MESSIAH
Fifty Expository Discourses
Preached in the years 1784 and 1785
by John Newton
VOLUME I
Digitized by Susanna K. Martens
PREFACE
The following Sermons, as to the substance (for most of them are considerably abridged) were preached at a public and numerous assembly. And, therefore, an accurate and logical discussion of the several subjects was not aimed at. They are rather popular discourses; in which, the Author, though he wished not to treat the politer part of his auditory with disrespect, thought it likewise his duty, so to adapt his manner to the occasion, as to be intelligible to persons of weak capacities, and in the lower ranks of life. He conceives himself to be a debtor to every class of his hearers; and that he ought to endeavour to please all men, with a view to their education; but, farther than this, not to be greatly affected, either by their approbation, or by their censure.
Many of the subjects, are so nearly coincident, that repetitions could not be always avoided, without the appearance of affectation. Besides, as it may be expected, that in a large congregation, there are always some persons present for the first time; with respect to these, an observation may be new , though, perhaps, the more stated hearers, may recollect its having been mentioned before. For a similar reason, such repetitions are not improper, in print. Many persons read part of a book, who may not have opportunity, or inclination, to read the whole. Should any one, by opening these sermons at a venture, meet with a passage, which, by a divine blessing, may either awaken a careless, or heal a wounded spirit, that passage will be in exactly the right page, even though the purport of it should be expressed in several other places. Farther, since we do not always so much stand in need of new information, as to have, what we already know, more effectually impressed upon the mind; there are truths which can scarcely be inculcated too often, at least, until the design, for which they were uttered once , be effectually answered. Thus, when the strokes of a hammer are often repeated, not one of them can be deemed superfluous; the last, which drives the nail to the head, being no less necessary, than any of those which preceded it.
From those Readers, whose habits of thinking on religious subjects, are formed by a close attachment to particular systems of divinity, the Author requests a candid construction of what he advances, if he ventures, in some instances, to deviate a little from the more beaten track. If he is, sometimes, constrained to differ from the judgment of wise and good men, who have deserved well of the Church of God, he would do it modestly. Far from depreciating their labours, he would be thankful for the benefit which he hopes he has received from them. It is a great satisfaction to him, that in all doctrinal points of primary importance, his views are confirmed by the suffrage of writers and ministers eminent for genuine piety, and found learning; who assisted him in his early enquiries after truth, and at whose feet he is still willing to sit. And yet, remembering that he is authorized and commanded to call no man Master , so as to yield an implicit and unqualified submission to human teachers; while he gladly borrows every help he can, from others, he ventures, likewise, to think for himself. His leading sentiments concerning the grand peculiarities of the Gospel, were formed many years since, when he was in a state of almost entire seclusion from society; when he had scarcely any religious book, but the Bible, within his reach; and had no knowledge, either of the various names, parties, and opinions, by which, Christians were distinguished and divided, or of the controversies which subsisted among them. He is not conscious, that any very material difference has taken place in his sentiments, since he first became acquainted with the religious world; but, after a long course of experience and observation, he seems to possess them in a different manner. The difficulties, which, for a season, perplexed him, on some points, are either removed, or considerably abated. On the other hand, he now perceives difficulties, that constrain him to lay his hand upon his mouth, in subjects, which, once appeared to him obvious and plain. Thus, if he mistakes not himself, he is less troubled with scepticism, and at the same time, less disposed to be dogmatical, than he formerly was. He feels himself unable to draw the line, with precision, between those essential points, which ought to be earnestly contended for (in a spirit of meekness) as for the faith once delivered to the saints; and certain secondary positions, concerning which, good men may safely differ, and wherein, perhaps, we cannot reasonably expect them to be unanimous, during the present state of imperfection. But if the exact boundary cannot be marked with certainty, he thinks it both desirable and possible, to avoid the extremes, into which, men of warm tempers have often been led.
Not that the Author can be an advocate for that
indifference to truth, which, under specious semblance of
moderation
and
candour
, offers a comprehension, from which none are
excluded, but those who profess, and aim, to worship God in the Spirit,
to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and to renounce all confidence in the
flesh.
Moderation
, is a Christian grace. It differs much from that
tame, unfeeling neutrality between truth and error, which is so
prevalent in this present day. As the different rays of light, which,
when separated by a prism exhibit the various colours of the rainbow,
form, in their combination, a perfect and resplendent
white
, in which every colour is incorporated; so, if the
graces of the Holy Spirit were complete in us, the result of their
combined effect, would be a truly candid, moderate, and liberal spirit
towards our brethren. The Christian, especially he who is advanced and
established in the life of faith, has a fervent zeal for God, for the
honour of His name, His law, and His Gospel. The honest warmth which he
feels, when such a law is broken, when such a Gospel is despised, and
when the great and glorious name of the Lord his God is profaned,
would, by the occasion of his infirmities, often degenerate into anger
or contempt, towards those who oppose themselves, if he was under the
influence of zeal only. But his zeal is blended with benevolence and
humility; it is softened by a consciousness of his own frailty and
fallibility. He is aware that his knowledge is very limited in itself,
and very faint in its efficacy; that his attainments are weak and few,
compared with his deficiencies; that his gratitude is very
disproportionate to his obligations, and his obedience unspeakably
short of conformity to his prescribed rule; that he has nothing but
what he has received, and has received nothing, but what, in a greater
or less degree, he has misapplied and misimproved. He is therefore a
debtor to the mercy of God, and lives upon his multiplied forgiveness.
And he makes the gracious conduct of the Lord towards himself, a
pattern for his own conduct towards his fellow-creatures. He cannot
boast, nor is he forward to censure. He considers himself, lest he also
be tempted (
The minister who possesses a candour, thus
enlightened, and thus qualified, will neither degrade himself to be
the
instrument
, nor aspire to the
head
, of a party. He will not servilely tread in the
paths prescribed him by men, however respectable. He will not multiply
contentions, in defence, either of the
shibboleths
of others, or of any
nostrum
of his own, under the pretence that he is pleading
for the cause of God, and truth. His attention will not be restrained
to the credit, or interest, of any detached denomination of Christians,
but extended to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity. On
the other hand, knowing that the Gospel is the wisdom and power of God,
and the only possible mean, by which, fallen man can obtain either
peace or rectitude, he most cordially embraces and avows it. Far from
being ashamed of it, he esteems it his glory. He preaches Christ Jesus
the Lord, and Him crucified. He dares not sophisticate (
Such is the disposition which the Author wishes for himself, and which, he would endeavour to cultivate in others. He hopes that nothing, of a contrary tendency, will be found in the volumes now presented to the Public. MESSIAH, the great subject of the oratorio, is the leading and principal subject of every sermon. His person, grace, and glory; His matchless love to sinners; His humiliation, sufferings, and death; His ability and willingness to save to the uttermost; His kingdom, and the present and future happiness of His willing people; are severally considered, according to the order suggested by the series of texts. Nearly connected with these topics, are the doctrines of the fall and depravity of man, the agency of the Holy Spirit, and the nature and necessity of regeneration, and of that holiness, without which, no man shall see the Lord. On these subjects, the Author is not afraid of contradictions, from those who are taught of God.
With respect to some other points which incidentally occur, he has endeavoured so to treat them, as to avoid administering fuel to the flame of angry controversy. He is persuaded himself, and shall be happy to persuade his readers, that the remaining differences of opinion, among those who truly understand, and cordially believe the declarations of Scripture, on the preceding articles, are neither so wide, nor so important, as they have sometimes been represented. Many of these differences are nearly (merely?) verbal, and would cease, if due allowance was made for the imperfection of human language, and the effects of an accustomed phraseology, which often lead people to affix different ideas to the same expressions, or to express the same ideas in different words. And if, in some things, we cannot exactly agree, since we confess that we are all weak and fallible, mutual patience and forbearance, would be equally becoming the acknowledgements we make, and the Gospel which we profess. We should, thereby, act in character, as the followers of Him who was compassionate to the infirmities and mistakes of His disciples, and taught them, not every thing at once, but gradually, as they were able to bear.
The Author ought not to be very solicitous, upon his
own account, what reception his performance may meet with. The fashion
of this world is passing away. The voice, both of applause and of
censure, will soon be stifled in the dust. It is, therefore, but a
small thing to be judged of man’s judgment (
The one principle, which, he assumes for granted, and which, he is certain cannot be disproved, is, That the Bible is a revelation from God. By this standard, he is willing, that whatever he has advanced, may be tried. If the Bible be true, we must all give an account, each one of himself, to the great and final Judge. That when we shall appear before His awful tribunal, we may be found at His right hand, accepted in the Beloved, is the Author’s fervent prayer, both for his Readers and for himself.
London,
15 April, 1786.
Sermon I
The Consolation
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned:
for she hath received at the LORD ’s hand double for all her sins.
T
he particulars of the great “mystery of
godliness,” as enumerated by the Apostle Paul, constitute the
grand and inexhaustible theme of the Gospel ministry,
“God manifest in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up into glory”
(
If He shall condescend to smile upon the attempt, pleasure and profit will go hand in hand. There is no harmony to a heaven-born soul like that which is the result of the combination and coincidence of all the divine attributes and perfections, manifested in the work of Redemption; mercy and truth meeting together, inflexible righteousness corresponding with the peace of offenders, God glorious, and sinners saved. There is no melody upon earth to be compared with the voice of the blood of Jesus speaking peace to a guilty conscience, or with the voice of the Holy Spirit applying the promises to the heart, and sweetly inspiring a temper of confidence and adoption. These are joys which the world can neither give nor take away, which never pall upon the mind by continuous repetition; the sense of them is always new ; the recollection of them is always pleasant. Nor do they only satisfy, but sanctify the soul. They strengthen faith, animate hope, add fervency to love, and both dispose and enable the Christian to run in all the paths of holy obedience with an enlarged heart.
The Messiah of Handel consists of three parts. The first , contains prophecies of His advent and the happy consequences, together with the angel’s message to the shepherds informing them of His birth, as related by St. Luke. The second part describes His passion, death, resurrection and ascension; His taking possession of His Kingdom of glory, the commencement of His Kingdom of grace upon the earth, and the certain disappointment and ruin of all who persist in opposition to His will. The third part expresses the blessed fruits and consummation of His undertaking in the deliverance of His people from sin, sorrow and death, and in making them finally victorious over all their enemies. The triumphant song of the redeemed, to the praise of the Lamb who bought them with His own blood, closes the whole. The arrangement or series of these passages, is so judiciously disposed, so well connected, and so fully comprehends all the principal truths of the Gospel, that I shall not attempt either to alter, or to enlarge it. The exordium, or introduction, which I have read to you from the prophecy of Isaiah is very happily chosen.
If, as some eminent commentators suppose, the prophet had any reference, in this passage, to the return of Israel from Babylon into their own land, his principal object was undoubtedly of much greater importance. Indeed their deliverance from captivity, and their state afterwards as a nation, do not appear to correspond with the magnificent images employed in the following verses. For though they rebuilt their city and temple, they met with many insults and much opposition, and continued to be a tributary and dependent people. I shall therefore wave the consideration of this sense.
The eye of the Prophet’s mind seems to be chiefly fixed upon one august [high-ranking; lofty] Personage, who was approaching to enlighten and bless a miserable world; and before he describes the circumstances of His appearance, he is directed to comfort the mourners in Zion, with assurance, that this great event would fully compensate them for all their sorrows. The state of Jerusalem, the representative name of the people of God, was very low in Isaiah’s time. The people, who in the days of Solomon were attached to the service of God, honoured with signal tokens of His presence and favour, and raised to the highest pitch of temporal prosperity, were now degenerated, the gold was become dim, and the fine gold changed. Iniquity abounded, judgments were impending, yet insensibility and security prevailed, and the words of many were stout against the Lord. But there were a few who feared the Lord, whose eyes affected their hearts, and who mourned for the evils which they could not prevent. These and these only were, in strictness of speech, the people of the Lord, and to these the message of comfort is addressed. Speak to Jerusalem comfortably, speak to her heart (as the Hebrew word is) to her very case, and tell her there is a balm for her wounds, a cordial [tonic] for all her griefs in this one consideration, MESSIAH is at hand. In the prophetic style things future are described as present, and that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken as sure to take place, is considered already done. Thus the Prophet rapt [enraptured] into future times contemplates the manifestation of MESSIAH, the accomplishment of His great undertaking, and all the happy consequences of His obedience unto death for men, as though he stood upon the spot, and with John, the harbinger of our Lord, (whose appearance he immediately describes,) was pointing with his finger to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
This comfortable message consists of two parts. First, the removal of evil; her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned. Secondly, a promise of good more than equivalent to all her afflictions; she has received at the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
I.
Two ideas are included in the original term translated warfare.
(1.) A state of service connected with hardship, like
that of a military life
(
(2.) An appointed time, as it is rendered in
These ideas equally apply to the Mosaic dispensation.
The spirit of that institution was comparatively a spirit of bondage,
distance, and fear; and the state of the Church, while under the law,
is resembled, by the Apostle, to that of a minor, who, though he be an
heir, is under tutors and governors, and differs but little from a
servant, until the appointed time of the Father
(
There is considerable analogy to this difference
between the Law and the Gospel, as contradistinguished from each other,
in the previous distress of a sinner, when he is made sensible of his
guilt and danger as a transgressor of the law of God, and the
subsequent peace which he obtains by believing the Gospel. The good
seed of the word of grace, can only take root and flourish in a soil
duly prepared. And this preparation of the heart
(
The first good work of the Holy Spirit, upon the
heart of fallen man, is to convince of sin
(
Her iniquity is pardoned.
Though the sacrifices under the law had an immediate
and direct effect to restore the offender, for whom they were offered,
to the privileges pertaining to the people of Israel considered as a
nation or commonwealth, they could not of themselves cleanse the
conscience from guilt. It is a dictate of right reason, no less than of
revelation, that it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin
(
Yet great discoveries of these things were vouchsafed
[graciously granted] to some of the prophets, particularly to Isaiah,
who on account of the clearness of his views of the Redeemer and His
Kingdom, has been sometimes styled a fifth Evangelist. The most
evangelical part of his prophecy, or at least that part in which he
prosecutes that subject with the least interruption, begins with this
chapter and with this verse. And he proposes it for the comfort of the
mourners in Zion in his day.
We
know that the Son of God, of whom Moses and the
prophets spake, has actually come
(
II.
Though the last clause of the verse does not belong
to the passage, as selected for the
Oratorio
, it is so closely connected with the subject that I
am not willing to omit it:
She hath received at the
LORD
’s hand double for all her sins.
The meaning here cannot be that her afflictions had
already been more, and greater, than her sins had deserved. The just
desert of sin cannot be received in the present life, for the wages of
sin is death and the curse of the law, or in the Apostle’s words,
is everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory
of His power
(
Nor can the words be so applied to
MESSIAH
as to intimate that even His sufferings were more
than necessary, or greater than the exigency of the case required. The
efficacy of His atonement is indeed greater than the actual
application, and sufficient to save the whole race of mankind if they
truly believed in the Son of God. We read, that He groaned and bled
upon the cross, till He could say,
It is finished
, but no longer. It becomes us to refer to infinite
Wisdom, for the reasons why His sufferings were prolonged for such a
precise time; but I think we may take it for granted that they did not
endure for an hour or a minute longer than was strictly necessary. The
expression seems to be elliptical, and I apprehend that the true sense
is, that Jerusalem should receive
blessings
double, much greater than all the afflictions which
sin had brought upon her. And in general to us, to every believing
sinner, that the blessings of the Gospel are an unspeakably great
compensation, and overbalance, for all the afflictions of every kind
with which we have been, or can be exercised. Afflictions are the fruit
of sin, and because our sins have been many, our afflictions may be
many.
But where sin
has
abounded, grace has much more abounded
(
Before our Lord healed the paralytic man who was
brought to Him, He said,
Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee
(
I shall close this preliminary discourse with a few observations, by way of improvement.
(1.)
How justly may we adopt the Prophet’s
words,
Who is a God like unto Thee!
(
Salvation is wholly of the
LORD
(
(2.)
When the Lord God who knows the human heart would speak comfort to it, He proposes one object, and only one, as the necessary and all-sufficient source of consolation. This is MESSIAH. Jesus in His person and offices, known and received by faith, affords a balm for every wound, a cordial [tonic] for every care. If we admit that they who live in the spirit of the world, can make a poor shift to amuse themselves, and be tolerably satisfied in a state of prosperity, while everything goes on according to their wish; while we make this concession, (which however is more than we need allow them, for we know that no state of life is free from anxiety, disappointment, weariness, and disgust) yet we must still consider them as objects of compassion. It is a proof of the weakness and disorder of their minds, that they are capable of being satisfied with such trifles.
Thus, if a lunatic conceives his cell to be a palace and that his chains are ornaments of gold, if he calls a wreath of his straw a crown, puts it on his head, and affects the language of majesty —we do not suppose the poor creature to be happy, because he tells us that he is so; but we rather consider his complacence in his situation, as an effect and proof of his malady. We pity him, and if we were able, would gladly restore him to his senses, though we know a cure would immediately put an end to his pleasing delusions.
But, I say, supposing or admitting the world could make its votaries happy in a state of prosperity —it will, it must, leave them without resource in the day of trouble. And they are to be pitied indeed, who, when their gourds are withered, when the desire of their eyes is taken from them with a stroke, or the evil which they most feared touches them, or when death looks them closely in the face, have no acquaintance with God, no access to the Throne of Grace, but being without Christ, are without a solid hope of good hereafter, though they are forced to feel the vanity and inconstancy of everything here. But they who know MESSIAH, who believe in Him, and partake of His Spirit, cannot be comfortless. They recollect what He suffered for them, they know that every circumstance and event of life is under His direction, and designed to work for their good; that though they sow in tears, they shall soon reap in joy; and therefore they possess their souls in patience, and are cheerful, yea comfortable, under those trying dispensations of Providence, which when they affect the lovers of pleasure, too often either excite in them a spirit of presumptuous murmuring against the will of God; or sink them into despondency, and all the melancholy train of evils, attendant on those, who languish and pine away under the depression of spirits, emphatically styled a broken heart.
(3.)
To be capable of the comfort my text proposes, the mind must be in a suitable disposition. A free pardon is a comfort to a malefactor, but it implies guilt; and therefore they who have no apprehension that they have broken the laws, would be rather offended, than comforted, by an offer of pardon. This is one principle cause of that neglect, yea contempt, which the Gospel of the grace of God meets with from the world. If we could suppose that a company of people who were all trembling under an apprehension of His displeasure, constrained to confess the justice of the sentence, but not as yet informed of any way to escape, were to hear this message for the first time, and to be fully assured of its truth and authority, they would receive it as life from the dead. But it is to be feared, that for want of knowing themselves, and their real state in the sight of Him with whom they have to do, many persons who have received pleasure from the music of the Messiah [Oratorio], have neither found, nor expected, nor desired to find, any comfort from the words.
—— O ——
Sermon II
The Harbinger
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD ,
make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
T he general style of the prophecies is poetical. The inimitable simplicity which characterizes every part of divine revelation, is diversified according to the nature of the subject: and the magnificence and variety of imagery which constitute the life and spirit of poetry, evidently distinguish the style of the Psalms, of Isaiah, and the other poetical books, from that of the historical, even in the common versions. The various rules and properties of Hebrew poetry are not, at this distance of time, certainly known. But the present Bishop of London, in his elegant and instructive lectures on the subject, and in the discourse prefixed to his translation of Isaiah, has fully demonstrated one property. It usually consists either of parallel, or contrasted sentences. The parallel expressions (excepting in the book of Proverbs) are most prevalent. In these the same thought, for substance, expressed in the first member, is repeated, with some difference of phrase, in the following; which, if it enlarges or confirms the import of what went before, seldom varies the idea. Almost any passage I first cast my eye upon, will sufficiently explain my meaning. For instance, in the 59 th chapter of Isaiah,
1: Behold, the LORD 's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
Neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
9: Therefore is judgment far from us, Neither doth justice overtake us;
We wait for light, but behold obscurity;
For brightness, but we walk in darkness.
So in chapter 55.
2: Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?
And your labour for that which satisfieth not?
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,
And let your soul delight itself in fatness.
So likewise in
4: He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
The LORD shall have them in derision. 5: Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath,
And vex them in His sore displeasure.
These specimens may suffice for my present purposes. The knowledge of this peculiarity of the poetical idiom, may often save us the trouble of enquiring minutely into the meaning of every single word, when one plain and comprehensive sense arises from a view of the whole passage taken together. This observation applies to the first of the verses in my text. Though it be true that John the Baptist lived for a season retired and unnoticed in a wilderness, and began to preach in the wilderness of Judea, the expression, The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, does not merely foretell that circumstance. The verse consists of two parallels. The Prophet, rapt into future times, hears a voice proclaiming the approach of MESSIAH, and this is the majestic language—
In the wilderness prepare ye the way of the LORD ;
Make straight in the desert a high-way for our God.
The wilderness and the desert are the same here, as likewise in chapter 35 where the happy, the sudden, the unexpected effects of His appearance are described — The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad.
And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom like a rose.
Now to see, by the eye of faith, the glory of the Redeemer in His appearance; to see divine power preparing the way for Him; to enter into the gracious and wonderful design of His Salvation; to acknowledge, admire and adore Him as our God, must afford a pleasure, very different from that which the most excellent music, however well adapted to the words, can possibly give. The latter may be relished by a worldly mind; the former is appropriate, and can only be enjoyed by those who are taught of God.
When the Eastern monarchs travelled, harbingers went before to give notice that the king was upon the road; and likewise proper persons to prepare his way, and to remove obstacles. Some of them, (if we may depend upon history) in the affectation of displaying their pomp and power, affected extraordinary things upon such occasion. For man, though vain, would appear wise ; though a sinful worm, he would fain be accounted as g reat. We read of their actually having filled up valleys, and levelled hills to make a commodious road, for themselves or their armies, through places otherwise impassable. The Prophet thus illustrates great things by small, and accommodates the language and usages of men to divine truth. MESSIAH is about to visit a wilderness world, and those parts which He blesses with His presence, shall become the garden of the Lord. Till then it is all desolate, rocky, and wild. But His way shall be prepared. Mountainous difficulties shall sink down before Him into plains. In defiance of all obstacles His glory shall see it, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
The leading ideas respecting MESSIAH’S appearance, suggested by this sublime representation, are:
I. The state of the world at His coming — A wilderness.
II. The preparation of His way — Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
III. The manner and effects of His manifestation — And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it.
I.
The word
wilderness,
I suppose, generally excites the idea of an
intricate, solitary, uncultivated, dangerous place. Such is the
description Jeremiah gives of that wilderness, through which the Lord
led Israel, when He had delivered them from Egypt.
A land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought and
of the shadow of death, a land that no man passeth through, and where
no man dwelt
(
Israel, once the beloved people of God, was at that
time so extremely degenerated that, a few individuals excepted, the
vineyard of the Lord, so signally protected, yielded only wild
grapes
(
The Scribes and Pharisees who sat in the chair of
Moses, and were the public teachers of the people, under an exterior
garb of sanctity, of prayer and fasting, were guilty of oppression,
fraud and uncleanness: and while they trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and despised others, their real character was a
combination of pride and hypocrisy. Therefore, He who knew their hearts
and saw through all their disguises, compared them to painted
sepulchres, fair to outward appearances, but full of filth and impurity
within
(
Among the heathens, ignorance, idolatry, sensuality and cruelty prevailed universally. Their pretended wise men had, indeed, talked of wisdom and morality from age to age. But their speculations were no more than swelling words of vanity —cold, trifling, uncertain, and without any valuable influence, upon themselves or upon others. They had philosophers, poets, orators, musicians and artists, eminent in their way; but the nations reputed to be the most civilized, were overwhelmed with abominable wickedness equally with the rest. The shocking effect of their idolatry upon their moral principles and conduct, not withstanding their attainments in arts and science, is described by the Apostle in the close of the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans. With great propriety therefore the state of the world, both Jew and Gentile, considered in a moral view, is compared by the Prophet to a wilderness —a barren and dreary waste. The pursuits and practices of the world were diametrically opposed to the spirit and design of that Kingdom which MESSIAH was about to set up; and therefore, as the event proved, directly disposed to withstand His progress. But,
II.
Before His appearance a way was prepared for Him in the wilderness.
The Providence of God, by a gradual train of
dispensations, disposed [set in order; adjusted] the political state of
mankind in a subservience to this great event. All the commotions and
revolutions which take place in the kingdoms of this earth, are so many
detached parts of a complicated but wisely determined plan, of which
the establishment of
MESSIAH’S
Kingdom is the final cause. The kings and politicians
of this world are not aware of this. God is not in their thoughts. But
while they pursue their own ends, and make havoc of the peace of
mankind, to gratify their own interests and ambition, and look no
higher, they are ignorantly and without intention, acting as
instruments of the will of God. The wrath of man is overruled to His
praise and His purpose
(
Among the principal instruments appointed to prepare
a way in the wilderness for
MESSIAH,
and to facilitate the future spread of His Kingdom,
we may take note of Alexander the Great; and this designation secured
his success, though the extravagancies, excesses and rashness, which
marked his character, were sufficient to have rendered his undertakings
abortive, had he not been in the hand of the
LORD
of hosts, as an axe or a saw in the hand of the
workman. By his conquests the knowledge of the Greek language was
diffused among many nations; and the Hebrew Scriptures being soon
afterward translated into that language, an expectation of some great
deliverer was raised far and wide, before the
MESSIAH
appeared. When his [Alexander‘s] service was
fulfilled, the haughty presumptuous worm who had been employed in it
was no longer necessary, and therefore was soon laid aside; all his
proud designs, for the establishment of his own family and dominion,
perished with him. His empire was divided towards the four winds of
heaven, and this division likewise contributed to bring forward the
purpose of God
(
Among the Jews, the professing people of God, a way was prepared for MESSIAH by the ministry of His harbinger, John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, (as had been foretold of him by the prophets, particularly by the last of the prophets, Malachi) preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and proclaiming that the Saviour and His Kingdom were at hand. He who sent him accompanied his mission with a divine power. A multitude of persons, of various descriptions, were impressed by his message, insomuch that John himself seems to have been astonished at the numbers and characters of those who came to his baptism.
When the ministry of John had thus previously
disposed the minds of many for the reception of
MESSIAH,
and engaged the attention of the people at large,
the
MESSIAH
Himself entered upon His public office, on the same
scene and among the same people. As He increased, John willingly
decreased. So the morning star ceases to be seen as the sun advances
above the horizon. This distinguished servant of God having finished
his work, was removed to a better world. Not in the triumphant manner
in which Elijah was translated, but as he came to announce a new
dispensation, under which believers were to expect opposition and ill
treatment, to walk by faith, and frequently be called to seal their
testimony with their blood, he was permitted to fall a sacrifice to the
revenge of a wanton woman; and though we are assured that none of the
race of Adam was greater in the estimation of God than he, his death
was asked and procured as the reward of an idle dance
(
III.
The latter of my text describes the manner and immediate effects of MESSIAH’S appearance during His personal ministry, with an intimation of its future and more extensive consequences — The valleys shall be exalted.
A valley is an emblem of a low condition. Such was
the condition of most of our Lord’s followers; but His notice and
favour exalted them highly. He came to preach the Gospel to the poor,
to fill the hungry with good things, to save the chief of sinners, to
open a door of hope and salvation to persons of the vilest and most
despicable characters in human estimation. Such, for instance, was the
woman mentioned by the Evangelist Luke
(
But the compassionate Saviour highly exalted her,
when He vouchsafed [graciously agreed] to plead her cause, to express
His gracious acceptance of her tears and love, and to assure her that
her sins, though many, were forgiven. Very low likewise was the state
of the malefactor on the cross; he had committed great crimes, was
suffering grievous torments, and in the very jaws of death
(
On the contrary,
Every mountain and hill shall be brought low
MESSIAH
came to pour contempt on all human glory. He detected
the wickedness, and confounded the pride of the Scribes and Pharisees
and rulers; and made it appear that what is highly esteemed by men, the
summit of their boasted excellence,
To v^Xov,
is worthless, yea, abomination in the sight of
God
(
The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth. He came to rectify the perverse disposition of the hearts of men, to soften and subdue their obstinate spirits, and to form to Himself a willing people in the day of His power. The Jewish teachers, by their traditions and will-worship [self-imposed worship] , had given an apparent obliquity to [had deviated from] the strait and perfect rule of the law of God, and deformed the beauties of holiness, binding heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne upon the conscience; but He vindicated the law from their corrupt glories, and made the path of obedience plain, practicable and pleasant.
