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THE

GLORY OP CHRIST: V
ILLUSTRATED IN HIS CHARACTER AND HISTORY,
INCLUDING THE
LAST THINGS
OF HIS MEDIATORIAL GOVERNMENT.

BY GAKDINEE SPEING,
PASTOR OP THE BRICK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE CITY OP NEW YORK,

'FIRST THINGS. ETC. ETC. .ETC.

i Collate. .

NEW YOEK:
PUBLISHED BY M. W. DODD,
BEICK CHUECH CHAPEL, OPPOSITE CITY HALL.
18S4.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
BY M. W. DODD,
In the Clerk's office of the Southern District of New York.

 _iLl
STEREOTYPED BY THOMAS B. SMITH,
216 WILLIAM STREET, a. _.

INTRODUCTION".

In giving the present volume to the press, the author has little
to say but that which is suggested by the importance of the sub
ject of which it treats. Christians should often call to remem
brance those truths which sremind them of their high relation to
Jesus Christ. Such truths are fitted to give vigor and freshness
to their hopes, and enforce their obligations not only to avoid
bringing religion into reproach, but to hasten its predicted su
premacy in the earth.
It' was the original design of the writer to make the present
work the sequel and counterpart to his last published volumes,
entitled " First Things." In arranging his thoughts for this pur
pose, he found the topics so allied to the glory of his Divine Mas
ter, that he selected rather the present title, because without ex
cluding " Last Things," it would furnish him a wider range of
useful topics.
It has not been his desire so much to suggest new thoughts, as
to illustrate and enforce those that are old. A Christian minister
is never warranted, even when writing for the press, to forego
the opportunity of addressing the conscience. It may be there is
in some of these chapters a redundancy of practical remark; and
even a reiteration of thought in urging those obligations and
inducements to godliness which result from different truths. Nor
could this be well avoided. It is difficult to prevent the same
, light from being reflected from different reflecting surfaces.
When he first announced his topic, some of his friends kindly

iv INTRODUCTION.
i
intimated that the\ train of thought suggested by it might too
closely resemble that which he had already presented in the work
entitled " The Attraction of the Cross." He felt at the time, that
there was weight in the suggestion ; nor has he felt it less in the
progress of the work itself. He can only say that he has endeav
ored to avoid a recurrence of the same illustrations even upon the
topic which would most naturally offer them.
The theme and the service have been delightful ones to his own
mind ; fitted to humble and stimulate it, to remind him of his re
sponsibility, and " so much the more as he sees the day approach
ing." Should this prove his last service of the kind, he is thank
ful that it has been employed on such a theme. If the reader be
interested and profited, he will share in the pleasure with which
the work has been prepared, and the gratitude due to the Father
of lights in allowing it to be consecrated to the glory of his great
name.
G. S.
Bkick Church Chapel,
New York, March, 1852.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

_»-.?•••

CHAPTER I. PASS
THE PRE-EMINENCE OF CHRIST AS THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF SUPERNAT
URAL REVELATION,  f
CHAPTER II.
THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE,  38
CHAPTER HI.
CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION,  *73
CHAPTER IV.
THE HUMAN CHARACTER^ OF CHRIST GLORIOUS,  . 101
CHAPTER V.
CHRIST AS A PREACHER,  134
CHAPTER VI.
HE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES,  162
CHAPTER VII.
1
THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION,  JL94

vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII. PAOI
THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION,  220
CHAPTER IX.
CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION,  24
CHAPTER X.
Christ's ascension glorious,  275

THE GLOEY OF CHRIST.

CHAPTEE I.
THE PRE-EMINENCE OE CHRIST, AS THE PRINCIPAL
.SUBJECT OE SUPERNATURAL REVELATION.
Nature and reason say nothing of Christ.
Truths there are which they demonstrate and en
force ; they are great truths, truths which under
lie the whole theory of revealed religion, and
which none but atheists deny. But they are not
appropriately Christian truths. They lack the
distinctive coloring of Christianity, because they
reveal no hope for the fallen, and speak not of the
gospel of peace. They tell us of God and man,
of law and government, of conscience^ and respon
sibility, and retribution; but they have no con
solations for the wounded spirit, when it is bowed
down by the burden of sin, and trembles at the
apprehension of the coming wrath. They encircle
God's throne with light ; but they throw no bow
of promise around it amid those portentous omens
that fill the world with terror. Benighted and

8 THE GLORY OF CHRIST. ,
desolate world ! .did not the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ, brighten these scenes of deso
lation, and show us " the path of life." God out
of Christ, is nature, is reason ; God in Christ is
Christianity. Throughout the Bible " Christ is
all, and in all ;" his character and work form the
great and prominent subjects of this entire book
of God. This, then, is the thought with which we
introduce the present series of lectures: The
pre-eminence op Christ as the principal subject
of supernatural revelation.
¦ To a great extent, the Bible is a narrative of
facts. It is an historical chart, sketching the
events of more than four thousand years, from the
earliest times. It speaks' of the creation of the
world, and of -the original apostasy of angels and
men. It speaks of the corruption of the patriarchal
age and the destruction of the race by the deluge.
It speaks of the selection of a peculiar people to be
witnesses for the truth, when the world was sunk
in idolatry ; of their intellectual, civil, and religious
advancement ; of their bondage and their deliver
ance ; of their internal convulsions and their foreign
wars ; and of their exile and return. It speaks of
the overturning of states and empires ; of men who,
by their rank, their talents, their virtues and their
vices, have contributed to elevate or disgrace the
^age in which they lived, and who were designated
to act a distinguished part in fulfilling the coun-

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 9
sels of heavenly wisdom and mercy toward our lost
race. It speaks of events, some miraculous, and
some in the ordinary course of Divine Providence.
We affirm of all these, that they are strongly
marked by their alliance to Him who came to seek
ahd save that which was lost. There are facts
recorded in these sacred pages which have but an
incidental and remote relation to this great ^per
sonage ; yet are they few, unillustrated and insig
nificant, compared with those which, for their
moral influence, their chronological, or genealogical
verity, sustain a more direct relation to the " Word
made flesh."
Political history reveals the knowledge of man ;
scriptural history reveals the knowledge of Christ.
In the political histor}7' of the world, we see so
many events which perplex us by their intricacy,
that our very knowledge of them confounds us ;
nor are we duly sensible of our embarrassment
until we try to thread out the labyrinth. We are
assured, indeed, that infinite wisdom and goodness
have never been dethroned for a moment; yet,
subduing as this conviction is, doubt and darkness
envelop us. From the instructions of the Scrip
tures we learn, that not only facts that are inex
plicable by us, but the entire series of events in
the divine government, have a single aim ; while
the facts themselves there recorded, not only have
a bearing on the method of mercy by Jesus Christ,

10 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
but unravel that divine mystery, show how the
system of providence moves onward in subservi
ency to this gracious design, and how the great
events they speak of are the stepping-stones in
the progress of his redemption. As we read them,
we are convinced that this redemption is no new
thought in the divine mind. We feel that amid
all the conflicts and convulsions of earth, God's
work has been going on, and that all things work
together toward this great end. They all have
this great peculiarity, that they are facts which
God himself has recorded ; and the reason why he
has recorded them, and left so many others unre
corded, is found in the special relation they sustain
to this great purpose. Events and characters, men
and nations there spoken of, though at first view
they seem wholly disconnected, are ultimately seen
to be bound together by this great centripetal
agency. Higher value would be attached to the historical
parts of the sacred volume, if the readers of it were
more in the habit of searching for and inspecting
the seal of that unsearchable wisdom and love which
it is their great object to disclose. They furnish us
not only very many of the evidences of Christian
ity, but an abridgment of its brightest evidences.
They constitute the hinge on which Christianity
turns. They are not isolated, but form part and
parcel of a series which is inseparably conjoined

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. H
and of which Christianity itself is the consumma
tion. Everywhere they speak the same language,
and bear testimony to God the Redeemer. Christ
himself lives and speaks on almost every page.
We find nothing in them that diverts our thoughts
from the main object of the Christian revelation ;
while the more severely they are scrutinized, the
more are they seen to bear a relation to Christ,
and to indicate him as their end and object.
While we seem to be conversing with our first
parents in the garden of Eden; or with Noah as
he builds his altar on the desolated shores of the
new world; or with Abraham as he pleads for
Sodom ; or with Moses as he takes the shoes from
off his feet at the burning bush in Horeb ; or with
Elijah as he contends with the prophets of Baal ;
or with Daniel in the den of lions at, Babylon; or
with his youthful compeers as they walk unhurt
in the burning, fiery furnace ; we are at the same
time taught that a greater than patriarchs or
prophets is here. It is the liberated and risen
Saviour who draws nigh to us, talking with us by
the way, and opening to us the Scriptures. Even
the more barren parts of this history are not barren
of the unsearchable treasures of his grace ; they are
not unchristian records, but at every step reveal
more and more of the great Eedeemer. The Chris
tian element is the main element in them all ; they
attain their object only as they authenticate

12 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Christianity, and honor the author and finisher
of the Christian fai'th.
The Bible is also distinguished for its teaching
by jorefigurations and symbols. We are not insen
sible that this is a method of instruction which is
liable to abuse. Men there have been who have
made themselves ludicrous by searching for types
and shadows where they do not exist. Inventive
minds and ungoverned imaginations have some
times made fearful havoc of God's word by this
lawless process of tracing out analogies between
persons, and events, and things, and their supposed
spiritual counterpart. But it may not be forgot
ten that there is error in the opposite extreme.
Every type has its antetype, and every symbol its
corresponding truth. The «Bible, more than most
books, perhaps more than any other book, is dis
tinguished for its symbolical instruction. Nor
does it diminish aught from the value of such
teaching that it has given rise to interpretations
that are purely fanciful, and to exegetical laws and
systems of interpretation which have converted
the substance into the shadow, instead of making
the shadow represent the substance.
In this method of teaching, Christ holds a
prominent place. It is, indeed, distinctly recog
nized in the Scriptures themselves as having its
counterpart and completion in him as the great
Mediator. The. prefigurations of the ceremonial

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 13
law of the Jews are so abundant, that to one not
acquainted with the Christian Scriptures, it is dif
ficult to perceive their import, or even their rele
vancy, unless they are typical of Christ. In them
selves they were but outward rites and ceremo
nies ; they were even worthless and worse than
worthless, a grievous yoke, and not easy to be
borne. But they represented brighter and nobler
realities, and were " a shadow of good things to
comet but the body is Christ" The blood of
beasts, the offering of incense, the lights of the
sanctuary and its gold and pearls ; the holy ves
sels and the holy garments ; the High Priest and
the anointing oil : the Passover and the day of
annual atonement; the Holy of holies and the
entering in of the Hign Priest alone within the
veil, were but the prefiguration of things more
spiritual, pure, and precious. The tabernacle and
the temple service, the golden candlesticks, the ark
of the covenant, and the cherubim were not only
typical of the Messiah, but so regarded by not a
few even of the later and more learned Jews. It
is difficult to conceive how the great doctrine of
vicarious atonement could be more impressively
taught than by the Jewish sacrifices, in so many
)f which the offerer laid his hand upon the head
of the victim, there leaving the burden of his own
offences, and sacrificing the guiltless for the guilty. ,
Still more impressive, if possible, was that affect-

14 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ing scene when, on the great day of atonement,
the High Priest publicly imposed the sins of the
people on the head of the " scape-goat," and sent
him away into the wilderness. And what was the
import of that solemn transaction, when " Moses
took the blood of calves and of goats, and
sprinkled both the book and all the, people,
saying, This is the blood of the covenant which
God hath enjoined unto you;" if it does not pre
figure the confirmation of the new covenant by
blood of infinitely greater value and efficacy ?
Nor are these isolated prefigurations scattered
here and there ; they run throughout the whole
of the ancient economy, and are imbedded in its
institutions and laws. The very existence of the
Jewish people, among whbm were the sole vestiges
of the pure faith for so many centuries, and with
whom, even in their lowest estate, those were found
who " waited for the consolation of Israel," was
itself a foreshadowing of the Messiah. If we ask
for the special import of particular prefigurations,
the answer would require a volume. Suffice it to
say, that sometimes their object is to identify the
great Messiah himself; sometimes to set forth his
offices as Prophet, Priest, and King; and some
times to indicate his mysterious character as God
and man. Sometimes they speak of his humilia
tion, and sometimes of his reign and victories;
sometimes they personate his friends and their

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OP REVELATION. 15
triumphs, and sometimes his enemies and their
overthrow. In some of the books of the Old Tes
tament, and more especially in the Psalms of
David and the writings of Isaiah, and the minor
prophets, the character and glory of "David's
Lord and Son," are presented in such truthful
ness and beauty, as to have become in every age
of the church the themes of Christian, devotional,
social praise. We may safely affirm that the re
lation which the Old Testament bears to the New,
is not more intimate than the relation which these
emblematical representations bear to Christ. And
it deserves remark, that as these varied prefigura
tions were, for the most part, coeval with the rise
of the Jewish . economy, so they terminated when
it vanished away. The Oracle of Urim and Thum-
mim was silent : the splendid jewelry in the breast
plate Of the High Priest became dim ; the veil of
the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom — all ceased when Christ came. They had
accomplished their object. God poured contempt
upon them in order to honor their great antetype.
If from the typical and emblematic, we pass to
the figurative and metaphorical, representations of
the Bible, we find them full of Christ. Truth is often
presented in the Scriptures in the language of emo
tion. When the heart is moved, it always expresses
itself thus : and never more intensely than on re
ligious themes. They are delineations, rather than

16 THE GLORY OF CHRIST-
lectures ; rhetorical, rather than dogmatic views.
They are the graphic pencillings of an enlightened
and ardent mind, into which truth has sunk so
deeply that it is not satisfied without representa
tions that flow from the full fountain of devotional
feeling. They have all the elements of poetry and
painting, and address themselves not so much to
the vigor, of the intellect as to the delicacy of a
sanctified taste and fancy. And it is a most fitting
method of communicating God's truth, and in
keeping with the principles of man's nature. It
is the genuine language of a well-instructed and
fervent piety thus to give utterance to- its emotions
in metaphors that are bold, and where a single
word announces some great and pregnant truth.
Devotional emotion finds its way to the soul only
through the instrumentality of truth; yet are
there other ways of presenting and uttering truth
than the calm and unmoved lessons of a sanctified
philosophy. There is a language which speaks
with logical accuracy to the intellect ; and there
is a language which speaks to the imagination and
the emotions. Both are equally true ; but the
latter is more free, unembarrassed, and impressive.
The former is more definite, the latter is more
striking ; and while it illustrates, gives beauty to
its illustrations. Nor are such representations to be
regarded as mere matters of taste, or in more mod
ern phraseology, as the sesthetical judgment of

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 17
the sacred penmen ; but as the manner and style
of writing to which they were directed by the
Holy Ghost. The inspired writers thus received
instruction, thus they communicated it. It was
stamped and burnt in upon, their own minds; and
in order td arrest the thoughts of men that were
too sluggish, to be arrested by more didactic rep
resentations, they addressed it in " thoughts that
breathe and words that burn." And what majesty,
what force and adornment, and what alternately
bold and delicate coloring do they impart to the
unchanging, yet ever-various glory of Him who
is their great and' predominant theme! I had
almost said, look where we will into the sacred
writings, and we find these representations in a
richness and variety scarcely equalled by the
rhetorical drapery of any other book. If there be
one that fills the whole circle of this vivid imagery,
it is Christ. It centres in Christ ; as though*ger±ius,
and taste, and cultivated piety, and all the objects
of nature and art, in all their sublimity and beauty,
were laid under contribution by his all-compre
hensive and exacting loveliness. It is the melody
of the truth, as it, is in Jesus, coming upon the soul,
sometimes in airs sweet and enchanting as the harp
of David; sometimes pensive as the prolonged
notes of the weeping prophet of Anathoth ; some
times thrilling as Isaiah's lyre.
It deserves remark that they are the most

IS THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
beautiful objects in nature which the revealing
Spirit selects to show forth the beauty of the ado
rable Redeemer. He is the pure light of heaven,
its sun and centre, "illumining the whole sphere
of revealed truth. He is its bright Morning Star
ushering in the day. He is the rose of Sharon
and the lily of the vallies ; the l/ily among thorns,
and the apple-tree among the trees of the wood,
everywhere diffusing their 'fragrance. He is the
fairest of the children of men, and his garments, are
white as snow. He is the bridegroom rejoicing
over the bride, and his lips drop with sweet-smell
ing myrrh. He is the Shepherd of. Israel, who
gathereth the lambs with his arm, and carrjeth
them in his. bosom. He is the fountain of purity
and the fountain of life. He is an hiding-place
from the storm, and a covert from the tempest;
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,
and as rimers of water in a dry place. He is the
rock and the stone of Israel, their high tower and
the horn of their salvation. He is the bread of
life, the tree of life, the vine, the head, the purify
ing fire, the true way, the living temple. He is
Judah's lion and the Lamb of God. He is the
brother and the friend. He is the angel of the
covenant, the surety, and the advocate. He is the
Prince of Peace, the wonderful Counsellor, the'
conqueror Captain. There are beauties in the
Bible, but he is the crown of its beauty! There

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 19
is rich verdure there, and flowers of hope ; but the
stem of Jesse is the branch from which they grow.
That sacred soil is fringed with trees that yield
their fruit every month, and there is a river there
pure and perennial, because it flows from God and
the Lamb. But he is the life of all this sweet and
ublime imagery. The Bible is but the mirror
which reflects his face# of comeliness. It is the
ocean from whose broad surface the warm exha
lations of Jesus' love ascend, to fall in showers on
the thirsty earth. Its imagery is beautiful ; to a
devout mind it is so, because it gleams in the light,
and is reflected from the brightness of this never-
setting sun. What an enigma, what a blank were
this book without Christ ! It is he who imbues
these sacred pages with this heavenly atmosphere.
His name is as " ointment poured forth," diffusing
its fragrance like a bed of spices ; while from the
green, luxuriant earth, the air rises up loaded with
rich perfume, and fafcth and hope breathe its odors
and revel among its flowers.
If, then, in the next place, we take a glance at
the prophetical writings of the Bible, we find that
Christ himself is the great subject with which the
spirit of prophecy is conversant from the begins
ning of the world, to the sealing up and formal
close of the prophetic dispensation. His advent
' and redemption were the great and glorious events
towards which the expectations of men were di-

20 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
rected by the bards of the Old Testament. They
were thrilling predictions which they "uttered, be
cause they were full of Christ ; predictions which,
when accomplished, would make the trees of the
field and the little hills and the mountains clap their
hands, and which would fill the world with joy.
Prophecy is God's word ; it is eminently the
preaching of God himself,# and in every respect
like its author. We may well suppose that it falls
in with the design and spirit of the Gospel, and
tends to promote its spirituality and power. Hence
we are instructed that " the Spirit of Christ" was
in the prophets when " they testified beforehand
his sufferings, and the glory that should follow."
We are told also that " the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy ;" or, in other words, that
the spirit of prophecy is the testimony concerning
Jesus. When we take a view of the prophecies,
from the first prediction in the garden of Eden re
lating to the " seed of the wossan," to the predic
tion of Malachi concerning " the Messenger of the
Covenant," and the prediction of John in Patmos
concerning him who is to " come in the clouds of
heaven ;" we not only find they perfectly harmonize
with the spirit of Christianity and the great end
for which the Bible was given, but that the entire
and uninterrupted series of prophecies is mostly
made up of predictions concerning Jesus Christ.
Even those predictions which relate to this world,

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 21
and to earthly things, as well as those which re
late to the kingdom of Satan, and the nations and
races and rulers over which the Deceiver exercises
his sway, stand abreast with predictions which
immediately relate to the kingdom of Christ, and
derive their .only -importance from their predicted
subserviency to this kingdom. Holy angels and
holy men of old were sent by God during the pro
gress of four thousand years to announce him who
was " the desire of all nations," and whom " God
had set upon his holy hill of Zion." To him " all
the prophets gave witness." Sometimes they speak
of the time when -he should be born ; sometimes
of the place; sometimes of the dignity of his per
son ; sometimes of the excellence and meekness of
his character, the miracles he wrought, the instruc
tions he gave, the beneficence of his life, the time
and circumstances of his death, and the triumphs
of his resurrection and ascension to the right hand
of God. Take Christ from the system of prophecy j
and it has no object ; it is spiritless and dead, and
the whole fabric crumbles and falls. The pro
phecies can be studied and understood only at the
oot of the cross. There was no other object
worthy of this long-continued intercourse between
leaven and earth, unless it was to " prepare the way
>f the Lord and make his paths straight." They
are sacrilegious hands that would fain rudely
separate the root and the offspring of David from

22 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
the ramifications of prophecy. Men there are who
have done this : nor is it any marvel that their
interpretations of prophecy should be bald and
jejune, when they have thus abstracted from it
its vital element. Piety weeps at this estrange
ment of prophecy from the testimony of Jesus,
and exclaims with Mary at his empty sepulchre,
"They have taken my Lord, and I know not
where they have laid him."
A collection of all the prophecies in the Sacred
-Writings would leave but few that have no re
spect to Jesus Christ. The prophet that did not
bear witness to him would have been counted as
one of the oracles of the heathen. Even false pro
phets were constrained to speak of him ; " they
saw him, but not now ; they beheld him, but not
nigh." Heavenly seers were stationed all along
the hill-tops of time for the great purpose of an
nouncing Him who was to be " a light to lighten
the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel ;"
while, as their circle of vision becomes extended,
and they penetrate the last days, they antici
pate the scene, when " the kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."
Nor, obvious as the fact is, may we overlook the
thought, that of the great truths and doctrines of
the Bible, Christ is the sum and substance. In the
language of the Scriptures, believing Christ and

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 23
believing the gospel, preaching Christ and preach
ing the gospel, are commutable phrases. By com
mon consent Christianity is the very definition
of revealed truth. There is no truth in the Bible
with which Christ has not such a relation, that if
there had been no Saviour, there had been no such
truth revealed. God's truth has this one great
theme. The Bible is the most perplexing book,
the greatest enigma in the world of thought, if the
great subject of its instructions be not Christ and
him crucified. Natural religion would have con
sulted all the exigencies of men, had it revealed
a Saviour. This is the great and universal want
of the race ; and where there is no provision for
this, there is no truth but that which rebukes, con
demns, and destroys. Christ is the " wisdom of
God and the power of God," because his unsearch
able wisdom and power are in him and by him
disclosed.' If there is anything by which the glory
of God is pre-eminently manifested, it is the system
of truth which was taught by his Son, and of which
the Son is the centre. Here alone men see " what is
the fellowship of the mystery, which from the be
ginning of the world hath been hid in God." Angels
see it here, and will see it in perpetually augment
ing manifestations. Nor would there be any differ
ence in the theological creed of men and angels, nor
in the now conflicting views of men themselves,
if they all had the same views of Christ. The fact

24 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
that the leading controversies between Christians
and infidels, and other heretics and errorists relate,
and ever have related to the person and work of
Christ, shows that Christ himself is the all and in
all to Christianity. Dispute about doctrines as they
will, there is no denying the fact, that the system
of belief which most excludes Christ and obscures
his glory is the farthest from the truth, and ruin
ous to the souls of men. It is " another founda
tion" of .which Christ is not the corner-stone, and
one which he himself has not laid in Zion. Chris
tianity is the same thing everywhere, because
Christ is the sum and substance of it, and he is
everywhere the same. Incidental differences there
are in the church of God, but there are no essential
differences where Christ is made of God wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption to the
soul. There is neither Greek, nor Jew, barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free. All have this great mark
of identity, that they are one in Christ. The Spirit
of God -everywhere inscribes the same truths on
the hearts of good men, because he " takes of the
things that are Christ's, and shows them unto
them." Divine truth receives its consistency and
beauty from Christ ; nor is it possible to have just
perceptions of it, nor feel its practical influence
without perceiving its relations to him. Does the
Bible assure men of the certainty of a future state
of rewards and punishments ; where is that assur-

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 25
ance made so sure as by the teaching, death, and
resurrection of the Son of God ? Does it teach
the great doctrine of moral obligation : where is
there such evidence of the binding force of obliga
tion, as in the obedience of Christ to the death of
the cross, and in the motives and influences to obe
dience which his death secures ? Do we look for
any firm foundation on which to erect the struc
ture of morals ; Christ is that foundation, there is
no such morality as Christian morality.
" Talk they of morals ? 0 thou bleeding love.
The grand morality is full of thee."
Every thought, and word, and act of obedience
springs from faith in Christ. Is it the design of the
Bible to exalt God and humble the pride and self-
sufficiency of man ? By what is God so exalted
and man so humbled as by the doctrine of Christ
Jesus and him crucified ? Does this book of God
reveal the only test of character ? Where is there
such a test as the " child that was set for the fall
and rising again of many, that the thoughts of
many hearts might be revealed ?" We cannot
specify any one truth, the faith of which is essen
tial to the Christian character, and which is itself
the means of piety and hope to good men, but is^
contained in that one word, Christ. Are they
born again ; it is in the image of Christ. Have
they pardon and acceptance with God; it is

26 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
through the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Have
they grace, mercy, and peace ; it is because Christ
has died, and they love the Lord Jesus in sincerity.
Or are there any among the sons of men who are
anathema ; it is because they do not love him. If
there be one whom the Scriptures represent it as
important to know, it is Christ; one whom all
are bound to love, and in whom all are bound to
believe ; one in whom all who believe are bound
to profess their faith ; it is Christ. If there be one
to whom, to be reconciled, is to be reconciled to
God; one who is the Christian's example, the
minister's and the church's glory ; one who is
Lord of the conscience and King in Zion ; one
who is precious to the good of all names and na
tions, and before whom every knee must bow and
every mouth be stopped ; one who, as the accred
ited Prophet, Priest, and King, is destined to tri
umph over ignorance, unbelief, superstition, and
wickedness, and whose influence is destined to
extend to the masses, and by whom humanity
is to be ennobled and exalted ; it is Christ. If
there be one to whom the Spirit is imparted with
out measure, and upon whom all spiritual gifts are
bestowed for the benefit of his people ; one who
was ordained to this great work from the foun
"dation of the world, and who is himself the inhabi
tation of the Deity, it is Christ. In all Christian
doctrines Christ has the pre-eminence. It pleased

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 27
the Father that "in him all fulness should dwell."
It is he of whom the great Apostle said, " I have
determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified." Christ crucified
not only gives its complexion to the whole system
of divine truth ; but apart from this crucified one,
there is no truth which is the wisdom of God and
the power of God to salvation.
We add a single thought more : the Scriptures
not only abound in the inculcation of Christian
truth, but in the delineation of Christian experi
ence. And does not every devout mind respond
to the remark, that the religious experience, of
which we have so full an account in the Bible,
magnifies Jesus Christ ? In all its forms and varie
ties, in the love of its espousals, in the vigor of its
manhood, in the maturity of its old age, in the melt
ings of its' penitence and the fervor of its zeal ; in
prosperity and adversity, toil and relaxation, life
and death ; its most devout and sacred sensibilities
flow from enlightened views of Christ, from be
lieving and sanctified contemplations of his glory,
from the life-inspiring relationship which believ
ers sustain to him. The Bible knows nothing that
turns men from the power of Satan unto God but
Christ. If we inquire for the great principle of spiritual
life, we hear one who was not behind the chief of
the apostles, say " I am crucified with Clwist; nev

28 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ that liveth
in me, and the life that I live in the flesh is by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me." Do the Scriptures speak of adop
tion into God's family ; their language is, " But as
many as received Christ, to them he gave power
to become the sons of God, even to them who be
lieve on his name." Do they speak of fellowship
with God in religious duties ; their language is,
" For through him we have access by one Spirit
unto the Father ;" " in whom we have boldness
and access ;" boldness to enter into the holiest of all
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way."
When the early Christians advert to the grace that
called them, and that made them differ from others,
their grateful language is, " Who hath saved us,
and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus, be
fore the world began." Do they speak of their
final perseverance, they rest on such truths as
these, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them and they follow me ; and I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any pluck them out of my hand." Do they
advert to their encouragement in duty, their im
pulse in love, and the great incitement to a life of
devotedness : it is " the love of Christ that passeth
knowledge."

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 29
When, amid their scenes of trial, they advert to
the source of their consolation, they speak of one
refuge, one comforter. All their support and all
their hopes are centred in One. It were a sever
ance from them all to be severed from Christ.
However brilliant the lights which this world casts
upon it, clouds and darkness would hang over
every path and step of the Christian's pilgrimage, '
did not he who caused the light to " shine out of
darkness, shine in their hearts to give them the
light of the knowledge of his glory in the face
of Jesus Christ." Sweet is the solace which the
Christian finds amid those days of depression
which visit him, from the assurance that " there is
a friend that sticketh closer than a brother," and
that in the dark night of his adversity, one star '
there is that turns the shadow of death into the
morning. The preciousness of Christ, the attrac
tions of his love, the adaptation of his grace, ever
ready, ever faithful, ever full, are sufficient for his
greatest need. The conscience may be alarmed,
the heart agitated, and the fairest earthly hope
may be disappointed and wither ; but precious are
the hopes which Christ inspires; precious the
repose at his cross; precious the refuge at his
mercy-seat; precious' the joys which cannot be
embittered, because he gives them.
The life that now is, is but of few days and full
of trouble. We feel the burden of sorrow, we

30 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
shrink from conflict, and we shudder at the grasp
of death ; and though reason cannot tranquillize,
nor sympathy relieve, nor any created helper sup
port us, there is tranquillity, relief, support, and
perfect peace amid them all, derived from Christ.
It is the believer's privilege to say with Paul,
"Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory,
through our Lord Jesus Christ." Nothing shall
separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord ! Sufferings await them ;
but if they suffer with Christ, they shall also be
glorified together with him. Death awaits them,
but they sleep in Jesus ; the grave awaits them,
but Christ is the resurrection and the life, and
they come forth from it fashioned like unto his
glorious body. The judgment awaits them, but it
is the judgment-seat of Christ. Heaven awaits
them, and he himself says it is "his Father's
house," and that " the Lamb which is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them, and lead them
unto living fountains of waters." It is he who will
there " make them kings and priests unto God,
even" his Father ;" and there their song shall be
" unto Him that loved us and washed us from oui
sins in his own blood !" From first to last, Christ
is as pre-eminent in the Christian's religious expe
rience-as in the theory of Christianity. The Chris
tian needs no other, he lias no other, he desires no
other than Christ.

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 31
This, then, is the thought which we place
at the head of our observations on the glory
of Christ. God is not more omnipresent, than
the presence of Christ fills the sacred volume.
He himself is its author. Prophets were sent
by him ; apostles were his amanuenses. His light
shines on every page; it envelops us whenever
we take the Bible into our hands. We live in
this illumined atmosphere. It is not as though
Christ were in heaven and we on the earth ; or as
though we were looking at the sun at a distance ;
or as though we were on the side of the globe on
which it does not shine. The mind is not less dis
tant from the body than Christ from the Bible.
He is the mind, the very soul of the book itself.
He enriches it, he adorns it. He has great and
glorious designs to accomplish by it; and not
only are they here unfolded, but they comprise
all the designs of the divine mind in relation to
the restoration of fallen man. It is the instrument
of good only as it speaks of him. He spoke in
the prophets, uttered the law, and now speaks in
the Gospel. He is the cause, and these ample and
varied revelations are the effect. There are some
striking instances of his glory on which we propose
to dwell in the following pages; but his glory
shines throughout these divine communications,
even though its rays sometimes fall obliquely.
His light fills it with truth ; his grace and mercy

32 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
give birth to all the hopes, and his promises form
the clue to all the prospects it reveals. His ful
ness makes it so full of God. Men may not see
that the Bible is so full of Christ, yet he is there ;
they may not believe that it is so full of Christ,
yet he is there ; they may deny that it is so full
of Christ, yet he is there. All their efforts to ex
clude him are of no avail. It was to reveal Christ
that this revelation was given. It is impossible to
get at a distance from Christ, so long as we have
any true intimacy with the Scriptures. If we go
up to heaven he is there ; or if we make our bed
in hell he is there.
And if these things are so, what shall be said
of those, who, instead of giving Christ the prominent
place in their preaching, indulge themselves in the
speculations of philosophy, the researches of science,
and the obligations of an unbaptized morality?
This age of progress vainly,.flatters itself that it is
in advance of the Bible. If we give credence, not
merely to modern lecturers, but to the teachings
of not a few modern pulpits ; we must believe that
this apostate world is to be regenerated by other
means than the simple gospel of Christ. There is
a marvellous falling off from primitive Christianity,
in the days in which we live. It is not the object
of the writer to rebuke this fault so much as to
recall to his own thoughts and the thoughts of
others the pre-eminence of his Divine Lord and

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 33
Master, as the great subject of God's revelation. O
that those of us who are preachers of the gospel,
instead of thirsting so much for the applause of men,
would more steadily seek the honor that cometh
from God only ! Which of the apostles throws
Christ into the shade^ or keeps him in the back
ground ? Lost men need nothing so much as the
knowledge of Christ. It must surely be of great
practical importance for the teachers of religion,
to seize hold of the sum and substance of this book
of God. And what is the Bible to a lost world,
without Christ ? What concern have men in these
rich and varied revelations more than in any vol
ume of sage counsels, if they are denuded of those
truths which constitute its excellence and glory ?
I cannot find that Christ is ever lost sight of in the
Bible. The man who would understand the gospel
and preach it intelligibly, must carry Christ along
with him into the pulpit. He must habitually
carry Christ in his mind and heart. Christ must
be near him, or his preaching will have very little
meaning. That system of theological opinions
which has the most of Christ is the true system ;
that which has the least is the most erroneous ;
that which has none is heresy, infidelity, atheism.
Do not call us bigots because we war with Anti
christ. Be its form however specious, and what it
may, we would hold fellowship with our Divine
Master ; we seek no fellowship with those who have

34 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
no communion with him. To be indifferent to all
religious opinions, when Christ himself is the way,
the truth, the life, is not the charity that " rejoiceth
in the truth." True piety has but one author, and
that is Christ. It has but one instrumentality — ¦
the truth of Christ ; one aim and end — the glory
of Christ; one image and superscription — Christ
himself. We see that Christ takes complete pos
session of the Bible : so must he take complete pos
session of the pulpit. Error must not exclude him.
Sin must not make this his rightful abode unwel
come. It is his own : the palace in which he loves
to dwell. Self-righteousness must fiot divide the
throne with him. The world must not crowd him
out ; its wealth, its honors, its learning, its science,
must not jostle him out of his place, nor rudely
repulse him, from his own domains.'* Though I un
derstand all mysteries and all knowledge, and
know not Christ, I am nothing. The world, by
wisdom knows not God. We glory in the pro
gressive career of human thought. Man was
formed for it. We fear no researches that termi
nate in Christ. Penetrate the labyrinth ever so
far, only let it be with the' torch of truth, and for
holy ends ! Let the speculations of philosophers
be imbued with the love of Christ ! Let the learn
ing of the wise be redolent with his spirit, their
most enduring memorials be baptized in the name
of Jesus, and their triumphs be his ! And then,

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 35
whether they lead, or whether they follow in the
race, the echo of their footsteps falls upon the ear
with a sacredness that nothing can inspire but holy
ground. When poetry sings, only let it be of Chris
tian themes, and in the spirit of Christ. When fancy
plays, let it be around the cross ; and when she
weaves her garlands let them be to be suspended
there. O that the tendencies of human thought, in
this our age, were more toward the " simplicity that
is in Christ." Beautiful simplicity, and still more
beautiful Saviour ! Give us, adorable Redeemer,
more of thy image, and we shall possess a treasure,
which does not become dim like the gold of earth ;
a beauty that will sparkle with radiance when all
that is earthly shall have passed away.
Nor may we close this first chapter without
asking our readers, "What think ye of Christ?"
What is Christ to you f What is he to you as a
child of apostate Adam, as a sinner against God,
and condemned by his holy law ? What is he to
you as one born for immortality, and hasting to
his judgment-seat ? Do you love him ? Do you
believe in him?. Have you found pardon and
peace in his precious blood, and has this blessed
hope shed its purifying, gladdening, comforting
light and influence over your soul ? Do you live
to him, and are you among those who wait for his
appearing ? If the Lord Jesus be not the object
of your love and confidence, and if you rest not

36 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
your eternal hopes on him alone, then are you
weighed in the balance and found wanting. Chris
tianity differs from everything else. To be a
Christian, Christ must be seen," loved, confided in,
and obeyed. There must be abiding convictions
of his excellence. Nothing fills the soul with Such
delightful emotions, as those with which the true
Christian contemplates his Saviour. Men are sadly
mistaken who expect to find religion out of Christ.
An exemplary deism is not Christianity ; neither
are moral virtues Christian graces. Men may be
humane, generous, kind, without being Christians.
Truth, justice, honesty, honor in our intercourse
with the world, are not love and confidence toward
Christ. If he holds this conspicuous place in the
Bible, true piety must consist in right affections
toward him. Men have more to do with Christ,
and he has more to do with them, than they have
to do with one another. It is as irrational and
absurd, therefore, as it is unchristian, to place re
ligion in virtues which have no regard to Christ.
It is proof of great moral blindness, and great ig
norance of the Scriptures, when men satisfy them
selves with a religion that has little or nothing to
do with Christ. Our obligations to Christ stand
first ; there is no other obligation that can come
in competition with his prior and everlasting
claims. Should these thoughts disturb you, we can only

THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF REVELATION. 37
say, repair to that Saviour without delay. Bring
this great question to an issue by " receiving Christ
Jesus the Lord." Rest not satisfied to be numbered
with his enemies, and to sink forever under his
appalling frown. And be entreated not to wait
for a more convenient season. Ask the dying sin
ner what makes him tremble and weep ; and ,he
will tell you that he once resolved to repent and
believe the gospel, but he waited to a more con
venient season. Ask tens of thousands of the lost
in hell why they weep, and wail, and gnash their
teeth; and they will tell you they were once
startled by a view of their sin and danger, but
they delayed to escape the coming wrath to a
more convenient season. Away with this mad
ness ! The heart of Jesus is as full of mercy as
the Bible is full of Jesus. Stretch your thoughts
as far as you will, and you cannot conceive the
fulness of his love. You have never yet learned
what a Saviour he is who died on the cross, and
now lives and reigns. O dismiss these doubts, and
abjure the spirit of delay. Break this spell of the
fowler. Let the breath of prayer sweep these ref
uges of his away, and come now to that Saviour
who filleth all in all.

