Discourses on the offices and character of Jesus Christ

DISCOURSES

ON THE

OFFICES AND CHARACTER

OF

JESUS CHRIST.

BY HENRY WARE, Jr.

MINISTER OF THE SECOND CHUW;H IN BOSTON.

^Whom the Father hath sanctified and sent.'

SECOND EDITION.

BOSTON,

DAVID REED, 81 WASHINGTON STREET,

PRINTED BY I. R. BUTTS AND CO.

1826,

TO THE REV. FRANCIS PARKMAN

Dear Sir,

Jis we have been so intimately and happily
united in our labors for the promotion of religion in
our associated churches; I am unwilling to be sepa-
rated from you in the present attempt to extend its truth
and influence, I therefore join your name with my own,
and beg you to regard it as a slight expression of the
esteem and affection of

Your friend and brother,

H. WARE, Jr

The following discourses were written in the ordina-
ry course of duty, most of them without any purpose
of publication. But when the author observed that he
had, undesignedly, almost completed a regular series, he
was led to hope that their publication might not be use-
less. To the friends who encouraged his design, and
aided him in their preparation for tlie press, he ac-
knowledges himself under many obligations ; of which
he would specify that of the main hint of the tenth ser-
mon, given him several years ago.

In discourses written as these have been, without re-
ference to each other, and at distant intervals during a
period of several years, there will of course be many
repetitions of the same or similar thoughts ; and nothing
of the connexion of parts or uniformity of design can be
expected, which should be found in a professed series.
Neither will the reader look for such discussions of the
several important questions which arise, as might be ex-
pected in a regular theological treatise. These are only
sermons — designed to be plain and practical, to help the
christian in his devotions, rather than in his speculations.

VI

That they may aid believers in rightly appreciating their
relation to the Saviour, and cultivating the sentiments
and habits which it requires, is the writer's highest wish
and ardent prayer.
Boston, May, 1825.

CONTENTS.

DISCOURSE I.
Christ the Foundation 9

' DISCOURSE II.

Jesus the Messiah y . . . . 21

DISCOURSE III.

Sufficiency and Efficacy of Faith in the Messiah . 35

DISCOURSE iv.
Jesus the Mediator 41

DISCOURSE V.
Jesus fhe Saviour 57

DISCOURSE VL
Jesus the High Priest 70

DISCOURSE VII.

The Atonement by Jesus Christ 81

DISCOURSE VIII.
Jestw the Intercessor 89

vm

DISCOURSE IX.

Christ the Judge of the World 105

DISCOURSE X.
On Honoring the Son 116

DISCOURSE XI.
The Example of our Lord 127

DISCOURSE 1.

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

1 Corinthians, iii. 11.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is

Jesus Christ.

In the preceding verses, the Apostle has been speaking
of the divisions which prevailed in the Corinthian church,
and which had arisen from their unchristian devotion to
particular teachers. He rebukes them for separating into
different parties under different heads, one of Paul, ano-
ther of Cephas, and another of ApoJlos. He reminds them
that these men are not to be regarded as heads of the
Church, but as ministers in it. ' Who is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed ;' not in whom.
* The one planted, the other watered ; but he that planted
and he that watered are one' — engaged in one work, pur-
suing one end, serving one master, and therefore not to be
set up against one another by their followers, and made
occasion of contention. * We are laborers together with
God' for your salvation. ' Ye are God's husbandry ;' it
is our business to watch and cherish the plants. ' Ye are
God's building ;' it is our business to toil in its erection,
and complete it a holy temple unto the Lord. * I have
laid the foundation, and another has built upon it. But
let every man take heed how he builds thereon ; for other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ ;' and do ye be careful that ye regard not us, nor con-
tend concerning us, as if we were ourselves the foundation.

2

10 CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

The caution which the apostle thus administers to the
Corinthian church, has not ceased to be important; and if
we would be saved from the folly and ruin of neglecting it,
it will become us to consider diligently of what, and m
-what sense^ Jesus Christ is the foundation. This will be -
the object of the present discourse.

1. Jesus is the foundation of the Church. It is built
upon him as the chief corner stone. This figure is not
uncommon with the writers of the New Testament. In
more than one instance they speak of the Church, or the
company of believers, as a Temple, each believer one of
the stones of which it is formed, and Jesus himself, the
foundation, or corner stone. Agreeably to this idea, Je-
sus is represented in our text as the only foundation on
which the church can stand, and in which believers should
trust.

The church is that society or collection of the good,
who have been brought home to God and been fitted for
heaven, through the instrumentality of the dispensations of
grace upon earth. It is a permanent body, existing alike
in all ages. It is one body, though of many members. It
must then have some common head, and common bond of
union ; and that is Christ. The members are united in
him as the branches in the vine, and draw nourishment
and support from one stock. If there be any other head,
bond of union, source of nourishment and strength, it ceases
to be the Church ; and those individual members who
abide not in him, are like branches severed from the vine,
* cast forth and withered.' Without him, they can do
nothing. They can find neither life, nor light, nor sup-
port, nor the power to bring forth fruit.

The believers at Corinth seem not sufficiently to have
considered this ; and hence the apostle rebukes them as
carnal. Instead of beins; satisfied with the authoritv of
Christ, they separated fi-om him and fi-om one another in
an unwise contention concerning the superiority of favorite
teachers — whom they thoughtlessly exalted to be their mas-
ters, altliough admonished that ' one only was their mas-
ter.' The reprimand of the apostle is here recorded as a

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION. 11

warning to all who should afterwards believe. Yet by how
many has it been unheeded ! Every age has witnessed
other men, and fallible men, set up at the head of the cor-
ner, instead of that elect and precious One whom God ap-
pointed. As the Samaritans erected a temple on mount
Gerizim in opposition to that at Jerusalem, so the sects in
Christendom have often erected some authority in prefer-
ence to that of Christ. There is still too much of this.
' I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas,' is still
a cry too frequently heard. Faith is yet established on
the speculations of fallible men, and the salvation of the
soul rested on the teaching of human wisdom.

This is an error frequently and pointedly censured by
Jesus and his Aposdes. It is virtually, though not profes-
sedly, a renunciation of his authority, a rejection of his
rule, a rebellion against his government. The man who
surrenders his judgment to the dictation of other men, in-
stead of appealing to die written word of Christ's instruc-
tion ; and the church, which fetters itself by articles drawn
up in language which man's wisdom teaches, instead of
walking in the wide liberty of the charter of God's truth ;
— have laid another foundation than that which is laid, and
are obnoxious to heavy rebuke.

2. In the next place, Christ is the only foundation be-
cause the christian religion rests on his authority. He
is its prime and only sufficient teacher. The religion is to
be learned from him, and to his word the final appeal must
be made. No representations of what it is, or of what it
teaches, are to be trusted, except so far as they are per-
ceived to be conformable to his own, as uttered in his life,
and recorded by his evangelists, or illustrated by his apos-
tles.

The wisdom of man is an uncertain and insufficient
guide. For Christianity is not something to be discovered
by us ; but is a revelation from heaven, sent for our ac-
ceptance, concerning which we have nothing to do, but to
study and receive it. It affords no scope for invention or
discovery. We may not add to it, nor take from it. We
may speculate concerning it, but may not affix our specu-

12 CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

lations as a part of it. And if we receive the alterations
or additions, which are found in the traditions of the church
or the books of its teachers, we may be sure that we re-
ceive error. For the greatest corruption in doctrine and
morals prevailed, when the teachers had hidden the Bible,
and set up tradition and authority in its stead ; when they
placed themselves in the seat of Jesus, and men obeyed
them instead of him. In this way. the true light, which
ought always to have been set like a city on a hill, was hid-
den as it were under a bushel, and an almost pagan dark-
ness overshadowed the world — a darkness, visible and
heavy — a darkness, that was ' felt' — which was scattered,
only by uncovering the light of God's holy word, and re-
storing the forgotten ascendancy of Jesus Christ.

The teaching of Jesus must be regarded as the fountain
of christian truth. The instructions of others, are but
streams flowing from it ; some nearer the source, and
some more distant from it ; but all likely to be more or less
aiFected by the character of the channel which conveys
them, and the soil through which they pass. Even the
words of the apostles are not to be taken before those of
Christ. For to them the spirit was given by measure, to
him ' without measure.' The treasure in them was in
* earthen vessels,' and they ' knew but in part.' The spirit
preserved them from injurious errors in communicating
and recording the truth ; but still they are not to be put on
a level with their infallible master, nor their episdes to be
esteemed and admired beyond his discourses. They
wrote for particular churches, on special occasions, often-
times on subjects of temporary interest and questions of
controversy, now settled and forgotten ; and this it is, which
makes some passages in their writings so hard to be under-
stood. Jesus, on the other hand, though adapting himself
to present circumstances, yet had in general a wider refer-
ence to all who should in any age believe on him. He was
laying the foundation of a temple for all people, while the
disciples were building upon it for particular communities.
Hence he is more easily and generally understood, and his
teaching is more universally applicable. Not that the epis*

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION. 13

ties are to be in any degree undervalued — for there are
large portions of them still of universal and most important
application. I only mean, we are to bear it in mind that he
is the master of the apostles, no less than of ourselves; and
that we are safest in deriving the first principles of our faith
from his own lips and life, and then interpreting the apos-
tles accordingly. And this is our duty — not only because,
as I said, he is our master and not they — but because, also,
a great part of the perplexing and unhappy consequences
arising from unintelligible and superstitious doctrine, and
from misapprehension of scripture, have sprung from this
very source — the leaning on the apostles instead of on
Jesus — the learning Christianity from their obscure discus-
sions of particular questions at Rome, or Corinth, or Gala-
tia, instead of taking it from the plain exposition of their
master, who spoke for the edification of all men, in all
ages, and under all circumstances. We shall avoid a great
evil by going directly to him, first of all. We are indeed
to build ' on the foundation of the prophets and the apos-
tles ;' but let no man forget that Christ is the ' chief corner
stone,' and that it is in him,* that ' the building, being fitly
framed together, is enabled to become a holy temple, ac-
ceptable to God.'

3. Again, Jesus Christ may be considered as the foun-
dation, because to believe in him as the predicted Messiah,
is the fundamental article of the christian faith. This is
important to be remarked, because it presents an answer
to an inquiry often made, in which all are interested, What
doctrine is to be regarded as truly fundamental and essen-
tial ^ The manner in which our text is worded, fairly sug-
gests a reply.

The term Christ, as is well known, is not the name of
the person, but the title of office. It indicates the station
or character, and is equivalent to the Messiah, or the
Anointed. The proper name of our Lord's person is Jesus;
by which he is designated throughout the Evangelists.

* Eph. ii. 21. The pronoun in the original is in the singular
number ; e> 'if.

2*-

14 CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

The official title, Christ, did not become a proper name
until after the resurrection. For until then the great unde-
cided question among his countrymen was, whether he were
truly the Christ or not. It was the belief that he was so,
which distinguished his disciples from the other Jews, and
they accordingly called him Jesus, the Christ — the Messiah
— the Anointed ; from which use it readily passed into a
name, as in our text, and throughout the Epistles.

The primary importance of this article of faith, thus de-
monstrated by its becoming inseparably associated with the
very name of the Saviour, points it out to us as the funda-
mental article of the christian's belief. All the other truths
and doctrines of the christian system grow out of this and
rest upon it. . Upon this depends the authority of the mas-
ter, and the allegiance of the disciples. While this stands,
these remain. If this be removed, they fall.

A slight glance at the history of the New Testament
confirms this position. The Messiah had been predicted
by many of the prophets, and his coming was anxious-
ly awaited by the Jewish people. At the time of our
Lord's appearance the expectation had become general
and impatient. Men thronged around him, ' musing in
Lheir hearts whether this were the Christ or not.' The
chief people sent messengers to inquire, and they put the
question to himself: ' Tell us plainly, art thou the Christ.'
This was the great controversy between the believers and
the Jews. Upon the decision of this, depended the whole
question of his authority and claims. Those who admitted
it, followed and obeyed him. Those who denied it, cruci-
fied and rejcctecfhim. Throughout the book of the x\cts,
therefore, we find that it is this which was the burden of
ihe Aposdes' preaching. * God hath made this same Jesus,
whom*ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.' ' Proving from
the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.' ' This Jesus, whom
I preach to you, is the Christ.' To establish this, was the
«>bject which they had at heart. To establish this, they
labored, and reasoned, and entroated. For they knew that
when this should be granted, all else would follow of course.
When they should have persuaded men to acknowledge

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION. 15

him as the Messiah, they knew that his instructions must
be received as the message of God, and his religion stand
and prevail by its divine light and power. Consequently
we find drawn up by them no authoritative list of essential
articles, no precise and dogmatical creeds, " which, except
a man keep whole and undefiled, he shall without doubt
perish everlastingly.'* No ; these were the inventions of
w^eaker men in more ignorant times, w^ho cared more for
their own and less for their master's influence. The Apos-
tles were satisfied to proclaim this as the one essential arti-
cle, the distinguishing principle of the Christian, on the re-
ception of which a man should be numbered among the
believers. They preached to men Jesus the Christ.
They declared what he had done and taught, and left them
to derive his system from his own life and instructions,
labours and sacrifices — aiding them, to be sure, by their
reasonings and illustrations ; but at the same time declaring,
* we have no dominion over your faith.' Would to God,
that all teachers had been as modest and consistent ! Would
to God, that all Christians would understand and abide by
the liberty thus allowed them — acknowledging no founda-
tion but this, Jesus the Christ, and taking heed ' how they
build thereon.'

4. We are likewise to regard Jesus Christ as the foun-
dation, because he is the source of all satisfactory religious
knowledge.

Jesus called himself, ^ the Light of the world ;' and he
is truly the fountain and depository of whatever light we
possess on the great subject of religion. There is to us,
strictly and properly speaking, no other. We know nothing
on the subject, clearly and certainly, but what we learn
from him, or have been enabled to attain in consequence of
what he has taught us. It is true that we gather something
of the existence, attributes, and providence of God from
the works of nature ; but how little should we be able to
do it, without the aid of revelation ? We find the great prin-
ciples of morality and accountableness in ' the law written

* The language of the Mhanasian Creed.

1^6 CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

on our hearts ;' but it is our previous acquaintance with the
christian revelation, which enables us to see them so dis-
tinctly there, and they have been very obscurely discerned
by those who have not the benefit of this aid. We might
learn something also from the great human lights, which
have adorned and instructed the world in all ages ; but not
enough, amidst their own vague and contradictory notions,
to be a sure and satisfactory guide. For it is certain, that
however great the wisdom of the world may have been,
still ' the world by wisdom knew not God.'

Whiit man might be capable of learning under any cir-
cumstances, from his own unassisted inquiry, it were unpro-
fitable to discuss. All history declares the plain and incon-
trovertible fact, that by his own unassisted inquiry he has
learned comparatively nothing. The certainty and defi-
niteness of the very first principles, he owes to the instruc-
tion of Jesus; and if he have added any thing by his own
efforts, it is because he has built upon this foundation, and
been guided by this light. Who knows any thing of God,
' but the Son, and he to whom the Son has revealed him ?'
Who understands any thing of the purposes of the divine
will, but they who have received it from Jesus ? Look over
the history of the world. Brethren; in former and in pre-
sent times, in christian and in pagan lands : — where do you
find religious knowledge, and from what fountains does it
flow ? Do you not trace all its streams to Nazareth ? Do
you not find every beam emanating from the Star of Beth-
lehem ? And is not every region dark and unwatered, which
these do not visit ? Look also to your own minds, and con-
sider whether you possess any valuable knowledge con-
cerning God, any certain and satisfactory truth, any sus-
taining and peace-giving acquaintance with things invisible
and futiu'e, which is not derived from the christian doctrine.
And will you not say, then, with earnest faith, ' Lord, to
whom should we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life.'

5. Again, we are to regard Jesus Christ as the founda-
tion of true morality ; as not only revealing the true system
of religious faith, and the character and purposes of God;

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION. 17

but as bearing an anthorized communication concerning
right and wrong, and establishing the laws of virtue.

It is a distinction of his religious system, that it is enni-
nently a system of morals, resting on authority. There
have been other moral systems, but they have rested on
speculation, and were therefore imperfect both in theory
and in practice. There have been other religious systems,
but they have been separated from morality; and have pro-
duced the monstrous absurdity of open and undisguised
alliance between religion and vice. Religion among the
pagan nations has been engaged in little else than expedi-
ents to a[»pease capricious divinities, and devices for recon-
ciling the consciences of men to their sins, and keeping the
state in order by mystery and spectacle. Jesus builds his
whole system on opposite principles, and makes a thorough,
undeviating, searching morality, its essential and vital spirit,
without which piety is but hypocrisy, and worsliip but blas-
Phemy.

The character of his morality, also, diners from that
which has been taught by the wise, and prevailed in the
customs of the world. They have appealed to the sensi-
tive sentiment of honor, and endeavored to make men vir-
tuous from selfishness and pride. They have cultivated a
spurious virtue, upon the soil of interest, policy and expe-
diency. They have set value on the superficial and showy,
rather than the deep and real. They have sometimes
placed virtue in passion, and sometimes in insensibility,
and sometimes in the useless and wasteful seclusion ot
indolent contemplation. The moral principle of the world
has thus been always unfixed and wavering ; it has fluc-
tuated with fashion and circumstances, and changed as
humor or accident might dictate. For the guides of
the world have erected their systems on false theories^
and on wrong and inadequate motives ; or if they had
not done so, yet they could settle nothing and control
no one, for they had no authority. But Jesus speaks with
authority — the authority of a commissioned messenger from
the moral Governor and Judge of men. He communicates,
from the instructions of Infinite Rectitude, the knowledge

18 CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

of duty, the boundf^ries of right and wrong, the definitions
and motives of virtue, the promises and tlireats of retribu-
tion.

The nature and requisitions of true morality are thus
established by one who has a right to establish them, and
from whose word there can lie no appeal. Our own feel-
ings, passions, and whims, by which we are so ready to be
ruled, must give up the reins to his law. To tliat must
be yielded the decision in all questions of conduct and duty.
If God had not spoken, we might have inquired, what will
be convenient or pleasant, what will gratify our passions, or
promote our present interests ; but now the inquiry must
be, ' what doth the Lord our God require of usr"' what is
the language of Christ ? what is the spirit of his religion ?
how are we instructed by his example ^ The conduct which
cannot bear the scrutiny of such questions, is wrong. The
morality which is not conformable to this standard, is un-
sound and false. No matter if it be agreeable to some
theoretical rule of abstract right, or some high toned princi-
ple of honour, or some proud and unswemng law which we
hav'e laid down to ourselves. No matter if it conform to
Some strong feeling within, which claims to be the voice
of God, or to some urgent circumstances of expediency,
which, we persuade ourselves, are the monitions of his
providence. Still if it contradict the pure and holy rule of
Christ; if it be inconsistent with the benevolent and devout
spirit of his gospel ; it is fundamentally and utterly to be
condemned ; it is immoral and bad. For true morality
stands only in the instructions of him who is the way, the
truth, and the life, and no other foundation can man lay.

G. We may say once more, Christ is the only founda-
tion of the bdiever''s hope. It is from him and his gospel,
that v/e learn those truths concerning the mercy and placa-
bility of God, which give hope of pardon on repentance,
and of acceptance in our imperfect attempts to please him ;
— from him alone, also, that we derive sufficient assurance
of a future life, and an existence of eternal purity and
peace. Upon these points the understanding might specu-
late, and sometimes plausibly conjecture ; but what could

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION. 19

it ever know ? What did it ever know in the uninstructed
lands of heathenism ? The whole history of the world
teaches us, that on these points, so interesting to man's
heart, so essential to man's happiness, there has been noth-
ing but superstition and dim conjecture, except where the
gospel has been revealed. It is the message of Jesus
Christ, which has taught the grace of Almighty God ;
which has proclaimed his long suffering and compassion ;
which has encouraged sinners to repent and return by invi-
tations of forgiving love ; which has declared the kind al-
lowance of our Father for unavoidable imperfection, and
thus given courage to human weakness. It is this only,
Vv'hich proclaims to a world lying in wickedness, that ' God
hath not appointed it to wrath, but to obtain salvation through
the Lord Jesus Christ ;' and "■ hath sent his Son into the
world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved.' Man — doubting, frail, tempted, fear-
ful— hears the voice of love, and looks up in the humble
assurance of faith. No longer an alien, but a son, he seizes
the outstretched hand of his blessed Lord, and goes on his
way rejoicing.