Thus the glory of the
LORD
was revealed
—not to every eye. Many, prejudiced because of
His outward appearance, and by the low mistaken views the Jews indulged
of the office and Kingdom of the
MESSIAH
whom they expected, could see no form or excellence
in Him, that they should desire Him; but His disciples could
say,
We beheld His glory
(
Those of you who have heard the Messiah [Oratorio] will do well to recollect, whether you were affected by such thoughts as these, while this passage was performed; or whether you were only fascinated by the music, and paid no more regard to the words than if they had no meaning. They are, however, the great truths of God. May they engage your serious attention, now they are thus set before you.
—— O ——
Sermon III
The Shaking of the Heavens and the Earth
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Yet this once, it is a little while,
and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea,
and the dry land: and I will shake all nations, and
the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house
with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
G
od shook the earth when He proclaimed His law to
Israel from Sinai. The description, though very simple, presents to our
thoughts a scene unspeakably majestic, grand and awful. The mountain
was in flames at the top, and trembled to its basis
(
Dark clouds, thundering and lightning filled the air.
The hearts of the people, of the whole people, trembled likewise; and
even Moses himself said,
I exceedingly fear and quake.
Then, as the Apostle, referring to this passage,
observes, the voice of the
LORD
shook the earth. But the Prophet here speaks of
another, a greater, a more important and extensive concussion. Yea,
once a little while and I will shake not the earth only, but the
heavens
(
If we really believe that the Scriptures are true, that the prophecies were delivered by holy men, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, and that they shall all be certainly fulfilled; how studious should we be to attain a right understanding of passages and events in which we are so nearly interested, that our hearts may be duly affected by them? But alas! experience and observation strongly confirm the remark of the poet, * “Men are but children of a larger growth.” * from “ All For Love” by John Dryden (1631-1700)
If you put a telescope into the hands of a child, he will probably admire the outside, especially if it be finely ornamented. But the use of it, in giving a more distinct view of distant objects, is what the child has no conception of. The music of the Messiah [Oratorio] is but an ornament of the words, which have a very weighty sense. This sense no music can explain, and when rightly understood, will have such an effect as no music can produce. That the music of the Messiah has a great effect in its own kind, I can easily believe. The ancients, to describe the power of the music of Orpheus, pretend, that when he played upon his harp, the wild beasts thronged around him to listen, and seemed to forget their natural fierceness. Such expressions are figurative, and designed to intimate, that by his address and instructions, he civilized men of fierce and savage dispositions. But if we were to allow the account to be true in the literal sense, I should still suppose that the wild beasts were affected by his music only while they heard it, and that it did not actually change their natures, and render lions and tigers gentle, as lambs, from that time forward. Thus I can allow that they who heard the Messiah [Oratorio], might be greatly impressed during the performance, but when it was ended, I suppose they would maintain the very same dispositions they had before it began. And many, I fear, were no more affected by the sublime declaration of the Lord’s design to shake the heavens and the earth, than they would have been, if the same music had been set to the words of a common ballad.
The Jews when they returned from captivity, and
undertook to rebuild the temple of the Lord, met with many
discouragements. They were disturbed by the opposition and arts of
their enemies, who at one time so far prevailed, as to compel them, for
a season, to intermit the work. And when the foundation of the temple
was laid, the joy of those who hoped soon to see the solemn worship of
God restored, was dampened by the grief of others, who remembered the
magnificence of the first temple, and wept to think how far the second
temple would come short of it
(
We may consider from the words,
I. A character of MESSIAH — The desire of all nations.
II. The effects of His appearance — Shaking the heavens and the earth.
III. His — filling the house with glory. This close of verse 7 is not in the passage set to music, but it is an eminent part or the prophecy, and I shall not exclude it.
I.
MESSIAH is styled, the desire of all nations. The propriety of this title may be illustrated by two considerations.
(1.)
Before He came into the world to save sinners, an expectation prevailed in many nations that a great deliverer and friend of mankind was at hand. This was, perhaps, partly the effect of some ancient traditions founded on the promises of God respecting the seed of the woman, the traces of which, though much corrupted by the addition of fables, were not worn out —but might be chiefly owing to several of the dispersions of the people of Israel, and imperfect notices derived from the Scriptures in their hands. The sense of many prophecies concerning MESSIAH, though misapplied, is remarkably expressed in a short poem of Virgil, written a few years before our Saviour’s birth. This eclogue [pastoral poem], of which we have a beautiful imitation in our own language, by Mr. Pope, affords a sufficient proof that the heathens had an idea of some illustrious personage, who would shortly appear and restore peace, prosperity, and all the blessings of their imaginary golden age to mankind. The miseries and evil with which the world was filled, made the interposition of such a deliverer highly desirable. There were even a few among the heathens, such as Socrates and his immediate disciples, who seem to have felt the necessity of a divine teacher; and to be sensible that man, in a state of nature, was too depraved, and too ignorant, to be either able or disposed to worship God acceptably, without one. There is reason to believe that the revelation which we enjoy, though despised by too many who affect to be called philosophers in modern times, would have been highly prized by the wisest and best of the philosophers of antiquity. Socrates thought that men were not capable of knowing and expressing their own wants, nor or asking what was good for themselves, unless it should please God to send them an instructor from Heaven, to teach them how to pray. And therefore,
(2.)
The need that all nations had of such a Saviour, is
sufficient to establish His right to this title, admitting they had no
knowledge or expectation of Him. If we could suppose a nation involved
for ages in the darkness of night, though they had no previous notion
of light, yet light might be said
to be
their desire, because the light, whenever they should
enjoy it, would put an end to their calamity, would answer their wants,
and in that sense accomplish their wishes; for if they could not
directly wish for light, they would naturally wish for relief. The
heathens were miserably bewildered. They had a thirst for happiness,
which could not be satisfied by any or all the expedients and pursuits
within their reach. They had fears and forebodings of conscience for
which they knew no remedy. They were so sensitive, both of their guilt
and their weakness, that being ignorant of the character of the true
God, and of that forgiveness which is with Him, in times of extremity
they frequently offered the most expensive sacrifices to the objects of
their idolatrous superstitions, even the blood and the lives of their
children
(
When MESSIAH appeared, as He was the glory of Israel, so He was a light to the Gentiles, as we shall have opportunity of observing more at large hereafter. He therefore who came purposely to bless the nations by turning them from darkness to light, and from the worship of dumb idols to serve the living and true God, may justly be called their desire, though, in the time of their ignorance, they could form no suitable conception of Him.
II.
I will shake the heavens and the earth.
This part of the prophecy has been, in a measure,
literally fulfilled. At His birth a new star appeared. At His death the
sun withdrew its shining, the earth quaked, the rocks rent, the dead
rose. During His life He often suspended and overruled the stated rules
of nature, and exercised supreme power over the visible and invisible
worlds. He shook the kingdom of darkness, spoiled principalities and
powers, triumphing over them by His cross. He shook the kingdoms of the
earth; the idols trembled and disappeared before His Gospel, till at
length the Roman empire renounced heathenism, and embraced the
Christian name. But the language of prophecy is highly figurative.
Mountains and trees, land and water, sun and moon, heaven and earth,
often signify nations, people and governments. And particularly heaven
and earth are used to denote the religious and political establishment
of Israel; or, as we say, their constitution in church and state. This
without doubt is a primary sense here. The appearance of
MESSIAH
shall be connected with the total dissolution of the
Jewish economy. The whole of their Levitical institution was fulfilled,
superseded and abrogated by
MESSIAH,
which was solemnly signified, by the rending of the
veil of the temple from the top to the bottom at His death. And, a few
years afterwards, the temple itself was destroyed. By which event, the
worship of God, according to law, of which the temple service was an
essential part, was rendered utterly impracticable. Their civil state
likewise was dissolved, they were extirpated [uprooted] from the
promised land, and dispersed far and wide among the nations of the
earth. Though in one sense they are preserved by the wonderful
Providence of God, as a distinct people, unaffected by the changes and
customs around them; in another sense they are not a people, having
neither settlement nor government, but living as strangers and
foreigners in every country where their lot has been cast
(
III.
He shall fill this house with glory.
He did so when He condescended to visit it in person.
The blind and the lame came thither to Him and He healed them
(
His glory filled the temple when He was an infant, so
that Simeon and Anna then acknowledged His character, and spake of Him
to those who were waiting for the consolation of Israel
(
The temple in Jerusalem has been long since
destroyed. But He still has a house,
a house not made with hands.
This is His Church, comprising all the members of His
mystical Body. He dwells in each of them individually; He dwells in and
among them collectively. Where two or three are met in His name, where
His ordinances are administered and prized, where His Gospel is
faithfully preached and cordially [sincerely] received, there He is
present in the midst of them. There His glory is seen, His voice heard,
His power felt, His goodness tasted, and the favour of His name is
diffused as a precious ointment, which refreshes the hearts of His
people, renews their strength, and comforts them under all their
sorrows and cares. The glory and magnificence of the temple worship,
even in the days of Solomon, was faint, compared with the glory
displayed to the hearts of believers, who worship Him in spirit and
truth, under the New Testament dispensation. But it can only be
perceived by an enlightened and spiritual mind. To outward appearance
all may be low and humiliating. The malice of their enemies has often
constrained His people to assemble in woods and on mountains, in places
underground; or, in the dead of night, to secret themselves from
informers. But vaulted roofs, and costly garments, the solemn parade of
processions, music and choristers, and the presence of nobles and
dignitaries, are not necessary to constitute the glory of Gospel
worship. It is enough that He, in whose name they meet, condescends to
visit them with the power and influence of His Spirit, to animate and
hear their prayers, to feed them with the good Word of His grace, and
to fill them with joy and peace in believing. If they have these
blessings they desire no more, they are compensated for all their
difficulties and hardships; and however unnoticed and despised by the
world, they can say,
This is none other than the house of God; this is the
gate of heaven
(
But every member of this mystical temple, being by nature afar off from God, experiences a previous change, which may be fitly described by the terms of my text. Before the LORD takes possession of His people, and in order to it, He shakes the heavens and the earth . Their former views of God and of themselves, are altered by a light which penetrates the soul. All that they have been building in religion, until then, is shaken and overturned. Their vain hopes are shaken to the foundation. This concussion makes way for the perception of His glory as a Saviour. In this Day of His Power they are made willing to throw open the gates of their hearts, that the King of Glory may enter.
But as I do not stand here to amuse you with a declamation on a subject in which you are not immediately interested; and as my office as a preacher both warrants and requires me to address myself not only to your understandings, but likewise to your consciences, I must be allowed, before I conclude, to propose this question to your consideration: Is MESSIAH, the desire of all nations, the object of your chief desire? How much depends upon the answer! Do you wish to know your present state in the sight of God? If you are faithful to yourselves you may be satisfied, provided you will abide by the decision of the Scripture. God is well-pleased in his Son; if you are well pleased with H im, if He is precious to you, and the desire of your soul is supremely directed to Him, then you assuredly possess the beginning, the foretaste and the earnest of eternal life. If you so enter into the descriptions given in the Bible, of His person, love, office, and glory, as to place your whole dependence upon Him, to devote yourselves simply to Him, and to place your happiness in His favour, then you are happy indeed! Happy, even at present, though not exempted from a share in the afflictions incident in this mortal state. For your sins are pardoned, your persons are accepted in the Beloved; to you belong the promises of guidance, protection and supply through life, victory over death, and then a crown of glory that fadeth not away. To say all, in a few words, God is your Father, and Heaven is your home.
But on the other hand, If you trust in yourself that
you are righteous and good, at least comparatively so; if your
attachment to the business or the pleasure of the world engrosses your
thoughts and application, so that you have no leisure to attend to the
record which God has given of His Son, or no relish for the subject,
you have been hitherto guilty of treating the most glorious display or
the wisdom and goodness of God with contempt. Many persons thus
employed and thus disposed, bear respectable characters in civil life,
from which I do not wish to detract. But however amiable you may be in
the judgment of your fellow-creatures, you are a sinner in the sight of
God, and will be treated by Him as an enemy of His government and
glory, if you finally persist in a rejection of His Gospel. The great
point which will determine your destiny for eternity, will be this,
What think you of Christ? For it is written,
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha
(
—— O ——
Sermon IV
The LORD Coming To His Temple
The LORD , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple;
even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight:
Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
But who may abide the day of his coming?
and who shall stand when he appeareth?
For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like a fuller’s soap,
— and he shall purify the sons of Levi —
that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
W
hereunto shall
we liken the people of this generation? and
to
what are they like?
(
But is not this case more than a supposition? Is it not in the most serious sense actually realized amongst ourselves? I should insult your understandings, if I judged a long application necessary. I know my supposition must already have led your thoughts to the subject of the Messiah [Oratorio], and to the spirit and temper of at least the greater part of the performers, and of the audiences The holy Scripture concludes all mankind under sin (Romans 3:9, 10). It charges them all with treason and rebellion against the great sovereign Lawgiver and Benefactor; and declares the misery to which, as sinners, we are obnoxious. But God is long-suffering, and waits to be gracious. The stroke of death, which would instantly place us before His awful tribunal, is still suspended. In the meantime He affords us His Gospel, by which He assures us there is forgiveness with Him. He informs us of a Saviour, and that of His great love to sinners, He has given His only Son to be an Atonement and Mediator, in favour of all who shall sue for mercy in His name. The character of this Saviour, His unspeakable love, His dreadful sufferings, the agony He endured in Gethsemane, and upon the cross, are made known to us. And as His past humiliation, so His present glory, and His invitation to come to Him for pardon and eternal life, are largely declared. These are the principal points expressed in the passages of the Messiah [Oratorio]. Mr. Handel, who set them to music, has been commemorated and praised, many years after his death, in a place professedly devoted to the praise and worship of God; yea, (if I am not misinformed) the stated worship of God, in that place, was suspended for a considerable time, that it might be duly prepared for the commemoration of Mr. Handel. But, alas! how few are disposed to praise and commemorate MESSIAH Himself! The same great truths, divested of the music, when delivered from the pulpit, are heard by many admirers of the Oratorio with indifference, too often with contempt.
Having thus, as I conceive myself bound in duty, plainly and publicly delivered my sentiments, of the great impropriety of making the fundamental truths of Christianity the subject of amusement, I leave what I have said to your serious reflections, hoping it will not be forgotten; for I do not mean to trouble you often with a repetition of it. Let us now consider the passage before us. If you read it with attention, and consider the great ideas it suggests, and the emphatical language with which they are clothed, you will not, perhaps, think the manner of my introducing it wholly improper. Malachi confirms and unites the prophecies of Isaiah and Haggai, which were the subjects of our two last discourses. John is the messenger, spoken of in the beginning of the first verse, sent to prepare the way of the Lord Then the LORD Himself shall come suddenly to His temple, that is, immediately after the appearance of His fore-runner, and with regard to the people in general, unexpectedly.
The question, Who may abide the day of His coming? intimates the greatness and solemnity of the event. If we take His coming in the extensive sense, to denote the whole of His sojourning here on earth, from His incarnation to His ascension, it is unspeakably the greatest of all events recorded in the annals of mankind; though He lived in the form of a servant, and died the death of a malefactor, the vast consequences which depend upon His appearance under these humiliating circumstances, rendered it a manner of coming every way worthy of Himself. It afforded a more awful discovery of the majesty, glory, and holiness of God, than was displayed upon Mount Sinai, and proved a closer and more searching appeal to the hearts and consciences of men. To enter more into the spirit and meaning of the question here proposed, we shall briefly take notice of the following points which the words offer to our serious meditation. May the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to glorify the Saviour, enlighten our hearts to understand them, with application to ourselves!
I. The names which are ascribed to MESSIAH.
II. The suddenness of His coming.
III. The searching power of it in general, expressed by a refiner’s fire and by fuller’s soap.
IV. Its purifying power on the sons of Levi , the priesthood in particular.
I.
The names ascribed to the MESSIAH.
The
LORD
It is a general rule with our translators to
express
LORD
in capital letters, where it answers to Jehovah, in
the Hebrew, and there only. But this place is an exception. The word
here is not Jehovah, but Adonai. It is however, a name of God, though
not incommunicable like the other, being frequently applied to kings
and superiors. It properly implies authority and rule. As we
say,
A Lord and Master.
In this connection it is undoubtedly a divine name.
The
LORD
is said to come to His temple, to His own temple. It
was a house consecrated to the God of Israel. The first temple He
honoured with tokens of His presence; the second, He visited in person;
on which account it exceeded the first in glory.
MESSIAH,
therefore, who appeared in our nature, and was known
among men, as a man, and who is now worshipped both in heaven and upon
earth, is the God of Israel.
He came to His own.
This doctrine of God manifest in the flesh, is the
pillar and ground of the truth: The only foundation on which a sinner,
who knows the just desert of his sin, can build a solid hope of
salvation, is, that Jesus Christ
is the true God and eternal life
(
With respect
to the
inferior
character
He
sustains in our nature and for our sakes, as the
Father’s servant, He is styled,
the Messenger of the covenant.
He is the gift, promise, head and substance of the
Everlasting Covenant. And He came Himself to establish the Covenant,
and to declare and bestow the blessings it contained.
God who had before spoken at divers times and in
sundry manners by His prophets, spoke in the fulness of time by His
Son
(
It is farther said, The LORD whom ye seek, and the Messenger in whom ye delight — MESSIAH was the hope and desire of the true Israel of God, from the earliest times; and when He was born into the world, there was a prepared people waiting and longing for Him, as their consolation. The people at large likewise professed to expect great things from the coming of MESSIAH. But their expectations were low and earthly. They supposed that He would deliver them from the Roman yoke, and give them victory and power over the heathen nations. The more grievous bondage of sin under which they were enslaved, they were not sensible of, nor had they a disposition suited to the privileges and honours of the Kingdom He designed to establish; and therefore, their understandings being darkened by prejudice and prepossession, they could not discern His character. The prophecies which were read in their synagogues every Sabbath, marked out the time and circumstances of MESSIAH’S appearance, the places which He should principally visit, the doctrine He should teach, and the works which He should perform: but though all these particulars exactly applied to Jesus, they obstinately rejected Him, and proceeded to fulfil, what was farther foretold of His sufferings and death, with such a minute punctuality, as if they had designedly taken the prophecies for the rule of their conduct. Thus, by giving neither more nor less than thirty pieces of silver to His betrayer, by buying the potter’s field, and no other, with the money afterwards; by casting lots for one of His garments, and making a distribution of the rest; by piercing His side, contrary to the custom in such punishments, and by omitting to break His legs, which, from their treatment of the malefactors, who suffered with Him, seems to have been usual —in these and several other instances, they acted, though unwittingly, as if it had been their design and study to accomplish the Scriptures to their own confusion and condemnation.
II.
This was why His coming to His temple was sudden to them Though long foretold and long expected, and though the precise time of His Advent, and the accompanying signs, were accurately defined and described, yet when the season arrived He came suddenly, unlooked for and unknown. He came upon them in an hour that they thought not of, and in a manner of which they were not aware. When He stood in the midst of them, they knew not that it was He. How dreadful does sin harden and infatuate the hearts of men! The Jews, in our Saviour’s time, furnish us with a striking instance that it is possible for people fatally to miscarry even with the greatest advantages and means for information in their possession. They accounted themselves the people of God, made their boast of His law and their relation to Abraham. But they hated MESSIAH, and crucified Him , who was the object of Abraham’s faith. The opposition of their leaders and teachers was the most malicious, for many of them acted against the light of their minds and were often convicted in their consciences, though they refused to be convinced. But an ignorant attachment to these blind guides was ruinous to their blind followers, who, though they sometimes, from a view of His mighty works, were struck with astonishment, and constrained to say, Is not this the Son of David? were at length influenced by their priests to prefer a murderer to Him, and, with a clamorous importunity, to compel Pilate to put Him to death. The like misapprehensions produce the like effects among professed Christians today. We likewise have the Scriptures, but how many who admit their authority in words, live willingly ignorant of their contents and act in direct contradiction to their tenor! The power of the Saviour is likewise displayed among us: His preached Gospel is daily made effectual to the great purposes to which it was vouchsafed [graciously given], yet multitudes reject it with no less pertinacity [persistent determination], than the Jews rejected Him in person. At length, death surprises them and they sink into darkness beyond recall. To them, the LORD may be said to come suddenly, for they think not of Him till they actually find themselves at His tribunal. And this, not only when they are cut off by a sudden stroke, but often when their dissolution is most gradual, and everyone about them can perceive its approach by their countenances; they themselves, though wasting with disease, worn out with pain, still flatter themselves with hopes of amendment and recovery to their last gasp; lingering death is to them no less sudden than if they were killed by a flash of lightening.
III.
It is asked, Who may abide the day of His coming? The effect is compared to a refiner’s fire, and to fuller’s soap. The refiner’s fire penetrates the metal, and thereby searches, discovers, and consumes the dross. The fuller’s soap also, though it does not destroy the texture of the cloth, cleanses it by removing, as it were consuming the spots and defilement which are found in it. The idea conveyed by these illustrations is the same. The day of His coming is a day of trial, a trial which issues in the purification of the work of God in His Church, and in the detection and destruction of everything in it which is contrary to His will.
The coming of MESSIAH may be taken in several senses.
To the Jews according to the promise of God repeated
from age to age, He came in person.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among them
(
And where His Word did not cleanse like soap, it
burnt like fire, and the persons and places that rejected Him, were
rendered inexcusable. Their great privilege of seeing His wonderful
works,
and
hearing
His
gracious
words,
being abused, aggravated their guilt and
condemnation, and
made
their
doom
heavier
than
that
of Sodom and Gomorrah. To them the Day of the
LORD
, which in their own sense they professed to desire,
was darkness and not light
(
In another sense, His coming is not restrained to a
particular time. Wherever His Gospel is preached, the Lord is come. It
is by the Gospel He rides forth prosperously, conquering and to
conquer
(
He comes to individuals by the power of His Spirit.
This makes the Word of His Gospel effectual. For the Kingdom of God is
not in word only, but in power. When He thus visits the hearts of
sinners, His Word is like fire and soap;
quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged
sword
(
We surely expect that He will come again. Not as He
once came, in a state of humiliation. The Babe of Bethlehem, the Man of
Sorrows, who hung, and bled, and died upon the cross for our sins, will
return in glory.
Behold He cometh in the clouds, and every eye shall
see Him
(
IV.
It is particularly said,
He will purify the sons of Levi,
that they may offer an offering to the
LORD
in righteousness.
The sons of Levi
, the priests, the official ministers of God,
were gone (departed) out of the way , and had
corrupted the covenant of the Lord, and thereby had caused many to
stumble
(
—— O ——
Sermon V
Immanuel
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name IMMANUEL , God with us.
T
here is a signature of wisdom and power impressed
upon the works of God, which evidently distinguishes them from the
feeble imitations of men. Not only the splendour of the sun, but the
glimmering light of the glow-worm proclaims His glory. The structure
and growth of a blade of grass, are the effects of the same power which
produced the fabric of the heavens and the earth. In His Word likewise
He is inimitable. He has a style and manner peculiarly His own. What He
is pleased to declare about Himself by the prophet, may be prefixed as
a proper motto to the revelation of His will in the Bible.
My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the
LORD
. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts
(
I shall not take up your time with attempting to
clear the difficulties which have been observed in the text. It may
suffice for my purpose to affirm, that this passage expressly and
exclusively refers to
MESSIAH;
for which my warrant is, the authority of the
Evangelists Matthew and Luke
(
I. That a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son.
II. That this son of the virgin shall have a just right to be called Immanuel, God with us.
I.
A virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son. The mediator, the surety for sinful men, must himself be a man. Because those whom he came to redeem were partakers of flesh and blood, he therefore took part of the same. Had not MESSIAH engaged for us, and appeared in our nature, a case would have occurred, which we may warrantably deem incongruous to the divine wisdom. I mean, that while fire and hail, snow and vapour, and the stormy wind fulfill the will of God; while the brutes are faithful to the instincts implanted in them by their Maker, a whole species of intelligent beings would have fallen short of the original law and design of their creation, and indeed have acted in direct and continual opposition to it. For the duty of man, to love, serve, and trust God with all his heart and mind, and to love his neighbour as himself, is found in the very nature and constitution of things, and necessarily results from his relation to God, and his absolute dependence on Him as a creature. Such a disposition must undoubtedly have been natural to man before his fall, as it is for a bird to fly, or a fish to swim. The prohibitory form of the law delivered to Israel from Mount Sinai, is a sufficient intimation that it was designed for sinners. Surely our first parents, while in a state of innocence, could not stand in need of warning and threatening to restrain them from worshipping idols, or profaning the name of the great God whom they loved. Nor would it have been necessary to forbid murder, adultery, or injustice, if his posterity had continued under the law of their creation, the law of love. But the first act of disobedience degraded and disabled man, detached him from his proper centre, if I may so speak, and incapacitated him both for his duty and his happiness. After his fall, it became impossible for either Adam or his posterity to obey the law of God. But MESSIAH fulfilled it exactly, as a man, and the principles of it are renewed, by the power of His grace, in all who believe on Him. And though their best endeavours fall short, His obedience to it is accepted on their behalf; and He will at length perfectly restore them to their primitive order and honour. When they shall see Him as He is, they will be like Him, and all their powers and faculties will be perfectly conformed to His image.
Again,
MESSIAH
must not only be a man, but a partaker of our very
nature. It had been equally easy to the power of God to have formed the
body of the second Adam, as He formed the first, out of the dust of the
earth. But though, in this way he would have been a true and perfect
man, he would not have been more nearly related to us than the angels.
Therefore, when
God sent forth His Son to be made under the law, to
redeem us from the curse of the law, that we might receive the adoption
of children
(
But farther, if He had derived His human nature
altogether in the ordinary way, from sinful parents,
we
see
not
how
He could have avoided a participation in that
defilement and depravity which
the
fall
of
Adam
had
entailed
upon
all
his
posterity
But
His
body
,
that
holy
thing
,
conceived and born of a virgin, was the immediate
production of God. Therefore He was perfectly pure and spotless, and
qualified to be such
a High Priest as became us, holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners
; who needed not, as the typical high priests of
Israel,
to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sin, and
then for the sins of the people
(
Let us make a solemn pause, and call upon our souls to admire and adore the wisdom and power of God in this appointment. Thus the LORD created a new thing upon the earth!
II.
But surely our admiration and gratitude will be
raised still higher, if we rightly understand the latter part of my
text. This Son of the virgin shall be called
Immanuel, God with us
. Though the human nature of Christ was absolutely
perfect, His obedience commensurate to the utmost extent of the law,
and His substitution and sufferings for sinners voluntary; yet, had He
been no more than a man, He would not have been equal to the great
undertaking of saving sinners. A due consideration of the majesty,
holiness, authority, and goodness of God, will make sin appear to be,
as the Apostle expresses it,
exceedingly sinful
(
If MESSIAH had been a sinless and perfect man, and no more, he might have yielded a complete obedience to the will of God, but it could have been only for himself. The most excellent and exalted creature cannot exceed the law of his creation. As a creature, he is bound to serve God with his all, and his obligations will always be equal to his ability. But an obedience acceptable and available for others, for thousands and millions, for all who are willing to plead it, must be connected with a nature which is not thus necessarily bound. A sinner, truly convinced of his obnoxiousness to the displeasure of God, must sink into despair, notwithstanding the intimation of a Saviour, if he were not assured by the Scripture that it was a divine person in the human nature who engaged for us. It is this alone affords a solid ground for hope, to know that He who was before all, by whom all things were made, and by whom they consist, assumed the nature of man; that the great Lawgiver Himself submitted to be under His own law. This wonderful condescension gave an immense value and dignity to all that He did, to all that He suffered; thus He not only satisfied but honoured the law. So that we may, without hesitation, affirm that the law of God was more honoured by MESSIAH , in His obedience to it, during the few years of His residence upon earth, and terminated by His last and highest act of obedience in submitting to the death of the cross, than it could have been the un-sinning obedience of all mankind to the end of time.