• CHAPTER II.
THE GLORY OP CHRIST'S DIVINE N^URE.
Dr. Priestly, the celebrated materialist and
Unitarian, has remarked, that " the value of- the
gospel does not, in any degree, depend upon the
idea which we may entertain concerning the Per
son of Christ, because all that is truly interesting
to us is the object of his mission, and the author
ity with which his doctrine is promulgated." At
what a great remove is this subtle remark from the
whole scope and design of the sacred writings;
from their special teaching on this very point. As
we have already seen, there is no topic of which
they treat more largely than the Person of Christ ;
none on which they speak with deeper interest,
and none of which they take more pains to present
just conceptions.
Our theme is his great glory. Our starting
point is indeed far above us ; it is a lofty emi
nence ; but it is the only point of vision from which
we hope to see him even "in part." The Scrip
tural views of the glory of Christ recognize his
TRUE AND PROPER EQUALITY WITH GoD. If it IS

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 39
important to know anything concerning him, it is
surely of importance to know whether he is God,
or a mere creature. The difference is infinite.
To assist us in deciding this question, I propose
in the present chapter to institute the inquiry,
What are the appropriate and peculiar excellencies
of the Deity ; to show that the same excellencies
are ascribed by the sacred writers to Jesus Christ ;
and that he is therefore truly and properly God.
Our first object is to institute the inquiry, What
ARE THE APPROPRIATE AISTD PECULIAR EXCELLENCIES
AND CLAIMS OP THE DeITY*?
There is no uncertainty in human language
when it speaks of this great theme. The first and
most prominent thought, connected with the great
word God, is that he possesses existence which is
underived and eternal. This is what natural and
revealed religion mean by God. The idea of an
eternal, independent Being is the most exalted
conception the human mind can receive of the all-
perfect Deity. He is one who exists prior to every
other being, and derives his existence from no
other. He is self-existent, and has the principle
of life in himself. This is the conception which
the eternal Deity has of his own existence, and
which he has revealed to men in the Scriptures.
When he revealed his name to Moses, his words
were, " I am that I am ; that is my name. Say
unto Pharaoh, I AM hath sent me unto you." The

40 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
peculiar and distinguishing name of this uncaused
and eternal deity is Jehovah, and it is specially
expressive of the majesty and glory of his unde-
rived existence.
To this eternal being the Scriptures also ascribe
infinite greatness and goodness. They represent him
as immutable, and as the being " with whom there is
no variableness, neither shadow of turning." They
speak of him as omnipotent, as " the mighty God,"
and the " Lord God omnipotent ;" as omniscient,
as the one who " knoweth all things," and " look-
eth on the heart ;" and -explicitly affirm that he,
even "he only knows the hearts of all the children
of men ;" as omnipresent, " Behold the heaven and
the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ;" " Do
I not fill heaven and earth ?" They clothe him,
too, with the robes of supremacy, and declare that
" Dominion is with him ;" that he is " the King of
kings and the Lord of lords;" that his "is the
glory," and that " his glory shall endure forever."
Reason and the Scriptures also ascribe to him
great and glorious works. They affirm that he has
done, is doing, and will yet perform deeds which
are done by no other being in the universe. They
recognize him as the Creator of all things; as
having "stretched forth the heavens alone, and
spread abroad the earth by himself. They speak
of him as the great Preserver, and say " that the
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts,

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 41
the earth and all things that are 'therein, he pre-
serveth them all." Him, too, they represent as
the Redeemer. The whole work of redemption,
from beginning to end, is spoken of as peculiar to
God. "The salvation of the righteous is of the
Lord." " I, even I, am Jehovah, and besides me
there is no Saviour." And as the work of redemp
tion in ^general is ascribed to God, so is each par
ticular part of it. The work of atonement is attrib
uted to him. " Ye are not your own, for ye are
bought with a price; wherefore, glorify God in
your bodies and spirits, which are God's /" " the
church of God, which he purchased with his
own blood." Regeneration is attributed to him.
" Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Justification is attributed to him. " It is God that
justifieth." The resurrection of the dead is also
declared to be his peculiar work. " Why should
it be thought a thing incredible with you, that
God should raise the dead ? God will raise up us
by his own power." Judging the world is also the
sole prerogative of God. " The Lord shall judge
the ends of the earth." " The heavens shall declare
his righteousness, for God is Judge himself." The
destruction of this material universe at the con
summation of all things, is likewise spoken of as
the peculiar work of God. " As a vesture shalt
thou fold them, and they shall be changed;" so

42 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
also the final glory of the righteous and the final
perdition of the iviched are declared to be the act
of God.
The Scriptures also enjoin duties which all are
bound to perform toward God and God only. All
creatures are under the strongest obligations to
obey him. They are to love him with all their
hearts, and to trust and confide in him. Nor are
they allowed to place their supreme confidence in
any other ; " Cursed is the man that trusteth in
man, and maketh flesh his aim." They are required
to worship him, and him alone. It is written,
" Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him
only shalt thou serve."
This is the Scriptural description of that Being
whom the Bible calls God ; such are some of the
peculiar properties and claims which belong in
alienably to the God of the universe. He is just
such a Being as this — infinite, eternal, unchange
able in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice,
goodness, and truth. They are not the property
of any mere manifestation, but of a Being. Nor are
they the properties of man, nor angel, nor any cre
ated being in the universe : they belong to Deity.
Reason ascribes them to him : the Bible ascribes
them to him, and gives him this high honor. It is
thus angels ahd the spirits of the just honor^ him;
thus that holy men on his footstool honor him ;
and thus he will be honored by the services and the

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 43
song of an ever-growing eternity. We repeat the
thought, therefore, that the great Being who is
this and does this is truly God.
We are then now prepared to show that all
THESE PROPERTIES, AISTD DEEDS, AND CLAIMS ARE AF
FIRMED iw the Bible to belong to Jesus Christ.
There are some comprehensive declarations on
this subject, that are not to be overlooked. We
are told that " all" men and angels " should honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father." If they
honor the Father as God, even so should they honor
the Son as God, because he has all the -properties
and claims of God. They, shall treat him as God
for the same reasons that require them to treat the
Father as God. Whatever of religious veneration,
whatever of honor in any form, is given, or is due
to the Father, the same is due to the Son. " All
things" saith the Son, " that the Father hath are
mine,"— and what is so properly God's as his divin
ity? His existence is my existence; his perfec
tions are my perfections ; his works are my works ;
the allegiance and the service that are due to him,
are mine ; our natures are equal and our glory one.
But it is important to substantiate this position ;
and therefore we remark, in the first place, The
eternal existence of the Father is declared in the
Scriptures to belong to the Son. Eternity, that
great and emphatic property of the Deity, is ex
pressly ascribed to him. Speaking of himself, he

44 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
says, " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end. I am the First and the Last. Before Abra
ham was, I am." The Prophet Micah, predicting
the birth of Christ, proclaims, " Out of Bethlehem,
in Judah, shall he come forth who shall be a ruler
in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old,
from everlasting." There is a declaration of still
more unequivocal and decisive import, and one in
which the Saviour explicitly affirms that he pos
sesses the wondrous principle of self-existence in
his own eternal nature. " For as the Father hath
life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have
life in himself." This is the great and special at
tribute of £he Deity ; it is his gift, it belongs to his
nature ; and the Son possesses it in common with
the Father. It equally belongs to both their na
tures to possess this principle of self-existence. He
existed from eternity ; the Father's eternity is his
eternity ; he inhabits it : it is his appropriate resi
dence, his own eternity. What an avowal is this
from him who was despised and rejected of men!
It is no marvel that the Jews accused him of
" making himself equal with God." Nor is the
force of this declaration at all diminished by the
phraseology, "so hath he given to the Son to have
life in himself." JAterally understood, for the Fa
ther to give self-existence to the Son would be a
palpable absurdity, because it would imply a de
pendent self-existence. The true meaning is that

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 45
the Son is a partaker, a sharer in his Father's eter
nity. Christ borrows his existence, not from an
other : it is not a stream from another source ; the
fountain of it is in himself. He, like the Father,
is the uncreated one ; nor is it possible for us to
conceive, if he were a mere creature, though the
highest of creatures, that he " could have life in
himself." Then, in the second place; all other properties
which are peculiar to the Deity, are ascribed to
Christ. The same names and titles that belong to
the Father are given to the Son. He is called
Lord by the Father himself. " The Lord said unto
my Lcrrd, sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool." In the vision which
the Prophet Isaiah had of Christ, he says, " I saw
the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up,
and his train filled the temple." The angels, after
his resurrection, say of him, " Come see the place
where the Lord lay." Yerj frequently, indeed,
this divine name is applied to Jesus Christ, both
in the Old and New Testaments ; the Saviour, even
in his lowly humiliation, more than once thus ap
plies it. Jesus Christ receives this name and title
of the Deity in an acceptation altogether different
from that in which it is applied to any human su
perior or prince. He is styled "The Lord of glory"
and the " The Lord from heaven ;" and '•'•King of
kings" and " Lord of lords."

46 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
In a multitude of passages, also, the Son is called
God. Isaiah says, " For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called
the mighty God." Even Dr. Priestly consents to
regard this passage as " evidently referring to the
Messiah." In the forty-fifth Psalm, which Jews
and Christians regard as addressed to the Messiah,
the writer addresses him in the following exalted
strain : " Thy throne-, O' God, is forever and ever."
And in the epistle to the Hebrews the validity of
this application is confirmed beyond a doubt. " But
unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness is the
sceptre of thy kingdom." Socinians have affirmed
that this passage admits of a different translation,
and will bear to be rendered, " But to the Son he
saith, God is thy throne forever and ever;" but
there is no grammatical reason for this rendering,
and the argument of the apostle forbids it. And
why should we, by a harsh and repugnant meta
phor, thus make the eternal majesty the throne of
a mere creature ? John, speaking of Christ, says,
" And we know that the Son of God is come, and
hath given us an understanding that we may know.
him that is true ; and we are in him that is true,
even in his Son Jesus Christ ; this is the true God
and eternal life." Paul says, " By whom, as con
cerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God
blessed forever." " In the beginning was the Word,

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE 47
and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." The Word is obviously a person, and not
an attribute. The attributes of God are nowhere
personified by the writers of the New Testament.
The Word is also here said to have " become flesh
and dwelt among us." And who was this, but
Jesus Christ? Thomas also said to Jesus Christ,
after his resurrection, "My Lord, and my God /"
and Paul says to Timothy, " I adjure you before
God, even Jesus Christ."
There are several passages in which the Son is
also called Jehovah. The prophet Isaiah, in the
vision just now referred to, in which he saw the'
glory of Christ, says, "Mine eyes have seen the
king, Jehovah of hosts." The same prophet, speak
ing of the forerunner and herald of the Messiah,
says, "Prepare for the way of Jehovah; make
straight in the desert a highway for our God."
" Behold, the Loi°d Jehovah will come with a strong
hand, and his arm shall rule for him. He shall feed
his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the
lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom."
" Surely shall one say, In Jehovah have I righteous
ness and strength ; in Jehovah shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory." "Behold
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall
reign and prosper. In his days, Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely ; and this is

48 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
the name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah our
righteousness." By the general consent of Jewish
and Christian interpreters, this and a subsequent
passage which is parallel to it in the same pro
phecy, designate the Redeemer. In the prophecy
of Zechariah, where the converted Jews are repre
sented as looking to the Messiah with hope and
repentance, Jehovah is introduced as saying, " They
shall look upon me whom they h&ve pierced ;" and
in John there is a reference to this passage, in which
he applies it immediately to Christ as he was hang
ing on the cross. Another Scripture saith, "They
8*hall look on him whom they have pierced." The
Father addresses the Son in the following lan
guage : " And thou, Jehovah, in the beginning,
hast laid the foundation of the earth." In all these
passages, the original Hebrew word is Jehovah.
The Scriptures also ascribe the same nature and
attributes to Christ which they ascribe to God.
Immutability is ascribed to him. In the one hun
dred and second Psalm, there is a strong and beau
tiful description of the immutability of God : " Of
old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and
the heavens are the work of thy hands. They
shall perish, but thou shalt endure ; yea, all of
them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture
shalt thou change them and they shall be changed.
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have
no end." The author of the epistle to the He-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 49
brews applies this description directly to Christ.
" But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever. Thou, Lord, in the beginning,
hast laid the foundations of the earth ;" and then
he repeats the whole of this passage from the
Psalms which has just been recited. The writer
of the same epistle elsewhere says, " Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." Omnipo
tence is also ascribed to Christ : " His name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God"
Christ himself says, " I am Alpha and Omega, — the
Almighty" Omniscience is ascribed to him : " His
disciples said to him, "Now we are sure that thou
knowest all things." Peter said to him, "Lord,
thou knowest all things. Our Lord himself says,
"And all the churches shall know that I am he
which 'searcheth the reins and the heart."
The most emphatic passage asserting his omnis
cience, if we mistake not, is in the following words :
" All things are delivered to me of my Father ;
and no man knoweth the Son but the Father ; nei
ther knoweth any man the Father, save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."
This and the exegetical passages are remarkable
leclarations. It teaches us that such is the incom-
prehensibleness of the Redeemer's nature that it
cannot be known by finite minds, while he himself
knows the infinite. " None knoweth the Son but
the Father ;" such is his nature that the knowledge
3

50 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
of him is too high an attainment for creatures, and
is possessed by the Father alone. God only knows
' himself. He is the sun which no mortal eye can
look at; a deep where all created thoughts are
drowned; a plenitude which none but the infinite
mind can fill. The Bible has nothing to propose
to our belief more adorable, more sublime, or won
derful, than the fulness of God. Eternity alone
can develop it ; nor will the development ever be
completed. It must be seen with the eyes, and
known by the intelligence of the infinite mind.
The deeper we search into this unfathomed depth,
the deeper we find it. " Neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son." Creatures do not
know him, cannot comprehend him : He surpasses
all comprehension but that of the Son. " O right
eous Father !" says he, " the world hath not known
thee ; but I have known thee." " As . the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father? " No one
knoweth who the Son is, except the Father ; and
who the Father is, except the Sod." The Father's
knowledge of the Son, and the Son's knowledge
of the Father, are reciprocal. It requires omnis
cience to comprehend either. Their knowledge is
equal, having the same extent and plenitude. It
differs from our notions of perception, association,
and intelligence; yet this mode and extent of
knowledge, and in relation to the most incompre
hensible theme, belong to the Son. Creatures

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 51
know God but in part. The Son comprehends the
entire nature of the Deity ; and this is one of the
indications of his unaided wisdom, of that " light of
light," which beholds the Deity without a veil and
without a cloud ; which is co-eternal with the all-
comprehending mind, and which in time, dignity,
and perfection, is equal to the incomprehensible
God. We have remarked that the Scriptures predicate
great and glorious works of the true God : they
ascribe the same wcrtdcs to Jesus Christ. He is de
clared to be the Creator of all things. The Apostle
John declares that " all things were made by him,
and without him there was not anything made that
was made." All things were made by him — the
universe, worlds material and immaterial, were the
product of his power. " Unto the Son he saith,
And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foun
dations of the earth, and the heavens are the work
of thy hands." Paul says to the Corinthians, " To
us there is one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are
all things." And to the Colossians, speaking ex
pressly of Christ, he says, " Who is the image of
the Invisible - God, the first" begotten before all
creatures ; for by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones, or domin
ions, or principalities, or powers, all things were
created by him and for him. And he is before all

52 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
things, and by him all things consist." In the
epistle to the Hebrews, it is said, " By him God
created the world:" Unitarians have deduced
the inference from this passage, that Christ was
the mere instrumental cause by which God pro
duced the creation ; and that this passage is the
key to the true meaning of all those texts which
speak of the Son as the Creator. But is it a
questionable fact that God himself is the Creator ?
Do not the Scriptures affirm, that " God himself
formed the earth and made it," that he alone, " and
not by other hands, spread out the heavens ?"
With equal clearness is the Son represented as
the Preserver of all things. " By him, all things :
consist." Of him who is " the brightness of the
Father's glory" it is said, " upholding all things by
the word of his power."
And surely, it is needless to show that the work
of Redemption is everywhere attributed to the Son.
" His name is Jesus, because he saves his people
from their sins." He is the " Captain of our sal
vation." He is the " Prince and Saviour." It is
expressly declared, " there is salvation in no other."
And as the work of Redemption generally is at
tributed to Christ, so is each particular part of it.
It is he who made the great atonement, and who
" was set forth to be the Propitiation." He too is
the author of Regeneration. " No man knoweth
the Father, but he to whom the Son will reveal

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 53
¦him? " Other sheep I have, them also I must
bring? He also is said to " sanctify the Church,
and cleanse it with the washing of water." Christ
is also declared to be the Justifier: he said of him
self, " The Son also hath power on earth to forgive
sins." When his enemies once murmured, because
he exercised this power before their eyes, he
wrought a miracle to justify himself, and to prove
to them that this prerogative of the Deity belonged
to him, as well as to the Father. In the Prophets
it is also written, " By his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many." The Redeemed
before the throne, also speak of him as " having
washed their sins in his own blood." And it is
moreover explicitly declared, that " he is the au
thor of eternal life to all that obey him."
It is he also who raises the dead. "As the
Father raiseth the dead, and quickeneth them, so
the Son. quickeneth whom he will." " The hour is
coming, in the which all that are in their graves
shall hear the voice of the Son of God and come
forth." He also shall judge the world. " The Son of man
hall come in the clouds of heaven with power and
Teat glory," and " before him shall be gathered all
lations." " We must all stand before the judg
ment-seat of Christ." "The Lord Jesus shall
judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and
his kingdom." Before him all the tribes of the ¦

54 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
earth shall stand ; patriarchs and prophets, apos
tles and martyrs, kings and potentates of the earth,
and of the universe, fallen and unfallen angels
shall bow before his judgment-seat, as the absolute
disposer of life and death, as the everlasting re-
warder, the immortal king of ages, the sovereign
Lord of men and angels, the supreme Judge of
every intelligent creature.
It belongs to him also to destroy the world.
" As a vesture the Son shall fold up the heavens,
and they shall be changed." " His voice once shook
the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet
once more I shake not the earth only, but also
heaven ; and this word, yet once more, signifieth the
removing of those things that are shaken." Such
are the high prerogatives of the Son, as the Crea
tor, the Preserver, the Governor, the Redeemer,
the Judge, and the final Rewarder. " Whatsoever
the Father doeth, those things doth the Son like
wise." We remark, in the next place, that the same
claims that are insisted on by God, and the same
duties which all owe to him, are also due to the Son.
This will not be doubted by any believer in the
sacred Scriptures. The supreme love of every in
telligent being belongs to the Son. " He that lov
eth father or mother more than me, is not worthy
of me." " If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let -
him be anathema, maranatha."

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 55
The supreme confidence and trust of the soul are
also due to him. While the God of heaven has
denounced a woe on the man who puts his trust in
any other than the Deity, he invites and urges all
to trust in Christ. " In his name shall the Gentiles
trust." " Blessed are all they that put their trust
in him." " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
-- thou shalt be saved."
Nor is the duty of worshipping the Son less
binding than that of worshipping the Father.
When the Father "bringeth the first begotten
into the world, he saith, Let all the angels of God
worship him !" The early Christians, we are told
by the sacred historian, habitually " called on
Christ's name," that is, worshipped him. Stephen
kneeled clown, and said, " Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit." The disciples, after he had ascended to
heaven before their eyes, " worshipped him and
returned to Jerusalem." Nor is this the employ
ment merely of the church on earth. The voice
of many angels round the throne, and the living
creatures and the elders, and the number of them
is ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
of thousands, all unite in the inscription, " Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive blessing, and
honor, and thanksgiving, and glory!" Nor are
these mere acts of civil respect, and not of reli
gious worship, as Unitarians would fain have us
believe. They are greater honors than can possi-

56 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
bly be due from one creature to another. The most
exalted angel can, with no more propriety, require
such homage than the meanest reptile. And yet
heaven and earth pay this homage to Christ. No
honar which men or angels pay to God may be
withheld from Christ. We can conceive of no
tribute of respect to the Father which does not
belong to the Son. Those garments of light and
beauty which deck the divine nature are his ; those
royal splendors which surround the eternal throne
belong to him. All belong to that distinguished
personage, whom the Scriptures call the Son of
God. They belong to him essentially; they be
long to him eternally. The time never existed
when he did not possess them, and the time never
will exist when he will not possess them. The es
sential glory and properties of the Father and the
Son are the same.
To show more distinctly the bearing of this
illustration, we proceed in the next place to draw
the chords of our argument together, and to prove,
that from this ascription of the prerogatives
of the Deity to Jesus Christ, the inference
cannot be avoided that he is truly and prop
ERLY God. This is perhaps too obvious a prop
osition to require proof; yet we will venture to
say, in regard to it, that the following thoughts
deserve consideration.
In the first place, the question very naturally

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 57
suggests itself, Do the Scriptures ascribe the
same prerogatives to a mere creature, which they
ascribe to God? By whatever excellency of nature
or dignity of station any mere creature may be
distinguished, he falls infinitely below the Eternal
Creator. There is an immeasurable distance be
tween all creatures and the ever-living God. A
beggar is a creature, and so is a king. Both are
of the dust; both must lie down alike, and the
worms cover them. Both are born in sin, and re
sponsible to the bar of Eternal Justice. A worm
is a creature, and an angel is a creature, as truly as
the worm. The one soars and burns in its created
splendor in heaven ; the other grovels on the earth.
God made them both, and in this they are alike.
Yet is the distance measurable between the loftiest
seraph, and the meanest worm. But who shall
measure the line of difference between the seraph
and the Creator ? " Who hath ascended up into
heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the
winds in his fists ? who hath bound the waters in
a garment ? who hath established all the ends of
the earth ? what is his name, and what is his son's
name, if thou canst tell ?"
If uncreated, then is he the independent, eter
nal First Cause, and therefore God. If a creature,
then do the Scriptures ascribe to him the same
existence, properties, claims, and honors — the same
in kind, the same in variety, the same in degree —
3*

58 THE GLORY OF CHRIST
which they ascribe to the great Creator. Will
any man seriously affirm, that a revelation that
comes from God, does in sober verity, justify and
demand the ascription of equal honors to a mere
creature, with those which belong to the living
and true God ? Do they affirm that any mere
creature is self-existent, and from everlasting to
everlasting ? Do they appropriate the characteris
tic names and titles of the Supreme God to a mere
creature ? Can any mere creature.be said to be
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince of Peace, the Blessed and only Potentate,
the king of Kings and Lord of lords, the great
I AM, the wonderful Jehovah ? Would the Scrip
tures attribute the same attributes to a mere crea
ture, that are ascribed to the Creator? Can a
mere creature be said to be immutable, omnipo
tent, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal ? If the
Son himself existed before anything was created,
how can he be a creature ? Would the Scriptures
ascribe the same works to a mere creature, which
in a multitude of places they ascribe exclusively
to God ? Can any mere creature be the Creator,
the Preserver, the Governor, the Redeemer, the
Justifier, the Judge, the Rewarder, the Disposer
of angels and men ? And finally, can the Scrip
tures consistently require the same duties to be
paid to a mere creature, that they demand for
God the Creator ? Is it right in itself or is it con-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 59
sistent with the law of God, that the same love
and confidence, the same worship and obedience,
enforced by the same rewards and penalties, should
be challenged for a creature, that are required
only for the Lord God ?
If there is a Supreme Being, one who is so nnu li
superior to creatures, that they are all a3 a drop
of a bucket before him ; it is reasonable to suppose
that there are honors by which he is exclusively
distinguished. And if a mere creature, a being
no matter how exalted, yet infinitely inferior to
the Creator, is distinguished by the uncaused
existence, the names, attributes, and works of the
Deity ; by the love, confidence, and worship that
are due to him ; what then are the distinctions of
the Supreme, unequalled God? And if, as we
have seen, all these are attributed to the Son, is
not the inference irresistible, that he is no mere
creature, but " very God of very God."
In the second place, if the Son be not truly and
properly God, then do the Scriptures furnish the
strongest temptation to idolatry. They not only
justify, but require the same honors to be given
to the Son, that are given to the Father ; and re
quire them as the reverence and homage which
are due from all intelligent creatures to their Cre
ator. An idolater is one who worships the crea
ture instead of the Creator ; and if Christ be not
God, this is gross idolatry. To this sin of idol-

60 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
atry, be it remembered, men are peculiarly ex
posed ; in every age of the world they have exhib
ited a strong and almost invincible propensity to
worship them that are no gods. Hence, no sin is
more frequently, or more severely reprobated in
the word of God. The God of heaven has done
more to discountenance and condemn this sin, than
any other single sin of man. In his law he says,
" Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them. O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me,
there shall no strange god be in thee, neither
shalt thou worship any strange god." And his
providence enforces the precepts and prohibitions
of his law. By all his kindness to the children of
Israel in the wilderness he taught them, that " the
Lord alone was with them, and there was no
strange god with them." And when he saw their
exposures to this sin, very often did he remove the
sources of temptation from before their eyes.
When they became mad upon their idols, and
would not abjure the worship of false gods, he
desolated their city, prostrated their Temple, and
carried them away into captivity to a pagan land,
where they became surfeited with the idols of
Babylon and cured of their idolatrous spirit. And
when he commissioned the gospel of his grace to
be published to the pagan nations, it was to "turn
them from idols, to serve the Living God." And

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 61
hence Cornelius refused to receive any act of- re
ligious worship from the Centurion ; and Paul and
Barnabas refused it from the Lycaonians ; and the
angel in the Apocalypse refusgd^^ag^jji^hn.
Whence is it then, that this book of": God should
so universally sanction the divine claims and this
worship of Christ, if he be not God ? The great
Founder of our religion uniformly accepted and
approved the worship paid to him. When the
Cyr^ghenician woman worshipped him ; when the
twoit^ind men worshipped him ; when his disciples
on the lake, and after his ascension, worshipped
him ; when Paul and the martyr Stephen worship
ped him ; they were not reproached as idolaters.
Nor are those his heavenly worshippers, whose
number is " ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands," reproached for their idol
atry, who cast their crowns at the feet of the
Lamb and worship him day and night in the eter
nal temple. If he be not God, then has Christian
ity established a system. of idolatry, unspeakably
more dangerous and plausible, than that which it
came to destroy. If he be not God, then has the
whole Christian Church been an idolatrous com
munity from its establishment to the present hour.
Then has the God of heaven, notwithstanding his
promise and prediction that under the reign of
the Messiah his people should worship him in
spirit and in truth, left his Church for eighteen

62 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
centuries to this most dark apostasy. Then was
the religion of the gospel unknown and unprac
tised until the days of Arius and Socinus, and
these men stand out to the world as the rare ex
amples of Christian piety ! Nor are we slow of
heart to believe, nor doubtful to assert, that if the
worship of Jesus Christ be apostasy, it is an apos
tasy from which the Church will with difficulty he
recovered. So far from condemning, the Bible jus
tifies it, demands it. I know not how it could furnish
stronger temptations to idolatry than in the worship
it allows to Jesus Christ, if he be not God. If the
writers of the New Testament did not intend to
exalt their Master to an equality with God, and
give him divine honors without restriction, and of
the highest kind ; then can I form no other judg
ment than that the language of the Bible was
framed to deceive. I remark,
In the third place, the account which the Scrip
tures give of the honors ascribed to the Father
and the Son is utterly inconsistent with itself and
perfectly contradictory and absurd, unless the Son
be truly and properly God. If we concede to the
Bible wrhat we concede to the productions of mere
uninspired men, we must believe it to be consistent
with itself. No interpretation should be admitted
which makes the Holy Spirit contradict himself,
and renders what he says in one place at variance
with what he says in another. This is a principle

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 63
of interpretation so important, that we may never
consider ourselves as possessed of the true mean
ing of any passage, until we have given it a con
struction that is not inconsistent with other pas
sages,, and with the general scope and design of
the sacred writings. It is a rule of interpretation
among men never to vitiate an instrument for any
apparent inconsistencies ; and it is founded in
sound sense and moral honesty. And much less
ought we feel at liberty to set aside the sacred
record, if there be any possible construction that
will make it consistent with itself.
Now in relation to the character of Christ, we
are free to confess there are some apparent incon
gruities in the Bible. This book informs us that
there is but one Being whose name is Jehovah :
yet they attribute this name to the Father and
the Son. It informs us that there is but one
Being who is eternal, immutable, omnipotent, om
niscient, and omnipresent ; yet they affirm that
these perfections belong to the Father and the
Son. It informs us that there is but one Being
who is the Creator, Preserver, Governor, Redeemer
and Judge of men; yet they declare that the
appropriate work of each belongs both to the
Father and the Son. It informs us that there is
but one Being fo whom are due supreme love, un
reserved confidence and worship, and to whom
these high and peculiar honors are ascribed ; yet it

64 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
affirms that "all should honor the Son even as
they honor the Father." The Scriptures also speak
of the Son in language that is apparently incon
gruous and inconsistent with itself. At one time
they speak of him as God, at another as man. At
one time they speak of him as the Son of God, at
another as the Son of man. In the same sentence
they say, " Unto us a child is born, and his name
shall be called the mighty God? They say that
he was bom in Bethlehem, and that his goings
forth were fromftof old, from everlasting. They
say that he is both the root and the offspring of
David. And he himself says, " I and my Father
are one ;" and also says, " My Father is greater
than I."
Now here are apparent inconsistencies ; and they
either vitiate the divine,, record, else is there some
principle of fair and honest and sound interpreta
tion on which they can be reconciled. It is con
ceded that they do not vitiate the divine record ;
all agree that it is the word of God and consistent
with itself. And with this concession, we call on
Arians and Socinians, and Unitarians of every
class, to reconcile them. The whole history of the
Unitarian controversy, from the days of Faustus
Socinus to the present hour, shows with how much
diffidence they have attempted it ; so much that
they have not even attempted it at all ; and for
the best of all reasons. The inconsistencies must

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 65
stand, and deface, and pollute the revelation of
God to man, unless it be conceded that in the
scriptural descriptions of Christ, there is a union of
supremacy and inferiority, and that he is there ex
hibited in the two opposite characters of humanity
and Deity. This principle adopted, and no part
of the sacred record is rejected. Here we see that
Jesus Christ is God as well as man; that he was
made of the seed of David, according to the flesh,
and declared to be the Son of God with power /
that as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is
over all, God blessed forever y and that being in
the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no repu
tation, took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men. There we learn
that great is the mystery of godliness ; God mani
fest in the flesh. But without this mystery, there
is no consistency in the Bible. In the Bible I hear
the God of heaven say, " I am the Lord that stretch-
eth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad
the heavens by myself ;" and at the same time I
hear him say, that " all things were made by the
Word," and that the " Word was made flesh."
Which of these declarations is true, and which
shall I adopt ? To this we reply, you may not re
ject either of them. One deserves your confidence
as really as the other. If there is a principle of
reconciliation and harmony between them, you are

66 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
bound to adopt it. Take the strong declaration
of Christ, " I and my Father are one," and com
pare it with the declaration, " My Father is greater
than I." We affirm, that if there is a ground on
which both these declarations may be consistently
believed, since both are supported by the same
evidence ; on every consideration of fairness and
candor, this is the ground we ought to stand upon.
There is one such principle, and only one. With
the humanity, admit the divinity of the Son, and
with his essential equality with God, admit his
mediatorial and official subjection, and the rep
resentations are harmonious. It certainly requires
little argument and no sophistry to reconcile all
such representations with the true and orthodox
notion of the deity of Christ. Reject this truth,
and the Bible is a mass of contradictions. These
seeming inconsistencies become absolute and irrec
oncilable ; the way of life, no longer plain to the
wayfaring man, becomes a dark, impervious way.
I may add,
In the fourth place, that if Christ is not God,
there is no proof from the Scriptures that there is
any God at all. The Scriptures assert the being
of a God ; they assume it as one of the great truths
of natural religion. But they do not simply asseit
this truth; they prove the divine existence by re
ferring to his works. They tell you that the act
of bringing this world into existence ; of establish-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 67
ing the harmony and design which pervade all the
operations of nature, and of preserving and gov
erning all things, furnishes incontestable proof
that the being who performs these things is God.
This then is the evidence on which the Scriptures
rely, and on which they say all ought to rely,
for the existence of God. But we have proved,
that he who created, upholds, and governs this
world, is Jesus Christ. And if any will still say,
that he who does this is not truly and properly
God ; we ask them to show us the evidence they
have of the divine existence. The Scriptures furr
nish the same, evidence that Christ is God, which
they furnish of the existence of any Supreme Deity.
And the evidence is worth just as much in the one
case as in the other. If it does not prove that
Christ is God, it does not prove the existence of
any God whatever. What do we mean by that
great word GOD ? Do we not mean the intelligent,
eternal First Cause, who has created, and upholds,
and governs all things ? Is not this the notion the
Bible gives us of the One who is really and truly
God? This is what God means by himself; and
what he has proclaimed himself to be. Yet these
same Scriptures say, that that Great Personage
whom they call the Son is all this. They speak
of him in the same language, in the same accep
tation. If we have any ideas of God at all, the
Scriptures require us to transfer them all to Jesus

68 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Christ. What shall that Great Being, the Supreme
God, be and perform in order to prove his ex
istence and justify his claims ; if they be not such
as we have spoken of? Yet all these are attrib
uted to Christ. And if any still say Christ is not
God, we call upon them to prove from the Bible
that there is a God. Are not these rash violators
of the Redeemer's glory in danger of becoming
Pantheists or Atheists ? This is the tendency of
Some late German and American ' disquisitions.
Everything is God' ! God is in the clouds ; God is
in the atmosphere ; God is in the wind, and in the
green grass, and in the cup of water which I drink,
just as God is in Christ! Miserable sophistry!
miserable paganism ! worse than disgraces the pages
of Roman and Grecian mythology! And is it not
a fact, that such men are fast becomingJso ? Most
true is it that they are far on the way to Atheism.
If the Son be not God, then the Bible knows no
God ; with all its moral instructions, all its pater
nal counsels, and tenderness, it Actually leaves us
" without God and without hope."
Thus have we instituted the inquiry, What are
the appropriate and peculiar properties of the
Deity ; have shown that they are ascribed by the
sacred writers to Jesus Christ; and that he is
therefore truly and properly God. There are
many other' sources of argument and a multitude
of Scriptures not mentioned in the argument here

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 69
presented. But we have given as extensive a view
of the subject as a single discussion allows.
We have only to say, in concluding the present
chapter, that we see abundant and conclusive rea
sons for adhering to this fundamental article of
the Christian faith. Pluck who dares, the diadem
from his brow who hath on his vesture and on his
thigh, a name written, King of kings and Lord of
lords, and on whose head are many crowns ! The
Christian must surely feel a heart-thrilling satis
faction in those bright marks of divine glory which
beam round the Saviour on whom God hath caused
him to hope. This is the great glory of our re
deeming God and King, — the " brightness of the
Father's glory, and the express image of his Per
son." His being is infinite ; infinite ' his power ;
infinite his rectitude; infinite his knowledge; in
finite his goodness, justice, and mercy. Everything
that he is and does has the seal of divinity upon
it. There is nothing we can contemplate so vast
as the infinite glory of Christ. Here human rea
son, in humble and adoring silence, submits to
the authority of a divine faith, nor does she pre-x
sume to question God's word upon a subject so far
"above the reach of her comprehension. The rays
of his infinite majesty dazzle and overpower us with-
their splendor. Glorified spirits in heaven fall
prostrate, and lay their crowns at his feet, when
they approach his throne. What glory greater

70 . THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
than the glory of Christ belongs to God himself?
0 it is a delightful thought, that there is no per
fection that adorns the Deity, but it is also the
adornment of God our Saviour ; no views of God
so high and adoring, no sentiments that wake the
soul to admiration and praise, as she surveys the
richness and fulness of the divine loveliness and
beauty, but may be appropriately excited in
view of God manifest in the flesh. If there be
those whose eyes are closed to this great glory, we
may well remind them of the Saviour's words,
when" he rejoiced in spirit and said, "I thank thee,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight."
The knowledge of the Redeemer's personal and
divine glory has much to do with the believer's
confidence. Strong and immovable is the basis
of those hopes which have this divine Saviour for
their foundation. It is the anchorage for eternity.
What marvel that Paul should say, " Which
hope we have as an anchor to the soul, sure and
steadfast, entering into that which is within the
veil, whither the forerunner hath for us entered."'
What marvel to hear him say elsewhere, " I know
whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep
that I have committed to him !" There is no
fact better attested, and no truth in the Christian

THE GLORY OF "CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. 71
system in which good, men take more delight than
the true and proper Deity of the Saviour in whom
they trust. Veil the divinity of the Redeemer, and
the Sun of righteousness sets in total eclipse.
" Such an High Priest became us, who is holy,
harmless, separate from sinners, and was made
higher than the heavens." To a thoughtless sin
ner, it may not be so important a question whether
this Saviour be divine or human. But to a man
wTho has seen his sinfulness and trembled at his
exposure to the wrath of God ; who has felt that
it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of unmiti
gated justice ; who has been perplexed in spirit to
ascertain how it could be right and just to extend
forgiveness to the chief of sinners, and whose per
plexity has well nigh sunk him into total, despair
of mercy ; to such a man it is a point of unutter
able moment to be directed to one infinitely above
all created helpers. Never, till he knows that
the Saviour who solicits his confidence is the mighty
God, can he cast himself into his arms. No truth'
pours a purer or deeper element of joy through
the countless bosoms of the redeemed, than the
true and proper equality of the Son with the
Father. Poor indeed are the consolations of that
religion which blots out from its affections, its
hopes, and its experience this unequalled glory !
Blessed be God, his church is built on this imper-

72 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ishable, this eternal Rock, and the gates of hell
shall never prevail against it.
What, then, shall I say to those who have no
interest in the love and faithfulness, the deity and
propitiation of this Son of God ? What but repeat
his own all-sufficient invitation, "Look unto me,
and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth, for I am
God and there is none else." He is the way in
which all must walk who would enter in through
the gates into the heavenly city. He is the truth
which all must believe who would not come into
condemnation. He is the life which all must at
tain who possess the great salvation ; for there is
no salvation in any other, neither is there any
other name given under heaven among men where
by we must be saved. So that, at the name of
Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue
confess, that he is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.

CHAPTER III.
CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION.
It is no denial of the true and proper divinity
of the Son of God, to speak of him as the Son of
man. The great Personage, "whose divine glory
fills so wide a place in the system of revealed
truth, became incarnate and dwelt among us, as
a man with his fellow-men.
That he had an existence, previous to his incar
nation is distinctly taught in the New Testament.
His own language to the Jews was, " Verily I say
unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven ; but my Father giveth you the true bread
from heaven. For the bread of heaven is He
which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life
unto the world." This is a truth which his disci
ples themselves did not at once receive ; mor did
they ultimately receive it without caution. When
he perceived that they " murmured" at it, he said
to them, "Doth this offend you? What and if ye
shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was
before?" He subsequently commends them be-

74 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
cause " they believed that he came out from God?
In order to confirm their faith in this great truth,
he afterwards instructs them, if possible, instill
plainer language, " I came forth from the Father,
and am come into the world?
Our object in the present chapter requires, in
the first instance, a brief statement of the doctrine
of Christ's incarnation. This we shall endeavor to
make as. plainly as we can, and divested of all
technical phraseology.
Man is a complex being, consisting of a body
and a soul; both which were alike necessary to
constitute the humanity of Christ. It was not his
divine and spiritual nature united to a body that is
human that Constituted him incarnate ; this would
have been a change from Deity to humanity. It
would have been the Deity clothed in a corporeal
form ; the semblance of man, but not the reality.
The human, in distinction from the divine and an
gelic natures, is human because it possesses a human
soul as well as a human body. Christ's humanity
consisted in his assumption of man's entire nature,
and so uniting it with his divine nature, as to
become both God and man. The divine nature
became partaker of flesh and blood ; human nature
belonged to him as truly as the divine. God did
not in any way alter his divine nature in order to
become man; his divinity sustained no change; it
was susceptible of none. Nor was it mixed or

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 75
blended with his humanity, so as to form out of
the two a compound nature which should be nei
ther human nor divine. The natures were united,
yet distinct ; he was God, but became man, and he
became man without ceasing to be God. He was
more than human, yet was he human. His divine
nature existed from eternity distinct from his hu
man nature ; his human nature never existed dis
tinct from his divine nature. His human body
and his human soul both subsisted in the Person
of the Son of God. He brought the divine nature
from heaven ; his human nature was an assumed
nature on earth ; there were " two distinct natures
and one person."
This statement, if we mistake not, distinguishes
the Scriptural doctrine of the Incarnation, not only
from the fabled incarnations of Paganism, but from
the erroneous views which have been given of it
by different writers in different ages of the Chris
tian Church.* It is a simple and truthful state-
* Cerinthus, of the first century, maintained that Jesus was a
mere man, sprung from Joseph and Mary, in the ordinary course
of human descent. This opinion was. adopted by the Oerinthians
and Ebeonites, and was defended by some writers toward the
close of the second century. This is substantially the opinion of
modern Socinians, Arians, and Unitarians. This opinion was con
demned by the Council of Nice ; and the Nicene Creed, after violent
agitation,' became the received creed of Christendom. Nestorius,
the bishop of Constantinople, subsequently' taught that as in Jesus
Christ there were two natures, so also there were two persons, the

76 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ment that in Christ Jesus the divine and human
natures were united, and that the same person is
both God and man.
We proceed, in the next place, to the proof
of this doctrine. The truth of the statement we
have just made will at once occur to every careful
reader of the Scriptures. We are aware there are
those who will listen to no proof of such a state
ment, because, in their judgment, it involves an
impossibility. We confess that it stands among
the inexplicable facts revealed in the Scriptures ;
yet, inexplicable as it is, it is not among impossi
ble things. If the union of matter with spirit in
the person of every human being is not impossi
ble, there is no impossibility nor absurdity in the
union of the divine and, human natures in the per
son of Christ. Heathen mythology favors' the idea
of gods incarnate, which it wrould scarcely have
one divine and the other human ; that Christ was distinguished
from God, and that there is no union of nature or of persons, but
only of will and affection. This error was condemned by the
Council of Ephesus.1 The Euticheans ran into the opposite ex
treme, maintaining that as there was but one Person in Christ, so
there could be but one nature, and that the divine so absorbed
the human, as to leave scarcely a susceptible blending of the hu
man with the divine ; the human being rather a name, a phantom,
than a reality. This error bore no small resemblance to the error
of the ancient Doceta?, whose views participated largely of the,
Gnostic philosophy. It was condemned by the fourth general
Council held at Chalcedon in the fifth century.