There is another hope which he founds on the same
rock — the hope of a coming immortality. Once he was in
bondage through the fear of death. But now, his Saviour
hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to
light. The bitterness of death is past. There is light
within the tomb. There is a visible region of glory beyond
it. And the child of earth, who once shuddered and was
wretched in the dread of everlasting extinction, is now able
to smile upon the dreary pathway to the grave, and triumph
over the terrors of corruption.

What an inestimaWe privilege is this ! With his open
bible before him, and the image of his gracious Saviour in
his mind, how does the conscience stricken penitent rejoice
amid his tears, in the hope of offered pardon ! How does
the humble and self-distrusting believer, who stands trem-
bling and abashed in the presence of infinite purity — find
comfort in the encouraging accents of Christ's soothing
voice, and the iiope of acceptance at the throne of grace.

20 CHRIST THE FOUNDATION.

How does the reasoning and dying offspring of the dust —
to whom existence, and friendship, and virtue are dear —
rejoice with holy gratitude in the hope, that his existence
shall be renewed, and his desires satisfied, in heaven.
Thanks be to God for this uns))eakable gift — this glorious
hope, wliicli, in every season of trial and every stormy strait
of sorrow and fear, is ' an anchor to the soul, sure and
steadfast.'

It is not necessary to go farther than this. We perceive
that the foundation of the christian church, and of all true
religion in the world ; and of individual faith, knowledge,
virtue, find hope ; is laid in Jesus Christ. All our religious
light, security, and peace rest upon this rock. Other we
have none and can have none. Let us leave this, and
where sliall we go ? who will teach us the words of eternal
life ? who instruct us in the things which pertain to our
everlasting peace ? who guide us to the Father of love, and
open to us the gate of heaven ? Every other guide is un-
certain, every other path is dark. Men have followed
them, and gone astray ; have walked in them, and stum-
bled ; have sought rest in them, and found none. There
is none other commissioned from heaven, but the son of the
virgin. 'There is no name given among men whereby
we can be saved, but that of Jesus Christ,'

DISCOURSE II.

JESUS THE MESSIAH

Matthew xvi. 15, 16.

Hesaithunto them, But ichoni say ye that I am? and Simon Peter

answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

The question which our Lord here proposes to his dis-
ciples, whicli agitated with intense interest the whole Jew-
ish nation during his ministry, has lost none of its interest
or importance in the lapse of ages. It was, and is, the
question upon which rests the decision of his claims to the
obedience and gratitude of mankind. It is a question, too,
which has received different answers, even from his own
disciples in his own church, as it did from his countrymen
while he lived. The passion for speculation, and the fond-
ness for opinion, have found exercise even on this subject,
and have thrown perplexity and debate on what is in itself
plain and simple, and has been most clearly decided, in the
only important particular, by the express authority of Scrip-
ture. To the Scriptures then we have recourse ; and it is
truly matter of gratitude, that a distinct reply to the inquiiy
is there recorded, which satisfied our Lord, and which con-
sequently ought to satisfy us. If it was sufficient for Peter
to know and acknowledge him as the Messiah, it must also
be sufficient for us. No man may demand or desire a more
full and satisfactory reply, than that which drew upon the
Apostle the memorable blessing. No man may doubt, that
a similar blessing awaits all, who shall make the same pro-
fession with equal earnestness, faith and devotion, and carry
3

22 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

it out to the same practical consequences. In order to this,
we must understand what such a profession implies ; what
is intended by his being ' the Christ, the Son of God ;' and
what is the value of faith in him as such. To illustrate
these objects is the purpose of the present discourse.

It is to be remarked, first of all, that the titles given to
our Lord in the text, are unquestionably synonymous, and
are used to indicate the same office. The ancient Jews
familiarly employed the phrase Son of God as one of the
names of the Christ, or Messiah. They used them both
promiscuously, to denote that great prince and deliverer,
whom they also styled King of Israel and Son of David,
and whom they were expecting to fulfil the prophecies.
That the titles are thus equivalent to each other, is ren-
dered evident by many passages in the New Testament.
Thus in the beginning of our Lord's ministry, Andrew
came and told Peter, ' We have found the Messiah.^
Philip said to Nathaniel, ' We have found him of whom
Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write.' And Na-
thaniel cried out to Jesus, ' Thou art the Son of God, thou
art the King of Israel.' It is obvious that each of thom,
using different language, intended to express the same thing
— that this was the expected Messiali. Again ; when the
elders and scribes demanded of Jesus if he were the Christ,
he replied indirectly, 'Hereafter shall the Son of man sit
on the right hand of the power of God.' They immediate-
ly exclaimed, ' Art thou then the Son of God T In this
case nothing can be plainer than that the two phrases are of
the same import. There is also a passage in the first epis-
tle of John, in which their equivalency ' is stated with the
precision of a syllogism.'*

' Whosoever belie veth that Jesus is the Christ, is born
of God.'

* Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world.*

* Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that be-
lieveth that Jesus is the Son of GodJ*

' It is thus plain, that, according to the usage of the Jewish

* Gen. Repository, vol. ii. p. 252, note.

JESUS THE MESSIAH. 23

people, adopted and sanctioned by Jesus and the Apostles,
the title Son of God has precisely the same significance
with that o\ Messiah.^ As if to intimate this, the evange-
lists are wont to place them together ; so that we read in
numerous passages, ' the Christ, the son of God,' evidently
put in apposition, as interpreters of each other.

The term, Messiah, or Christ, is the special, peculiar,
distinguishing title accorded to Jesus. Its original signifi-
cation is the Anointed ; and it embraces whatever office or
duty it was the purpose of his mission to perform. In a
word, it is his official designation ; and its importance and
completeness may be estimated by remarking, that it was
by this title he was predicted, expected, announced, re-
ceived, acknowledged, and persecuted, preached to the
nations, and believed on in the world. From the davs of
the prophets who foretold his appearing, to the song of the
angels at his nativity, and the establishment of his kingdom
amongst the gentiles, this is his chosen title ; and by this it
is declared that ' the kingdoms of this world shall become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.'

Under this title his coming was predicted. When Dan-
iel spake of him, he called him ' Messiah the Prince ;' and
Isaiah alluded to the name when he said, ' Jehovah hath
anointed me to preach glad tidings.'

Under this title his advent was anxiously expected. The
Jews waited long for their promised deliverer and king, and
the name by which they knew him was the Messiah. When
the Baptist came, they earnestly asked, if he were the Christ ;
and they pressed in crowds around the path of Jesus with
the same inquiry. Even the Samaritans had this expecta-

* ' To be the Son of God, and to be the Christ, are but different ex*
pressions of the same thing.' ' It is the very same thing to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, and that Jesus is the Son of God ; express it
how you please. This alone is the faith, which can regenerate a man,
and put a divine spirit into him ; that is, make him a conqueror over
the world, as Jesus was.' Dr. Patrick, Bp. of Ely, as quoted by
Locke in the Postscript to his First Vindication.

On the whole subject of faith in Jesus as the Christ, I refer the reader
very earnestly to that invaluable treatise of Locke, The Reasomibleness
of Christianity as delivered in the Scriptures.

24 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

tion ; so that the woman at Sichar said, ' I know that when
the Messiah cometh, who is called Christ, he will tell us
all things.'

Under this title he was announced hy the angels at Beth-
lehem, * unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord.'

Under this title he was received and acknowledged. The
twelve followed him, because they had 'found the Mes-
siah.' Peter in our text and elsewhere, Martha at the
grave of Lazarus, and the man blind from his birth, con-
fessed and honored him as the predicted Messiah. As
such the multitudes waited on him, and ' would take him
by force to make him king,' and welcomed him with ho-
sannas to the holy city.

As the Messiah he became subject to persecution. The
authorities of the land decreed, ' that if any man should con-
fess him to be the Christ, he sliould be put out of the syna-
gogue.' They accused him of blasphemy before their own
council, because he claimed to be the Son of God, that is
the Messiah : and before the Roman magistrate they ar-
raigned him for treason, in saying ' that he himself is Christ
a king.' As such, the soldiers mocked him with a crown
and sceptre, and the brutal multitude at the foot of the cross
insulted his suffering with the ciy, 'If thou be the Christ,
save thyself 5 come down from the cross, and we will be-
lieve.'

It was as the Messiah, likewise, that he was preached to
the nations and believed on in tlie world. Wherever the
apostles went with the message of heaven, this was the bur-
den of their preaching, ' reasoning out of the scriptures and
proving that Jesus is the Christ.' To this when the people
consented, they were baptized and acknowledged as disci-
ples ; and on this truth churches were gathered and found-
ed. The disciples were so familiarly known from this lead-
ing article of their faith, that the name of Christians was
given them at Antioch, and has adhered to them to the pre-
sent time.

Thus Ft appears that the title generally used in the Scrip-
tures, to designate the peculiar character and essential office

JESUS THE MESSIAH. 25

of Jesus, is that of the Messiah. We proceed to inquire
concerning the nature and objects of the office thus desig-
nated.

It is a remarkable feature in God's moral government of
the world, that it is constituted of successive dispensations,
each more perfect than the preceding, by which increasing
knowledge and more perfect institutions have been given
to men, ' as they were able to bear them.' In the early
communications of God, we find frequent intimations of a
purpose to make a final and complete revelation, and to
establish on earth, as the greatest boon of divine benevo-
lence, a permanent dispensation of truth and grace ; — be-
neath which a purer knowledge of God should prevail, the
dominion of evil should be shaken, and order, peace and
happiness hold universal sway. To introduce this state of
things, was the duty assigned to the Messiah. For this
purpose he was commissioned and sent forth. And what-
ever might be necessary for the accomplishment of this
great moral design, forms part of his commission, and is
comprised in the objects of his office.

To this end, as the very title by which he is known, in-
dicates, he was set apart and consecrated. The ariointing
was a solemn form of consecration, by which the priests and
kings, and sometimes the prophets,* were separated to their
respective services among the chosen people. It was the
most significant act in an august and imposing ceremony of
inauguration. It was the sacred sign of devotion to the ap-
pointed office or work ; and came at last to stand for the
thing signified, in cases where the sign itself had not been
used. Thus Cyrus is called the anointed, when commis-
sioned for the overthrow of Babylon, and the restoration of
the Jews ; and the patriarchs and even the whole people
of Israel are so named, f because separated from the rest
of mankind for the accomplishment of peculiar purposes in
the moral government of the world. In conformity with
this usage, the holiest and chief messenger of God to man,

* See 1 Kings xix. 16. t Psalm cv. 15 ; Hab. iii. 13.

3*

26 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

appointed to effect the most important changes and intro-
duce the perfect dispensation ; to take place, in the govern-
ment of the church, of all the priests and kings and pro-
phets, who had under tiie former economy been its media-
tors, instructors, and rulers ; — is for this cause styled
emphatically the anointed ; * above his fellows,' says the
Scripture, because consecrated to a duty and dignity with
which none other can compare ; ' with the holy spirit and
with power,' because it was not for temporal and earthly,
but for spiritual and eternal purposes.

We may, therefore, without indulging a fanciful analogy,
consider the Messiah as uniting in his own character all the
sacred offices of the ancient church, to which the oil of
consecration was applied ; and use them for the illustration
of his character. This we may the rather do, because each
title is freely accorded to him in the sacred writings.

The office of the Prophets was to instruct, to teach, to
admonish, and to foretell future events. They were the
guardians of the public religion and morals, appointed to
watch against corruption and sin, and to proclaim the warn-
ings and judgments of heaven against infidelity and crime.
It was not an hereditary office, but one of special appoint-
ment, at least in its higher departments, to which express
inspiration was necessary, and to which miraculous powers
were often added. This office, unquestionably, and in its
highest character, was comprehended in that of the Mes-
siah. In this character Moses is supposed to have spoken
of him : ' A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to
you from among your brethren, like unto me.' In this cha-
racter the people expected him : 'Art thou that Prophet.^'
was their inquiry ; and when they accompanied him with
hosannas to Jerusalem, 'This is Jesus,' said they, 'the Pro-
phet of Galilee.' So his disciples described him, ' a Pro-
phet mighty in word and deed.' So he called himself,
when he said, ' It cannot be that a Prophet should perish
out of Jerusalem.' And such he proved himself by the
works of supernatural power which attested his divine au-
thority ; by the holy instructions which flowed from his lips,
surpassing all tlie moral wisdom of man ; by the fidelity of

JESUS THE MESSIAH. 27

his earnest and affectionate warnings, his pathetic expostu-
lations, his powerful rebukes, his authoritative denunciations,
such as no other man ever uttered — before which the proud
and hardened quailed as he spake, the ministers of justice
were driven back, and the prejudiced and powerful silenced ;
and by his many predictions concerning tlie future, — which
the world has shuddered to see accomplished, and which
even our eyes behold in a course of fulfilment.

The office of Priest is also supposed to be comprehended
in the Messiahship of Jesus. It is observable, hovvever, that
this title is never given him in the New Testament, except-
ing in the Epistle lo the Hebrews, and there it is in a pecu-
liar relation and for peculiar purposes, which cannot be con-
sidered in the present connexion. The priesthood amongst
the Jews was an hereditary office, confined to the family of
Levi. It was an office separated from the world, conse-
crated to religious duties, devoted lo the service of the tem-
ple, and especially engaged in the various ceremonies of an
extensive ritual, and the offerings and incense of the altar.
It is plain, therefore, that although Jesus was literally a Pro-
phet, he could not have been literally a Priest; because he
was of Judah, not of Levi, and was not in any sense attach-
ed to the temple, or occupied in its service. But in as far
as he was separated from the world, and set apart to the
promotion of religion, and lived wholly in a state of conse-
cration to God ; so far he might be regarded as possessing
the sacred character of the priesthood; just as his disciples,
for similar reasons, are called, ' kings and priests unto God,'
and ' a royal priesthood.' So far, also, as his sufferings in
our behalf operate as a means of leading us to repentance
and holiness, and of effecting that forgiveness of sin, which
it was the office of the Jewish high priest to announce on
the annual day of propitiation ; so far Jesus may be regard-
ed as the ' high priest of our profession.'

The office of the Messiah may be in part also explained
by that of King. The kings of Israel are familiarly known
in the Old Testament as ' the Lord's anointed ;' and as the
Messiah was to spring from their race, and sit on the throne
of his father David, and their government was to be on his

28 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

shoulder ; so he was to be accounted King, no less than
Prophet. It may be remarked, indeed, that it was pecu-
liarly and eminently as King, that the prophets had spoken
of him, and his countrymen expected him. ' King of Is-
rael,' was one title equivalent to ' Messiah ;' and ' Kingdom
of heaven,' was the phrase that expressed the state of the
church beneath his influence. When ' God anointed him
W'ith the holy spirit and with power,' it was to be Prince
over his spiritual kingdom among men. The people were
looking for a temporal prince, who should literally accom-
plish the words of the p* omise, and ' sit on the throne of his
father David ;' and therefore it was, that they sought ' to
take him by force and make him King.' He was on this
pretence arraigned before the Roman authority, as one who
made himself King in opposition to the Emperor. And
therefore when Pilate asked him, if he were a King, he de-
nied it not ; but only said in explanation, ' my Kingdom is
not of this world.' Peter accordingly declares him • a
Prince and Savior ;' and Paul speaks of the period when,
having accomplished his royal labors, and ' put down all
rule, authority, and power,' he shall ' deliver up the King-
dom to God, even the Father.'

All this implies that the office of JMessiah embraces that
of King, and that he is, in the language of Daniel, ' JMes-
siah the Prince.' To him is committed the dominion over
the moral provinces, which form the church of God. He
is made supreme in all concerns of religion and truth, of
conscience and duty. The command is given to him over
the heart and life, the opinions, the character, and the des-
tination of the intelligent children of earth. This is the most
splendid and extensive kingdom ever set up among men ;
an empire, to which the magnificence and power of all the
empires that have flourished in the past ages of time, are
not to be compared, and to which all the concerns of all the
states of the world are to be finally made subservient. Al-
ready is this in part effected. Already does his peaceful
and spiritual authority sway the minds of men beyond the
power of human law, and the authority of human custom.
Already are the maimers of the nations and the policy of

JESUS THE MESSIAH. 29

princes modified and guided by his superior influence. Bui
he has not yet taken to himself all iiis power. As know-
ledge and li2;ht advance, the minds of men shall be vet
more completely subjected to him ; all hearts shall bow be-
fore him, and 'every tongue confess him to be Lore!.'
Human power shall be controlled by his rule, human laws
be limited by his precepts, and all the institutions of earth
be moulded in conformity with his spirit. God shall lift the
arm of his providence over the nations, 'and overturn, and
overturn, and overturn,' till ' the kingdoms of this world
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he shall reign forever and ever.'

Such is a general description of the work which the
Messiah was commissioned to perform, and of the effects
which his ministrations were to produce. He was to make
the final revelation of God's will ; to establish a church
which, as a spiritual empire beneath his authority, should
perpetuate the knowledge and influence of religious truth ;
to spread light and happiness and peace by means of his
institutions ; to free men from the bondage of superstition,
the degradation of vice, and the terrors of death ; in a word,
to set up the dominion of God's holy and parental govern-
ment, and prepare men for heaven by bringing them on
earth to the love and practice of those holy graces which
form the bliss of the good hereafter. ' To tliis end he was
born and to this end he came into the world, that he might
bear witness to the truth ;' — the truth, which ' makes free'
from corruption and sin, and ' sanctifies' the soul.

Three remarks follow from our subject,

1. It is evident from what has been said, that the cha-
racter in which our Lord appears, and in which he claims
to be received and honored, is an official character simply.
He comes to the w^orld invested with a certain ofHce, whose
main duties have been mentioned, and is an object of atten-
tion and reverence as holding that oflice. It is the digriity
of the commission, which is evidently referred to in all these
representations. They plainly have no allusion to the na-
ture of his person, or the rank of his being, or his original
Station of existence. They suggest no subtle discussions

30 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

concerning his essence and attributes. They are satisfied
with pointing him out to us as one ordained to accomplish
the most beneficent purposes of heaven, and for this reason
demanding the taith and obedience of man.

Let us, then, be satisfied with knowing and holding this ;
for it is all which the Scriptures have made essential on the
point, or of which they seem anxious to persuade us. It
has happened indeed, that men have ever been solicitous
to ascertain something further, and have persuaded them-
selves that a very positive decision is necessary on points
relating, not only to the authority, but to the nature of
Jesus. Perhaps it is not to be expected that we should be
free from all solicitude on this subject. But whatever our
solicitude may be, it should never blind us to the fact, that
it is the receiving of Jesus in the offices and relations to
which the Father has appointed him, which the Scriptures
make the essential thing ; and no decision of ours on more
intricate and curious questions can affect our christian
claim, if they do not affect our faith and obedience on this
great point. If w^e truly hold this, all our knowledge on
other questions could add nothing to our conviction of the
certainty and obligation of his truth, or to the support and
comfort of our faith. Because, in any case, he that re-
ceives him, receives the Father who sent him, and he that
rejects him, rejects the Fadier. His doctrines and his
promises, his precepts and his threatenings, have divine
authority ; and in no case could they have more. His
life has accomplished all, which it was in any case designed
to accomplish, and his death has all the efficacy, which it
pleased God to appoint it to have. To what purpose then
our anxiety to ascertain the mystery of his nature f Why
fancy it essential to understand the secret of his being ?
When we receive Jesus as the Messiah, we know that we
receive him as we are commanded to receive him. It is
the good profession of Peter and of Martha ; it drew the
express commendation of their Lord ; it is that for which
the Apostles argued, and on which the early churches were
founded ; and why should we suffer ourselves to be per-
plexed by the contentions ai^d mysteries of later ages, when

JESUS THE MESSIAH. 31

we may find rest in that simple doctrine, which gladdened
the hearts of the first disciples, and secured the unity of
the primitive body ?

2. For the same reasons, the profession of this faith by
others should be sufficient ground of accounting them
christians and admitting them to fellowship. So the Apos-
tles thought and practised, and we have no right to depart
from their example. Indeed if we do not stop here, it is
difficult to say where we may stop. If we may add one
to the article, which they have declared essential to the
christian uame and fellowship, how many may we not add ^
We should learn a caution from tlie history of the church ;
for this proneness to increase the catalogue of fundamental
truths, has been a most fruitful source of confusion and
misery. Every generation and every separate body has
some peculiar m.ode of viewing religious truth, and some
favorite doctrine of its own, which it soon magnifies into a
matter of essential importance, and expects to find in all
who profess to be Christians. It is forthwith added to the
list of fundamentals, and made part of the standard to
which all must conform. Tiiis conformity to a various
and many colored system has been the attempt of all ages.
To secure it, the peace of the church has been sacrificed,
the rights of conscience and man trampled upon, and op-
pressions exercised in the name of Christ, which might
disgrace the most savage tyranny that has ever warred
against human peace. And all to what purpose : To
secure a uniformity of belief in a multiplicity of articles ; a
thing which never has been, and which, it is time for us to
know, never can be effected, while God is pleased to allow
to men liberty of conscience ; and to coerce conscience is
a crime, which always has been, and ever must be, attended
with misery. But leave the conscience free, and set up
no faith beyond that which Jesus demanded and Peter
professed, then the divisions of Christendom might end, and
* the broken churches be healed.' That uniformity, which
has been hitherto sought for by compulsion and fire, will
spring up spontaneously as soon as believers shall think it
sufficient to honor a common master in his favorite and
distinctive office.