But
MESSIAH
was not only to obey the law for us, He was likewise
to expiate, to sustain and to exhaust the curse due to sin
(
But though forgiveness be an essential part of Salvation, it is not the whole. We cannot be happy, except the power of sin be likewise destroyed. A well-grounded hope in the mercy of God, is connected with a thirst for sanctification, and a conformity to His image. But neither this hope nor this desire are natural to us. Our case requires the help of an almighty arm, of the power which can cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dead to arise ; which can take away the heart of stone, and create a heart of flesh. So likewise the difficulties attendant on our Christian profession, arising from the spirit of the world around us, the snare to which we are exposed in every situation, our weakness, the deceitfulness of our hearts, the subtlety, vigilance, and power of our spiritual enemies, are so many and great, that unless He, on whom we depend for Salvation, be able to save to the uttermost, we can have no security, either for our progress, or our perseverance, in the grace of God.
Unless the Saviour of sinners be omnipresent,
omniscient, unchangeable,
the same yesterday, today, and for ever
, that is, unless He be God, how can He answer the
prayers, satisfy the wants, and relieve the distresses of all who trust
in Him in every age, and of all who in every place equally need His
support at the same moment? Or how can He engage to give rest to every
weary soul, to secure them from perishing, and to bestow upon them
eternal life? David comfortably concluded, that because the
LORD
was his Shepherd, he should not want, and had no
reason to fear
(
I shall not attempt to vindicate this doctrine
largely from the exceptions of those who call themselves men of reason.
It is a point of revelation, and it is expressly revealed. It demands
our assent upon the authority of God, who requires us to receive this
record which He has given us of His Son. Thus far it approves itself to
our reason, that however difficult it may be to our conceptions, yet
thus it must be, upon a supposition that sinners can be saved without
prejudice to the honour of the divine government. If we affirm that He
who was born in a stable, and suffered as a malefactor upon Mount
Golgotha, is the true God and eternal life, many will think it a hard
saying. But it is the doctrine of Scripture, the very pillar and ground
of truth; the only foundation of hope for an awakened conscience, the
only standard by which we can properly estimate the evil of sin, the
worth of soul, and the love of God. We do not however, say that the
human nature of Christ, considered in itself, possesses the attributes
of Deity, or is the proper object of worship; nor do we suppose that
God should suffer, bleed, and die. But we say, with the Apostle,
that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
Himself
(
Behold then the character of MESSIAH in this prophecy! a man! a God! a Divine Person in the human nature! God manifested in the flesh! Immanuel, God with us.
As fallen creatures we had lost the true knowledge of
God, and were unable to form such conceptions of His greatness and
goodness as are necessary to inspire us with reverence to engage our
confidence, or produce obedience to His will. His glory shines in the
heavens and fills the earth; we are surrounded by the tokens of His
power and presence; yet, till we are instructed by His Word, and
enlightened by his Holy Spirit, He is to us an
unknown God.
The prevalence of idolatry was early, and (with
exception to the people of Israel) soon became universal. Men who
boasted their reason, worshipped the sun and moon, yea, the works of
their own hands, instead of the Creator. And even where revelation is
vouchsafed
[graciously given], the bulk of mankind live without
God in the world. But He is known, trusted, and loved by
those
who
know
MESSIAH
To
them
His
glory
is
displayed
in the person of Jesus Christ
(
As fallen creatures, God is against us, and we are against Him. The alienation of our hearts is the great cause of our ignorance of Him. We are willingly ignorant. The thoughts of Him are unwelcome to us, and we do not like to retain Him in our knowledge. Guilt is the parent of atheism. A secret foreboding, that if there be a God, we are obnoxious to His displeasure; and if He takes cognizance of our conduct, we have nothing to hope, but every thing to fear from Him, constrains many persons to try to persuade themselves that there is no God; and many more to think, or at least to wish, that if there be a God He does not concern Himself with human affairs. What a proof is this of the enmity of the heart of man against Him! That so many persons who would tremble at the thought of being in a ship, driven by the wind and waves, without compass or pilot, should yet think it desirable, if it were possible, to be assured that in a world like this, so full of uncertainty, trouble and change, all things were left at random, without the interference of a supreme governor. But this enmity, these dark apprehensions are removed, when the Gospel is received by faith. For it brings us the welcome news that there is forgiveness with Him. That God is reconciled in His Son to all who seek His mercy. In this sense, likewise, MESSIAH is Immanuel, God with us , on our side, no longer the avenger of sin, but the author of salvation.
Immanuel
is
God with us
, God in our nature still. He suffered as a man, and
as a man He now reigns on the Throne in glory; exercising all power and
authority, and receiving all spiritual worship both in heaven and upon
earth. He is the Head of all principalities and power, thrones and
dominions. Thus man is not only saved, but unspeakably honoured and
ennobled. He is brought into the nearest relation to Him, who is over
all blessed forever. The angels adore Him, but only the redeemed
sinners can say,
He loved us, and gave Himself for us; He has washed
us from our sin in His own blood
(
I shall conclude with a few obvious reflections which offer from this important subject.
(1.)
What a cold assent is paid to the doctrine of the Godhead of Christ, by many who profess and receive it as a truth! They have received from education, from books or ministers, what is called an orthodox scheme of religious sentiments, and with this they are contented. They have not been accustomed to doubt of it, and therefore take it for granted that they really believe it. But as I have already hinted, it is so contrary to our natural apprehensions, that no man can, from his heart, say Jesus Christ is LORD , unless he be taught of God.
And a cordial [sincere] belief of this point, will
and must produce great and abiding effects. They who know the
Saviour’s name, will so trust in Him, as to renounce every other
ground of confidence. They will love Him supremely, and forsake
everything that stands in competition with His favour. They will glory
in His cross, they will espouse His cause, and devote themselves to His
service. They will make continual application to Him, that they may
receive out of His fulness grace according to their need. They will
obey His precepts, and walk in His Spirit. Happy were it, indeed, if
all who join in repeating the Creed, and who bow their knee at the
mention of His name, were thus minded. But the lives, tempers, and
pursuits of thousands, give too sure an evidence, that when they
express their assent with their lips, they neither know what they say,
nor whereof they affirm. Their acknowledgement of His character, has no
more salutary influence, than that of the evil spirits when He was upon
earth, who said, and perhaps with a much fuller conviction,
We know Thee who Thou art, the holy one of God
(
(2.)
What a strong foundation does this doctrine afford for the faith and hope of those who indeed know MESSIAH, and have put their trust in Him. This truth is the rock upon which the Church is built, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If God be for us, who shall be against us? The difficulties of our warfare are great, the enemies of our peace are many. The world may frown, and Satan will rage, but Jesus has overcome the world, and is greater than all our foes. He will guide His people with His unerring wisdom, support them with His almighty arm, supply them out of the inexhaustible riches of His grace, revive them when fainting, heal them when wounded, plead for them above as their great High Priest, manage for them upon earth as their great Shepherd, and at last make them more than conquerors, and give them a crown of life!
(3.)
On the contrary, how dreadful must be the state of
those who finally reject Him, and say in their hearts,
We will not have this man to rule over us!
He is now proposed as a Saviour, He invites sinners
to come to Him that they may have life, and assures us,
that him that cometh He will in no wise cast
out
(
—— O ——
Sermon VI
Salvation Published from the Mountains
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
I t would be improper to propose an alteration, though a slight one, in the reading of a text, without bearing my testimony to the great value of our English version, which I believe, in point of simplicity, strength, and fidelity, is not likely to be excelled by a new translation of the whole Scripture. But there are, undoubtedly, particular passages, where a small change in the expression, might render the sense clearer, and be equally answerable to the original Hebrew or Greek. The address of this verse as it stand in the Messiah [Oratorio] is, O thou that tellest good tidings, etc. as the Bishop of London has lately translated it. Zion and Jerusalem are considered by the Prophet, not as bringing, but as receiving good tidings; and the publisher of these good tidings is written with a feminine construction.
The
sense
may
be
thus
expressed,
“Let
her that bringeth good tidings to Jerusalem and Zion,
get up into the high mountains and lift up her voice.” But the
apostrophe is more animated. That it was the custom in Israel for the
women to publish and celebrate good news with songs and instruments is
well known. We have an early instance in the book of Exodus. When
the
LORD
had delivered them from the power of Pharaoh, and
they saw their enemies, dead upon the sea-shore,
Miriam, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her
hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dances;
And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the
LORD
for he hath
triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he
thrown into the sea
(
The women are, therefore, called upon to proclaim His approach, on the tops of the hills and mountains, from whence they may be seen, and heard to the greatest advantage, for the spreading of the tidings throughout the whole country. Zion is a besieged city, but let her know that relief is at hand; say unto her, Behold your God! The Lord will come with a strong hand, or against the strong one, and His people shall know Him as their Shepherd, full of care, kindness, and power.
The promise of
Immanuel, God with us
, is now to be spread like the morning from the tops
of the mountains. The day is breaking, and this passage prepares for
the following,
Arise, shine, for thy light is come!
The welcome news is to be dispersed from Jerusalem to
Samaria, from Jew to Gentile, from one kingdom to another people, till
all the nations and the ends of the earth
shall see the Salvation of God
(
The cause of this exultation arises from the character of MESSIAH, compared with the design of His appearance, and this is answerable to the condition in which He finds mankind.
The deplorable state of fallen man by nature, is largely described both in the Old Testament and the New. It may suffice to take notice of two principal features, which characterize our whole species, and apply to every individual of the race of Adam, until the grace of God, which bringeth Salvation, affords relief. These are guilt, alienation of heart, and misery.
(1.)
Guilt.
All have sinned. We are the creatures of God. He made
us, and He preserves us. Our life, faculties, and comforts are all from
Him. He is therefore our great Lord, our supreme Benefactor. Of course
we belong to Him. His we are, and not our own. It follows that
dependence, gratitude, submission, and obedience, are incumbent on us,
as they must be upon all intelligent creatures, from the very nature of
things. The relation which subsists between an infinitely wise and good
Creator and His creatures, if capable of knowing Him, necessarily
implies this subjection. And the obligation is indissoluble. But we
have evidently broken this law of our creation. We have violated the
order of God’s government. We have implicitly, if not formally,
renounced our allegiance, disowned His right over us, and set up for
ourselves. A dependent creature affecting independence; a worm
presuming upon its own power, making itself its own end; a rebel
against the divine government, boasting of morality and goodness, and
trusting to his own conduct to recommend him to the favour of his
Maker; a being formed for immortality, proposing his whole happiness in
things which he feels to be unsatisfying, knows to be uncertain, and
from which he is conscious he must, in a few years at most, be finally
removed; these are solecisms [improprieties] which strongly prove the
depravity, degeneracy, and demerit of man. It is possible, that had we
been wholly left to ourselves, we should never have been aware, while
in this world, of the just and inevitable consequences of our
rebellion. Having lost all right thoughts of God, and conceiving of
Him, as if He were altogether as ourselves, we might have felt neither
fear nor remorse. But there is a revelation, by which we are informed
of His determined purpose to avenge disobedience, and to vindicate the
honour of His government; and we are assured, that He is not an
indifferent spectator of our opposition to His established order. His
justice and truth are engaged to punish transgressors, and our
obnoxiousness to punishment, is what we mean by
guilt.
If the Scripture be true, there is no way of escape,
unless He Himself be pleased to appoint one. This He has done, and the
declaration of this appointment is a part of the good-tidings contained
in my text. Proclaim it from the tops of the mountains, that there is
forgiveness with Him. Say unto Jerusalem, Behold
MESSIAH,
Behold your God! He comes to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself
(
(2.)
Alienation of mind.
Not only is it true that we have sinned against the
Lord, but a principle of aversion from Him is deeply rooted in our
hearts. Therefore one part of our natural character is,
haters of God
(
I do not assert that we hate God under that
character, which, our vain imaginations form of Him. If we can persuade
ourselves, in direct contradiction to the testimony of Scripture, that
He is not strict to mark what is amiss; that He will dispense with the
strictness of His law; that He will surely have mercy upon us, because
we are not openly abandoned and profligate in our conduct; that He will
accept of lip-worship in which the heart has no concern, reward us for
actions in which we had no intention of pleasing Him, permit us to love
and serve the world with all our mind, and soul, and strength, while we
live, and make us happy in another world, when we can live in this no
longer — If we form such an image of God, it is too much like our
own to provoke our enmity, for it is destitute of holiness, justice,
and truth. But
the carnal mind is
and must be,
enmity against God
(
This was the ground of the first murder. Abel loved
God, and God was pleased to testify His approbation of Abel
—therefore Cain killed him
(
But, O thou that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice. Say to poor sinners, Behold thy God! He comes to take this enmity away! The cross of Christ subdues it, when every other expedient has been found ineffectual. The heart, too hard to be softened by a profusion of temporal blessings, and too stout to be subdued by afflictions, is melted by the dying love of a Saviour; and by that discovery of the divine perfections, which is exhibited in redemption.
We have a striking instance of this effect, in the
case of Saul of Tarsus
(
(3.)
Misery.
If we are guilty in the sight of God, and alienated
from Him in our hearts, we must be miserable. Guilt entails a burden,
and a foreboding of evil upon the conscience. And our alienation from
the fountain of living waters
(
When God at the beginning, surveyed every thing that
He had made,
behold, it was very good
(
But publish the glad tidings from the mountains, and
let the joyful sound diffuse over the plain —
Your God cometh!
MESSIAH
establishes a new, a spiritual Kingdom upon the
earth, and His happy subjects are freed from the misery in which they
were involved. They commit all their concerns to Him, and He manages
for them. Their fears are removed, their irregular desires corrected,
and all that is really good for them, is secured to them by His love,
promise, and care. Afflictions still await them, but they are
sanctified. To them the nature of afflictions is changed. They are
appointments graciously designed for their advantage. Their crosses no
less than their comforts, are tokens of God’s favour
(
For these purposes the Son of God was revealed. The
prophets saw His day afar off, and proclaimed His approach
—
Thy God cometh!
Though truly man, He is truly God. Neither man nor
angel could remove our guilt, communicate to us a spiritual life,
relieve us from misery, and give us stable peace in a changing world,
hope and triumph in death, and eternal life beyond it. But His wisdom
and power are infinite, and His purpose unchangeable. He would not have
invited the weary and heavy laden to come to Him, if He was not able
and determined to give them rest. None that seek Him are disappointed,
or sent empty away. A sufficient proof that His compassion, His bounty,
His fulness are properly divine. Therefore the Apostle, speaking of the
riches of His grace, uses the epithet,
Unsearchable
(
Does the language of my text cause joy to spring up
in your hearts? or is it nothing to you? If you heard the
Messiah
[Oratorio], you were, perhaps, affected by the music
of the passage; how much are you to be pitied, if you are hitherto
unaffected by the sentiment! Yet once more, hear —
Thy God cometh!
He did come in the fulness of time, according to the
prophecy, and the Word of prophecy assures us, that He will come
again.
Behold He cometh in the clouds; and every eye shall
see Him, and they also that pierced Him
(
—— O ——
Sermon VII
The Morning Light
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people:
but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
O ne strong internal proof that the Bible is a divine revelation, may be drawn from the subject matter; and particularly that it is the book, and the only book, that teaches us to think highly and honourably of God. I say, the only book, for there is no right knowledge of God where the Bible is not known. What is the Jupiter of Homer, compared with the God of Israel as He is presented to us by His servants the prophets? And if the heathen philosophers, in some detached passages, have sentiments not altogether unworthy of Him, history honestly tells us how they obtained them. They travelled, and they are generally said to have travelled into Phoenicia or Egypt, to the confines of that people who alone thought rightly of God, because to them only He had made Himself known by revelation. If such a description as we have in the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, from the twelfth verse to the end, had been known only of late years, recovered, we will suppose, out of the ruins of Herculaneum, there is little doubt but it would have engaged the attention and admiration of the learned world. For the most admired writings of antiquity, upon candid comparison, are unspeakably inferior to it. The inimitable sublimity [high spiritual and moral worth] of the prophets is natural, just, and unforced, and flows from the grandeur of their subjects, because they were influenced by Him, who alone can speak worthily of Himself. A song so vast, a theme so high,
Calls for the voice that tuned the sky.
With them, the whole compass of the creation is but as dust upon the balance, in respect of the great Creator. His purpose is fate, His voice is power. He speaks, and it is done. Thus He called the universe into being; and thus, as the great LORD and Proprietor of all, He still maintains and governs it, directing the frame of nature, and every particular event and contingence, to the promoting of His own glory, the last and highest end of all His works.
The principal of these is, the exhibition of His perfections in the Person of His Son. The prophecies we have already considered, announce this event, with a gradual increase of clearness and precision, as the period of accomplishment is supposed to draw nigh. We lately heard the command to proclaim His approach from the hills and the tops of the mountains. Here the Prophet begins to contemplate the effects of His actual appearance. The earth is considered as involved in a state of gross darkness; but the sun, the Sun of Righteousness is about to arise, and to fill it, by His beams, with light, life, and glory. These effects, indeed, will not extend to all, for many will love darkness rather than light. But He will not shine in vain. There will be a people prepared to receive Him, and to rejoice in His light. They shall arise as from sleep, as from the grave, and His light reflected upon them, shall cause them to shine likewise. Darkness shall still cover those who reject Him; yea, their darkness will be increased. But the glory of the Lord shall be seen upon all who believe, and their numbers, from age to age, shall be enlarged. Nations shall come to Him, and kings shall be subservient to the spreading of His Kingdom. Such is the scope of the passage before us. I shall briefly consider a few of the leading particulars contained in it.
I.
As the sun is the source of light to the natural
world, so is
MESSIAH
to the moral and spiritual world. Light, and its
opposite, darkness, are figuratively used in Scripture. The latter is
applied to the state of ignorance, sin, and misery, as in the following
texts,
He that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he
goeth
(
II.
The subjects of
MESSIAH’S
Kingdom, the living members of His Church, are so
irradiated by Him, that they shine likewise. As the moon shines, but
with a borrowed light, derived from the sun.
Beholding, in this glass
[magnifying glass]
, the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the
same image from glory to glory
(
(1.)
The fact.
That they do thus shine. Though they were once
darkness, they are now light
(
(2.)
The cause.
They shine wholly by His light. If their own words
may be taken, the proof of this is easy.
They
are free to confess that they are only wise by His
wisdom, strong by His power working
in
them,
and
that
without
Him
they
have
not
sufficiency
to
think
a
good
thought
(
III.
They who wilfully refuse and turn from this light, do
thereby involve themselves in double darkness, and become more
infatuated and wicked than those to whom the light has not been
proposed. Their evils, likewise, are more aggravated than they would
have been if the light had not visited them. Thus our Lord
, MESSIAH,
speaks of the Jews;
If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not
had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin
(
It is evident, that the morality which is so highly
admired by the Christian world, and set in opposition to the Gospel of
Christ, is much leaner, and more scanty than the morality of the
heathens. I speak of the idea only, for neither have the heathens of
old, nor of the present day, acted up to their own rules. But I do not
hesitate to affirm, that none of our modern moralists, who have
disowned the Gospel revelation, have given us a system of morality
equal to that of
*
Tully the pagan. Many of the heathens acknowledged
the desirableness and necessity of revelation; though infidels, born in
a Christian land, think it a high mark of their wisdom to despise it.
And avowed atheists, that is, men, who deny either the Being or
Providence of God, or the obligations mankind are under to obey Him,
are seldom to be met with but in countries
where
the
Bible
is
known.
The
heart
must
have
obstinately
and
repeatedly
resisted light and conviction, before it can
ordinarily proceed to these dreadful lengths. But while the blind
stumble
in
the
noon
of
day,
MESSIAH’S
people
shall
walk
in
confidence
and
peace
(
* Roman Philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)
IV.
The third verse of this chapter foretells, and
therefore secures, the conversion of the Gentiles or heathens. The
times and seasons are in the disposal of God, but the Scriptures must
be fulfilled. Much was done in the first age of Christianity. A single
instrument, the Apostle Paul, as he himself informs us, preached the
faith, which he formerly tried to destroy,
from Jerusalem,
and
round
about
unto Illyricum
(
V.
The call in my text, may be taken in a general sense,
like that of the Apostle,
Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light
(
We lament, but cannot wonder, that the Gospel is so
generally neglected. As a dispensation of grace, it offends the pride
of man; as a dispensation of holiness, it contradicts his desires and
passions. His spirit is degraded, his heart is pre-engaged, he loves
the present world, and has no more taste or inclination for a life of
communion with God here, and such a heaven as the Scripture proposes
hereafter, than the beasts of the field. But the
LORD
has said,
I will work, and who shall let it? I act and who can
reverse it?
(
We must not suppress nor disguise what we are
commanded to declare; nor wilfully make any additions
of
our own, to accommodate it to the taste or prejudice
of our hearers
(
—— O ——
Sermon VIII
The Sun Rising upon a Dark World
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon then hath the light shined.
C
ontrasts are suited to illustrate and strengthen the
impression of each other. The happiness of those, who by faith
in
MESSIAH,
are brought into a state of peace, liberty, and
comfort, is greatly enhanced and heightened by the consideration of
that previous state of misery in which they once lived, and of the
greater misery to which they were justly exposed. They are not only
made
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light
(
I.
Hebrew words (like many in our own language) have
often more than one signification. But only one sense can be expressed
in a version. And therefore interpreters and translators frequently
differ. Which of the different words, used to express the meaning of
the same original term, is most happily chosen, may be sometimes
decided by the context. The two words, in the first verse of this
chapter, rendered
lightly afflicted
and
grievously afflicted
, signify likewise, the one to think lightly of, to
account vile; and the other, to honour, to render honourable and
glorious. Both these words occur in one verse, and are used in these
senses, in the
LORD
’s message to Eli,
Them that honour me I will honour, and they that
despise me shall be lightly esteemed
(
* Vitringa Campegius (the Elder) - Dutch Christian Hebraist (1669 - 1722)
(1.)
The land allotted to the tribes of Issachar, Zebulon,
and Naphtali, was chiefly included in the province, which, upon a
subsequent division of the country, obtained the name of Galilee. The
northern part of it, the inheritance of Naphtali, was the boundary or
frontier towards Syria, and had been frequently vexed and afflicted,
when the sins if Israel brought the armies of their enemies upon them,
as frontier countries usually suffer most in times of invasion and war.
Particularly this part of the land, called Galilee of the Gentiles, was
the first, and most immediately exposed to the ravages of
Tiglath-Pileser and Sennacherib. And as the people there were more
mixed with foreigners, and at the greatest distance from the capital,
Jerusalem, on these accounts, Galilee was lightly esteemed by the Jews
themselves. They thought
no prophet could arise in Galilee
(
(2.)
This despised and least valued part of the land of
Israel, was the principal scene of
MESSIAH’S
life and ministry. Insomuch, that, as I have
observed, He was supposed to have been born there. A mistake which His
enemies industriously supported and made the most of; for those who
could persuade themselves that it was so in fact, would think
themselves justified in rejecting His claim. It being one undeniable
mark of
MESSIAH,
given by the prophet Micah,
that He was born in Bethlehem of Judah
(
(3.)
By His residence there, Galilee was honoured and
ennobled. He Himself declared, that on this account,
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum
(though probably none of them were more than
inconsiderable fishing towns)
were exalted even to heaven
(
(4.)
Though Galilee was favoured with the Scripture, and
with synagogue worship; and the inhabitants were a people who professed
to know the God of Israel, it was a land of darkness at the time
of
MESSIAH’S
appearance. Though they were not idolaters, ignorance
prevailed among them. The Law and the Prophets were read in the
synagogues; but we may believe to little good purpose, while they were
under the direction of perverse teachers, who substituted the
traditions of men for the commands of God. The single circumstance of
keeping herds of swine, as the Gadarenes did, seems a proof, that the
law of Moses was but little regarded by them. They, as well as the
people of Judea, were under the guidance of the Scribes and Pharisees
in their religious concerns, who were, if I may use a modern phrase,
the clergy of that time; and these, we are assured by Him who knew
their hearts, were generally corrupted;
blind,
leaders
of
the blind.
Yet they were held in ignorant admiration, and
implicitly submitted to. From the character of the public ministers of
religion, we may, without great danger of mistake,
infer
the
character
of the people who are pleased and satisfied with
their ministrations.
As the disciple cannot,
ordinarily,
be expected to be superior to his Master
(
II.
But this prophecy is not to be restrained to the
first and more immediate season of its accomplishment. The
LORD
speaks thus of
MESSIAH
in another place,
It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of
Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou
mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth
(
Mankind, until enlightened by the Word and Spirit of grace, is truly in a state of darkness. Thick darkness is a veil which conceals from us, not only distant, but the nearest objects. A man in the dark cannot perceive either friend or enemy; he may be in great danger, yet think himself in safety; or, if he thinks himself in danger, be unable to take any step for his preservation, from a want of light. Thus, though God be our Maker and Preserver, though in Him we live and move and have our being , though we are surrounded with His presence, and proofs of His wisdom and goodness are before us wherever we turn our eyes; yet we live without Him in the world. Equally ignorant we are of ourselves, of the proper happiness of our nature, or how it is to be attained. We know neither the cause, nor the cure, nor the consequences of our tendency to cleave to the dust, and of placing our affection on inadequate and unsatisfying objects.
And if we suppose a person awakened to a conviction of the evil of sin, and to understand that nothing less than the favour of God can make a rational and immortal creature happy, still without the Gospel he would be in darkness and the shadow of death. His case may be compared to that of a person shipwrecked upon some desert, inhospitable coast, suffering great horrors and anxiety, from his exposedness to perish by hunger, by enemies, or wild beasts —who, if he saw, at no very great distance, an island, and was, by some means, informed and assured that island was the seat of safety, plenty, and pleasure; and that if he was once there , his dangers would all cease, and his utmost wishes be satisfied; still, if there were neither bridge, nor boat, nor any means by which he might arrive thither, to know that happiness was so near him, yet inaccessible to him, would but aggravate his misery, and make his despair more emphatically pungent. Miserable, indeed, must we be, if we clearly perceived that only He, whose creatures we are, can make us happy; and that as sinners we have forfeited His favour, and are utterly incapable of regaining it, if we were left under these views without any hope of relief. Such must have been our situation sooner or later, if God who is rich in mercy, had not Himself provided the means of reconciliation. For though a hope of pardon is easily taken up by those who are ignorant of the holiness of God and the malignity of sin, yet nothing but a declaration from Himself, that there is forgiveness with Him, can give peace to a truly awakened conscience.
But Jesus dispels this darkness, and brings life and immortality to light by the Gospel. For,
(1.)
The office and agency of the Holy Spirit, so
absolutely necessary to make us duly sensible, either of our danger, or
of the possibility of escaping it, is entirely the effect if His
mediation. The soul of man, originally formed to be the temple of the
living God, when defiled by sin, was justly forsaken by its great
Inhabitant; and since the Fall, answers the prophetical description
given of Babylon.
It is become the habitation of devils, the hold of
every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird
(
(2.)
His obedience unto death, when revealed by the Holy Spirit to the enlightened conscience, affords a clear and satisfactory discovery of reconciliation with God: it shows that on His part, every hindrance to the free exercise of mercy is thereby removed, the honour of His law vindicated, and the demands of His justice answered. On our parts, by opening a door of hope, it removes that enmity and obduracy [hardness] of heart which are nourished by a consciousness of guilt, and a secret foreboding of deserved punishment. But when the dignity of the Redeemer’s person, the causes, nature, and design of His sufferings are understood, emotions of admiration, love, and gratitude, till then unknown, are felt, and obstinate sinners are made a willing people in this day of divine power.
(3.)
The doctrine
of
the cross pours a light upon every subject and
circumstance in which we are concerned. It enlarges the mind
,
and forms the judgment and taste, agreeable to the
standard of truth, and the real nature of things. It rectifies those
prejudices and prepossessions which dispose
us
to
mistake
good
for evil, and evil for good
(
(4.)