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 77
done had the thought been so preposterous as
some philosophical infidels affirm. Ancient aj,d
modern pantheism are but an implied recognition
of the reasonableness of the doctrine of the incar
nation. If philosophers have seen nothing pre
posterous in the doctrine that God is the soul of
the material universe, and the material universe
the body of God ; where is the absurdity of sup
posing that God was in Christ ? The alleged im
possibility of the incarnation arises from erroneous
views of the doctrine of the incarnation itself. If
the doctrine were that -the divine nature was
changed into the human, or was in any way altered
by being united to the human ; if it taught that God
is not still a Spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable
in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, good
ness, and truth ; it would be a preposterous doc
trine. But if the doctrine be that though united
to humanity, it is the divine nature still, in all its"
undiminished, unaltered glory ; we see not why it
should be charged with absurdity.
There were some early foreshadowings of this
incarnation of the Deity under the patriarchal,
Mosaic, and prophetic ages. God appeared to
Abraham in human form when he promised him
Isaac, and when he renewed his promises to him
in the person of the angel of the covenant. He
appeared in the form of man to Jacob when the
patriarch wrestled with him and prevailed. He

78 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
appeared to Moses in the burning bush at Horeb.
He appeared to Gideon, and announced himself as
the deliverer of his trembiing people; and. to
Daniel in the night visions, when " One like the
Son of man" came to the Ancient of Days. These
and other appearances of the Deity were, if I may
so speak, the prefiguration, the commencement of
that incarnation which was to be more real and
sensible and permanent.
The predictions of his incarnation are also abun
dant. So unequivocal are they, that the Jews
were in expectation of that great event, and looked
towards it as the great promise of the Old Testa
ment. Christ was foretold as the "mighty God
and everlasting Father ;" as the one " whose goings
forth have been of old, from everlasting ;" yet is
he most distinctly foretold as "the seed of the
woman," as " the desire of all nations," as the " Son
of the Virgin ;" as the " Prophet whom God would
raise up to the Jews from among their brethren ;"
as the "light beheld by the people that walked
in darkness ;" as one who would " open the eyes of
the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, and cause
the tongue of the dumb to sing ;" and as one who
was anointed to " preach the gospel to the poor,"
to " feed his flock like a shepherd," and to " sit as
king upon God's holy hill of Zion." These, and
other intimations like them, allude not only to a
promised, but to an incarnate Saviour ; and they

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 79
prepared the Jewish mind, and prepare our own
for the affecting narrative of the incarnation which
is given by the evangelists.
By adverting to this narrative, we learn that
Christ's human nature commenced from his concep
tion in the womb of the Virgin Mary. It was mirac
ulous, and altogether beyond the laws of nature.
It was the immediate creation of God himself,
and by the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost.
It was human, not because he descended from
earthly parents, but from an earthly parent. There
was a literal fulfilment of the promise which had
respect to the " seed of the Woman. He was made
of a woman" and therefore of human descent and
stock ; commencing his being at the lowest point
of human existence, and thus clothing himself with
flesh, bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh, who
gave him birth.
The narrative of these events is beautifully
simple and touching. Founthousand years after
the first apostasy, when the fulness of time for
man's redemption was come, the Angel Gabriel
was sent from God to a virgin whose name was
Mary, for the purpose of announcing to her that
she was the highly favored and blessed among
women who w.as to become the mother of the long-
expected Messiah. The dignity to which she was
thus destined was altogether unexpected to herself.
She was troubled at the angel's word, " and cast in

80 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
her mind what manner of salutation this should be."
And the angel said unto her, " Fear not, Mary, for
thou hast found favor with God. And behold thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Highest : and the
Lord shall give unto him the throne of his Father
David ; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob
forever ; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
To relieve her mind from all embarrassment, he
also declared, " The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the Highest shall over
shadow thee : therefore that holy thing that shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Mary no longer doubted the mystery, but meekly
replied, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it
unto me according to thy word !" She conceived,
and in the fulness of time brought forth her son ;
Immanuel, God with us. And then it was that
the angel of the Lord made the announcement to
the shepherds of Bethlehem. " Behold I bring
you glad tidings of great joy ; for unto you is born
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord !"
This child of Mary thus possessed the two essen
tial ingredients of humanity — a human body and
a human soul. The Father prepares, the Holy
Ghost forms, and the Eternal Word assumes a
human body. ' When he cometh into the world,
he-saith, " Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 81
but a body hast thou prepared me." To have as
sumed the angelic nature would not have accom
plished the objects of his incarnation. "Verily
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he
took on him the seed of Abraham." His body
was like the body of other men. " Behold my
hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me,
and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as
ye see me have." The shepherds of Bethlehem
were told, that they should " find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger." He
grew as other children grew, and by the same
means of food, exercise and repose, increased in
stature as they increase.
The evidence is equally clear, that he possessed
a rational, human soul. He not only increased in
stature, " but in wisdom ;" which he could not have
done had not his intellectual nature been human ;
for the divine mind knows no advancement. So
rapidly did he increase in wisdom, that at twelve
years of age he was able to maintain successful
argument with the teachers of the law in the tem
ple ; and such was ihe evidence of his intellectual
progress, that his enemies exclaimed, " How know
eth this man letters ?"
Not less indicative of his humanity was his per
fect dependence. He was dependent on his parents,
and indebted to their watchfulness and love, and
labors and bounty. He was dependent on divine

82 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
providence, and looked to its daily supplies. He
was a man of prayer, and this alone is proof that
he was sensible of his dependence on God. He
made the frank avowal, " I can do nothing of my
self." So absolute was his dependence, that he
could promise himself nothing but what his heav-,
enly Father chose to give him from day to day.
He was also responsible to law in the broadest
acceptation of the phrase. He felt and recognized
his responsibility to human law, which he would
not have done, had he not been human. "No law
can bind any but those to whom it is given."
Whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who
are under the law. He was also responsible to
the divine law, just as other men are. As God he
was not thus subject, but was himself the lawgiver ; •
as man he was God's creature, and owed him alle
giance. The law of God claimed his whole heart
and service ; he was bound to render it a perfect
and sinless obedience. He was under no obligation
to assume man's nature ; but when he had volun
tarily assumed it, he was necessarily " made under
the law," and responsible to its claims. He was
made under the law as a covenant of works ; the
law demanded perfect odedience from him as the
condition of life, and without a perfect obedience
he would neither have obtained heaven for himseli
nor for his followers. The law relinquished none
of its claims on account of his dignity when he was

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 83
once made under it, but in every view treated him
as its subject. And what stronger expression of
his humanity than this, as well as of the glory of
that humanity, that he himself gloried in this re
sponsibility, and honored its claims in such redun
dant plenitude.
The' scriptural doctrine of the incarnation goes
the whole length of this statement, and teaches
that the Son of -God thus assumed all the proper
ties of humanity, and was the " seed of Abraham,"
the " Shiloh of Jacob," the " offspring of Jesse,"
the " Son of man."
With this statement and proof of the humanity
of Christ, we proceed, in the last place, to speak
of HIS GLORY IN THIS INCARNATION. How glorious
was the Son of God in this assumption of human
nature ! We may not dismiss this thought with
out some enlargement.
The impression is vivid on our minds that his
incarnation is glorious, in the fh-st place, in its very
mysteridusness. That it is a fact involved in mystery
appears from the mere statement of it ; and it is
still more so the more it is contemplated. Though
the statement in the Scriptures is not obscure, but
perfectly intelligible, yet does it excite our wonder.
It is among " the deep things of God." It is re
vealed to man as a fact utterly beyond his com
prehension. The lofty mind of Paul himself, in
spired as he was, was constrained to say, " With-

84 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
out controversy, great is the mystery of godliness ;
God manifest in the flesh !" We bow before it as
an inexplicable fact. We believe the statement
as we believe mysteries in the work of creation,
and in the economy of divine providence; but
there are things pertaining to it which surpass the
comprehension of all, except the mind of God him
self. How the eternal Son should be the omni
present God, yet personally united to the man
Christ Jesus ; how the Deity, the whole Deity,
should be in heaven, and at the same time in the
manger of Bethlehem; how the divine nature
could be imparted to the human nature of Mary's
son, and be the inhabitant of Palestine, while at
the same time it is in heaven and every part of the
universe, is more than can be explained by crea
tures. We know, indeed, that as God, he is present
everywhere, and this itself is a fact sufficiently
mysterious. But if he was not present with the
man Christ Jesus, in a higher sense than he is
everywhere present, his incarnation is a fable. By
his incarnation he was personally united to the
human nature of Christ and one with it. In the
strong language of the New Testament, he is said
" to have come down from heaven" for this pur
pose ; while he himself at the same time declares
that he is the " Son of man which is in heaven."
He did not cease to be God, when he became man ;
nor lay aside his divine nature in order to assume

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 85
the human. In his divine nature, he possessed all
the attributes of God ; in his human nature, all the
attributes of man. As God, he was the "bright
ness of the Father's glory, and the express image
of his Person ;" as man, he " took upon him the form
of a servant. As God, he was rich in the possession
and enjoyment of the universe ; as man, he became
poor and had not where to lay his head. As God,
he was rich in the love and adoration of angels ;
as man, he was " the scorn and derision of the peo
ple." As God, he never slumbered, nor slept, nor
was weary, but his eye run to and fro through
out the earth, strong was his hand, and high his
right hand ; as man, he slept on the lake in the
storm, he was weary and sat on the well, was weak
and bound and scourged by his enemies. As man,
he hungers ; as God, he feeds the five thousand.
As man, he thirsts ; as God, he is the Fountain ef
living waters. As man, he wept, and died, and
was laid in the sepulchre, of Joseph ; as God, lives
and reigns for evermore.
These things are all mysterious to us ; we ex
claim, as we contemplate them, " Who by search-
ng can find out God ? who can find out the Al
mighty to perfection?" O it is high as heaven
and deeper than hell ; the measure thereof is longer
than the earth, and broader than the sea ! We
cannot comprehend how the divine and human
natures could be thus personally united'; it is

86 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
enough for our faith to know that God has told
us they are united. We may not affirm that it is
a presumption in its favor that it is mysterious ;
while we may affirm that its mysteriousness is no
presumption against it, because we may well look
for mysteries when we contemplate the incompre
hensible Godhead. God himself would not be so
glorious if he were not incomprehensible : he would
not be infinite, if finite minds could comprehend
him. Christianity glories in this great mystery. It
may be foolishness in the judgment of a proud and
reasoning world; but the foolishness of God is
wiser than men. It is the glory of Christ that he
is man as well as God. The mystery does but
enhance the glory ; if the mind of man could per
fectly comprehend his mysterious nature, its glory
would be unveiled and creatures would cease to
wonder and adore. When Solomon dedicated the
temple, the glory of the Lord filled the house, and
the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord,
because the glory of the Lord filled the house. So
when a greater than Solomon dedicated to God
the temple of his human nature, there were, and
still are, unutterable glories in that union which
the mind of man cannot look upon. The light is
too dazzling ; they are not scattered, but condensed
and concentrated rays ; it is the brightness of the
divine glory, and its profusion perplexes us ; its
insufferable splendor baffles alike the mightiest and

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 87
meanest intellect. The human faculties may be
forever employed in contemplating, yet never
be able to penetrate its unsearchable mysteries.
Every new thought and discovery of them posses
ses a freshness and excites astonishment which no
other subject possesses and excites, and as we grad
ually unveil these combined and contrasted glo
ries of the Great Emmanuel, we exclaim, " O the
depth both of the wisdom and the knowledge of
God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his
ways past finding out !" It is delightful to lose
ourselves in the contemplation of such a theme,
as the ineffable glory of the Saviour incarnate.
God is above creatures ; nor does he ask counsel
of creatures. " He holdeth back the place of his
throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it." The
doctrine of the Incarnation is just like God ;. and
like him, is the more glorious because it cannot be
brought within the sphere of our comprehension.
Christ is glorious in his incarnation, in the next
place, for the endearing properties of the divine
nature which he thereby unfolds. God is a Spirit,
whom no man hath seen, nor can see. He is the
King, eternal, immortal, and invisible. Yet the
incarnate Son affirms, "he that hath seen me hath
seen the Father." Men have a strong propensity
to invent for themselves gods which their, eyes can
look upon, and their ears hear, and their hands
handle. In doing this, they have filled the world

88 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
with idol-worship, and made them gods altogether
like unto themselves. To meet this universal
weakness of humanity, God has become " manifest
in the flesh." That man of Nazareth is God. There
is God's power, God's wisdom, rectitude, justiee,
love and mercy. In the intellectual and moral
properties of his nature, what Jesus of Nazareth
was, that the eternal God is ; yes, he is the Deity,
the Deity in the most intimate relation to human
ity. The union is absolute and indissoluble. It is
God in human form, living among men ; sympa
thizing with men, conversing with men, exerting
his godlike influences among men, taking out the
very heart of God and showing it to men. Mys
terious as is this union, it is the great fact which
unveils the world of mysteries; which dissipates
the cloud from his pavilion who has said that he
dwells in the thick darkness ; which throws a flood
of light upon the divine character, purposes, and
government, which would have been otherwise in
explicable ; and leaves nothing in obscurity to a
mind which would acquaint itself with God. God
here stoops in his condescension to men, not as he
stoops to them in the daily walks of his providence,
caring for them and visiting them, but in making
man's nature his own ; " forasmuch as the children
were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself like
wise took part of the same."
Men might have trembled at the thought that

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 89
the great God was about to come and dwell on
the earth. When he descended on Sinai, it was
a day of terror ; the mountain quaked because
the Lord descended upon it. When he will de
scend to it in future ages, men there will be who
will call to the rocks and to the mountains to fall
on them to hide them from his presence, because
he will come in his uncreated and unveiled great
ness and majesty. But behold him as the word
becomes flesh, and dwells among us full of truth
and grace! What wonders of the Godhead are
here ! The last beings in the universe which one
would think of ever being united are God and
man. Strange unity ! heaven and earth in one !
Strange condescension ! earth refusing to ascend
to heaven, heaven stooping to descend to earth !
The Creator becoming a creature, the eternal First
Cause, by whom all things consist, uniting and be
coming one with the effect which he himself pro
duces and upholds ! The Son of God born ; born,
not of a princess, but of the wife of a carpenter;
not in the palace of a king, but in a stable ! What
wonders, what surpassing glories are these ! His
native dignity laid aside, in order to give lustre to
humanity, and to the Deity loveliness ! Well may
we dwell on the endearing properties of the divine
nature that are unfolded by this incarnation. He
who exists in eternity, born in time, and dwelling
in mortal flesh; he who is God blessed forever,

90 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
becoming, partaker of man's lowliness and man's
sorrows, and making them all his own — what exhi
bition of the Deity is this ! The God immortal
putting on mortality — the uncreated One, the om
nipotent One taking man's weakness — the holy
One so obscured and eclipsed in his glory as to
take the likeness of sinful worms — what mingled
emotions of admiration and grateful homage, what
sublime and subduing thoughts come over our
spirits as the wondrous fact strikes us ! The Lord
of glory, once the associate with cherubims, now
taking upon him the form of a reptile sinner ; not
as a prince to reign, but as a servant of servants !
O this surpasses all things, that he should stoop
thus low to raise rebellious man so high ! How
full of blessing was the advent of this incarnate
Deity, and what a pledge of blessing from the
court of which he is the elected ambassador, and
from the mighty King of heaven whom he repre-
. sents !
It was an auspicious promise when God said,
" Behold the days come that I will dwell in them,
walk in them, and I will be their God and they
shall be my people." It was an auspicious decla
ration when he said, " Behold the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them."
It was the high privilege of the children of Israel,
that in their journeying through the wilderness
God himself was with them, and the cloud by day

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 91
and the pillar of fire by night departed not from
them. The Church of God under the new econo
my has higher privileges than these. The Saviour's
incarnation was not the token, nor the symbol,
nor the pledge of God's presence with men ; man's
body was his tabernacle ; he dwelt with man more
intimately even than the Shekinah dwelt in the
Temple, and in all the tenderness and plenitude
of his love.
He could not stoop lower than thus to become a
man. We look upon our race, and are mortified
and humbled in view of its abjectness. Each one
of us looks upon himself and exclaims, " Lord, what
is man that thou takest knowledge of him !" Yet
have I this comforting thought, that all abject, all
vile, all nothing as I am; I am a man, and my Sa
viour is a man. He is the friend of man, because
he is one of them. We would not make light of
this " precious humanity," this endearing brother-
. hood by which he links himself to the race. God
has interests in common wdth man, that man may
have interests in common with God.
Nor is this all. The glory of Jesus in his human
nature appears, in the next place, in the fact that
his incarnation is the foundation of the whole Chris*
tian system. "Behold, I lay in Zion," says 'the
God of all grace, " a stone, a chief corner-stone,
elect, precious." The humanity of Christ, in union
with his divinity, constitutes that " sure founda-

92 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
tion," which bears up the pillars of the redeemed
church with all its principles, all its laws, and all
its immense interests. It was a memorable occa
sion on which Jesus put the question to his disci
ples, "Whom say ye that I am?" and the answer
was memorable, when Simon Peter replied, " Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Nor
was the rejoinder less memorable, when Jesus ut
tered the words, " Upon this Rock will I build my
Church, and the gates of hell, shall not prevail
against it."
Man had fallen, and was- therefore at variance
with God. God also was at variance with man,
and by all the purity of his nature and the jus
tice of his government was bound to curse him
as a rebel. Whether he would save, was a question
to be decided by himself alone ; because he alone
had the right of deciding it, and he alone had the
wisdom to devise, and the power to effect man's
salvation by a method that should be consistent
with his justice.
That method was mediatorial, and recognized
the interposition of a third party between the par
ties at variance. The unquestioned characteris
tics of impartiality, ability, integrity, and kind
ness were demanded for such a service. He must
be a mediator by nature, as well as a mediator by
office, and must sustain such a relation both to

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 93
God and man as puts his qualifications for the re
sponsible office he bears beyond suspicion.
Such a Mediator we behold in the person of
God manifest in the flesh ; in every view a fitting
Mediator; sustaining the same relation' to both
the parties ; the same impartial kindness ; the
same integrity, and invested with a character and
ability to conduct his mediation to safe and honor
able issues. He is the only being in the universe
who is qualified thus to stand between the two ; to
answer for God and to answer for man. He is the
great Emmanuel, God with man and man with
God ; uniting the two extremes, and pledging be
fore the universe his wondrous and perfectly unique
character and influence, be the consequences to
himself what they may, for the success of his peri
lous, yet great and glorious enterprise.
That he is and must be God, we have already
shown in the preceding chapter. There is no other
being sufficiently good, sufficiently powerful to
effect this mighty work. The most pure and per
fect seraph- has no righteousness beyond his own
necessities. No obedience, or suffering of any mere
creature, or combination of creatures, could " make
reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting
righteousness." He would have no pretensions to
be heard, and no rights of advocacy. He could but
answer for himself, and for all that such a one could
do or suffer, he must look on this race of criminals

94 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
as without hope. And therefore it was that " God
spared not his Son," whom all the angels worship,
and " by whom were all things created that are
in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invis
ible." And for reasons equally fitting and impera-.
tive, he must be man as well as God. Man was
the subject of law, and the Mediator was to stand
in man's place. It was man's obedience which the
law required, and the Mediator was to stand in
man's place. If the law was broken by man, man's
punishment alone could satisfy its claims ; and the
Mediator was to stand in man's place. When man
became the actual culprit, and deserved to die,
the Mediator was to stand in man's place. Man
was an exile from the divine family and kingdom ;
helpless and alone in this dark and friendless
world; temptation and trial, grief and sadness,
enemies and fear, distrust and despondency, were
his destined allotment all through his earthly pil
grimage ; and the Mediator was to stand in man's
place. And therefore he became man's kinsman,
his kinsman-Redeemer, his goel, who, according to
the Hebrew law, had the right of redemption. " It
became him, that both he that sanctifieth and they
who are sanctified, should be all of one ; for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren?
He had all the sympathies of a man, and has them
still ; and what his human nature now knows not
of man's condition, that his divine nature commu-

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 95
nicates to the human, so that " he knoweth our
frame, and remembereth that we are dust." He
is touched with the feeling of man's infirmi
ties ; man's grief and sadness he makes his own ;
the sharp temptations which assail man remind
him that he was once tempted in all points as
man is, though yet without sin. He is gentle
toward man, as a nurse cherisheth her children.
He gathers the lambs with his arm, and car
ries them in his bosom. He is accessible to
man when "the overawing splendor of his divin
ity alone" might crush his hopes. His gentle
voice breaks not the bruised reed ; his breath of
tenderness quenches not the smoking flax ; his eye
of pity looks upon the wanderer, and reclaims the
lost sheep.
We add, in the last place, this union of the di
vine and human natures is that which constitutes
his fulness as the appointed and accepted Mediator.
He thus fills the chasm between heaven and earth
which was made by sin, and those who are afar off
are brought nigh. Both natures bear a part in
the great redemption in order to make it full and
complete. They form the elements of his un
changeable Priesthood ; so that he " is able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by him."
Whatever influences are necessary for the accom
plishment of his gracious purpose for men and in
men, whether they be of providence, or of grace,

QQ THE GLORY OF CHRIST
are at his command. The Father "giveth not
the Spirit by measure unto him," because it hath
pleased him, " that in him all fulness should dwell."
The fulness is complete. Whatever the sinner
wants, he shall find in Christ. Be it life, light,
power, pardon, sympathy, hope, righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; they are all
wrapped up in the union of his two natures. This
mystery is the envelope which contains wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He
is able and willing to suffer, to endure, and to be
stow. He is a storehouse that can never be ex
hausted ; full of grace and full of truth ; full of
promises and full of authority to fulfil them ; full
of glory and majesty, and full of heaven. He is
Christ, the wisdom of God and the power of God.
No burden of sin is so heavy, but he removes it ;
no fears are so agitating, but he gives them relief;
no weakness is so depressing, but it makes his
strength perfect. Hope and expectation are never
defeated that centre in him. He is filled to over
flowing with all that man can become and enjoy,
and God impart. Blessing, and glory, and honor
and power are his. Expand as the faculties of the
human soul may, they can never become so en
larged, and never drink so freely of his fulness ; but
the streams will still flow, and the fountain still be
full. Augment man's unworthiness and ill-desert
to an unmeasured infinity ; multiply his wants to

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 97
countless ages ; and there is yet room in the man-,
sions he has prepared, and bread enough and to
spare. Angels and archangels, thrones, dominions,
principalities and powers, in all their primeval and
ever-growing beauty and glory, do- not rise so high
as the lofty eminences of glory and blessedness
which the God-man Mediator bestows upon every
•sinner that repenteth, filled as he will be with " all
the fullness of God," and satisfied from those rivers
of pleasure which flow at God's right hand.
But we may not further pursue these illustra
tions. Such is the loveliness, the beauty, the glory
of Christ in his human nature. Glorious truth !
" there is but one Mediator between God and man,
the man Christ Jesus." This is the keystone of
the arch which binds together the great edifice of
man's redemption, setting forth its divine symme
try and beauty, its strength and safety, and bear
ing the indelible inscription, " The foundation of
God standeth sure."
And is not this feature of the Redeemer's glory
one that ought to interest us as sinners — as men ?
It is honor enough for an otherwise degraded race,
that Jesus of Nazareth was human. There is no
such lineage and no such brotherhood in the uni
verse as that redeemed line of spiritual descend
ants of which he is the progenitor ; that Chris
tian household of which God is the Father, and
Mary's son the elder brother. I love to think that

98 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
my Saviour is not only divine, but human; there is
endearment, there is palpableness here, and some
thing that appeals to my weak senses as a man.
The day is coming when, if I am even less than
the least of all his followers, I shall see him as he is.
It is not too much to look for from this mystery
of godliness, that these eyes shall see him, these
ears hear him ; these arms hang upon his bosom,
this heart be filled with his love, these lips vocal
with his praise.
Yes, " every eye shall see him, and they also
which pierced him," and " all kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him." Woe to the man who
shall have remained till then, the despisers of this
God-man Redeemer ! Whose is that heart of
stone that breaks not as he stands at Bethlehem's
manger, and sees the " child that was born ?"
Whose is that icy bosom that melts not, and is
not filled with glowing love, as he looks upon him
who is " fairer than the sons of men, and whom
God hath anointed with the oil of gladness above
his fellows ?" Whose is that obdurate unbelief, to
whom this mysterious truth, so full of goodness
and so full of comfort, is so repulsive that it claims
homage in vain, and in vain solicits the proud and
aspiring sons and daughters of earth to receive and
trust in it ? " Behold he stands at the door and
knocks." It is not he who dwells in light inacces
sible, encompassed with the glories of his majesty

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS INCARNATION. 99
and the terrors of his justice ; it is he who once
" dwelt among us," not to fill us with fear, but to
invite the guilty to come to him, without distrust,
without timidity, and even with joy. Were he now
on the earth, you might approach him. You might
approach him as the sinner's friend; you might
approach him as your counsellor and helper ; you
might approach him in your abjectness and pov
erty and sorrows ; you might approach him as the
poor, the halt, the lame, and the blind approached
him in the days of his flesh, and without the least
distance or reserve. He is manTstill, though exalted
at the right hand of God ; the same meek, hum
ble, condescending man; the " same yesterday, to
day, and forever," and still inviting the lost to
come to him that they might have life ; the weary
and heavy-laden, that they might have rest ; the
exile and the orphan, that he may guide them by
his counsel and afterward receive them to glory.
" This man, because he continueth ever, and hath
an unchangeable priesthood, is able also to save
them to the uttermost, that come unto God by
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them." You have his sympathy on earth, and you
may have his influence in the court of heaven. It
was for no trivial object that he left that high and
holy place, and descended to this low earth. It
was to seek and to save that which was lost. It
was to convince you of sin, and lead you to repent-

100 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ance. It was to emancipate you from bondage,
and introduce you to the glorious liberty of the
children of God. It was to make the conquest of
your heart. Has he made that conquest ? Have
you given him that heart ? And, with a mind
absorbed in the greatness and condescension of
this incarnate One, can you appreciate the won
drous truth, that "without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness; God manifest in the
flesh?"

CHAPTER IV.
.THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS.
We have already seen that, in his divine char
acter, the Son of God is every way equal to the
divine Father, " glorious in holiness, fearful in
praises, doing wonders." Since, however, he pos
sessed a human, as well as a divine nature, so did
he possess a distinct and purely humaji character.
What was it ? and wherein consisted its true glory ?
These inquiries it* is not possible for us fully to
answer. We cannot portray the perfect charac
ter of the man Christ Jesus. We are imperfect
and sinning men, and encompassed by imperfect
and sinning men. It. is no easy matter, burdened
as it is by the heavy consciousness of its own,
and unrelieved as it is by its associations with
human wickedness, for the mind of man to con
ceive, much less describe a character that is spot
less. The efforts of the most instructive and
ablest writers, on this topic, are a failure, as all
efforts of a like kind must be." There 'is no theme,
unless it be the infinite love of God, on which we

102 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
feel ourselves so utterly at a loss to speak worthily
as this. We can affirm that the character of Christ
is a sinless and perfect character ; but much more
needs to be said, and more than we can utter, in
order to illustrate and impress this comprehensive
truth. It has depths we cannot fathom, heights
we cannot climb, and truths so luminous that our
eyes are dazzled in looking at them. A sinless
intellect and a perfect heart are the Only true in
terpreters of a perfect character. It has often
been said that great and good men go through
the world without being understood ; and this is
emphatically true of him who " is the First-born
among many brethren." The age in which Jesus
lived did not understand him. His own apostles
did not understand him ; and required " the Spirit
of Truth," to dictate to them the little they have re
corded concerning their Divine Master ; and though
they have recorded enough for all the purposes of
a supernatural revelation, they themselves were
deeply sensible of the deficiencies and baldness of
the record. The most instructive of the Evange
lists, at the close of his gospel makes the acknowl
edgment, that "there are also many other things
which Jesus did, the Avhich, if they should be
written, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written."
We would look around us, and into the history
of the past, for some bright models of human ex-

THE- HUMAN CHARACTER OF. CHRIST GLORIOUS. 103
cellence, to assist in this illustration. But we
have nothing to guide us save the one great origi
nal When the celebrated Zeuxis painted the
Grecian Helen for the temple of Juno, he selected
five of the fairest women, and copied all that was
most beautiful in the form of each. It is no pagan
temple, and no pagan deity that we honor ; nor is
it by any assemblage of human excellencies that
we would fain contribute to some just conception
of his loveliness who is " fairer than the sons of
men." To group them all, and in their highest
adornment and perfection, could only present them
as faint resemblances to him who is the great
model and archetype of goodness, and to whose
reflected beauty the great and good of every age
owe all their excellence.
Our method shall be, in the first place, to fur
nish some general outline of his excellence ; and in
the next place, a brief specification of those partic
ular characteristics which constituted his great
worthiness. In presenting some general outline of his
excellence, it may not be forgotten that he was
" made under the law." We speak not now of the
mediatorial law, which he obeyed unto the death;
nor of the ceremonial law of the Jews ; but of the
Moral Law as summarily contained in the Ten
Commandments. This is the great and only stand
ard of human character. He is a perfect man who,

104 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
without intermission, obeys this law of God with
all the strength and ardor he is capable of exer
cising. We do not know of what degrees of holi
ness the mind of man is capable. But we see it
now in the man Christ Jesus in all its richness.
The most general and at the same time the most ex
act description of his character, is that he perfectly
obeyed the law of God, extending as it does to every
thought, word, and deed. In his inward emotions,
and his outward conduct, he was not recreant to
any one of its precepts or prohibitions. He felt
the obligation of governing his conduct by this
great and unerring rule of action. It is pleas
ant to hear him speak as he so often does of
the authority of God as the great Lawgiver ; of
."the will of the Father;" of the "command
ment which he received from God ;" alwavs aver-
ring that " he came, not to do his own will, but
the will of the Father who sent him." There was
infinite, disparity between himself as the Son of
Mary, and himself as the great Lawgiver of the
universe ; a disparity as great as between the Cre
ator and the creature ; nor did he ever allow him
self to call in question God's right to command
and his own obligation to obey. In his divine
nature, he claimed equality with God ; in his hu
man nature, there were no such equal terms with
his Maker. " My father," said he, " is greater
than I." God's supremacy was absolute ; he would

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 105
not set aside even the least requisition of his
law, but received with thankfulness and obeyed
with promptitude all the intimations of his Fa
ther's will. He stopped not to inquire into the
reasons of any particular command ; God's will was
reason ; it was enough for him that God had spo
ken. His whole intelligence and heart united in
this voluntary homage to the supreme and inde
structible authority of the all-wise and all-perfect
Lawgiver. God's will, with him, was above every
thing else. He felt the obligation and fulfilled it ;
he fulfilled it spiritually, and he fulfilled it to the
letter ; he fulfilled it affirmatively, doing what the
Law requires, and he fulfilled it negatively, ab
staining from what the Law forbids.
The sum and substance of the law is contained
in the two precepts, "Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as
thyself." In the character of Christ, the love of
God wras ever supreme and ever constant. He
could not love God more fervently or more con
stantly than he did. His intellectual and active
powers had their limits, but to the full extent of
them he loved. He had no other, he knew no
other God. There was not an idol in his heart,
nor an idolatrous thought or desire. When we
read his biography, the delightful impression
everywhere comes upon us, that he enjoyed' a con
stant sense of God's presence. God was in all his

106 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
thoughts; nor did such a sin ever lurk in his
bosom as forgetfulness of his Father in heaven.
His affections toward him were affections of love
in all its sweet combinations of esteem, attachment,
gratitude and joy, and so cheerfully indulged, that
communion with him was his great solace and com
fort, and the hiding of his face was the bitterest
ingredient ever mingled in his cup. He had but
one heart, and that heart was God's — a whole
heart; a pure heart; a heart never debased by
an unworthy thought; a throne that was never
usurped by a rival deity ; a marble tablet, pure
and burnished from its native quarry, on which
was never engraven any tale of shahie, and where
suspicion never threw its doubtful shadow.
Here his religion began ; it was heart-religion.
He himself was an unsullied exemplification of that
great truth which first fell from his own lips. " God
is a Spirit, and they that worship him must wor
ship him in spirit and in truth." He was no more
a formalist than he was a dissembler ; as ardent as
he was honest, and as quick-sighted and jealous for
his Father's honor, as though he felt himself to
be its only guardian and vindicator. None, «so
much as he, ever delighted themselves in the dili
gent study of the divine nature and glory, or so
much enjoyed the divine love. His affections to
ward God were eminently filial. He was the only
begotten Son, who "lay in the bosom, of the

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 107
Father ;" the everlasting arms were his refuge and
his home. His first and best thoughts, his first
and warmest affections, his most delighted admira
tion, his most peaceful confidence and profound rev
erence were attracted toward his Father which is
in heaven.
Nor is it a small matter that he was so scrupu
lously observant of all the institutions of religion.
Men sometimes trifle with them because they origi
nate with mere positive laws, and have respect to
outward observances. We have not so learned
Christ. His heartfelt respect for all the divine in
stitutions was not less remarkable than his respect
for their author. It is written concerning him,
" The zeal of thine house hath , eaten me up."
When John demurred at, baptizing him on account
of his superiority to ordinances, his language was,
" Suffer it to be so now ; for thus it behooveth lis
to fulfil all righteousness." He had vast concerns
committed to his trust, more important than the
urgent necessities of poverty, the exacting demands
of wealth and fashion, and the weighty responsi
bilities of kings and cabinets ; but they never in
terfered with his reverence for the Sabbath and
the sanctuary. Nor was this a superstitious rev
erence : for he taught his disciples, both by pre
cept and example, that whenever positive institu
tions come in collision with moral duties, "God
will have mercy and not sacrifice."

108 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
In the social relations of human life, he was the
bright and finished pattern of excellence. There
is no relation, whether superior or subordinate, the
obligations of which did not find in his example
a living and most persuasive sanction. He neither
overlooked nor ^trifled with any social claim ; nor
did he take refuge in any "higher law," in order
to shield himself from " rendering to all their dues ;
tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom
custom ; fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."
There were manifold abuses, and palpable wrongs
in the government under which he lived ; but his
refuge was not in revolt, nor in inciting the spirit
of revolt. His maxim was, "Render unto Csesar
the things that are Caesar's." No one was ever so
well qualified to question the wisdom and author
ity of the government, and to sit in judgment upon
its laws ; and never wras one more cautious in re
fraining from all such interference. He did not look
for infallible laws among fallible men. He lived
in a world where men are governed by their pas
sions ; nor would he, either by precept or example,
give countenance to the ambitious, the bold, the
discontented, or the disloyal. The history of our
race would have been far more mournful than it
is but for his uniform and stringent example on a
subject of such deep interest both to the church
and the world.
K we descend to other relations, we find every-

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 109
where the same blameless deportment. He reve
renced age, encouraged youth, took childhood in
his arms, and pressed infancy to his bosom. He
honored the ascendency of talent, while he rebuked
its pride ; he gave wealth its influence, while he
exposed its snares and vanity ; he acknowdedged
the eminence of rank, while he did not spare men
in high places who abused their trust. That won
derful framework of human society, arranged and
put together with so much wisdom, where the
strong cannot do without the weak, nor the weak
without the strong, and where the sympathy is so
universal, that if one member suffer all the mem
bers suffer with it ; found in him an advocate so
intelligent and unfaltering, that the Socialists who
watched for his halting, went confounded from his
presence, and "durst not ask him any more ques
tions." He honored his parents, and under circum
stances when parental authority seemed to coun
tervail the dictates of conscience : even when in the
Temple about his heavenly Father's work, at the
bidding of Joseph and Mary he " came to Naza
reth, and was subject unto them." His filial obe
dience is a most beautiful gem in the bright crown
of his human excellencies ; it shines even in the
midst of his sufferings.. Those touching words ut
tered when hanging on the cross and by which he
commended his mother to the care of the disciple
whom he loved, were like apples of gold in pictures

HO THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
of silver. Notwithstanding all that the deistical
writers of the last century have alleged against the
unsocial character of Christianity and its chilling
influence upon the friendships and attachments of
private life ; never was one more capable of strong
and tender attachments, or manifested them more
than he. So far from dissocial, there never was a
more luminous and beautiful exemplification of the
social -virtues. High as his calling was, he did not
separate himself from his fellow-men, but lived
among them, and as one of them. He was a guest
at their festive boards, and a mourner at their
funerals. His first miracle was to change water
into wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and
almost his last words were the expressions of effec
tive sympathy for her who gave him birth, and
for her comfort when he himself was deposited in
the tomb. He was communicative where wisdom
demanded it ; and where wisdom demanded it, he
was cautious and reserved. He founded no mon
asteries, and gave no instructions for the orders of
Christian knighthood, of the sisters of the Sacred
Heart. He was a spotless man, not of the world,
but everywhere in the world, as he meant his fol
lowers should be.
Dissocial ! was there ever a greater slander upon
the character of Christ than this ? Who does not
see that love, gratitude, tenderness, private friend
ship, and even patriotism found in him a faultless

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. HI
»
advocate ? Where is the man on the page of his
tory who preserved so pure and inviolate, yet so
kindly and amiably to the last, the laws of social
intercourse? If to love as he loved, and live
among men as he lived among them, be indications
of a dissocial and repulsive spirit ; where shall we
go to find that which is social and attractive?
Those interesting scenes in which he is beheld wash
ing the feet of his disciples, and in which the dis
ciple whom he loved leaned on his bosom, evince a
'sensibility and tenderness which no mere didactic
lessons could convey. Woulcl you see him taking
part in the sorrows of those who were endeared
to him ; retire with him to the village of Bethany,
and there read the words : " Now Jesus loved Mar
tha,- and her sister, and Lazarus." It wras an hum
ble village, and they were humble persons. But
it was there, away from the tumult of the world,
and in the quiet, sweet intercourse of private friend
ship, that he forgot the strife of the city, the ma
lignity of his enemies, and found the solace his
loving heart sought after. What tenderness and
love were there ! I know not where to look for
such another example of human dignity, propriety
and affection combined. " Having loved his own,
he loved them unto the end." Well may the
church exclaim, " This is my Beloved, and this is
my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem !" And
was -he not forgiving toward his enen%iesf Let

112 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
this inquiry be answered by that ever-memorable
prayer uttered for men whom his curses might
have swept from the earth, and uttered amid infu
riate malignity and bitter revilings, " Father, for-
, give them ; they know not what they do !" There
is no relation of human life, in which he was not
as far above the thought of wrong or negligence,
as the heavens are above the earth. He was a
" man, in all . points as we are ;" yet with every
thought and imagination sanctified, every sense
controlled, every word seasoned with grace, every
association hallowed,* every enticement to sin re
sisted, and avoiding the appearance of evil. He
was content with his destined allotment ; " though
the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had
nests, and the Son of man had not where to lay
his head." There was no rashness, nor want of
wisdom in his intercourse with men. His truth
was never questioned, his honesty and honor never
tarnished. " No guile was found in his mouth."
When you read his life, you will be impressed
with the cautious agreement between the words
of his lips, and, the thoughts of his heart. There
was no coloring in his statements ; no unguarded
expression, and no suppression of the truth.
Where the whole truth ought to be spoken, he
spoke it fully, and without concealment ; freely
and without fear ; clearly, and without obscuring
it; sincerely and kindly, and for proper ends.

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. H3
Unfounded assumptions, evil surmisings, careless
misconstructions, unlawful detractions, artful flat
tery and malignant slander are human, but they
are not likevChrist. Nor did he know one covet
ous desire. He»had no grief that others were rich ;
no mortified pride because he was poor ; no envy,
no disquietude, no inordinate wish, no corroding
anxiety, and none of those sinful passions which
arise from a corrupt and rebellious heart. The
" commandment is exceeding broad ;" but he was
obedient to the whole law. Even the vile traitor
who delivered him to the hands of his enemies,
was constrained to confess, " I have betrayed inno
cent blood." He alone of all the children of Adam
need not confess himself a sinner. Not a single
trace of sin can be detected in his whole history ;
even succinctly written as it is by the Evangelists,
it is the most wondrous biography in the world.
If we mistake not, this general view of his ex
cellence will be the more appreciated if we pass,
in the next place, to a brief delineation of those
PARTICULAR CHARACTERISTICS IN WHICH THIS EXCEL
LENCE stood specially prominent. There are
graces and virtues which distinguish this unblotted
excellence, and which, like the angel standing in
the sun, gives the sun itself a superadded bril
liancy. One of these was his active benevolence. His
character was an energetic and effective character.

114 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
His mind and heart and hands were not only per
fectly consecrated, but brought into action, and
perpetually contributing to enlighten the igno
rance, alleviate the sorrows, purify the character,
and ennoble the destiny of his fellow-men. During
his short life of thirty years upon this earth, he
achieved more for man, and cheered more hearts
than the accumulated philanthropy of six thou
sand years. His whole spirit was directed to this
end. His peculiar character is most emphatically
written in the words, " He went about doing good."
It was an art he had studied well, and it was the
care and business of every day. He aimed to be
harmless, but he had higher aims. The infinite
God was his example ; he was perfect as his Father
in heaven was perfect. Wherever he went he
wrapped himself in the .fnantle of that- love, the
very fold and hem of which were a refuge for the
wants and woes of men. He came, not to be
ministered unto, but to minister ;" and never was
man so intent on this delightful service as he. He
possessed an intensity of character as far above
other men as his active benevolence wras above
theirs. His emotions were strong; his object en
grossed all his faculties, and stirred up the very
depths of his soul. The love of doing good was a
flame not only perpetually burning in his bosom,
but with intense radiance. All his thoughts, all
his life, were at the bidding of this high impulse.