32 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

Undoubtedly other articles belong to the christian sys-
tem, and he who has received this, will learn them of his
Master. What is to be insisted upon is, that we have no
right to dictate on the subject, nor to reject any one who
holds this, on the ground that he has understood some of
his Lord's instructions in a different sense from our under-
standing of them. ' By taking Jesus to be the Messiah, he
is made a subject of his kingdom ; that iS; a Christian. To
say that an explicit knowledge of, and actual obedience to,
all the laws of his kingdom, is what is required to make
him a subject ; is what was never said of any other king-
dom. A man must be a subject, before he is bound to
obey ;'* and he is bound to obey the Lord of the kingdom,
and not his fellow^ subjects. ' He stands or falls to his
own master.' How shall we dare to exclude any one
from the title and privileges of his reign, because he will
not substitute some other for the simple profession of Peter ?
How shall we dare to say, you shall not pass over the
Jordan of life, because you cannot utter the complicated
Shibboleth that we have framed ?

S. In the last place, those who receive Jesus as the
IVIessiah, acknowledge him to be their teacher and supreme
guide in religion and duty, from whose authority there lies
no appeal. ' All things,' he says, ' are committed to me
by my Father ;' ' neither came 1 of myself, but he sent
me.' He is presented to the attention of men, not as one
whom they would do wisely to accept, but whom also they
are at liberty to refuse. For such is the commission he
bears, that they cannot refuse him, without rejecting the
Father who sent him. ' He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father.' In regard to other teachers, it
is optional with us to learn of them or not. We may be-
come their disciples if we please ; but there is no obliga-
tion to become so. We may read their volumes, if we
please ; but, if we please, we may neglect them. But not
so in regard to God's anointed. Such are his pretensions,
concerning. whom a voice came from heaven, 'This is my

* See Locke's Second Vindication, Works, fol. ii, G25. The form of
the sentence is a little varied to suit it to the connexion.

JESUS THE MESSIAH. 33

beloved son, hear him ;' that if we turn to him a deaf
and prejudiced ear, it is at the peril of our souls. It is in
a manner the essence of his office, that it has clothed him
with a divine right over us. Whether we will hear, or
whether we will forhear, that right exists, and his message
is the message of God. He is our master, and guide, and
king, and we cannot escape the obligation to follow his
instructions and obey his laws. There must be no inter-
ference with his authority, no hesitation in our allegiance,
no partial compliance with his requisitions. But at all
times, in all places, in all concerns ; in the cares of life,
and in the purposes of the heart ; in the duties of the world,
and in the preparation for death ; his doctrine must be our
supreme law, and his precepts our only path.

Let us be persuaded, my dear brethren, to know and to
feel this. Let the impression sink deeply in our hearts,
that the moral sway of Christ extends, without exception,
to all we are, and purpose, and do, and hope. Let us
feel — and oh that we might act upon the feeling — that in
him we have a friend, sent to us from God, that he may
lead us to heaven. As such let us acknowledge and wel-
come him. Tlie anthems of angels announce his nativity ;
the voice of God bears witness at his baptism ; the powers
of nature wait upon him and obey him while he lives, they
are shaken and convulsed when he dies ; the grave refuses
to retain him, and his resurrection declares him to be the
Son of God with power. He sends forth his light and
truth, and the moral darkness of the world is dissipated.
The temples of superstition fall, the halls of false philosophy
are deserted, the humble and neglected are elevated to
dignity and hope, the troubled are made acquainted with
peace, the contrite are foigiven, and the dying smile with
hope. 'Old things are passed away, and behold all is
become new.' Happy are they, who have eyes to see,
and ears to hear, and hearts to (ee\, what the grace of God
h.is thus accomplished for the children of men ! Happy
they, who are partakers of this moral regeneration ! who
know, ii'oiii persouai experience, tlie worth of these mes-

4

34 JESUS THE MESSIAH.

sages of life, and the joy and peace they impart to the
believing. But miserable they, who have no sense of the
greatest work which has been wrought upon our world ;
who have no share in that joy which tunes the voices of
heaven, and changes tlie face of earth. Unhappy men !
who see it all, and yet perceive it not ; who hear it all, and
yet understand it not ; who have thus shut themselves out
from the most elevated happiness of earth, and the sub-
limest, the only satisfying prospects, which are offered to
the human soul. ' Oh, that they were wise ; that they
would understand this 5 that they would consider their latter
end!'

DISCOURSE III.

SJUFFICIENCY AND EFFICACY OF FAITH IN THE

MESSIAH.

1 John v. 5.

WJio is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is

the Son of God.

To receive Jesus as the Son of God, the appointed
Messiah, is, we have already seen, to receive him in the
character in which he is especially revealed, and with the
profession which he himself declared sufficient. It is the
primary and fundamental article of the system, in which,
however they may otherwise differ, all believers are agreed,
and which all may find sufficient who will receive it in the
true spirit. For small and simple as it may appear, it
comprises 'the wisdom of God and the power of God,'
and has that efficacy w^hich shall 'overcome the world.'

It is sometimes howev^er, thought inconceivable, that
belief in a proposition apparently so inadequate should pro-
duce such vast effects. When we hear with what energy
the gospel operates, and what extensive effects it is de-
signed to produce ; we fancy there must be some exten-
sive, complicated, wonderful machinery; and with a ready
feeling of incredulity we object, that so simple a statement
of the christian faith must be wholly feeble and inefficient.

To this objection, which indeed may seem plausible, I
will first offer a reply, and then attempt to describe the ope-
ration of this principle so as to prove that it is not deficient
in ener2;y.

36 SUFFICIENCV AND EFFICACY

The objection proceeds on a wrong assumption. It pre-
sumes that we are capable of deciding beforehand what
fl^ilh would be sufficient or insufficient for the purposes of
religion, and that we are at liberty to receive or reject ac-
cording to the estimate of our own judgment. But certain-
ly we are not to trust our own antecedent judgment in a
case like this. The christian system is not an invention of
ours, neither can we control the power it may exert, or
determine the consequences that may flow from it. Tiie
whole is dependent on that divine authority by which it has
been communicated tons. It is matter of revelation and
command ; and if this simple faith be written in its records,
we have no right to interpose our judgment, and say it must
be insufficient. If the express declaration of Scripture be,
that it shall 'overcome the world,' we have no right to step
forward and allege that it is impossible.

Besides ; why should we imagine it inadequate to the
purposes for which it is ordained f Is it not the manner of
God to bring about great effects from apparently feeble
causes.^ It is so in every part of his works. His mightiest
rivers, which roll over immense regions and bear the fertil-
izing influence of his providence to cities and nations — are
collected by him from the drops that trickle from the rocks
of the mountains, and the vapors that fall in dew upon their
sides. His tremendous forests, that cover continents with
their shade, are reared by him from a few seeds, so small
that the wind blows them about as it were in sport. The
countless multitudes of his children, who have acted and
been happy on this stage of being, and are to crowd the hab-
itations of eternity with life and bliss — were gi'adually collect-
ed from the few particles of dust which composed the first
man's frame. So true it is, that he displays his power and
scatters his blessings, by the operation of small means,
raliicr than by large exertions, gradually, rather than sud-
denly. So true it is, that in all his ways, 'God chooses
the weak things of the world to confound those that are
mighty.' Why then should it be thought incredible thai
this simple truth, Jesus is the Christ, should be that which
is to justify and sanctify, and save a miserable world :

OF FAITH IN THE MESSIAH. 37

Small it may be, and insignificant it may seem to man's
perverted vision ; but it may be all powerful in His hands,
who has caused a few Galilean peasants to change the face
of empires, and is able even of the stones to raise up chil-
dren to Abraham.

This objection is also sometimes urged through a misun-
derstanding of the actual state of the question. It is argued
against, as if we had asserted this to be the whole, as well
as the foundation of Christianity ; as if we made no account
of the building that is to be raised upon it; as if we incul-
cated a ' faith without works.' But this misapprehension
might be easily removed. If one should say, that die root
is the essential part of the tree, he would not be supposed
to mean that the branches and fruit are of no value ; and if
one should carefully plant the root in his ground, we should
take it for granted, that he desired, and would cherish, the
branches and fruit. So it is in the christian system.
When we call this doctrine the essential article, we do not
undervalue all others, nor declare that there is none other.
But we mean, that if this be faithfully planted and take root
in the man, the rest of the system will grow from it, and
the fruits of the spirit be borne upon its branches. And
therefore we say, that if we see a man earnestly cultivating
this, it should be satisfactory evidence to us that he is a
disciple, deserving our charity and fellowsiiip. We have
no right to discard him because his trunk leans a little to
another direction from our own, nor because the branches
are a little more or a little less numerous. If they bear
fruit, well ; we may judge from that, whether the root have
been well planted and whether the tree be good.

Consider then, the natural operation and direct tendency
of this principle. One believes, sincerely and religiously,
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now I ask, is it
possible for him to stop here, and no consequences to fol-
low .'' If he do not believe it sincerely and religiously — if he
take it only as any other historical truth, but not as having
more concern with himself than the fact that Alexander
was a conqueror, or Xerxes a king of Persia, tlien undoubt-
jcdly he may stop at the barren assent. But if, as i said,
4*

38 SUFFICIENCY AND EFflCACY

he believe it sincerely and religiously, is it not impossible
that he should rest here ? For what is implied in such a
belief.^ A belief in God, the Supreme Governor and
Fatlier, who had for ages spoken of that Messiali by his
prophets, and whose purposes he w^as sent to fulfil — a belief
in his character, authority, purposes, and will as the moral
ruler of men — a belief that all the instruction of Jesus rests
on the authority of God, and a consequent reception of
whatever he teaches, as the true doctrine of religion ; a
belief that the way of acceptance and life is revealed by him,
and that to disregard and disobey him, is to disregard the
authority of God, and to subject ourselves to his displeas-
ure to whom we are accountable at last. The mind of
him who religiously believes that Jesus is the Christ, can-
not escape these consequences. They are momentous,
they are affecting, they are practical consequences. They
touch the springs of action, they agitate him with hope and
fear, they teach him that he has an infinite interest at stake,
thev make him anxious for his eternal destiny. He feels
that here he is bound by obligations which cannot be
broken ; that there is but one path left him, that of implicit
submission to the instructions of this heavenly messenger,
and a life of devotion, repentance and holiness. Since it
were an insane inconsistency, to acknowledge this power-
ful truth, and yet live disregardful of its authority and unin-
fluenced by its requisitions.

It is to be considered, also, that this faith is something
more, much more, than mere belief, inasmuch as the idea
of confidence or trust, makes an essential part of it. To
believe that Jesus is the Son of God, is to have confidence
m him as such. IMany examples might be adduced in
which this sense is most obviously implied : as where our
Lord says, ' Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in
God, believe also in me.' In these expressions is manifest-
ly intended confidence, trust. Indeed nothing can be plain-
er, than thit there can be no real religious faith, without im-
plicit trust in its object. And accordingly, all the exam-
ples of faith, which the apostle has collected in his eleventh
chapter to the llebievvs — Abraham and Moses, the prophets

OF FAITH IN THE MESSIAH. 39

and the martyrs, — ai'e indisputably examples of confidence
in divine providence, trust in divine promises. And the
faith by which the christian, like tljose ancient worthies, is
to overcome the wojld, is in like manner constituted of firm
unreserved trust.

In this manner, then, a true reception of Jesus and trust
in him, as the commissioned Messiah, the authorized Teach-
er, the appointed Legislator and Guide, inevitably leads to
the christian graces; they are the legitimate and necessary
consequences. If such a faith exist, it cannot stand alone ;
it must, it will, pervade and influence ilie soul, it will be
seen and felt in the thoughts, the sentiments, the desires,
the dispositions, the actions. It is not itseli' the whole ; but
it gives life to the whole. Every principle, necessary to
the christian system and to acceptance with God, is con-
nected with it and flows from it.

There are one or tw^o passages in close connexion with
that of our text, which confirm this estimate of its moral effi-
cacy. In the fifteenth verse of the preceding chapter, it
is written — ' Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son
of God, God dwelieth in him and he in God.' What strong-
er assertion could we desire.^ And how can we fancy any
weakness in that faith, to which the aposde bears the
strong testimony, that God is in him who professes it, and
he in God ^

Again he says, ' Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ, is born of God.' What further testimony could be
desired to the efficacy of this faith ? He who truly pos-
sesses it, is regenerate, is become one of the adopted fam-
ily of God, one of the household of heaven; and thus in
him the very purpose of the christian dispensation is accom-
plished.

The same apostle tells us, that the very object of
wrifing his Book of the Gospel, v/as, to establish the faith
' that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believ-
ing they might have life through his name.' Words cannot
more distinctly state the necessary article of faith, or more
decidedly assert its efficacy. Who can account it insuffi-
cient, when John declares that it opens the doors of life ^

40 SUFFICIENCY AND EFFICACY

Add to these, the words of our text — ' Who is he that
ov^ercometh the world, but lie that believeth that Jesus is
the Son of God ?' 1 ask therefore again, what further can
we desire? What stronger testimony can be given to the
strength of tliis principle r* If it be sufficient to overcome
the world, to give life through his name, to effect the chris-
tian regeneration, and a spiritual union with God ; to what
purpose can it be insufficient, to what work unequal ? If
this faith be weak, what faitli shall be called strong ?

Having thus established from various considerations, the
sufficiency of the principle laid down in our text ; let us fur-
ther illustrate the subject by inquiring ia what manner it
operates so as to secure this effect.

It operates by strengthe-nng tiie soul with such princi-
ples, and filling it with such resources, that it does not need
the world for its happiness, but is capable of being happy
independently of it. Tiie world ruins a man by its temp-
tations to sin, because he foolishly imagines indulgence
in sin necessary to his happiness. The world makes
a man miserable by its uncertainties and calamities, be-
cause he has set his heart upon its prosperity to make
him happy. If it were not so, if he had provided sufficient
sources of happiness in things independent of a sinful and
changing world ; then he certainly would not run into these
destructive indulgences, nor wreck his peace by trusting to
the deceitful joys of life. And this is precisely the work
of Faiih. It furnishes him with other means and resources
of felicity, so rich, so abundant, that he has no \\ec{\ to
draw upon sin or pleasure, and therefore is not corrupted
by them, nor made wretched by temporal losses.

This may be better understood, perhaps, by observing
the same thing in otiier examples. It is very observable,
in the experience of life, that different iricn, equally eager
in the pursuit of happiness, place their dependence for
happiness in very different things; so that what is al)solute-
ly essential to one, may be of no iniportance to another,
because his affections lie elsewhere. For example : here
is one, who pursues sensual indulgence, lives for his appe-
tites, and is wretched ii" they be restrained. Here is ano-

OF FAITH IN THE MESSIAH. 41

iher, wlio regards property as the chief good, and being
wholly devoted to its acquisition, passes by with suprenje
indilierence tliose indulgences whicli are essential to the
other. Here is a third, who is solicitous for nothing hut
the acquisition of knowledge and literary eminence, who
feels that for himself happiness can be found only in retire-
ment and study; and he would feel small disturbance at a
reverse of fortune afFcicting him in other respects. Instances
of this sort are of daily observation — where one man pur-
sues with the extremest earnestness, and loses with tlie
deepest affliction, what another would think worth no pains
to acquire, and would relinquish without a sisjh. This
depends entirely upon what each had persuaded ijimself to
be essential to his happiness. The loss of the merest triile,
if he have accounted it essential to his happiness, may rack
him with intolerable pangs. The heaviest calamity, if he
have placed his happiness elsewhere, may scarcely cost
liini a tear. Ahab, the 2:reat king of Israel, had set his
heart upon an insignificant vineyard, and because he could
not obtain it, thought himself too wretched to live. But
Paul the Apostle, ' suffered the loss of all tilings,' and gave
them up cheerfully, because to none of them had he trusted
for happiness, but his w^iole soul w^as absorbed in some-
thing else.

This explains to us the pow'er of Faith, and shows the
secret of its operation. If avarice is able to overcome sen-
suality, so that the miser is scrupulously temperate ; if the
love of learning can overcome the love of pleasure, so that
the student will deny himself even to the loss of health ; ii
the desire of distinction will overcome the love of ease, and
of friends, and every other affection, so that the ambitious
conqueror will live on a long life of hardship, privation, and
danger, because his only happiness is to be great ; — then.
I ask, do you not understand how the noble and celestial
princi])le of Faith, may overcome all these; yea, may
* overcome the world ?' Do you not see how this mighty
principle — which extends to things infinite, and glories im-
measurable, and ages that cannot end — may become a
utTLiNG PASSION in the soul ; may open a fountain of felic-

4^ SUFFICIENCY AND EFFICACY

ity which sliall mnke all others tasteless ; may offer to
inquiring man an honor and peace, in possessing which
he shall think himscli' more than recompensed for the loss
of all others? As ttje mother — who once, in the young
hour of beauty and enjoyment, sailed round the giddy
circle of pleasure, and could imagine no happiness of life
but in the party and the dance, in admiration and gaiety;
but now, with her little charge about her, rarely goes from
home, and is satisfied to sit by them night and day, so
changed that she regrets no enjoyments abroad, and feels
not a desire to partake what was once her only pleasure —
so he that is wedded to heavenly faith, absorbed in its new
and purer employments and satisfactions, sees nothing to
regret in the forbidden things of the world ; is not unrea-
sonably troubled by its cares, nor tempted by its seductions,
nor ovenvhelmed by its disappointments; — he has pleas-
ures independent of it, in the brightness and excellence of
which, all others are dim, and in the enjoyment of which,
the loss of others is unregretted.

Superiority to natural and temporal evil is not the chief
purpose of the gospel, and yet, it is a common thing in the
New Testament to declare, that the disciples shall be de»
hvered from, it, and unaffected by it. Our Lord, for
example, commands his followers not to be anxious con-
cerning their food and clothing, or the evils of poverty,
nakedness and want ; promising that if they seek the king-
dom of God and its righteousness, all needful good will be
added thereto — which is certainly a promise of deliverance
from these temporal evils. So also he promises that ' every
one who hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, lor my
name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall
inherit everlasting life.' Here too is a large promise of
deliverance from temporal evil. What was intended by
these promises ? That they should actually never suffer
want, but live in abundance ? That they should actually
receive a hundred fold more of house and lands and
other possessions ? No one s;i})poses it. What then did
our Lord mean ? We may ascertain this point by inquir-

OF FAITH IN THE MESSIAH. 43

ing, why such possessions are so desirable, and why lo be
deprived of them is such an evil. Tiie single reason is,
that they are esteemed necessary to happiness. If then a
man can be just as happy without them, it is no longer an
evil to him to be deprived of them. If the want of them
do not make him unhappy, it is not an evil to him to want
them. The want of luxury and ease is no evil to the con-
tented peasant, who has always lived in exposure, hardship,
and labor, though it would be insutFerable to the nobleman,
who has been accustomed to fare sumptuously every day.
So, likewise, if one receive a full and fair equivaleiit for
the good of which he is deprived, he does not regard that
privation as an evil. The enthusiast, who abandons for-
tune, prosperity, and friends for the solitude and devotion
of a monastery, conceives himself to have received a fidl
equivalent for his sacrifice, and it is therefoie to him no
evil. And let a man's privations be what tliey niay, to him
they are no calamity, so long as he feels that they are I'ully
compensated to him.