In this way, God, as revealed in Christ, is apprehended and chosen, as the chief and proper good of the soul. Thus the poor are enriched with the pearl of great price, and the weary obtain rest. The mind, no longer burdened with anxiety, nor mortified with a succession of disappointments, which attended the vain pursuit of happiness in earthly things, possesses present peace, and rejoices in the expectation of future glory. It is released from the slavery of hewing out broken cisterns, and introduced to the fountain of living waters. Or, to close with the beautiful image in my text, The people who once walked in darkness and the region of the shadow of death, are translated into the Kingdom of life and salvation (Colossian 1:13)
How greatly are they to be pitied who reject the
light of the Gospel! It is true, they cannot see it; but it is equally
true, they
will
not. But may I not hope, that this is a day of divine
power, in which some of you shall be made a willing people. Do not
reason against your own life, but repent and believe the Gospel. The
light shines around you; whether you perceive it or not; and has an
efficacy to open the eyes of the blind. Where the Gospel is preached
the Lord is present. If you call upon Him He will hear, and you shall
receive your sight. If the grace and the glory of the Saviour have
hitherto made no impression upon your heart, you are spiritually blind.
Could you be sensible of your disorder, the remedy is at hand. If now
at last you are willing to seek Him, He will be found of you. But if
you deliberately prefer darkness, your state is awfully dangerous; and
if you persist in your obstinacy, your ruin is unavoidable. God is
gracious and long-suffering, but He will not be mocked
(
—— O ——
Sermon IX
Characters and Names of Messiah
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
S
uch was the triumphant exultation of the Old
Testament Church! Their noblest hopes were founded upon the promise of
MESSIAH; their most sublime songs were derived from the prospect of His
Advent. By faith,
which is the substance of things hoped for,
they considered the gracious declarations of the
faithful unchangeable God as already accomplished, though the actual
performance respected a period, as yet, future and distant. Especially,
as believers, under that dispensation, already felt the influence of
the redemption which MESSIAH was to consummate in the fulness of time.
It was the knowledge of His engagement on the behalf of sinners, that
gave life and significance to all the institutions of the ceremonial
law which otherwise,
though
of divine appointment, would have been a heavy and
burdensome yoke
(
This ancient song is still new. It has been, and will
be taken up from age to age, by the New Testament Church, with superior
advantage. I trust many of you understand it well, and rejoice in it
daily. Men naturally look for something wherein to rejoice and glory.
Little reason have the wise
(
When a sinner is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, to understand the character and offices of MESSIAH, to understand His ability to save those who are ready to perish, and the happiness of all who are brought into subjection to His gracious government; and when he begins to feel the cheering effects of faith in His name, then this song becomes his own, and exactly suits the emotions and gratitude of his heart. But many persons will despise and pity him as a weak enthusiast [fanatic] . And yet, perhaps, they do not think so unfavourably of the rapture of Archimedes, of whom it is related, that having suddenly discovered the solution of a difficult problem while he was bathing, he was so transported with joy, that he forgot his situation, sprung instantly from the bath, and ran through the city crying, “I have found it! I have found it!” He is not usually charged with madness on this account, though the expression of his joy was certainly over-proportioned to the cause. The truth is, the world will allow of a vehemence approaching ecstasy on almost any occasion, but on that alone, which, above all others, will justify it. A person who would be thought destitute of taste, if he was unaffected by the music to which this passage is set, would, at the same time hazard his reputation for good sense, with some judges, if he owned himself affected by the plain meaning of the words. Incompetent judges surely! who are pleased to approve of warmth and emotion of spirit, provided the object be trivial, and only condemn it in concerns of the greatest importance! But, I trust, the character of my audience is very different, and that the most of you desire to enter into the spirit of this passage, and to have a more lively sense of your own interests in it. May the Lord grant your desire, and accompany our meditations upon it with His power and blessing!
Every clause in this passage might furnish subject for a long discourse; but my plan will only permit me briefly to touch upon the several particulars, which will lead to a recapitulation or summary of what has already been considered more largely concerning the Person, Offices, and Glory of MESSIAH. We have,
I.
His incarnation.
Unto us a child is born.
In our nature, born of a woman:
Unto us a son is given,
not merely a man-child, but, emphatically,
a Son,
the Son of God. This was the most precious gift, the
highest proof and testimony of divine love. The distinction and union
of these
widely
distant natures, which constitute the Person of
Christ, the God-man, the Mediator, is, in the judgment and language of
the Apostle, the
great mystery of godliness
(
II.
His exaltation. The government shall be upon His shoulder. In our nature He suffered, and in the same nature He reigns. When He had overcome the sharpness, the sting of death, He took possession of the kingdom of glory as His own, and opened it to all who believe in Him. Now we can say, He who governs in heaven and on earth, and whom all things obey, is the Child who was born, the Son who was given for us. Some subsequent passages will lead us, hereafter, to contemplate more directly the glory of the Redeemer’s administration in the kingdoms of providence and grace. At present, therefore, I shall only observe, that the exaltation of the Redeemer, infers the dignity and security of the people who are united to Him by faith. They have, in one respect, an appropriate honour, in which the angels cannot share. Their best friend, related to them in the same nature, is seated upon the throne of glory. Since He is for them, who can be against them? What may they not expect, when He who has so loved them as to redeem them with His own blood, has all power committed to Him, both in heaven and on earth! For,
III.
The names and characters here ascribed to Him, are not only expressive of what He is in Himself, but of what He is engaged to be to them.
(1.)
His name shall be called Wonderful.
In another place the word is rendered
Secret
(
(2.)
Another of His names is Counsellor. The great councils of redemptions, in which, every concern respecting the glory of God, and the salvation of sinners, was adjusted, were established with Him, and in Him, before the foundation of the world. And He is our Counsellor or Advocate with the Father, who pleads our cause, and manages all our affairs in perfect righteousness, and with infallible success; so that no suit can possibly miscarry which He is pleased to undertake. To Him likewise we must apply (and we shall not apply in vain) for wisdom and direction, in all that belongs to our duty, and the honour of our profession in this present life; in all our difficulties, dangers, and cares, we must look to Him for guidance and support. This is to be wise unto salvation . His secret is with them that consult Him, so that though the world may deem them weak and ignorant as babes (and He teaches them to think thus of themselves) they have a cheering and practical knowledge of many important subjects, which are entirely hidden from those who are wise and prudent in their own eyes.
(3.)
He is the Mighty God. Though in the office of Mediator, He acts in the character of a servant, His perfections and attributes are truly divine. Only the mighty God, could make a provision capable of answering the demands of the holy law, which we had transgressed; only the mighty God could be a suitable Shepherd to lead millions of weak, helpless creatures to glory; through the many difficulties, dangers, and enemies they are exposed to in their passage. Add to this, the honour, dependence, and obedience, which this great Shepherd claims from His sheep, are absolute and supreme; and they would be guilty of idolatry, if they did not know the He is the mighty God. Though real Christians, who are enlightened and taught by the Holy Spirit may, and do, differ in their views and explanations of some revealed truths, I conceive they must be all agreed on this point. It is not only necessary to be known as the only solid foundation of a sinner’s hope, but it immediately respects the object of divine worship. For if the Redeemer is not possessed of the incommunicable perfections of Deity, the New Testament in its most obvious and literal signification, would be chargeable, not only with countenancing, but with expressly teaching and enjoining idolatry.
(4.)
Farther, He shall be called the
Everlasting Father. He is not ashamed to call them
brethren
(
(5.)
Lastly, He shall be called the
Prince of Peace
,
whose sovereign prerogative it is, to
speak peace to His people
(
Farther, He teaches them (what can only be learnt of
Him) how to seek and maintain peace among men. His love subdues the
power of self, and forms them to a spirit of philanthropy and
benevolence, which has often such an effect, that they who dislike them
for their attachment to Him and to His precepts, and would willingly
speak evil of them, are ashamed, and put to silence, by their
perseverance in well-doing. Thus their peace increases as a river,
which runs with a deeper and a broader stream as it approaches the
ocean. For their peace is then strongest and most unshaken when they
draw near to death, and are upon the point of resigning their souls
into His hands. This is the time, when, if not before, the false peace
of the worldling will give way to terror and dismay.
But mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for
the end of that man is peace
(
There is a strength necessary to support the soul at the approach of death, which is usually withheld till the time of need. But then it is vouchsafed [graciously given] . They who have frequently access to the beds of dying believers, can bear testimony, as eye-witnesses, to the faithfulness of their Lord. How often have we seen them triumphing in the prospect of immortality! as happy, in defiance of pain and sickness, as we can well conceive it possible to be, while in the body, and as sure of Heaven, as if they were already before the Throne.
Such is the character of MESSIAH! This is the God whom we adore; our almighty unchangeable Friend! His greatness and goodness, His glory and His grace, when once known, fix the heart no more to rove; and fill it with admiration, gratitude, and desire. From hence spring a cheerful, unreserved obedience to His commands, and a deliberate voluntary submission to His holy will. For His people do not serve him, or yield to Him by constraint; at least, it is only the pleasing constraint of love, which makes their duty their delight; and their burden and grief is, that they can serve Him no better.
May we be all thus minded. I dare not hope it is so
with us all at present. But this is the day of His grace. For this
cause He came into the world, that He might draw many hearts to
Himself
(
Hear then His voice today. Perhaps you are apprised of the necessity of a change of heart and life, at some future period, in order to die safely. Such a change is equally necessary, if you wish to live comfortably. While you are unfit to die, you can have no true enjoyment of life. It were easy to prove at large, that procrastination is highly dangerous. Admitting, that according to your present feelings, you really think yourself determined to seek the Lord at some future time, do you consider how many uncertainties you presume upon? Are you sure that you shall not be suddenly cut off, by an unexpected and unthought-of stroke; or visited by a fever, which may quickly bring you into a state of delirium or stupefaction, and render your projected repentance impracticable? yea, it will in any circumstances be impracticable, unless God is pleased to influence your mind by His good Spirit. If you grieve this Spirit now, by resisting His operations, what reason have you to expect that He will then return? Do we not see many instances of what the poet, with great propriety, calls, * a slow sudden death? How many people, while pining away under the power of incurable disease, amuse themselves with the hope of recovery to the last gasp; and though their acquaintances read death in their countenance for weeks or months, in defiance of such repeated and long-continued warnings, they die as suddenly, with respect to their own apprehensions, as if killed by lightning. Tremble lest such be your last end, if you trifle with God, who now calls you, by His Gospel, to seek Him today, while it is called today.
* “The Complaint - or Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality” by Edward Young (1856)
But I would lead you to consider your delay, not only as dangerous, but as unreasonable. Why are you afraid of being happy too soon? What strange and hard thought have you of God, if you suppose you can find more pleasure in living, according to your own wills, than in obedience to His commands! Can the world give you such peace and satisfaction as I have attempted to describe? Do you think a real persuasion that God is your Friend, and that Heaven will be your home, will spoil the relish of your earthly enjoyments, or make your lives uncomfortable? What hard thing does the Lord require of you, that you are so unwilling to comply? If we set aside, for a moment, the consideration of a future state, and a final judgment, yet even in a temporal view you would be a great gainer, if your spirit and your conduct were regulated by the Gospel. What heart-breaking troubles, what losses, contests, pains of body, and remorse of conscience, would some of you have avoided, if you had believed and obeyed the Word of God! What distresses may your head-strong passions soon plunge you into, if you presume to go on in your sins! For that the way of transgressors is hard, is not only declared in Scripture, but proved by the history and observation of every day.
Forsake the foolish, therefore, and live. And while
the door of mercy is still open before you, pray to Him who is able to
bless you, indeed, by delivering you from the guilt, and from the power
of your iniquities. Lest, if being
often reproved
, and still
hardening your hearts, you should suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy
(
—— O ——
Sermon X
The Angel’s Message and Song
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD . And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
T he gratification of the Great, the Weakly, and the Gay, was chiefly consulted in the late * exhibitions in Westminster Abbey. But notwithstanding the expense of the preparations, and the splendid appearance of the auditory, I may take it for granted, that the shepherds who were honoured with the first information of the birth of MESSIAH, enjoyed at free cost, a much more sublime and delightful entertainment. How poor and trivial is the most studied magnificence and brilliance of an earthly court, compared with the effulgence of glory which surrounded the shepherds? * a reference to the performance of Handel’s MESSIAH Oratorio at Westminster Abbey
The performers of that
Oratorio
, if I may be allowed the expression, were a
multitude of the heavenly host. And though I do not suppose that the
angel delivered his message in the cadence which we call
Recitative,
I have no doubt but the chorus was a
Song,
sweetly melodious as from blest voices. A song which
the redeemed and the angels of the Lord, are still singing before the
Throne. A new song
(
I.
The circumstances:
(1.) Lo, an angel came upon them, etc. Suddenly, when they had no expectation of such a visit, without any thing that might previously engage their attention, all at once, like a flash of lightning, a glory shone around them, and an angel appeared. We do not wonder that they were impressed with fear. We live near, perhaps, in the midst of, an invisible world, full of great and wonderful realities, which, yet, by too many persons, are considered and treated as nonentities, because they are not perceived by our bodily senses. But the Scripture assures us of the fact; and to reject this testimony, because it is not confirmed by our senses, is no less irrational and un-philosophical, than impious. A man born blind, can have no more conception of light and colours, than we have of what passes in the world of spirits. And a nation of blind men, if there were such a nation, would probably treat a seeing person as a visionary madman, if he spoke to them of what he saw. But he would be sure of his own perceptions, though he could not satisfy the enquiries and cavils of the blind. Our senses are accommodated to our present state; but there may be a multitude of objects, as real in themselves, and as near to us, as any that we behold with our eyes; of which we, for want of suitable faculties, can have no idea. To deny this, and make our senses the criteria of the existence of things, which are not within their reach, is exactly such an absurdity, as a blind man would be guilty of, who should deny the possibility of a rainbow, because he never heard of it nor felt it. However, Faith is the evidence of things not seen. And they who believe the Word of God, cannot doubt of the existence of an invisible state and invisible agents. The barrier between the inhabitants of that state and us, is too strong to be passed; for the will of the great Creator seems to be the barrier. Otherwise it is probable they could easily surprise us, since, upon special occasions, they have been permitted to discover themselves. We have a natural dread of such visitants, even though they should appear to us, as they did to the shepherds, as messengers of peace and mercy from God. Yet we must shortly mingle with them. Death will introduce us to the world of spirits; and who can say what we shall meet with then? what Beings will be ready to accost us upon our first entrance into that unknown, unchangeable state? It deserves our serious thought. We are now encompassed by the objects of sense, but we must soon be separated from them all. We live in a crowd, but we must die alone. Happy are they, who, like Stephen, shall be able to commend their parting spirits into the hands of Jesus! He is the Lord of all worlds, and has the keys of Hades, of the invisible state.
(2.)
The angel spoke. The Gospel was preached by an angel
to Zacharias, to the virgin mother of
MESSIAH,
and now to the shepherds; and, perhaps to none but
these. The angel who appeared to Cornelius, said nothing to him about
Jesus, but only directed him to send for Peter
(
(3.)
The angel was sent with the most interesting news that could be made to mankind; not to Caesar, or to Herod, or to the High Priest, but to obscure and lowly shepherds. The LORD seeth not as man seeth —the petty distinctions that obtain among men are not regarded by Him. He is equally near to them that fear Him in every situation of life, as the sun shines, as freely and fully, upon a cottage as upon a palace. These shepherds were, doubtless, of the number of the happy few, who in that time of degeneracy, were waiting and longing for the consolation of Israel. The heads of the Jewish people found their consolation in their rank and wealth, and in the respect paid to them by the vulgar. These things usually add to the idea of self-importance, and feed those tempers that are most displeasing to the Lord, and which indispose the mind to the reception of the Gospel, or to any due enquiry concerning it. And thus, in fact, from age to age, it has generally been hidden from the wise and the great, and revealed unto babes. The magi, or wise men, who lived in the East, where the knowledge of astronomy obtained, but where the Scripture was not known, were guided to MESSIAH by the appearance of a new star, or meteor. The shepherds, who were acquainted with the prophecies concerning MESSIAH, were informed of their accomplishment [fulfillment] by an angel. Thus the Lord was pleased to suit the different manner of making known His will, to the previous situation of the persons.
II.
The message of the angel, though concise, was comprehensive and full. It contained,
— The fact, Unto you is born this day
—
The place,
In the city of David,
that is, in Bethlehem, so called, because David
likewise had been born there
(
— The office of MESSIAH, A Saviour
— His name, honour, and character, Christ or the Anointed; The LORD , the Head and King of Israel, and of the Church, the Lord of all.
I do but recite these particulars now, as they will repeatedly offer to our consideration in the series of subjects before me. The description of the state in which they would find Him, was such, as could only be reconciled to His titles and honours by that simple faith, which, without vain reasoning, acquiesce in the declarations of God. For how unlikely would it seem to a merely human judgment, that the Saviour of sinners, the promised MESSIAH, the Lord of all, should be a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
Yet, thus it was.
Though rich
in Himself,
He became poor for our sakes
(
The seeming repugnance between the greatness of MESSIAH’S claims, and the state of humiliation in which He appeared when upon earth, was the great stumbling-block then, and continues to be so at this day. Because He stooped so low, and made Himself of no reputation, too many still refuse to acknowledge His divine character. But they who are willing to be taught by the Word and Spirit of God, see a beauty and propriety in His submitting to be born in a stable, and to live as a poor man, destitute of house or property. Hereby He poured contempt upon worldly pomp and vanity, sanctified the state of poverty to His followers, and set them an encouraging example to endure it with cheerfulness. They, like the shepherds and His first disciples, are delivered from their natural prejudices, and are enabled to behold His glory, through the veil of His outward humiliation, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father. And His condescension in becoming poor for their sakes, that they through His poverty might be made rich, affects their hearts with admiration and gratitude. But though too many, who are governed by the spirit and maxims of this world, are far from admiring His love, in assuming our nature under those circumstances, which, from His infancy to His death, exposed Him to the contempt of His enemies, it is otherwise thought of in yonder world of light. For we read, that when the angel had declared the glad-tidings to the shepherds, a multitude of the heavenly host expressed their joy by a song, which is the next subject that offers to our consideration.
III.
Their highest praise was excited by a view of the effects which this unexampled love would produce.
(1.)
Glory to God in the highest.
In the highest Heaven, in the highest degree, for
this highest instance of His mercy. At the creation these
morning-stars sang for joy
(
The glory of His
goodness,
this shines bright in the capacities and happiness He
has communicated to angels; but it shines with greater brightness in
the mercy afforded to mankind. Whether we consider the objects who are
sinners, rebels, and enemies; or His purpose in their favour, not only
to restore the life they had forfeited, but to bestow it more
abundantly
(
The glory of His wisdom , in adjusting the demands of His holiness, justice, and truth, with the purposes of His mercy. In providing such a method for the exercise of His mercy, as renders His displeasure against sin more conspicuous by pardoning, than by punishing it. In abasing the sinner’s pride, by the very considerations which inspire his hope and confidence; so that while he confesses himself unworthy of the very air that he breathes, he is encouraged and warranted to claim a participation in all the blessings of grace and glory. And finally, in proposing motives, which, when rightly understood, are always found sufficient to influence the heart, even though it has been habitually hardened in sin, long deaf to the voice of reason, conscience, and interest, and equally unaffected by the judgments and the mercies of God, till enlightened to perceive the excellence of the Gospel.
The glory of His power. In making all the acts of free agents, through a long succession of ages, subservient to this great purpose, not excepting those who most laboured to obstruct it; in changing the disposition of the sinner, however obstinate; and in carrying on His work of grace, when once begun, in such feeble inconsistent creatures as men are; in defiance of all difficulties and opposition arising from within, or without.
These are subjects which
the angels desire to look into
(
(2.)
The great design and effect of His appearance with
regard to mankind, is peace.
On earth peace.
Man as a fallen creature is in a state of war and
rebellion against his Maker. He has renounced his allegiance and
dependence, is become his own end. He is now against God, disobedient
to His laws, and disaffected to His government. And his conscience, if
not stupefied and cauterized by frequent resistance of conviction,
suggests that God is against him. He feels he is not happy here, he
fears he shall be miserable hereafter. This apprehension strengthens
his aversion from God. And, indeed, without an express assurance from
the Lord Himself whom He has offended, that there is forgiveness with
Him, he would not only fear, but sink into despair, if he rightly
understood the horrid enormity of a state of alienation from the
blessed God. But infinite wisdom and mercy have provided, and
propounded a method, by which the honour of the divine perfections and
government are secured, and pardon and peace vouchsafed [graciously
granted] to rebels.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself.
The knowledge of this mercy, when revealed to the
sinner’s heart, subdues his enmity, constrains him to throw down
his arms, and to make an unreserved submission and surrender of
himself; forms him to a temper of love and confidence, and disposes him
to habitual and cheerful
obedience.
Now
mercy
and
truth
are
met
together,
righteousness
and
peace
have
kissed each
other
(
The expression of
good-will towards men,
seems to rise upon the former. Not only peace, but
acceptance and adoption in the Beloved. Sinners, who believe in the Son
of God, are not merely delivered from the condemnation they have
deserved, but are united to their Saviour; considered as one with Him,
His children, the members of His body, and made partakers of His life,
and His glory. God is their portion, and heaven is their home. The
Lord’s satisfaction in this, as the greatest of all His works, is
expressed by the Prophet in such astonishing terms of condescension, as
surpass our utmost conceptions: and we can only say,
Lord, what is man that Thou art thus mindful of
him!
We believe, admire, and adore.
The
LORD
thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: He will save,
He will rejoice over thee with joy: He will rest in His love, He will
rejoice over thee with singing
(
Assuredly this song of the heavenly hosts is not the
language of our hearts by nature. We once sought our pleasure and
happiness in a very different way. We were indifferent to the glory of
God, and strangers to His peace. And some of us are still blind to the
excellencies of the Gospel, and deaf to its gracious invitations. But
we must not expect to sing with the great company of the redeemed
hereafter, before the Throne of glory, unless we learn and love their
song while we are here
(
—— O ——
Sermon XI
Messiah’s Entrance into Jerusalem
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. — And He shall speak peace unto the heathen.
T he narrowness and littleness of the mind of fallen man are sufficiently conspicuous in the idea he forms of magnificence and grandeur. The pageantry and parade of a Roman triumph, or of an eastern monarch, as described in history, exhibit him to us in what, he himself accounts, his best estate. If you suppose him seated in an imperial carriage, arrayed in splendid apparel, wearing a crown or tiara, ornamented with jewels, preceded and followed by a long train of guards and attendants, surrounded by the unmeaning acclamations of ignorant multitudes, you see the poor worm at the summit of his happiness. He has no conception of anything greater than this. And the spectators are generally of the same mind. They admire, and they envy, his lot. And there is hardly a person in the crowds around him, but would be very glad to take his place were it practicable. Yet this great little creature would surely be mortified, if, in the height of his self-complacence, he could consider, that he had the very same regard for a pre-eminence in finery, the same desire to be admired and envied, and felt the same kind of satisfaction in distinction above his fellows, when he was a child ten years old. He is in effect a child still, only he has changed his play-things, and now acts upon a larger scale, but with the same trifling and contracted views.
How different was
MESSIAH’S
entry into Jerusalem foretold in this prophecy; the
accomplishment of which, we read in the Evangelists! And how
differently was He affected by the object around Him! He poured
contempt upon the phantom of human glory. This
King of kings, and Lord of lords, was meek and lowly,
riding upon an asses’ colt
(
An angel proclaimed His birth to the shepherds; and wise men from the East paid such attention to the new-born Saviour, that the jealousy of Herod was excited, and attempts were made to destroy Him. But this wonderful infant was brought up in a state of obscurity, in a place of no repute, and known by no higher description than that of The carpenter’s son. In the course of His ministry He appeared and was treated as a poor man, He had no certain dwelling-place, He submitted to receive supplies, for His support, from the contributions of a few of His followers, for the most of them were poor like Himself. And though He wrought many wonderful works for the relief of the necessitous and miserable, He admitted no alteration in His own external state, but was content to be poor and despised, for our sakes, to the end of His life. I think the only occasion on which He permitted a public acknowledgment of His person and character, was, when He fulfilled this prophecy. And still He was the same meek and lowly Saviour. As His Kingdom was not of this world, neither were there any marks of human grandeur in His procession. He approached Jerusalem, attended, indeed, by a concourse of people, but riding upon an ass, and weeping for His enemies.
The passage of the Messiah [Oratorio] which follows the chorus of the heavenly host, is taken from these verses. It does not include the whole of them. In one clause there is a small alteration in the expression, but it does not affect the sense. Instead of, He is just, having Salvation , it is, He is a righteous Saviour.
We may notice,
I. The prophet’s address. To the daughter of Zion and Jerusalem.
II. The exhortation to joy. Rejoice and shout.
III. The cause assigned for this joy. Thy King cometh.
IV. The characters of the King. A righteous Saviour.
V. His great design. To speak peace to the heathen.
I.
Zion and Jerusalem,
are indifferently used as emblems of the Church, or
professing people of God. When they occur together, as here,
contradistinguished from each other, Zion, the city of David, the seat
of government, and of the temple-worship, may denote the principal
persons of the ecclesiastical and civil state; and Jerusalem may be
expressive of the people at large, the daughters of a place,
signifying, according to the Hebrew idiom, the inhabitants. They
boasted that they were the Lord’s peculiar people, they had the
prophecies and promises concerning
MESSIAH
in their hands, and were professedly expecting and
waiting for His appearance. They are therefore called upon to rejoice
in it. But when He actually came, though He
came to His own,
to His own nation, city, and temple; His own people,
to whose affection and allegiance He had the most just claim,
they
received Him not
(
By their acknowledged principles, they were all bound
to acknowledge
that
Prophet whom Moses had foretold,
God would raise up among them like unto
Himself
(
II.
The
exhortation
can
only
be
complied
with
by those who are sensible of their need of a Saviour,
and His authority and ability to save. To these the Prophet brings a
joyful message, and they will
rejoice and shout.
The joy of harvest
(
III.
The ground and cause of this joy is assigned.
Thy King cometh.
MESSIAH
is a King. This title He avowed to Pilate
(
IV.
Two characters of this King. He is just, having salvation, or, as it is in the passage of the Messiah [Oratorio], He is a righteous Saviour.
(1.)
He is righteous.
His Kingdom is founded in righteousness. It is the
effect and reward of His obedience unto death, by which He made an end
of sin, and brought in an everlasting righteousness. As His people
receive and expect all from His hand, so likewise for His sake. Such is
His command, and such is His promise.
If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do
it
(
(2.)
He is a
Saviour.
Having salvation in Himself; yea,
He is their salvation
(
V.
His great design was not confined to Israel after the
flesh.
He shall speak peace to the heathen,
also. His Kingdom comprises, besides the believing
posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a great multitude gathered from
amidst all nations, people, and languages,
from the East and the West, from the North and the
South
(
He
shall likewise conciliate peace between Jew and
Gentile, make, of both, one people
(
Much has already been done by the Gospel. Multitudes have been turned from darkness to light, and from the worship of dumb idols to serve the living and true God. And we expect a time when this promise will be more extensively and literally fulfilled. When the Kingdom shall be the Lord’s to the end of the earth; when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, all Israel be saved, and the nations shall learn war no more.
From these characters of the Saviour, we may collect
the characters of His people. For they beholding His glory, are changed
(according to the measure of their faith) into the same image. The
incommunicable perfections of God, such as His sovereignty and
all-sufficiency, can only produce in His people correspondent
expressions of reverence, submission, and dependence; an attempt to be
like Him in these respects would be highly impious, and was, indeed,
the original source of our apostasy from Him. Man, by indulging a
desire of being like God, rebelled against Him, aspired at
independence, and preferred the gratification of his own will, to the
righteous and equitable commands of his Maker. The unavoidable
consequence of this madness, is misery. It is not possible that he
should be happy, till he be reduced to his proper state of
subordination. But that light of the glory of God in the person of
Jesus Christ, which is revealed to the renewed heart by the Gospel, has
a transforming effect upon those who receive it; they are made
partakers of a divine nature, and resemble Him, whose they are, and
whom they serve,
in righteousness, goodness, and truth
(
They are righteous as He is righteous. I speak not of
the relative state, as they are accepted and accounted righteous in the
Beloved, but of their real character. They learn of Him to
love righteousness and hate iniquity
(
Such is the spirit and tendency of the Gospel. Let us try ourselves by this touch-stone, measure ourselves by this rule, and weigh ourselves in these balances of the sanctuary. They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, have put off the old man, and are renewed in the spirit of their minds. If He be, indeed, your King, your consciences will bear you witness that you revere, imitate, and obey Him. If He be your Saviour, you certainly must be sensible yourself, and others must observe, that you are different from what you once were.