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. H5
The world thought him a madman. He did not
seek occasion to be singular, but he could not avoid
it. He stood alone, and men wondered at him.
So intent, so dominant was his purpose, that he
made, the first and the last end of his existence to
labor for God and man.
If we would have adequate impressions of this
feature of his character, we must better understand
such declarations as these : " I delight to do thy
will, O God ; yea, thy law is within my heart."
" I must work the work of him who sent me wrhile
it is day ; the night cometh in which no man can
work." I have meat to eat which ye know not of;
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and
finish his work." He would have failed in his ob
ject but for his pure and ardent zeal in doing
good. It was not one department of human
wretchedness to which his mind was directed, but
every department. It was not restricted to any
particular class of human society, but extended to
all classes, comprehending all the evils of suffer
ing humanity, sympathizing with its griefs, and
not overlooking its perplexities and cares. Whether
they were the diseases of the body, the sorrows
of the mind,or the embarrassments of the outward
estate, not one of the miseries to which sin subjects
fallen man escaped his notice. The vilest of the
race had an advocate in the tenderness of his com
passion ; nor did his detestation of their sins shut

116 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
up his compassion toward them as sinners. He
did not wfcifc for opportunities to do good, but went
in search of them. When men were far from him
he sought them, and when they could not ascend to
him, he descended to them. He often went so far
out of his way, in order to express his kindness,
that his disciples wondered at his course ; while
the event showed that his object in so doing was
to give sight to the blind, vigor to the lame, clean
sing to the leper, hearing to the deaf, to raise the
dead to life. Or perhaps it was to cause some
widow's heart to sing for jcy, or to convince and
enlighten some lost sinner as ho sat upon the well
With most affecting condescension, ho sought the
society of the benighted, the oelf-righteous, the
self-deceived, and even infidel men. Their suffer
ings were the magnet which drew him forth from
his retirement ; while with winning -wisdom and
discernment, did he attract them within the sphere
of his influence. Nothing could hinder or weary
him ; if he was persecuted in one place, he went to
another. His own inexhaustible benevolence fur
nished the impulse to pursue, without relaxation,
and with immovable constancy, this career of mer
cy. He did not seek to be great, but he sought tc
be useful. All places, all society, from Bethlehen.
to Calvary, were witnesses of his benevolent spirit
and beneficent life. There is something trulji
affecting in this feature of his character. It ap-

THE HUxMAN CHARACTER OF CHRiST GLORIOUS. H7
pears to us more than human ; yet he was human,
in whose bosom this unequalled spirit dwelt. It
belonged not to earth, was never found on earth,
except as exemplified by Mary's Son. Heaven
was its native dwelling-place, yet had it this one
tabernacle in the heart of Jesus of Nazareth.
Another of these particular characteristics was
his perfect self-denial. It was to the last degree
important to the objects of his mission, that it
should be seen and confessed that he had no mer
cenary aims. If wealth, or honor, or power had
been the ruling principle of his conduct, he would
not have differed from men, who have been the
founders of false religions. It is no marvel that the
Scriptures bring his character to the test of a self-
denying and self-sacrificing spirit ; because this is
the true test. There is reality and strength in
moral virtue, when it will cheerfully do and suffer
for the principles of rectitude.
How much of this sterling excellence is found
in the best of men, let their conduct declare.
How little compared with that which shines in
the life of Christ. The mOre attentively we
read his history, the more we shall be convinced
that his life was one of incessant self-denial. He
was despised and rejected of men, a man of sor
rows, and acquainted with griefs ; when he deserv
ed to have been the happiest of the race and
the most beloved. He bore the weight of scorn

118 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
and obloquy, when he deserved the highest hon
ors. He was poor and abject; he was as great
a sufferer as a sinless man could become ; yet was
it for the good of others, and not his own. These
sacrifices were necessary for other reasons ; but
were they not necessary in order to bring out
his perfectly holy and transparent character ? We
should never have known his true excellence but
for those depths of darkness and sorrow when it
shone with such matchless beauty. He did not
teach a self-denying religion without practising it ;
nor an humble and self-abasing religion, a religion
that crucifies the world with its affections and lusts,
without exemplifying it everywhere and always,
from the manger to the cross. He acted out his
own principles, and carried his self-denial as far as
self-denial can be carried. It was not for himself
that he lived, it was not for himself that he wept ;
it was not his own sorrows that he bore, when, at
the close of a long life of sacrifices, he terminated
his course by that great act of self-denial, that last
sacrifice, which human knowledge knows not, hu
man imagination cannot conceive. Pure, innocent,
without spot, he freely renounced all and delivered
up himself the victim of God's justice and man's
cruelty, asking nothing for himself and gaining
nothing but the gratification of his self-denying
love. He asked, indeed, that men should become
his followers, and love him, but he never bribed

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. H9
their love; and when he left them, bequeathed
them no earthly inheritance, but the peace of God
which passeth all understanding, and the cross on
which he hung.
Men of a supremely selfish mind, and wrho offer
incense on the altars of pride, ambition, and pleas
ure, know nothing of this noble characteristic of
Jesus Christ. Those who have never learned to
sacrifice their own weal for the relief of others'
woes ; who have never renounced their own com
forts from love to the miserable ; whose time, and
labor, and repose, and pride, and pleasure, and
gold have been devoted only to themselves ; can
not sympathize with the moral greatness that
throws such a lustre around the man who taught
and exemplified the religion of the cross.
Another characteristic was his meekness and
humility. There are not wanting some beautiful
specimens of meekness and lowliness in those who
have named his name in different ages of the
world. The Apostle John was his most beloved
disciple and friend, for nothing so much as his re
semblance, in this feature of his character, to his
divine Master. The Mary who came behind him
weeping, and washed -his feet with her tears, and
wdped them with the hair of her head, expressed.
a spirit more lovely than ¦ she would have ex
pressed if she had decked his head with a crown.
Moses was styled the "meekest man on the face

120 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
of the earth," because he maintained his gentleness
amid so much that tried and provoked his heaven-
born and humble mind. But these holy persons
were servants, and their meekness and humility,
the cringing spirit of slaves compared with that
softness, and mildness, and gentleness of Christ
which all his adversaries could never gainsay, or
resist. There was not an emotion in his bosom
that savored of anger or rashness. Injury, re
proach, and provocation assailed him in every form
and degree ; while the only protestation he made
against them was his mild and unresisting gentle
ness. Denounced as impostor, stigmatized as the
enemy of Caesar and a conspirator against the gov
ernment, ridiculed as a wine-bibber and a friend
of publicans and sinners, charged with being a
madman and possessed of the devil, seized by the
hands of violence, convicted by perjured witnesses,
scoffed at, spit upon, buffeted, scourged, and nailed
to the bloody tree; his whole course of conduct
betrayed not one complaining, or angry thought.
He was not capable of a thought for which con
science could reproach him. He knew well how
to stand forth the protector of others, and to shield
insulted and slandered excellence ; but when his
own person and character were assailed, he was
speechless, and quietly left them in the hands of
God. " He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 121
opened not his mouth." When " he was reviled,
he reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threat
ened not, but committed himself to him that judg-
eth righteously." What beautiful consistency and
harmony did this spirit to the more grand and
elevated expressions of his excellence! He was
lofty in his views ; there was everything within
him that elevated him above an unworthy action ;
yet pride and ambition had no lurking-place in
that elevated mind; a haughty spirit found
no aliment there, and no being. All this is far
from man's nature; but it was the uniform and
beautiful spirit of the man Christ Jesus. He had
virtues that were more brilliant ; but none more
lovely. Here his character shines in the very
beauty of- holiness. This was the most transpa
rent gem in that bright diadem where every gem
is transparent. He was a " perfectly meek and
humble man." He of all his race was justified
in saying, " 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." His whole life was the
most persuasive and eloquent appeal in favor of
this spirit ; it was the most beautiful and sublime
exhibition of it, while the difficulties and trials it
encountered seemed only to make it more affect
ing. Combined with these characteristics, he also pos
sessed great moral courage. Meek and humble as

122 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
he was, he was a stranger to weakness and timidi
ty. Never was man so undaunted, and never was
there such a demand for vigor of purpose, and
promptness, and energy, and endurance. He was
born for high and holy ends, and was early made
acquainted with the purposes for which he came
into the world. Nor did he ever take a change
ful and unsteady view, nor a slight and cursory one
of his great object. It was constantly upon his
mind, and drew toward it all its vigor and fervency.
There was no such thing as fear in his bosom, be the
dangers that assailed him what they may. He was
never intimidated from uttering what he ought to
utter, and doing what was necessary for him to
perform. If there are instances of his conduct
which seem at first view, to savor of precipitancy,
it is only because our minds fail to sympathize
with a courage so exalted as his, and are not im
bued, as his was, with the greatness of his aims,
and his intuitive perceptions of what was right
and fitting under the circumstances in which he
was placed. He could sting the Jewish people
with the most keen and lacerating reproaches ; he
could scourge the changers of money out of the
temple ; he could send a sarcastic thought through
the conscience of the subtle Herod ; but it was
because such severity could no longer be withheld.
" When the oldest and most presumptuous of his
disciples would fain have dissuaded him from going

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 123
up to Jerusalem, he could reply, " Get thee behind
me, Satan, for thou savorest not the things that be
of God, but the things that be of men ;" and when
his hour wras come, and Judas delayed the execu
tion of his fell design, his language to this arch
traitor was, " What thou doest, do quickly !"
There were a resolution and fortitude about him,
which it does not seem possible that one so meek
and lowly could possess. Nor did they fail to rise
with every fresh demand upon them, however ex
acting, waking up and invigorating all his powers
of body and mind, and stimulating him, now to
action the most fearless, and now to endurance as
brave and, inflexible as Christianity. When the
lamented Evarts was dying, he said to one who
stood near him, " Be bold for Christ ; there is
nothing else worth being bold for !" Christ himself
was the boldest of the bold. He was " Captain
of our salvation," and it behooved him to be bold.
They were fearful foes with whom he was contend
ing;, and he advanced to the contest with un-
daunted breast. They were stormy skies, and
days and nights of peril; he was deserted and
desolate ; but he was ever steadfast, ever immov
able. '
To these characteristics must be added a perfectly
devotional and heavenly spirit. If ever there was
a man of too heavenly a mind to be born for earth,
and to dwell on earth, and engage in the toil and

124 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
pursuits, and hallowed strife of earth, Jesus of
Nazareth was that man. It is not enough to say
that he lived above the world, and was a stranger
and pilgrim here, and that his heart was fixed on
heaven ; he was the spirit of heaven itself, living
and moving among men. A worldly mind was the
rock on which the devil vainly conjectured he
might be tempted to shipwreck the great enter
prise with which he was intrusted. Artfully did
he spread the snare early in the public career of
the Son of man, by the offer of all the kingdoms of
the world, if he would fall down and worship him ;
but the temptation passed over his mind " like the
idle wind." When, in a more advanced stage of
his progress, he became for once the idol of the
people, and the multitude offered him the crown
and the throne of David, he gave them to under
stand that crowns and thrones had no charms for
his heavenly mind. He avowed before Pilate that
he had royal claims, but that it was not the royalty
of earth that he sought. He sought nothing from
the world but bis daily bread ; nor would he allow
himself to be any further embarrassed by its con
cerns than to treat this earth as the theatre on
which he was acting so mighty a part for eternity.
He sought no other earthly home than that pro
vided by the hand of charity. A home he had
but it was above, where his conversation was, and
where he was so soon to go to provide a place for

THE HUMAN' CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 125
all his followers. His life was one of peculiar in
tercourse and near communion with God. Many
a time did he rise up a great while before day, and
retire to some selected mountain, or sequestered
brook, or grove, there to enjoy solitary intercourse
with his father in heaven. Whole nights he often
employed in prayer. Forty days of fasting and
prayer were his preparations for his public min
istry. He loved to be alone with God. No em
ployment, no society, no trials ever prevented his
intercourse with God and heaven. He and his
Father were one, if for nothing but the uninter
rupted fellowship which existed between them.
Things unseen and eternal were the things he
looked at. He often spoke of them, and of the
beauty and riches and glory of them, and of heav
enly thrones and heavenly joys. With intense
interest and delight, he spoke of them, and with
pensive thoughts that they were at a distance, and
with sweet anticipations that in a little while he
should go to the Father.
If we would see the excellence of this wonderful
man shining by its own light, we may intermingle^
with these general excellencies and these brilliant
characteristics the thought, that this perfect charac
ter was maintained with unbroken constancy from
the commencement to the close of his career. He
had no native sinfulness, but was born as sinless
as he died. The law of Paradise which entailed

126 THE GLORY OF, CHRIST.
the curse of original sin upon the race, did not
affect him, because, though born of a woman,
he had no paternal lineage. He was an infant
without the selfishness of infancy, and with none
of its exacting and tyrannical claims. Was there
ever so beautiful a sight as the holy infant Jesus !
He was a youth, without one taint of frowardness ;
a man without one stain of human depi'avity, from
Bethlehem's manger to Joseph's tomb ! An in
habitant of this fallen world, yet " holy, harmless,.
undefiled, and separate from sinners !" One who
possessed man's nature, yet who " did no sin !"
Nothing diverted him from perfect rectitude ;
nothing discouraged him ; nor was his progress
broken by a faltering step. There was no cold
ness, no inconstancy ; and his character shone the
brighter as he drew toward the close, of his mortal
career. As he began, so he closed his work ; and
as he was about to close it, he could " lift up his
eyes to heaven and say, Father, the hour is come;
I have glorified thee on the earth ; I have finished
the work which thou hast given me to do !"
We are far from forming just conceptions of the
character of the man Christ Jesus. Unspeakably
below the reality is the faint picture we have exhib
ited. We love to contemplate human virtue even
in its inferior forms. The history of man furnishes
here and there a splendid exhibition of it, and
while we do not extol the excellence less, we extol

THE HUMAN .CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 127
its author more. We mark it as a rare character,
and a rare expression of Almighty grace. It is
like a stream of water in a dry place, a green spot
in the desert, a bright star twinkling on the dark
cloud. The character of Christ has no such ine
qualities, and does not strike us by its occasional
and novel excellencies. It is like a broad river
steadily tending to the ocean, and making the
desert bloom as it goes. It is like the moon
walking across the heavens, and obscuring the stars
by her brightness. The history of man would be
barren of reproachless excellence, but for this one
record. This one only moral phenomenon stood
forth to the men of his age, stands forth to us, and
will stand forth to alb future time fresh and beau
tiful, ever retaining the novelty that attracts, and
the beauty that charms. Penetrate into the history
of the past ; search the records where fame has
preserved the names of the illustrious, or where
private worth is embalmed in delightful memories ;
and between the Son of man and all other men
there is such a distance, that the character of the
best of our race is an indivisible point, a particle
of vapor compared with this ocean of excellence.
During the lapse of sixty centuries, and since the
day of the first apostasy and the first promise,
there is but this individual born of woman who
could look his enemies in the face and say, " Which
of you convinceth me of sin ?" Nations have come

128 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
into existence and passed away ; millions crowded
upon millions have been ushered into being and
gone to their graves; patriarchs, prophets, mar
tyrs, men and women largely baptized with the
Holy Ghost, have shone as lights in the world,
and now shine as the stars forever and ever.
Heaven has been moved with love to man to make
him holy, to inspire him with immortal hopes, and
to urge him, not in vain, to aim at his high call
ing ; but it wras reserved for the Virgin's Son to
receive the Spirit without measure, and to become
the only example of perfect excellence. What
sublimity and beauty are here ! What a halo of
moral glory encircles the head that was once en
twined with the wreath of shame ! Christ is
glorious; glorious as holiness, glorious as truth,
glorious as love, glorious as joy, shining, beaming,
and never ceasing to shine with a splendor that is
unspeakable and full of glory.
We do not marvel that so many beautiful argu
ments have, been founded on the perfect character
of the man Christ Jesus, in favor of the truth of
Christianity. We cannot be too thankful that
there is this one perfect standard of true religion.
We have no other ; we profess not to appeal to
any other. The world would never have known
what true religion is, nor what it can achieve in
the formation of character, until it was taught by *
the character of Christ. It is not fiction, for fiction

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 129
never could have invented it; it is something
which is embodied and realized in actual existence.
Without any of the adventitious distinctions of
earth, he possessed a splendor which eclipsed them
all. Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom ;
nor does it surprise us to learn that the righteous
ness of this One Man Christ Jesus, saves from worse
than the flames of Sodom, " a great multitude
which no man can number."
To what extent are we under obligation to imi
tate the example of Christ? There can be no
doubt as to the answer that must be given to this
question. The obligation is perfect; it never
ceases ; it is never violated without sin. There
never was any reason why men should not be as
holy as Christ, either in the nature of holiness, or
their own nature ; either in the binding force of
the moral law, or the precepts, prohibitions, and
spirit of the gospel. There is a cause for the im
perfection of Christians, but there is no reason for
it. The cause is their own sinful nature and love of
wickedness ; and this, so far from excusing them,
makes the matter worse, and leaves them self-con-
demned. Men complain that God is a hard master
for requiring them to yield a perfect compliance
to his law, because the thing is impossible. We
grant that it is impossible ; to deny this fact were
the grossest ignorance and the wildest fanaticism.
But why is it impossible ? If their hearts were

130 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
right, it would not be impossible, If their state
of mind were such as Christ's, it would not be im-
possible. Let us therefore lay our hand upon our
mouth. But do we expect perfectly to imitate the Sa
viour's character, or that it will ever be perfectly
imitate"d in the present world? It is indeed a
melancholy truth that we. despair of equalling
such excellence ; we shall fall far short of it, until
" we see him as he is." Yet we may not overlook
this bright example, as though we were strangers
to it, and were never impressed, and charmed, and
humbled by its beauty. Christ is everything to
the Christian, as the foundation of his hopes, and
the source of supply for all his spiritual necessities.
Nor is he less precious as his example. The in
junction is still inscribed on the sacred page, " Let
the same mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus." It is not enough to contemplate his ex
ample merely for the purpose of admiring it, and
of exciting within our bosom something like the
transports of Christian enthusiasm. It is not
enough to contemplate it merely for the purpose
of seeing how far we come short of it. Rather
should we contemplate it with the earnest desire,
and prayer, and effort ourselves to attain to a
purer and loftier devotion to our heavenly Father's
will. Where is our Christianity if we have none
of the spirit of our divine Master ? Where is it,

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. 131
if we imbibe not more ahd yet more of his spirit ?
How else shall we know that " when he shall ap
pear we shall be like him," unless what we now
behold of him progressively transforms into his
image ?
Let us bring these general inquiries more closely
home to our own bosoms. What Christian can allow
himself in indifference to the claims of the God of
heaven, when the Son of man was so exquisitely
alive to them ? What Christian will give way to
the spirit of murmuring and complaint, when he
sees the Saviour of men so uniformly putting his
will into the hands of God to be moulded accord
ing to his own ? Who will be negligent in his
observance of the Sabbath, when the Lord of the
Sabbath was so punctilious in its observance ?
Who will not be circumspect in all the social rela
tions, when he protected them with such purity
and care ? Who will allow himself to become in
toxicated in the pursuit of wealth and fame, when
his Lord and Master had not where to lay his
head, and when, the more he surveyed the " pomps
and vanities" of time, the more did they disappear
and sink away beneath him ? See him in all his
lowliness and poverty, and then say, of how much
worth is all the glitter of the world? Who can be
satisfied to revel in all the pride of life, when he
thinks of him who consented to be numbered with
malefactors? Who will cherish angry passions and

132 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
a revengeful bosom, when he could look with such
love upon his murderers ? What shall be said of
the Christian who refuses one drop of that bitter
cup which Jesus drank to the dregs ? What will the
listless, inactive Christian think of himself when
he thinks of him who went about doing good, and
never wearied of his work ? Who will be prayer-
less when Christ was the man of prayer ? Who will
rest contented to travel thus tardily towards heav
en, when his pilgrimage was so bright and rapid ?
Humbling inquiries are these, both to the writer
and the reader. Christianity does indeed live in
our world, but it has never been fully exemplified
since Christ ascended from the Mount of Olives.
Just conceive of a score of Christians like Jesus
Christ within this single city, and how would this
moral wilderness blossom ! If we love Christ, we
shall love to imitate his example ; and the more
we love him, the more we shall love to imitate it.
What he said to his early disciples he says to ns,
" Follow thou me." Mark his footsteps, Christian,
and follow him.
A single word to those who are not Christians.
Would that there were not so many of this un
happy and guilty character ! Yet, who would not
be a Christian, if it only were to tread in the
steps of Christ ? To what more elevated and ami
able character, to what hopes more precious, what
associations more desirable, what higher usefulness,

THE HUMAN CHARACTER OF CHRIST GLORIOUS. * 133
and brighter and more enduring glory can fallen
man aspire; than to receive the truth and con
fess the name of Christ, bear his image, follow his
example, promote his glory, and enter into his

CHAPTER V.
CHRIST AS A PREACHER.
The great and peculiar work of Christ was to
make an atonement for the sins of men. His
priestly office was the great office for which he
was anointed of God ; which, as God manifest in
the flesh, he so gloriously fulfilled, and to which
all the Prophets bear witness.
But while we magnify his office as the great
High Priest of the Christian profession, we may
not overlook his office as the anointed Prophet,
and the most distinguished religious Teacher. The
predictions of the Old Testament speak of him as
such ; and if we look into the four gospels, we find
these predictions abundantly fulfilled. We there
learn that " he went about all Galilee, teaching in
their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom ;" and that " he went throughout every
city and village preaching and showing the glad
tidings of the kingdom of God." The first employ
ment indeed upon which he publicly entered, was
that of a religious Teacher. No sooner did he

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. I35
emerge from fhe retirement of domestic life and
receive baptism from the hands of his distinguished
Precursor, and the visible anointing of the Holy
Ghost, than he commenced his public ministry.
Aside from those portions of the Evangelists which
record his genealogy, birth, miracles, death, and
resurrection, these writings are altogether occupied
in recording his religious instructions. These rec
ords of his teaching are sufficiently copious; yet
must they, from necessity, be incomplete and com
pendious ; for in the highly hyperbolical language
of John, " if they should be written every one, the
world itself could not contain the books that should
be written."
Of the pre-eminent excellence of Christ as re
ligious teacher, we have abundant evidence. John
his forerunner, though the most distinguished of
all the , Jewish prophets, makes the humble, yet
exulting confession, " He must increase, but I must
decrease ;" " there cometh one after me, who is pre
ferred before me, the latchet of whose shoes I am
not worthy to unloose." We are told that " the
people were astonished at his doctrine ; for he
taught them as one having authority and not as
the Scribes." The officers sent by the Jewish
rulers to apprehend him, were so affected by his
preaching that they could not execute their com
mission, and when called to an account for their
negligence, could only reply, " Never man spake

136 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
like this man." But it is from his discourses them
selves, that we are chiefly instructed in his pre
eminence as the Great Prophet of God.
From these we learn, in the first place,- that he
was a most instructive preacher. It is recorded
of the greatest and wisest of the kings of God's
ancient people, that "because the preacher was
wise, he taught the people knowledge." The
knowledge of God's truth is the germ and princi
ple of all holiness. Spiritual life can neither ger
minate, nor be developed in the dark and cold
bosom of ignorance. To overlook this great law
of man's intellectual and moral nature, is to over
look what is primary and essential to the great
end at which the gospel aims. There is no appeal
to the conscience or heart, no obligation urged, no
right emotions excited, and no practical conformity
to God cultivated, except by presenting and be
lieving the great doctrines of the gospel. Jesus
Christ would have the roots of Christianity strike
deep in the barren soil of this ungodly world ; and
therefore he taught that the "sower soweth the
word? The great object of his ministry was to
disabuse the minds of men of error, to unteach
them where they had been taught erroneously,
to enlighten them where they wrere ignorant, to
set the great realities of a supernatural revelation
before them, place them within their reach, and
make them possessors of this rich inheritance. He

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 1ST
knew of no other means of disarming the powers
of death and hell, delivering men from the empire
of Satan and the bondage of sin, introducing them
into the liberty of the children of God,, and ren
dering them partakers of the life eternal. His
Spirit operates only through the instrumentality
of truth. It is one of the laws of his kingdom,
that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God."
Richly was he endowed, and abundantly quali
fied to be an instructive preacher. He did not
rush into the ministry until his mind was thor
oughly furnished for his work. For a long time
he dwelt at Nazareth, diligently preparing himself
for this high service ; and so well had he studied
the sacred Scriptures, that at twelve years of age
he astonished the doctors of the temple, " both
hearing them and asking them questions." It was
not until after his severe trial in the wilderness,
where his faith and knowledge were put to the
test of the most artful and severe of all opposers ;
nor until he was about thirty years of age that he
began his wonderful career. From " that time,"
we are told, " Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Besides this, he was God as well as man ; the eter
nal Myog, who was set up from everlasting. When
God prepared the heavens he was there; when
the wondrous method of man's redemption was

138 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
devised he was there ; and before the hills were
settled, or the mountains brought forth, he engaged
to occupy the prophetic office, and himself to be
come the preacher of that glorious gospel of which
he was the author.
When he entered upon his ministry, therefore,
the great subjects and objects of it, were those
with which he was perfectly familiar, and which
he well understood how to present. He made no
display of human learning, but a rich and convin
cing exhibition of God's truth. It was not the
philosophy of the schools of which he spake, nor
did he amuse nor confound his hearers with dis
sertations upon the traditions of the elders, and
the commandments of men ; nor did he confine
himself to a narrow circle of Christian truth and
morals. He spake of God as no other had spo
ken; of the spirituality of his nature and wor
ship ; of the necessity of knowing him in order to
attain eternal life. He spake of the law of God,
in its unchanging obligations and searching spirit
uality; rectifying the errors of those who flat
tered themselves that one object of his coming,
was to lower its claims to the level of human
infirmity ; and reading them lessons upon its holi
ness and inviolability, which taught them that he
was not more the advocate of the true faith, than
a sound morality. He spake of the sinful char
acter and lost condition, of man, everywhere

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 139
affirming that they were not the righteous that
he came to call,, but sinners to repentance. He
largely insisted on that obduracy and strength
of human wickedness, which, when thoroughly
taught, aims so fatal a blow at self-sufficiency and
self-glorying, as to throw the best as well as the
worst sinners, upon the resources of omnipotent
grace. He spake of the necessity of the new
birth, or that radical transformation of character,
by which the enmity of the carnal mind is slain,
and the controlling principle of supreme love to
God, is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy
Ghost. He discoursed largely of the effects and
evidences of this spiritual change, on his inward
and outward man. On the one hand, he set at
naught the claims of a proud morality, and in
structed men that " except their righteousness ex
ceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari
sees, they can in no case enter the kingdom of
heaven ;" and on the other, he taught them that a
religious sentimentalism is as far from true reli-
gion, as a lifeless morality, and that only those are
his disciples, who " hear the word of God, and do
it." No preacher ever inculcated a more devo
tional spirit ; it was in one of his discourses that
he taught men how to pray, and gave that great
model of prayer, which so beautifully comprises
all that true piety desires. When he spoke of
the way of life for the fallen, he taught that

140 • THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
there was but one. On this all-important t pic
his language is, "I am the way, the truth, and
the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by
me :" " God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in
him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."
When he spoke of the obligation and duty of
men, in view of this revealed salvation, his teach
ings are, " This is the work of God, that ye believe
on Him whom he hath sent;" "Come, for all
things are now ready ;" " Compel them to come
in, that my house may be filled." He spoke, too,
of the privilege and blessedness of those who re
ceive this salvation ; of the responsibility, and
guilt, and doom, of those who reject it. As the
High and Lofty One that inhabits eternity, he
also lifts the veil from future things ; tells of the
resurrection, both of the just and the unjust ; an
nounces the final judgment, where he himself will
sit and decide the destinies of men ; brings life
and immortality to light ; unfolds the glories of
that heaven where he dwelt from eternity, and
premonishes the world of that place of torment,
to which all the incorrigible are doomed, and
which is " prepared for the Devil and his angels."
In every view he was the most instructive of
preachers. Erase his instructions from the Bible,
and you erase its most sublime lessons of wisdom,
and those very lessons which the world most needs.

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 141
The Saviour sympathized with these wants, and
drew from his own redundant resources those in
structive truths which were best likely to lead men
to repentance, and promote their holiness, happi
ness, and usefulness when they have become Chris
tians. " Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy
word is truth." This was his prayer, and this in
volved the great principle on which he conducted
his ministry. It was teeming with truth ; rich in
the doctrines of grace ; resplendent with those great
evangelical principles, which the Holy Spirit has
ever employed for the conversion of men, which
form the substance of the gospel, and constitute
the great torch-light of the nations as lifted up
from the cross of its Victim Teacher.
In the next place, he was a bold and fearless
preacher. Though meek and gentle as a Lamb,
his nature was bold and fearless. Well did this
moral courage become him as a " Leader and Com
mander to the people," and as the " Captain of
their salvation," called as he was to contend with'
deeply imbedded errors, with pervading vices,
with subtle enemies, with torpid indifference, with
flesh and blood, and principalities and powers in
high places. The gospel which he preached was
" to the Jew a stumbling-block, and to the Greek
foolishiness." Such were the fierce passions and
hostile array of a world that lieth in wickedness,
that not to oppose them would be to give false-

142 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
hood the victory over truth ; while to oppose: them
effectively, however meekly, would seem to be like
sending division and a sword.
There is an indiscretion, and blustering fool-
hardiness in some preachers, which finds no war
rant in his ministry. His counsel to those whom
he early sent forth was, " Be ye wise as serpents,
and harmless as doves." Never was this complex
character so beautifully exemplified, as throughout
the whole of his ministry from first to last. It was
early predicted of him, that as God's servant, " he
should deal prudently;" that " the Spirit of the
Lord should rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
and the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the
Lord." A recurrence to his preaching as given by
the Evangelists is the best comment upon this pre
diction. In his selection of times and places of
preaching, of men and classes to whom he preached,
and the truths that were adapted to their state of
mind, he was the wisest and most prudent of
preachers. He would not put a "piece of new
cloth into an old garment," nor " new wine into
old bottles ;" nor " cast pearls before swine." He
would not allow himself to be ensnared by the
subtle priests and elders ; nor by the shrewd law
yers of the Synagogue ; nor by the learned Phari
sees who " took counsel that they might entangle
him;" nor by the unbelieving Sadducees ; nor

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 143
ever led astray by the bigotry of his disciples. Ex
cept upon the great objects of his mission, he was
a man of remarkably reserved and cautious habits,
and was well apprised of the importance of his
own injunction, " Beware of men !"
Yet did the work to which he was called make
exacting demands upon his courage and faithful
ness. There were truths which he preached,
which, if he was not dismayed in the utterance
of them, threw his audience into dismay; and
which, though uttered without vehemence and
without impetuosity, excited the vehemence of
their hostilit)'-. The prediction just referred to
which speaks of his prudence, affirms, that " he
shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked." His words did not always descend as
the dew of heaven ; but sometimes, like the pier
cing hail, the sweeping whirlwind, the. destroying
sword, and the consuming, fire. He was a tremen
dous preacher of those obnoxious truths which
have thrown, the world into consternation. There
are those in the present age who are great sticklers
for orthodoxy, who, at the same time, are not a
little sparing of those great truths whiph he uttered
so»fearlessly that at one time his hearers led him
to the brow of the; hill in order to cast him down ;
at another, his nominal , disciples went back and
walked no more with him ; and at another, the

144 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Jews took up " stones to stone him." The Bible
does not record any such preacher of terror as that
divine Saviour, who, in one short discourse, thrice
utters the words, "There shall be weeping and
wailing and gnashing of teeth ;" and in another
equally short, thrice declares, that in that wretched
world, " the worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched." The rulers of the Jewish people were
no doubt jealous of his power, but they wrere still
more embittered against his doctrine. The fire was
long burning in their bosoms. Both the remote and
-proximate causes of the hostility which led them to
nail him to the cross, was their enmity to the truth,
and to him as its undaunted advocate. For nothing
more than his faithfulness as a preacher did they
become his infuriate enemies. They became weary
of being thus goaded by the truth, and at length
cried out, " Away with him ! Crucify ! crucify !"
He drew the line so distinctly between the
righteous and the wicked, that he did not suf
fer men to indulge presumptuous hopes without
rebuke. Were they as amiable as the young
Jewish ruler, he convinced them of their self-
deception ; as loud in their professions of piety as
the Jewish teachers, he unveiled their clamorous
pretences; as self-righteous as the Pharisee wtio
went up to the temple to pray, he hesitated not to
blast all their self-righteous expectations. He had
no desire to give offence ; yet he would not divest

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 145
the truth of its repulsiveness to the carnal heart,
nor rob it of its sting. He was not wanting in
kindness, nor did he lack the boldness to call men
and things by their right names. No religious
teacher was ever so fearless in this respect, and so
impartial in his personal application of the truth
to all classes of men, whatever their condition in
the church, or in the world. One great object of
his preaching would have been lost, if he had so
preached as to leave the impression upon the
minds of his hearers that he had no special rele
vancy to one man more than another. There was
no such indistinctness in his views, and therefore
no such indefiniteness in his instructions. The
great object of his sermon on the mount ; of his
parable of the ten virgins ; of the good fish and
the bad ; of the tares and the wheat, was to dis
tinguish between the righteous and the wicked ;
between the true and the false, the genuine and.
the spurious in piety, however men might be star
tled by the distinction, and however discouraging
such preaching might be regarded. That which
gave to his preaching its remarkable directness,
was the fact that it concerned his auditors, and had
immediate regard to their character and duty
When he uttered the parable of the vineyard,
the " Jews perceived that he had spoken the par
able against them? When he discoursed with the
woman of Samaria, her own conscience extorted
7

146 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
the confession, "Come see a man who told me all
things that ever I did." When he said to the ac
cusers of the offending woman, " He that is with
out sin among you, let him cast the first stone at
her," they were " convicted by their own con
science, and went out one by one."
Not unfrequently he was more bold and per
sonal. He said to the multitude who so eagerly
and ostentatiously followed him, " I know you, that
ye have not the love of God in you." He told the
Jewish people that " they were of their father, the
devil, and the lusts of their father they would do."
To the Scribes and Pharisees he uttered these tre
mendous words, "Ye serpents, ye generation of
vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?"
Under circumstances which the fastidious taste of
the age in which we live would have regarded as the
claims of silence upOn his courtesy, and when an
vited guest in the splendid banquet-hall of a
^ilncely Pharisee; he could not suppress the re
buke, " Ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the
cup and the platter, but your inward part is full
of ravening and wickedness;" "Woe unto you,
Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites ! Woe unto you law
yers, for ye lade men with burdens, grievous to be
borne, and ye yourselves touch them not with one
of your fingers." No influence of men in power
could dishearten, no danger intimidate him. He
would not allow the customs of the world to em-

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 147
barrass him in the work which God had given him
to do. This is boldness; calm, deliberate bold-~
ness. It was much to say of John Knox, " Here
lies one who never feared the face of man :" but it
is not much to say of him whom the fearful terrors
of the cross could not appal, and whose words
were soberness and truth.
Nor may the fact be overlooked, in the next
place, that he was an impressive and powerful
preacher. In the legitimate sense of the term, he
was popular, and interested the multitude. He
never preached to empty synagogues ; and when
he occupied the market or the mountain side,
they were not hundreds that listened' to his voice,
but thousands. It is recorded of him, that " his
fame went throughout all Syria ;" and that " there
followed him great multitudes of people from De
capolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and
from beyond Jordan." On that memorable day
when he went from the Mount of Olives to Judea,
"a great multitude spread their garments in the
way, and others cut down branches from the
trees," and all cried "Hosannah to the Son of
David!" After he uttered the parable of the
vineyard, the rulers " sought to lay hold of him,
but feared the people? When he " returned in
the power of the Spirit into Galilee, there went
out a fame of him throughout all the region
round about," and he " was glorified of all, and

148 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
great multitudes came together to hear him." So
much was he, for the time, the idol of the people,
that the chief priests and Pharisees were alarmed
at his popularity, and said among themselves, " If
we let him then alone, all men will believe on
him; behold, the world is gone after him." He
was the man of the people, and advocated the
cause of the people. We are told that "the com
mon people heard him gladly." He was " no re
specter of persons." He was the preacher to
man, as man. He never passed the door of pov
erty, and was not ashamed to be called "the
friend of publicans and sinners." His gospel was
and is the great and only bond of brotherhood ;
nor was there then, nor is there now, any other
universal brotherhood, than that which consists
in love and loyalty- to him. He was the only
safe reformer the world has seen, because he so
well understood the checks and balances by
which the masses are governed. His preaching,
like his character, bold and uncompromising as it
was, was also in the highest degree conservative.
He taught new truths, and he was the great vin
dicator of those that were old. All these thin°s
made him a most impressive, powerful, and at
tractive preacher. His very instructiveness, pru
dence, and boldness, interested the people. They
respected him for his acquaintance with the truth
and honored his discretion and fearlessness in pro-

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 149
*
claiming it. . This is human nature ; men love to
be thus instructed; they come to the house of
God for that purpose. A vapid and vapory
preacher may entertain them for the hour; a
smooth and flattering preacher may amuse them ;
a mere denunciator preacher may produce a
transient excitement; but such is the power of
'onscience, and such the power of God and the
wants of men, that, though their hearts naturally
hate God's truth, they will crowd the sanctuaries
where it is instructively, and fearlessly, and dis
creetly urged, while ignorance, and error, and a
coward preacher, put forth their voice to the list
less and the few.
Jesus uttered the truth with great simplicity
and plainness. His thoughts were clear ; the
meaning of his words was manifest ; his sentences
were unaffected and artless ; there was no compli
cation of argument or illustration in his dis
courses; they were all the natural and simple
expression of his own intelligent and pure mind.
They were intelligible to the meanest capacity.
He meant they should be intelligible ; and would
sometimes even make a pause in his discourse, and
ask his hearers if he was understood. He would
then repeat some uncomprehended thought ih
different forms. He was like a watchful shepherd
leading his flock ; he would retrace his steps, and
go back again and again, until every stray lamb

150 ME GLORY OP CHRIST.
Was brought into green pastures. He took great
pains to interest his audience ; he knew they must
be interested if they were profited by his preach
ing. Sometimes he would utter the substance of
a discourse in a single sentence, so terse and stri
king that it could never be forgotten. You read
a sermon in such a sentence as this : " Ye are the
salt of the earth ;" as this : "A good man out of the
good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good
things ; and an evil man out of the evil treasure
of his heart bringeth forth evil things ;" as this :
" The tree is known by its fruits ; as this : " Where
your treasure is, there shall your heart be also ;"
and as this : " If the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch ;" and as this : " If they
do these things in the green tree, what shall be
done in the dry ?" Sometimes he would select a
metaphor that would carry truth to the conscience
like a thunderbolt. And sometimes he would
adorn his thoughts, but with flowers, such as a
child might gather among the grass, and lilies of
the field.
It deserves remark also, that his preaching sa
vors more of illustration than argument. He
came to bear testimony to the truth, and as God's
witness. It was his own truth, and needed not
argument to substantiate it. Those who received
him as God's Messenger, received his message;
while those who would not receive the message on

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 151
the authority of the Messenger, would not be con*
vinced by argument. But while he took compar
atively littie pains to demonstrate the verity of
what he uttered, he felt the importance of illus
trating and impressing it. Nor did he fail to do so
by the most fitting and affecting methods. When
he would rebuke the aspiring spirit of his disci-
ciples, he " took a little child and set him in the
midst of them, and said unto them, Except ye be
come as this little child, ye cannot enter the king
dom of heaven." When he would read them the
lesson of mutual condescension, he took a basin of
water and washed their feet, and said unto them,
" If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your
feet, so ought ye also to wash one another's feet."
When he would inculcate the danger of apostasy,
he related the parable of the Relapsing Demo
niac. To inculcate the vanity of riches and
earthly hopes, he rehearsed the narrative of the
Rich Fool. To impress upon the minds of men
the aggravated sinfulness and danger of neglected
opportunities, he uttered the parable of the Bar
ren Fig Tree. Other preachers do not, ih this
respect, follow his example, for the obvious reason
that they are unable to follow it. With the single
exception of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, their
attempts to do so, have been a failure. The de
sign of all Christ's, parables was to illustrate and
enforce some great truth. The parable of the

152 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
^Merchant seeking goodly Pearls — the parable of
the Talents — the parable of the Good Samaritan
— of the Gospel Supper — of the King preparing
for War — of the Piece of Lost Silver — of the
Unjust Steward — of the Unjtist Judge and Widow
— of the. Pharisee and Publican — of the Laborers
hired at different hours— of the Thief in the
Night — of the Children in the Market Place—
and of the Strong Man keeping his House, was
each designed to present in living imagery, and
strong and graphic characters, its corresponding
and important truth. It was thus he held the at
tention of his hearers, and kept the avenues of
their minds open to what would otherwise have
been to them cold and uninteresting doctrines.
But it was the ardor and urgency of his preach
ing that gave it its greatest interest. His own
mind and heart were intent on his ministry, and
his whole soul absorbed in his work. There was
no affectation of zeal, but the honest and strong
emotions of a preacher who felt for the glory of
God and the salvation of men, as never man felt.
We cannot think of Christ as a cold and dull
preacher; the thing was impossible. When we
hear him say, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God ;"
" Strive to enter into the strait gate, for many
I say unto you shall seek to enter in,,. but shall not
be able ;" " What shall it profit a man to gain the
whole world , and lose his own soul ?" we know