It is on this principle, and through the compensating
power of Faith, that we are enabled to understand our
Lord's promises respecting temporal evils. He does not
mean that his followers shall receive a hundred fold in
Icind, but in happiness ; that is to say, they shall find that
the happiness and hope of true religion, are more tlian a
balance for their sufferings and privations ; so that they
would a hundred times rather endure these, than relinquish
their ))rofession in order to be free from them. This is
perfectly obvious and true — as true now, as when it was
uttered by our Lord. Why do we desire worldly good,
and flee worldly evil ^ Because we desire happiness.
But if religion warrants to us happiness independent of
worldly good, and in spite of worldly evil, then we have
what we desire ; then our faith overcomes the world.
That it does this, there are ' clouds of witnesses.' The
apostles and martyrs, who endured all things, and in the
midst of all ' sang praise to God ;' and humbler christians,
in the depths of poverty and distress, yet cheeriul, content,
and rejoicing ; men, injured, threatened, persecuted; yet

44 SUFFICIENCY AND EFFICACY

patient, serene, and uncomplaining, while they can appeal
to Him wlio juHges righteously ; men, lingering in pninkil
sickness, cut off from the engagements of life, their pros-
pects blasted, their hopes disappointed, their props torn
away — yet not cast down nor dismayed ; but finding in the
power of faith and heavenly hope, a compensation lor their
trials, and a victory over the world.

Equally complete is their triumph over spiritual evil.
They walk amid the deceitful disguises and fiual ambushes
of sin, unseduced and unharmed. Though the passions
within ally themselves to the solicitations widiout, and war
against their souls ; though the constitution of their bodily
frame, and the temper of their mind, the circumstances in
which they are thrown, the company which they frequent,
and the cares which occupy them ; all combine to intro-
duce some disorder into their spirits, to alluie or surprise
them to what is wrong, and to array them, even against
their wills, in disobedience to God ;- yet, over this fearlul
coiubination, against which unassisted man might combat
in vain, these men of faith triumph. ' God hath given
them the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Faith,
where its dominion is established in the soul, acts like some
superior charm, to quell the inferior nature, and awe the
rebellious passions to submission. It brings up to them
the image of the glorious master to whom they are bound ;
of the holy God, who is watching that he may judge them ;
of the future world, whose inheritance depends on their
purity ; and of all the misery and horrors, which follow in
the train of unsubjected passion and voluntary sin. These
press upon their minds, with united and intuitive operation,
and with the spontaneous indignation of the patriarch they
put the temptation to flight with the cry, ' How can I do
this great wickedness, and sin against God.'

We perceiv^e, then, the power of Faith. It is a practi-
cal principle, resting on the basis of a simple truth. It is a
moral principle, swaying the affections and will; not barely
a conviction of the uuderstanding, but a feeling persuasion,
an unwrouglit s(.Mitiment of the heart. It is confidence, trust,
reliance, oa one who has divine authority, and on whom it

OF FAITH IN THE MESSIAH.. 45

is infinitely for our interest to lean. It excludes from the
mind the power of inferior principles and motives, and for-
tifies it against the attacks of external calamity.

We may learn from this, my brethren, how to try and
prove our own faith, and when to be satisfied with it. We
may learn not to estimate its value by the number of pro-
positions of which it is compounded, but by the spirit with
which we embrace it, and the power it exercises over us.
The question is not, Do we lay stress on a multitude of
fundamental articles ? Are we skilful to discriminate the
shades of difference between error and truth upon subjects
of intricacy and controversy f Do we love to be occupied
in mysterious musings, and to be involved in contemplation
of deep and perplexing inquiries ? These are not the
marks of a saving faith. But the question rather is, have
we acknowledged Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, so
heartily, that he is really and habitually our master, and
that his authority rules and controls us in all things f so
that this faith works by love, purifies our hearts, and over-
comes the world ^ Is it the parent of holy desires, pure
dispositions, good living, and earnest aspirations after the
excellence and bliss of heaven .'' It is for these qualities
that faith is valuable. It is by these that it works out our
salvation. It is this efficacy in reforming, purifying, eleva-
ting, spiritualizing the human character, that constitutes the
glory of the gospel. When it has done this, it has accom-
plished its great work. If it be doing this for us, w^e may
be satisfied that our faith is neither fatally erroneous, nor
weak. But if it be pure as that of angels, and yet do not
display this moral power, it is no better than * sounding
brass, and a tinkling cymbal.'

DISCOURSE IV.

JESUS THE MEDIATOR.

1 Timothy, ii. 5.

t'or there is one God, and one Mediator bettoeen God and men — the

man Christ Jesus.

There are few passages of scripture in which a doctrine
is expressed more distinctly and unequivocally than in this.
It states, in terms, which do not admit of misconstruction,
the great fundamental article of all religion, that there is
* one God j' and the prime truth of revealed religion, that
there is 'one mediator between God and men.' It speaks
of them as separate beings, distinct in nature, divei'se in
office, and not to be confounded together. It intimates no
mysterious union of natures, by which the mediator is God
as well as man, and the supreme Deity is mediator between
himself and his creatures. But simply declares the plain,
intelligible facts, that ' there is one God, and one Mediator
between God and men, tlie man Christ Jesus.'

The Apostle is thought to be referring in these words, to
the opinions of the Jews, to whose notions and feelings there
is frequent tacit allusion in aii his writings. Th«y prided
themselves in their ancient claim to be God's people ; they
fancied him to be exclusively their God, and the privileges
of revelation to be confined to themselves. But the apos-
tle in the preceding verses tells them, no — ' God will have
all to be saved,' Gentiles as well as Jews, ' and come to
the knowledge of the truth ;"" and then adds in our text,
that to Gentile as well as Jew, there is but one and the
same God, and to all alike one and the same Mediator.

JESUS THE MEDIATOR. 47

All preference and distinction is now done away, and the
chosen descendants of Israel have no longer any privileges
above their brethren of other nations.

But we have less concern with this allusion of the apostle^
than with the great truth which he inculcates. To the
whole family of man, there is but one God — a truth, once
strange and heretical, though to our minds so familiar.
However separated into tribes, however distinct in history,
character, and manners; however cast asunder by the
physical boundaries of the globe, or the artificial barriers of
society ; however divided by interest or policy, or alienated
by traditionary enmity ; still the bond of nature connects
them together, they have one Father, and one God hath
created them. ' He hath formed of one blood all that
dwell upon the face of the earth, and hath appointed the
bounds of their habitation.' They have not indeed recog-
nised this common and universal Sovereign ; but have be-
stowed upon others the honors due to him alone. Super-
stition and folly have multiplied the objects of adoration,
and peopled heaven and earth and sea with peculiar divin-
ities. They have sometimes bowed down to the host of
heaven, and sometimes to the monsters of earth, and some-
times to the workn^anship of their own hands, and have
warily divided their worship between rival gods. But
amidst the whole, may be heard the invariable testimony of
nature, that the true object of all adoration is but one — one,
infinite, independent, mind ; the origin and cause, the sup-
port and end, of all other beings and all other things. He
that fashioned the resplendent heavens, and rolled abroad
their glorious and countless worlds of light; who moulded
the beautiful earth, and cast forth the waters of the wonder-
ful sea, and peopled all with their innumerable tribes, infi-
nitely diversified in structure, in pow ers, and in happiness ;
is One, and one only. ' Though there be that are called
gods, whether in earth or in heaven — as there are Gods
many and Lords many — yet to us there is but one God,
the Father, of whom are all tilings, and we in him.*

This doctrine of the divine unity is essential to true reli-
gion. Erring in this, the pagan nations have strayed alike
from truth and from moralhv in their religion, and beerl

48 JESUS THE MEDIATOR.

lost in the most debasing corruptions and the most mischiev-
ous superstitions. And it is not strarige that it should have
been so ; for the moral character of the religion and of the
worshippers will be conformed to that of the object of wor-
ship ; and where these are numerous, some of them must
be bad. So long as but one infinite object of worship is
acknowledged, right reason will teach that He must be
all present and all perfect ; but where divinities are multi-
plied, as they cannot all be perfect, nor all exercise the
same jurisdiction, their varieties of imperfection will of
course give countenance to varieties of vice, and a crowd
of gods afford shelter to a crowd of sins. So it has proved
in the history of the world ; vice and profligacy, irreligion
and impiety, have increased with the multiplication of ob-
jects of religious homage. Among the chosen people, cor-
ruption and immorality crept in with the introduction of
subordinate divinities ; and all the vices, which in so great
measure destroyed their religious character and made nuga-
tory the power of their religious law, may be traced to the
demoralizing influence of idolatry.

Let us then see to it, that we be not led, under any form,
or any pretence, to depart from this great principle. It has
ever been found the only true basis of piety, the only sufli-
cient security of virtue. * Beware lest any man spoil you
of this, by philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of
men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.'
Be jealous over this with a godly jealousy ; remembering
that the first of all the commandments is ushered in witli
the proclamation, ' Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one
Lord !' and that our Master, in solemn prayer, has made
the declaration, ' This is life eternal to know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.'

And who is Jesus Christ, whom God has sent f

The doctrine concerning him is expressed in the other
clause of our text ; ' and one Mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus.'

Observe here the truth of that divine saying, ' My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, saith the Lord.' Men have imagined that they could
not sufficiently multiply the objects of religious adoratioij,

JESUS THE MEDIATOR. 49

But in the simplicity of that mighty universe, which man's
imagination cannot grasp, there is but one such object.
Men have fancied that they could not interpose too many
friends anti advocates between their insignificance and the
high majesty of heaven ; they have crowded the access
with numberless mediators to solicit benediction for them,
and have filled churches and altars and cloisters with the
images of saints who might pray for them — until the face
of the great Supreme has been hidden, and their depend-
ance on Him has been forgotten. But the simplicity of
God's government rejects this crowd of suitors, whom man
would thrust forward to shelter his weakness, and appoints
ONE mediator between himself and his offspring — one, to
be the medium of his communications to them, and of their
approaches to him. There is One on the throne, and One
before the throne. When the supplicant draws nigh, his de-
votion is neither doubtful nor distracted. He knows that
there is but One to be addressed ; he feels that there is
but One by whom he may obtain access ; and his soul is
absorbed in a single undivided act of trust and praise.

The title of Mediator is in four several passages ascribed
to Jesus in the New Testament. In order to understand
clearly its import, we must consider that a Mediator is one
who acts between two persons or parties. He is the medi-
um between them, the medium of intercourse or communi-
cation. And as such an one, among men, is needed, not
in the ordinary current of affairs, but on occasions of differ-
ence or dissension ; it has happened that the name is most
usually given in the sense of a peace-maker, or one who
effects reconciliation. In this sense it is doubtless applica-
ble to our Lord ; for one important object of his mission
and religion is to reconcile men to God ; that is, to render
them his friends by doing away their dislike to his holy
law, and uniting them to him in love and obedience.
Hence God is said ' to be in Christ reconciling the world to
himself.' And to this end, it is written, ' it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell, and, having
made peace by the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile
all things to himself.'
5*

50 JESUS THE MEDIATOa.

It is not, however, in this sense only, but in a more eX*
tended sense, that we ar^ to understand this title ; as indi-
cating, not only one who makes peace, but one who, in a
general sense, is the medium of communication betiveen God
and men. This is the meaning which the word bears in
the New Testament. Thus Paul says, speaking of the
law, [Gal. iii. 19.] ' it was ordained by angels, in the hand
of a mediator.' What is meant by Moses being thus called
the mediator of the law, may be learned from his own
language in speaking of the same transaction ; [Deut. v. 5.]
' I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show
you the word of the Lord.'"^ In this instance the name is
manifestly given him, not in the restricted sense of a peace-
maker, but in that of his being the medium of communica-
tion. In no other sense is it applied to Moses.

It is obviously in the same sense applied to Christ in the
epistle to the Hebrews [viii. 6.] where he is styled ' the
Mediator of a better covenant, established upon better
promises,' than that of Moses. Now as Moses was Medi-
ator of the ancient covenant, inasmuch as through him it
was communicated to the people ; it must be in the same
sense, that Jesus is called the ' Mediator of a better cove-
nant.'

This example serves to define and settle the term in its
application to our Lord, and teaches us how to understand
it in the other passages in which it occurs. Thus when
the apostle contrasts the mildness of the new dispensation
with the terrors which accompanied the introduction of the
old, [Heb. xii. 24.] he mentions ' Jesus, the Mediator of
the new covenant;' evidently as the chosen messenger of
love by whom it was brought.

In the same sense we are to understand him, [Heb. ix.
15.] where he speaks of the Mediator as having died that
he nrught certify the new covenant and render it * of force ;'
as all testaments he adds, are required to be ratified with
blood. So also are we to interpret die title in our text. It
has pleased God to have intercourse with his creatures, to

* Hoc est, eram vester /uttrnns, interpree, internuncius, Dei ad vqb
Jegatus, Hchulz ; in loc.

JESUS THE MEDIATOR. 51

establish w'th them a covenant, and pledge to thera his pro-
mises. He, tl)rough whose instrumentality this is done, is for
that reason called 'the Mediator between God and men.'

* The law came by Moses,' who was thus mediator of the
old covenant ; * but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,'
who was thus mediator of the new. By the same channel
of mediation God has also appointed that his offspring shall
have access to him, through him ' come to the Father,' and

* in his name,' address their praises and supplications. ' I
am the way, and the truth, and the life ; no man cometh
unto the Father but by me.'

There are thus two divisions under which the office of
mediator presents itself; the one as bringing down to men
the messages of God, the other as bearing up to God the
oiFerings of men.

In regard to the first, it has been well observed by a pro-
found and celebrated writer, that the whole system of the
divine administration toward man is a system of mediation;
and that the mediatorial office of Christ is therefore analo-
gous to the whole economy of the divine dispensations.
'The visible government which God exercises over the
world, is by the instrumentality and mediation of others.'

' We find by experience that God does appoint medi-
ators, to be the instruments of good and evil to us, the in-
struments of his judgment and his mercy.'* As far as we
can observe, this method is universal. He rules his crea-
tures, not by speaking to them with his own voice, not by
touching them with his own finger, but through the medium
of other beings and inferior agents. Men are created, not
by an express and direct exertion of the forming Power,
but are brought into being through the medium of parents.
Life is supported, not by the immediate energy of the
Almighty, but by ^the subordinate provisions of labor and
food ; and this food is sent not directly from God, like the
manna in the desert, but by the circuitous operation of sun-
shine and rain, and a multitude of established natural
causes. When he would bless, he raises up human bene-
factors ; when he would rebuke, he rouses human enemies.
He bestowed his favors on Israel through the minisUy oi

* Butler's Analogy^ Part II. chap, 5.

52 JESUS THE MEDIATOR.

Moses, Joshua, David, and Cyrus; he inflicted punishment
for their crimes by tlie hands of the Philistines, the Assyri-
ans, the Babylonians, and the Romans.

When therefore we are told, that in tlie afKiirs of salva-
tion, there is a ' Mediator between God and men,' we
are taught what is perfectly coincident with the uniform
method of divine procedure ; we behold ' a beautiful anal-
ogy, in a very considerable and important point, between
the settled method of God's natural providence, and the
extraordinary operations of his grace.'* As in the natural
so in the spiritual world, we discern the agency of God
only through the action of second causes. We behold his
glory, not in its own essential refulgence, but ' in the face
of Jesus Christ.' We receive ' all spiritual blessings in
heavenly things,' through Christ ; through him ' come
grace and truth;' through him Ms the kindness of God
toward us ;' through him is ' repentance and the remission
of sins ;' ' peace with God,' and ' the gift of eternal life.' In
a word, whatever we have received pertaining to life and
godliness, is derived to us from God through him. It is he,
coming from God, who has taught us all that we know^, and
made certain all that we hope. Except in him, we have
no provision of light and strength, no secure principle of
virtue, no assurance of clemency and grace. The com-
munications of God are the foundation on which we rest ;
and they have been made through the mediation of his son.
The second division of this doctrine implies, that Christ
is also the channel through which men are to hold inter-
course with God. ' As all the distinguishing spiritual ben-
efits, which we enjoy, have been conferred upon us through
Christ; so our services and sacrifices, which we are ena-
bled to perform and offer, should be presented to God the
Father in and through him.'f It was his direction to the
aposdes, that they should ask ' in his name.' The apos-
tles enjoined it on the churches, to approach God in praise
and prayer, in thanksgiving and confession, ' through him,'
* by him,' and ' in his name.' The injunction has ever

* James Foster,
t Lardner's Sermon on John xvi. 24.

JESUS THE MEDIATOR. 53

been observed ; and the constant devotions of believers
ascend to God through Jesus Christ. Thry come to the
mercy seat, not in their own name, but in that of the
Mediator, and hope to be heard because they come through
him.

As this is the prescribed and f;amiliar form of prayer, il
is important to understand what is intended by it ; since, if
we would have it done acceptably, it must be done intelli-
gently. Let us inquire, therefore, what is implied in pray-
ing ' through Christ,' or 'in the name of Christ.'

It is not intended, we may first of all remark, that we
are not to come to God directly, and address him person-
ally ; but quite the contrary. ' Ye shall ask me nothing,'
said our Lord ; ' but whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in
my name, he will give it you.' The express doctrine of
his religion is, that men shall address the Father, and the
Father only. And therefore, the offering of prayers
through Christ, cannot be understood to mean that they
are first to be presented to him, and by him presented to
God. All the precepts and examples of scripture direct
us to God himself, personally j and the phrase in ques-
tion, as we shall presently see, bears a meaning which does
not contradict them.

Neither are we to understand it as forbidding all acts of
worship in which this form of words is not used. For we
have repeated instances of both ascriptions and supplica-
tions by the apostles, in which this form does not appear.

It is the principle on which our devotions are framed,
and the spirit in which they ai-e uttered, rather than any
verbal or formal exactness, which these scriptural direc-
tions enjoin. The sacred writers express little solicitude
about the mere form of prayer.

Neither are we to understand by prayer through Christ,
that we are to ask to have our desires granted ' for the
sake of Christ ;' for this is an expression without authority
or warrant in the holy volume. The expression is once
found in our version in connexion with the forgiveness of
sins, which God is said to have granted ' for Christ's sake.*^
This however is an acknowledged mistranslation of the

54 JESUS THE MEDIATOR.

orij^lnal word. It should be, as in all other passages re-
lathig to this subject, in or through Christ.* To ask in
prayer /or Christ^s sake, is without example or authority in
tlie sacred writings, and is a very different thing from
asking through Christ.

In what sense then is this form of words to be understood.^

A little examination will satisfy us, that it is in this.
We are to pray, as tlie disciples of Christ, guided by faith
in him, and influenced by the devout dispositions which he
requires ; — ' through him,' because through the directions
he has given for acceptable pra}'er, and the encouragement
he has offered to sincere worshippers ; ' in his name,'
because by his authority, confiding in his warrant, com-
manded and invited by him, members of that family which
he has brought nigh to God, and given access to the throne.

That this is the general sense of these expressions will
be rendered obvious by observing how they are used in
other instances.

The Levrtes blessed the people, and Israel went out to
battle, ' in the name of the Lord ;' that is, very evidently,
by his authority and direction, by faith in him. The pro-
phets spake ' in the name of the Lord,' and our Saviour
says, ' 1 am come in my Father's name ;' plainly meaning,
by his authority and direction, receiving from him their
commission. So the apostles })reached and wrought mir-
acles ' in the name of Jesus ;' by his authority, under his
commission, by faith in him. So they commanded the
believers ' to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus ;'
that is, in compliance with his authority, and conformably
to the spirit of his religion. To pray ' in his name,' is one
of the things they were to do, and must have a similar in-
terpretation. It is to pray by his authority, according to
his instructions, by faith in him, in the character and with
the spirit of his disciples.

It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to use the name of
a person for his doctrine or religion. Thus it is said,
' ]\Ioses is preached every sabbath day ;' meaning the reli-
gion of Moses. ' We preach Christ,' meaning the religion

* Ephesians iv. 32. ev Xg/9-T*.

JESUS THE MEDIATOR. 00

of Christ. We are said ' to put on Christ,* ' to be in
Christ,' ' to profess Christ,' and a muhitude of similar
phrases; by which is intended, that we are to embrace,
to adopi, to profess, the religion of Christ. So also in the
instance of prayer through Christ, we may understand
through his religion, or doctrine ; since it is entirely
through the influence of his religion, its instructions, direc-
tions, encouragements, and promises, that we are enabled
to worship God acceptably. It is these which prepare our
minds, and lead us to the mercy seat. We approach,
because the instructions which Jesus has given, and on
which our faith relies, guide us thither. That is to say, as
before, we come as his disciples, wider his authority, and
hy faith in him. It is this coming in the character of his
disciples, which- gives us hope that we shall be heard.
Aiid this hope or expectation is well founded, just in pro-
portion as we are truly his disciples, and pray fervently in
his faith. There is no charm in the words, no talisman in
the forms we utter, no mysterious efficacy by which they
force their way upward, from whatever heart they may
rise. We might as well pray in the name of Mahoniet, as
in that of Christ, if we do not pray as disciples of Christ —
not nominally and outwardly, but heartily and consistently
as his disciples. It is in this circumstance that we are to
trust, and not in the belief that Jesus seconds every prayer,
and carries it to the Father. For he expressly says, ' \e
shall ask in my name ; and I say not unto you, that 1 will pray
the Father for you ;' that is, it is not from this circumstance
that you are to take encouragement ; you are not to de-
pend for acceptance on my intercession ; — and he adds,
' For my Father himself loveth you, because ye have lo\ ed
me, and have believed that I came out from God.' Here
he states availing prayer in his name, to be that which
comes from those who love him, and have faith in him,
that is, from his disciples ; not that which trusts for accept-
ance to his interposition only. For fully as that interces-
sion may be offered for the faithful, it is nowhere promised'
to the insincere. So also says the Apostle John ; ' What-
soever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his
commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in

56 JESUS THE MEDIATOR.

his sight.' Which likewise conducts us to the same coii-
ckision — that prayer, in the consistent character of disciples,
is that prayer in his name, which meets acceptance and
blessing.