And if any of you should be convinced, that,
hitherto, you have been a Christian only in name and in form, but
destitute of that which constitutes the life and power of real
godliness, this will be a good beginning. For though it be high time
that you should in good earnest attend to these things, blessed be God
it is not yet too late. He is a righteous and a gracious Saviour; seek
Him as such, and He will speak peace to you also. His sure promise is
recorded for your encouragement ——
Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast
out
(
—— O ——
Sermon XII
Effects of Messiah’s Appearance
The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped:
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.
H ow beautiful and magnificent is the imagery, by which the Prophet, in this chapter, represents the effects of MESSIAH’S appearance! The scene, proposed to our view, is a barren and desolate wilderness. But when He, who in the beginning said, Let there be light, and there was light, condescends to visit this wilderness, the face of nature is suddenly changed by His presence! Fountains and streams of water burst forth in the burning desert, the soil becomes fruitful, clothed with verdure, and adorned with flowers. The towering cedars, which were the glory of Lebanon, and the richest pastures, which were the excellency of Carmel, present themselves to the eye, where, a little before, all was uncomfortable and dreary. How is it, that so few of those who value themselves upon their taste, and who profess to be admirers of pastoral poetry in particular, are struck with the elegance and beauty of this description? Alas, we can only ascribe their indifference to the depravity of the human heart. They would, surely, have admired this picture, could they have met with it in any of their favourite authors; but descriptive paintings in this style, so exquisitely combining grandeur with simplicity, are only to be found in the Bible, a book, which their unhappy prejudices and passions too often lead to depreciate and neglect.
But they who have a scriptural and spiritual taste,
not only admire this passage as a description of a pleasing change in
outward nature, but consider it as a just and expressive representation
of a more important change, a moral change, of which they have
themselves been, in a measure, the happy subjects. The barren
wilderness reminds them of the state of mankind by the Fall, and of
their own hearts, before
MESSIAH,
the Sun of Righteousness arose upon them with
healing, with light, power, and comfort, in His beams. In that
memorable hour, old things passed away, and all things became new. The
Lord, by shining into their hearts, and showing them His glory in the
person of Christ, has created for them a new heaven and a new earth.
The works of God around them in His creation and providence assume a
different appearance. Before, they lived without Him in the world; but
now, they see His hand wherever they look, they hear His voice in every
event, for now the principles of His grace are planted in their souls,
and they are no longer barren or unfruitful, but are
filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by
Christ Jesus to His praise
(
The verses which I have read, exhibit the effects
of
MESSIAH’S
power and goodness by another image equally pleasing.
Not only the wilderness, but the inhabitants of the wilderness partake
of the virtue of the great Redeemer. He finds them in circumstances of
distress, which only He can relieve. But when He comes, the blind
receive their sight, the deaf hear, the lame walk, and the dumb have
voices given them to resound His praise. These mighty works, in their
literal sense, marked His character, and confirmed His claims, when He
was upon earth; and He Himself appealed to these, in proof of His being
the promised Saviour whom the prophets had foretold, and that no other
was to be expected
(
But the words have a still more sublime and important
sense. As the great Physician, He cured all manner of diseases and
infirmities. But this was not the principle design for which He came
into the world. The maladies to which sin has subjected the body, are
but emblems of the more dreadful evils which it has brought upon the
soul. He came to open the eyes of the mind; to make the obstinate will
attentive and obedient to the voice of God; to invigorate our benumbed
and paralytic faculties; that we may be active and cheerful in His
service; and to open our lips, that our mouths may show forth His
praise. I have a good hope that I may warrantably say,
This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your
ears
(
These different effects are produced by one simple,
but powerful, operation. While Lazarus lay in the grave, all his
natural powers were inactive. But when the voice of the Son of God
restored him to life
(
And these effects are all to be ascribed to
MESSIAH.
For they are all wrought by the agency of His Holy
Spirit. The gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit which are absolutely
necessary, as well for the perpetuating of His Gospel from age to age,
as for making it efficacious and successful, are bestowed upon sinners
wholly upon the account of His mediation. It was when
He ascended on high and led captivity captive
(
(1.)
They were once blind, but now they see. The religion of true believers is not the effect of imagination and blind impulse, but is derived from a solid knowledge which will bear the strictest scrutiny, and is the reasonable service of an enlightened understanding. They see God; their apprehensions of Him, are, in some measure, answerable to His greatness and His goodness, and inspire them with reverence and love. Their conceptions of other things in which they are most nearly interested, are agreeable to the truth. Sin appears to them hateful in itself, as well as mischievous in it consequences; and holiness, not only necessary by the ordination of God, but desirable for its own sake, as essentially belonging to the true dignity and happiness of man. They know themselves; they see and feel that they are such creatures as the Bible describes them to be, weak, depraved, and vile. Of course, they see the folly of attempting to recommend themselves to God, and can no longer place any dependence on what they once accounted their wisdom, power, and righteousness; and therefore they see the absolute necessity of a Saviour. They see, likewise, and approve the method of salvation proposed by the Gospel, as worthy of the wisdom and justice of God, and every way adapted to the exigencies [urgent requirements] of their sins, wants, and fears. They see and admire the excellence, dignity, and sufficiency of Him, on whom their help is laid. His power and authority engage their confidence, His love captivates and fixes their hearts. They see the vanity of the present state, and the vast importance of eternity. In these respects they have all of them a good understanding, however inferior in natural capacity, or acquired knowledge, to the wise men of the world.
(2.)
Their knowledge, so far as they have attained, is not merely speculative, cold, and indistinct, like the light of the moon. The Sun of Righteousness has shined into their hearts. The light they enjoy is vital, cheering and effective. Because they thus see, they hear likewise. They were once deaf to the voice of God, whether He spoke by His Word or His Providence; whether in the language of mercy or judgment. But now their deaf ears are unstopped. They are now attentive, submissive, and willing to receive His instructions, and to obey His commands. With them, one “ Thus saith the LORD ” has the force of a thousand arguments. They desire no further proof of a doctrine, no other warrant for their practice, no other reason for any dispensation, than Thus the Lord has said, This He requires, and This is His appointment. Thus their wills are brought into subjection; and they so understand, as to believe and obey.
(3.)
Farther, with their sight and hearing, they receive
power and activity. Once they were tied and bound in the chain of their
sins, or like a man benumbed with a dead-palsy, unable to move. If they
sometimes seemed to express desires, that might be called
good
with respect to their object, they were faint and
ineffectual. But now their fetters are broken, the health and strength
of their souls is restored, and God has wrought within them not only
to
will
, but also
to do according to His good pleasure
(
Their obligations, motives, resources, encouragements, and prospects, inspire them with a holy vigour to run, with patience and perseverance, the race that is set before them.
(4.)
Having their sight and hearing thus restored, and
their hearts enlarged to walk at liberty in the ways of wisdom; they
are no longer dumb, silent, and sullen, but out of the abundance of
their hearts their mouths speak the language of gratitude, praise, and
joy. For though most people have the faculty of speech, and can use, or
rather abuse, their tongues fluently; though we are sufficiently expert
from our childhood, in the dialects of falsehood, profaneness and
folly, yet, by nature, we are dumb with respect to the language that
becomes us, as the creatures of God, and as those who have sinned
against Him, and are yet invited to seek His mercy. But when grace
teaches the heart, then the heart teaches the mouth
(
It is of great importance to examine ourselves by
this test, and not to be satisfied with our knowledge of the Gospel,
any farther than our consciences bear us witness, that it has produced
a real, moral, change in our tempers, conduct, and pursuits. For there
is a knowledge which is falsely so called. It puffeth up, but edifieth
not. Our Lord’s declaration deserves our most serious
attention.
For judgment I am come into this world; that they
which see not may see; and that they which see might be made
blind
(
The notion of the final perseverance of believers,
may afford a pillow for those to rest on, who being at present
destitute of all feeling of spiritual life, labour to persuade
themselves that they are Christians, because they had some serious
thoughts, and made some profession of the truth, many years ago. So,
likewise, in what the Scriptures teach, of the total inability of
fallen man, they think they have a plea to justify their negligence and
sloth, and therefore are not disposed to contradict the testimony. They
evade invitation and command to wait, and watch, and strive, in the
ways and means of the Lord’s appointment, as they think, with
impunity, by confessing the charge, and saying, I am a poor creature
indeed, I can do nothing of myself aright, and therefore to what
purpose should I attempt to do any thing? A minister may preach upon
these points, in general terms, and obtain their good word. But if he
speaks plainly and faithfully to conscience; if he bears testimony not
only against dead works, but against a dead faith; against spiritual
pride, evil tempers, evil speaking, love of the world, and sinful
compliances; if he insists that the branches of the true vine should
bear grapes, and not the same fruit as the bramble; hearers of this
stamp will think they do God service by censuring all he can say, as
low and legal trash. How awful! that people should be blinded by the
very truths which they profess to believe! Yet I fear such cases are
too frequent. God grant a delusion of this kind may never be found
amongst us!
For if the salt
itself
should lose its savour, wherewith shall it be
salted?
(
But to return. From what has been offered upon this subject, we may observe,
(1.)
That true Christianity is friendly to society, and to
the common interests of mankind. It is the source of peace, tenderness,
benevolence, and every humane temper. It is calculated to soothe the
fierce disposition, to enlarge the selfish spirit, and to transform the
lion into the lamb. What
then
must
we
think
of those pretended friends to liberty and free
enquiry, whose unhappy zeal is employed to rob
us
of the only light and balm
of life? Who by their misrepresentations and cavils,
endeavour to persuade others, though they cannot effectually persuade
themselves, that the Gospel, a scheme so wise in its constitution, so
salutary in its design, so powerful in its effects, is no better than
an imposition, the contrivance of superstitious or artful men! Why
should they attempt to take away the foundation of our hope, and the
spring of our comfort (if they were able) when they know they have
nothing to substitute, in their place! Let us think of them with the
compassion which their state calls for; and pray for them,
peradventure God will give them repentance to the
acknowledgment of the truth
(
(2.)
The change thus wrought is great, marvellous, and, if not so frequent, might be styled miraculous. It is more than education, example, persuasion, or resolution can perform. It is the work of God alone to open the blind eyes, to change the heart of stone into flesh, and to raise the dead.
This thought should exclude boasting. The happy
subjects of this change, were no better by nature or practice, than
others. They have nothing but what they have received. The glory and
praise is due to the Lord alone. It should likewise soften their
censure of those who are still in a state of alienation from God, or,
at least, prevent the emotions of anger and resentment towards them.
They know not what they do. Their danger should excite our pity, and
our friendly endeavours to recover them from the error of their way.
And, especially, we should be careful to regulate our behaviour,
that if they obey not the Word, they may without the
Word be convinced and won
(
That the change is the work of God, should likewise
be considered by those, who, from a sense of the greatness of their
sins, and the strength of their sinful habits, are ready to sink into
despair. Whatever apparent difficulty there may be in your case, it is
easy to divine power.
All things are possible with God
(
—— O ——
Sermon XIII
The Great Shepherd
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
I
t is not easy for those, whose habits of life are
insensibly formed by the customs of modern times, to conceive any
adequate idea of the pastoral life, as obtained in the eastern
countries, before that simplicity of manners, which characterized the
early ages, was corrupted, by the artificial and false refinements of
luxury. Wealth, in those days, consisted principally in flocks and
herds; and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others, who were, to speak in
modern language, persons of high distinction, were likewise shepherds.
The book of Genesis, which is an authentic and infallible history of
the most ancient times, exhibits a manner of living, so different from
our own, that, perhaps, few persons are qualified to enter fully into
the spirit of the description. The poets seem to have derived their
idea of the golden age, from some imperfect tradition of this primitive
state; and if we compare it with the state of things around us,
methinks we have reason to say,
How is the gold become dim, and the fine gold
changed!
(
The passage will lead me to speak of the Shepherd, the flock, and His care and tenderness over them.
I.
Our Lord expressly styled Himself the
“Shepherd,” the
good Shepherd of the sheep
(
II.
Shepherd
is a
relative
name;
it has reference to a
flock.
This
great
and
good
Shepherd
has
a flock
whom
He
loved
from
everlasting
,
and
whom
having
loved
,
He
will
love
to
the
end
(
The Shepherd with a handsome flock, is Himself more handsome!
He humbled Himself for their sakes, submitted to
partake of their nature and their sorrows, took upon Him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He died for His
sheep,
the just for the unjust
(
Considered as individuals, they are fitly described by the name of sheep. A sheep is a weak, defenceless, improvident creature; prone to wander, and if once astray, is seldom known to return of its own accord. A sheep has neither strength to fight with the wolf, nor speed to escape from him; nor has it the fore-sight of the ant, to provide its own sustenance. Such is our character, and our situation. Unable to take care of ourselves, prone to wander from our resting-place, exposed to enemies which we can neither withstand nor avoid, without resource in ourselves, and taught, by daily experience, the insufficiency of everything around us. Yet, if this Shepherd be our Shepherd, weak and helpless as we are, we may be of good courage. If we say with David, The LORD is my Shepherd, we may make the same inferences he did, Therefore I shall not want; therefore I need not fear.
Collectively they are a
flock.
They are not, indeed, in one place. They are
scattered abroad, dispersed through different ages and countries,
separated by seas and mountains, and, too often, by misapprehensions
and prejudices, by names and forms; and, only a very small part of the
flock are known to each other. But they are all equally known to Him,
and equally under His eye. In His view they are one flock, one body;
they are animated by one and the same spirit; their views, hopes, and
aims are the same; and, yet a little while, they shall be all brought
together, a number without number, to rejoice and to join in worship,
before His throne of glory. For they have an inheritance reserved for
them in heaven
(
III.
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.
The word is not restrained to feeding. It includes
all the branches of the shepherd’s office. He shall act the part
of a Shepherd to His flock. We have a beautiful miniature description,
of what He has engaged to do, for His people, as their Shepherd, in the
twenty-third Psalm. And the subject is more largely illustrated in the
thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel’s Prophecy. His sheep, from age
to age, have been witnesses to the truth of His promises. He has a
flock at present who rejoice in His care; and greater multitudes, as
yet unborn, shall successively arise in their appointed seasons
and call Him blessed
(
He feeds them.
He leads them into green and pleasant pastures. These
pastures are His Word and Ordinances, by which He communicates to them
of His own fulness; for, in strict propriety of speech, He Himself is
their Food. They eat His Flesh and drink His blood
(
He guides them.
First by His example. He has trodden the path of duty
and trial before them; and they perceive and follow His footsteps.
Again, by His Word and Spirit He teaches them the way in which they
should go; and both inclines and enables them to walk in it
(
He guards them.
It is written concerning Him,
He shall stand and feed in the strength of the
LORD
, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His
God
(
He heals them.
A good shepherd will examine the state of his flock.
But there is no attention worthy of being compared with His flock. Not
the slightest circumstance in their concerns, escapes His notice. When
they are ready to faint, borne down with heavy exercises of mind,
wearied with temptations, dry and disconsolate in their spirits, He
seasonably revives them. Nor are they in heaviness without a need-be
for it. All His dispensations towards them are medicinal, designed to
correct, or to restrain, or to cure, the maladies of their souls. And
they are adjusted, by His wisdom and tenderness, to what they can bear,
and to what their case requires. It is He, likewise, who heals their
bodily sickness, and gives them help in all their temporal trouble. He
is represented to us, as counting their sighs
(
He restores them.
The power and subtlety of their enemies, are employed
to force, or entice them from His rule; and too often prevail for a
season. The sheep turn aside into forbidden paths; and whenever they
do, they would wander, farther and farther, till they were quite lost
again, if He were not their Shepherd. If He permits them to deviate, He
has a time, to convince them,
that it was an evil and a bitter thing to forsake
the
LORD
their Shepherd
(
The flock are not all sheep. There are lambs among them These are especially mentioned, and for these He expresses a peculiar tenderness. He will gather them in His arm, and carry them in His bosom. Though they are weaklings, they shall not be left behind. This is a beautiful and pathetic [pitiful, piteous] image. If a poor lamb is weary, and unable to keep up with the flock, it shall be carried. This clause affords encouragement,
(1.)
To young people.
Early serious impressions are often made upon the
hearts of children, which we are to cherish, by directing their
thoughts to the compassion of the Good Shepherd, who has said,
Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid
them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God
(
(2.)
To Young converts. These, at whatever age, are children in the Lord’s family, lambs in His flock. They are, as yet, weak, unsettled, and inexperienced. Almost every day brings them into a new and untried situation. They often meet with opposition and discouragement, where they have promised themselves help and countenance. Perhaps their nearest friends are displeased with them. They are liable, likewise, while they are enquiring the way to Zion, to be perplexed by the various opinions, and angry contentions, prevailing among the different religious persons, or parties, to whom they may address themselves. They are frequently discouraged by the falls and miscarriages of professors, some of whom, it is possible, they may have admired, and looked up to, as patterns for their own imitation. Add to these things, what they suffer from new and unexpected discoveries of the evil and deceitfulness of their hearts; the mistakes they commit, in judgment and practice, for want of a more solid and extensive knowledge of the Scriptures; and the advantage the great enemy of their souls derives from these their various difficulties to assault their peace, and obstruct their progress. What would become of them in such circumstances, if their faithful Shepherd had not promised to lead, and uphold them, with the arm of His power?
There is, likewise, particular mention made of
those who are with young.
These He will gently lead. If we take the word
according to our version, it may signify a state of conviction, or
trouble.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous
(
But the word signifies, Those that have young, rather than those that are with young. Two sorts of persons in the Lord’s flock, who come under this description, feel an especial need of His compassion, tenderness, and patience.
(1.)
He only knows the feelings of the hearts of parents. What solicitude and anxiety they have for their young ones, the sucklings, if I may so speak, of the flock, which mingle with all their endeavours, to manage rightly the important charge committed to them, and to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
(2.)
Ministers,
likewise, have painful exercises of mind. The Apostle
Paul speaks of
travailing in birth again, till Christ be formed in
our hearers
(
In
this
delineation
of
the
character
and
conduct
of
the
Great Shepherd of the sheep
(
If it be wisdom, to pursue a right end by the fittest
means, he is wise; he knows the Gospel of Christ to be the power of
God, the appointed, the effectual, the only sufficient means for
accomplishing His great purpose; therefore, however unfashionable it
may be, he is not ashamed of it, he preaches it, and he glories in it.
If it be an effect of wisdom, not to be deterred from the prosecution
of a great and noble design, by the censure and dislike of weak and
incompetent judges, the faithful minister is truly wise. He loves his
fellow-creatures, and would willingly please them for their good, but
he cannot fear them, because he fears and serves the Lord. He looks
forward, with desire, to the day of that solemn and general visitation,
when the
Shepherd and Bishop of souls shall Himself
appear
(
There is a counterpart to this character, described
by the prophets in strong and glowing language. There are idle
shepherds, who feed not the flock, but themselves
(
—— O ——
Sermon XIV
Rest for the Weary
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
W
hich shall we admire most —
the majesty, or the grace, conspicuous in this
invitation? How soon would the greatest earthly monarch be
impoverished, and his treasures utterly exhausted, if all, that are
poor and miserable, had encouragement to apply freely to him, with a
promise of relief, fully answerable to their wants and wishes! But the
riches of Christ are unsearchable and inexhaustible. If millions and
millions of distressed sinners seek to
Him
for relief, He has a sufficiency for them all. His
mercy is infinite to pardon all their sins; His grace is infinite, to
answer and exceed their utmost desires; His power is infinite, to help
them in all their difficulties. A number, without number, have been
thus waiting upon Him, from age to age; and not one of them has been
sent away disappointed and empty. And the streams of His bounty are
still flowing, and still full. Thus the sun, His brightest material
image, has been the source of light to the earth, and to all its
inhabitants, from the creation; and will be equally so to all
succeeding generations, till time shall be no more. There is, indeed,
an appointed hour, when the sun shall cease to shine, and the course of
nature shall fail. But the true Sun, the Sun of Righteousness has no
variableness or shadow of turning
(
Again, as is His majesty, so is His mercy. In acts of
grace amongst men, there are always some limitations. If a king
proclaims a pardon to a rebellious nation, there are still exceptions.
Some ringleaders are excluded. Either their crimes were too great to be
forgiven, or their obstinacy, or influence, are supposed to be too
great, to render their safety consistent with the safety of the State.
But the Saviour excludes none, but those who wilfully exclude
themselves. As no case is too hard for His power, so no person who
applies to Him is shut out from His compassion.
Him that cometh to Him,
whatever his former character or conduct may have
been,
He will in no wise cast out
(
This passage (including the two following verses) closes the first part of the Oratorio . In tracing the series of the Scriptures thus far, we have considered several signal prophecies which foretold His appearance; we have seen their accomplishment in His birth, and have (I hope) joined with the heavenly host, in ascribing glory to God in the highest, for this unspeakable gift and effect of His love. From the prophets we have learnt His characters, as the great Restorer, and the great Shepherd. The Evangelist proposes Him to our meditation here, in a gracious and inviting attitude, as opening His high commission, proclaiming His own sovereignty and power, and declaring His compassionate purpose and readiness, to give refreshment and rest to the weary and heavy laden.
The principal points in the text are, the Invitation and the Promise.
I.
The
Invitation
is expressed in very general terms.
Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy
laden.
There is no qualifying or restraining clause, to
discharge any person who is willing to accept it. Whoever hath an ear
to hear, let him hear.
Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let
him take of the water of life freely
(
There are others, however, to whom this invitation speaks more directly. The convinced sinner is heavy laden with the guilt of sin, and wearied with ineffectual strivings against it. He is weary of the yoke and burden of the law, when he can neither answer its commands with cheerful and acceptable obedience, nor see any way of escaping the penalty which is due to transgressors. He sighs earnestly and anxiously for pardon and liberty. If he has an interval of comparative peace and hope, it is more derived from some occasional fervour and liveliness in the frame of his spirit, than from the exercise of faith; and, therefore, as that fervour abates, (and it will not always remain at the same height) his fears return. If, in such a favoured moment, he feels little solicitation, or trouble, from the evil propensities of his heart, he is willing to hope they are subdued, and that they will trouble him no more; but his triumph is short, the next return of temptation revives all his difficulties, and he is again brought into bondage. For nothing but the knowledge of the Saviour, and the supplies of His Spirit, can give stable peace to the mind, or victory over sin. A repetition of these disappointments and changes, fixes a heavy burden and distress upon the mind. But here is help provided exactly suitable to the case. Comply with this invitation, Come to Him, and He will surely give you rest.
But what is it
to come to Christ?
It is, to believe in Him, to apply to Him, to make
His invitation and promise, our ground and warrant for putting our
trust in Him. On another occasion, He said,
He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that
believeth in me shall never thirst
(
II.
The promise is, I will give you * rest. The word signifies both rest and refreshment. He gives a relief and cessation from former labour and bondage; and super-adds a peace, a joy, a comfort, which revives the weary spirit, and proves itself to be that very satisfaction which the soul had been ignorantly, and in vain, seeking, amongst the creatures, and objects of sense.
*
Compare
This
rest
includes a freedom from the forebodings and
distressing accusations of a guilty conscience; from the long and
fruitless struggle between the will and the judgment; from the
condemning power of the law; from the tyranny of irregular and
inconsistent appetites; and from the dominion of pride and self, which
make us unhappy in ourselves, and hated and despised by others. A
freedom, likewise, from the cares and anxieties, which, in such an
uncertain world as this, disquiet the minds of those who have no solid
scriptural dependence upon God; and especially a freedom from the dread
of death, and of the things which are beyond it. In these and other
respects, the believer in Jesus enters into a present rest. He is under
the guidance of infinite wisdom, and the protection of almighty power;
he is permitted to
cast all his cares upon the Lord
(
But besides
rest
, there is
refreshment.
There are pleasures and consolations, in that
intercourse and communion with God, to which we are invited by the
Gospel; which, both in kind and degree, are unspeakably superior to all
that the world can bestow, and such as the world cannot deprive us of.
For they have no necessary dependence upon outward situation or
circumstances; they are compatible with poverty, sickness, and
sufferings. They are often most sensibly sweet and lively, when the
streams of creature comfort are at the lowest ebb. Many have been able
to say with the Apostle,
As the sufferings of Christ
(those which we endure for His sake, or submit to
from His hand)
abound in us, so our consolation in Christ also
aboundeth
(
Come therefore unto Him, venture upon His gracious
Word, and you shall find rest for your souls! Can the world out-bid
this gracious offer? Can the world promise to give you rest, when you
are burdened with trouble? When your cisterns fail, and your gourds
wither? Or when you are terrified with the approach of death, when your
pulse intermits, when you are about to take a final farewell of all you
ever saw with your eyes, and an awful, unknown, untried, unchangeable
eternity is opening upon your view. Such a moment most certainly awaits
you; and when it arrives, if you die in your senses, and are not
judicially given up to hardness and blindness of heart, you will
assuredly tremble, if you never trembled before. Oh! be persuaded; may
the Lord Himself persuade you to be timely wise, to seek Him now, while
He is yet near. Lest that dreadful threatening should be your
portion:
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; I also will laugh at your
calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh
(
—— O ——
Sermon XV
Messiah’s Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
T
hough the influence
of education and example,
may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a
revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized,
by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress,
which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to
a city of refuge
(
Oxen are yoked to labour. From hence the yoke is a figurative expression to denote servitude. Our Lord seems to use it here, both to intimate our natural prejudices against His service, and to obviate them. Though He submitted to sufferings, reproach, and death, for our sakes; though He invites us, not because He has need of us, but because we have need of Him, and cannot be happy without Him, yet our ungrateful hearts think unkindly of Him. We conceive of Him as a hard Master; and suppose, that if we engage ourselves to Him, we must bid farewell to pleasure, and live under a continual constraint. His rule is deemed too strict, His laws too severe; and we imagine that we could be more happy upon our own plans, than by acceding to His. Such unjust, unfriendly, and dishonourable thoughts of Him, whose heart is full of tenderness, whose bowels melt with love, are strong proofs of our baseness, blindness, and depravity; yet still He continues His invitation, Come unto me —as if He had said, “Be not afraid of me. Only make the experiment, and you shall find, that what you have accounted my yoke is true liberty; and that in my service, which you have avoided as burdensome, there is no burden at all; for my ways are ways of pleasantness, and all my paths are peace. ” I have a good hope, that many of my hearers can testify from their own happy experience, that (according to the beautiful expression in our liturgy) His service is perfect freedom.
If we are really Christians, Jesus is our Master, our
Lord, and we are His servants. It is in vain to call Him,
Lord, Lord
(
* Pythagoras - Greek philosopher and mathematician (approx. 569 –475 BC )
* Plato - Greek philosopher (approx 429–347 BC)
(1.)
In the first place, this great Teacher
can give the capacity
, requisite to the reception of His sublime
instructions. There is no respect of excelling in human arts and
sciences, without a previous, natural ability, suited to the subject.
For instance, if a person has not an ear and taste for music, he will
make but small proficiency under the best masters. It will be the same
with respect to the mathematics, or any branch of science. A skilful
master may improve and inform the scholar, if he be rightly disposed to
learn; but he cannot communicate the disposition. But Jesus can open
and enliven the dullest mind; He teaches the blind to see, and the deaf
to hear. By nature we are intractable, and incapable of relishing
divine truth, however advantageously proposed to us, by men like
ourselves. But happy are His scholars! He enables them to surmount all
difficulties. He takes away the heart of stone, subdues the most
obstinate prejudices, enlightens the dark understanding, and inspires a
genius, and a taste, for the sublime [resplendent, noble] and
interesting lessons He proposes to them. In this respect, as in every
other, there is none
teacheth like Him
(
(2.)
He teaches
the most important things
. The subjects of human science are, comparatively,
trivial and insignificant. We may be safely ignorant of them all. And
we may acquire the knowledge of them all, without being wiser, or
better, with respect to the concernments of our true happiness.
Experience and observation abundantly confirm the remark of
Solomon,
That he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. The
eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing
(
* Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) [Hugo, Huigh or Hugeianus de Groot] was a towering figure in philosophy, law, political theory and associated fields during the seventeenth century and for hundreds of years afterwards.