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 153
what it was that made his discourses differ from
cold dissertations on morality, and frigid philoso
phical lectures, and the tame preaching of many a
Christian pulpit, that plays around the head, and
never aims its arrows at the conscience, or the
heart. It was this that made him eloquent. There
was heart within him ; there was heart in his
preaching, and what he most desired was the
hearts of those who heard him. It was the soul
that he longed to gain, and to free it from con
demnation and death. Honor he sought not, and
was content that men should " turn away their
faces from him for shame." Gold and silver he
had none, nor did he seek them. He knew they
would melt away; brilliant gems, and splendid
palaces would all vanish. Literary reputation he
did not ask for ; science and the arts, after having
accomplished their ends, would remain only among
the treasures of earth. He was God's Minister,
and set to watch for souls as they that must give
account. He was the Minister of that gospel in
which are " hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge;" which changes not with the discove
ries and the convulsions of time ; which saves the
soul from death ; and whose true value is known
only when all things earthly pass away.
The preaching of Christ was also distinguished
for its affectionate tenderness. There are faVbr-
ed moments in the preaching of almost every

154 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
minister, when he catches a portion of the spirit
of his divine Master; it warms his heart, illu
mines his countenance, gives tenderness even to
the modulations of his voice, and he speaks as
one who has been in the mount with God. When
the Proto-martyr Stephen preached in the presence
of the blood-thirsty men who condemned him, " all
that sat in the Council looking steadfastly on him,
saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."
What is so unusual with other preachers, was ha
bitual, was uniform with the Great Teacher. The
unequalled loveliness of his personal character was
a pledge of his deep interest both in the truths he
uttered, and in the salvation of men. This perfect
holiness imparted a sanctity to the excellence of
his natural character, and gave to it that heavenly
sensitiveness and delicacy of feeling which ren
dered him so acutely alive to human ipy and
woe. The sins and miseries of men affected his
holy mind, as no other mind was ever affected.
His sympathy was perfect ; " in all their afflictions,
he was afflicted ;" their joy filled him with gladness.
One would think that the most obstinate rebel
would have been silenced, and the most shame
faced and trembling penitent have been encouraged
.by those illustrations of divine compassion which
are so strongly marked, and of such touching pa
thos in his ministry. The gentlest emotions dwelt
' in his bosom, and the gentlest words flowed from

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 155
his tongue. He shook the Tree of Life not for its
fruit only, but for its budding promises. "Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are they that mourn ; for they
shall be comforted." He would revive the spirit
of the humble, and wipe away the tears from the
mourner's cheek. The meek, the merciful, the
pure in heart, the peace-makers, the persecuted,
and the reviled found in him the words of encour
agement and consolation. He knew the character
of men ; and when he saw them, in all their disquie
tude, helplessness and misery, wandering and be
wildered, and thirsting for good which they knew
not how to obtain ; often would he ascend some
eminence Trom which he might command a view
of the people, and there proclaim, " If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink." Those
there were to whom he preached, who felt the
burden of their sins, and were oppressed by re
morse; whose spirit drooped and who found no
relief from their anguish ; who were uncomforted
and without a resting-place ; and to them he would
utter the soothing invitation, " Come unto me all
ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give
you rest." Did some company of wretched sinners
stand before him who had wandered far from God,
and in the wilderness where they were wandering
found only the husks which the swine do eat, and
with no light to cheer, and no clue to guide them

156 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
back to their heavenly Father's house ; he would
paint before their eyes some prodigal youth and
favorite son perishing with hunger, doubting, re
solving, coming to himself, returning, welcomed,
and weeping upon his Father's bosom. They were
not unkind thoughts nor words of harshness when
he said to the detected woman, " Neither do I
condemn thee ; go and sin no more ;" nor when he
said of her who stood behind him weeping, and
washing his feet with her tears and wiping them
with the hair of her head, " She loved much, and
hath much forgiven !" nor when after the seeming
severity by which he put another's confidence to
the test, as though he would crush the dog that
crouched at his feet,, he said to her, " O woman !
great is thy faith ; be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt." How beautiful a scene was that when, with
the love of heaven beaming in his countenance,
and the grace of heaven flowing from his lips, he
turned to the captious Pharisees, and taking little
children into his arms, said, " Of such is the king
dom of heaven !" Look too at the picture so de
lightfully exhibited by John, where Mary and
Martha tell him of the death of Lazarus, and Mary
falls down at his feet weeping. The depressed.
and afflicted spirit of these bereaved sisters excited
the workings of that compassion which was all
tenderness and love. He entered into their sor
rows, and mingled his tears with theirs. " When

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. . 157
he saw Mary weeping, and the Jews also weeping
which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and
was troubled." With memorable solemnity he
had just said, "I am the resurrection and the life ;
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live ; and whosoever liveth, and believeth
in me shall never die ;" yet as they led him to the
grave of Lazarus, " Jesus wept." He often wept,
but we do not read that he ever wept for his own
sufferings. When he was going to the cross, he
turned round and said to the women who followed
him, " Weep not for me." A tear trembled in his
eye when he looked upon fallen Peter ; the look
that melted and rebuked this hasty disciple, was
the mingled look of rebuke and love — love which
even the perjured denial of his Lord could not ex
tinguish. And when after his resurrection, he
would have his Apostles meet him on the moun
tain in Galilee, and feared that this fallen disciple
might not deem it fitting for him thus to meet his
Lord; what tenderness was that which conde
scended to mention him by name, " Go tell my <
disciples and Peter, that I go before them into
Galilee, there shall they see me !" Yet was he as
holy as he was kind. His knocks at the door of
the human heart are at first gentle, and never wax
to the thundering voice of terror, except when his
long-suffering is exhausted. When he stood over
Jerusalem, it was not in stern and ill-omened si-

158 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
lence, but in the burstings of grief. It was the
place of his fathers' sepulchres ; the glory of the
Hebrew people; the pride of the world; the
Mount Zion that he loved. He gazed long on that
ill-fated city and wept over it. Next to Geth
semane and Calvary, it was his hour of sadness.
They were not angry words that he uttered ; they
were wrung from his bosom. His lips proclaim
his emotions, and his voice well high fails him, as
he exclaims, " O Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! hdw oft
would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, but ye would not !"
How august the scene, yet how unutterably tender !
Was there ever such a preacher ! The incarnate
God— Mary's Son — humanity in Deity, preaching
the glorious gospel to this lost and miserable.
world !
There is one more characteristic of Christ as a
preacher, which gave him still greater pre-eminence
and glory. I mean the perfect consistency between
his preaching and his character. In this he stands
alone, the single polar star of the moral hemisphere.
Every truth he uttered had its antetype in his own
thoughts ; every holy affection he inculcated had
its counterpart in his own heart ; every duty he
enjoined shone out in faultless perfection in his
own life. The most captious of his enemies could,
in no instance, turn upon him and say, " Physician,
heal thyself." There was no such preaching as

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 159
his holy life everywhere and always exemplifying,
and thus enforcing the gospel he uttered. He once
said to the multitude and to his' disciples, " The
Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat ; all there
fore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe
and do ; but do not ye after their works, for they
say and do not." This reproach, to some extent,
belongs to every preacher of the gospel the world
has seen, save one. Though in this he is most
fitly the object of our imitation, yet how imper
fectly is he imitated ! Compared with his, the lives
of the best of. ministers neutralize, if they do not
countervail their teaching. Yes, this is an humbling
and abasing thought ; but its verity and the force
of it are too obvious, and sometimes too startling
to be denied. And while we despair of success
fully imitating his personal excellence, let us honor
him by the effort to become more and more like
him. It should have an effect upon us as min
isters and as hearers, to keep his glory as a
preacher more steadily in our view. O that we
could see more of Christ in our ministry, and
more of the power of his gospel in those who
attend upon it. It Was not for want of pow
er in him as a preacher, that his ministry was
so ineffectual in the conversion of men. "He
came to his own, and his own received him not ;"
he " was rejected of that generation." And while
this is fearful demonstration of their obduracy,

160 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
and shows how the men. of Nineveh, and the
Queen of the South, and Sodom and Gomorrah
will rise up in the judgment against that genera
tion and condemn it, because a greater than Jonas
or Solomon were there ; it is at the same time
among the proofs that the days of his ministry
on the earth were not the days of his triumph,
but of his humiliation. He was not as yet to be
the conqueror, but to travel in chains to the cross
and the grave. Influences there were which he
was yet to control. The day of his exaltation was
coming, in which he would lead captivity captive,
and give gifts to men that the Lord God might
dwell among them ; influences which would mani
fest more brightly than ever his glory as a preach
er, and a day of glory when all nations should
bow before him. There were truths also he could
not inculcate, because they were not as yet truths.
While he lived he could not inculcate them, be
cause they were the great moral lessons of his
death. "Except a grain of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit." " And I, if I be lifted
up from the earth," saith he, " will draw all men
unto me." Herein is our privilege above his, and
those who hear us above those of the people to
whom he preached. We preach Christ actually
crucified. It is not Christ the preacher alone of
which we preach and you hear, but it is Christ the

CHRIST AS A PREACHER. 161
sufferer. The most impressive lessons he ever
taught were those when, in silent agony, he hung
in Calvary. I bow my knee before that cross. I
thank God that he allows me to preach ",Christ
crucified." This is the lesson he himself is now
reading to you, to me, to all, from his throne in
the heavens. This mighty healer now looks down
upon this hospital world, to cheer and revive it ;
upon this dungeon world, to break the chains of
its spiritual bondage ; upon this vast dormitory
of sin and sepulchre of death, to bid the sleeping
awake and the dead live. He is Christ, the power
of God and the wisdom of God.

CHAPTER VI.
THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES.
Some writer has remarked, that " it would have
been the greatest miracle of all, if the world had
received the Christian religion without miracles."
If there were those who were authorized by God
to bear the messages of his truth to men, it would
seem to be altogether a reasonable and proper
thing, that they should have been able, in the
first instance, to attest their divine mission, by
signs and wonders such as God only can perform.
God himself recognized the reasonableness of this
expectation, when he sent Moses and Aaron be
fore Pharaoh, and Moses and Elijah to ancient
Israel. It was not to be expected that the divine
mission and authority of Jesus Christ would be
acknowledged by the Jews, unless he brought
with him these high credentials. He was a man
of humble origin and life, with no adventitious
honors, alike destitute of wealth and power, and
promising no earthly reward to his followers ; yet
did he reveal a system of faith and practice so

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 163
foreign to the habits of the Jewish people, and so
hostile to a world that lieth in wickedness, that if
he could not have appealed to his miracles as evi
dence of his divine mission, there is norreason to
believe he would have been acknowledged as a
Teacher sent from God. The heaven-born reli
gion which he came to teach, had, indeed, very
many and concurrent credentials; but, whether
they were external or internal, or partook of these
mingled characteristics, they all indicated the im
mediate interposition of the Deity. Prophecy is
a miracle ; and even the self-evidencing power of
the gospel on the hearts of those who receive it,
so widely extended and so uniform, is itself mirac
ulous. Christ himself, who " hath the key of Da
vid, and openeth, and no man shutteth," is the
greatest of all miracles ; while the mighty works
he wrought, form the foundation on which the
gospel rests. And it is a foundation girt round
with strength, more firm than that which girds
the mountains. The church rests upon it, and has
risen, and will continue to rise, when the everlast
ing mountains are scattered, and the earth and all
that . is therein is burnt up. Miracles must hold
up Christianity, or it cannot stand. The history
of the Deistical controversy shows, that there is
no one class of arguments ¦ against which infidels
have combined their forces so strenuously, as the
argument from miracles. Some have maintained

164 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
that miracles are impossible; and some, that if
possible, they are so improbable as to be incapable
of proof.
These remarks evince the importance of the
subject to which the present chapter is devoted.
Though we do not propose to speak at large of
the doctrine of miracles, but only of the miracles
of Christ, yet we cannot do this intelligently,
without submitting a few observations at the out
set, on the subject of miracles generally.
What is a miracle ? Much depends upon a true
answer to this question. Is it merely an event
which is extraordinary and marvellous, and out
of the usual course of nature ? or is it an event or
occurrence, which to us is unaccountable, and for
which we can assign no sensible cause? Or will
you define it to be an event wrought by the im
mediate power of God? Or will you say, it is an
event which is contrary to the established laws of
nature, and one which involves a reversion, or sus
pension, or violation of those laws ? We are not
satisfied with either of these definitions. Fxtraordi
nary events are not miracles ; for then would every
earthquake, every monstrous birth, every resuscita
tion of suspended animation in the human frame,
be miraculous. Extraordinary events are not su
pernatural, "but rare occurrences, which accurate
inspection and a patient investigation of their
causes, show to have existed without any immedi-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 165
ate interposition of divine power. Lffects that are
inexplicable by us, are not miracles. What is an
unaccountable event to one man, may be easily
accounted, for by another ; and what is the obvi
ous effect of physical causes-, in the view of one
man, may be miraculous in the view of another,
who is ignorant of those causes. There are effects
which are the result of trick and necromancy ; of
sorcery and magic ; of art and deception ; where
the machinery by which they are produced is un
derstood by those who produce them, and their
causes are perfectly simple and easily explained.
- Such have been the advances in natural science,
that what is spoken in the ear in secret, may be
almost instantaneously communicated across moun
tains and continents, through rivers and seas, with
out any other reliance than on natural causes.
Medical science has made such progress in the
knowledge of the human frame, and in its acquaint
ance with natural causes hitherto unknown ; that
within its own well-defineddimitations, it produces -
results that astonish us. Yet none of these are
miracles, nor are they attributed to miraculous
power. Pretensions to miracle there have been ;
there were in the magicians of Egypt ; but the
effects were confessedly the result of " enchant
ment," and produced either by the agency of natu
ral causes known only to the initiated, or by de
moniacal power, given by God, and given to prove,

106 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
and not disprove the divine commission of those
whose authority they were intended to oppose.
There have been and are still such pretensions in
the church of Rome; and in modern mesmerism,
and in the agency of certain spirits whose invisible
knocking is supposed to convey responses from -the
unseen world ; but it were difficult to say of such
fictitious and ludicrous claims, which is the greater,
the wickedness of the deceivers, or the weakness
of the deceived. Miracle is not ignorance ; it is
not necromancy ; it is not nature and science ; it is
above and beyond them. Nor is it every miracle
that reverses, suspends, or violates the established
laws of nature. It is no violation of the laws of
nature that a sudden calm should succeed a storm ;
or that a sudden storm should succeed a calm ;
though, under supposable circumstances, such
events may carry with them the irresistible evi
dence of miracles. This definition of a miracle
exposes the subject to unanswerable difficulties.
A miracle is not a violation of any law of nature.
The laws of nature are neither violated, nor altered,
when a new effect is followed by a new and inad
equate cause. They are violated only when the
cause being exactly the same, a different effect is
the result. This is Mr. Hume's definition of a
miracle, and one which evinces the subtlety of
his reasoning when he affirms that a miracle is in
capable of proof. But what violation or alteration

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 167
of the laws of nature is it that God should be the
author of a miracle ? It may be out of the com-,
mon course of nature, but is not contrary to that
course. It may be a new and extraordinary effect,
resulting from a new and extraordinary cause;
while the laws of nature are no more violated by
it, than they were when God said, " Let there be
light, and there was light." A miracle is an event
nhich is above the power of the natural agent, and
produced by the immediate power of God. What
ever event is demonstrably above the power of the
immediate and visible agent, is miraculous. It
may perhaps be more definite to say, that a mira
cle is a supernatural effect produced by the imme
diate power of God, for the purpose of attesting the
divine mission of those who a/re sent to communi
cate his will to men,. This is the view which the
Scriptures give of miracles. The miracles there
recorded are not only ascribed to God alone, but
were wrought in proof of the divine mission of
those who performed them. Daniel said to Nebu
chadnezzar, " There is a God in heaven, that re-
vealeth secrets ; but as forme, this secret is not
revealed to me, for any wisdom that I have more
than any living." Joseph said to Pharaoh, " It is
not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of
peace." We are told that " God -wrought special
miracles by the hand of Paul ;" and that through
all the ministrations of the Apostles " God bore

168 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
them witness, both with signs, and wonders, and
divers miracles." These holy prophets were scru
pulous in disclaiming this power, and in attribut
ing it to God. " Ye men of Israel, why marvel at
this ? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though
by our own powers and holiness, we had made this
man well ?" The God of Abraham hath glorified
his Son Jesus; and his name, through faith in his
name, hath made this man whole." When the
Jews saw the works performed by Christ, they
made the confession, " No man can do the miracles
which thou doest, except God be with him."
It is not unimportant to remark that miracles
are performed by the immediate power of God.
Natural causes have no influence in producing
them. Like the rod of Moses and the blowing of
the ram's horns around the walls of Jericho, and
the branch cast into the waters of Marah, and the
smiting of the rock in Kadesh, and the clay upon
the eyes of him that was born blind, and the
touching of the bier of the widow's son, natural
instrumentalities are the mere indices and expo
nents of God's omnipotent will. In every instance
of miracle it is the finger of God, it is the voice of
God that produces it. Every miracle speaks for
him, and bears the signature of his power.
Miracles have an object. The uniformity with
which God governs the physical and the moral
world, is not thus disturbed without good and

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 169
sufficient reasons. The capricious interpositions of
his power, deviating from the ordinary course of
nature, and producing effects which contravene
the established method of his agency, would not
only destroy the confidence of men in the uniform
ity of his government, and thus put all human
calculations ^idrift upon an ocean of uncertainty,
but would be unworthy of God himself. There
must be a demand for this interposition, and there
was a demand for it. And that demand consisted
in the necessity of attesting the divine mission of
those who were sent with the messages of God's
truth to men. There have been " vanity and lying
divination" in the world ; there have been " signs
and lying wonders," which Satan and wicked men
may be able to produce ; but they profess to be
the work of creatures. They are expressly said to
be " after the working of Satan." They are not
performed in attestation of the divine mission of
those who perform them, but are got up for the
purpose of producing the false conviction that
there are other powers that are miraculous beside
the power of God. They do not, therefore, make
any pretensions to such attestation. The miracles
narrated in the Bible, as performed by Moses and
the prophets, and by Christ and his apostles, all
have this great and distinguishing characteristic.
They are marks of supernatural interposition in
giving -to the world the revelation of God's will.

170 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Their object was not to excite admiration even in
beholding the footsteps of him who doeth wonders,
and whose ways are unsearchable ; but to throw a
strong and irresistible beam of conviction upon
the eye of men, that those who addressed them
were sent of God.
With these few observations on the general
subject of miracles, we may, perhaps, be the better
prepared to take a view of the miracles of Christ.
The first remark which here most naturally pre
sents itself is, that they were actually performed.
There can be no doubt of the fact that there ap
peared in Judea, eighteen hundred years ago, a
man called Jesus of Nazareth, who wrought the
miracles of which we have an account in the New
Testament. This was never denied in the earlier
periods of the Christian era, even by the enemies
of Christianity. There was no impossibility in
these miracleg, unless we set bounds to the divine
omnipotence ; there was no improbability in them,
if we consider the high ends they were design
ed to promote. Improbable events may require
stronger testimony than those which are probable ;
but the most improbable, so long as they are pos
sible, are capable of being satisfactorily attested.
It was a most improbable event that the Israelites
should pass through the Red Sea, as on dry land ;
but it would have been a more improbable, nay,
an impossible event, that they themselves should

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 171
not know if they did or did not thus pass through
it; and if they_did not, equally impossible was it
that that whole nation should have conspired to
palm the falsehood upon the world, and should
have done it so successfully that contemporaneous
nations, so far from challenging, confirmed their
testimony. The confidence placed in human testimony does
not depend on the nature of the facts attested,
but on the credibility of those who attest them.
If it be conceded that the miracles of the Saviour
were not impossible events; the only question-
which presents itself to a fair mind, relates to the
credibility of the witnesses who attest them.
Their testimony ought unquestionably to be se
verely scrutinized, and the force of it deliberately
estimated. Circumstances not a few enter into
this question, and such as demand grave consider
ation. Who are the men, and what was their ob
ject in bearing testimony to these events ? What
interest had they in substantiating them? and
what were the circumstances in which they de
clared their conviction of the reality of what they
saw and heard ? Were they bad men and deceiv
ers ? Were they weak, credulous men, and easily
deceived ? Were the miracles which they attested,
in favor of a religious system that consulted their
national or individual prejudices? Were they
few in number, and men that had little opportu-

172 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
nity of being acquainted with the miracles them
selves? Is their testimony discordant, and at
variance with itself; and if not so, was their har
mony the result of preconcerted arrangement?
Were they gainers by their testimony, and
prompted by any considerations of personal inter
est? Were the miracles they attested wrought
privately, or in secluded places, or by night, and
in the presence of a few ? And were there other
concurrent witnesses and testimonials, confirming
their simple narrative, and placing their testimony
beyond dispute ?
We have the most satisfactory answer to these
inquiries. The character of these witnesses was
never impeached, even by their bitterest enemies.
They were plain men, but shrewd and sober men ;
and one of them so incredulous, that he refused to
believe in the testimony of his companions, until
he had seen the facts with his own eyes. The re
ligious system in favor of which the miracles they
attested were wrought, frowned on all their pre
possessions, and was established on the subversion
and ruins of their own system, so venerable for
its age, and for its splendor so flattering to theii
national pride. They were twelve men who were
Christ's companions for the three years of his
public ministry; There was just enough incidental
variety in their testimony to preclude the possi
bility of preconcert, and just such a concurrence

THE GLORY. OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 173
as establishes the great and essential facts. They
were, in every view, disinterested witnesses. Their
Leader instructed them that they must forsake all
and follow him ; and though some of them vainly
imagined that he came as a temporal Prince, and
would elevate them to dignity and power, yet
when they came „to be thoroughly disabused of
these imaginations, and found by experience that
they were no regal honors they attained to ; they
firmly adhered to their testimony, through pov
erty, contempt, and a persecuting malignity, that
was quenched only with their blood. They were
martyrs, not to a set of opinions, but for their
testimony to facts. One word of recantation — a
doubt — would have delivered them from this bar
barous doom ; but they " would not accept the de
liverance." The miracles they attested were per
formed in the open light of the sun, in the presence
of enemies as well as friends, in the streets and in
the Temple, in the city and in the villages, on
mountain and plain, inviting observation and scru
tiny, and open to detection, if there were any ap
pearance of fraud. Concurrent testimonials also,
ind concurrent witnesses there were, in the stand-
ng effects of this miraculous power, in established
md perpetuated memorials, and in the testimony
of the enemies of Christianity. It is a remarka
ble fact" that their testimony was uncontradicted.
It was not contradicted at the time, even by their

174 the glory of christ.
most violent persecutors ; in solemn council they
confessed "they could say nothing against it."
The chief priests and Pharisees made the confes
sion, " This man doeth many miracles? Peter ap
pealed to " the men of Israel, and told them that
they themselves knew, that Jesus of Nazareth was
a man approved by God, by wonders and miracles
which he did in the midst of them." Josephus,
the enemy of Christ, records in his Jewish antiqui
ties, that the man Jesus "performed many won
derful works." ^The Jewish traditions called the
Talmud, while they vilify Christ as a seducer of
the people and a sorcerer, acknowledge that he
performed numerous and wonderful works. Pon
tius Pilate, the Roman governor of 'Judea, gave
an account of his miracles to the Emperor Tibe
rias. Suetonius, Tacitus, the younger Pliny, ^Elius,
Lampridius, and other Roman historians, as quoted
by Dr. Lardner, in his " Heathen Testimonies," and
by Dr. McKnight in his " Credibility of the Gos
pel History," all confirm the narrative of the four
Evangelists. Celsus, Porphyry, and the Emperor
Julian, the first living in the second century, the
second in the third, and the last in the fourth, did
not deny the miracles of Christ, though they as
cribed them to magic. The fact also is patent as
- the day, that thousands of Jews and Pagans, who
were once the bitter persecutors of Christ and his
followerSj were, by this and other concurrent tes-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 175
timony, won over to the Christian faith ; cast in
their lot with the despised Christians, and with
them, " took joyfully the spoiling of their goods,"
and at last sealed their testimony with their
blood. These conflicts and triumphs of the early
disciples- and, martyrs to the Christian faith, stand
forth to the world as proofs of the miraculous
power of Christ, which cannot be resisted. They
arrested the attention and attracted the admira
tion of an admiring world. These early converts,
also, like the first apostles, did not suffer martyr
dom for their opinions, but for facts which forced
themselves upon their conviction. And may we
not demand, did this cloud of witnesses testify
falsely? Would not this have been a greater
miracle, less probable, and more in opposition to
the established laws of human conduct, as con
firmed by observation and consciousness, than the
miracles of Christ themselves ? We affirm, there
fore, that the miracles were actually performed!
To the men of that generation, one would think
the testimony was sufficiently convincing. We
are not surprised that the acknowledgment was
extorted from the lips of the Pharisees, " Behold,
the whole world is gone after him!" and only
wonder that the whole world did not become
Christian. In the next place, the miracles of Christ were
many and various. There was no needless multi-

176 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
plication of them, and no parade in the selection
of their objects ; yet were they more various in
their character than a careless reader of the Gos
pels would imagine, and more in number^ than
could be well recorded. There was no ostentation
in performing them. It was at no stated hour and
in no selected spot, and by no published programme
by which the multitude were assembled to witness
his mighty deeds. There was no trumpet sounded
and no national flag to salute him ; no military, or
civic pageant, no thunder of cannon, and no trium
phal arch to greet his quiet progress. It was in
the ordinary course of his ministrations that he per
formed these mighty deeds, and as " he went about
doing good." Many, very many instances of his
power are specified by the Evangelists ; but they
constitute a very small part of those which actu
ally existed. We read of his " healing great multi
tudes /" of " great multitudes coming to him and his
healing them all ;" and of people flocking from all
parts of the country, and bringing, to him those
who suffered under the varied maladies which flesh
is heir to, and many of them utterly incurable by
human power. The whole course of his three
years' ministry was thus employed. Wherever he
went, the people followed him in order to solicit
his healing power. It was a wonderful period of
the world while he was upon the earth ; and won
derful scenes were they that were exhibited in

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 177
Palestine during the years of his active ministry.
Just think of a man appearing in the Holy Land,
unostentatiously manifesting these miraculous pow
ers, and wherever he goes attracting the multitude
by his mighty deeds. What days of power were
these, and what days of glory to the Son of man !
Everywhere, throughout Judea, Samaria, and Gal
ilee the scene is repeated. They come from far ;
they would know the Great Teacher and hear his
voice, and see his wonders. And when one crowd
of applicants after another retires, with one voice
they exclaim, " When the Messiah cometh, will he
do greater things than these ?
Though the variety of his miracles could not be
as great as their number, yet was it as great as can
well be conceived. When the enemies of God's
ancient people were overcome, they attributed
their defeat to their ignorance of " the manner of
the God of the land." They encouraged them
selves with the thought that he is the " God of the
valleys and not the God of the hills." To rebuke
their presumption and convince them of his uni
versal power, God varied his miracles ; he caused
the sun and moon to stand still in their orbits, that
for once they might see that hill and valley, earth
and heaven were alike under the control of Israel's
God. I have tasked my own imagination and
have endeavored to think of some expression of
miraculous power which might have been made

178 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
by Christ, that he did not make ; and I have done
so in vain. I cannot think of one, unless it be
some capricious manifestation, and one that has no
object but a mere parade of power. Make the
experiment for yourself. What shall the miracle
be? Shall it be to change the elements? at the
marriage in Cana of Galilee, he changes water into
wine. Shall it be to heal the sick who are ready to ¦
die; Jesus said to the nobleman whose son was
sick at Capernaum, " Go thy way, thy son liveth,"
and at " the same hour the fever left him." Shall
it be the cure of the raving demoniac ; " Jesus re
buked the unclean spirit, and he came out of him."
Shall it be the healing of the leprous ; the restora
tion of the paralytic) the recovery of the infirm and
impotent; the withered hand restored; the blind
recovering their sight ; the deaf their hearing , the
dumb their speech ; the dropsical made whole ; the
lame walking, and the perished and lost limb of
the maimed created anew, and grown out afresh ?
All these things Jesus did. Shall he still the tem
pest ; hear him rebuking the winds, and the sea,
and making them calm, and then listen while the
witnesses exclaim, " What manner of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey him ?" Shall
he walk upon the sea as confidently and securely
as upon dry land ; " in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea,
and when they cried out for fear, he said to them

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 179
Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid." Shall
he, from a few barley loaves and small fishes, so
multiply them as to supply the wants of thousands ;
he not only does this, but the fragments that re
main are more than the food originally provided.
Would you see greater things than these ; go to
the village of Nain, and see him raise the widow's
on to life by touching the bier ; or stand by the
grave of Lazarus, and hear him say, " Lazarus, come
forth," and he that was dead comes forth bound
in grave clothes. What other acts of miraculous
power can the most skeptical mind require ? What
other can he think of which these do not imply,
and which are not less expressive than these ? Do
you say, he might have removed mountains, and
dried up rivers and oceans ; or turned in the sea
upon the solid land; or sunk cities ; or created and
peopled them in the desert; or transformed the
sandy desert into verdant fields ; these things,' and
others like them, he could have done ; and while
they would have demonstrated his power, they
would not show forth his wisdom. They were not
called for ; they would have been worse than use
less ; and if he had performed a thousand such mira
cles, they would have been no more convincing
than those which he actually performed. What
more than this, does the skeptical Jew, or the infi
del Gentile demand ? What is there that is more
demonstrative and significant ? Is there anything ?

180 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
There is one act of his power greater than
all these. What if he himself should sicken and
die ; what if you should see him even suspend
ed from the gibbet, or nailed to the cross, and
there, after his blood had trickled down, drop by
drop, taken down and laid in the sepulchre, and
then come back from the abodes of death, and
once more dwell, a living man with living men.
You shall see it all. The sun had crossed his me
ridian and was going down, when Jerusalem is
emptied of its inhabitants, and they stand gazing
on his cross. Many a long hour had he hung
there the sport of Jew and Roman, till at length
he cries, " Father, into thine hands I commit my
spirit," and then gives up the ghost. A Roman
soldier rudely plunges his spear through his heart,
in order to make sure that the murderous deed
was done. The quaking earth, the reeling city,
the veil of the Temple rent in twain from the top
to the bottom, the midnight darkness that came
over the land at noonday, the silent and retiring
multitude, all bear witness that Jesus of Nazareth
is no longer among the living. His lifeless body
sleeps in the garden in a new sepulchre. In the
mean time, unwonted scenes take place within the
city ; the dead came forth from their graves and
appear to many of its horror-stricken inhabitants.
And on the third day after his crucifixion, this
same Jesus, armed with the terrors of a second

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 181
earthquake, rises from the gr*ve, according to the
Scriptures, and appears to his disciples, who went
forth and preached through Jesus, the resurrection
of the dead. And to crown the whole, this same
Jesus, who thus expired on a cross between two
malefactors, and rose again on the third day, after
having lived forty days on the earth, left the earth
which despised and rejected him, and went back
to his Father's throne. There was a small com
pany of Christians, consisting of somewhat more
than five hundred, who were assembled on Mount
Olivet, who were witnesses of his ascension, when,
by his own Godlike omnipotence, he made the
clouds his chariot, and walked upon the wings of
the wind, and the distant heavens received him
out of their sight. Is it easy to conceive of a
greater variety of miracles than this ?
We remark, again, the miracles of Christ were
all of a benevolent character. Inspect them all,
from the first which he wrought at the marriage
in Cana, of Galilee, consecrated to social joy, to
the last, by which he ascended to heaven ; and
you will perceive that they are striking manifesta
tions of his love and mercy, as well as his power.
They were the applications of human want to
which he responded; and the cries of human
misery and helplessness which reached his ear. It
was the courtier's appeal for a suffering servant ;
it was the father's appeal for a dying daughter ; it

182 THE GLOSY OF CHRIST.
was the cry of the prostrate lunatic, or the foaming
demoniac to which he listened. It was the orphan
sisters weeping at the grave of their only brother,
and the lonely widow broken-hearted for the death
of her only son, with whom he sympathized. He
did not seek the rich, nor overlook the poor.
What he did was without fee or reward. He
asked only that these beneficiaries of his benevo
lent power should receive the greater gift of the
gospel of his grace. See that wretched demoniac,
naked and bleeding, "howling with agony as a
wanderer among the tombs." " Evil spirit, I com
mand thee to come out of him," says Jesus, and
the man is " sitting at his feet, clothed, and in his
right mind." Go to the lake of Genesaret, and
see that loathsome and frightful form, shut out
from the society of men, because " his flesh is pu
trefied, and inch by inch is dropping from his
bones." He had laid himself down to die ; but
roused by the tumult of the multitude, and told
that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he uttered
the cry, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean !" Every eye was fixed on Christ, and every
ear heard the prompt reply, " I will; be thou
clean !" Look, now, at that dense crowd of human
beings, pressing on every side, tossed as the trees
of the forest are shaken by the wind. It is a
" perfect sea of faces, and rocked as if it stood upon

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 183
the sea ;"* but it is composed of the helpless and
those who help them. They are parents who were
once the pride and glory of their children, and
children who were once the pride and glory of
their parents ; the rich and the poor, the maimed,
the halt, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the palsied,
the leprous, and the maniac. As fast as, one is
healed, another steps in his place. The more dis
tant and helpless begin to despair ; and as they
give utterance to their despondency, Jesus re
sponds, " All things are possible to him that be
lieveth; go in peace !" Such was the benevolent
character of his miracles ; they were not wrathful,
nor omens of wrath.
We remark again, the miracles of Christ were
strongly indicative of those greater cures which he
came to perform for the souls of men. They were
so in their nature, in the means by which they
were effected, and in the prescribed conditions on
which they were wrought. If we look at their
nature, we perceive that they were bright omens
of good to lost men, blind, deaf, diseased, and
dead as they are in trespasses and sins. One of
the most effective methods by which the minds of
Jew and Gentile were arrested, their prejudices
subdued, and their prepossessions enlisted in favor
of the gospel, was the fact that these miraculous
cures of the body preceded the cures which Christ
* See Croly's Salathiel.

184 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
came to effect for the soul. Men everywhere
needed to be convinced that Jesus Christ was
their best friend, and that he had no other object
than to promote their best interests for time and
eternity. There was great wisdom and love in
his selecting the most distressing diseases of the
body and the mind as the medium through which
his miraculous power was manifested. It showed
the benignity of his heart, and was fitted to dis
arm their suspicion, win their confidence, and in
dicate the nature and objects of his heavenly
mission. This thought demands more enlargement than
we can now give to it ; and we must content our
selves with merely selecting a few examples. The
miracle of giving sight to the man who was born
blind happily illustrates the spiritual illumination
of men when they are brought out of darkness
into God's marvellous light. They are born spirit
ually blind. " The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolish
ness unto him ; neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned." Jesus anointed the
eyes of the blind man with clay and told him to go
and wash in the pool of Siloam ; and when he had
done so he was restored to sight. So the dark and
benighted sinner, who obeys the voice of Jesus
Christ, and washes in Siloam 's fountain, is cured of
his blindness by God's effective grace ; sees spirit-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. » 185
¦fial things as he never before saw them, and be
comes a monument of the Redeemer's glory. He
may not be able to describe the process of the
work of grace in his soul, nor how this happy
change was brought about ; but he is conscious of
its effects, and can say with the restored Jew,
" One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, I
now see." Those instances in which Christ cured
men of the leprosy are among the most illustrious
miracles which he wrought ; and most beautifully
illustrate the power of his grace in cleansing the
soul from the defilement of sin. Just as the leper
forfeited his privileges, under the law, of approach
ing God in his sanctuary, has the sinner forfeited
his legal right of drawing nigh unto God. Just as
the leper was defiled and unclean and loathsome,
so is the sinner defiled and impure, and covered
with the wounds and sores and plague of sin. Just
as the leper was threatened with a slow and linger
ing death, so is the spiritual disease of the sinner
of the most alarming and dreadful kind, diffusing
itself throughout all the faculties of his mind and
heart, and everywhere spreading its malignity.
Just as the leper was required to have a just sense
of his loathsomeness, to lay his hand upon his
mouth, and cry unclean ! unclean ! so is the sinner
required to have just apprehensions of his vileness,
a deep sense, and a humiliating conviction of his
malady, Just as the leper fell at Jesus' feet, cry-

186 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ing " Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean/'
so is the guilty and perishing sinner's only refuge
and hope in the sovereign and almighty grace of
the adorable Saviour ; and just as the leper, in his
application to the great Healer, found himself a
recovered ¦ and new man, so the sinner, in thus
committing himself to the hands of the Redeemer,
is washed from his filthiness ; and though the re
mains of his distemper cleave to him, its deadly
poison is extracted, its power broken, and he lives.
The most emphatic miracles of Christ, and those
which excited the most admiration, were his rais
ing to life the daughter of Jairus, the widow's son
at Nain, and Lazarus. They were not only dis
eased, but dead ; the lamentations of the mourn
ers' had begun ; one of them was being borne to
his sepulchre, and the body of one had become
putrescent and lain in the grave four days. But
at Christ's command the departed spirit came again
to its earthly tabernacle, and they went forth into
the world among the living. So fallen man is not
only diseased and far gone in his spiritual malady,
but dead in trespasses and sins. Nor is there any
power that quickens him but the power of Christ.
" You hath he quickened who were dead in tres
passes aud sins." By him there is a complete res
urrection from the death of sin to a life of right
eousness. Christ is their life, and his mighty
power it is that quickens them. It is worthy of

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 187
remark also that the prescribed condition on which
Christ wrought his miracles was faith in him.
" Believest thou that I am able to do this ?" " Ac
cording to your faith be it unto you !" So faith
is the revealed condition of the gospel salvation.
" He that believeth shall be saved." Christ " is the
power of God- to every one that believeth." The
Saviour, also, as the great Healer, was accessible
to all ; no matter what their condition in the
world, nor how inveterate and hopeless the malady,
they had the privilege of applying to him. So
have men everywhere the same privilege and the
same access. There are no legal obstructions ; no
adamantine or fiery- walls of justice to exclude them
from entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.
The blood of Christ is a sovereign antidote, and
" cleanseth from all sin." No sinner that desires
it but may be admitted to his mercy. He need
not pine away in his iniquities, for " there is balm
in Gilead, and a physician there."
We remark, in the last place, the miracles of
Christ were always effective. We know they are
so, in regard to the diseases of the soul. He
" saves his people from their sins." They are no
longer alienated from God, but he is their chosen
portion. They are no longer led captive by Satan
at his will. Outwardly and inwardly, they are
new creatures. They are no longer odious in
God's sight, but the people whom he loves. His

188 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
wrath no longer abideth in them, nor are they
exposed to the arrest of his justice. There is per
fect relief in Christ, and he frees the soul " ff om
the law of sin and death." So did his miracles
while he was on the earth, accomplish their ob
ject. He «performed no partial cures, and left no
relics of the old malady which he attempted to
eradicate. He spake and it was done. Whatever
the malady was, no sooner did it come under his
treatment, than it was removed. The remedy
was complete and permanent. Filthiness was
washed away ; shame was covered ; fear removed ;
health, comfort, and joy, restored to the abodes
of despondency. Not one goes away disappointed
and in sadness. The eyes of the blind saw ; the
lame leaped as a hart; and the tongue of the
dumb sang. They were effects which transcended
the power of man; and in those cases in which
they were effected by means, the -means were not
only inadequate, but even adverse ; while for the
most part they were without the intervention of
means, and were effected by a touch, a word,
or a look. They were always instantaneous, and
never unsuccessful. In this respect they differ
from the whole class of cures effected by the
skill of men, and give the Great Physician the
everlasting pre-eminence. We do not disparage
the skill of man; nor are we unmindful of
those advances in science, which, under the reign

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 189
of the great Prince and Saviour, have contribu
ted so largely to the relief of human suffering.
Wonderful cures are effected even of the deaf-
and dumb ; but in no case is the recovery effected
by a look, a word, or a touch, and in none is it
complete. Medical skill,, through the, power of
natural causes, may give vigor to the torpid
nerves of the ear; but it cannot perform what the
Saviour did,, " touch the tongue," so that the re
covered deaf, without the aid of that culture
which so gradually produces articulate speech,
can "speak plainly." And it deserves remark,
that Jesus invoked no higher power, in the won
drous works he wrought, than his own. It was
not in another's name and by another's power that
he did these things ; but by his own power and
authority, for he himself was God, and competent
to perform the God-like work. The question
which he put to the two blind men that came to
him was, "Believe ye that /am able to do this?"
He did it, and he did it effectively for the objects
of his compassion, and for his own mighty pre
rogative, and for the introduction and extension
of his kingdom among men.
Such is a compendious view of the miracles of
Jesus Christ ; and do they not bespeak him glori
ous? Yet this is the Personage whom that
wretched generation nailed mangled and bleeding,
to the accursed tree. How true is the record,