In this sense it is, that the mediation of Christ opens the
way of access to God. And in this doctrine, as there is
evidently an admonition lor the presumptuous, so there is
encouragement for ihe humhle and distrustful. For how
abundantly have the instructions, the aids, the invitations of
a kind and compassionate God been spread forth, to make
the way to his mercy seat accessible and free, and to
remove all impediments which might obstruct or alarm.
How graciously has the Mediator toiled, how earnestly en-
treated, how willingly suffered, that the path of promise
might not be hidden, and that none of God's offspring might
leave the way of life for lack of a cheering voice, or an
assisting arm. So eminently is the gospel a system of
grace ! And Oh, with what devout gratitude should we con-
template this evidence of it! Weak, ignorant, sinful^ in our
best desires and purest offerings, and therefore oftentimes
dreading to approach directly to him who is infinitely pure
and ' cannot look on sin ;' how consoling is it to know,
that there is one to offer encouragement and hope, and
lead us tenderly by the hand to our Father's feet ; one,
who himself has shared our infirmities, and can therefore
pity them ; who has himself borne our weakness, and en-
dured temptations, though without sin ; and who, gentle
and forbearing, 'breaks not the bruised reed, nor quenches
the smoking flax,' and utters no accents to the humble
and believing, but those of encouragement and peace !

Brethren, let us remember this in our prayers, let us be
emboldened and consoled by it in our apprehensions and
despondency. ' Seeing that we have this great high priest,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, and
come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.'

DISCOURSE V.

JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

Matthew i. 21.

Jiiid thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people
from their sins.

It was a custom among the Israelites, of which frequent
examples are recorded in their sacred books, to bestow
upon their children significant names, intimating either the
feelings of the parent, or the circumstances of the birth, or
the character and destiny of the offspring. Such are
all the names in the patriarchal history ; some of which, as
those of Israel and Sarah, were changed in commemora-
tion of some epocii in their lives, or to mark their altered
fortunes. It is further observable respecting this custom,
that the name was often framed by a combination of one
of the names of God. Thus Isaiah means the salvation of
the Lord ; Elisha, salvation of God; Elijah, God the
Lord, or the strong Lord. ; Elihu, he is my God hirnsdf;
Lemuel, God with them; and a child, given as a pledge of
deliverance to Judah in the reign of Ahaz, was called Im-
manuel, that is, God ivith us. As this prophecy was also
applied to the Messiah, he is on that occasion once called
Lnmanuel ; intimating that by his residence among men,
the presence of God would be particularly manifest. There
can be no ground then for the opinion that this name im-
plies a divine nature in Jesus, as if the very God, literally
and personally, came to abide with us. For, as we see,
this application of the name of God to men was a common
6

58 JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

thing ; and if Christ's being once called Iramanuel could
argue that he was truly God, a man's being always called
Elijah, Elihu, or Lemuel would no less certainly prove
him to be truly God. It was in his case, as in the others, a
significant name, and not an assertion of personal divinity.

The n?Lme Jesus is also one of appropriate significancy. Jt
means Saviour. It intimates the deliverance which he was
sent to accomplish. It designates the sense in which he
was to bless the world. Thus his very name is a memorial
of his office ; so tha^ we cannot speak of him without being
reminded both of the honor which he had from God, and
the blessing which he brought to men. We call him
Christ, the anointed of God ; Jesus, the Saviour of men.

It is in the character of a Saviour that we are to consider
him at this time ; in doing which, we may follow the sug-
gestion of our text, and inquire, under three heads,

I. Whom he is to save ;

IT. From what he is to save ;

III. How he is to save ;
or, in other words, we shall speak of the subjects, the
nature, and the method of the salvation which he came to
effect.

I. We are to consider, whom he is to save. Our text
says, * He shall save his people.^ Who are to be under-
stood by this designation ?

If we reflect for a moment on the circumstances under
which the Messiah came, we shall perceive that the Jewish
nation is primarily intended. This had been eminently dis-
tinguished as God's People, having enjoyed for ages the
peculiar manifestations of his favor. Prophets from God
had spoken of the time when his grace should visit them
with yet higher glory, in a prince and deliverer of the house
of David, whose splendid reign was always described in
closest connexion with their destinies. To them accord-
ingly, his mission was addressed. He came not to the Gen-
tiles, but to the lost sheep of Israel. Among them, and
for them, his personal labors were devoted. For them
his prayers and tears were given to the last moment of
his life. It was only vdien they had rejected his gospel

JESUS THE SAVIOUR. 59

with incurable obstinacy, that his apostles were directed to
carry its message to other nations. ' It was necessary,' as
Paul said, 'that this word of God should first be spoken to
them.' It was therefore fitting that he should be announced
as the Saviour of ' his people ;' and this theTather, as their
deliverance, which was the first object, shall be the final
eftect of his ministry. That alienated and broken family
shall be brou2;ht back to its inheritance, and ' all Israel be
saved.'

This, however, is not a suflicient answer to our inquiry,
for salvafion is not confined to this people. We accord-
ingly find it written, that ' he came to seek and to save
that which was lost.' Who are intended by this term r
How lost ? By what means, and in what way, lost f The
answer is, lost in sin, strayed away from obedience and
goodness, lost therefore to happiness. As the younger
son, who departed from his father's house and became a
wretched vagabond in a strange land, is on that account
described as ' lost ;' so they who have forsaken God's pa-
ternal presence and service, and hved in thoughtless and
vicious habits of disobedience, till the peace of virtue is
gone, and the misery of sin overtakes them, are also said
to be ' lost.' And how truly said ! lost to duty, and there-
fore to happiness ! lost, their peace of mind, their serenity
of conscience, honor, comfort, and hope ; strangers to his
presence who made them, rebels against his grace who
loves them ; and — if they will not arise and come to their
Father, who is ready to welcome their returning and con-
trite steps — perishing with the famine of the soul, and lost
forever. These are the objects of the Saviour's compassion-
ate search. 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners.'*

He is also said to be ' the Saviour of the world.' For
the world itself was lost. The knowledge and worship of
the true God was gone from it. Men groped after the way
of acceptance and truth, but could not find it. Religion,
the true mistress of human virtue and happiness, had been
thrust aside, and bloody superstition and impure idolatry

CO JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

reigned in her stead. ' Darkness covered the earth and
gross darkness the people,' and sin and misery ruled tri-
umphant over the world which God had formed for happi-
ness and goodness. Then it was that ' the Father sent the
Son to be the Saviour of the world' — sunk as it was, in
hopeless corruption, from which human wisdom had striven
10 raise it in vain. It was an object alone worthy oi divine
interposition. If mankind had been incorrupt in religion
and morals, there iiad been no occasion for a special mes-
senger from heaven, no necessity for his supernatural light,
for his instructions in righteousness, for the motives to re-
pentance which he furnished, for the solemn warnings
which he published, for the holy promises which he pro-
claimed, for the offers of pardon which he brought. Men
might have been ignorant and barbarous, and subjected to
all the miseries of this transitory state ; yet if they had been
holy, worshippers of God, righteous among men, where
could have been the call for the labors and sacrifices of
an ambassador of God ? It was only because the world
was lying in wickedness, and men were dead in trespasses
and sins, that God sent forth his Son with the dispensation
of truth and grace. And to whom was this dispensation
addressed ^ To all that have need of it ; to all that are
' lost;' to 'the world ;' to all men. There is no exception,
no limitation. The gracious proclamation speaks indiscrim-
inately to all, and offers a rich, impartial, unbounded pro-
vision, for the guidance and redemption of the world.

II. We were to consider, in the next place, the nature of
this salvation, or from what Jesus is to save. ' He shall
save his people from their sinsJ*

This is in perfect conformity with the remarks already
made. The great root of evil and wretchedness is sin ; and
its prevalence is the only cause which renders a Saviour
necessary. Freedom from sin is freedom from all essen-
tial ill. With this also, the language of Scripture strikingly
corresponds. It represents salvation to consist in the re-
moval of sin and its consequences, and the substitution in
its place of holiness, with its happy consequences and last-
ing rewards. Jesus came ' to put away sin ;' ' to give re-

JESUS THE SAriOUE. 61

pentance and remission of sins ;' ' to bless in turning away
every one from his iniquities;' * to redeem from all iniqui-
ty, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works.' This is the constant language of the New
Testament, which no man can read without the persuasion,
that a moral regeneration, a deliverance from the power of
sin and perfection in purity and holiness, is the purpose to
be effected by the gospel ; that in this consists its salvation,
commencing upon earth, and consummated in the glory
and bliss of eternity.

A strict adherence to the language of the Scriptures on
this point, will keep us from the error of imagining, that the,
evil from which Jesus saves is the curse of man's original
condition, the fearful destiny in which he is involved by na-
ture. Now it is not only perfectly inconceivable that a
benevolent being should have subjected his creatures to
such a miserable fate, prior to their sinning, or even to their
existing ; but, which is more to the purpose, the sacred
writers perpetually teach, that the misery to be saved from
is that of sin, not of natural condition ', that the wrath to be
escaped is that which visits their own transgressions, not
that which awaits them because they are men, or to which
they are naturally subjected. They speak of no evil prior
to or greater than that of sin. They speak of no curse
antecedent to this, or independent of it. And they propose
to save from this as the grand, the essential, the all com-
prehensive ill, leading to infinite consequences of wretched-
ness and despair.

We are very ready to suppose that the work of redemp-
tion is some expedient for getting rid of the punishment
due to sin — as if that were of all things the most to be de-
sired ; and thence we are easily led to persuade ourselves,
that we may so take advantage of the work which has
been wrought as to escape the punishment; though we may
not have relinquished the sin. Thus to avoid the penalty,
and yet enjoy the transgression, has always been a chief
object of false religions, and men would fain believe that it
has been accomplished in the true. But let us not be de-
6*

62 JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

ceived. No such preposterous compromise has been
made. It is inconsistent with all that we have been taught
either by experience or religion. For what says experi-
ence ? The penalty of sin often continues to visit the sin-
ner long after he has repented and reformed. The imj)ie-
ty, indiscretion, and vices of youth, for example, are follow-
ed with suffering and shame through life, and burden the
memory with bitter thoughts as long as reflection lives.
But it would not be so if the grand design were simply to
provide an escape from punishment, or to devise some
means of abolishing it. In this case all such suffering must
have been done away at once. Let us not then be deceived.
Even the assurance of pardon, is no assurance that the con-
sequences of transgression shall be altogether removed.
For what says the Scripture ? 'Thou wast a God that for-
gavest them, though thou tookest vengeance on their iniqui-
ties.'

And if wo inquire of religion, as taught either by nature
or by revelation, what is it, in strict truth, which God
designs especially to promote by liis government and his
dispensations ? Happiness ? Yes, unquestionably. But
how ? happiness only f at any rate ? of any description ?
If so, there were no need of laws and restraints, and moral
means, and insthutions of discipline and instruction ; for he
might by the arbitrary appointments of his will lavish it
abundantly on his creatures. But surely it is not so.
Being a holy God, whose abhorrence of sin is equal to his
desire of happiness, and in whose view there is no true
happiness where there is not holiness ; he, therefore, makes
holiness the primary object of his government, and the
moral perfection of his offspring, the favorite pur])ose of
his dispensations. Nothing will answer in the place of this.
He cannot be satisfied by some plausible device for remit-
ting punishment, nor by shifting it off upon some other than
the transgressor, nor even by arbitrarily excluding all suf-
fering from his universe. It is not suffering, but sin, which
he would exterminate ; he could esteem no salvation
accomplished for his children, until this principle of all evil
is itself utterly eradicated.

JESUS THE SAVIOUR. 63

Let us not, then, be deceived in regard to the nature of
this salvation. It is not the abolition of punishment, but of
sin. As when a man is saved from a disease, it is by re-
moving the disease, that is, by curing him of it ; so he is
saved from his sins by being rid of them. It would avail
little to deliver the sick man from his pangs, if his disoider
were still unreheved, and bearing him down imperceptibly
to the grave. And it would avail little to deliver the sinner
from punishment, and the sufferings which follow in the
train of vice, if his evil dispositions were left unrebuked.
For while he remains a moral being, he may choose for
himself what happiness he pleases, yet if he cannot relish
that of virtue, he will find no content. Let his fetters be
stricken off, let the fire be quenched, and the gnawing
worm be dead ; open to him the rich paradise of heaven,
and give him place among the obedient and holy worship-
pers around the throne of God ; yet if he have not been
redeemed from sin, nor his affections reclaimed from its
love, there is no beauty nor bliss for him there ; but he
wanders among them a discontented stranger, self-torment-
ing and solitary, without compLmio;], enjoyment or home —
his depraved habits and corrupted taste rendering insipid
and loathsome, the light and felicity of eternity.

III. We were to consider, in the third place, the manner
in luhich this salvation is effected; or hoiv Jesus saves
from sin.

The main point to be insisted upon under this head is,
that the character of the means must be conformable to
that of the end to be gained. The end to be gained, as
we have just seen, is a moral salvation. Our Lord must
consequently have employed moral means. The misery
from which man is to be delivered, originates in and de-
pends upon the wrong state of his mind and affections. It
is to be removed, it can be removed, by no arbitrary
appointments of place or condition, by no exertion of abso-
lute power, like the striking off of chains at a blow. It
can be only by the operation of spiritual and moral reme-
dies, suited to the spiritual and moral malady, which shall

64 JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

act gradually on the spirit, and restore it to health, vigor,
and virtue.

The christian dispensation is a provision of means for the
regeneration of free, intelligent, voluntary agents, existing
in a state of probation. Now it is essential to the nature
of such beings, in such a state, that they be subjected to a
moral government, and be influenced through a moral
process. If it were otherwise, then He, who desires the
salvation of all, and has evinced that desire by tlie costly
apparatus of his dispensations from the beginning of the
world, need only to have spoken the word, and all would
have been changed at once into iioly and happy beings.
But this has not been done, because it would be inconsist-
ent with their very nature ; would defeat the very purpose
of probation ; would put an end to their moral agenry, and
convert them into merely mechanical instruments, incapable
of either choosing or attaining virtue. Designing, there-
fore, to treat them agreeably to the nature, which he has
bestowed upon them, and which he would not char.ge nor
contradict, he has instituted corresponding means of solva-
tion. He has not sent his Son to touch them with a wand,
to re-create them by some inexplicable and unpariicipated
operation, lilce a spell or charm. But to ' sanctify them
through the truth;' to ' justily them through faith;' to re-
generate them ' by the word of God.'

It is plain, then, that there is nothing either arbitrar)^ or
compulsory in the gospel dispensation. Salvation is of-
fered to men, but not forced upon them. It is left to de-
pend upon the use which is made of those privileges and
aids, which the grace of God has bestowed. It is thus
entirely conditional. It is dependent on every man's free
choice. If he will go into the ark, lo, it is open, and there
is room enough ; but he is not compelled to go in. The
waters of life flow by him in copious and inviting streams ;
if he will come and take them, he shall live forever ; but
let him act his own pleasure, there is no constraint. The
table of heaven is spread, and urgent invitations are sent
abroad, and a joyous welcome awaits those who will be
guestSi But it rests with themselves to accept or refuse."

JESUS THE SAVIOUR. 65

Jesus has thrown wide the doors of everlasting day, and
poured a strong light on the true path of peace. He has
placed himself at its entrance, to invite and urge and warn
men — by their allegiance to God, by the miseries of their
present condition, by die welfare of their souls, by the in-
conceivable glories of heaven — to pursue the way of holi-
ness and life. He has offered them guidance, direction,
aid and blessing. They need but come to him, and they
shall have life.

It is thus that salvation is hy grace. Grace provides the
means. Sinful and undeserving man, by an act of essential
benignity, hy the unmerited favor of divine love, is put in
the condition to escape from sin, and reach the bliss of
heaven. It is a general provision for the human race ; not
a plan for the recovery of a selected few, nor a favor be-
stowed upon individuals ; but an impartial offer of mercy
to all — which offer having been made, and the opportunity
having been given, each one is then, separately, to ' work
out his own salvation with fear and trembling.' The grace of
God makes the most ample and munificent provision, even,
as it were, the wings of an angel ibr his flight upward ; but
if he will not stretch them and rise, it sends down no char-
iot of fire to bear away his reluctant soul.

I do not know that this portion of the subject needs fur-
ther illustration ; but we may readily find it, by recurring
to the history of the Old Testament. Tiie expressions
which are applied to the christian salvation, were also ap-
plied to the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in
Egypt. They were said to be ' redeemed' and ' saved,'
and the name given to their leader into Canaan was that
of Saviour. Joshua is the same name as Jesus. Now
that people were ' saved' and 'redeemed,' through the mi-
raculous means of salvation which God with a strong hand
brought to them, and by their using those means accord-
ing to his connnandments. He ledeemed them, not by
literally paying any ransom to their masters, nor by provid-
ing substitutes in their stead, nor by offering in any way an
equivalent for their service ; but by opening for them a
w^ay of escape, through which they might pass to Heedom

CG JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

and independence, and guiding them in it by his presenee
and power. So does he save us through Jesus Christ — by
opening to us a free path of escape from sin and misery,
and guiding and aiding us in it, through the perils of life to
our heavenly home. These cases illustrate one another.
In each the gracious power of God opened the way and
provided the means ; and in each, man nuist walk in the
way and use the means ; else, instead of inheriting the
blessing, he perishes in the wilderness.

But what arc the means of salvation which Jesus has
thus instituted r They are, in one word, the revelation which
he has made of the doctrines and promises of true religion,
and whatever provision exists for perpetuating and promot-
ing its influence. Divine truth is the great instrument of
regeneration and sanctification. Every circumstance in
the communication of this which tends to insure its efiica-
cy, is part of that great system of means by which Jesus
would operate for the redemption of man. The ministry
and death of our Lord himself, the recorded word of the
New Testament, the establishment of teachers and a
church, the institutions of worship, preaching, and ordi-
nances;— the arguments which convince the understanding,
the commandments which control the conduct, the motives
which persuade the will and subdue the passions, the en-
treaties which move the affections, the warnings which
assail the fears and the promises which elevate the hopes ;
all being adapted by a moral operation to lead men to faith,
repentance, and holiness, are to be regarded as constitut-
ing a vast and universal system of means, wiiich Christ was
sent to establish, to maintain, and to superintend ; which
operates uniformly and uninterruptedly, like the sun and air
and dew upon the natural creation ; always active and fer-
tilizing, but needing the co-operation of human labor for
their complete and best effect.

The efficacy of these means is essentially promoted by
their association with the personal labors and sufferings of
him, who died to establish them among men. By that
painful but voluntary death, he gave the most solemn proof
of the infinite value of his work. He exhibited the most

JESUS THE SAVIOUR. GT

disinterested evidence of his own earnestness and love.
He made the most affecting manifestation of the strength of
the divine abhorrence of sin, and of the greatness of the
divine compassion for man. It was thus provided, that if
any had been unaffected by his teaching, uninfluenced by
his example, unmoved by the wonders of his life, and the
holy tenderness and zeal with which he had devoted him-
self for them ; they might at least be touched when they
should see him pouring out his soul for them in death, aiid
so be won by his cross. And with how many has it proved
so ! They have resisted all his teaching, persuasion, and
entreaty ; they have been able to see without emotion, the
beauty of his spotless life, and his laborious benevolence.
But when they were brought to his cross, and saw that he
was not only willing to teach and rule them, but with un-
paralleled love to die for them ; they have been able to
resist no longer. Their hard hearts have melted. Their
proud spirits have yielded. In the moment of tenderness ^
they have abjured their sins, and resolved to live unto him
* who loved them and gave himself for them.'