(3.)
Other teachers, as I have already hinted, can only inform the head ; but His instruction influences the heart. Moral philosophers, as they are called, abound in fine words and plausible speeches, concerning the beauty of virtue, the fitness of things, temperance, benevolence, and equity. And their scholars learn to talk after them. But their fine and admired sentiments, are mere empty notions, destitute of life and efficacy, and frequently leave them as much under the tyranny of pride, passion, sensuality, envy, and malice, as any of the vulgar whom they despise for their ignorance. It is well known, to the disgrace of the morality which the world applauds, that some of their most admired sentimental writers, and teachers, have deserved to be numbered among the most abandoned and despicable of mankind. They have been slaves to the basest and most degrading appetites, and the tenor of their lives has been a marked contradiction to their fine-spun theories. But Jesus Christ effectually teaches His disciples to forsake and abhor whatever is contrary to rectitude or purity; and inspires them with love, power, and a sound mind. And if they do not talk of great things, they are enabled to perform them. Their lives are exemplary and useful, their deaths comfortable, and their memory is precious.
(4.)
The disciples of Jesus are, or may be,
always learning.
His providence and wisdom have so disposed things, in
subservience to the purposes of His grace, that the whole world around
them is a great school, and the events of every day, with which they
are connected, have a tendency and suitability, if rightly
improved
[used to profit], to promote their instruction.
Heavenly lessons are taught and illustrated by earthly objects; nor are
we capable of understanding them at present, unless the mode of
instruction be thus accommodated to our situation and weakness. The
Scripture
(
(5.)
Men who are otherwise competently qualified for
teaching, in the branches of science they profess, often discourage and
intimidate their scholars, by the impatience, austerity, and distance
of their manner. They fail in that condescension and gentleness, which
are necessary to engage the attention and affection of the timid and
the volatile; or, gradually to soften and to shame the perverse. Even
Moses, though eminent for his forbearance towards the obstinate people
committed to his care, and though he loved them and longed for their
welfare, was, at times, almost wearied by them
(
A person may be
meek,
though in an elevated situation of life; but Jesus
was likewise
lowly.
There was nothing in His external appearance, to
intimidate the poor and the miserable from coming to Him. He was lowly
or humble. Custom, which fixes the force and acceptation of words, will
not readily allow us to speak of humility, as applicable to the great
God. Yet it is said,
He humbleth Himself to behold the things that
are
in heaven, and in earth
(
The happy effect of His instructions upon those who receive them, is, Rest to their souls. This has been spoken to before; but as it is repeated in the text, I shall not entirely pass it over here.
He gives rest to our souls
— By restoring us to our proper state of dependence upon God. A state of reconciliation and peace, and deliverance from guilt and fear. A state of subjection; for until our wills are duly subjected to the will of God, we can have no rest.
— By showing us the vanity of the world, and thereby putting an end to our wearisome desires and pursuits after things uncertain, frequently unattainable, always unsatisfying.
— By a communication of sublimer [more resplendent, more noble] pleasures and hopes, than the present state of things can possibly afford. And, lastly,
— By furnishing us with those aids, motives, and encouragements, which make our duty desirable, practicable, and pleasant.
How truly then may it be said, that His yoke is easy, and His burden light! It is such a burden, as wings are to a bird, raising the soul above the low and grovelling attachments, to which it was once confined. Only they who are capable of contrasting it, with the distractions and miseries, the remorse and forebodings, of those who live without God in the world, can rightly judge of the value of this rest.
But we are all by profession, His scholars. Ought we
not seriously to enquire, what we have actually learned from Him?
Surely the proud, the haughty, the voluptuous, and the worldly, though
they have heard of His name, and may have attended on His institutions,
have not hitherto sat at His feet, or drank of His Spirit. It requires
no long train of examination to determine whether you have entered into
His rest, or not. Or, if you have not yet attained it, whether you are
seeking it in the ways of His appointment. It is a rest for the soul,
it is a spiritual blessing, and therefore does not necessarily depend
upon external circumstances. Without
this
rest
,
you
must
be
restless
and
comfortless
,
in
a palace
If you have it, you may be, at least
comparatively
,
happy
in
a
dungeon
Today
,
if
not
before
today
,
while it is called today, hear His voice; and while
He says to you by His Word,
Come unto me, and learn of me,
let your hearts answer,
Behold we come unto Thee, for Thou art the
LORD
our God
(
—— O ——
Sermon XVI
The Lamb of God, the Great Atonement
Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world!
G reat and marvellous are the works of the LORD God almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us, sufficiently proves our depravity. He is great in the very smallest; and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the Whole , if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened our hearts! In the beginning, when all was dark, unformed, and waste, His powerful Word produced light, life, beauty, and order. He commanded the sun to shine, and the planets to roll. The immensity of creation is far beyond the reach of our conceptions. The innumerable stars, the worlds, which however large in themselves, are, from their remoteness, but barely visible, to us are of little more immediate, and known use, than to enlarge our idea of the greatness of their Author. Small, indeed, is the knowledge we have of our own system; but we know enough to render our indifference inexcusable. The glory of the sun must strike every eye, and in this enlightened age, there are few persons, but have some ideas of the magnitude of the planets, and the rapidity, and regularity of their motions. Farther, the rich variety which adorns this lower creation, the dependence and relation of the several parts, and their general subservience to the accommodation of man, the principal inhabitant, together with the preservation of individuals, and the continuance of every species of animals, are subjects, not above the reach of common capacities, and which afford almost endless and infinite scope for reflection and admiration. But the bulk of mankind regard them not. The vicissitudes of day and night, and of the revolving seasons, are, to them, matters of course; as if they followed each other without either cause or design. And though the philosophers, who, professedly, attach themselves to the study of the works of nature, are overwhelmed by the traces of a wisdom and arrangement, which they are unable to comprehend; yet few of them are led to reverential thoughts of God, by their boasted knowledge of His creatures. Thus men live without God in the world, though they live, and move, and have their being in Him, and are incessantly surrounded, by the most striking proofs of His presence and energy. Perhaps an earthquake, or a hurricane, by awakening their fears, may force upon their minds a conviction of His power over them, and excite an occasional momentary application to Him; but when they think the danger over, they relapse into their former stupidity.
What can engage the attention, or soften the
obduracy, of such creatures? Behold, one wonder more, greater than all
the former; the last, the highest effect of divine goodness! God has so
loved rebellious, ungrateful sinners, as to appoint them a Saviour in
the person of His only Son.
The
prophets foresaw His manifestation in the flesh, and
foretold the happy consequences —that His presence would change
the wilderness into a fruitful field, that He was coming to give sight
to the blind, and life to the dead; to set the captive at liberty; to
unloose the heavy burden; and to bless the weary with rest. But this
change was not to be wrought merely by a word of power, as when He
said,
Let there be light, and there was light
(
Three points offer to our consideration,
I. The title here given to MESSIAH, The Lamb of God.
II. The efficacy of His sacrifice, He takes away sin.
III. The extent of it, The sin of the world
I.
He is
the Lamb of God.
The paschal lamb, and the lambs which were daily
offered, morning and evening, according to the law of Moses, were of
God’s appointment; but
this
Lamb was, likewise, of His providing. The others were
but types
[prophetic symbols]. Though many, they were all
insufficient to cleanse the offerers from guilt
(
This title, therefore,
The Lamb of God,
refers to His voluntary substitution for sinners,
that by His sufferings and death, they who deserved to die, might
obtain eternal life through Him, and for His sake. Mankind were
universally chargeable with transgression of the law of God, and were
in a state of alienation from Him. A penalty, in case of disobedience,
was annexed to the law they had broken; to which, they, as offenders,
were therefore obnoxious. Though it would be presumptuous in such worms
as we are, to determine, upon principles of our own, whether the
sovereign Judge of the universe could, consistently with His own glory,
remit this penalty without satisfaction, or not; yet, since He has
favoured us with a revelation of His will upon this point, we may speak
more confidently, and affirm that it was not consistent with His truth
and holiness, and that of His moral government to do it, because this
is His own declaration. We may now be assured, that the forgiveness of
one sinner, and, indeed, of one sin, by an act of mere mercy, and
without any interposing consideration, was incompatible with the
inflexibility of the law, and the truth and justice of the Lawgiver.
But mercy designed the forgiveness of innumerable sinners, each of them
charged with innumerable sins. And the declaration, that God is thus
merciful, was to be recorded and publicly known, through a long
succession of ages, and to extend to sins not yet committed. An act of
grace so general and unreserved, might lead men (not to speak of
superior intelligences) to disparaging thoughts of the holiness of God,
and might even encourage them to sin with hope of impunity, if not
connected with some provision, which might show, that the exercise of
His mercy was in full harmony with the honour of all His perfections.
How God could be
just, and yet justify those
whom His own righteous constitution condemned, was a
difficulty too great for finite understandings to solve
(
II.
The efficacy of this Atonement is complete.
The Lamb of God,
thus slain,
takes away sin;
both with respect to its guilt, and its defilement.
The Israelites, by looking to the brazen serpent
(
III.
The designed extent of this gratuitous removal of sin, by the oblation of the Lamb of God, is expressed in a large and indefinite manner. He takes away the sin of the world. Many of my hearers need not be told, what fierce and voluminous disputes have been maintained, concerning the extent of the death of Christ. I am afraid the advantages of such controversies, have not been answerable to the zeal of the disputants. For myself, I wish to be known, by no name, but that of a Christian; and implicitly to adopt no system but the Bible. I usually endeavour to preach to the heart and the conscience, and to wave [avoid], as much as I can, all controversial points. But as the subject now lies directly before me, I shall embrace the occasion, and simply, and honestly, open to you the sentiments of my heart concerning it.
If it be inferred that He actually designed and
intended the salvation of all men, because the death of Christ is here
said to
take away the sin of the world,
or, (as this Evangelist expresses it in another
place)
the whole world
(
The exceeding great number, once dead in trespasses
and sins, who shall be found on His right hand, at the great Day of His
appearance, are frequently spoken of in appropriate and peculiar
language. They are styled His sheep
(
But, on the other hand, I cannot think the sense of
the expression is sufficiently explained, by saying, That the world,
and the whole world, is spoken of, to teach us, that the sacrifice
of
The Lamb of God
was not confined, like the Levitical offerings, to
the nation of Israel only; but that it is available for the sins of a
determinate number of persons, called the
Elect
, who are scattered among many nations, and found,
under a great variety of states and circumstances in human life. This
is, undoubtedly, the truth, so far as it goes; but not, I apprehend,
fully agreeable to the Scriptural manner or representation. That there
is an election of grace, we are plainly taught; yet, it is not
said,
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save
the Elect, but that He came to save
sinners,
to
seek and to save them that are lost
(
The extent of Atonement is frequently represented, as
if a calculation had been made, how much suffering was necessary for
the Surety to endure, in order to exactly expiate the aggregate number
of all the sins, of all the Elect; that so much He suffered precisely,
and no more; and that when this requisition was completely answered, He
said,
It is finished, bowed His head, and gave up the
ghost
(
Under
the
Gospel
dispensation,
and
by
it,
God
commands
all
men,
everywhere,
to
repent
(
The whole may be summed up in two points, which I commend to your serious attention; which it must be the business of my life to enforce, and which, I trust, I shall not repent of having enforced, either at the hour of death, or in the Day of Judgment, when I must give an account of my preaching, and you of what you have heard in this place.
(1.)
That salvation is, indeed, wholly of grace. The gift of a Saviour, the first dawn of light into the heart, all the supports and supplies needful for carrying on the work, from the foundation to the top-stone, all is of free grace.
(2.)
That now
the Lamb of God
is preached to you, as taking away the sin of the
world, if you reject Him, which may the Lord forbid! I say, if you
reject Him, your blood will be upon your own head. You are warned, you
are invited. Dare not to say,
Why doth He yet find fault, for who hath resisted His
will?
(
—— O ——
Sermon XVII
Messiah Despised, and Rejected of Men
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief.
T he heathen moralists, ignorant of the character and perfections of God, the true dignity and immorality of the soul, and the root and extent of human depravity, had no better foundation, for what they call virtue, than pride; no higher aim in their regulations, than the interests of society, and the conduct of civil life. They expressed, indeed, occasionally, some sentiments of a superior kind; but these, however just and valuable upon the principles of revelation, were delusive and impracticable upon their own. And * Brutus, one of the most admired characters of antiquity, confessed, just before he put an end to his own life, that having long been enamoured of virtue as a real good, he found it, at last, to be but an empty name. But though they had so little satisfaction, or success, in the pursuit of virtue, they were so pleased with the idea they formed of it, as generally to supposed, that if virtue could become visible, it would necessarily engage the esteem and admiration of mankind.
* Marcus Junius Brutus - Roman politician (85 – 42 BC)
There was, however, one remarkable exception to this opinion. The wisdom of * Socrates, seems to have been, in many respects, different from that of the bulk of their philosophers. Socrates having expressed his idea of a perfect character, a truly virtuous man, ventured to predict the reception such a person, if such a one could ever be found, would meet with from the world. And he thought that his practice would be so dissimilar to that of other men; his testimony against their wickedness so strong, and his endeavours to reform them, so importunate and unwelcome, that, instead of being universally admired, he would be disliked and hated. That mankind were too degenerate, and too obstinate, to bear, either the example, or the reproof, of such a person; and would most probably revile and persecute him, and put him to death as an enemy to their peace. * Socrates - Greek philosopher (469–399 BC)
In this instance, the judgment of Socrates accords
with the language of the Old, and with the history of the New
Testament.
MESSIAH
was this perfect character. Isaiah describes Him as
such. Isaiah likewise foresaw how He would be treated, and foretold
that He would be
numbered with transgressors
;
despised and rejected, by the very people who were
eye-witnesses of His upright and benevolent conduct. And thus, in fact,
it proved. When Jesus was upon earth, true virtue and goodness were
displayed; and thereby, the wickedness of man became signally
conspicuous. For they, among whom He was conversant,
preferred a robber and a murderer to Him
(
When
MESSIAH
appeared, the Jews professed to blame the wickedness
of their forefathers, who had opposed and slain the prophets. If they
regretted the ill-treatment the
servants
of God had formerly received, might it not be hoped
that
they would reverence His Son?
(
But
He was despised and rejected of men.
Angels sang praises at His birth,
but men despised Him.
He took not upon Him the nature of angels, but of
man;
yet men rejected him.
Sinful, helpless men,
rejected and despised
their only Saviour.
He came to His own, but His own received Him
not.
How lamentable and fatal was their obstinacy!
Pretended messiahs were eagerly regarded and followed by them
(
Let us consider the clauses of our text separately, in the order in which we read them,
I.
He was despised and rejected of men.
It would be a great mistake to imagine that the Jews
were the only people capable of this ingratitude and obstinacy. If any
person here thinks, ‘Surely I would not have despised Him, had I
seen His wonderful works, and heard Him speak as never man
spake;’ possibly that thought may prove you to be of the very
same spirit with those who, while they thirsted for His blood,
ignorantly presumed that, if they had lived in the days of their
fore-fathers, they would not have joined with them in persecuting the
prophets
(
(1.)
They
despised Him
for, what they accounted,
the meanness of His appearance.
Though rich in Himself, He became poor for our sakes,
and His poverty made Him contemptible in their eyes. They
expected
MESSIAH
would appear with external pomp and power. But when
they saw Him, they scorned Him, saying,
Is not this the carpenter’s son?
(
(2.)
Their contempt was heightened when this poor man
publicly asserted His proper
character and claim,
demanded their attention and homage, and styled
Himself in a peculiar sense
the Son of God, the resurrection and the Life
(
(3.)
They objected to Him the
low state and former characters of His
followers
. Some of them were of low rank in life. The most of
those who constantly attended Him were poor fishermen. Others had been
of bad repute, publicans and open sinners. For this they reproached
Him, and thought they were fully justified in their contempt, while
they could say,
Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed on
Him?
(
(4.)
They were farther exasperated against Him, by the authority and severity with which He taught. It is true, He was gentle and meek to all who felt their need of His help, or sincerely desired His instruction. He received them without exception, and treated them with the greatest tenderness. But He vindicated the honour of the law of God, from the corrupt doctrine and tradition of their professed teachers. He exposed and unmasked the hypocrisy of their most admired characters, and compared the men who were in the highest reputation, for wisdom and sanctity, to whited sepulchres, warning the people against them as blind guides and deceivers.
(5.)
These blind guides strengthened the prejudices of
their blind followers against Him, by misrepresentation. They attempted
to avail themselves of the Scripture, when they thought it would serve
their purpose. They, eagerly, made the most of a prevailing mistake,
that Jesus was born in Galilee, because He was brought up in Nazareth
from His infancy. This they urged as a proof that He could not be
the
MESSIAH
, whom the prophets had declared was to be born at
Bethlehem in Judea. When He healed diseases on the Sabbath day, they
represented the effects of His compassion, as a breach of that strict
observance of the Sabbath, which was enjoined by the law of Moses, and
that therefore He could not be of God
(
These things are easily applicable to the church
history of succeeding times. The Gospel of Christ has often been, and
is to this day, rejected and despised upon similar grounds. Its
simplicity and plainness, and the manner of its proposal, adapted to
the use and capacity of the vulgar, offend those who are wise in their
own conceit, and proud of their understanding and taste. At the same
time they are equally disgusted by the sublimity [high spiritual and
moral worth] of its doctrines, which will not submit to the test of
their vain reasonings, and can only be received by humble faith. The
faithfulness and freedom which its ministers are enjoined to use, give
great offence likewise. And because they cannot comply with the humours
of those, who wish them to prophesy smooth things, and deceits, they
are accounted censorious, and uncharitable, and disturbers of the
public peace. Again, the dislike and opposition it frequently meets
with from persons of great titles and high stations, deter multitudes
from pursuing those inquiries, which some conviction of the truth would
prompt them to, were they not discouraged by the fear of consequences.
How often has the dread of the displeasure of doctors, bishops,
universities, councils, and popes, or an ignorant, slavish deference to
their judgments or decisions, prevented people from following that
light, which had begun to force itself upon their consciences? How few
among those of reputation for wisdom and learning, how few of the
great, and opulent, have encouraged, or espoused, the doctrine of the
cross? It is, therefore, more properly, a subject for lamentation, than
for wonder, that this way is despised,
and almost everywhere spoken against
(
I have reserved, to a distinct paragraph, the mention
of one cause why the Gospel is frequently despised and reproached.
Because though it be no less unjust or unreasonable, than those which I
have recited, it is more immediately incumbent upon all who name the
name of Christ,
to
prevent
it
as
much
as
possible
;
I mean
,
the scandal which arises from the miscarriages of
those who profess it. Offences of this kind must come,
but woe to them by whom they come
(
II.
It is farther said, He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was surrounded with sorrows on every side, and grief was His intimate, inseparable companion. Surely, this consideration, if any, will animate us to endure the cross, and to despise the shame we may be exposed to for His sake. The illustration of this subject will offer more fully in the next sequel It shall suffice, at present, to offer three causes for His continual sorrows.
(1.)
The
outward course of life
, to which He submitted for the sake of sinners,
exposed Him to want, weariness, contempt, and opposition; and though
His resignation, and patience were perfect, yet He was truly a man, and
partaker of our nature with all its affections and sensibilities, which
do not imply sin. His feelings, therefore, were human, similar to our
own in similar circumstances, and were often painfully exercised. Once
and again, we read that He was hungry and had no food; He was
thirsty
and was nearly refused a little water to drink, when
wearied with His journeying in the heat of the day
(
(2.)
His
perfect knowledge
and
foresight
of those sufferings, which we, emphatically,
call
His Passion.
How often does He speak of them, and describe the
circumstances as if they were actually present? Futurity, is, in mercy,
concealed from us. It would often bereave us from all present comfort,
if we knew, what the next year, or, perhaps, what the next day would
bring forth. If some of you, could have foreseen, many years ago, what
you have since been brought through, you would probably have sunk under
the apprehension; or, the stoutest of us, might sink now, if we were
certainly to know what may be yet before us. But Jesus, long before He
made atonement for our sins, had counted the cost. And though His love
determined Him to save
us,
the
prospect
which
was continually present to His view, of the
approaching unutterable agonies of His soul, of all that He must endure
from God, from the powers of darkness and from wicked men, when He
should
be made a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of
the law
(
(3.)
The frame of His spirit.
Whoever has a measure of the mind that was in Christ,
must be proportionally burdened and grieved, like righteous Lot in
Sodom
(
We call ourselves the servants and followers of Him
who was despised of men, and encompassed with sorrows. And shall we
then seek great things for ourselves?
(
—— O ——
Sermon XVIII
Voluntary Suffering
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair:
I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
T hat which often passes amongst men for resolution, and the proof of a noble, courageous spirit, is, in reality, the effect of a weak and little mind. At least, it is chiefly owing to the presence of certain circumstances, which have a greater influence upon the conduct, than any inherent principle. Thus may persons who appear to set death and danger at defiance in the hour of battle, while they are animated by the examples of those around them, and instigated by a fear of the punishment or shame they would incur if they deserted their post; upon a change of situation, as for instance, on a bed of sickness, discover no traces of the heroism for which they were before applauded, but tremble at the leisurely approach of death, though they were thought to despise it under a different form. It was not true fortitude, it was rather a contemptible pusillanimity [cowardice], that determined the celebrated * Cato to destroy himself. He was afraid of Caesar; his dread of him, after his victories, was so great, that he durst not look him in the face; and, therefore, he killed himself to avoid him. We may confidently ascribe the pretended gallantry of modern duellists to the same meanness of sentiment. They fight, not because they are not afraid of death, but because they are impelled by another fear, which makes a greater impression upon a feeble, irresolute mind. They live upon the opinion of their fellow-creatures, and feel themselves too weak to bear the contempt they should meet with, from the circle of their acquaintance, if they should decline acting upon the false principles of honour which pride and folly have established. They have not resolution sufficient, to act the part which conscience and reason would dictate, and, therefore, hazard life, and every thing that is dear to them, as men, rather than dare to withstand the prevalence of an absurd and brutal custom.
* Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (95–46 BC), known as Cato the Younger, was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic.
A patient enduring of affliction, and especially of
disgrace and contempt, to which the characters the world most admire
are confessedly unequal, is a much surer proof of true fortitude, than
any of those actions which the love of praise, the fear of man, or even
a mercenary attachment to lucre, are capable of producing. True
Magnanimity
is evidenced by the real importance of the end it
proposes, and by the steadiness by which it pursues the proper means of
attaining that end; undisturbed and unwearied by difficulty, danger, or
pain, and equally indifferent to the censure or scorn of incompetent
judges. This greatness of mind is essential and peculiar to the
character of the Christian. I mean the Christian who deserves the name.
His ends are great and sublime, to glorify God, to obtain nearer
communion with Him, and to advance in conformity to His holy will. To
attain these ends, he employs the means prescribed by the Lord, he
waits at Wisdom’s gates
(
But this life the Christian lives
by faith in the Son of God
(
I.
With respect to His engagement, as the Mediator
between God and sinners, a great work was given Him to do, and He
became responsible; and, therefore, in this sense, bound, and under
obligation.
But
His
compliance
was,
likewise,
voluntary,
for
He
gave
Himself
up
freely to suffer, the just for the unjust. Could He
have relinquished our cause, and left us to the deserved consequence of
our sins, in the trying hour, when His enemies seized upon Him, then
legions of angels,
had they been wanted, would have appeared for His
rescue
(
(1.)
The highest end of His mediation was to display the
glory of the divine character in the strongest light, to afford to all
intelligent creatures
(
(2.)
Subordinate to this great design, closely connected
with it, and the principal effect for which it will be admired and
magnified to eternity, is the complete and everlasting salvation of
that multitude of miserable sinners, who, according to the purpose of
God, and by the working of His mighty power, shall believe in this
Saviour; and who, renouncing every other hope, shall put their trust in
Him, upon the warrant of the promise and command of God, and yield
themselves to be His willing and devoted people. Many are their
tribulations in the present life, but they shall be delivered out of
them all; they shall overcome, they shall be more than
conquerors,
by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of His
testimony
(
II.
But are we reading a prophecy, or the history of His
extreme humiliation? It is a prophecy; how literally and exactly it was
fulfilled, we learn from His history by the Evangelists. With what
cruelty, with what contempt was He treated, first by the servants in
the hall of the High Priest, afterwards by the Roman soldiers! Let us
consider Him,
who endured the contradiction of sinners against
Himself
(
When the Apostle would dispose believers by an argument or motive (which, if we fully understood it, would render all other arguments unnecessary) to endure sufferings and crosses patiently; he says, Consider Him —he uses a word which is properly a mathematical term, denoting the ratio or proportion between different numbers, or figures: —compare yourselves with Him, and His sufferings with your own, —consider who He is, no less than what He endured.
In the apprehensions of men, insults are aggravated,
in proportion to the disparity between the person who receives, and who
offers them. A blow, from an equal, is an offence, but will be still
more deeply resented from an inferior. But if a subject, a servant, a
slave, should presume to strike a king, it would justly be deemed an
enormous crime. But Jesus, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, whom
all the angels of God worship, made Himself so entirely of no
reputation, that the basest of the people, the servants, the common
soldiers, were not afraid to make Him the object of their derision, and
to express their hatred in the most sarcastic and contemptuous manner.
It is said that He endured the contradiction of
sinners.
So, perhaps
,
do we; but we are sinners likewise, and deserve much
more than we suffer, if not immediately from
the
instruments
of
our
grief,
yet
from
the
Lord,
who
has a right to employ what instruments He pleases, to
afflict us for our sins. This thought quieted the spirit of David, when
his own son rose up against his life, and his own servant cursed him to
his face
(
(1.)
They began to spit upon Him in the High Priest’s hall. The Roman soldiers likewise did spit upon Him, when they had contemptuously arrayed Him in a scarlet robe, and bowed the knee before Him, in mockery of His title of King. Great as an insult of this kind would be deemed amongst us, it was considered as still greater, according to the customs prevalent in the eastern countries. There, to spit, even in the presence of a person, though it were only upon the ground, conveyed the idea of disdain and abhorrence. But the lowest of the people spit in the face of the Son of God. No comparison can fully illustrate this indignity. There is some proportion between the greatest earthly monarch, and the most abject slave. They did not spit upon Alexander, or Caesar, but upon the Lord of glory.
(2.)
They
buffeted and beat Him on the face,
and when He meekly offered His cheeks to their
blows,
they
plucked
off
the
hair.
The beard was in those times accounted honourable;
and when David
and
his
servants were shaven by the command of Hanun, they
were ashamed to be seen. But
Jesus
was
not
shaven.
With
savage
violence they tore off the hair of His beard
(
(3.)
His back
they
tore with scourges,
as was foretold by the Psalmist —
The plowers plowed upon my back, they made long their
furrows
(
And now,
to use the words of Pilate,
Behold the man!
(
Shall
we
therefore refuse to suffer shame for
His
sake, and be intimidated by the frowns or contempt of
men, from avowing our attachment to Him! Ah! Lord, we are, indeed,
capable of this baseness and ingratitude. But, if Thou art pleased to
strengthen us with the power of Thy Spirit, we will account such
disgrace our glory. Then we will not hang down our heads and despond,
but will rather rejoice and be exceeding glad, if the world revile us
and persecute us, and speak all manner of evil against us, provided it
be falsely
(
Shall we continue in sin
(
—— O ——
Sermon XIX
Messiah Suffering and Wounded for Us
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: …..
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are healed.
W
hen our Lord was transfigured, Moses and Elijah
appeared in glory and conversed with Him. Had we been informed of the
interview only, we should probably have desired to know the
subject
of
their
conversation,
as
we
might
reasonably
suppose
it turned upon very interesting and important topics.
The Scripture makes little provision for the indulgence of our
curiosity, but omits nothing that is necessary for our instruction: and
we learn thus much from it, that they discoursed, not upon the trifling
things which the world accounts great, such as the rise and
fall
of
empires;
but
they
spake
of
the
sufferings
of
Jesus,
and
of
the
decease
which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. They spake
of His Exodus
(
A representation of the Redeemer’s sufferings, capable of exciting tears and moving the passions, may be by the powers of oratory; and similar emotions have often been produced by a romance or a tragedy, though the subject is known, beforehand, to be entirely fictitious. But light in the understanding, is necessary to convince and influence the heart. Unless the mind be deeply penetrated with the causes, which rendered MESSIAH’S death necessary, the most pathetic description of the fact , will leave the will and the affections unchanged. I hope many of my auditory [many in my audience] can assign these causes. You have felt yourselves personally concerned in an event which took place long before your birth; and if you are asked, Why was Jesus mocked, buffeted, and spit upon? and why were His enemies permitted to nail Him to the cross? you answer, Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows —and you can likewise say, By His stripes we are healed.