190 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
" They hated me without a cause." They could
see no virtue where all virtue was. " Many good
works," saith he, "have I done among you; for
which of these do you stone me ?" This is the
man for whom they mingled such bitter wTaters
and on whom they wreaked their pitiless malig
nity. There was nothing in his character, nothing
in his deeds, nothing either in his influence, or his
object, that ought to have provoked them to this
cruelty ; yet the deed was done, that deed of in
fernal malignity, which shook their city and their
Temple ; which, in accordance with their own sol
emn and fearful imprecation, brought his blood
upon themselves and their children, and superin
duced over that blinded and wretched people, the
midnight darkness of eighteen centuries. No
marvel that as he stood over against that ill-fated
city, he wept. Thqy were but the convulsive
throes of his own divine tenderness, when he
bathed his face in his hands, and exclaimed, " O
Jerusalem ! Jerusalem !"
Take ye heed how ye reject this Great Healer.
The men of that generation had nearer and more
obvious testimony of his divine mission, from the
miracles he performed, than is possessed by the
men of this distant age. But the proof of his
miracles is not less real to us, than it was to them.
We have the testimony of apostles, because we
have their own record, and such abundant proof

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 191
of its genuineness and authenticity. No question
has been more" thoroughly scrutinized and sifted
than this, both by the enemies and friends of
Christianity, and none more satisfactorily settled
by the laws of evidence. Christianity cannot
afford to be credulous. The human mind cannot
demand greater evidence of a divine mission, than
is furnished by the credibility of the original wit
nesses to the miracles of Christ, and the genuine
ness and authenticity of their recorded testimony.
Death has called them away; their dust is per
ished, and no man knoweth the place of their
sepulchre; but their memorial remains. Their
evidence is not weakened by the distance of time
and place, because it is supported by facts, and
facts do not lie. We feel an interest that links us
to these bygone generations, and these entombed
witnesses, because we have the same faculties of
judgment, the same responsibility, the same wants,
and the same immortality. Our gospel was theirs ;
our faith was theirs ; our hope, our salvation, rest
on the same basis with theirs. We believe in
Christ, " for his works' sake." The appeal which
he made to them, he makes to us : " The works
which the Father hath given me to finish," says
he, "these same works do bear witness of me,
that the Father hath sent me." Here we rest our
confidence, and here they rested theirs, when in
the depth of their solitude, they entered the

192 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
prison from which they went out only to bare
their neck to the axe of the executioner. The
life-giving power of that gospel which gave them
victory, when Roman lictors threw off their head
less trunks from the scaffold, and cast them to
Nero's lions, cheers us with the light of immor
tality, even as they were cheered. Jesus said to
the Jews,- "If I had not done among them the
works which no other man did, they had not had
sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin."
He came to be the Saviour of men ; nor will he
now cast out any that come to him, any more
than he cast any who came to him in the days of
his flesh ; no, not one ! " Him that cometh unto
me, I will in no wise cast out." He still heals the
broken heart, and binds up the prisoner's wounds.
He still preaches the forgiveness of sin, and cures
the ills which sin has caused. He still enters the
strong man's house and spoils his goods, and de
stroys the works, and breaks the chains of that
Great Enemy who leads men captive at his will.
He still raises the dead in trespasses and sin, and
quickens whom he will. " Verily I say unto you,
the hour is coming and now is, when they that
are in their graves shall hear his voice, and they
that hear shall live."
I would not turn away from such a Healer.
I would not reject such evidence of his mission. I
would not refuse to inquire and satisfy myself of

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 193
the foundation of his claims. Nor would I be
long in prosecuting that inquiry, nor slow of heart
to believe in him, lest he should come suddenly
and shut the door of hope. The remedy is
simple : " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved." You will be won over to
him, if you once see him in his true loveliness and
glory. There is form and comeliness in him, and
beauty, and everything to make him to be desired.
" Ne'er in heaven's mansions, calm and bright,
Did his immortal brow-
Send forth its pure, celestial light,
More gloriously than now.''
Great Physician ! Almighty Healer ! come to us
from thine own mansions, and show us thy glory
here, in this low, dark world. Every one who,
having seen the Son, hath believed in him, hath
everlasting life. Say not, I know he can heal me,
and save me ; but I am unworthy ! So thought
the suffering paralytic. ~But Jesus said to him,
uMy son I" — they were strange words, but they
opened the sufferer's mind to new views, and new
confidence in the Divine Healer — "My son, be of
good courage, thy sins are forgiven thee I"

CHAPTER VII.
THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION.
Mountain scenery makes a strong, if not the
strongest appeal from the world of nature to re
ligious emotions. It is not the valley, nor the
plain, where all is sweetness and tranquillity, which
speaks most emphatically to those sentiments'
within us that are waked up either by the sublime
or the beautiful. It is not the ocean, now breath
less, now swelling under the soft breeze, and now
tossed by storms. It is not the crowded city, nor
the lonely desert, skirted, though it may be with
rock and tower, and many a memorial of bold
adventure. It is rather the mountain range, rising
above plain and city, desert and ocean ; sometimes
crowned with clouds and sometimes brilliant with
light; while here and there some bold and lofty
peak shoots upward, glowing in azure beauty,
clothed with majesty, and struggling for ages with
the lightning's blast, and the fury of the hurricane.
Mount Tabor stands alone. It is a lofty moun
tain nearly three miles in height, in the northern

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 195
border of the plain of Esdraelon, and not far from
fifty miles north of Jerusalem. Both ancient and
modern travellers speak of the view from the sum
mit as one of the most beautiful in Palestine. A
late writer says of it, " From the summit of Tabor,
the eye wandered over the whole glory of the
Land of Promise. To the south extended the
mountains of Samaria, their peaked summits glow
ing in the sun with the colored brilliancy of a
chain of gems. To the east, lay the lake of Tibe
rias, a long line of purple. Northward, like a
thousand rainbows, ascended, lit by the western
flame, the mountains of Gilboa where the spear of
Saul was broken, and the first curse of Jewish ob
duracy was branded upon Israel in the blood of
their first king. Closing the superb circle, ascend
ing step by step, the south-eastern chain of the
mountains of Lebanon were seen soaring into the
very heavens." On this mountain Barak encamped
with ten thousand of the men of Zebulon and
Naphthali, on the eve of the battle with Sisera, in
which Israel were the conquerors, and sang that
song, " So let thine enemies perish, O Lord ; but
let them that love him be as the sun when he
goeth forth in his strength." It was from this
mountain, that in our own day that great con
queror that made Europe tremble, descended upon
the fierce Turk, and routed his army on the plain
below. And here, on this lofty eminence, if un-

196 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
contradicted tradition may be relied on, was the
wonderful scene of Christ's transfiguration. This
scene is the subject of the present chapter ; it is
THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION.
There were scenes in the life of the Saviour, in
which the lustre of his divine glory broke through
the dense veil which enveloped it by his assump
tion of our abject nature. Such was that exhibit
ed at his baptism; when the Spirit, like a dove,
rested upon him, and a voice was heard from heav
en, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased." Such were the scenes of his
miraculous power ; when " the God shone gracious
through the man," and in his own name, and by his
own authority he performed what none but the
Deity could perform. Such was the scene on Ta
bor, when he " took Peter, James and John, and
brought them up into an high mountain apart,
and was transfigured before them."
So peculiar and impressive was this manifesta
tion, that it was made only in the presence of
three of his disciples. It was not on this occasion
only, that he thus distinguished these three apos
tles. When he raised the daughter of Jairus, he
permitted only these to follow him. When he
endured his agony in the garden, these three only
were allowed to be its witnesses. So great indeed
was the distinction he conferred upon them that
they were regarded as the chief in the apostol-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 197
ical family. Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians,
speaks of James, Cephas and John as those who
seemed to " be pillars." The scene about to be
exhibited was not to be disclosed until after his
resurrection ; and it may be that Christ thought it
safe only with these three trusty men. We do
not know all the reasons for this distinction ; but
it is enough for us to know, that he wisely selected v
those whose united testimony might substantiate
this great fact for the edification and comfort of
those who fear God in all future time. In order
to give additional interest to this transaction,
Moses and Elias, long acquainted with each other
in heaven, came from that blessed world to witness
this wonder on the earth ; and themselves appeared
in glory to converse with Christ concerning his
approaching death. It was a scene of deep inter
est, when these favored disciples, absorbed in their
own thoughts, thus accompanied their master to
this Holy Mount. They knew not why it was
that he led them thither ; but no sooner had they
reached its summit, than unearthly glories shone
around them, and unearthly sounds came upon
their ear.
We may well approach this scene with religious
fear, and holy admiration. Nine of the choseri
apostles were prohibited from beholding it; the
three who did behold it, are long since fallen
asleep ; and it were presumption in us, now, at

198 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
the distance of eighteen centuries, to hope to
draw aside the veil, and disclose all its wonders.
It suggests to us the four following thoughts.
Of all the great realities which this scene dis
closes, the first is the glory of the God-Man Medi
ator. The low and abased condition of the Son
of God, during the period of his Incarnation, was
an unnatural condition. It was a humiliation vol
untarily assumed; a stoop from his original dig
nity; a descent from his previous elevation; a
condescending resignation of his superior claims ;
and a renouncement of the pre-eminent station
which he had before occupied. Heaven was his
primeval residence, and there he possessed "the
glory of his Father before the world was." No
being was more exalted, for he " was in the form
of God." "He made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men." He was emphati
cally transformed and transfigured by his assump
tion of our nature ; and in the scene before us, he
is transformed again; he lays aside for a while
his condescension and humiliation, and rises to
some faint exhibitions of the majesty with which
he was originally invested. " The fulness of the
Godhead which dwelt in him, for a little time
shines forth in his humanity. '
When the prophet Daniel in vision beheld him,
his " garment was white as snow, and the hair of

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 199
his head, as pure wool ;" of such " exceeding white
ness, that no fuller on earth could whiten them."
That glory which had been covered and hidden,
now for the first time was manifested to men, as it
is to the blessed in heaven. That visage, " marred
more than any man's, and his form more than
the sons of men," was luminous, and shone as the
"Sun, and his raiment was^ white as the light."
He threw off his low attire, and put on his un
earthly robes. He rose to something of his true
grandeur, and manifested himself in a majesty
and glory that made him the object of admiring
adoration, both to the living and the dead. Moses
and Elias, with the three selected disciples, no
longer looked upon him as in the fashion and like
ness of a mere man, but worshipped him as in the
form of God.
There are some incidents in this transaction,
which would lead us to conclude that for a part
of the time, these three disciples were asleep;
and that when they awoke to see this strange
spectacle, like Jacob in the open field, they were
constrained to exclaim, " the Lord is in this place,
and I knew, it not." Their surprise was the
greater, in that, though they came alone with Je
sus infb this desert mountain, they now beheld?
him in company with two others, who were also
covered with unearthly glory, and conversed with
Christ. These apostles had never seen them ; did

200 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
not know them, except as distinguished strangers,
and perhaps some angelic visitants. Yet nothing
was more simple, or more natural, than that, as
they heard Jesus converse with them and identify
them, they should recognize them as the two most
illustrious prophets of the Hebrew race, since its
foundation to the coming of the Messiah. It was
altogether a most wonderful exhibition. Their
divine Lord concealed this exhibition of his glory
from the world. " The world knew him not," and
knows him not now; but the eye of sense then
beheld, and now the eye of faith beholds him, as
"the glory of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth."
The import of this appearance of the Son of
Man, in the shining figure of a glorified body, and
the Father, from the bright cloud that over
shadowed him, proclaiming him to be "his well-
beloved Son," no man can understand who ques
tions the Saviour's Divinity. Like his incarna
tion, it is glorious for its mysteriousness. It was
as beautiful in its objects and aims, as it was un
expected and marvellous. It was indeed scarcely
in keeping with the low condition and humble
views of him who was born in the manger, and
who had not where to lay his head ; who entered
into this world as the theatre of his humiliation,
and who was going up to Jerusalem to meet the
death of the cross ; to aspire to the inexpressible

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 201
dignity of this wonderful hour. But it was kind
to his disciples, kind to his church, and, in the dis
pensations of the divine government, unspeakably
kind to him. It was his more formal consecration
to his work of suffering. It was the lighting up
of his course before he descended into the dark
vale of his approaching sorrows. It was heaven's
" anointing to his burial." It was the attestation
of his Father's love, not to be forgotten when he
hung in agony on the cross.
But this was not all its object ; there is another
truth suggested by this scene. We are told by
the Evangelist, that as theycame down from the
mountain, Jesus charged the three disciples to
" tell no man the vision, until the Son of Man be
risen again from the dead.". There were disclo
sures on the mount which the Saviour knew could
not fail to irritate the Jewish rulers and people,
and which therefore were to be kept secret until
he had accomplished the vision and prophecy by
his death and resurrection. The Jews believed
that their law would remain in full force under
the gospel. The strength and extent of this pop
ular prejudice was one of the most formidable bar
riers to the dissemination of the gospel among a
people whose pride it was that they were the de
scendants of Abraham, and who so often exulted
in the superiority of their own Lawgiver. It was
the design of the Saviour to " take away the first
9*

202 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
covenant, that he might establish a second." The
ceremonial law formed altogether of positive in
stitutions, and founded on mutable and not immu
table reasons, was of such a nature that it might
be abrogated, whenever it was no longer necessary
tp preserve one nation distinct from all the na
tions of the earth as a^ religious community. I
was plainly predicted in the Old Testament, tha
this dispensation should be abrogated by another,
and more mild and life-giving dispensation. And
this abrogation, the Saviour intimates, should ac
tually take place -at his death and resurrection.
The ceremonial dispensation is revealed and en
forced in " the Law and in the Prophets." But
what do we behold on the Mount of Transfigura
tion ? Moses, the great Lawgiver, and Elijah, the
great Prophet, the two most distinguished minis
ters of the old dispensation, miraculously called
from heaven for the express purpose of bearing
witness to the Messiah ; of paying their homage to
the more illustrious Author of the Christian dis
pensation, and to lay. down their authority at his
feet. It was a constant and prevalent tradition
among the Jews, that both Moses and Elijah
should appear in the times of the Messiah ; and to
this tradition the disciples refer after they came
from the Mount, when they inquire of Christ,
" Why then say the Scribes, that Elias must first
come ?" The character and history of Moses, as

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 203
the great Jewish Lawgiver, were famous for ages,
and in almost all countries of the world. Elijah
was scarcely less distinguished, as the chief of the
Prophets, as the founder and head of the school
of the prophets which God instituted under
Samuel ; as the favored individual who was trans
lated to heaven without tasting of death ; and
whom the Jews supposed to have appeared on
the earth in the person of Christ. Yet these two
greatest and most honored of God's ancient ser
vants descend from heaven to acknowledge Jesus
Christ as their Lord, and to speak of his death as
the end of the Law and the great subject of all
the predictions of the Prophets.
When Moses was' about to depart from the chil
dren of Israel, he told them, " A Prophet shall the
Lord God raise up unto thee of thy brethren, like
unto me ; unto him shall ye hearken." Here on
the Mount of Transfiguration is that great Prophet,
according to the divine word. When Moses died,
the cloud of glory which had overshadowed Israel
in the wilderness, departed ; now it is restored, and
a voice out of that cloud testifies, " This is my be
loved Son in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye
him!" The three disciples would fain have de
tained Moses and Elijah upon the Mount, to listen-
to their instructions still ; but a voice from heaven
suppressed the untimely thought, and spoke to
them out of the cloud, and said, " This is he ; hear

204 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ye him!" It is in him that I have delighted. He
is now your Lawyer and Prophet. Hear him!
Moses and Elias were my servants ; he is my well-
beloved Son. He is the way, the truth, and the
life ; and no man " cometh unto the Father, but by
him? What greater evidence of its kind, can there
be of the abrogation of the Old and the confirma
tion of the New Covenant, than is here given by
Moses, the great prophet of the Jews ; by Elias,
the great prophet of Jews and Greeks ; by Christ,
the great Author of the Christian dispensation ;
and by God the Father, the great Lord of all ?
Moses and Elias come from the world of spirits to
wait upon their divine Lord. His own power
brought them down upon Mount Tabor, to con
fess that a greater than Moses, or Elias, was there.
This is the reason why these two men, above all
the race of Adam, were called to act a part in this
wonderful scene. Christ converses with them, rec
ognizing their authority and honoring their office,
but giving them their proper place. They con
verse with him, but it is concerning his " decease,
which he should accomplish at Jerusalem," by
which the great end of their mission was accom
plish ed,_and no longer had any binding force, or*
obligation. These dispensations differ only as the " letter
killeth and the Spirit giveth life ;" as the old is

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 205
the shadow of the new, and the new the light of
the old ; as the old is the new under the thick,
dark cloud, and thundering of Sinai, and the new
is the old under the bright sunshine and heavenly
voice of Tabor. Christ is under a cloud in the one,
he is in his glory in the other. " The law is but
the shadow- of good things to come." The Old
Testament is the text of the New, and the New is
a commentary upon the Old. " The whole reve
lation of God is here wrapt up and rolled together
in itself, showing Moses, Elias, and Christ talking
together upon the mount." Let us be thankful that
our allotment is cast, not under the dark cloud
and burning lava of Sinai, but under the mild and
clear radiance of that illumined mountain, whence
the voice, not of the mere lawgiver and judge, but
the voice of our heavenly Father utters the lan
guage, " This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased ; hear ye him." " By the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified." " Our righteous
nesses are as filthy rags." The day-spring from on
high has dawned upon us, ,a flood of light from
Tabor and Calvary is poured upon our path. If
the Jews were favored above the heathen, how
much more are we favored than the Jews ! and
" how shall we escape if we neglect so great salva
tion?" This scene also suggests another thought, and
of a different kind." The reality of the world of

206 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
spirits, and the immortality of the soul ; the res
urrection of the body, and the doctrine of future
rewards and punishments, are truths that are sub
stantiated by a great variety of evidence. The
varied testimony by which the Scriptures are de
monstrated to be a plenary revelation from heaven,
prove these truths on the testimony of that great
Being who cannot lie.
But there is one species of testimony not to be
resisted even by the most skeptical and unbeliev
ing mind. It is that which results from his own
experience. If these doctrines are true, every man
at death will find them to be true. The moment
his soul leaves his body and he enters the world
of spirits, he will see for himself that there is such
a world. The righteous will see this the moment
they enter heaven ; and the wicked will see it the
moment they enter their gloomy prison. They
will have the most perfect conviction of the truth
of a future state, and of all the realities of an
unchanging eternity. Allied to this species of
testimony, would be the testimony of those who
have already died, and who should be permitted
to come, back to this world and bear witness to
us of what they themselves have seen and heard
in regions beyond the grave. Were the inter
course between this and the future world more
frequent ; could we travel into eternity as we can
travel into foreign* lands, and see its wonders, and

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 207
then come back and dwell on the earth, we should
no longer doubt the reality of the world of spirits
and a future state of rewards and punishments.
Or could those whom we have often seen, and
with whom we have engaged in the common busi
ness of life, and who have eaten at the same table
or slept in the same bed with us, return from that
world for a short period, and walk these streets,
and visit our dwellings, or even appear to us in
the night watches, and whisper to us that the rev
elations which God has made in his word are no
cunningly devised fables, and that there is in truth
a heaven and a hell ; it seems to us that we should
be no longer faithless, but believing. One of the
difficulties men profess to have in not believing
these solemn realities, is that so few who die ever
return to this world. Our friends pass away, and
we see them no more ; we hear of them no more.
Age after age, and generation after generation
passes away, and none come back to tell us where
they have been, or where we shall go. No, not
one word have we heard from that distant coun
try for these eighteen hundred years ! Eighteen
hundred years ago, he who inhabiteth eternity,
gave the command; Seal up the sayings of the pro
phecy of this book.
The rich man in the parable who went to hell,
is represented as soliciting Abraham to send Laz
arus to his father's house, that he might "testify

208 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
unto them, lest they also come to the place of tor
ment." Abraham makes no other reply than this :
" They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear
them ;" and when still importuned, he replies, " If
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they hear, though one rose from the dead." The
request was unreasonable, and it would be unrea
sonable now. It were impossible to repeat this
sort of testimony frequently enough to satisfy all
the demands of a skeptical mind, without breaking
down all the barriers between timev and eternity,
and throwing this, world into a state of trembling
and consternation which it could not endure. And
it would be utterly useless. Men who do not be
lieve the Bible would not believe even such testi
mony as this. The true difficulty lies not in the
want of evidence, but in a corrupted heart. Let
pure and holy spirits come down from heaven,
or let the dark and scathed sufferers be evoked
from their deep abyss ; and no sooner would the
terrors of the moment be over, than a skeptical
mind would find a thousand reasons for uncertainty
and doubt.
It were reasonable to look for this testimony to
some extent ; and to this extent men already have
it, in the word of God. What they could not en
dure to hear, God has revealed. He has called up
the miserable tenants of the world of woe and
taken their narrative and copied it out in his

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 209
word. He has called down the bright spirits
from heaven, and received and recorded their tes
timony. There is the son of the Shunamite raised
by Elijah; there is Lazarus raised by Christ;
.there is the rich man in the parable narrating his
bitter woes; and there are Moses and Elias de
scending on the top of Tabor, hidden from the
gaze of the curious multitude, but leaving their
testimony to the realities of the eternal world,
as well as to the sufficiency and perfection of -the
Sacred Writings.
Moses had been dead upwards of fourteen hun
dred years; and Elias had been translated near
nine hundred years before. Yet they were still
existing. They appeared on the mount. They
conversed with Christ. They had a corporeal
form; Elijah, the same body he had while here
on earth, and Moses with a body raised from the
dead, as a pledge of the great resurrection.
Where had they been ; what portion of the uni
verse had they occupied; what had been their
employments, and what" their state, during the
long centuries in which they had been absent from
this earth ?
Is there then no world of spirits — no immor
tality — no resurrection — no reward and punish
ment beyond the grave? Does death chill and
freeze forever the current of human existence?
Shall that cold clay bloom no more ? and that eye

210 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
never more beam with lustre ? and no voice be
ever again heard from those lips that moulder in
the tomb ? Go to Tabor, and see and hear, while
the bosoms of the long since departed glow, and
their eyes kindle, and their lips are fervid, as they
speak of the decease which their Lord should ac
complish at Jerusalem. No, it is not in vain that
we wander along the shores of that unseen world.
A sound does reach us over this vast abyss of wa
ters. The waves of eternity w'ill give up their
dead. The Son of Man shall come in the glory
of his Father, as he came on Tabor to his aston
ished and adoring disciples.
The scene on Tabor made such an impression on
the mind of Peter, that long after it we hear him
saying, " We have not followed cunningly devised
fables when we made known unto you the power
and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye
witnesses of his majesty. For he received from
God the Father honor and glory, when there came
to him such a voice from the excellent glory, " This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
And this voice which came from heaven, we heard
when we were with him in the Holy Mount." Let
such be our impressions of the vivid realities of the
coming world ! It is but the pretext of unbelief,
that we cannot see and hear these things for our
selves. Never will another return from these invis
ible regions, to confirm our faith., No, never ! The

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 211
next audible voice we hear from that world, will
be the voice of the archangel, and the trump of
God ; the next ocular demonstration of the reali
ties of that world, will be the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven, in the glory of his
Father. But the most important thought suggested by
this scene, remains to be considered. What was
it that thus attracted these glorified men from
their abodes of light, once more to visit this lower
world ? It was to have a personal interview with
their adorable Saviour, whom they had so often
beheld on Mount Zion above ; with whom they
had so often held sweet communion there, and at
whose feet they had so often cast their crowns.
And what was the subject of their interview, and
what the subject of their delighted colloquy ? It
was a most affecting, amazing theme. They " spake
of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jeru
salem." They knew it was to be accomplished,
for they had spoken and written of it, and had
announced it to the world.
It would be unnatural in us not to have some
desires to know the substance of their conversa
tion. But as it was for wise reasons hidden from
the nine disciples who were not permitted to as
cend the mountain, so it is wisely concealed from
us. From what we know of their intellectual
and spiritual character while they dwelt among

212 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
men; from their familiarity and interest in the
theme ; from their augmented knowledge and
holiness, perfected by their long residence in the
heavenly world, and from the immediate presence
of their Lord; we have reason to believe that
their discourse upon this great subject, wras th
most instructive and tender, the most pure and
holy, that ever fell from the lips of men. Bu
not one wrord of it is left on record. They did
not narrate it to the other disciples; nor were
they allowed even to mention the vision itself,
" until after . the Son of Man had risen from the
dead." We can only conjecture what it was. Was it
the expression of their sympathy with the ap
proaching sorrows of their Lord ? Amid the lustre
of that memorable scene, did they foresee the ter
rors of his death, and the rising tempest that wras
about to burst on his guiltless head ? Did they
speak of the sadness of the garden, the clamors of
the infuriate populace and their scorn and spitting,
the iniquitous trial, the barbarous sentence, the
crown of thorns, the bitter passion, the splendor
of his present glory between the two greatest pro
phets, contrasted with his approaching infamy be
tween two thieves, and the awful moment fixed
from eternity for the righteous One to be stricken
by the hand of justice, and for the Author of life
to die ? Were thoughts like these present to their

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 213
minds ; and while they marked his heavenly sub
mission and calm serenity, would they fain have
soothed his sorrows, as both he and they turned
their eyes toward his cross ? Or did they dwell on
the necessity and efficacy of his death as the only
foundation of pardon and life to penitent and be
lieving men ; as the consummation of all the scenes
through which he had passed for the purpose of
" making his soul an offering for sin ;" and as giving
the finishing stroke to his character as the mighty
Saviour, the great and glorious Deliverer of his
people ? Or did they indulge their strongest and
most admiring expressions of his marvellous love to
;this sinful and perishing world, and tell how it
was "stronger than death." Or did they glance at
its great and glorious consequences, and speak of
the attraction and conquests of his cross ; of the
travail of his soul which he should see ; of the mul
titudes who would " be turned from dumb idols
to serve the living and true God, and to wait for
his Son from heaven ;" of the " gathering of the
people" unto the predicted Shiloh ; of the thousand
channels through which the healing waters of life
hould flow ; of the Jews and Heathens who should
De raised to a partnership with him on his throne ;
>f the concurrence of all the arrangements of divine
providence, and all its resources, with the designs
of his redemption ; of the effusions of his Spirit,
and the subjection of the world to his dominion ;

214 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
of the place which his accomplished decease should
occupy in the history of time and the develop
ments of eternity, when heaven should be filled
with the brightness of its glory, and every holy
creature in the universe shall say, " Blessing, and
honor, and glory, and power be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb !" We
do not know ; and only know that the subject of
their discourse was the greatest and most affecting
that ever employed the lips of men, the song of
angels, or the thoughts of Deity. It was the great
mystery of the Divine mind before the foundations
of the world. It was the song of angels when he
was born, their sympathy when they appeared to
strengthen him in the garden, their wondrous
vision when he died. Men had read, and heard,
and thought of it ; philosophers had discussed it ;
the nations had been agitated by it ; and when the
mournful scene was realized, we are told, that " all
the people that came together to that sight, be
holding the things that were done, smote upon
their breasts and returned !" The " decease ac
complished at Jerusalem? imparts a portion of its
own grandeur and solemnity to the very spot
where it was accomplished. Even now, " trodden
down as it is by the Gentiles," there is no such
spot as that ancient " City of our God," consecrated
by this Great Sacrifice ; rendered memorable by
the most solemn and affecting spectacle in earth,

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 215
or heaven ; and marked, even at the present hour,
with the scarcely retired sackcloth and darkness
that first veiled it when this mighty sufferer said,
" It is finished, and gave up the ghost /"
We linger about such scenes, and are reluctant
to turn away. The favored disciples selected to
be. with their divine Lord on the Mount, naturally
desired to prolong that affecting and transporting
interview. Peter exclaimed, and said unto Jesus,
" Lord, it is good for us to be here ! If thou wilt,
let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee,
and one for Moses, and one for Elias." Many a
time since, has the Saviour manifested his gracious
presence to his people, when they have reverenced
and adored him, and enjoyed his love. Like
Aaron, when he led Israel to the door of the Tab
ernacle, to hear the responses from between the
Cherubim ; and like Solomon, when he had made
an end of prayer at the dedication of the Temple;
they have seen the glory of the Lord filling the
house, and bowed themselves and worshipped.
So it was on the Day of Pentecost ; so it was at
many a memorable season, when the early Chris
tians met in solemn convocation; and so it has
been at many a season since, when the adorable
Saviour has been found walking, in the midst of
the golden candlesticks, and unfolding his glory
to the churches which he has redeemed and
bought with his own blood. Moses and Elias in

216 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
a short time, disappeared from the transforming
scene, and Peter, James and John " were left alone
with Jesus." Alone with Jesus ! The world shut
out — alone with Jesus! Heaven and earth shut
out, and alone with Jesus ! No ; heaven is not
shut out, when the soul is alone with Jesus. What
Christian does not feel that to be alone with Jesus
is to enjoy heaven upon earth ! It is in fellowship
with him, that his people are changed into his
image ; that they have a foretaste of the coming
blessedness, a glimpse of the glory to be revealed.
Such seasons give great vigor to faith, and to hope
great and precious assurance. They have the " in
ward witness" then that their title to the heavenly
inheritance is clear ; and like Moses, they go up
into the Mount to take a view of the promised
land. " Lord, it is good to be here !" There is a
refuge here, from the storms of earth ; from the
fiery darts of the adversary ; from perilous times
and from seasons of spiritual darkness. Who
would not watch and pray, lest this ensnaring
world and the sin that dwelleth in him should
exclude him from those consecrated hours when he
might be alone with Jesus !
Mount Tabor is a most impressive and affecting
preacher of the gospel. How unspeakably inter
esting to us as sinners is that i: emorable scene!
What is the momentous fact which this scene on
Tabor unveils? It is that "God so loved the

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 217
world;" it is that "the Son of man came to
seek and to save that which is lost." It is that " it
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sin
ners." Men were lost, but Jesus came to save. Men
were obnoxious to the stroke of justice, but Jesus
averted the fearful blow. The decease he accom
plished at Jerusalem has lost none of its interest.
Eighteen hundred years have not blotted it out
from the memory of men, nor obscured its glory. It
is still the most solemn and affecting event recorded
in the history of time, or the annals of the universe.
We are verging, in our series of subjects, toward
that great event. Tabor throws its light across to
Calvary; the transfiguration is intimately allied
to the crucifixion of the Son of Man. . In the midst.
of all this splendor, there are mournful thoughts,
because, enveloped as we here are with his divine
glories, we hear him speak of the " decease which
he would accomplish at Jerusalem." Yes, that
dark hour draws near. The death of God mani
fest in the flesh; of the great Teacher; of the
great Healer ; of him " whose glory shone on Ta
bor, and now shines on the mount Zion above!
How infinitely interesting to the believer is the
death of Christ !
" O, the sweet wonders of that Cross,
Where God the Saviour lived and died."
That Cross, Christian, is thy refuge ; and it is
10

218 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
thy refuge, trembling sinner. It is all thy hope ;
it is thy peace ; it is thy salvation. Thine all is
identified with that sacred cross. The church of
God, on earth and in heaven, casts her highest
honois at the foot of that cross. You will not, you
cannot forget the cross. No, never can you for
get the cross.
Bring the question home, then. What interest
have I in the decease and glory of the once crucified,
and now glorified Saviour? Angels announced
his birth as the " tidings of great joy ;" but what
cause of gladness has his wonderful condescension
proved to you ? His spiritual kingdom has been
set up in our world, but has it freed, you from the
tyranny of sin? His name was revealed by an
angel from heaven, and it is above every name ;
but do you " bow at the name of Jesus, and con
fess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father ?" Men from afar have seen him, and he
has been the object of triumph to Jew and Gen
tile ; but have you learned to glory in this star of
Bethlehem — this Sun of righteousness — this light
of the world ? From his baptism to his death, he
was a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs ;
he was "wounded for your transgressions and
bruised for your iniquities ;" his soul " was sorrow
ful even unto death." He suffered as no other
could suffer. The daughters of Jerusalem wept
over him, and Calvary heard him say, " I thirst "

THE GLORY OF CHRIST'S TRANSFIGURATION. 219
and saw his life ebb away, and the great sacrifice
completed ! But what is all this to you ? He
descended into the grave, and the mouth of. the
sepulchre was closed upon him, and the stone sealed,
and on the third day, he rose by his own divine
power from the dead ; but to what lively hopes
and consolations have you been begotten by his
resurrection ? He ascended on high, led captivity
captive, and gave gifts to men ; but have you be
come rooted and grounded in a firm belief of rising
arid being happy with him in everlasting life?
Shortly will he come again to judge the world h?
righteousness ; and will you appear on his right
hand, or on his left ?

CHAPTER VIII.
THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION.
The career of the Son of Man on the earth was
drawing to a close. From his wondrous trans
figuration on Tabor, he "set his face to go to
Jerusalem." The annual Feast of the Passover was at hand,
which all the males of the Jewish nation were, by
law, required to celebrate. It was their most dis
tinguished festival. Wherever they were dis
persed throughout Asia, Europe and Africa, this
feast called them together. It has been supposed,
that at the celebration of the Passover, there were
not far from three millions of people, including
Jews and Gentiles ; so that the events which here
took place, would soon be known throughout the
world.* One reason why Christ directed his steps
from Mount Tabor to Jerusalem, was that he might
keep this feast with his disciples : " With desire,
have I desired to eat this Passover with you be
fore I suffer." But he had another and higher
* For this estimate,, see Milman's History of the Jews, and
Croley's Salathiel.

THE GLORY OE^CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 221
object. He was about to consummate his earthly
course, and himself .to offer that sacrifice for the
sins of men, which could never be repeated, and
of which the Paschal Lamb was but the pre-
figuration. Everything that he had done was
preliminary to this ; all his plans and all his con
duct, had been drawing toward the cross as their
centre. In some views, his glorious transfiguration
might have been the fitting close to his history ;
but if he had stopped here, he might as well have
never come into the world. The most affecting
and glorious scene was yet to be unfolded. That
scene we propose to contemplate ; may we be
enabled to contemplate it with deep prostration
of spirit! There is an awful sacredness in this
deep humiliation of the Son of God.
Wherein did his humiliation consist; and in
what consists its glory ?
In the first place, Wherein did his humilia
tion consist ?
Christianity has great peculiarities. That ih
which it differs from all other religions, is that
which constitutes its great excellence. Its great
Founder came into the world, not simply as a
Teacher, but a Sufferer ; not merely to prove his
doctrines by his miracles and exemplify them by
his life, but to reveal his death as the great
doctrine. It was with no small difficulty that his
disciples were induced to believe that he would

THE GLORY OF CH^fST.
be a Sufferer; it is with greater difficulty, that
the tongue, or pen, or thought of man can set
forth the intensity of his sufferings. The unaf
fected and graphic narrative of the Evangelists,
has done all in this description, which can ever be
accomplished. Calvary seeks no rhetorical adorn
ment ; it stands out alone.
The Redeemer's humiliation began when he
was born in Bethlehem ; nor did it cease until he
rose from the grave, and ascended to the right
hand of majesty in the heavens. But though he
was " a man of sorrows and acquainted with
griefs," during the whole term of his Incarnation ;
yet were there days of deeper humiliation ap
pointed him, than those which occupy the ordi
nary pages of his mournful history. The scene
becomes more tragical, as it gradually draws to.-
ward the melancholy catastrophe. There were
peculiarities in it that are strongly marked.
Of all that have suffered, from the beginning
of time to the present hour, there is but this one
Sufferer, who did not deserve the sorrows he en
dured. His humiliation constitutes an anomaly in
law, an anomaly in morals, an anomaly in the di
vine government. The highest becomes the most
debased; the most honorable becomes the most
dishonored ; the loftiest becomes a worm in this
world of worms; the holiest is made the most
miserable; and he who could claim most from

THE GLORY OF. CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 223
God and man, bears the rage of man, and the
curse of God. It is not strange that Lucifer was
banished from heaven ; nor that Sodom fell ; nor
that Babylon sunk; nor that man is born to
trouble, and that God should bend his bow, and
set him a mark for the arrow. But that he who
was holy; harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners, should be permitted to die as a malefactor,
is a fact that indicates, either' that the reins of gov
ernment have been abandoned by infinite justice,
or that some great moral problem is being solved,
which demands a tremendous sacrifice.
This was the secret of his mighty woes. The
fact that " Messiah was cut off not for himself,"
was ominous of terror. They were strong measures
that were resorted to, in order to justify the great
Lawgiver, burning, as his throne does with ter
rors to the guilty, in "justifying the ungodly."
And what marvel that an arrangement, which
comprised the substitution of the innocent in place
of the guilty, when carried into effect, should fill
the sufferer with fear and trembling; and that
the sacrifice should smoke with God's heated in
dignation ! Heart-sickening and withering con
sciousness was that when, in ways unknown to
mortals, " the swift and stinging sense of condemna
tion" for the sins of myriads, forced itself upon him
with such intense reality, that no ray of light, no
hope, no sympathy of earth or heaven could reach

224 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
him ! He must be mighty to suffer, if he was
mighty to save ; and since the Deity stood by to
inflict the blow, the Deity also stood by, unsevered
from his humanity, when the crushing blow fell.
The sufferer was no mere man. No mere creature
could have girded himself for the mighty conflict
which the Son of God then endured. No ; Mary's
son was not alone. Divinity itself conjoined with
humanity, was necessary to consummate this fear
ful humiliation. Wondrous sufferer ! belonging
both to heaven and to earth, yet by both disowned !¦
The Rock of Ages united to a fragile reed, and
shivered by the storm !
He was in the garden of Gethsemane with Peter
and the two sons of Zebedee, when he gave utter
ance to the words, " My soul is exceeding sorrow
ful even unto death." It was one of the darkest
passages in his humbling pilgrimage. He knew
not what to think or what to desire. " Now is my
soul troubled, and what shall I say ?" He had
unequalled courage, but he shrank from the tem
pest which he saw just about to burst upon his
head. Never was his obedience so put to the test
as now. It was Satan's hour and. the power of
darkness. That pure mind of his was passing
under the cloud. Temptation beset him on every
side. He grew pale ; he trembled in every limb
and nerve ; he sweat " as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground." No mind in

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 225
the universe but his own knew the horror of those
internal agonies. The cup was bitter, and with a
transport of terror, agony, and submission, such as
never broke from human heart, he could only say,
" O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me ; yet not as I will, but as thou wilt !"
Judas had 'betrayed him into the hands of the
Jewish priests and Pharisees, and the resolution
was taken to execute him as a conspirator against
the government. We will not speak of the foul and
manifold outrage committed upon his person, and
the symbols of indignity he bore, except thus to
recall his profound abasement. Pilate delivered
him to the Jews to be crucified. It was not law
ful to execute him within the city ; the soldiers
led him without its walls, in solemn procession be
tween two thieves. He was faint from watching,
from fasting, from scourging, from solicitude and
fear ; yet they laid upon him his own cross. Was
ever sight more humiliating than the eternal Son
of God, thus associated, and bearing his cross to
the place of punishment ! Well did the daughters
of Jerusalem weep when they saw him ! What a
triumph to the Jews to see him who professed to
be their king, thus marching to his crucifixion be
tween two malefactors ! To what a low point of
ignominy was Christianity then reduced, and what
confusion and grief and shame covered the few
followers of its Founder ! It is scarcely to be won-
10*

226 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
dered at that their faith was shaken ; and that, as
the victim was thus being led to the altar, his own
disciples, if they did not deny him the tribute of
their affection and their tears, " all forsook him and
fled." There is remarkable minuteness in the Scriptu
ral narrative of the closing scene. It was on the
day of the preparation of the Passover, and at the
sixth hour of the day, or at noon, that he was
nailed to the cross. He was numbered with the
transgressors ; the two thieves were crucified with
him, and as though he were the greatest of the
malefactors, Jesus in the midst.
This was humiliation as deep as God could in
flict, or the Son of God could feel. There was
nothing to mitigate it ; not one alleviating incident ;
no hand of kindness near ; no consolatory voice of
affection ; no tenderness to pillow that aching
head, or assuage that burning thirst, except by the
vinegar and gall. He was left alone. The Furies
were let loose upon him. There was hissing and
execration, and blasphemy. The utmost spite of
hell was accumulated on that guiltless head. An
gels that came to strengthen him in the garden, did
not come to his rescue, or his relief on the crpss
The presence and smile of Him he most loved
were not there. God hid his face and spoke in
tones of wrath. He smote his Fellow Shepherd ¦
and when the sword of the Omnipotent fell the