Is it thus that we have applied to ourseh^es the rich
grace of the gospel ? Have we thus felt the pov/er of its
motives and laws, and surrendered our souls to the influ-
ence of its holy and benevolent spirit ? Have we experi-
enced the worth of the doctrines and promises of a gracious
Saviour ?

That we need all this, how can we be ignorant ! Liable,
as we are, to infirmity and temptation, subjected to evil
passions, exposed to stray from duty, and God, and peace,
in pursuing the concerns of the world ; how much and how
constantly do we need the instructions and sanctions of our
divine master, the encouragement of his promises, and the
aid which he provides from above ! If we listen to his
awful and delightiul revelations, and fill our hearts witli a
commanding and habitual sense of them ; then the power
of sin is weakened ; its sceptre and chains are broken ; we
go forward in the light and liberty of the children of God.
' The son has made us free, and we are free indeed.' But
if, slighting these means of guidance and salvation, we

GS JESUS THE SAVIOUR.

seek to pass forward unsupported and alone ; how serious
is the danger that we sliall be lost in error, overcome by
temptation, corrupted by tlie world, and miserable in the
end. For where is there security, except where Christ
has provided it .^ Where is there 'joy and peace,' except
' in believing .^' And ' how shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation ?'

Is there any one, then, moved by such considerations,
anxious for the welfare of his soul, and earnest to know,
wiiat he shall do to be saved ? Let him receive in answer
the words of the apostle ; ' Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' Every direction and
every preparation is included in futh ; for when you have
gone with faith to the word of the Saviour, you trust an
infallible guide, who cannot lead you astray. A true faith
and reliance on him, will insure to you the right influence
of the means he has provided, and the spiritual aid he has
promised.

Do you ask further, how you shall attain, cherish, culti-
vate this faith ? Let it be answered, by diligent and
earnest attention to the means of religion. Hope for no
attainments, except you use the means for arriving at them.
Least of all expect a powerful and ruling faith in Christ,
without the luost devoted use of the means which he has
instituted. Be instant in prayer ; be frequent in medita-
tion ; study the scriptures ; be punctual at the worship
and ordinances of God's house ; seek instruction from
the works of pious men, and in the conversation of
those who are themselves religious. Use these methods
vigilantly and perseveringly. It is not the occasional use
of them, occasional reading, meditation, and prayer, which
will keep the heart right, or maintain the ascendancy of
religious principle. The habit is necessary. These things
must be done customarily and constantly. For the prin-
ciple of the religious artection, which rests ultimately in
God, is like tliat of the child to its parents. And how is it
that that affection, not in a few, but nearly witnout excep-
tion, in all children, is rendei'ed so strorc;, lively, and per-
manent : The reason is that the cliiid i& always with its

J*ESUS THE SAVIOUR. 69

parents, continually lives with them and speaks with them,
knows and feels that it receives every thing from them,
their image becomes inwoven with all its thoughts, affec-
tions, and plans, and makes part of its essential happiness.
Any man that will take care to be thus always with God,
to think of him, and to refer to him, and to make the
messages of his love by Jesus Christ as familiar as a
mother's accents of love to her child ; may render his
religious principle as strong and fervent. But the filial
affection of the most devoted child in the land, might be
chilled and destroyed, if he kept himself as httle acquainted
with his parents, as many men are with God. Learn wis-
dom from this example. Have not the folly to hope for
the great end, except you devotedly pursue the prescribed
means. It is these upon which God pours the blessing,
and which shall guide us at last ' through faith unto salva-
tion.'

DISCOURSE VL

JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST.

Hebrews ix. 26.

But now, once, in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away

sin by the sacrifice of hiviself.

It is observable of the manner in which the apostles
speak of our Lord, that they seem anxious to accumulate
expressions which shall evince their admiration and devo-
tion. And in order to excite in others the same sentiments, n
they take care to select such language and illustrations, as
shall convey to their minds the most favorable impressions
concerning his excellence and dignity. These are conse-
quently varied according to the previous opinions and hab-
its of tliose whom they address ; since that illustration
which should ascribe to him the highest honor in the opin-
ion of one, might be associated in the mind of another with
very opposite feelings. This is only saying in other words,
that they adapted themselves to the habits of thinking and
state of mind of those whom they addressed. This is what
Paul means when he says, ' that he became all things to all
men, that he mijrlit by all means save some.' It was on
this principle, that he strove to win the attention of the
Athenians, by representing the God whom he would preach
to them, not as a strange divinity, but as that 'Unknown
God' whom they already worsliipped ; and that he quoted
to them, in corroboration of liis doctrine, the words of ' one
of tiieir own poets.'

It is upon this principle, also, that the epistle to the He-
brews is written. It is designed to conciliate the Jews to

JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST. 71

the new religion, by exhibiting it in such lights and under
such illustrations, as would render it to them most effective.
In order to this, the author institutes a parallel between
some portions of the Mosaic and the Christian institutions.
The Jews would seem to hav^e felt it as an objection to the
doctrines of our Lord, that they threatened the abolition of
the ancient ceremonials ; and many, who could hardly
doubt that he was the Chi'ist, were yet ready to regard it
as a deficiency in his system, that it provided no splendid
temple, nor sanctuary, no sacrifices, nor priests, like the
venerable faith which had been communicated to their
fathers. To meet this very natural feeling among his coun-
trymen, the apostle explains to them, that these things may
be considered as existing in the Christian no less than in
the Jewish dispensation. Heaven is a temple, and that
pai't of it which is accounted the peculiar residence of God,
may be called the sanctuary, or holy of holies. The death
of Christ, considering its moral cause and purposes, may be
deemed a sacrifice ; and he himself, considering the de-
sign of his office, may be regarded as our high priest. And
not only so, but it is a more splendid temple, a richer sac-
rifice, a greater liigh priest. He would thus make it appear,
that the Mosaic religion had no advantage over the Chris-
tian in respect to ordinances ; that, in truth, it had possess-
ed only the shadow, of which the substance is in the gospel.
Under the first covenant there was a tabernacle magnifi-
cently furnished, which he describes; under the second
covenant there is ' a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands.' Into that, the high priest entered
with the blood of beasts ; so did Christ into this, with his
own blood. Under that covenant, the sign of cleansing and
pardon was ' the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes
of a heifer sprinkling the unclean ;' under this, it is the
blood of Jesus Christ, ' who, through the eternal spirit,
offered himself to God.' But the Jewish high priest offer-
ed for himself as well as for the people ; Jesus is greater,
who needs no offering for himself. The Jewish high priest
offered every year ; but Christ, only ' once, now, in the

72 JESITS THE HIGH PRIEST.

end of the world, hadi appeared, to put away sin by the sac-
rifice of himself.'

Upon the parallel thus instituted by the apostle, two re-
marks may be made. First, it is observable, that in ad-
dressing the Hebrews, nothing coiUd be more natural, or
more likely to attract their regard to the new faith. It was
illustrating the higli dignity of our Lord, and the purpose of
his office, in a manner conformable to their previous relig-
ious associations and habits. It thus adapted itself to their
sacred prejudices, and prepared the way for the gradual
removal of them. And secondly, as it was a mode of il-
lustrating our Lord's character and office peculiarly suited
to them ; so it is one which — with the exception of a few in-
cidental allusions, and the occasional occurrence of sacrifi-
cial terms — is nevef used except in reference to them, nor
by any writer except the author of this epistle. To other
nations, indeed, not familiar with the religious persons and
institutions of the Mosaic law, this mode of illustration is
difficult to be appreciated. After the best explanations it
remains not a little obscure. This circumstance deserves
to be considered, because it may convince us that the essence
of our Lord's office does not consist in this form of repre-
senting it ; since if it did, it would be the general form ;
and instead of being nearly confined to one epistle, would
be in ordinary use among the apostles, and the title of high
priest as familiar as that of Saviour. Jesus himself could
not have passed through his whole ministry without allud-
ing to it, nor the apostles have been utterly silent respecting
it in their preaching, as from the book of Acts they appear
to have been. We owe to it some of the most interesting
and affecting views of our Lord's offices ; but they never
would have been given in the same form to any of the Gen-
tile Christians, and cannot, therefore, as regards the form,
be essential to their right apprehension. Our object must
be to ascertain the great and leading truth couched beneath
these representations ; to separate what is essential from
what is accidental, and take the substance rather than the
form.

In order to this let us briefly examine the language of

JESUS THE HIGH PR[EST. US

the epistle, and show what inferences should be drawn from
it for the direction of our faith and affections.

The apostle represents our Lord as holding the same
place in the christian system which the high priest had
maintained in the Jewish. He had already described him
as sustaining the office of Mediator, like Moses in the pre-
vious dispensation ; and now, that he may show how all
honor is accumulated on him, and that he has a name above
every name, he declares him to hold in the church forever
that most sacred function and high place of government,
which had formerly passed from one to another in the fam-
ily of Aaron.

The high priest was the chief religious personage, or, as
we may say, the head of the ancient church. He possess-
ed a dignity of office and a sacredness of person to which
none else approached. He had the supreme charge over
all holy places, things, and services. He alone had permis-
sion to enter the most holy place, and that, only on the
most solemn occasion and in the most imposing ceremony.
To this high office there is no successor in the christian
church, but Jesus Christ. He is the only rightful head,
and such he continues forever.

The most remarkable circumstance in the duty of the
high priest, to which especial reference is had in this epis-
tle, was his entering once a year into the holy of holies to
make atonement for the sins of the people. In this he was
distinguished from the other priests, who might offer other
sacrifices in the outer court, but might not enter the holiest
place, nor participate in that peculiar rite. Upon that oc-
casion he was first to make atonement for himself and his
household, by burning incense before the mercy seat, and
sprinkling the blood of the bullock seven times upon it and
before it. He was then to slay a goat as a sin offering for the
people, and in like manner to sprinkle the blood upon and
before the mercy seat, and make an atonement for the holy
place, for the tabernacle, for the altar, and for the people.
He was then to take another goat, and laying his hands on
its head, confess over it all the sins of the people, ' putting
7*

74 JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST.

them upon the head of the goat,' and then send liim away
into the wilderness, ' that he might bear away their sins into
a land not inhabited.'"^

This is the scene to which particular allusion is made in
what is here said of the high priest's office. The essential
point upon which stress is laid — for we are not to seek a
parallel in every minute detail — may be found expressed
in the words of our text. The object of that service, like
that of our Lord's ministry, was ' to put away sin.' The
high priest having entered the holiest place, with the blood
of the sacrifice, put the sins of the people on the head of
the goat, and sent them away. Jesus entered into heaven,
says the apostle, with his own blood, and ' put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself.' The purpose is the same in both
instances ; and the means were so far similar, as that the
shedding of blood is insisted upon in each. The inquiry
therefore is suggested, in what sense are we to understand
that sin is put away by the effusion of blood in sacrifices.

There are two senses in which sin may be said to be
' put av;ay.' The first is the literal and absolute sense,
when a man, having reformed and become righteous, is no
longer a sinner. His sins are in the strictest sense put
away, because in fact they no longer exist. The other is
a figurative or ritual sense — when any one is, in certain
circumstances, considered or treated as holy and free from
sin, because of certain ritual formalities and conditions. In
such case sin is said to be ' put away,' because in respect
of ceremonial privileges and external religious advantages,
the ill consequences and incapabilities of a sinful state are
removed.

Now it is clearly in the latter sense only, diat sins could
be removed by the sacrifices of the Jewish law, and by the
annual propitiation. By the sprinkling of blood on the
mercy seat, the peo})le were not actually made righteous,
nor were their sins truly carried away by the scape goat
into the desert. It was wholly a ceremonial and em-
blematical scene. It was an appointed sign of ceremonial

^ Leviticus, xvi.

JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST. 75

absolution. God, as the king of the people, had establish-
ed this method of proclaiming from year to year, that they
should be treated as free from sin, and be still favored as
his peculiar people. Not because by this act they became
sinless, nor because their transgressions were sufficiently
punished in the sufferings of the bullock and the goats.
For this same atonement was extended to the lioly place,
the altar, and the tabernacle. They were all purged by the
sauie sacrifice, though they had been guilty of no sin. It
could not therefore be designed as an actual puiification of
the people, but as emblematical merely. It could have no
effect to change the mind of God in regard to them, or his
dealings toward them ; it could only manifest his propitious
disposition, and proclaim his gracious Ibrbearance.

Beneath all this however, there was doubtless couched
a moral meaning and a mornl lesson. It was all combined
with positive instructions concerning duty and strongest
prohibifions of vice. For the grosser sins no sacrifice was
appointed ; and none were availing, in any case, to actual
pardon and acceptance, except the transgressor were peni-
tent and reformed. The most explicit language on this
point is frequent throughout the Old Testament. There
was a spiritual meaning to these rights ; but, like other acts
of worship, they procured no spiritual blessings, except to
the pious and obedient. To impress lessons of piety and
obedience was one purpose of their institution ; and this
was very much effected by the character of clemency and
readiness to forgive which they perpetually attributed to the
Almighty ; thus winning transgressors to repent, and en-
couraging the humble and distrustful to return to their duty.
In this way a moral effect was the end at wiiich they aimed,
and which they had a tendency to produce. It was their
final design, their legitimate result; leading, through the
pomp and solemnity of an affecting and significant emblem,
to contrition, and reformation, and the literal putting away
of sin.

If we now turn to the office of the Christian high priest,
we find that it was the wliole purpose of his ministry, from
first to last, * to put away sin' in the strictest sense of

76 JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST.

the terms ; to bring men to repentance, to produce refor-
mation and virtue, thus to cause them to ' be born again,'
to render them ' new creatures,' to make them ' partakers of
a divine nature.' This was the great end of all which he
did and taught and suffered. It was the pur})ose of all his
doctrines. It was the object and tendency of all his pre-
cepts. It was the aim of the sanctions of his religion. It
was the chosen work of his life ; the w^ork, which he com-
missioned his Apostles to carry on, and established his
church to maintain, throughout all ages. And wherever
the gospel has been preached, this has been its distinguish-
ing and glorious triumph. It has abolished, or at least
weakened, the empire of sin ; has rescued men from its
power, taught them to hate its influence, and led them to
seek for happiness in driving it from them and cultivating
the holy spirit of virtue.

What was thus the one great purpose to be accomplished
by the Messiah, toward etlecting wdiich all his offices and
every part of his labor combined ; was also the purpose to
be accomplished in his sacrifice as high priest. It is a
moral purpose; designed 'to put away sin,' not ritually,
figuratively, but literally, absolutely ; not by transfer of
guilt, or substitution of another to suffer in place of the
guilty, nor by any mystical spell which may change sin to in-
nocence by a touch ; but as a moral means, operating like
other moral means, through the senses and affections, by
emotion, sympathy, admiration, fear and love — persuading
to penitence, devotion, and obedience. The death of
Jesus, independent of his life, character, and labors, avails
nothing ; and connected with them, it operates as part of
the great system of means which effects its purpose by a
spiritual influence.

It is true, that a similar influence is ascribed to the sacri-
fice of our Lord, as to the sacrifices of the Jewish law.
But what have we seen that to be .'* Not an actual, abso-
lute, literal, cleansing from sin. This is no where pre-
tended. The whole authority of the prophets is against it.
The voice of tliis epistle is ag.iinst it. ' It is not possible,'
it says, * that the blood of bulls and of goats should take

JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST.

i7

away sin.' It has no connexion with sin, nor power over
it, nor influence over the divine mind in regard to it. Its
efficacy consists in its being the appointed sign to men of
the divine clemency and grace. As the blood of the pass-
over lamb upon the door posts was ' a token' to the inhab-
itants of the house, that they should be saved ; so the
blood of all the sacrifices was a ' token,' or sign, that God's
mercy was extended toward them. He had annexed to
it this signification. And just so when he delivered his
Son to death, it was for a sign — the most convincing and
satisfactory which could be given — of his inexhaustible
mercy, of his willingness to forgive and save ; a sign, that
as * he did not spare his own Son, so he was ready wuth
him freely to give us all things.' It was therefore well
called a ' sacrifice.' It signified, what the Jewish sacrifices
signified ; that God, holy as he is, and abhorring all iniquity,
is yet plenteous in redemption and ready to forgive ; that
he is waiting to be gracious, and encourages his prodigal
children to return ; that he is readv to enter with them
into a new covenant, and allow them henceforth a new
opportunity of approving themselves to him.

Such is its resemblance to the sacrifices of the ancient
covenant ; a resemblance, which evidently does nothing to
destroy the moral nature of the influence it exerts. Those
availed in ritual blemishes by a positive ritual appointment ;
but in regard to moral guilt, only by their power to impress
the mind, and move to penitence and holiness. And who
is not aware that precisely in this mode the blood of Jesus
avails to the cleansing and salvation of man?' Who pre-
tends that it shall reconcile to God, except through the
faith, repentance, and obedience which it produces ? that
it shall bring to him any heart, which does not come with
its own affections ? any soul, which does not surrender
itself to his love and law ? And who does not know that
in the impression of that scene, in the affecting and pathetic
circumstances under which the Lord of glory was devoted
to the cross, there is that which is peculiarly suited to touch
the sensibility of the soul, to awaken the sleeping con-
science, to rouse to admiration, wonder and love to grati-

78 JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST.

tude, remorse, and repentance f Who can know that all
this suffering was needful to establish the new dispensation
of grace, and effect the removal of sin, and lead men to
heaven ; — without being profoundly impressed with a sense
of the evil of sin, and the riches of the divine compassion ?
Who that allows himself to reflect and feel, can look un-
moved on the token of his mercy which God has there
given, or the sign of his grace which he has there dis-
played ? It reminds him of the horrible evil of sin, which
brought the Saviour into the world to suffer and die ; of
the placability of the Father, who provides for the return
and acceptance of his children, and ' reconciles the world
to himself, not imputing their transgressions to them ;' and
of the aggravated guilt which they must incur, who should
harden their hearts against all this mercy, and continue in
sin while grace thus abounds. He acknowledges the
power of the cross; he bends before the persuasive en-
treaties of tlie Saviour's sufferings ; and turns to God with
his whole heart. Herein is the power of the sacrifice — it
has eifectually put away his sins, and saved his soul.

That there is no other efficacy in our Lord's sufferings,
except in the mode which has now been described, I do
not assert. But thus much is clear — that this is the only
operation which we can understand, or with which we
can perceive that man has any practical concern. In
the mind and counsels of God, there may be consequences
which we do not discern and cannot penetrate. An impor-
tance is plainly attributed to the Messiah's death in the
Scriptures, which is ascribed to that of no other person.
It is spoken of with peculiar emphasis and feeling, and is
connected in a peculiar manner with the terms of pardon
and life. We may therefore be certain that it holds a most
important place in the christian scheme, that we owe to it,
perhaps, much more than we can at present know, far more
than we can distinctly apprehend. But what we can ap-
prehend, what we do understand, should be enough to sat-
isfy us. ' The secret things belong unto the Lord our
God ;' it is not for us curiously to pry into them, nor should
we perhaps be made better if we could discover them,

JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST. 79

What God has been pleased to reveal, is enough for our
gratitude, guidance, and peace. True humility will be
content with this, and not ambitiously seek to explain what
the Scriptures have not explained. If we can discern the
powerful moral operation by which our Lord's death con-
vinces men of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, and
sanctifies their souls ; it is enough, or more would have been
told. Let us be content to rest in humble ignorance of
whatever mysterious purposes may be otherwise effected,
and fear lest our solicitude to know more should destroy
the practical and saving influence of what is already certain.

But besides the view of our Lord's character as high
priest which we have now taken, there is yet another, on
which this epistle dwells with still stronger emphasis and
pleasure — and that is, his personal character, as exhibiting in
its traits of benevolent sympathy and tenderness, a pledge
of the placability and grace of God, and an encouragement
to the frailty and apprehensions of man. There are few
portions of scripture more delightful than these to the peni-
tent, timorous, self-distrusting believer. The power of per-
suasive and pathetic language is almost exhausted in de-
scribing the compassion of our great high priest, and in set-
ting forth the comfort and animation, which his example
and sufferings should impart. Even the Jewish ritual had
taught that God is not inexorable, but willing to forgive.
But in the character and labors, the tenderness and suf-
ferings of Jesus, it is yet more touchlngly exhibited. Here
he invites us with a voice of kindness, and cheers us with
the countenance of love. We may come no longer in ab-
ject fear and servile dread, ' like slaves beneath the throne;
but boldly ;' ' for we have not an high priest who cannot
be touched with the feeling of our inlirmities, but who was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin ; and
having himself sufferer], being tempted, is able to succor
those who are tempted ;' ' who is able also to save those to
the uttermost who come to God by hiin, seeing he ever liv-
eth to make intercession for ihcnn.'