The words lead us to consider the cause, and the effect.
I.
The
cause
of the Redeemer’s sufferings, implied in the
word
our,
—He bore the griefs and sorrows which were our
desert. Such is the language, the confession, the grateful
acknowledgement of all who believe in His name. They who are delivered
by grace from the spirit and power of this evil world, and who live by
His death; and, likewise they, who see they must perish, unless saved
by Him, are authorized to consider Him as mindful of them, and making
provision for them, in the day of His trouble. They who were actually
healed by looking at the brazen serpent, according to God’s
appointment, had a sufficient proof in themselves, that it was erected,
and placed in view of the camp on their account
(
There’s not a gift His hand bestows,
But cost His heart a groan!
So likewise, the remembrance of what He bore for them
alleviates the pressure of all their sufferings and affords them a
ground whereon they may rejoice,
yea, glory in tribulation also
(
But
His
crucifixion,
and
the
whole
of
His
sufferings
from
wicked
men, cannot give us a just idea of what He endured
for us. Grievous as they were, considered in themselves, they were
light if compared with the agonies of His soul. These extorted the
blood from His body
(
The ground of all this was laid in His voluntary substitution of Himself, from before the foundation of the world, to obey and suffer in behalf of His people. This point will offer more directly from the passage we are next to consider. At present, let us briefly notice the expressions before us.
(1.)
He was wounded.
This word, which signifies
pierced
or
stabbed,
refers to His crucifixion. This punishment, being
unknown to the Jews till they were brought under the Roman power, they
had, therefore, no express name for, in their language. Yet it is
plainly described by the Psalmist, who, speaking by the Spirit of
Prophecy, in the person of
MESSIAH,
says,
They pierced my hands and my feet
(
(2.)
He was bruised.
If we distinguish wounded from bruised, the latter
may be referred to the sorrows of His soul, (for it is expressly
said,
It pleased the
LORD
to bruise Him
) that distress broke His heart, filled Him with
dismay, caused Him to be sore amazed and very heavy, and to say to His
disciples,
My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto
death
(
(3.)
The chastisement, or, the punishment of our peace, was upon Him. That chastisement, or punishment, on the account of which, sinners obtain peace with God. It properly signifies here, a punishment for instruction or example. Punishments are inflicted, either for the correction of an offender, or for the prevention of evil, or for example to others. The two former reasons could not apply to our Lord. He had committed no evil, He was perfect before, and in suffering. But standing in the place of sinners, and engaged to expiate their offences, He was made a public example of the misery and distress which sin demerited [deserved]. Thus justice was vindicated in the exercise of mercy, and sinners believing in His name, are exempted from punishment, for His sake, in a way which affords not the least encouragement or extenuation to sin. And thus our peace is procured.
II.
The effect of His sufferings for sins not His
own.
He bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
He was wounded and bruised for us,
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him,
that
by His stripes we may be healed.
The Hebrew word here, and the Greek word, the Apostle
Peter uses in this quotation of this passage, which we render
stripes
(
You who live by this medicine, speak well of it. Tell to others, as you have opportunity, what a Saviour you have found. It is usual for those who have been relieved, in dangerous and complicated diseases, by a skilful physician, to commend him to others who are labouring under the like maladies. We often see public acknowledgments to this purpose. If all the persons, who have felt the efficacy of a dying Saviour’s wounds apprehended by faith, were to publish their cases, how greatly would His power and grace be displayed! They are all upon record, and will all be known in the great Day of His appearing. Some of them are occasionally published, and may be read in our own tongue. And though they are not all related with equal judgment, nor attended with circumstances equally striking, yet there is a sufficiency, in this way, to leave the world without excuse. Not to mention modern accounts of this kind, (though many might be mentioned which are indisputably true, and superior to the cavils of gainsayers) the Confessions of * Austin may be appealed to, as a proof that the Gospel is not a system of notions only, but has a mighty power to enlighten the bewildered mind, to subdue the obstinate will, to weaken the force of long-confirmed habits of evil, to relieve from distressing fears, and to effect a real, universal, permanent, and beneficial change of sentiment and conduct, such as no similar instance can be found, in the history of mankind, to have been produced by any other principles. But if you are a true Christian, in the circle of your connections, you will, sometimes, have a fair opportunity of giving a reason of the hope that is in you. Pray for grace and wisdom to improve such seasons; and if you speak the truth in simplicity and love, you know not but the Lord may give His blessing to your testimony, and honour you as an instrument of good. And to convert one sinner from the error of his way, is an event of greater importance, than the deliverance of a whole kingdom from temporal evil. * Austin (St. Augustine) - Roman philosopher and theologian (354AD - 430AD)
Yet, remember, if you espouse this cause, a certain
consistency of character will be expected from you, without which, you
had better be silent, than speak in its defence, or profess yourself a
sharer in the privileges of the Gospel. There are too many persons who
treat the great truths, we profess, as mere opinions, points of
speculation, which form the shibboleth of a party. There are others,
who think an attachment to them, the sure sign of an enthusiastic [sure
sign of a fanatical], deluded imagination. And there are others, again,
who misrepresent them as unfavourable to morality, and affording a
cloak and an encouragement to licentiousness. Beware, lest, by an
improper conduct, you lay stumbling-blocks in the way of the blind,
strengthen the prejudices of the ignorant, and give weight to the
calumnies of the malicious. The people of the world are quick-sighted
to the faults of religious professors, and though they affect to
despise their principles, they are tolerable judges what that
conversation is, which only these principles can produce, and always
expect it from those who avow them. They will make allowances for
others, and admit human infirmity as a plea for their faults, but they
will not extend their candour to you. If your zeal for the truth, and
your regular attendance upon the ministers who preach it, are not
accompanied by a spirit of humility, integrity, and benevolence; if you
are passionate, peevish, discontented, censorious, or proud; if they
observe that you are greedy of gain, penurious, close-fisted, or
hard-hearted; or even if you comply with their customs and spirit,
mingle with them in their amusements, and do not maintain a noble
singularity by avoiding every appearance of evil; they will not only
despise
you
in their hearts, but they will take the occasion of
despising and speaking evil of the truth itself, on your account. But
if you are all of a piece, and are truly solicitous to adorn your
profession, by walking agreeable to the rules of the Gospel, and
filling up your relations in life to the glory of God, and the good of
your fellow-creatures; by thus
well-doing, you will put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men
(
But are there any hearts of stone amongst us, who are still unaffected by the love and sufferings of the Son of God; who are still crucifying Him afresh, and living in sin, though they hear and know what it cost Him to make an atonement for sin? Yet now hear— now look —behold the Lamb of God! The Lord in mercy open the eyes of your mind. I address you once more. I once more conjure you by His agony and bloody sweat, by His passion, cross, and death, to seek Him that your souls may live. Can you be proof against these arguments? Nay, then, should you live and die thus obstinate, you must perish indeed.
—— O ——
Sermon XX
Sin Charged upon the Surety
All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way,
and the LORD hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
C
omparisons, in the Scripture, are frequently to be
understood with great limitation: perhaps, out of many circumstances,
only one is justly applicable to the case. Thus, when our Lord
says,
Behold, I come as a thief
(
My text, therefore, expresses the sentiment of those, and of those only, who are acquainted with the misery of our fallen state, feel their own concern in it, and approve of the method which God has provided for their deliverance and recovery. It contains a confession of their own guilt, and an acknowledgement of His mercy.
I.
A confession of guilt and wretchedness. Sin has deprived us both of the knowledge and presence of God. In consequence of this, we wander, every one to his own way. All are under the power of sin, and all equally strangers to the paths of peace and safety. The paths which sinners choose for themselves are diverse from each other, as inclination or circumstances vary; but however different in appearance, if persisted in, they terminate at last in the same point. They all lead to destruction. We may observe on this head,
(1.)
It is a sufficient proof of our depravity, that we prefer our own ways to the Lord’s; nor can He inflict a heavier judgment upon us, in this life, than to give us up entirely to the way of our own hearts. He made us to be happy; but as He made us for Himself, and gave us a capacity, and a vastness of desire, which only He Himself can satisfy, the very constitution and frame of our nature render happiness impossible to us, unless in a way of dependence upon Him, and obedience to His laws. The lamb that grazes in the meadow, and the fish that swims in the stream, are each in their proper element. If you suppose them to change places, they must both perish. But the brute creation have no propensity to such changes as would destroy them. The instincts, implanted in them by their great Creator, are conducive to their welfare; and to these instincts they are uniformly faithful. If you can conceive the beasts impatient to leave the shore, and improve their situation by rushing into the ocean; and the fishes equally earnest to forsake the waters, in quest of new and greater advantages upon the dry land, it may illustrate the folly of fallen man, who turned aside by a deceived heart, refuses life, and seeks death in the error of his ways. For the will of God (if I may so speak) is our proper element; and if we depart from it, our sin unavoidably involves our punishment. We naturally indulge hard thoughts of God, and think the rule He has enjoined us, too strict and severe, intended to restrain us from real good, and propose, to ourselves, some unknown advantages, by transgressing it. Thus Satan persuaded Eve, and we derive from her. And though we know that she only gained misery by the experiment, we rashly repeat it for ourselves. The Scripture assures us, that the ways of God are pleasant, but we will not be persuaded. Experience proves that the way of transgressors is hard, but we resist the conviction, and hurry on in a round of continual disappointment. Are the proud, the covetous, the voluptuous, or the ambitious, happy? I appeal to their conscience.
(2.)
There is only one right way, but a thousand ways of
being wrong. If you are not following Him, who has said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life
(
(3.)
As wandering sheep are liable to innumerable dangers, which, they can neither foresee nor prevent, such is our condition, until, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are stopped, and turned, and brought into the fold of the good Shepherd. Oh! the misery of man while living without God in the world! He is exposed every hour to the stroke of death, which would at once separate him from all that he loves, and plunge him into the pit, from whence there is no redemption. And at present, he is perpetually harassed with cares and fears, with wants and woes, without guidance or refuge; and yet so blinded as to think himself safe, and that his crooked, wandering ways, will lead him to happiness!
II.
An acknowledgement of mercy. Where sin abounded, grace has much more abounded. Man sinned, and MESSIAH suffered. The LORD hath laid, or caused to meet upon Him, the iniquity of us all, that is, the punishment due them. The evils we had deserved, were in pursuit of us; but Jesus interposed, and they all seized upon Him, and He endured them, that we might be spared. Do we ask upon what grounds? It was on the ground of His voluntary substitution for sinners, as their Covenant Head and Representative.
So much, correspondent to this appointment obtains amongst men, as may show that the idea accords with our notion of justice. If a man be unable to pay a debt, and the creditor should exact the payment from a third person who was no way concerned, it would, with reason, be deemed a very oppressive action. But if it be known that this person became freely bound and responsible for the debtor, he is allowed to be justly liable. But in the present case, I make no appeal to human customs. It is a divine appointment, and, therefore, is, and must be right. It was a great design, the triumph of infinite wisdom, the highest effect of the love of God. It is revealed, not to be submitted to our discussion, or that we may sit in judgment upon the propriety of the measure, but it demands our highest admiration and praise; and, like the sun, brings with it that light, by which the whole system of our knowledge is illuminated. For till we know this great truth, and are able to see its influence upon everything we are related to, whatever attainments we may boast, we are, in fact, encompassed with thick darkness, with darkness which may be felt. For the accomplishment of this design, the Son of God was so manifested in the nature of man, that He, and they who believe in Him, participate in a real, though mystical union, and are considered one. He, their living Head. They, His body - consisting of many members; each of them represented by Him, accepted in Him, and deriving from His fulness, their life, their light, their strength, and their joy.
(1.)
He was thus appointed and constituted before the
world began; according to the holy Counsel and Covenant settled from
everlasting for the redemption of sinners
(
(2.)
After man had sinned, this glorious Head and Surety
made known the certainty and benefit of His mediation, and engagement,
on the behalf of sinners, according to the good pleasure of His wisdom,
and as the case required. Otherwise, upon the entrance of sin, the full
execution of the sentence of the law, denounced against the offenders,
might, perhaps, have immediately followed. But He revealed Himself. He
showed mercy to Adam, covenanted with Noah, walked with Abraham,
conversed with Moses, dwelt with His Church in the wilderness, and was
known by the name the
Holy One of Israel
(
(3.)
In the fulness of time, He veiled His glory.
He
who was in the form of God, and thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, took upon Him the form of a servant, and
was made of a woman, made under the law
(
By virtue of this union, likewise, He is their life.
They receive of His fulness, as the branches derive their life and
fruitfulness from the tree whereon they grow
(
From this subject, the substitution of MESSIAH for sinners, we may learn,
(1.)
How to estimate the evil of sin. That sin is a great
evil, is evident by its effects. It deprived Adam of the life and
presence of God, and brought death, and all natural evil into the
world. It caused the destruction of the old world by water. It is the
source of all the misery with which the earth is now filled, it will
kindle the last great conflagration; yea, it has, already kindled that
fire, which shall never be quenched. But in no view does the sinfulness
of sin appear so striking
,
as
in
this
wonderful
[astonishing; amazing] effect
—the
suffering
and
death
of
MESSIAH
That notwithstanding the dignity of His person, and
the perfection of His obedience to the law, and that though He prayed
in His agonies,
that if it were possible the cup might pass from
Him
(
(2.)
The complete justification of those who believe in
Him. They are delivered from all condemnation
(
(3.)
The reason why believers are not wearied, nor
overpowered, by all the difficulties of their service, nor by all the
arts and efforts of their enemies. They are one with Christ. He who has
all power in heaven and in earth, is engaged for their support. When
they faint, He revives them; when they are wounded, He heals them; when
their foot slips, He upholds them. He has said,
because I live, ye shall live also.
Therefore who can prevail against them, when
their
life is hidden with Christ in God?
(
—— O ——
Sermon XXI
Messiah Derided Upon the Cross
All they that see me laugh me to scorn:
they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him:
let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
F allen man, though alienated from the life of God, and degraded with respect to many of his propensities and pursuits, to a level with the beasts that perish, is not wholly destitute of kind and compassionate feelings towards his fellow-creatures. While self-interest does not interfere, and the bitter passions of envy, hatred, malice, and revenge, are not roused into exercise, he has a degree of instinctive sympathy with them in their sufferings, and a disposition to assist them, if he can do it without much detriment to himself. The source of these social feelings, we express, by the term humanity ; which seems to imply a consciousness that they properly belong to our nature, and that we ought , at least, to be always, and universally affected in this manner, when occasions offer. But while the heart is under the government of self, our humanity is very partial and limited. And it is to be ascribed to the goodness of God, rather than to any real goodness in man, that it is not wholly extinguished. Were this the case, and were the native evils of the heart left to exert themselves in their full strength, and without control, earth would be the very image of hell, and there could be no such thing as society. But to prevent things from running into utter confusion, God mercifully preserves in mankind, some social dispositions. They are, however, so weak in themselves, so powerfully counteracted by the stronger principles of our depravity, and so frequently suppressed by obstinate habits of wickedness; that in the present state of things, we may almost as justly define man, (whatever impropriety there may seem in the expression) by saying, He is an inhuman creature , as by ascribing to him the benevolent properties of humanity.
The rage, cruelty, and savage insensibility, with
which sin and Satan have poisoned our nature, never appear in so strong
a light, as when they assume a religious form; when ignorance, bigotry,
and blind zeal, oppose the will and grace of God, under a pretence of
doing Him service. By this infatuation, every hateful passion is
sanctified, and every feeling of humanity stifled. Thus, though the
sufferings of the most atrocious malefactors, usually excite pity in
the spectators, and often draw tears from their eyes; yet, the agonies
of God’s persecuted servants, under the most exquisite tortures
which malice could invent, have frequently raised no other emotions,
than those of derision and scorn. My text leads us to consider the
highest instance of this kind. The 22
nd
Psalm, undoubtedly, refers to
MESSIAH.
It begins
with
the
very words
which
He
uttered upon the cross; nor could David speak of
himself, when
he
said,
They
pierced
my
hands and my feet.
He
was God’s servant in the most eminent sense,
and the service He performed, was an uninterrupted course of
benevolence
to
the
souls
and bodies of men. He spent His life in
going about doing good
(
I.
The persons who scorned and derided Him, were various, and of different characters.
(1.)
The Chief Priests, Elders, and Rulers of the people. When these, who were held in ignorant admiration by the multitude, set the example, we do not wonder that it was generally followed. They had been His most avowed and determined enemies, they had long conspired to take away His life, and in the appointed hour their plots were permitted to succeed. They now rejoiced in their success. By their office as teachers and expounders of the law, they ought to have pointed Him out to the people as the object of their reverence and hope; but having rejected Him themselves, they employed all the authority and influence to make Him the object of general contempt. And lest the extremity of His torments should awaken sentiments of commiseration in the multitude, they were the first, and the loudest, in reviling Him, as He hung upon the cross.
(2.)
The populace derided Him.
They had been instigated by the priests to demand His
death of Pilate, when he was desirous of dismissing Him, and, rather,
to insist that Barabbas should be spared
(
(3.)
The Roman soldiers , who had contemptuously clothed Him with a scarlet robe, and bowed the knee before Him in derision, continued to mock Him when He was hanging upon the cross. The Romans to whom many monarchies were become subject and tributary, affected to despise the name of king. They held the Jewish nation in peculiar contempt. Therefore, the title KING of the JEWS , affixed to His cross, afforded them a subject for the keenest sarcasm.
(4.)
Yea, such is the hardness of the human heart,
that one of the malefactors
(
II.
They showed their scorn in the most pointed and cruel
manner. Not only they, who had clamoured for His death, derided Him,
but others, who were only passing by upon their ordinary occasions,
could not pass on till they had stopped a while to insult Him, wagging
their heads, and reminding Him of what He had formerly said, and
charging Him with the supposed folly and arrogance of His claims. They
jested upon His wants; when He said,
I thirst
, they gave Him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall.
They jested upon His words; when He uttered His dolorous
complaint,
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?
some of them, with a malicious turn, (which possibly
was applauded for wit by others) from the sound of the beginning of the
sentence, took occasion to suggest, that by saying
Eli, Eli,
He called for Elias, the Prophet, to come to His
assistance. Alas! of what dreadful malignity and obduracy
[stubbornness] is the heart of man capable? How may
we conceive the heavenly host to have been affected with this scene,
when they beheld their Lord, the object of their worship and supreme
love, thus treated by sinners?
But it behoved Him thus to suffer
(
III.
The bulk of the people bore their part in this tragedy, through precipitation and ignorance. In His prayer for their forgiveness (a prayer which was signally answered after His ascension) He mentioned the only extenuation their wickedness could possibly admit, They knew not what they did. It was otherwise, with those who were principally concerned in procuring His death. Long before, when they could not deny the reality of His miracles, they ascribed them to the agency of Beelzebub. By this malicious, wilful opposition to the strongest evidence of fact, against the conviction of their own minds, and by their violent, determined rejection of His mission, they committed the unpardonable sin. They spoke and sinned against the Holy Spirit. This sin no one can have committed, while he is fearful lest he has committed it, for it essentially consists, in a deliberate and wilful refusal of the only means of salvation. It is the sign of final absolute impenitence. They who had thus ascribed His miracles to Beelzebub, expressed the same height of enlightened malice against Him in His dying agonies, and there was a poignancy in their insults, of which the ignorant multitude were not capable.
(1.)
They reproached His great design for which He came
into the world.
He saved others, himself he cannot save
(
(2.)
They reproached Him for His trust and confidence in
God. He had said that
God was His own Father
(
But what is all this to us? It is very much to us.
Christ could suffer but once, yet we read of those
who crucify Him afresh.
His Gospel represents His personal ministry, declares
His character, reveals His love, produces the same effects in those who
receive it, and they who oppose it, are considered as opposing Him, and
are influenced, by the same spirit, which instigated the unbelieving
Jews. It is to be hoped that many reject and scorn it through
ignorance, as the multitude did of old; and that the intercession of
Him, who prayed for those that knew not what they did, will prevail for
their conversion. Whenever their eyes are opened,
they will be pricked to the heart
(
But it is to be feared, there are, in Christian
countries many persons who too nearly resemble the spirit and conduct
of the Jewish rulers; whose opposition proceeds from rooted enmity to
the truth persisted in against light that has sometimes forced upon
their minds, and who, though convinced, will not be persuaded. They,
who despise, calumniate and scorn the believers of the Gospel, would
certainly offer the like treatment to the Author of it, if He was
within their reach. They are ill-treated for His sake, and He considers
it as an affront to Himself. Thus He said to Saul of Tarsus, when
breathing out threatening against His disciples,
Why persecutes thou Me?
They who reject his ministers, reject Him
(
—— O ——
Sermon XXII
Messiah Unpitied, and Without a Comforter
Reproach [Rebuke] hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:
and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.
T he greatness of suffering cannot be certainly estimated by the single consideration of the immediate, apparent cause; the impression it actually makes upon the mind of the sufferer, must likewise be taken into the account. That which is a heavy trial to one person, may be much lighter to another, and, perhaps, no trial at all. And a state of outward prosperity, in which, the eye of the bystander can see nothing wanting to happiness, may be, (and I doubt not, often is) a state of torment to the possessor. On the other hand, we know that the consolations, with which it has sometimes pleased God to cheer His suffering servants, have enabled them to rejoice in the greatest extremities. They have triumphed upon the rack, and while their flesh was being consumed by the fire. The Lord has had many followers, who, for His sake, have endured scourgings, and tortures, and terrible deaths, not only without reluctance or dismay, but without a groan. But He, Himself, was terrified, amazed, and filled with anguish when He suffered for us. Shall we say, The disciples, in such cases, have been superior to their Master; when yet they acknowledged, that they derived all their strength and resolution, from Him? This difference, cannot be well accounted for, by those who deny that His sufferings were a proper atonement for sin, and who can see no other reason for His death, than that by dying He was to seal the truth of His doctrine, and to propose Himself to us as an example of constancy and patience. But the great aggravation of MESSIAH’S sufferings was, the suspensions of those divine supports, which enable His people to endure the severest afflictions to which He calls them. Perhaps some persons who acknowledge our Lord’s true character, may, upon that ground, think His agonies less insupportable, since He was not a mere man, but God in the human nature. It was, indeed, the dignity of His person that gave influence and efficacy to all that He did and suffered for sinners. It is likewise true that the weight laid upon Him was more than any mere creature could sustain. I would speak, with reverence and reserve, upon a point which is too high for our weak minds fully to comprehend. But in whatever way the nature of man, which He assumed, was upheld by His eternal power and Godhead, we may venture to affirm, that He derived no sensible comfort from it. For we have His own testimony that, in this sense, God had forsaken Him . The divine nature could neither bleed nor suffer. He was truly and properly a man; and as a man, He suffered, and He suffered alone. Many of His servants have rejoiced while they were tormented, because God overbalanced all they felt, with the light of His countenance; but the Saviour Himself, deprived of this light, experienced to the uttermost all that sin deserved, that was not inconsistent with the perfection of His character. My text expresses, so far as human words and ideas can reach, His exquisite distress, when He bore our sins in His own body, upon the tree. Reproach broke His heart, and when He looked for pity and comfort He found none.
I.
Reproach hath broken my heart.
We must not confine our thoughts here, to the
reproach of His enemies. The passage in the
Messiah
[Oratorio] expresses it, agreeably to the version of
the Psalms used in our liturgy,
Thy rebuke.
Though
He knew no sin, He was made sin for us.
He was accounted and treated as a sinner. Now a
sinner is, deservedly, the greatest object of contempt in the universe,
and, indeed, the only object of deserved contempt. Thus He incurred the
reproach of the law and justice of God. The Holy Father, viewing the
Son of His love in this light, as charged with the sins of His people,
forsook Him. God infinitely hates sin, and will have no fellowship with
it; and of this He gave the most awful proof, by forsaking His beloved
Son; when He took upon Him to answer for the sins of men. Then the
sword of the Almighty awoke against Him, and He spared Him not
(
This rebuke broke His heart. Let broken-hearted
sinners look, by faith, upon a broken-hearted Saviour. The phrase
denotes woe and dejection inconceivable, with a failure of all
resource. Anything may be borne while the spirit, the heart, remains
firm; but if the heart itself be broken, who can endure?
A wounded spirit, who can bear?
(
It is not surprising, therefore, that He says,
I am full of heaviness.
In the Evangelists, we read, that He
began to be sore amazed, and very heavy
(
This is not a subject for declamation. It rather
becomes us to adore in humble silence, the manifestation
of the goodness and severity of God
(
II.
Under this accumulated distress, though His will was perfectly submissive to the will of God, and His determination fixed to endure all that the case required; yet, as He was truly a man, He felt like a man. His fortitude was very different from a stoical hardness of spirit. All the affections of pure humanity, whatever does not imply sin (such as impatience under suffering, and an undue premature desire for deliverance), operated in Him, as they might do in one of us. It was no impeachment of His innocence, or of His willingness, that He wished, if it were possible, for some relief or alleviation of His misery. He looked, as we do, when we are in heaviness, for some to have pity on Him, and to comfort Him, but there was none. Though the pity of our friends is often ineffectual, and can afford us no real assistance, yet it gives a little relief to have those about us, to whom we can open our minds; who will sympathize with us, and compassionately attend to our complaints, if they can do no more. And to be neglected and forsaken in extremity, especially by those who have expressed great friendship, or are under great obligations to us, will be felt as an aggravation of the most distressing case that can be imagined. But thus it was with MESSIAH. He had to complain, not only of the cruelty of His enemies, but of the insensibility and inconstancy, of those, who had professed the most cordial attachment to Him. The impression this made upon Him, as a man, was such that it is distinctly specified in the prophetical enumeration of the ingredients, which composed the bitter cup of His sufferings.
He was not only apprehended by cruel men, but betrayed into their hands by one whom He had admitted into the number of His select apostles, who had been employed in His service, favoured with access to Him in His more retired hours, and was present with the rest when he kept His last Passover, and took His solemn and affectionate leave of them, before He entered upon His Passion. It was not an avowed enemy, but one of the twelve who dipped with Him in the dish, that was guilty of this enormous ingratitude and treachery. How keen are our resentments, if those, to whom we have shown great kindness, are discovered to have studied our ruin while they wore the mask of friendship? Though MESSIAH was incapable of any sinful perturbation of mind, He was very capable of being painfully affected, by the conduct of Judas; He had reason to look for pity from him, but He found none.
When He entered the Garden of Gethsemane, He
commanded, may I not say, He entreated, His disciples to tarry there
and watch with Him. And to engage their utmost attention, He spoke
plainly to them of His distress, saying,
My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto
death.
Yet when He returned to them, the first, the second,
yea, the third time,
He found them sleeping.
How tender, yet how forcible was His
expostulation,
Could ye not watch one hour!
(
When He was apprehended, notwithstanding their former
protestation of zeal and love,
they all forsook Him and fled
(
But Peter followed his Lord to the hall of the High
Priest, and there saw Him, with his own eyes, insulted, arraigned, and
unjustly condemned. Might He not expect that
Peter,
the most active and earnest of all His followers,
would have pitied Him at least at such a time? Alas! instead of pitying
Him,
Peter denied Him;
he denied with oaths and imprecations, that he had
any knowledge of Him, whom he had seen transfigured upon the mount, and
whom he had seen
agonizing
in
the garden.
We read,
That the Lord turned and looked upon Peter
(
When He was nailed to the cross, He was surrounded only by enemies. These, as we have seen, far from pitying, or attempting to comfort Him, derided and mocked Him. How have some of us felt for our friends in their dying hours, though we have seen every possible attention paid to them, and everything provided and done for them, that could administer to their relief and comfort! But they, who have the faith which realizes unseen things, have their best Friend expiring in tortures, and insulted by His murderers, in His last moments.
