren in Christ, these words, which 
 may appropriately close these histories and appeals, 
 are addressed by the Saviour himself to all, in every 
 age, like you: u Ye are my friends, if ye do 
 
 WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU. HENCEFORTH, I CALL 
 YOU NOT SERVANTS ; FOR THE SERVANT KNOWETH NOT 
 
 what his Lord doeth ; but I have called you 
 
 FRIENDS.” 
 
RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 TICKNOF 
 
 BS2430 
 
 „A35 
 
 1865 
 

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