What shall we add to this language of the scriptures ? It
speaks more plainly than we can express, and with an au-

80 JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST.

tliority which we should not dare assume, of the abounding
grace of God, as confirmed to us by the ministry and
death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us rejoice in it. Let
us strive to be worthy of it. Let us surrender to it our
faith, our trust, our affections. For where will be our
apology or our hope, if, unmoved by this rich and wonder-
ful abundance of invitation, compassion, and aid, we should
suffer ourselves to be strangers to his love, aliens from his
presence, rebels against his law ! if we should be found
capable of thus trampling under foot the Son of God, and
doing despite to the spirit of grace, and counting the blood
of the covenant, wherewith we are sanctified, an unholy
thine; 1

DISCOURSE VII.

THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST

Romans v. 11.

And not only so , hut we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

The apostle, in the preceding part of this epistle, has
employed himself in showing, that Jew as well as Gentile is
to be saved by the grace of God ; that therefore the boast-
ing of the Jew in liis law is vain ; and that the Gentile can-
not be required to conform to that law, in order to his ad-
mission to the Christian dispensation. In this he had re-
ference to the great controversy of the age. The Jews,
glorying in their exclusive privileges as the people of God,
insisted that there could be no favor to the Gentiles, ex-
cept through a previous initiation to their church. Paul,
on the other hand, contended strenuously for the rights of
the Gentiles, independently of the Mosaic institutions. He
asserted that God was in Christ introducing a new dispen-
sation of grace for all men, in which they might freely par-
take without first passing through the ceremonials of the
former faith.

Having thus cut off from the Jews their favorite ground
of boasting, and showed the title of the Gentile believers
to be as good as theirs ; the aposde begins die present
8

82 THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST.

chapter with exhibiting the causes of rejoicing which per-
tain to the Gentile christians.

The first is the hojye of glory, to which the grace of God
has introduced them, and to which they had been previous-
ly strangers. The second is, their sufferings for the gos-
geVs sake — ' we glory in tribulations also' — because they
lead to increased attainments in the spirit and virtues of
religion, and thus prepare the way for its peace and bliss.
The third is their relation to God as their God ; we joy in
God ; this they could not do formerly, as being Gentiles,
who had not the true knowledge of God, and were not ad-
mitted to the privileges of his people ; but now, being
brought nigh in the establishment of the new covenant ' we
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we
have received the atonement.'

It is the third ground of the believer's glorying, or joy,
which forms the text of our discourse. In considering this,
we find four topics of remark.

1. The meaning of the word atonement as here used.

2. The persons who receive this atonement.

3. The mode in which it is received.

4. The joy occasioned by its reception.

I. We are to speak of the meaning of tlie word Atone-
ment.

Here it is to be observed, first of all, that this is the only
place in the New Testament in which the word occurs. It
is not again used in the christian scriptures by any writer,
in any connexion, in relation to any subject. It is never
used in relation to the terms of pardon, or acceptance with
God, to explain the ground of the sinner's hope, or to illus-
trate any of the works or offices of Christ ; neither in rela-
tion to his life, his doctrines, his sufi:erings, or his death.
This is a fact of which we should be thoroughly aware ;
that the writers of the New Testament, throughout that
volume, have never found occasion to introduce the word
atonement. We meet with it nowhere except in our text.

In the next place it is to be remarked, that as occurring
in this passage, it is universally acknowledged to be a clear
and unquestionable mistranslation of the original word. In

THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST. bi5

every other case in which the same word occurs it is ren-
dered reconciliation ; as when the apostle says, ' he hath
given unto us the ministry of reconcihation.' So it should
have been rendered here. Doddridge remarks, that it has
so evident reference to the word reconciled in the context,
that ' it is surprising it should have been rendered by so
different a word in our version.'* Other commentators
speak to the same effect.

A single glance at the connexion in which the text stands
will satisfy us that this interpretation is necessary to the
sense of the passage. For there is an obvious allusion to
the language of the verse immediately preceding. ' If,' says
the apostle, ' when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life.' Then follows our text, in
which he declares that those who are thus reconciled, ' re-
joice in God through Jesus Christ, by whom they have re-
ceived this reconciliation.''

A glance at the word Atonement itself, may also con-
vince us that the true meaning is Reconciliation. The re-
mark has been made, and may be profitably repeatedjf that
to atone, in its primary use, signified to reconcile. It is
formed by the union of the two words, at and one. Per-
sons who have once differed, on being reconciled, are set
at one. To put at one, or to at-one, is originally to recon-
cile ; consequently atonement is reconciliation. This we
know to have been the signification of the word as it was
used at the period when our translation of the Bible was
made ; it was undoubtedly the meaning attached to it by
the translators.

Let us remember then, that the word ' atonement,' in
the only instance in which it is found in the New Testa-
ment, is the same with ' reconciliation.' But what is to be
understood by reconciliation ?

To answer this will require few words; for it is the com-

* Family Expositor, in loc. note.

t See especially Dr Ware's Letters to Trinitarians and Calninists.
Letter V. p. 95.

84 THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST,

prehensive term which expresses, in one view of the subject,
the entire purpose of the Saviour's mission. The world was
estranged from God, worshipping false divinities, and pur-
suing evil practices. Its inhabitants had wandered from God,
and were ' aliens,' ' afar off.' He sent his Son to bring tliem
near, to acquaint them with his character, to restore them
to their allegiance, to make them his friends, and thus, in
one word, to reconcile them. Hence the aposde calls the
ministry of the gospel the ministry of ' reconciliation ;' be-
cause ' God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them.' This he repre-
sents to be the burden of the message with which the
preachers of the word are charged — ' we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray
you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.'

Thus much respecting the signification of this important
w^ord. We proceed to consider,

II. Who are said to receive the atonement.

The idea conveyed by this language of the sacred writ-
ers, is that of two parties at variance. There is an aliena-
tion between God and his people. A reconciliation is to
take place. Which party is to receive it ? Which party
makes, and which receives the offers of peace ^

The answer to this will depend upon the reply to a pre-
vious question. Which party is at vai'iance, which at en-
mity ? Is God at variance with his children, or they with
him.'^ has he forsaken them, or have they forsaken him ?
is he the enemy of men, or are they the enemies of God ?
The reply to this question is ready upon every heart and
tongue. God has never estranged himself from men, nor
forsaken them, nor been their enemy. ' He has hated
nothing which he has made.' His name is Love ; and in
long suffering love he has forborne them and been patient
with them, pitied them as a Father his children, showered
down mercy, and made punishment his strange work. The
history of the world bears testimony that he has never
ceased to be gracious ; and that if there have been any
separation between him and his human family, it has taken
place on the part of his wayward offspring. They have

THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST. 83

neglected and forgotten him ; they have been thankless
and disobedient. They have disliked his law, been impa-
tient beneath the restraint of his government, and unwilling
to retain him in their knowledge. The alienation was en-
tirely on their part ; it is their enmity which is to be sub-
dued and forgiven, and it is they therefore who are to re-
ceive the reconciliation.

With this statement the Scriptures perfectly accord.
The aspect of all the dispensations is that of God's love.
His infinite and unchangeable benignity, his free and un-
failing mercy, shine conspicuously in all. They do not
exhibit him as a stern avenger, an inexorable sovereign, a
God of terror and wTath ; but as gracious and merciful,
plenteous in redemption, full of compassion. The enemy
of sin, indeed, and sometimes displaying his indignant dis-
pleasure in works of severity and destruction ; but long
suffering toward the guilty, and not desirous that any should
perish. Notwithstanding the sins of man, he so loved the
world, that he sent his Son to save it. * He magnified his
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us.' He did not need to be rendered propitious,
to be persuaded to extend favor to man ; for he was
already waiting to be gracious, the hand of forgiveness was
already stretched out. It was men, who needed to be in-
duced to seek forgiveness. They had set themselves afar
off, and needed to be persuaded to come near. And
therefore the language of scripture is, ' God is in Christ
reconciling the world to himself;' not, himself to the world.

It is sometimes thought, that God receives the atone-
ment ; that it is a means used to reconcile Him to the
world, and to persuade or enable him to grant pardon and
favor, which otherwise he might be indisposed or unable
to bestow. But the uniform representation of scripture
certainly is, that this atonement flows from his grace, not
that his grace is the consequence of the atonement ; that
He sent his Son to live and suffer for the salvation of men,
not that the Son lived and suffered in order to win the good
will of God toward them. It would be dishonorable to

8*

86 THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST.

our heavenly father, to suppose any other one to have more
compassion than he, and to be the first in devising and
prosecuting a plan for human redemption. The scripture
expressly speaks of reconciling men to God, never of re-
conciling God to men. Let us adhere to this important dis-
tinction. Let us receive with grateful emotions this plain
statement of God's inherent and essential grace. Let us
neither question it, by ascribing it to the previous labors of
one more gracious than himself, nor abuse it by ungrateful
continuance in rebellious sin.

III. The next observation to be drawn from our text,
relates to the mode in which this atonement, or reconcilia-
tion, is received : ' through Jesus Christ.' He is the me-
dium through which are communicated all the purposes and
revelations of God. He is the messenger by whom are
made known the kind purposes of the Father toward his
children, and by whom is preached ' peace to those who
are afar off and to those who are nigh.' He came, com-
missioned with all the authority and power, all the wisdom
and holiness, that should be necessary to convince, and per-
suade, and win men to their allegiance to God. And by
employing all these powers, by exercising all these gifts,
by establishing a new dispensation, by his instructions, doc-
trine, and example, by his life and sufferings, his labors and
death,— he did all that was needful to teach men the way
of return, and lead them back to God.

Especially were the anguish and patience of his final
sufferings, and his fearful death upon the cross, appointed
and powerful means of affecting the souls of men, and re-
storing them to the love of duty and of God. To this por-
tion of his ministration, therefore the work of reconciliation
is frequently attributed. ' He died, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God.' ' He made peace by
his cross.' He thus exhibited the earnest desire of our
heavenly Father to reclaim his wandering children to the
ways of pleasantness and peace. He thus exhibited a
spectacle, which none can contemplate without emotion ;
which thousands have thought upon and wept — wept those
tears of sorrow and contrition which have issued in repent-

TRE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST. 87

ance, and been led, humble and suppliant, to the footstool
of God's mercy, and thence upward in the path to heaven.
What multitudes have thus felt the power of this reconcil-
ing grace ! They have cast the burden of their sins at the
foot of the cross, and, in the strong figure of the Apoca-
lypse, have ' washed their garments, and made them white,
in the blood of the lamb.'

IV. We were to speak, lastly, of the joy or glorying
occasioned by this doctrine in the mind of the believer.

Here let us go back, and observe the state of feeling in
the aposde's own mind. He had been setting aside the
boasting of the Jews in their peculiar privileges as God's
chosen people, and proving that they had no reason to ex-
clude or despise the Gentiles. And now, in the name of
the Gentiles, he is bringing forward the grounds of their
religious boasting. The select nation can no longer glory
in God as their peculiar divinity* Once indeed it was
so, and we Gentiles were aliens and strangers ; but now,
we also are brought near and called into his family ; we
also are partakers of his revealed religion, and the hope of
his glory ;^we, therefore, as well as they, may 'joy in God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom w^e have now re-
ceived reconciliation.' The apostle was thinking of the
general fact, which was so frequently the theme of his
preaching and episdes, and to establish which he so anx-
iously labored ; the fact, that in the gospel, the distinction
between Jew and Gentile was abolished, the middle walls
of partition thrown down, and all nations placed in a state
of reconciliation ; — that general fact, to which most of the
passages refer which speak of the world being reconciled
and redeemed by the ministry and death of Jesus Christ.
When the apostle contemplated this glorious truth, which
evinced the equal and impartial mercy of the universal
parent, no wonder that his heart was enlarged, and that ho
spake of it here and elsewhere in ardent accents of joy and
triumph.

It should be equally matter of religious rejoicing to us.
To see the diffusion of an impartial and universal religion,
which gives one light and one hope to all the sons of men,

SS THE ATONEMENT BY JESUS CHRIST.

which brings every nation and kindred and tongue into an
equal stale of favor, which collects in one the family in
lieaven and on earth, and unites it under one name ; how
shall we not triumph and rejoice in this great and sublime
truth, this mystery, as the apostle calls it, ' which was
kept secret since the world began, but is now made mani-
fest to all nations.'

There is not only reason for joy in this general sense, but
in a particular and personal sense. For by this gracious me-
thod of reconciliation we are, individually, put in the condi-
tion to be pardoned, accepted, and saved ; individually intro-
duced to a participation of the highest privileges which
God has bestowed on his children upon earth, and of the
most glorious hopes which he lias opened to them in heaven.
We have each of us, personally, been taken from that state
in which our fathers were once exposed, ' without God
and without hope,' and made to ' sit in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus.' If we have any right sense of our privileges
this will be reason for joy indeed ; — joy, that the highway
of life is opened before us, and that nothing may hinder
us from glory, honor, and immortality, if we be but faithful
to ourselves ; joy, in God, who has thus manifested his
divine love, and not suffered even our sins to separate us
from his mercy. To him tiien be our gratitude given.
'All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ.' Of his own voluntary and unsolicited
grace, unmoved, except by the inherent and immutable
benignity of his own nature, he sent his Son to bestow on
us that light, to secure for us those advantages, tg establish
for us those means, by which pardon and life may be ours ;
to toil for us, that we might be free, to die for us, that we
might live. To him, therefore, be our gratitude and
praise ; in him be,=our joy ; in him, as our God and Father,
be our trust and hope.

Such is the doctrine of our text and of the New Testa-
ment. Thus is it calculated to excite gratitude to our
heavenly Father, and heighten our devotion.

DISCOURSE VIII.

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR

Romans viii. 34.

Jt is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at

the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

This is one of the only two passages in the New Testa-
ment, which speak of Jesus as making intercession. In
what this intercession consists, we are nowhere distinctly
told The passage before us does not describe it, and
the other passage in Hebrews [vii. 25] speaks of it only
in a general and figurative adaptation of a ceremonial
observance of the Mosaic ritual. This consisted in the
sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat, upon the annual day
of propitiation. In conformity with this, some have been
fond of representing the intercession of Jesus, as tne
sprinkling of his blood before the throne of God in heaven.
But this is to speak without any distinct sense ; lor we
know that there is no material throne in heaven, and that
he did not strictly bear thither the blood which flowed
upon the cross. It is but a strong figure, which needs to

be explained. . .• r u\^

Others suppose it to signify simply the presenting ot Ins
humanity, (as they term it,) that is, his ascended human
body, before God, to remind him, by its presence, oi Ins
gracious promises to men, and of what had been suttered

90 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

for them. They suppose this perpetual exhibition of the
body in which he suffered, to be the essence of that inter-
cession which he makes for his church.

Others sup])ose it to consist in his perpetually pleading
his merits before God, and claiming the reward of his obe-
dience and death, in the salvation of the saints.

It is not necessary to discuss all, or either, of these
opinions. They are merely inferences from single unde-
fined expressions, like that of our text, and may seem to
be more or less plausible, according to the general notions
of that religious system which any one may have adopted.

Let us then pass by these, and examine the subject for
ourselves.

To intercede or to make intercession, signifies to inter-
pose in behalf of another, to some third person, who has
power to show him favor. This may be done either by
action or by word. Whatever therefore our Lord has
done, by his life, death, labors, or prayers, in behalf of
rnan, may be considered as part of his intercessory office.

For by all these, he stepped in, like Aaron with the
censer to stay the plague, between man and ruin, and by
all helped forward his salvation. It is consequently sup-
posed by many, that this language is only a general ex-
pression to signify, that he ' exercises kind offices' in be-
half of men. In this case, however, it is plain, that inter-
cession would be precisely the same thing as the exercise
of his mediatorial office. All the services, which Christ
has rendered man, are done by him as mediator. That
office comprehends every exercise of liis love, every dis-
play of his benevolence, every effort to extend salvation.
Intercession should be regarded as one of these modes of
exertion, rather than as all. Even if it were allowable to
consider the term as including all his kind offices toward
man, or as an indefinite phrase to signify whatever it may
be which he does for man in his exalted state ; yet it may
be more strictly exact to understand it as intending inter-
cession by prayer. This seems to be the more usual sense
of the word, both in our own language, and in that of the
original scriptures.

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR. 91

The doctrine tlien seems to be, that our blessed Lord,
who poured out his prayers as well as his life for men,
when on earth ; forgets not in his exalted state also, to
seek their benefit by his prayers; and thus to express the
interest, which he still takes in that race for which he
labored and died.

It will be my object to illustrate the truth of this doc-
trine, to clear it from objection, to explain its purposes,
and unfold its uses.

1. We may remai'k, in the first place — that Jesus should
be engaged in such an office, is perfectly consonant to all
that we know of the mode of the divine administration, and
to all that we understand of the method of God's opera-
l?ons in the universe. He has every where established a
uniform system of mutual dependence. Nothing stands
by itself. No being exists alone. All lean upon each
other. Every individual is made to help others, and to
receive help from others. It is a large, comprehensive
arrangement of beneficence ; in which God's kind purposes
are elFected by causing his creatures to do kind offices to
one another. The very worlds which roll through space,
are dependent on each other, and influence each other.
Men are dependent on one another for existence and for
happiness. The parent and child^ the teacher and pupil,
the ruler and subject, the rich and poor, all are needful
to each other. And look where we may, every thing
and every being seems made, not for itself only, but for
the benefit of odiers also.

The intercessory office of Jesus may be regarded as part of
this wide spread and all-embracing system. Agreeably to
this universal law of kindness, God has appointed, that his
children on earth shall receive favor and blessing through
tlie various instrumentality of his dear Son. It is his favor-
ite procedure to bestow his gifts by means of intermediate
agents ; to withdraw himself, as it were, from immediate
action and observation, that he may exercise the virtues
and good affections of his children on one another. Thus
in the present instance, he would multiply the objects of
their affection and gratitude, by appointing that favors shall

92 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

be conveyed to them through the intercession of theii
Saviour.

This is also conformable to the method of his providence
and grace as recorded in the scriptures. The frequent exam-
ples of prevalent intercession, both in the Old and New Tes-
taments, prove to us, that this is one of the means by which
God has appointed to dispense blessing. When the de-
struction of Sodom was threatened, how did his condescend-
ing mercy listen to the importunate pleading of Abraham,
and promise to spare at his entreaty. When the people of
Israel had rebelliously sinned, how often were they forgiven
and their punishment delayed, at the interposition of Moses.
So too the prayers of David and Samuel, of Elisha and
Solomon were acceptable, and the offending friends of Job
were pardoned at his intervention. And when the people
had transgressed beyond mercy in the days of Jeremiah,
the prophet was commanded, as the most decided expres-
sion of God's displeasure, ' therefore pray not thou for this
people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither
make intercession to me ; for 1 wiU not hear thee.'

The authority of the New Testament is even more deci-
sive than that of the Old. The principle of acceptable in-
tercession is very frequently recognized. Christians are
commanded to pray for one another. The aposdes request
the brethren to pray for them, and they offer their own
prayers for the brethren. Paul directs that 'intercessions
be made for all men.' ' Confess your faults one to
another,' says James, 'and pray for one another. The
prayer of faith shall heal the sick, and the Lord shall raise
him up.' Paul earnestly prays in behalf of his country-
men, and often assures the churches to which he writes, that
he never forgets them in his addresses at the throne of grace.

It thus appears, that, among the good services which
men are made to render to one another, this of intercession
stands prominent and conspicuous. As they are bound to
' do good as they have opportunity,' so they are taught that
they liave an opportunity, whenever they hold communion
with their heavenly Father.

If it be so with all ; if every righteous man have this
privilege ; if the ear of the Almighty be thus open to the

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR. 93

ciy of every benevolent heart; bow mucb more must it be
so to the voice of his chosen, his anointed, his dearly be-
loved Son f If this be a means of cultivating benevolence
and dispensing favor in the hands of all his children, how
•peculiarly must it be so in his hands, to whom the great work
of love was appointed, and whose desire of man's happiness
is so earnest and extensive ? How must his heart. Overflow-
ing with that love which passeth knowledge, delight to pour
itself out before the seat of his Father's mercy, in petitions
of grace for the erring, of pardon for the penitent, of
sti'ength for the weak, of aid for the tempted ! How must
he delight to add to all other demonstrations of interest in
their souls' well-being, this of a tender recollection of them
in his prayers !