But had all His disciples been near Him, and had all His enemies been His friends, still, in His situation, He would have been alone. The loss of the light of God’s countenance, will, to the soul that has enjoyed it, create a universal solitude, and render every earthly good tasteless, in proportion as that soul is united to Him in love; and still more, if there be superadded a sense of His displeasure. They, who have never tasted that the Lord is good, not having known the difference, can have no conception of this subject. Their minds are, at present, occupied with earthly things; and while they are thus engaged with trifles, they cannot believe, though they are repeatedly told it, that to an immortal spirit, a separation from the favour of God involves in it the very essence of misery. But should death surprise them in their sins, tear them from all that they have seen and loved, and plunge them into an unknown, unchangeable world, then (alas! too late!) they will be sensible of their immense, irreparable loss, in being cut off from the fountain of life and comfort. A suspension of this Divine presence, with an awful sense and feeling of what those, for whom He made Himself responsible, deserved, was the most dreadful part of the Redeemer’s sufferings. —He was perfectly united to the will and love of His Heavenly Father, and by the perfect holiness of His nature, incapable of tasting satisfaction in any thing else, if His presence were withdrawn. But when He endured the curse of the law for us, He looked to God for pity and comfort, but He found none.
In this glass [magnifying glass of God‘s Word] we are to contemplate the demerit of sin. But there are some sufferings due to the impenitent sinner, of which MESSIAH was not capable. I mean the consciousness of personal guilt, the gnawing of a remorseful conscience, and the rage of despair. If we add the idea of eternity to the whole, we may form some faint judgment of what they are delivered from, who believe in Him, and what misery awaits those who presume to reject Him. Awful thought, to reject the only Saviour. If they refuse His mediation, they must answer in their own persons. Then they will find no pity, no comforter. For who, or what, can comfort, when the LORD God Omnipotent arises to punish? What will your pleasures, your wealth, or friends, do for you, when the hand of the Lord shall touch you to the quick? What smile can you expect will support you, against the terror of His frown?
Should any of you hear the Messiah [Oratorio] performed again, then and there, if not before, may God impress upon your heart the sense of this passage. Then you will understand, that the sufferings of the Son of God, are, by no means, a proper subject for the amusement of a vacant hour.
—— O ——
Sermon XXIII
No Sorrow Like Messiah’s Sorrow
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Behold, and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow!
A
lthough the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the law
of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophecies
(
There is, however, a useful way of preaching,
by accommodation,
that is, when the literal sense is first clearly
stated to apply the passage, not directly to prove a doctrine, as if
really contained in it, but only to illustrate the doctrine expressly
taught in other parts of the Scripture. Thus, for instance, if the
question of Jonadab to Amnon
(
The text I have just read to you
(
The expostulation, and the question, are equally applicable to the sufferings of MESSIAH. The former, indeed, is not inserted in the Oratorio , but I am not willing to leave it out. The highest wonder ever exhibited to the world, to angels, and men, is the Son of God, suffering and dying for sinners. Next to this, hardly anything is more astonishing to an enlightened mind —than the gross and stupid insensibility with which the sufferings of the Saviour are treated, and the indifference with which this wonderful event is regarded by creatures who are so nearly concerned in it. If they believe in Him, they will be healed by His wounds, and live by His death. If they finally reject Him, they must perish; and their guilt, and misery will be greatly aggravated by what they have heard of Him! But sin has so blinded our understandings, and hardened our hearts, that we have, naturally, no feeling, either for Him, or for ourselves.
I.
Is the expostulation suited to any person here? Can
I, with propriety, say, to some who are now present, Has this subject
been, hitherto, nothing to you? Then, surely, you have not heard of it
before; and, therefore, now you do hear of it, you will, you must, be
affected. If you were to read in the common newspapers, that a
benevolent and excellent person had fallen into the hands of murderers,
who had put him to death in the most cruel manner, would it not be
something to you? Could you avoid impressions of surprise, indignation,
and grief? Surely, if this transaction were
news
to you, it would engross your thoughts. But alas! you
have rather heard of it too often, till it has become to you as a
worn-out tale. I am willing to take it for granted, that you allow the
fact. You believe that Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
condemned by the Jews, and crucified by the Romans. And is it possible
this should be nothing to you? Is it too insignificant to engage, or
deserve your attention? And yet, perhaps, you have wept at a
representation, or a narrative, which, you knew, was wholly founded in
fiction. How strange? What! the sorrows of Jesus nothing to you ! when
you admit that He suffered for sinners, and will probably admit
that
you
are a sinner. No longer, then, boast of your
sensibility! Your heart must be a heart of stone. Yet thus it is with
too many; your tempers, your conduct, give evidence that, hitherto, the
death of Jesus has been nothing to you. You would not have acted
otherwise, at least you would not have acted worse, if you had never
heard of His name. Were His sufferings anything to you, is it possible
that you would live in the practice of those sins, for which no
atonement could suffice, but His blood? Were you duly affected by the
thought of His crucifixion, is it possible that you could crucify Him
afresh, and put Him to open shame, by bearing the name of a Christian,
and yet living in a course unsuitable to the spirit and precepts of His
Gospel? But if you are indifferent to
His
grief, is it nothing to you on your own account?
What! is it nothing to you whether you are saved or perish? whether you
are found at His right, or His left hand, in the great Day of His
appearance? or whether He shall then say to you,
Come ye blessed, inherit the Kingdom prepared for
you;
or,
Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire?
(
II.
With respect to the question, if we rightly understand what has been observed from the Scripture history, in the six preceding sermons, concerning the particulars of His Passion; we may answer, without hesitation, Never was suffering or sorrow like that which MESSIAH endured, in the Day of the Lord’s fierce anger. It is possible that history, which is little more than a detail of the cruelty and wickedness of mankind, may furnish us with instances of many persons who have suffered excruciating torments, and have been mocked and insulted in their agonies: But,
(1.)
Was there ever a character, of His dignity and
excellence, treated in such a manner? Job considered his former state
as a great aggravation of his sufferings. He enlarges upon the respect
which had been shown him in his prosperity.
When I went out to the gate, through the city, the
young men saw me and hid themselves, the aged arose and stood up. When
the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave
witness to me
(
(2.)
Was there ever so innocent a sufferer? When Aaron
lost his two sons, he held his peace
(
(3.)
Did ever any sufferer experience, in an equal degree,
the Day of God’s fierce anger? In the greatest of our sufferings,
in those which bear the strongest marks of the Lord’s
displeasure, there is always some mitigation, some mixture of mercy. At
the worst, we have still reason to acknowledge that,
He hath not dealt with us after our own sins, nor
according to the full desert of our iniquities
(
The unknown sorrows of the Redeemer, are a continual source of support and consolation to His believing people. In His sufferings, they contemplate His atonement, His love, and His example, and they are animated by the bright and glorious issue: For He passed from death to life, from suffering to glory.
(1.)
His atonement,
apprehended by faith, delivers them from guilt and
condemnation, gives them peace with God, and access to Him with liberty
as children
(
(2.)
His love
, in submitting to such sorrows for their sakes,
attaches their hearts to Him. Great is the power of love! It makes hard
things easy, and bitter sweet. Some of us can tell, or rather, we
cannot easily tell, how much we would cheerfully do, or bear, or
forbear, for the sake of the person whom we dearly love. But this
noblest principle of the soul, can never exert itself with its full
strength, till it is supremely fixed upon its proper object.
The love of Christ has a constraining force
indeed!
(
(3.)
His example. The thought that He suffered for them, arms them with the like mind. They look to Him and are enlightened. By His cross they are crucified to the world, and the world to them. They no longer court its favour, or are afraid of its frown. They know what they must expect, if they will be His servants, by the treatment He met with; and they are content. He, who endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself, for them, is worthy that they should suffer, likewise, for Him. It is their desire neither to provoke the opposition of men, nor to dread it. They commit themselves to Him, and are sure that He will not expose them to such sufferings, as He endured for them. So, likewise, under all the trials and afflictions, which they endure, more immediately, from the hand of the Lord, a lively thought of His sorrows reconciles them to their own. Thus by His stripes they are healed, and are comforted by having fellowship with Him in His sufferings.
(4.)
Lastly, if more were necessary, (and, sometimes,
through remaining infirmity and surrounding temptation, every
consideration is no more than necessary) they know that their
Lord
passed through sufferings to glory.
And they know (for they have His own gracious
promise)
that if they suffer with Him, they shall also reign
with Him
(
—— O ——
Sermon XXIV
Messiah’s Innocence Vindicated
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
and who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
L et not plain Christians be stumbled because there are difficulties in the prophetical parts of the Scriptures, and because translators and expositors sometimes explain them with some difference, as to the sense. Whatever directly relates to our faith, practice, and comfort, may be plainly collected from innumerable passages, in which all the versions, and all sober expositors agreed. That there are some differences, will not appear strange, if we consider the antiquity of the Hebrew language, and that the Old Testament is the only book extant, which was written during the time that it was the common language of the people. For this reason we meet with many words which occur but once; and others, which do not occur frequently, are evidently used in more than one sense. If we suppose that a time should come, when the English language should be no longer spoken, and no more than a single volume in it be preserved, we may well conceive that posterity might differ, as to the sense of many expressions, notwithstanding the assistances they might obtain, by comparing the English with the French, Dutch, and other languages, which were in use at the same period. Such assistance, we derive from the Chaldee, Syriac, Greek, and other ancient versions of the Old Testament, sufficient to confirm us in the true sense of the whole, and to throw light upon many passages otherwise dark and dubious; and yet, there will remain a number of places, the sense of which, the best critics have not been able to fix with certainty. Farther, the prophecies are usually expressed in the style of poetry, which, in all languages, is remote from the common forms of speaking. The grand evidence to a humble mind, that the Holy Scripture was originally given by inspiration of God, and that the version of it, which by His good Providence we are favoured with, is authentic, is, the effect it has upon the heart and conscience, when enlightened by the Holy Spirit. And without this internal, experimental evidence, the learned are no less at a loss than the vulgar.
An acquaintance with the Hebrew, will, perhaps, suggest a meaning in this verse (the latter part of which is taken into the Messiah [Oratorio] ) which may not readily occur to an English reader. But, the purport of it, is plainly expressed, in many other passages. The text is not merely a repetition of what was spoken before, concerning the Redeemer’s sufferings; rather the declaration, of what was to follow them, begins here. It is the opening of a bright and glorious subject. He was taken, He was taken up, like Enoch and Elijah, from prison, and from judgment, and who can declare His generation? or, (as the word properly signifies) His age? Who can declare His state, the establishment and duration of His dignity, influence, and government? For though He was cut off, made an excision and a curse, from amongst men, it was not upon His own account, but for the transgression of my people, that He was smitten.
God was manifested in the flesh
(
(1.)
The first attestation, and which of itself is fully sufficient to establish this point, is that of Judas. He was one of the twelve apostles who attended our Lord’s person, and who were admitted to a nearer and more frequent intercourse with Him than the rest of His disciples. Though our Lord knew that his heart was corrupt, and that he would prove a traitor, He does not appear to have treated him with peculiar reserve; or, to have kept him more at a distance than the other apostles; for when He told them, One of you shall betray me, they had no particular suspicion of Judas. He, therefore, was well acquainted with the more retired hours of his Master’s life. He had been often with Him in Gethsemane, before he went thither to betray Him to His enemies. When he had acted this treacherous part, if he, who had been frequently present when Jesus conversed most freely in private, with His select followers, had known anything amiss in His conduct, we may be sure he would gladly have disclosed it, for his own justification.
Christian societies have usually been reviled and
slandered by those who have apostatized from them; their mistakes, if
they were justly chargeable with any, have been eagerly published and
exaggerated; and many things, often laid to their charge, which they
knew not. But Judas, on the contrary, was compelled by his conscience,
to return his ill-gotten gain to the chief priests and elders, and to
confess,
I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood
(
(2.)
Though
Pilate,
likewise, condemned
MESSIAH
to death, to gratify the importunity of the Jews, he
repeatedly declared his firm persuasion of His innocence. And he did it
with great solemnity.
He took water, and washed his hands,
publicly,
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person
(
(3.)
The thief upon the cross,
with his dying breath, said,
This man hath done nothing amiss.
If his competency as a witness should be disputed,
because it is probable he had known but little of Him, I admit the
objection. Be it so, that this malefactor had little personal knowledge
of our Lord. Then his opinion of His innocence must have been founded
upon public report; and, therefore, it seems he spoke not for himself
only; but his words may be taken as a proof, that the people at large,
though they suffered themselves to be influenced by the chief priests,
to demand His death, and to prefer Barabbas a robber and a murderer to
Him, were generally conscious that He had done nothing amiss. Many of
those who now said,
Crucify Him, Crucify Him,
had, not long before, welcomed Him with acclamations
of praise, saying,
Hosanna to the Son of David.
This inconsistence, and inconstancy, is not
altogether surprising to those who are well acquainted with the
weakness and wickedness of human nature in its present state; and who
consider the effects which the misrepresentations and artifice of
persons of great name, and in high office, have often produced in the
minds of the ignorant and superstitious. Thus, at Lystra, through the
persuasion of the Jews, the Apostle Paul was stoned and left for dead
by the very people who, a little before, could with difficulty be
restrained from paying him divine honours
(
(4.)
Though the salvation of men, and the honour of the law of God, required that when MESSIAH undertook to make an atonement for our sins, He should be thus given up to the rage and cruelty of His enemies, suffer all the infamy due to the worst and vilest transgressors, and be deserted by God and man; yet, His Heavenly Father , bore a signal and solemn testimony to His character. The frame of nature sympathized with her suffering Lord. The heavens were clothed with sackcloth; the sun withdrew his shining; the sanctuary was laid open, by the rending of the veil of the temple from the top to the bottom; the earth trembled greatly; the rocks were rent; the graves opened; and the dead arose. These events, in connection with what had passed before, extorted an acknowledgement of His innocence from the Roman centurion, who was appointed to attend His execution.
Thus it appears, that Judas who betrayed Him; the Jewish council, which could not find sufficient ground, even though they employed false and suborned witnesses, to pass sentence upon Him; Herod, who derided Him; Pilate, who condemned Him; the malefactor, who suffered with Him; and the commander of the soldiers who crucified Him, all combined in a declaration of His innocence: God Himself confirming their word, by signs and wonders in heaven, and upon earth.
It may seem quite unnecessary to prove the innocence
of Him, who in His human nature was absolutely perfect, and in whom,
the presence and fulness of God dwelt. And it
is,
indeed, unnecessary to those who believe in His name.
It is, however, a pleasing contemplation to them, and has an important
influence upon their faith and hope. In this they triumph,
that He who knew no sin Himself, was made sin,
was treated as a sinner for them,
that they might be made the righteousness of God in
Him. The High Priest of our profession needed not,
as those who typified His office of old,
to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and
then for the sins of the people,
for He was perfectly holy, harmless, and undefiled.
And had He not been a lamb without spot or blemish, He could not have
been accepted on our behalf. It was the perfection of His voluntary
obedience to the law of our nature, under which He submitted to be
made, which, conjoined with the excellence of His character as the Son
of God, made Him meet [qualified], able, and worthy, to expiate our
transgressions. By the
one offering
—of Himself, once offered,
He has made an end of sin, brought in an everlasting
righteousness, and having appeared with His own blood within the veil,
in the presence of God for us, and ever living to make intercession for
all who come unto God by Him. In Him, all the seed of Israel shall be
justified and shall glory
(
But who that knows these things, can sufficiently commiserate the fatal effects of that unbelief, which blinds and hardens the hearts of multitudes! especially that more learned, and informed, and, therefore more inexcusable unbelief, which characterizes the modern patrons of scepticism. They read and admire ancient history. There is no old story so frivolous, or improbable, but it is sufficient to engage their attention, and to exercise their acumen, if it be found in * Herodotus, or * Livy. They spare no pains, they perplex themselves, and weary their readers, with their attempts to decipher an ancient inscription, or to fix the date, or reconcile the circumstances of a supposed event, which after all, perhaps, never took place, but in the imagination of the writer. Their implicit deference to such uncertain authorities as these, often verges upon the border of extreme credulity. The Bible is an ancient history likewise, and if it was only received upon the footing of the rest, as merely a human composition, the facts which it relates, and the manner in which they are related, the admirable simplicity of narration in some parts, the unrivalled sublimity [excellence, grandeur, beauty] of description in others; the justness and discrimination of characters; the views it unfolds, of the workings of the human heart, and the springs of action, so exactly conformable to experience and observation, might surely recommend it to their notice. And possibly, if it did claim no higher authority than a human composition, men, who have any just pretensions to taste, would admire it, no less, than they now undervalue it. But because it does not flatter their pride, nor give indulgence to their corrupt propensities, they are afraid to study it, lest the internal marks of its divine original, should force unwelcome convictions upon their minds. Therefore they remain willingly ignorant of its contents, or the knowledge they discover of it is so very superficial, that a well-instructed child of ten years of age may smile at the mistakes of critics and philosophers. That such a book is extant, is undeniable. How can they account for its production? A view of what they have actually done, will warrant us to assert that the wisest men of antiquity, neither would have written such a book if they could; nor were they able, had they been ever so willing. And yet we have as good evidence, that the New Testament was written by plain and unlearned men, as we have for any fact recorded in history. How could such men, invent such a book! And how could they, without seeming directly to design it, but incidentally, as it were, represent that persons of such various characters, who concurred in putting Jesus to death, should all equally concur in establishing the testimony of His innocence! * Herodotus - Greek historian of the 5 th Century.
* Livy - Titus Livius (59 BC – AD 17), a Roman historian
True Christians, when they suffer unjustly, may
learn, from the example of their Lord, to suffer patiently. The Apostle
presses this argument upon servants
(
—— O ——
Sermon XXV
Messiah Rising from the Dead
For Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
T hat the Gospel is a divine revelation may be summarily proved from the character of its Author. If an infidel was so far divested of prejudice and prepossession, as to read the history of Jesus Christ, recorded by the Evangelists, with attention, and in order to form his judgment of it, simply and candidly, as evidence should appear; I think he must observe many particulars in his spirit and conduct, so very different from the prevailing sentiments of mankind, as to convince him, that man, in his present state, could not possibly have conceived the idea of such a character. Poets, and historians, have often employed their powers in delineating, what appeared to them, the great, and the excellent, in human conduct. But how different are the pictures of their admired heroes, sages and legislators, from the portrait of the Saviour, as it is drawn, with the utmost simplicity, by plain, unlettered men, who, without art or affectation, only describe what they profess to have seen and heard. I fix, at present, upon a single consideration, which, perhaps, cannot be expressed more properly, or forcibly, than in the words of an ingenious * writer, now living —
“
He [
Jesus Christ
] is the only founder of a religion, in the history
of mankind, which is totally unconnected with all human policy and
government, and, therefore, totally unconducive to any worldly purpose
whatever. All others, Mahomet, Numa, and even Moses himself, blended
their religious institutions with their civil, and by them, obtained
dominion over their respective people; but Christ neither aimed at, nor
would accept of any such power. He rejected every object
(
* Soame Jenyns (1704-1787) - “Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion”
The death of our Lord was, indeed, essential to His plan; as such, it was constantly in His view, and He often spoke of it. Probably it was the whole of His enemies’ plan, and when they saw Him dead, buried, and the sepulchre sealed, they triumphed in their success, and expected to hear of Him no more. But the Scriptures, which were read in their synagogues every Sabbath day, foretold His resurrection from the dead. The text before us, if there were no other, is a sufficient proof of this, to those who acknowledge the authority of the New Testament, since it is expressly applied to Him by the Apostles, Peter and Paul.
The word in the Hebrew text before us, rendered, in
our version,
Soul,
is used in different senses. According to the
connection in which it stands, it signifies breath, life, soul, or
spirit; and sometimes dead body. The corresponding Greek word, where
the Apostle quotes this verse
(
Though
MESSIAH
was, for our sakes, treated as a malefactor, all who
were immediately concerned in His death, were constrained (as we have
seen) to declare His innocence. But He was worthy of a more solemn and
authoritative justification. Accordingly,
He was declared to be the Son of God, with power, by
His resurrection from the dead
(
The Apostle expounds
Thine Holy One,
by the word
flesh
(
His resurrection, therefore, is the grand principal
fact, upon which the truth and importance of Christianity rests. For
though Christ died, if He had not risen again,
your faith, and our preaching, would be in
vain.
We should be
yet in our sins
(
But there are proofs of this point which depend not
upon arguments or history, which require neither learning, genius, nor
study to comprehend; but are equally adapted to persons of all
capacities, and in all circumstances. These are the effects which this
doctrine produces on the hearts of those who truly receive it upon the
authority of Scripture, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, whose
office it is to open the eyes of the mind, to take of the things of
Jesus, (what the Scripture reveals of His person, offices, and glory)
and to present them, with infallible light and evidence, to those who
humbly yield themselves to His teaching. These are made
partakers
of the power of His resurrection
(
I do but touch upon these particulars at present,
because the subject will come under our consideration again, from a
subsequent passage in the
Oratorio
. Yet I would not wholly omit leading your
reflections to them, though what I briefly offer now, may make, what I
shall then offer (if my life is prolonged to proceed so far), appear
under the disadvantage of a repetition of the same thoughts. Indeed, I
know not how to place the proof of this capital doctrine in a light
entirely new. The most satisfactory proofs are the most obvious; and it
would be folly to substitute weaker in their place, for the sake of
novelty. But if
I should
live to resume the subject,
some of you,
who are now present, may not live to hear me. So far
as concerns the fact, I may hope that the most, or all of you, are
believers, and that you are already persuaded in your minds that
the Lord is risen indeed!
(
Many are the advantages which true Christians derive from a spiritual and enlightened knowledge of this doctrine. I will mention a few.
(1.)
As
MESSIAH
was
delivered,
that is delivered up, as a hostage to the demands of
justice,
for our offences,
so they know that
He was raised again for our justification
(
(2.)
The resurrection of Christ from the dead, is a pledge
and specimen of that almighty power which is engaged on their behalf,
to overcome all the obstacles, difficulties and enemies they are liable
to meet with in their pilgrimage, which threaten to disappoint their
hopes, and to prevent them from obtaining their heavenly inheritance.
The first communication of a principle of faith and spiritual life to
their hearts, whereby they are delivered from the dominion of sin, and
from the spirit and love of the world, is attributed to
the exceeding greatness of that might power,
which raised the dead body of their Lord from the
grave, and set Him at His own right hand,
far above all principality and might, and every name
that is named
(
(3.)
His resurrection is the pledge and pattern of ours.
As certainly as Christ the firstfruits is risen, so certainly shall
they that are Christ’s arise at His coming. And each of His
people shall arise, “
aliusque & idem”
—
another, and yet the same.
Their bodies, though properly their own, shall be
changed,
and fashioned like unto His glorious body
(
Genesis
1:3 1:31 3:15 28:17 31:40 32:14 32:15 33:13
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
Ezra
Job
7:1 11:7 29 30:8-14 30:29 36:22 38:7
Psalms
2 3:8 16:10 22:7 22:8 22:16 23:1 23:1 23:3 23:4 32:1 34:5 34:19 37:37 40:7 45:4 45:7 56:8 65:10 68:18 69:20 72:17 74:20 76:10 85:8 85:10 89:15 89:16 97:10 97:11 98:3 100:3 102:25-27 103:10 106:4 107:1 107:2 110:3 111:10 112:7 113:6 115:2 118:15 119:136 119:158 124:8 127:1 129:3 130:7 146:8
Proverbs
1:24 1:26 3:17 8:20-31 8:34 11:30 16:1 16:23 18:14 29:1
Ecclesiastes
Isaiah
1:21 2:11 5:4 5:20 7:14 9:2 9:3 9:6 12:2 26:4 27:3 30:21 35:5 35:6 37:26-29 40:1 40:2 40:3-5 40:9 40:29 43:13 45:14 45:17 45:22 45:22 45:25 49:6 50:6 50:11 53:3 53:4 53:5 53:6 53:6 53:7 53:8 53:10 53:10 54:5 55:2 55:8 55:8 55:9 55:9 55:10 55:11 56:10 56:11 57:15 57:21 60:1-3 60:20 61:2 61:3 65:1
Jeremiah
2:6 2:13 2:13 2:19 3:22 6:16 9:23 17:5-8 23:6 45:5
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Amos
Micah
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
1:23 3:17 4:2 4:15 4:16 5:11 5:13 5:18 6:6 6:11 7:13 7:14 9:2 9:12 9:38 11 11 11:3-6 11:6 11:11 11:27 11:28 11:28 11:28 12:23 12:24 13:55 14:8-11 16:18 17:27 18:7 18:20 18:20 20:28 21:10 21:11 21:14-16 21:18 21:19 21:37 23:27 23:30 23:31 23:31 23:37 25:16 25:30 25:34 25:34 25:41 26:37 26:38 26:38 26:38 26:40 26:53 26:56 27:4 27:20 27:24 27:42 27:46 28:16 28:20
Mark
1:24 4:39 7:6 9:23 10:14 10:27 13:27 14:33 14:70 15:2 16:16
Luke
1:31 1:32 1:35 2 2:4 2:8-14 2:35 4:21 6:40 6:40 6:46 7:31 7:37 7:38 9:31 10:16 13:28 13:29 16:15 18:2 18:22 19 19:10 19:40 19:42 22:42 22:44 22:44 22:61 23:15 23:21 23:34 23:39 23:41 23:42 24:21 24:34 24:44 24:46
John
1:1 1:11 1:14 1:14 1:16 1:17 1:18 1:29 3:12 3:14 3:14 4:9 5:18 5:18 5:40 5:43 6:31 6:35 6:35 6:37 6:37 6:37 6:40 6:54 6:57 6:58-60 7:5 7:37 7:48 7:52 8:12 8:53 9:16 9:22 9:39 9:39 10:10 10:11 10:11 10:14 10:16 10:20 10:28 11:25 11:43 12:24 12:26 12:32 12:32 12:33 12:33 12:34 12:35 12:42 13:1 13:1 14:6 14:14 15:1 15:1 15:5 15:22 15:22 16:7 16:9 16:9 17:24 18:31 18:36 18:40 19:5 19:30
Acts
2:23 2:24 2:26 2:27 2:37 5:41 6:7 9:1-20 10:4 10:5 10:38 11:26 14:7 14:12 14:19 15:10 17:30 19:21 20:24 20:24 20:24 20:28 28:22
Romans
1:4 1:16 1:28 1:30 3:25 3:25 3:26 3:26 4:6 4:25 5:1 5:2 5:3 5:20 6:1 7:13 8:1 8:7 8:18 8:29 8:33 8:34 9:5 9:19 10:12 11:13 11:22 14:17 15:19 16:18
1 Corinthians
1:29-31 2:2 2:9 4:3 4:7 5:7 12:3 13:12 15:17 16:18 16:22
2 Corinthians
1:5 1:9 3:5 3:18 4:2 4:2 4:5 4:6 4:16 4:17 5:14 5:14 5:17 5:19 5:21 6:17 7:13 8:9 8:9 12:9 12:9
Galatians
2:5 2:20 2:20 2:20 2:20 3:13 3:13 3:13 4:1-4 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:5 4:5 4:19 4:24 6:1 6:7 6:7 6:14
Ephesians
1:5 1:19-21 2:3 2:5 2:8 2:13-16 3:8 3:10 3:10 4:21 5:8 5:8 5:9 5:14
Philippians
1:11 1:29 2:5 2:6 2:7 2:7 2:13 2:15 3:3 3:7 3:8 3:8 3:8 3:10 3:18 3:20 3:21 4:7 4:13
Colossians
1:12 1:13 1:20 3:1 3:3 3:11 3:12
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Hebrews
1:1 1:3 1:10-12 2:11 2:14 4:1 4:12 4:15 7:26 7:27 8:6 9:26 10:1 10:4 10:4 11:39 11:40 12:3 12:6 12:6-11 12:7 12:14 12:18-22 12:22 12:23 12:26 13:20
James
1 Peter
1:4 1:5 1:8 1:12 1:21 2:9 2:15 2:18-21 2:21 2:24 2:25 3:1 3:18 5:2 5:3 5:4 5:7
2 Peter
1 John
1:6 2:2 2:6 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:12 4:5 4:19 5:20 5:20
Revelation
1:5 1:7 1:7 2:10 3:20 5:9 5:9-12 12:11 15:3 16:15 18:2 22:17