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 227
last ingredient in his cup of misery was mingled.
It was full ; it overflowed. After a few words of
blessing for the guilty and intimations of love for
those he loved, he uttered that memorable sen
tence which man may read, but which the lips of
man know not how to utter, and his heart sunk
within him. One exceeding great and bitter cry,
and he gave up the ghost.
They had taken off his garments, and there hung
his poor, mangled, bleeding body, uncovered, for
his enemies to abuse and scoff at. Jt was an affect
ing, humiliating spectacle even for the angry clouds
to hover over, and satiated fiends to look upon ;
but it was indignation to the dead. It is impos
sible for mortals to sound the abyss of these mighty
woes. It was the deepest depth of his intense hu
miliation. Never wras there One in whom the
prediction was so fulfilled, " I am a worm, and no
man; a reproach of men, and despised of the
people." Behold the man ! Was this the Christ ? Was
this the great Messiah promised long to Jew and
Gentile ? Was this the expected child, at whose
birth angels sang, Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth, peace and good-will to men ! Is
this He who was separate from sinners ? this the
Great Teacher wrho spake as never man spoke ?
the great Healer whose fame filled Palestine, and
at whose approach the very populace so lately

228 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
cried Hosannah to the Son of David ? Is this He
whom angels worship, and to whom the voice was
so lately addressed from the excellent glory, "This.
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ?"
Yes, this is he. Behold the man ! How changed
from the bright glory that once filled heaven ! He
has not even the crown of thorns to protect his
head, nor the purple robe to conceal his shame
O that lowliness, that indignity, that intense hu
miliation that covered this eternal Son of God.
But there is ariother side to this mournful pic
ture. We speak of honor in the midst of abase
ment ; of dignity in the midst of shame ; of victory
and triumph in death ; of glory, rich and splendid
glory in this deep humiliatiom This thought
may be amplified by the following illustrations.
Christ was glorious in his humiliation, in the
first place, in the abundant attestations it furnished
of his unsinning excellence. There are several in
teresting circumstances which occurred even at the
time of his trial and condemnation which demon
strate the innocence of Jesus. He had been de
livered into the hands of his enemies, by bribery,
and by one of the members of his own immediate
household ; betrayed secretly, and amid the dark
ness of night, and in the seclusion of his own re
tirement. But no sooner did the traitor perceive
that his perfidious design was accomplished, than
conscience began her work of retribution, and

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 229
drove this hardened culprit to despair. He rushed
into the presence of the men who employed him
in this deed of death, threw down the thirty pieces
of silver Imd exclaimed, " I have sinned in that I
have betrayed innocent blood !" And when he
learned that it was all in vain, the righteous prov-
dence of God would not leave him to any more
slow, or less searching trial than his own blood
stained conscience. Never did this vile traitor act
a more sincere part than when he made this con
fession ; and inexcusable as the aci was, never did
he act a more honest part, than when he " went
out and hanged himself." And that " potters'
field" where he committed the fearful deed, and
which was the price of blood, stood for ages a per
manent memorial of the unsullied glory of his
Master's integrity.
Jesus also, stood before the tribunal of Rome,
and at an age when Roman law commanded
the respect of the world. He was brought be
fore a Roman Judge, one who did not want
motives to gratify the hostility of the Jews to
ward their victim, and one who from his well-
known character^ had no misgivings at the shed
ding of blood. Pilate was a monster of avarice
and cruelty, and had so abused his power in %he
Province of Judea, that Rome had no subjects
more seditious than the Jews. Yet in the crimi
nal process against Christ, this man preserved a

230 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
moderation and integrity, which, had he perse
vered in them, would have gone far toward re
deeming the honor of his official station. Again
and again he bore witness to the faultless charac
ter of his prisoner, and expostulated with the
Jews for desiring him to convict an innocent man.
He conversed publicly with Jesus; he examined
him privately ; and then protested to his accusers,
"I find no fault in this man;" why should "I
crucify your King ?" When he saw that it was
no longer possible to rescue him, and from the
tumultuous spirit of the people, unsafe to delay
his execution, as though he called heaven and
earth to witness that he yielded to their sangui
nary demands, not of his own will and judgment,
but in obedience to theirs, he took a basin of wa
ter, and in sight of them all, washed his hands of
the blood they were so eager to shed. It is a re
markable fact, that a wise providence should so
have directed the concerns of the Roman Empire
during the time of the Saviour's trial and cruci
fixion, that such a man as Pontius Pilate should
be the Procurator of Judea, and should have borne
this uniform and persevering testimony to the
Saviour's innocence. The only tribunal which
was legally qualified to pronounce him guilty, thus
solemnly pronounced him innocent. And it de
serves remark, that this Roman Judge, caused his
testimony to be inscribed in deep and legible

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 231
characters upon the Sufferer's cross. Christ had
confessed himself a King; nor did Pilate take
offence at his confession when Jesus had unfolded
to him the spiritual nature of his kingdom. And
when he was crucified, the title which Pilate
directed to be labelled on his cross was, " Jesus
of Nazareth, the Kpng of the Jews." The
Jews entreated him to alter it, but the just Ro
man was immovable. " Write not," said they, " I
am the King <rf the Jews, but that he said, I am
the King of the Jews." Still the imperturbable
Judge remained firm. " Pilate answered, What I
have written, I have written." And the inscrip
tion stood, declaring to all men, that in the judg
ment of high-minded and impartial Rome; whose
eagle then cast its shadow over the world, the cru
cified One had no claims he had not vindicated.
On two occasions in his previous history, at his
baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration, a
voice from heaven was uttered, declaring, " This is
my beloved Son !" There were heavenly voices
heard just before Jesus entered the garden, and
while he was in immediate apprehension of the
bitter cup God himself spoke to him ; pronoun
cing him glorious and glorified in the fulfilment
of his great work. Just before the" last Passover,
the Sufferer had uttered the oppressive thoughts,
" Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say ?
Father, save me from this hour! But for this

232 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
cause came I to this hour. Father, glorify thy
name !" The appeal was public. There was want
ing, just at this crisis, some strong testimonial of
the divine 'approbation, which should arrest the
attention of men, and go with him, and be re
membered by them, when Satan's hour should
come, and the powers of darkness should prevail.
Scarcely had Jesus uttered the words, than a voice
from heaven was heard in reply. "The people
that stood by, said that it thundered ; others said
that an angel spake? The herald thunder passed
away, and the words were uttered, " I have both
glorified it, and will glorify it again." The eter
nal Godhead bowed his heavens to put this visible
seal, this divine attestation, to the mission and
character of his Son.
The wonderful prodigies of nature also, that ap
peared as he was passing through the deepest val
ley of his humiliation were attestations too honor
able to him, and too emphatic, to be misunderstood.
During the whole period in which he hung upon
the cross, " from the sixth hour, there was darkness
over all the land, until the ninth hour." The
sun would not look upon that scene of ignominy ;
he turned away and bathed his face in impenetra
ble clouds. It was his Maker hanging naked on
the cross ; the Eternal Son of God receiving on his
guiltless head the last phial of heaven's unmit
igated wrath. Thick darkness covered the land,

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 233
and black tempests shook it, when He who is the
light of the world was thus enveloped with igno
miny. The "veil of the Temple was rent in
twain from the top to the bottom." Its " massive
walls shook to their foundation, and tore that sa
cred covering from the Holy of Holies," as a man
rendeth a garment. There was an earthquake
also which filled Jerusalem with terror. " The
rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and
came out of the graves after his resurrection, and
went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many."
They were fearful omens, and might have con
strained even the murderers of their Lord to ex
claim, this is the finger of God! We cannot at
tribute them to natural causes, nor account for
their concurrent existence at the moment of the
Saviour's giving up the ghost, unless they were
miraculously commissioned to attest his glory who
hung on the cross. They proclaimed to the as
tonished millions that the dying- Jesus, the dead
and lifeless Jesus, would yet shake, not the earth
only, but also heaven. It was an invisible hand
writing its destiny on the wall of corrupted and
decayed Judaism ; a voice from heaven consecrat
ing the foundation stone of that kingdom which
cannot be moved. The testimony struck that vast
populace with awe; it opened their eyes to the
innocence and glory of the Son of Man, so that

234 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
" all they who came together at that great sightj
smote upon their breasts." The most unbelieving
were convinced, and the most obdurate softened
by the spectacle. The scene was suddenly changed.
The shame of the Sufferer became his honor ; his
humiliation his glory. Admiration succeeded con
tempt and outrage; dark as the scene was, the
day had dawned in which men began even to
glory in the cross.
In the next place, Christ was glorious in his
humiliation, from the heavenly spirit and exalted
attributes of character which he there expressed.
" Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed
garments from Bozrah ! This that is glorious in his
apparel, travailing in the greatness of his strength?"
What the Prophet here demands concerning Christ
as the triumphant Conqueror over his enemies,
may with perfect fitness be appropriated to him
as the mighty Sufferer. In his lowest degradation,
he showed himself to be a mighty Prince ; and in
his weakness travailing in the greatness of his
strength. He was " treading the wine-press alone,
and of the people there was none with him ;" yet
was there a moral greatness, a true sublimity of
character, which is in vain sought for, except in
his own godlike excellence, even when his God
head was in almost total eclipse. We should never
have known his true character but for his humilia
tion. This is the sphere in which all his loveliness

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 235
is manifested. His example required the cross to
make it perfect. How fair with heaven's grace
and loveliness was he then ! What a spectacle of
finished moral beauty to look at ! What a beau
tiful portrait of heaven ! His Divinity was veiled
in clay ; his apparel was human ; blood was sprink
led upon his garments, and stained all his raiment ;
yet amid these adumbrations of the Deity, in this
low attire, and in this deepest excess of humiliation,
he presents the most perfect exhibition of moral
greatness and beauty which the world ever be
held. There were gathered around it a loveliness,
a splendor, an awfulness of moral virtue, which
grew brighter to the last, and which have left be
hind them a lustre which shall survive the flight
of time.
This humiliation could not have been imposed
upon him without injustice. His life and his bles
sedness were his own; he had never forfeited
them ; and he alone had a right to dispose of them.
" No man," says he, " taketh my life from me, but I
lay it down of myself." We cannot conceive of a
more disinterested and glorious trait of character
than that which, in view of the claims of law and
justice on the one hand, and the appeal of human
helplessness and woe on the other, in order to
meet the exigency, freely consented, rather than
that man should suffer, to offer up himself on the
altar of justice. He who chose the manger for his

236 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
birthplace, chose the cross for his pillow of death.
When they challenged him to " come down," he
chose to remain and die. When, by a wish, he.
could have been rescued by " legions of angels,"
he preferred . to be left under the dominion of his
enemies. When he might have arrayed himself in
robes of omnipotence, he chose the crushing hu
miliation. There are other excellencies for which he
is beloved and adored by angels and men ; but this
is his great excellence, and that which renders " his
name above every name." It was a thought unut
terably precious to him that his heavenly Father
loved him for this more than for anything else.
" -Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay
down my life?
Not only did he go thus unreluctantly to the
altar, but there was a steadfastness of purpose and
zeal in accomplishing it, which had its impulse in
his own unconquerable goodness. Never was there
a work so great or so difficult ; and never was
there a mind so perfectly absorbed in it as his. At
one time we hear him saying, " I have a baptism
to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till
it be accomplished!" And another, to Judas,
"What thou doest, do quickly." Mark the un
varying constancy of his purpose, the unabated
ardor and resolution that distinguished him to the
last ; and was there not a moral sublimity in his

„> THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 237
humiliation, such as the light of heaven has never
beheld ?
Then mark the spirit, the calm and tranquil
spirit, the unresisting meekness and love with
which he passes through this fiery ordeal. What
a state of mind was that when he uttered the
words, " Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also
may glorify thee !" This was the great thought
with which he entered upon his humiliation, and
which governed his deportment before the tribu
nals of Judea and of Rome. When the chief priests
interrogated him concerning his disciples and his
doctrine ; to the question touching his disciples, he
answered nothing: he would not expose these
timid followers to the gathering storm. To that
touching his doctrine, his reply was, " I spake
openly to the world ; I ever taught in the syna-
.gogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always
resort ; arid in secret have I said nothing. Why
askest thou me? Ask them which heard me
what I said unto them ; behold they know what I
said." When one of the officers " struck him in
the face," because he thus answered the high
priest, Jesus calmly answered, " If I have spoken
evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why
smitest thou me ?" ¦ When two false witnesses tes
tified against him, and the high priest demanded
what he had to say to their testimony, he was
silent. When the high priest adjured him by

238 THE GLORY OF CHRIST
the living God to tell Mm whether he were the
Christ, the Son of God; perceiving at once the
object of this demand, and knowing well that such
an avowal would seal his death, he at first eluded
the question. " If I tell you, ye will not believe •
and if I question you ye will not answer me, noi
let me go." The question was too decisive a one
and might be evaded for the purpose of setting
the answer in a true light.
Having made this remark, he replies, " It is as
thou hast said ; I am the Christ." The confession
served only to seal his condemnation; and the
Sanhedrim at once handed him over to Pilate,
praying for sentence against him as a blasphemer.
To the inquiries of Pilate he gave direct and une
quivocal answers ; and so full, that neither Pilate
nor, the Jews could misunderstand the nature of
his claims. " Thou sayest that I am a King, but
my kingdom is not of this world." I have no
earthly throne, and no power of earthly princes.
My kingdom is over the minds and hearts of men,
whom I would fain subdue by the force of truth
and the power of my grace. It was in the course
of this interview, that he made that dignified
and noble avowal, " For this end was I born, and
for this end came I into the world, that I might
bear witness to the truth." Paul in writing to
Timothy, alludes to this " good confession" which
Jesus Christ thus made before Pontius Pilate. A

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 239
noble confession it was, a*hd worthy the King of
Truth. Pilate sent him to Herod ; but in the presence
of the infamous murderer of John the Baptist, he
refused to utter a word. Herod asked him many
questions, but he "answered him nothing? He
would not recognize the murderer's authority, but
would rather quietly submit to his indignities, and
meet his doom. Herod sent him back to Pilate,
and once more he stood, surrounded by the clam
orous Jews, in the Roman Pretorium. Here he was
accused openly, but now he " answered nothing."
Pilate marvelled greatly at his silence, but " Jesus
answered him never a word? He had said
enough before. When after this, Pilate scourged
him, and the soldiers plaited for him his crown of
thorns, and mocked, and smote him ; not a word
escaped his lips. Pilate expostulated with him ;
still Jesus gave him no answer ! There was pro
found humiliation in this shameful scene ; but there
was profound greatness. It was a triumphant
hour when the children in the temple honored,
and the multitude would have enthroned him;
but it was not so triumphant as this hour of his
deep adversity and ignominious degradation. He
suffered all this outrage, without a tear, without a
sigh, without one token of weakness, and with all
his glory untarnished. And when from this deep
opprobrium, he was being led to Calvary, bearing

240 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
his own cross ; how affecting the scene, and how
glorious the fulfilment of the prediction, "The
government shall be upon his shoulder !" And
when the women of Jerusalem followed him weep
ing; what beauty, what grandeur was in the
thought, when he looked back upon them and
said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me,
but for yourselves and your children !" Num
bered too, as he was, with transgressors, he mani
fested his converting and saving power, and at
the same time that inscrutable and adorable
sovereignty, by which the crucified One becomes
a stumbling-block to those who perish, and to
those who are saved, the wisdom of God, and the
jpower of God. Nor did he wait till the remem
brance of the injury had passed away, and when
it is comparatively easy to forgive ; it was while
they were driving the nails and affixing him to
his cross, that he uttered the prayer, " Father, for
give them ; they know not what they do !" He
saw at a little distance his mother and his beloved
disciple; and what does he say? "Woman, be
hold thy son ; son, behold thy mother ; and from
that hour, that disciple took her to his own
home." His greatness was put to a still severer
test, when the insolent rulers and the licentious
populace derided him, saying, " He saved others ;
let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen
of God, come down from the cross, that we may

tv

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 241
see and believe !" How easily he could have done
this, and how strong the inducements to do it
when thus challenged ! But well he knew how
useless such a demonstration of his power, would
be to men who had remained immovable amid all
the wonders he had done. If they would not be
lieve what they had seen and now saw, neither
would they, though he came down from the cross.
The time had not come for his greatest miracle,
when he- would show that it was more worthy of
his character and mission to rise from the sepul
chre, than come down from the accursed tree ; and
a more demonstrative proof of his power to break
the chains of death, than to wrench the nails from
the cross. Nor did he resign his spirit into the
hands of him who gave it, until his work was
done, his humiliation complete, and he could say,
It is finished ! Wonderful Sufferer ! Wonderful
glory, amid such degradation !
As our last general remark, we add, that Christ
was glorious in his humiliation, through' the fitness
of that humiliation to accomplish the end for
which he came into the world. God alone is capa
ble of selecting the highest and most worthy end,
and so pursuing it, as to justify and demand the
means by which it is accomplished. Dark, and
perfectly mysterious in some views, as the scene is
which has been thus faintly exhibited, it is the
heaven-devised arrangement of glorifying God in
11

242 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
man's redemption. Man's redemption is God's
greatest work. For the wisdom that devised, and
the love and power that effect it ; for the great
ness of its objects, and the extent and compass of
the means by which they are attained ; for the
sin and misery it abolishes, the holiness and
blessedness it secures and perpetuates; for the
obstacles it surmounts, the enemies it vanquishes,
the' moral lessons it inculcates, and the augment
ing exhibitions it furnishes of the manifested glory
of the Godhead ; it is God's mightiest work. Of
all that Godhimself has ever thought of, .or ever
accomplished, this is his greatest.
It- was no ordinary Personage to whom the ac
complishment of such a work was entrusted. It
was not possible for any finite Being to make those
progressive manifestations of the Deity who is in
finite; nor was it just and right that in effecting
man's redemption, they should be made in any
other way than by his humiliation unto the death
of the cross. Nor is there one feature of it, from
the treachery of Judas to the last cry on the cross,
that could be dispensed with, and that is not wor
thy of the mighty sufferer. " It became him for
whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
Captain of their salvation perfect through suffer
ing." Expiatory suffering, vicarious satisfaction
was emphatically the work to which he was de-

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 243
voted. And while he thus aims at man's redemp
tion, his very humiliation shows how man's re
demption itself is necessary to unfold the bound
less resources and infinite' all-sufficiency of that in
finite Being who contains within himself the source
of all things, and the manifestations of which pro
duce all the forms of created good. Man's redemp
tion is subordinate to him, and accomplishes its
object, only as it subserves his honor and glory,
who is before all, above all, and incomparably more
worthy than all.
It need not surprise us therefore that the means
by which this high end is attained should be
among " the deep things of God." Finite minds
would never have thought of the humiliation of
his son ; but it was worthy of God ; it existed for
God ; it speaks for God ; it was full of God.
And with what glory does this great truth in
vest this unequalled humiliation. It was a high
born thought, and worthy of a mind and heart
like his, that by his humiliation, God would be for
ever exalted in the salvation of men. Anointed
and baptized in tears and blood as he was, he is
glorious in this apparel. It was a wonderful hu
miliation — unutterably wonderful. But its lan
guage is, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and power, honor and blessing." How little
would God have been exalted, but for his suffering
Son ! Where had been the conformity to him in

244 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
this wicked world ! What one faint ray of this di
vine resemblance had ever fallen on the minds of
benighted men ! How little had been known of
him, except as a consuming fire ? Who would have
adored and praised him, and how silent the myriad
of voices that now speak forth the honor of his
name ! Or rather how deep the wailing, and what
tones of cursing and blasphemy would have as
sailed his throne, had they not been silenced at
the cross ! It was to turn aside this tidejof wick
edness and woe, and secure that ocean of praise to
God and the Lamb, that the Sufferer of Calvary
thus humbled himself to the death. How full of
meaning are those words we have before recited,
which, in the trouble and anguish of his soul, the
Sufferer uttered. Father, glorify thy name. This
was the consummation he desired, and was ready
to perfect even at the expense of those bitter ago
nies and that atoning blood. Glorious Saviour!
glorious even in thy humiliation ! I mourn and
weep when I reflect upon the scoffs and insults
that were cast upon him, and the painful and ig
nominious death he endured, and wonder that he
did not blast his murderers by" the breath of his
mouth. Yet I love to think of them ; I see him
so glorious in them all, that I glory in a suffering
Saviour. He would not have been so exalted, nor
so glorious, but for those humiliations. Well may

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 245
we glory in them, since the' greater they were, the
more is he honored.
We ask you to receive these truths, and pray that
you may receive them under the anointings of his
Spirit who has gone up to bleed no more, no more,
no more to die. It is from such a reception that
you must date the commencement of your religious
hopes, your new and spiritual life, your eternal
joy. Look, O ye, who love and adore him, at
that bloody scene of your Redeemer's humiliation.
Dwell on it ; it is a glorious scene. Bloody as it
is, it greets you with smiles. Sweet voices are
echoed from those dying groans; balmy breezes
come across the desert, even from that " place of
skulls." " Except a corn of ¦ wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die it
bringeth forth much fruit." Rich are the fruits
that spring up from the soil that was watered by
the Sufferer's blood. It was indeed a fearful cup
that he drank. " The curse of the law was on it.
The wrath -of God was on it. The loss of God's
presence and favor was on it." But he drank it,
that you might never drink it. It cannot be that
his followers should endure the curse, since he
mdured it for them, and in their place. O what
i truth is this, and how precious does it make that
glorious Saviour to. them that believe ! Give me .
Christ and poverty, rather than all the wealth of
the world without him; Christ and a dungeon,

246 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
rather than no Christ and a sceptre. I have bor
rowed this thought from another tongue. " Ma-
lem," says an ancient writer, " mori cum Christo,
quam regnare cum Csesare. Pulchra terra, pul-
chrum ccelum, sed pulcherrimus Dominus Jesus."
Look also, ye who have never loved and adored
him, at that bloody scene of your Redeemer's hu
miliation! Let the arrogance of human reason
take heed how it becomes a scoffer at the suffering
Nazarene. Let the vain confidence of the self-
righteous take heed how it flatters itself that it
has no need of him who is mighty to save. Let
the pride of every unsubdued heart take heed lest
its contempt be stirred up toward him who is
worthy of all confidence and praise. Let unbelief,
in all its forms, be ashamed that it is ashamed of
Christ, be humbled that it doubts either- his power'
or willingness to save ; that it ever gives place to
the thought that there is no hope in the bounty
of his grace. There is ineffable tenderness in the
appeal of his glorious humiliation. A suffering
Saviour is the sinner's refuge, the prisoner's
hope. Away with reasoning pride. Away with
scoffing and thoughtlessness. Away with self-
righteousness and obduracy. Away with fear and
despondency. Away with wickedness. Take the
gospel in its simplicity, and bejio longer estranged
from the suffering Son of God.

CHAPTER IX.
CHRIST GLORIOUS LN HIS RESURRECTION.
The hostile Jews gloried in the fact that Christ
was dead, but denied that he had risen. On this
question the decision rests, whether Christianity
is true or false ; " If Christ be not raised, then is
our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain."
His resurrection is the great miracle which attests
the truth of his gospel. If it was never wrought,
all previous miracles are left in inextricable per
plexity; if consummated, in connection with his
subsequent ascension, and the outpouring of the
Spirit on the day of Pentecost, it puts the seal of
heaven upon the completed series of Christ's mir
acles, and gives the world the assurance that his
gospel is " no cunningly-devised fable."
Let us, in the first place, advert to the narrative
itself which the Evangelists furnish of this great
fact. Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, men
of wealth, and distinguished for their character
and office, and men of blessed memory, for their
tender regard to the lifeless son of Mary, took the

-248 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
body of Jesus, embalmed it, wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth, and laid it in the sepulchre. Centuries
before, the prophet Isaiah had said, " And he made
his grave with the wicked and with the rich, in
his death." These men were among the principal
Jews who followed the Saviour to Mount Calvary,
though with very different views from those who
came to satiate their malignity by the barbarous
spectacle.- Their object wras to be witnesses of the
final act in the drama, and to rescue the dead
body of the Sufferer from the outrage of his mur
derers. It must have been a beantiful and affect
ing sight to have seen these illustrious men, mem
bers in the minority of the very council which
had condemned Jesus as a disturber of the peace
and a blasphemer, thus shielding him from the
infamy which awaited him from the ministers of
justice, and giving his body honorable burial.
Jesus expired at the ninth hour of the day, or
about three hours after noon. The sun was be
ginning to go down when these men ascended the
cross, drew Out the nails, loosened the cord that
bound the dead body, and carefully lowered it
down, as though they were carrying in their hands
a treasure too sacred to be committed to the dust
It would -seem that this kind service was the re
suit of preconcerted arrangement between them.
It is not probable that they expected his resur
rection, from the fact that they embalmed the

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 249
body ; nor was this surprising, when we consider
the incredulity of his more immediate disciples.
It was a " new sepulchre" where they laid him,
built for the Son of God, and hewn out of the vir
gin rock, never polluted by the flesh of fallen man,
and where the sinless One slept alone. There was
wisdom in this arrangement of divine Providence,
both in that his sepulchre was in the solid rock,
and could therefore be sufficiently protected ; and in
that he was entombed alone, and therefore could be
more certainly and easily identified, when he rose.
The prediction that he would rise was known to
his enemies ; nor is it any marvel that they adopt
ed those precautionary measures which would
detect or prevent imposture. Hence their care
in protecting the sepulchre, in sealing the rock
that was rolled upon its mouth, and guarding the
place by a band of soldiers. God " taketh the
wise in their own craftiness," and the very meas
ures which the subtlety of men adopt with the
view of defeating the progress of truth, are often
turned to good account, and directed to the " fur
therance of the gospel." These very precautions
against Christ's resurrection only served to give
the evidence of it greater power, and make the
fact itself more notorious. S
The day on which hev was laid in the sepulchre
passed away. The following night is passed. The
„next day passed, which was the Jewish Sabbath.
ll*

250 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Very early on the morning of the third day, and
while it was yet dark, Mary Magdalene visits the
sepulchre, and soon after her, at early sunrising,
certain other women came also, who had followed
Jesus from Galilee. And " they said among them
selves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the
door of the sepulchre: And when they looked,
they sawr that the stone was rolled away, for it
was very great." There had been a great earth
quake, for an angel of the Lord had descended
from heaven, " and came 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
come as dead men."
These women saw the sepulchre, but Jesus was
not there. " Then Mary Magdalene runneth, and
cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple
whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They
have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre,
and we know not where they have laid him." As
she and her female companions were wondering at
what had taken place, " behold two men stood by
them in shining garments." And as they " were
afraid and bowed their faces to the earth," these
bright messengers saidTiinto them, " Why seek ye
the living among the dead ? he is not here, but is
risen. Remember how he spake unto you when
he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 251
must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified, and the third day rise again?
These perplexed disciples remembered these words,
and " entering into the sepulchre, they found not
the body of the Lord Jesus ; but they saw a young
man. sitting on the right »side, clothed in a long
white garment, and they were affrighted. And
he saith unto them, Be not affrighted, for I know
that ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who' was crucified.
He is not here ; he is risen, as he said. Come see
the place where the Lord lay ; and go your way
quickly, and tell his disciples and Peter that he is
risen from the dead, and goeth before you into
Galilee. There shall ye see him, as he said unto
you, Lo, I have told you! And they departed
quickly, for they trembled and were amazed, and
fled from the sepulchre with fear and great joy.
Neither said they anything to any one, but ran to
bring the disciples word. And they told these
things to the eleven, and to all the rest."
Peter and John, on hearing these things, imme
diately ran toward the sepulchre. John coming
first to the cave, did not enter, but stooping down,
looked in, and saw the grave-clothes, but not
Jesus; While Peter immediately after him, en
tered into the sepulchre, 4hid also saw the grave-
clothes, but neither did he find Jesus. John then
entered into the sepulchre with Peter; and
though they knew not what had become of Jesus,

252 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
were satisfied that he was not in the sepulchre.
The facts they had seen were obvious ; but they
knew not what conclusion to deduce from them ;
" for as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he
must rise again from the dead." " Then the disci
ples went away again to their own homes." Such
is substantially the narrative of the Evangelists.
The question here arises, What had become of the
entombed Jesus ? Had his body been secretly re
moved, by the Jews or by his disciples, or had he
risen from the dead ? That the Jews had taken
away his body, it were preposterous to believe,
nor was this ever, supposed. That his disciples
had surreptitiously taken it away, was reported
among the Jews ; they had bribed the guard at
the sepulchre, to originate and give currency to
the rumor that his disciples "stole the body while
they slept." This artifice of the chief priests is
too frail and preposterous. It is not probable that
such a body of men as the Roman Guard, would
have slept on such a post, and under the penalty
of military law ; nor, had they slept, is it probable '
that his disciples could have taken the body of
Jesus, without awaking them ; nor is it possible,
that if they remained unawakened, they could
have known and testified that the disciples took
it away. Subsequent events also show that the
very Jews who t fabricated this falsehood, them
selves were ashamed of it ; for when the apostles

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 253
were afterward brought before them, instead of
accusing them of taking away the" body of Christ,
they beat and threatened them, without making
the least allusion to the allegation of their having
removed the body. They contrive every pretext
for putting them to death ; they calumniate and
abuse them, they accuse them of sedition and
heresy, and the profanation of the Temple; but
they say nothing of this rumor of taking the
body from the sepulchre. Even their celebrated
orator, Tertullus, who was induced to array all his
rhetoric, and all the arts of his profession against
them, says nothing even of this suspicion, although
Festus himself testifies that the resurrection of
Christ was the subject of discussion between him
and Paul. Why did -not the Jewish Sanhedrim,
when they had seized the apostles and put them
in prison, for declaring that "the God of their
fathers raised up Jesus, whom they slew and
hanged on a tree," instead of deferring to the ad
vice of Gamaliel, to refrain from these men and
_.et them alone, at once affirm that his resurrection
was a fraud, and that God had no part with im
postors? If, then, the body of Christ was not
removed from the sepulchre, either by his enemies
or his friends, what is the evidence that he rose
from the dead ?
The truth of his resurrection cannot be proved
by the fact, that it was seen by men. No eye of

254 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
man watched over his sepulchre when he rose,
unless it were that of the Roman guard, who,- ac
cording to their own account, were asleep during
the whole of this wondrous transaction, and who,
according to the narrative of the Evangelists, " for
fear of the descending angel, did shake and be
come as dead men." His disciples were not there ;
the Jews were not there. The only witnesses who
actually saw him rise were the two angels, who
rolled away the stone from the mouth of the cave,
and who appeared to the women early in the morn
ing on which they visited it, and said unto them,
" He is not here, but is risen." Habited in gar
ments, like^ their own resplendent purity, they
came from heaven, amid the terrors of an earth
quake, to open the gates of death to their sleeping
Lord, to be the witnesses of his triumph, and to
remain seated upon the rock which they had
rolled away long enough to proclaim his resurrec
tion, while the affrighted soldiers recovered from
their astonishment, and fled to the chief priests to
tell the prodigies they had seen. These holy
women were perplexed and sad, when they found
the body of Jesus was not in the sepulchre, and
probably thought that the Jews had taken it
away in order to cast upon it new outrage, and
commit it to the same ignominious grave with the
two thieves. The two angels made them the first

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 255
depositaries of the tidings, that the Lord had risen,
and thus through those holy women who,
" Last at the cross, and earliest at his grave,"
first announced to men that he " who was crucified
through weakness liveth by the power of God.
When the rest of the company, after having heard
the announcement of the angels, had dispersed,
one there was who still remained near the sepul
chre. She could not leave the spot where she had
seen the body of her Lord deposited ; but took a
melancholy pleasure in bedewing it with her tears.
There she stood doubting, weeping, agitated by
hope and fear ; when, turning round, " she saw
Jesus himself standing and knew not that it was
Jesus." She was too much absorbed in her own
thoughts to recognize her Lord ; and when he ut
tered the. words, " Woman, why weepest thou ?
whom seekest thou ?" her imagination was still so
occupied with what she had just seen, that " sup
posing him to be the Gardener, she saith to him,
Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where
thou hast , laid him, and I will take him away."
She made no answer to his questions, because she
supposed he could not be ignorant of the cause of
her grief, nor of the object of her search ; nor was
this silence unnatural in her state of mind. Who
could doubt, so near his sepulchre, whom she was
seeking ? She was waiting for an answer to her
own request, when Jesus called her by name, and

256 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
with a tenderness of emphasis which she suddenly
recognized, said, Mary ! She cast herself at his
feet and exclaimed, " 0 my Master I" It was her
risen Saviour, her own living Saviour, that she be
held. She sees him who was just crucified and
laid in the tomb of Joseph. She hears his voice,
and is subdued with joy. She " came and told the
disciples, that she had seen the Lord, and that he
had spoken these things unto her." After this he
appeared to the other women on their return from
the sepulchre into the city; and they constituted
a cluster of witnesses. On the same day, he ap
peared to the two disciples as they were going to
Emmaus, and whom he found conversing on the
subject of his death. Their hopes that he was the
promised Messiah were crushed and buried in his
grave. They were giving utterance to their sad
ness, when Jesus, not at first recognized by them,
drew near and went with them. He commenced
the conversation with the question, " What manner
of communications are these, that ye have one to'
another, as ye walk and are sad ?" He knew their
thoughts, and his object was to instruct and com
fort them, by first eliciting their own views, and
then disclosing himself to them as the risen Sa
viour. Jerusalem had just been agitated and held
in consternation by the tragical event of the cru
cifixion ; multitudes of Jews, not from Judea alone,
but from all portions of the earth, had come up to

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 257
the city ; all Israel had seen the great Deliverer
lifted up ; and the reply they gave to his inquiry-
was, " Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and
hast not known the things which are come to pass
there in these days ?" He said unto them, " What
things ?" The question interested them ; and they
proceeded to state their views concerning Jesus
of Nazareth, the conduct of the Jewish rulers in
putting him to death, their own sadness and their
vacillating hopes of his resurrection, the vision of
angels, and the testimony of the women who had
come from the sepulchre. In this doubting state
of mind, Jesus found them, and rebuked them for
their unbelief. " O fools and slow of heart to be
lieve all that the Prophets have spoken !" He
then proceeded to instruct them out of their own
Prophets in their minute predictions concerning
himself; his birth, his lineage, his character, his
death, his resurrection, and his eternal kingdom
and, glory. They listened with wonder and their
hearts burned within them ; and when they reached
the village where they were going, he went in to
tarry with them. " And it came to pass as he sat
at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it,
and brake and gave to them." He sat in their
presence ; they saw him and heard his voice ; " their
eyes were opened, and they knew him." Their
conviction that he -was risen from the dead was

258 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
perfect ; and having produced it, he " vanished out
of their sight."
After this, he appeared to the ten disciples, when
Thomas was absent ; and then to the eleven when
Thomas was present, when he upbraided him for
his unbelief, and showed him his perforated hands
and feet, and his pierced side ; and to convince
them that it was himself and not a spirit, he con
versed with them, and ate and drank with them.
After this, he appeared to seven of them at the
sea of Tiberias, where he again made himself
known to them, ate with them, restored Peter, and
intimated to him the severe trials and bitter end
to which that Apostle was destined. And after
this he appeared to more than five hundred breth
ren at once. This was in Galilee, where he had
spent the greater part of his life, and was well
known, and where his person would have been
universally recognized. Thus he continued to have
intercourse wdth men for forty days, until he as
cended to heaven. We know not how often he
appeared to them during these forty days, besides
the instances recorded ; but it is probable they
were very many.
The seeming deficiency in 'the witnesses is the
fact that there is no recorded instance of his ap
pearing to the Jews, his enemies, and in Jerusalem
itself. The time was when my own mind was, I
will not say perplexed, but rather wondered at

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 259
this deficiency. Why were there not other wit
nesses ? Why did not Jesus show himself publicly,
present himself in the temple, and stand in person
before the Sanhedrim itself, and let them see for
themselves that he had risen from the dead ? But
the wonder has long since passed away. Who
should be the witnesses of his resurrection, if not
those who were the best qualified ? Other wit
nesses there might have been of very dubious
qualifications, and still more dubious character.
They were not the men who would have sealed
their testimony with their blood. Christianity
does not ask the testimony of such men. The
resurrection did not need to be propped up by
such dubious testimony. Mary's testimony in the
garden is worth more than the testimony of the
whole Jewish Sanhedrim. We should be sorry if
the great proof of Christ's resurrection rested upon
the testimony of men so imperfectly acquainted
with his person ; bloody men, too, and men who
stood convicted of subornation of perjury on his
trial. Besides, if he had gone into the temple and
presented himself to the Sanhedrim; the conse
quence would have been that they would have
denied his resurrection. They would probably
have refused to identify him ; and would have en
deavored to perplex the minds of men with the
question, whether the man who had thus appeared
to them in the Temple, were the same with him

260 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
^ who died on Calvary. Divine providence did not
mean that such a question, on 'such testimony,
should ever be agitated. Or they would have
treated him as they did his apostles, and as they
had treated him — crucified him a second time
and put him to an open shame. It was too late
for this. The days of his humiliation were past.
He was never again to be reviled and rejected of
men. It was not for want of testimony that they
did not believe-; the reason lies deeper than this.
It was their proud and radical alienation of heart
to the lovely character of Christ, and to his doc
trine. The man who began his career in a stable
and ended it on the cross, they would never ac
knowledge as their promised and exalted Messiah.
Their disdainful rejection of him could not be over
come by testimony. No, they had closed their
eyes and hardened their hearts. They had had
their day. The harvest was passed. They were
given over in judgment to a reprobate mind. His
friends were those who saw him, knew him, and
were best qualified to be the witnesses of his res
urrection. When he was about to leave the earth,
he committed these great facts to their keeping, and
said to them, "Ye are my witnesses of these things?
We may now advert to the interest and glory
of this great event.
The first thought which here impresses us is the
completeness of the evidence by which it is estab-

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 261
lished. It is evidence, throughout, which makes
its appeal to the popular mind, and is addressed
to ordinary readers and unlettered' men. Men
need but fair and honest minds in order to appre
ciate it. Let any man take these sacred records
and read them, and he cannot fail to perceive
there is an honesty of statement, and a sincerity
of purpose in the narrators which bespeak them
as true men. We have already shown that they
could neither have been deceived, nor were they de
ceivers, in what we have said in regard to their com
petency and credibility on the subject of Christ's
miracles. We speak now of their testimony itself
to his resurrection ; read it ; compare their different
narratives, and though some facts are related by
one, and some by another ; and though they some
times relate the same facts differently, they are the
same facts. The unrestricted and unembarrassed
freedom of their statements is among the vouchers
of their honesty. They were not studied, literary
compositions; human polish would have spoiled
them. Their simple object was to make a faith
ful record of the death and resurrection of Jesus
of Nazareth ; and they have done it with the sim
plicity which is in keeping with their object.
There is a straightforwardness in their narrative
which no impostor could have attained, and
touches of nature in it which are above the power
of fabrication.

262 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Take, for example, the single circumstance, that
the first witnesses of this great fact, on which
Christianity rests, were women. Would a deceiver
have selected such testimony? Credulous, trem
bling women to be the first depositaries of an
event, amid events where stouter hearts might
have quaked with fear ! Would an impostor have
painted the scene in the garden between Mary
and her unrecognized, and then discovered Lord ?
Was this the fancy of an impostor, or a scene from
actual life? Is there a chapter in Tacitus, or
Pliny, or. Suetonius, or any Roman historian, giv
ing an account of men and events at the same
period of the world in which Jesus lived and died
and rose again, that is worthy of such confidence
as the simple memoranda of Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John ? It is a glorious fact, therefore, that
" the Lord is risen indeed !" The witnesses them
selves at first could scarcely believe their own
senses. When the fact was first testified to the
apostles, w,e are told that " these words seemed to
them as idle tales, and they believed them not."
One of them resisted the testimony to the last,
and would not believe until he had seen and heard ;
until he had handled the crucified body, and even
opened the scarcely-healed wounds in his feet and
hands and side.
Nor is it any matter of regret that Christianity
had then, and now has the advantage of their

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 263
caution; for it went forth more boldly as they
went more boldly and assured ; and though pov
erty, ignominy, dungeons, and death were their
reward, their testimony was destined to subdue
the world. Rome fell before it, who was not to
be subdued by artifice and imposture. Millions
have lived and died by it, who would not have
trusted in falsehood. And millions have died for
it who were not the sport of delusion. The tomb
of Jesus, instead of burying the hopes of men, had
scarcely covered up the seed before it shot forth,
and its branches of righteousness and hope were
themselves covering every land.
Christ is risen, and therefore our preaching is
not vain, nor is your faith vain. These truths,
these promises, this perfected redemption, have a
seal fixed upon them, more sure than the seal
upon his sepulchre, and are guarded by those
heavenly Watchers, whose eye never slumbers,
and whose arm is never weary. In raising Jesus
from the dead, God has given him power over all
flesh, and full authority to accomplish all the pur
poses of his grace. He was slain, and hath re
deemed us unto God by his blood.
Our second thought is, that the resurrection of
Christ is a glorious reality, for the assurance it
furnishes his followers of their own resurrection
to eternal life. The doctrine of a future state is
clearly revealed in the Law and the Prophets ; it

264 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
is revealed with progressive clearness ; it was be
lieved by the Jews, and this popular belief con
stituted one of the preparatives for the introduction
of the gospel. It is a different question, whether
the Old Testament reveals the doctrine of the
resurrection of the body, and whether all those
passages which speak of the future blessedness of
the righteous, and the future misery of the wicked,
may not receive a true and fair construction in
limiting their future existence merely to the undy
ing spirit. We would not be over-confident in
our conclusion that they require a different and
less limited construction, in opposition to the ex-,
pressed views of men of great learning and excel
lence. Yet must we deliberately affirm that to us
it appears, that when the Psalmist speaks of " his
flesh resting in hope," of " waking in God's like
ness," and of God's " redeeming his soul from the
power of the grave1" — when the prophet Isaiah
speaks of " death as swallowed up in victory," and
when we weigh well the "interpretation which the
apostle Paul gives to these words; — when we hear
the prophet Daniel 'affirming " that many of them
that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt ;"
— when we hear Job declare, " For I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the lat
ter day upon the earth, and though after my skin is
consumed, and worms destroy this body, yet in my

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 265
flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself
and mine eye shall behold, and not another ; no
doubt,remains upon our own minds, that the great
doctrine, not only of a future state, but of the res
urrection of the body, is contained in the Old Tes
tament Scripture.
It is quite obvious, however, that the full dis
closure of this truth is reserved for the New Tes
tament dispensation, and that the great proof of
it is found in the resurrection of Christ. All
doubt and perplexity on this subject are dispelled,
when we hear the apostle say, " Now if Christ be
preached that he rose from the dead, how say
some among you, that there is no resurrection of
the dead : but if there be no resurrection of the
dead, then is not Christ' risen. But now is Christ
risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of
them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man also came the resurrection of the dead ;
for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all
be made alive." It is a wonderful truth that these
bodies, after having been reduced to dust, buried
in the ocean, or scattered by the wind, or devoured
by beasts of prey, or burnt to ashes, shall be re
stored; but it is not more marvellous than true,
and not less true than that Christ rose. Christ; is
" the first fruits of them that slept." Not the first
fruits, in the sense that he was the first instance
and example of resurrection, because others had
12

266 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
risen before, and he himself had exercised his mi
raculous power in raising them from the dead. But
they were not the matured fruits, though first
gathered, nor the true samples and specimens of
what the resurrection should be. They returned
to dwell again among the dead; he rose to die
no more, to live and reign ; this is the resurrec
tion of which his is the first collected fruits, the
first offered to God, as the earnest and pledge of
the final harvest. In the narrative of his death,
we are told, that when the veil of the Temple
was rent, and the earth quaked, that the graves
were also " opened, and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, and came out of their graves
after his resurrection, and went into the Holy
City, and appeared unto many." When he rose,
he raised up them also, in honor of his own tri
umph over death and the grave, and as proof to
the world that he had risen, and that there shall
be at last a resurrection of the dead. " The grave
hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth
without measure, and all nations have descended
into it ;" the earth itself -will at last become like
one vast grave-yard; but they shall "come
forth." How perfect the resemblance between the re
surgent body, and the body which existed on the
earth, we are not informed. It will be sufficiently
so as to be identified with it ; yet will it be more

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 267
beautiful and lovely, because it will be spiritual,
immortal, and " fashioned like unto Christ's glori
ous body." The early Christians rejoiced' in this
glorious prospect; nor could the cross, nor the
stake, nor the cruellest death their enemies could
inflict, suppress the joy. They did not fear to
suffer nor to die, because they had been " begotten
to such living hopes by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead."
Our third and last thought is, that the resurrec
tion of Christ is glorious, for the full and complete
introduction itfurnislies of the gospel dispensation.
The Saviour instructed the Jews, that though
there had not been born of women a greater than
John the Baptist, yet " he that is least in the king
dom of heaven, is greater than he." John be
longed to the old and worn-out economy. The
gospel dispensation had not commenced ; great as
John was, the meanest prophet under the'gospel
dispensation was greater. The gospel dispensa
tion did not begin with the coming of Christ;
Christ himself was subject to all the Jewish ordi
nances. It did not begin with his preaching, nor
with his miracles ; he was then in the form of a
servant. It did not begin with his death, nor
while he lay in the sepulchre; these were the
days of his deepest degradation, and in which his
disciples, were clothed with, sackcloth. It was not
until the morning on which he rose, that the glin>

268 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
mering twilight of Judaism passed away, the night
vanished, and was followed by the day in which
the sun shall no more go down, neither the moon
withdraw itself. The resurrection pf Christ is the
marked period in the history of the world, the
brightest period, the most joyous period. He
must continue under the power of death for a
time, before he could be recognized as the author
itative Founder of the New Dispensation, as the
Author and Finisher of the Christian faith, as the
announced and honored Captain of his people's sal
vation. He was a mortal man till then ; after this,
"death had no more dominion over him." Till
then, he was Heaven's Messenger, sent to woo and
win his church in accents of sadness, and in groans
and death; after this, he became hei' joyful Bride
groom, decked with robes of salvation, and clothed
with light as with a garment. Till then, he came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister ; after
this, he was Lord both of the dead and the living,
the Head of his church, the King of the universe.
The sacred and joyful clay of his resurrection,
ushered in the year of jubilee to the impoverished
and enslaved families of the earth; it was the
Sabbath of the world. The glory of the resur
rection eclipses, I will not say the shame, but the
glory of the cross. What is earth, and the glory
of all its kingdoms, to the glory of this risen
Saviour? This is he who rose, that all nations

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 269
might bow before him ; that he might sway the
sceptre of the world; and having extended his
kingdom from sea to sea, set upon the throne of
David forever.
This high vantage-ground the Christian dispen
sation occupies. This was the stand-point of the
apostles when they went forth " preaching Jesus
and the resurrection," and repentance and forgive
ness of sins to all nations inhis name. Was it not
a glorious event? We look back upon these
scenes of mourning, and repeat the question he
put to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus,
" Ought not Christ to have suffered these things
and enter into his glory?" On this eminence, the
ministry of reconciliation now stand when they
speak and teach in the name of Jesus. The cross
is victorious, only because he could not be holden
by the chains of death. His resurrection holds
this prominent place, because it is God's mark of
_ _ approbation of the perfection of his character and
work. If his death was an expiation for sin, his
resurrection is the great proof of its sufficiency,
and of God's acceptance of it in behalf of sinners.
The Scriptures give emphasis to the fact, that " he
died for our sins, and rose again for our justifica
tion." " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,
that if thou dost confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

270 " THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
"The stone which the builders rejected is become
the head of .the corner ; this is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day
the Lord hath made ; we will rejoice in it, and be
glad." Every returning Sabbath bears this wit
ness for the Son of Man. It brings before the
world this seal of his completed atonement.
' Though made of the seed of David according to
flesh, he is declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by his
resurrection from the dead."
Such is the narrative given us of the resurrec
tion of Christ ; such the testimony by which it is
supported ; and such is the glory of his resurrec
tion itself.
We place ourselves by the tomb of the risen Sa
viour as dying men. It is a dark world we inhabit,
where sorrow and pain, infirmity, sickness, and
death are man's inheritance; " Man that is born of a
woman is of few days and full of trouble." The glit
tering show of earth and all its pageantry vanish,
when "his confidence is rooted out of his tabernaele,
and he is brought to the king of terrors." It is a
dismaying truth that these bodies will putrefy and
be dissolved in the dark grave. " Man dieth and
wasteth away ; yea man giveth up the ghost, and
where is he ?" The cold, damp sepulchre is a soli
tary dwelling, and an untried state of being. " As
thf cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 271
that goeth down to the grave shall come up no
more. As the waters fail from the sea, and the
flood decayeth and drieth , up, so man lieth down
and riseth not ;- till the heavens be no more, they
shall not awake, neither be raised out of their
sleep." These are ' sad reflections, and they
come from a far distant and dark dispensation.
There is a brighter view of the grave than this.
It is not the deep ocean where the hopes of
man are buried; but the garden of hope, and
where the seed dies only to spring up again, and
bloom with the returning year of a pledged immor
tality. Long ago the blow was struck that weak
ens the power of death, extracts his sting, and is
destined .to break up his empire. When the Son
of Mary assumed our nature, it was " that through
death he might destroy him that had the power
of death." When he rose on the morning of the
third day, he publicly announced the purpose, " I
will ransom them from the power of the grave;
O death ! I will be thy plague ; O grave ! I will
be thy destruction." Glorious triumph ! and still
more glorious Conqueror! Cease then these
gloomy and agitating fears of death and the gram
Anticipate, if you will, the bold and sudden knock
of the Destroyer at this earthly house of your tab
ernacle. Or mark the gradual invasions of dis
ease under which it is wasting away. . Or inspect
the wrinkles which time has traced upon your

272 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
brow, and count the gray hairs which admonish
you that the elasticity of youth and the vigor of
manhood are gone, and that you may look in vain
for ..withered sprightliness and faded beauty. And
bid them welcome. Hail them all as God's ap
pointed and your own bright omens of unfading
vigor and immortal manhood ; as the ripening seeds
of the coming and promised harvest, " sown in
corruption, but raised in incorruption; sown in
dishonor but raised in glory ; sown in weakness,
but raised in power." He who was dead, liveth,
and is alive for evermore, and hath the keys of
death and the grave. " If we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall be
also in the likeness of his resurrection."
We place ourselves also by the side of the Sa
viour's tomb also, as mourners. We have a quar
rel with the all-devouring grave. It has swallowed
up those we have loved. The venerated are there.
There sleep smiling infancy, and prattling child
hood. There moulder beauty's form and man
hood's promise. The parents' hope lies buried
there, and the husband's pride, and the wife's own
refuge and comforter. And there the living sigh
and mourners tread softly, and many a bosom
gives utterance to the thought, O cruel grave !
But have they all forgotten, that there Jesus slept ?
Have they never learned, that " since Jesus died
and rose again, so them also which sleep in Jesus

CHRIST GLORIOUS IN HIS RESURRECTION. 273
will God bring with him ?" When now from his
high abode he looks down upon these dreary ages of
time, and marks the desolations which death has
made, and the hopes which the grave has swal
lowed up ; does he not remind them of his own pro
test against this all- voracious destroyer ! Is it not
over this vast cemetery that he uttered the prom
ise, " Thy dead men shall live ; together with my
dead body shall they arise." Is not the command
still imperative, " Awake .and sing, ye that dwell in
dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the
earth shall cast out the dead !" Bright rays even
now fall upon the mansions of the dead. He will
not be slack concerning the promise, that " the hour
is coming in the which all that are in their graves
shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall
come forth." The days are few before the light
of that immortal morning shall dawn, and these
vile bodies shall be no longer the food of worms,
but shall be fashioned like unto his own glorious
body. We place ourselves also by the tomb of "the
risen Saviour, as the ministers of his gospel. We
bring you a message from the sepulchre where
there is nothing now but the napkin that was
about his head, and the linen clothes that formed
his shroud. We show, the proof that he is the
promised Messiah, and the Saviour of the world.
We give you his own assurance, that, having thus
12*

21T4 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
struggled with the powers of darkness on the cross,
and gone through the gates of death and grave,
and thus-accomplished the most arduous parts of
the work he -came to accomplish, he lives to per
fect it, and that not one iota of it shall remain un
accomplished. Jesus and the resurrection is tiie
gospel we proclaim. He is not on the cross now ;
nor do your sins wring with anguish his tortured
soul; Nor is every human hope now buried in
the caverned rock, guarded by Caesar's soldiery,
and watched by hovering angels. On that mem
orable morning, he bid adieu to earth's sorrows and
ignominy, and now fills a throne where heaven
does him homage, and where it is heaven, and will
be heaven to you thus to honor him. "Awake
then, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light." This is our mes
sage from his sepulchre ; and " he that hath ears
to hear, let him hear." This is his message ; and
" see that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For
if they escaped not who refused him that spake-on
earth, much more shall not they escape who refuse
him that speaketh from heaven."

CHAPTER X.
Christ's ascension glorious.
The history of Christ during his residence on
the earth, was, as we have seen, a wOndrous his
tory ; everything is worthy of notice that relates
to it. The manger where he was born — the Tem
ple where his parents consecrated him to Israel's
God — the village where he was brought up — the
chamber where he instituted the Supper — the gar
den where he agonized — the cross on which he
hung — the sepulchre from which he rose, and the
Mountain from which he ascended, all awaken in
our bosoms the aaost lively emotions, because they
bear so intimate a relation to Him, to whom, if we
are Christians, "we have committed our immor
tality, and on whom we rest all our hopes. Sa
cred spot of ear^h ! where those feet last stood
that were nailed to the accursed tree. The Em
press Helena, the mother of the great Constantine,
is said to have here erected a temple, in honor of
his Ascension. There is rio doubt a superstitious
and unchristian, reverence for what are called holy'

276 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
scenes and holy places ; nor that they have given
rise to observances and rites which are hostile to
the simplicity of the gospel, and ruinous to the
souls of men. Yet is it human to be affected by
them ; and it may be Christian, without regard
ing them as the symbols of Antichrist.
We are creatures whose thoughts are formed, in
no small degree, by associations of thought. Great
events consecrate and impart a portion of their
own greatness to all that surrounds them. Were
a Christian traveller to visit the Holy Land, next
to Gethsemane and Calvary, he would go to the
Mount of Olives, and there turn to the New Tes
tament, and read the short narratives which so
beautifully describe the circumstances of his divine
Lord's final departure from this sinning and suffer
ing world. With lingering and fond delight, he
would dwell on the minute and apparently trivial
circumstances which bring this delightful, but too
often forgotten scene, to. his remembrance. Chris
tians of every age have contemplated this event
with deep interest, not merely because it is the
bright commencement of that brighter future
upon which the Son of Man was then ushered,
but for its intrinsic importance, and the halo
of glory which it throws around his Person and
his throne.
Allusions to his ascension are found in various
parts of the Sacred Writings, but the only de-

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 277
tailed account of it is given in the short narrative
of the Evangelist Luke, in the closing paragraph
of his gospel, and in the introduction to his histor
ical treatise, called "The Acts of the Apostles."
The narrative in his gospel, is in the following
words : " And he led them out as far as to Bethany,
and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he
was parted from them, and carried up into
heaven." In the " Acts of the Apostles," he adds,
'that "a cloud received him out of their sight,"
and that his disciples " looked steadfastly toward
heaven as he went up." About forty days after
his resurrection, he met with his disciples at Jeru
salem for the last time, where he uttered those
lessons of heavenly wisdom which none but he
knew how to utter, and gave them important in
structions with regard to that spiritual kingdom
which he had set up in the world. It was forty
days after his birth, that he was brought into the
Temple, and presented to the Lord ; and now, it
is forty days after his resurrection, which was a
sort of second nativity, that he presents himself
before the Lord in the temple above. It was
after his forty days' temptation in the wilderness,
that angels came and ministered unto him; and
now, forty days after he left the wilderness of the
grave, angels minister to him before his throne.
Having reiterated to. his disciples the assurances

278 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
of his continued love, and having instructed them
to "tarry in Jerusalem until he should send upon
them the promise of his Father," he " was received
up into heaven, and set on the right hand of God."
They were at no loss as to the place to which he
ascended. The question as to any intermediate
state, where the souls of the righteous have been
supposed to exist between death and the resurrec
tion, is settled by the fact that he ascended to the
heaven where God dwells, and that " where .he is,
they shall be also." It is perfectly obvious that it
was not to any such intermediate state that he
himself went. " A little while," says he, " and ye
shall not see me, and again a little while, and ye
shall see me, because I go to the Father." Still
more explicitly he says, " I came forth from the
Father, and am come into the world ; again, I
leave the world, and go to the Father?
The evidence of his ascension depends, in the first
place, on his own declarations. He frequently de
clared that he was going back to, the heaven from
which he came, and persisted in that declaration
tp the last. We have just as much reason to be
lieve his testimony as we have to believe that he
was true. It depends also on the testimony of his
disciples, who saw him rise. He did not ascend
alone, but took his disciples with him from Jeru
salem to Bethany, so that they might be witnesses
of this great event. He does not shun the face

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 279
of day, and amid the secrecy and silence of the
night, fly back to his native heaven ; but in the
open light of the sun, he ascends through the as
tonished firmament, and in the presence of adoring
disciples. He does not disappear and " vanish out
of their sight," as he did on some other occasions ;
but in solemn majesty moved up before them into
"heaven, while their eyes were fixed upon him and
they " steadfastly looked up" as he rose, till the
bright object they were gazing at became smaller
and more small, and all farther distinct vision was
precluded by the " cloud which received him out
of their sight." Nor was it from some obscure val
ley or mountainous ravine that he ascended ; but
from the mountain top, near Jerusalem, where the
whole city might have seen him. He selected
this eminence that nothing might intercept the
view. It was the spot where he often retired from
the city's strife, to hold intercourse with GocLfrom
which he rose to renew and perpetuate that fel
lowship. It was from Olivet, because he there
struggled in the garden, and he would have the
scene of his greatest weakness, also the scene and
the memorial of his divine power ; that the place
which was the beginning of his passion might be
the beginning of his glory ; and that from the spot
where he had contended with the powers of dark
ness he might ascend as the mighty Victor, thus
teaching all his followers in every age of the world

280 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
that their severest conflicts secure their greatest
victories. Other witnesses also there were, angelic
messengers sent from heaven to give the assurance
to his astonished disciples that he had gone to
dwell with his eternal Father. There is evidence,
too, of a different kind arising from the fact that
the predictions which he himself uttered before his
ascension were fulfilled by subsequent events. He
predicted the outpouring of the Spirit on the day
of Pentecost ; and the Spirit was poured out. He
predicted the signs which were to precede the de
struction of Jerusalem ; and not one of them faile^.
There were " false Christs who deceived many ;"
there were wars and commotions, "-nation against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom;" there
were " famines and pestilences ;" there were " earth
quakes," and " fearful sights and signs from heav
en;" there were persecutions, and his followers
were " delivered up to councils and synagogues
and prisons, and beaten and killed." He predicted
that " the gospel must be published among all na
tions ;" and it was preached to Jew and Gentile,
and churches were organized and pastors settled in
every part of the then known world. He predict
ed the ' siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies,
and the trench that should be cast about it ; and
it was compassed on every side. He predicted the
miseries of the Jews during and subsequent to the
siege ; and history assures us that never was there

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 281
such strange and unparalleled suffering. He pre
dicted the total destruction of the temple and the
city; and they were both "laid even with- the
ground," nor was there " left in them one stone
upon another." He predicted that the Jews should
be led away captive into all nations ; and they
were led away. He predicted that "Jerusalem
should be trodden down by the Gentiles until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ;" and so com
pletely was Judea subjected, that its very land
was sold, nor has the city from that time to the
present ever been in possession of the Jews. And
to add to this testimony there is the fact that the
Son of Man, frgm the day of his ascension, has not
been seen among men. From that memorable
day, wdth the single exception of Saul of Tarsus,
no eye has seen him save upon the throne of David
and at the right hand of God.
Such, in few words, is the scriptural narrative of
the ascension of Christ, and of the testimony by
which it is established, so far as is consistent with
our present design to present them. We say
nothing now of the moral argument in proof of
this great fact, as we may have occasion to advert
to it hereafter. We are chiefly concerned with the
importance of this fact, and with the great glory
it confers on the ascended Saviour. There are
several characteristics of this great event, by which
this thought may be illustrated.

282 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
In the first place, this ascension furnishes strong
confirmation of the truth of Christianity. Chris
tianity is not less a narrative of marvellous facts,
than it is a statement of marvellous and- heaven-
inspired truths. To speak with more precision,
its great and distinguishing doctrines are but re
vealed statements of these great facts. We have
before remarked the singular circumstance, that
the primitive martyrs to the Christian faith, suf
fered martyrdom, not for their belief in specula
tive theory, not for principles and doctrines which
they could substantiate by argument ; but for un
wavering testimony to facts which they them
selves either saw, or which they received on the
testimony of accredited witnesses. It has been
our object to state these facts, from the descent of
the Son of God to Bethlehem's stable, to his
ascension from the Mount of Olives. They are
all miraculous, and indicate the interposition of
supernatural power. Although each of them dis
tinctly possesses this feature, and bears the seal
and superscription of heaven, yet they are not
narrated as distinct and isolated facts, but as the
component parts of a perfected series. Christian
ity may not rest on- any one of them ; its Author
never intended it should rest on any one of them.
Not one of them can be spared from the series ;
every one of them is a link of burnished gold;
but the brightest and purest of them does not

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 283
alone form the golden chain of truth and love
that binds earth to heaven. The true gospel is
contained in those momentous facts, so forcibly
bound together by Paul : " Great is the znystery
of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justi
fied in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
into glory? Christianity ends where it begins.
The divine Author first came from heaven, and
after his varied pilgrimage of love, and labor, and
suffering, on the earth, went back to the heaven
whence he came. The facts which constitute- the
sum and substance of it, form this beautiful circle,
of which Christ is the centre, and from which so
many subordinate truths radiate to the unbroken
circumference. There is this consistency in it,
tjjiat every part of it is adapted to every other part ; '
and it is only in its relation to the whole, that any
one part can be appreciated. This last miracle of
Christ, his ascension from earth to heaven, suits
well with his 'first miracle, his descent from heaven
to earth. It suits well with his life, his preaching,
his death, and his resurrection. They all stand or
fall together. You cannot deny one without de
nying the whole. There is the same evidence in
favor of every part, that exists in favor of the
whole; and the same evidence in favor of the
whole, that exists in favor of every part. You
demolish Christianity, if you demolish the doc-

284 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
trine of the resurrection, because if he did not
rise, he does not live and reign. So you make a
wreck of Christianity, if he did not ascend ; be
cause he is no more than the risen Lazarus, if he
lives not, reigns not. We must travel with him
from the place where he was born, to the Mount
of Olives ; and there, on that sacred eminence, we
may look back and see his glorious career. Olivet
will not soon be forgotten, for the confirmation it
furnishes of the truth of the gospel.
In the next place, the ascension of Christ fur
nishes us an affecting view of the loveliness and
the dignity of his character. We have more than
a glimpse, both of his humanity and his divinity,
in this wonderful scene. There are things in his
Person and glory that are protected from all un-
, hallowed curiosity; but in the circumstances of
his ascension, we feel that, like the disciples who
accompanied him from Jerusalem to the Mount of
Olivet, we are permitted to inspect with more
than ordinary familiarity, that contrasted yet com
bined loveliness and dignity which render him
glorious. It was the last earthly interview he
ever enjoyed with these holy men. Endeared as
they had been to him, and he to them, the time
had come of which he had often premonished
them, when he must leave and go to his Father.
Yet to remain with them as long as he might re
main, "he led them out. as far as to Bethany."

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 285
Eager as he was to return to his native skies, he
trode this last path with no unmeasured steps.
Here was the man Christ Jesus ; the emotions, the
look, the language of the man. And there was
divine loveliness and divine light that spread
around him, kindling within their bosoms thoughts
and affections beyond the ordinary privilege of
their fellowship even with their divine Master.
Who is that wonderful Personage standing on the
Mount of Olives, with his eye fixed on heaven,
" lifting up his hands and blessing" his disciples ?
His words ever had been words of blessing ; but
now they fall with an emphasis and a tenderness
that bespeak hjs departure. He began his career,
he continued, and closed it in the same spirit of
blessing. Just as he is about to ascend, the words
of blessing are on his lips. His heart yearned to
ward them. All that he could give, he then gave,
because all that he could feel he then felt. It was
in the very act of blessing them, and while his
hands were uplifted, and the blessing was on his
¦ lips, that " he was parted from them." He could
not leave them to- measure their bloody path
through this vale of sorrow, without this last assu
rance that all their weakness and faults were for
gotten, and that he bore them on his heart. Their
allotment was to wait a little while here below ;
his cause demanded it; and that through fiery
trials and great tribulation, they should enter the

286 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
kingdom of heaven. They were the last words
he uttered, when he thus blessed them. Thus
ended his wonderful career on the earth ; a termi
nation which will be had in everlasting remem
brance. Calvary, Tabor, and Olivet, will ere
long melt away ; this earth, with all its profane
and sacred scenes will ere long be burnt up, and
the places which now know them will J_now them
no more; but this loving Saviour will not be
forgotten. We. scarcely know which most to admire in this
scene, his matchless loveliness, or his infinite dig
nity. Hear him speak, and see him ascend., It is
not the Man Jesus who had not where to lay his
head ; nor is it- the Living God before whom Moses
trembled. It is the God-Man Mediator, that de
spised rejected One, putting on his robes of ma
jesty, in order to terminate his earthly career in
a manner befitting his high character. While he
was pursuing the preliminary objects of his mis
sion, his true dignity was slowly and gradually
unfolded. At his resurrection the dawning light
began to break forth ; but it was at his ascension
into heaven that he openly demonstrated before
angels and men that the eternity of the Godhead
is his; that he inhabits, it; that he fills it,, and
that it is his own eternity. Such was his progres
sive and splendid path, that when he saw that his
Mediatorial work on earth was accomplished, and

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 287
when he had made all necessary arrangements for
the extension and perpetuity of his* kingdom
among men ; by his own almighty power — that
power by which he stilled the tempest, cast out
devils, and raised the dead — he " ascends up where
he was before." There the dying, Stephen saw
him, when he " saw the heavens opened." There
the exiled Apostle beheld him, where thousands
and thousands of thousands bowed before him, and
sung the song, "Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain !" And there he will remain " until the times
of the fulfilment of all things, spoken of by all the
Prophets since the world began."
We are told that the disciples who saw him
ascend,' after he had gone up worshipped him, and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were con-r
tinually in the Temple, praising and blessing God."
The scene they had just witnessed confirmed the
views they had long cherished of the dignity of
their Divine Master. In supreme loveand profound
veneration, they prostrated their souls before him,
as their faithful Redeemer and rightful Lord, as
the triumphant Conqueror over sin and death.
They knew what he deserved. To him belonged
all honor, glory, and praise, and to him they as-
;ribed them. They could " now return to Jerusa
lem with great joy." Mount Olivet was one of
the permanent memorials of their Master's glory.
From the spot where their own feet had stood

288 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
with his, tljey had seen him rise ; and though their
transports of joy may have passed away, they were
in that settled state of mind which constrained
them to abide in the Temple, " continually prais
ing and blessing God."
The Bible has few facts more full of interest than
this ascension of the Son of God ; it has none more
sublime or wonderful than his glory as here mani
fested. Human reason has nothing to do here but
satisfy itself of the fact; the glory is infinite ; it is
above the reach of human comprehension. We
worship and adore, as the disciples did, when they
returned to Jerusalem. Men may have large and
lofty views of his glory; but however large and
lofty they may be, they fall short of his real dig:
nity. It will employ eternity to make it all mani
fest. Nay, eternity itself cannot complete the de
velopment. It is easier to tell what he is not, than
what he is. He is not man ; he is not angel ; he is
not the highest of created beings. To know him
perfectly, we must see him with the eyes, and
know him with the intelligence of the Deity. The
more we search into this unfathomed depth, the
deeper we find it. The rays dazzle and overpower
us with their splendor. As we see him go up, and
recall his birth, and life, and crucifixion, we are
hushed into the silent raptures of astonishment.
His ascension furnishes us, in the next place,
with a glimpse of his blessedness. If modest and

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 289
humble piety is chastened by this view of the
personal dignity of Christ, it is gratified by the
view it presents of his begun blessedness. The
blessedness of the Man when he ascended, we can
better understand, than we can the blessedness of
the ascending God. The infinity of the Deity is
to us an inconceivable idea ; nor can we compre
hend his "blessedness any more than his infinity.
We must speak of that which we cannot compre
hend when we speak of the heavenly blessedness
of God manifest in the flesh, or we must not speak
at all. His incomprehensible blessedness is one
of the radiating splendors of his glory. He as
cended up on high to behold his heavenly Father's
face without a veil and without a cloud, and with
him to inhabit the same infinite plenitude of joy.
We have seen enough of his degradation ; other
visions now greet 'us. The scenes of shame and
suffering are over. The days of humiliation may
be remembered, and even commemorated; but
they are never to be realized a second time. It is
not the Garden now, but the celestial Paradise.
It is not now the scorn of kings and the derision
of the people ; but the alleluias of harpers harping
with their harps. It is not the groans that rent
rocks asunder and shook terribly the earth ; but
the voice of those "which were redeemed from
the earth," as the " voice of many waters and as
the voice of a great thunder." It is not One, who
13

290 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
of all the miserable, is himself the most miserable;
but One, who of all the happy, is himself the most
happy. He is within the City where " nothing
that defileth" shall enter. He has reached the
shore, and wave after wave no more rolls over
him. His last tear was shed when he wept
for others' woes ; and now, on that same Mount
where he wept over Jerusalem, he bids farewell
to earth, and goes back to be " glorified with the
glory he had with the Father before the world
was." That glory he so often sighed for, how wel
come ! That joyful meeting with his Divine Fa
ther was itself a recompense for all his woes. That
long sought home, that peaceful rest, that renewed
intercourse with seraphim, and with the spirits
of just men made perfect, and those acclamations
of praise all found a response in his own divine
bosom, and he was happy, infinitely and eternally
happy. How joyous must have been the scene when the
early disciples thus saw him so far above the darts
of this cruel world, and the more cruel darts of
his earliest and latest foe ! It was enough that
their beloved Lord now lived, God blessed for ev
ermore. They remembered the words which he
spake, " If ye love me, ye will rejoice because I said
I go to the Father." His glory was not eclipsed
in the darkest night of his sufferings ; he could
suffer as no other ever suffered, and glorify his

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 291
Father even in draining the bitter cup. Nor was
it obscured now that the darkness is passed, and
the light of heayen shone upon him. His character
was not such as to lose its lustre amid the fascina
tions of joy ; on the other hand the fascinations
of joy added lustre to his character. He who
travelled in the greatness of his strength, in the
deep valley of his humiliation, arrayed himself
even in purer garments when he ascended to sit
down on his throne. There was surpassing glory
in that surpassing blessedness. What is more tri
umphant and glorious than the infinite blessedness
of the infinite Saviour ? blessedness as diffusive as
it is infinite ! blessedness that is identified with
the blessedness of his ransomed ones, and that is
the only source and guardian of all the blessedness
in the universe !
This leads me to remark, in the last, place, that
we cannot have just impressions of the glory of his
ascension without assodating it with the objects it
was to attain. These were the same for which he
clothed himself with humanity, and endured hu
manity's curse. They were vast in their intrinsic
importance, vast in their extent, and vast and
interminable in their influence upon the destinies
of men and the empire and glory of God. The
work he had already accomplished on the earth
was but preparatory to the work which, as the
mediatorial priest and king, he was to carry on in

292 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
his state of exaltation, until the final consummation
of all things. It was a remarkable prohibition
which the risen Saviour uttered to Mary in the
garden, when he said, " Touch me not, for I am not
yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren
and say unto them., I ascend to my Father and
your Father, and to my God and your God? His
work was not accomplished, nor could it be un
til he ascended into heaven as the recognized and
honored Priest. and King.
There are emphatic predictions in the sacred
writings of the perpetuity and glory of these high
offices of the ascended Christ. "Thou art a Priest
forever? says the Psalmist, "after the order of
Melchisedec." He was designated to this high
office by the decree and oath of him " who hath
sworn and will not repent." The prophet Zechariah
instructs us that "he shall be a Priest upon his
throne? He was to unite the character of priest
and king, and forever maintain his royal Priest
hood and his sacrificial royalty.'* " I have set my
King upon my holy hill of Zion. Thou hast made
him a little iower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honor." The prophet Isaiah
affirms, " When thou shalt make his soul an offer
ing for sin, he shall see his seed, and the pleaspr<
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he
shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 293
hath poured out his soul unto death." Again, it is
written, " the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou
at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy
footstool." And again, " He shall drink of the tor
rent in the way, therefore shall he lift up the
head." There, too, was that marvellously-retained
nscription upon his cross, " Jesus of Nazareth, the
Icing of the Jews."
These and other similar productions were ful
filled, not until he ascended to his Father. Then
it was that he went up to offer oblation and inter
cession for his redeemed, and to give them his offi
cial benediction. " We have a great High Priest,"
says the Apostle, " that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God." Again he says, " Consider
the Apostle and High Priest of our profession,
Jesus the Son of God." Jesus Christ, because he
continueth forever, hath this unchangeable priest
hood. Like the High Priest under the Levitical
law, who with his splendid- robes entered into the
most holy place, so Jesus, not with the blood of
bullocks and of goats, but with his own blood,
and still bearing the marks of the Great Sacrifice,
as the Lamb of God, entered into the " most holy
place, not made with hands, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us."
The true church of God in every age, can now say,
" We have such an High Priest, who is set on the
right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the

294 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
heavens." There he must present himself as their
Advocate, pleading for them the merits of his sac
rifice, supporting them under their trials, and con:
duct them safely to his and their heavenly home.
There must he appear, presenting to the heavens
from which he came the public demonstrations of
his perfected sacrifice, and claim the fulfilment of
that everlasting covenant of which his own blood is
the seal. Under the dark and shadowy dispensa
tion faith lived only on these predictions; now
it lives on the predictions fulfilled, and consum
mated by the resurrection and ascension of the
once foreshadowed and predicted High Priest.
" Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that
died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter
cession for us /" Nor until he ascended, was he
publicly invested with his kingly office. For the
suffering of death, he " was by the right hand of
God exalted? He was to become "the blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord
of lords." " We see Jesus," saith the apostle, " for
the suffering of death, erowhed with glory and
honor'" having a "name which is above every
name." When he aseended into heaven, therefore, it
was as the great Mediatorial King, "principalities
and powers being subject unto him," and to exert
his power in the kingdoms of nature, providence,

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 295
and grace, as "Head over all things to his church."
Thence he was to send down his Holy Spirit to
perfect the work of redemption, and to perpetuate
it to the day of his coming. His crown of thorns
was the pledge of " many crowns" to be won from
the enemy, and there cast at his feet. From his
glorious, high throne, he was to spoil the Destroyer,
and deliver his captives by means of his own or
daining, and by institutions and authority which
he alone had a right to establish. He was to im
part the power of working miracles to his apostles ;
he was to inspire them with the thoughts and
words with which they were to reveal his will to
mankind; and he was to conduct them by his
Spirit and providence to the ends of the earth.
By their preaching he was to overturn the altars
of superstition; extend his gospel and kingdom
over the world ; plant his church amid arid sands
and mountain snows ; and be everywhere present
with his people and his ministers, and repeat the
triumphs of his power and grace, ever redeeming
the promise, that " the gates of hell shall not pre
vail against his church." He was to introduce the
period of Millennial glory, and fill the earth with
the " knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the
waters fill the sea." And when all this is done,
he is f o come at last to judge the world in righteous
ness. , This last fact was strongly impressed upon
the minds of those who were the witnesses of his

296 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
ascension, by special messengers sent from heaven.
These apostles had seen him for the last time, un
til they should see him come in power and great
glory. " As they were looking steadfastly toward
heaven as he went up," behold two men stood be
fore them in white apparel, saying, " Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven ?
This same Jesus which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have
seen him go into heaven !" As he had disappeared
in the clouds of heaven, so the clouds of heaven
should reveal him, when he would once more de
scend, to gather before him all nations. Descend
ing angels met him in his upward flight; amid
their acclamations he ascended, and by them con
ducted to the portals of the Heavenly City. What
a glorious epoch was that in the history of Christ
and of heaven, when the everlasting doors, for
more than thirty years closed upon him, were
opened ! Who, in contemplating his ascension,
can do otherwise than contemplate his glory?
What a triumph was here ! It was the Seed of
the Woman bruising the head of the Serpent. It
was the triumph of humanity over the malignity
of Fiends, and the power of Hell. The Second
Adam, the appointed and accepted representative
of a redeemed humanity, was in heaven at last.
In defiance of sin, death, and hell, he was there,
he grand prOof and pledge of God's reconciliation

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 297
to man. Illustrious, refulgent day! It was the
great consummation of his great work. And
what a thrilling welcome was that, when thousands
clustered around this restored Son of God, and
shouted the return of this mighty Conqueror,
with all the scars of the great battle fresh upon
him. What mean those heavenly voices ? " Thou
HAST ASCENDED ON HIGH ; THOU HAST LED CAPTIVITY
CAPTPVE ; THOU HAST RECEIVED GIFTS FOR MEN, YEA,
FOR THE REBELLIOUS ALSO, THAT THE LORD GoD
might dwell among them !" Hark again ! " Lift
UP YOUR HEADS, O YE GATES, AND BE YE LIFT UP,
YE EVERLASTING DOORS, AND THE KiNG OF GLORY
SHALL COME IN !"
Thus glorious was the great Redeemer in his
ascension into heaven. Christians in every age
have contemplated this great event with high
satisfaction. So ought we to contemplate it,
and study its import. It is truly a remarkable
event; as the closing event in a series, it is, the
most remarkable. Do you believe it ever took
place ? It is the great policy of Satan to prevent
men from believing these facts, to make light of
diem, and treat them as a farce. You believe other
* .hings on far less testimony ; but do you believe
liese? You believe other things because you
lave no motives to disbelieve them, and your own
minds are in a state which yields to the force of
evidence. It is not so easy to believe this, be-
13*

298 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
cause it involves such high interests, and affects
your eternal well-being. I ask therefore again,
Do you beli&ve that Jesus died, and rose again, and
ascended into heaven as the King of the universe
and the Judge of men? Perhaps you wish they
were not true, because they disturb your con
sciences, alarm your fears, and demand so high
a place in your thoughts, that they do not allow
you to look to any other refuge than this Prince
and Saviour. Do you doubt them ? Do you love
to doubt them ? Are you willing to doubt them ?
There is no question of greater importance to be
decided, than whether they are true or false ; and
if true, whether you believe or rejeet them? I
entreat you not to live any longer without decid
ing this vital question. They are so far beyond
the range of common truths, that nothing can
satisfy you, or justify you in rejecting them, unless
you can prove them false: This no man has ever
done, and no man can do. Be he Jew or Gentile,
7 • 7
it is something gained to be convinced that you
cannot prove them false. If you look upon them
as doubtful, O be implored, by all the glories of
that heaven to which Jesus of Nazareth is gone,
and all the solemnities of that Day of Judgment
to which he will soon come, not to give sleep to
your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, till that
doubt is removed !
You will say you do not doubt them. Well,

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 299
then, how do they influence your character and con
duct ? You give your assent to them as facts ; and
just tnink what momentous facts they are. You
could not believe that the sun shines, or is ob
scured ; that the wind of heaven blows from the
east or the west, without its influencing your con
duct. And can you believe such momentous facts
as these, facts on which hang an eternal heaven,
or an eternal hell, and yet treat them as the idle
wind? Ah no, perhaps you do not believe them,
after all. Faith in such realities as these, would
form your character, and fit it for the heaven
where Jesus dwells. You would have new views,
new affections, new hopes and fears. You would
have sources of peace and joy you never had be
fore. You would have found what the world can
not give you, and would no more go to the world
as your chief good. You would love that Saviour
who, though he knew no sin, became sin for you,
that you might be made the righteousness of God
in him. Your faith in such realities would form
the elements of a new and holy life, and do for
you what nothing else can do.
This is the reception we solicit for this great
fact in the Saviour's history. Let it bring near
the realities of eternity, and make those realities
precious. The ascended Saviour is as near to us,
as he was to his early disciples ; and' the heaven
where he dwells as near to us as it was to the

300 THE GLORY OF CHRIST.
Mount of Olives. There is indeed a heaven ; it is
but a few hours' distance from us, when once our
spirits receive the Saviour's bidding to "Come
away." The eye of faith can see it ; through the
grave and all its circumambient clouds, it can de
scry the Heavenly City. He still speaks the as
surance, " Because I live, ye shall live also." They
are his lips which still affirm, " I go to prepare a
place for you." Just as certainly as his disciples
beheld him ascending through the clouds, will all
those who love his appearing " ascend to his Fa
ther and their Father, to his God and their God."
Take courage, then, ye trembling saints. " To
him that overcometh," saith he, " will I grant to
sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame
and am set down with my Father on his throne."
Christians are apt to fear, because they do not see
their Lord, nor hear his voice, nor receive his sen
sible benedictions as they once fell as it were from
his own lips, that he is unmindful of them. Like
an inexperienced and fretful child, because it does
not see its mother's countenance, nor hear her
voice, concludes that it is forsaken, so we, because
the ascended One is out of sight, sometimes com
plain, " The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord
hath forgotten me." But absent though he is in
body, he is present in spirit. Well we know what
he can do for us, and how he can fill us with the
consolations of his love. Well may we live above

CHRIST'S ASCENSION GLORIOUS. 301
the world and walk with Jesus. Well may we
seek often to be alone with Jesus, and well may
other objects be lost sight of and swallowed up in
:he thoughts of Jesus. Well may we, wdth the
exulting disciples, meet often in his temple to praise
and bless the God of our salvation ; and at his
table also, and drink at that fountain of living
waters. One would think we should have no
heart to speak of anything but Christ, nor any
other language but that of praise. Delightful em
ployment ! Come Christians, let us unite with
these holy men who returned from the Mount of
Olives with so much joy, and let the heaven where
our Master dwells bear witness to our vows, and
record our thankfulness, while we say, " My soul
doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth re
joice in God my Saviour ; for he that is mighty
hath done great things, and holy is his name !"

jllllllli!

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