Consider how it was during his residence upon earth.
Several of liis prayers are recorded in the gospels, and
among them are prayers of intercession. ' The enemy hath
desired you,' said he to Peter, ' that he may sift you as
wheat ; and I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not
fail.' He prayed particularly for Peter, because his ardor
and rashness exposed him to especial peril. When stretch-
ed upon the cross, he prayed for his enemies ; and before
that Lcene of suffering began, he poured out his soul in the
most affectionate strain of supplication for his chosen disci-
ples. This, his longest, his most striking act of devotion,
was almost exclusively an act of intercession. He appear-
ed as their advocate before the Father. He pleaded for
them with earnest and profound feeling ; appearing to con-
centrate the whole strength and tenderness of his disinter-
ested love, in this official act of friendly intercession.

Will any one suppose, that his ardent devotion to the in-
terests of his followers and the church, expired when he
left them in the world ? that he no longer cared for them,
when he had ascended from their sight, nor took concern
in their improvement, purity, and peace f Or will any one
imagine, that he no longer possessed the privilege of inter-
ceding with his Father ? that when risen to his glory, the
liberty and efficacy of this benevolent act were taken from
him ? It cannot be. It were not possible that he should
9

94 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

have changed his feelings, and lost his solicitude for that
work in which he had lived and died, suffered and triumph-
ed, been humbled and glorified. Neither could it be pos-
sible, that he, who watched over and instructed his grow-
ing church, and sought for it God's choice blessing, to the
very moment when the cloud received him from human
sight ; should, from that moment, have ceased to plead its
cause in the presence of that God to whom he had as-
cended.

The representations of the New Testament confirm this
idea. It is very evident from them, that during the apos-
tolic age — that is, until the destruction of Jerusalem, and
the extinction of the Jewish polity — our Lord did continue
to manifest an active and personal interest in the concerns
of his followers and the prosperity of his church. * Lo, I
am with you always,' said he, ' even unto the end of the
world ;' by which we understand, what the term so fre-
quently means in the christian scriptures, the end of the
Jewish world, the close of the Jewish age, or dispensation.
That this promise was fulfilled by his actual, occasional
presence with them, is manifest from several passages.
He appeared personally to Paul for his conversion. He
seems afterwards to have appeared to him on other occa-
sions. And there are frequent intimations, that the disci-
ples received from him direction and council, in a manner
wholly unknown in later times, after the infant church had
obtained a firm footing in the world. All the aid which he
thus vouchsafed to his struggling and suffering followers, was
in furtherance of that magnificent design to which he had
devoted himself. And can we then suppose, that it ceased
to hold a place in his near and unceasing communion with
God ? Is it not most consistent and reasonable to believe,
that he, who had so magnanimously consecrated himself to
this holy cause, and been its advocate in one sphere, should
continue to be its advocate in another sphere ? Is it not
most agreeable to all our conceptions of the benevolence
and devotion of Jesus, to believe that the apostle states the
literal fact when he. says in our text, that he, who died for
us, and rose again, and is at God's right hand, also makes

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR. 95

intercession for us? Should we not expect to find, that as
he ' ever lives,' so he ' ever makes intercession f"

Still, however, objections may arise to the doctrine thus
stated. Some of these it was our second purpose to
consider.

II. 1. The first objection which occurs to me as likely
to be made to these statements, arises from a general feel-
ing of incredulity in regard to what does not come within
the limits of actual personal knowledge. We are not easily
brought to conceive, that the employment of beings in the
invisible world can have any near connexion with us, or
our lot be a matter of knowledge or interest to them. And
hence we are inclined to receive with a certain hesitating
incredulity, the idea that Jesus intercedes for us in heaven.

This seems to me to be owing to our too much dividing
this world in our thoughts from the coming state. We are
so engrossed with present things, that we regard the visible
and invisible states, not only as separate, but altogether dis-
tinct and unconnected. This is doubtless an error ; and
the removal of this, would remove all difficulty on this ac-
count— a difficulty arising from false associations of feeling,
rather than from any well-grounded reason.

For we are to reflect, that, in truth, the connexion be-
tween these states is most real and intimate, the one being
a continuation of the life commenced in the other. Now
there is this essential difference between the condition of
us w^ho remain upon earth, and the spirits of those who have
departed to the unseen state. Their condition we have
never experienced nor witnessed ; and therefore we cannot
fully understand its character nor sympathise in it. It is to
us the untravelled region of imagination and hope, of which
we have heard that it is, but have not seen what it is. But
with our condition, they, on the contrary, are familiarly
acquainted ; they have once taken part in it ; they know
the feelings, the employments, the exposures, the pleasures,
the trials of earthly existence ; they can enter into all the
joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, anxieties and raptures
of their friends below. Although, therefore, we, from our
inexperience and ignorance, may seem to be utterly discon-

96 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

nected from them, and from all concern or sympathy with
them ; yet they, who have been so recently dwellers upon
earth, must still feel that they are not wholly severed from
us. They must still have a lively recollection of what pass-
ed and affected them in this important abode of their pro-
bation ; must still take an interest in the scenes and the
friends wliich they have left ; must be desirous to promote
if possible their welfare, and anxious to avert from them
evil. It is as if they had gone to a distant continent,
whence their hearts still run back to family and home, and
rejoice in tidings from the land that they loved.

We cannot view this matter differently, unless we sup-
pose, either that the memory of this first period of life is
blotted out from the soul at death ; or else that the affec-
tions are so changed as to become at once indifferent to all
that they knew and cherished here. But we cannot indulge
either supposition. Every thing that is taught us respecting
a future life gives the assurance, that there is a close con-
nexion between that and the present ; that that, in truth, is
a direct continuance of this ; linked intimately to it by the
consequences of action and character which follow from
this world to that. There can then be no obliteration of
the memory. To a state of retribution the recollection of
the past state of duty is essential. For there could be no
just punishment of sins of which the sufferer is not in some
sense conscious, and no righteous recompence of services
which are not in some sense remembered. Besides, it is
plain that nothing but an express and arbitrary act of om-
nipotence could blot the memory of past existence from the
soul — an act, which we have not the slightest reason or au-
thority to warrant us in supposing.

Neither have we any ground for supposing any super-
natural change in the affections at that moment. Man, risen
from death, is still man — the same man, so far as regards his
character, feelings, and affections, that he was when he fell
asleep. If these be not the same, his personal identity is
gone. Admitted to the joys of heaven, he still must be
conscious that he has just quitted the society of earth, and
must have a desire that those whom he loved below should

JEStJS THE INTERCESSOR. 07

be united with him above — a desire stronger than ever, we
should think, because heightened by an actual sense of hea-
venly felicity. If our Saviour represents the selfish rich man,
as anxious, that his brethren might not come to the same
place of torment; how reasonable to suppose that the good
— who were less selfish and more attached to their earthly
friends, — should be solicitous that those friends should
come to the same place of bliss; and, though they might
not be able to send them a messenger from Abraham's bo-
som, yet should seek, by prayer at least, to obtain for
them the blessing.

There is therefore no good reason for that distinction of
interests, which we are so apt to imagine placed between
the two states. We deceive ourselves, because we have
never experienced the neai-ness of the connexion. We
should reflect that the inmates of the other world have ex-
perienced it. If we would in imagination exchange places
with them, and consider with what feelings we should look
back upon this spot of our infant being ; we should under-
stand how close is the tie which binds together the invisible
and visible worlds, and how strongly it is felt by them,
though so little realized by us. We should be persuaded,
that their thoughts and affections still run back to former
scenes and friends, and that the prayers of heaven, where
angels rejoice over penitent sinners, do not forget to men-
tion the friends of earth. We then, instead of the cold in-
credulous assent which we now give to the doctrine of
Christ's intercession, should feel that nothing could be more
natural, or more agreeable to his character and office. If
our fellow-men carry with them the recollections of earth,
and the desire to benefit their friends ; how much more
must He, the whole object of whose life was to fit men for
that world ; who left upon earth a mighty work but just
commenced; who left the church he had just founded
struggling for its existence, and the dearest desires of
whose heart can be accomplished only by its growth and
prosperity. The work which he begun is still going on, as
important, as interesting, as glorious, as ever. He cannot
be separated from it. However others might be able to
9*

98 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

forget all their labors and objects of interest on earth, it
cannot be so with the Messiah ; for heaven and eternity are
interested in them. However to others the two states might
become distinct and separate, to him they could never be
so. For what his truth has begun to effect here, is going
on to its completion there. It is only by knowing its whole
progress, that he can ' see of the travail of his soul and be
satisfied.' He cannot cease to care for it, to be engaged
for it, and to speak of it in the everlasting communion
which he holds with his Father. He cannot be unconcern-
ed for any spirit here, which he hopes to welcome to glory-
there .

2. Another objection to this doctrine may be, that no
consequences are discernible. If Jesus were truly inter-
ceding for men, we should perceive its effects in their con-
version and subjection to him. His religion would not be
so slighted, its extension would not be so limited. But as
it has spread so imperfectly, and so many who have receiv-
ed are yet so litde affected by it, it is not easy to believe
tliat Jesus has been actually employing so efficient means.

This objection proceeds upon the supposition, that the
intercession of the Mediator must necessarily be all-prevail-
ing ; that such must of course be its virtue, as to occasion
at once the perfect accomplishment of his great work. But
we have no authority for such a supposition. It is w^ithout
sufficient reason or warrant, that we fancy the Deity pledged
to grant immediately, unreservedly, and perceptibly, tlie
petitions of the intercessor.

It is true, when our Lord uttered his prayer at the tomb
of Lazarus, he said, ' I know that thou hearest me always.'
He had asked for permission lo exercise his power in rais-
ing his friend from the dead, and he gave thanks that it was
granted ; ' Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.*
But this, it is plain, refers only to his power of working mira-
cles on earth. And it must be observed, that there is a great
difference between such operations on the bodies of men,
and the influence of religion on their souls. The souls of
men are subject only to a moral influence. There can be
no reformation or holiness by compulsion. Reformation

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR, 9^

and holiness come only through the operation of truth, by-
motive, argument, persuasion. These are the means which
God has established in the world, and which Jesus came to
bring. And if his intercession should have the effect to work
a miracle in every heart, it would be to supercede at once,
and render useless, all those extensive means, which, with
so great pains and cost, have been instituted for man's salva-
tion. But it plainly cannot be designed to interfere with
and frustrate, but only to aid, that vast and gracious system ;
and therefore this objection — which simply amounts to this,
that it has not overturned the whole provision of moral means
in the christian dispensation — is entirely destitute of weight.

Indeed the objection might be urged quite as plausibly
against the whole system of revelation itself. It is an obvi-
ous fact, that revelation does not accomplish the whole of
that extensive good, which it was designed to effect. The
gospel was sent into the world to abolish the empire of sin,
and establish the prevalence of holiness. Yet it has never
done it. The dominion of sin is still powerful and exten-
sive, and multitudes live and die without righteousness or
religion. This is true even of the christian world ; how
much more true of the whole world ! Now we might quite
as safely reason, that the gospel has not been announced,
because we do not witness its promised perfect operation, as
that Jesus does not intercede, because we do not witness
what we should suppose to be the complete efficacy of such
intercession. The truth is, that nothing at present has its
full and perfect effect. Every thing is in tendency, rather
than in result. The design and tendency of the govern-
ment of providence are to happiness ; yet there is a great
deal of unhappiness. But this unhappiness is no objection
to a thoughtful mind against the benevolent tendency of the
system.

Besides ; the objection we are considering adopts the
veiy inadmissable supposition, that we are acquainted with
all the results of our Lord's intercessory labors ; that we
actually know how far they avail, and where they cease to
avail. Whereas, in truth, we know nothing about it, and
can know nothing. How can we tell that many favors and

100 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

deliverances, which we least suspect, and of whose existence
even we know nothing, are not owing to this very circum-
stance ? How can we tell, if this were to cease, what
would be the diminution of the general influence of relig-
ion, and of its peace and joy in our own breasts ? From
the nature of the case, we must necessarily be profoundly
ignorant in regard to all particulars. It is much the game
as in regard to the efficacy of prayer. We know that it
avails, that ' the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man
avails much.' But who can tell in precisely what instances
and to what extent ? We have the public institutions and
ordinances of our faith operating in the midst of us, and
within the sphere of our constant observation. Yet we are
wholly unable to estimate the extent and determine the Hm-
its of their influence. Many persons profess that they are
unable to discern in it any degree. It were therefore to be
expected that the operation of our Lord's intercession would
be imperceptible. It might be great and powerful, and yet
we be altogether unable to detect it.

3. Another objection to the doctrine may be that it ope-
rates against the character of the Supreme Father. It seems
to imply, that he is less disposed to show favor to his child-
ren, and that he needs to be solicited and persuaded by
some being more benevolent than himself.

This objection is grounded entirely in misapprehension ;
as will be evident from considering, what I proposed as the
third head of discourse,

III. The purpose to be answered by the intercession of
Jesus.

The objection just named supposes this purpose to be, to
change the dispositions of God from wrath to favor, and ren-
der him wilhng, or induce him, to be kind to his offspring.
Now if this were the purpose, the objection would be in-
superable against the doctrine, since it would contradict the
whole testimony of the scriptures concerning the character
of God. For although his displeasure against sin is unques-
tionable and severe, yet nothing is more certain than that his
disposition toward his creatures is that of a Father — is love,
grace, antecec;lent to any solicitation, independent of all ex-

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR. 101

tenial causes. The objection is indeed valid against any
notion of intercession or mediation, which should attribute
to it the production of such a disposition ; which should
suppose, for example, a perpetual contest going on between
Jesus the Advocate, and God the Judge, in which the one
insists on the extreme penalty of the law, and the other
pleads, that having already endured it himself, it should not
be again visited on the offenders. Or such views as are
sometimes given by Watts in his hymns :

Rich were the drops of Jesus' blood,

That cahn'd Gods frowning face ;
That sprinkled o'er the burning throne,

And turn'd the wrath to grace.

But the doctrine, which I have stated, is not liable to the
objection which rightfully lies against such representations
as this. It ascribes no such purpose to the work of Christ,
for it does not admit any such to be needed. It stands on
the same foundation with the doctrine of prayer. It pre-
supposes that God is gracious, does not undertake to ren-
der him so. It is the appointed means, by which his
grace, already abundant and active, is sought and bestow-
ed. If I beseech God to grant a daily blessing, it is not
because I imagine him indisposed to bestow it, and need-
ing to be persuaded to do it ; but for just the contrary
reason, that he is disposed ; and it is suitable and becom-
ing in me, dependent as I am, to apply to him, acknow-
ledging my dependence and need ; besides that he has
commanded it, as a means of obtaining blessing. So also
if I offer petitions in behalf of a friend, it is for the very
reason that I know God to be dispoied to bless, and to
have appointed this as one means of procuring favor. It is
suitable too and becoming, that his children should in this
way express and exercise their srood feelings toward each
other. It is part of that vast connected system of benevo-
lence and mutual improvement, which has already been
referred to. We regard our Lord's intercession as a part
of the same system. He appears at the throne of grace in
behalf of his friends — not because God needs to be en-
treated and rendered willing to grant blessing j but because,

102 JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

already waiting to be gracious, he has appointed this me-
thod of dispensing blessing. It is also suitable and becom-
ing, that he, who is the head of the church, and whom
God sent to ' lead many sons to glory,' should in this way
express his care for them, and his interest in them, and be
the means of procuring for them that felicity, for which
he labored and died.

Precisely what we owe to it, the exact nature and ex-
tent of the aid, strength, favor, which may be thus commu-
nicated to believers, it is not possible for us to know. But
that it is something real and great, we have no right to
doubt. We cannot precisely ascertain how much or
what we owe to our prayers, or wherein human interces-
sions avail. The christian poet has said, speaking of the
humble piety of the retired man, who lives unheeded by
the world —

Perhaps she owes
Her sunshine and her rain, her blooming spring
And plenteous harvests, to the prayer he makes,
When, Isaac like, the solitary saint
Walks forth to meditate at even tide,
And think on her, who thinks not of herself. — Cowper,

So also the christian, perhaps, owes much of the efficacy
of his faith and the serenity of his spirit, the peace and
joy which he has in believing, his deliverance in temptation,
and his consolation in trouble, and whatever holy influences
he may rejoice in, to the intercession of his Lord. At any
rate, one consequence is certain. The doctrine has a
tendency to excite gratitude, and to promote the growth of
religious affections. To believe that we are thought of in
heaven; that our benevolent and truest friend there takes
an interest in us ; that the gracious Father of our spirits
has appointed that mention shall be continually made of
the infirmities, the trials, the penitence, the temptations,
the sorrows of his children — so that their state may never
be forgotten, and that angels may rejoice in their welfare ;
to believe this, must strongly conduce to excite devout and
grateful affections, to make us feel that we have to do with
something bettei: than the follies and sins of time, to make
us realize that we are immortal and ought to be holy, and

JESUS THE INTERCESSOR. 103

to bring us, humble, rejoicing, confiding, to the throne of
mercy, consecrated to His service, who has loved us with
an everlasting love.

This is what may be called the moral efficacy of the
doctrine ; and may lead us to consider, as was in the last
place proposed,

IV. The practical uses of the subject.

These, to one who is persuaded of its truth, cannot be
slight. If we know that some valued friend, whose heart
is one with us, and who earnestly desires our good, makes
it one of the offices of his devotion to mention us affection-
ately before God and implore his benediction upon us ;
who of us can fail to be touched by such an act of friend-
ship ^ who would not be led to strive that he might be
worthy of the prayers thus presented, and not forfeit the
blessings thus implored ? The great Apostle to the Gen-
tiles frequently reminds his bretliren, that ' always, in all
his prayers, he makes mention of them before God.' How
likely was tliis to impress them with an affectionate and
holy awe ! How solicitous must it have rendered them to
reward his kindness, and not to provoke the displeasure of
that gracious Being to whom they were commended !
And who can doubt, that, in all succeeding ages of the
church, multitudes of souls have been impressed and won
by the reflection, that their minister remembered them
daily and nightly, in his prayers ; that when thoughtless of
themselves, he had not ceased to be concerned for them ;
and that his friendly intercessions for them, if despised and
neglected on their part, would rise up to their shame and
condemnation at last .^ How. often also, has the minister,
amid the toils and anxieties, the trials and disappointments
attendant on his labors, been comforted by the assurance,
thot the faithful of his flock . are bearing him up in their
prayers at the mercy seat ; that, in sympathy and love,
they implore for him that aid and guidance, which only
can support and cheer ! This assurance is balm to his
spirit. It gives him animation and confidence, and makes
his heavy burdens light. If then christians would but
realize, that he, who is more than a friend, more than a

104 V JESUS THE INTERCESSOR.

pastor — the author and finisher of the faith which gives
them life — ' who died for them, and rose again, and is
seated at the right hand of God,' — who will come again
to judgment in the clouds of heaven, and from whose own
voice they hope to receive a welcome to the joys of their
Lord — that he ' makes intercession for them ;' — how
powerfully might it operate to inspirit their devotion, to
excite their zeal, to quicken their improvement, to console
them in trouble, to encourage them when doubtful and
desponding !

Let us seek to secure to ourselves this good influence.
When we raise our desires to Him, from whom cometh
our help, it may warm and animate us to remember, that
we have an ' advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.' Offered through him, as the appointed way to
the Father, our prayers cannot be frustrated nor lost.

The same thought may help to make us watchful. If
we have an habitual persuasion that our virtue and salvation
are anxiously desired by our Lord, we cannot fail to be
more anxious for them ourselves, and to watch for them
diligently. Jf Peter had borne humbly in mind his Mas-
ter's words — ' Simon, I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not' — he would have bepn earnestly on his guard and
not have fallen. But he forgot it, and his faith failed. So
may ours fail, if we will not secure it by the grateful re-
collection of what is still done in our behalf.

We may find this persuasion of particular worth to us in
times of temptation, sorrow, and spiritual despondency.
When we deeply feel our weakness and insufficiency, when
the world is dark, and our hearts are gloomy, and peace
seems departed ; then we may find in this doctrine a sooth-
ing and strengthening power. We lean upon the compas-
sion of one, who ' wns in all points tempted as we ai'e,*
and was * made perfect through suffering.' We feel se-
cure of sympathy from him, who suffered for us in his
humiliation, and does not forget us now that he is exalted ;
and while we meclitate and pray, the cloud is gradually
removed, and we are restored to the brightness and calm-
ness of spiritual peace.

DISCOURSE IX.

CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

John v. 22.

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment

to the Son.

Our knowledge of the character and dispensations of
God is derived from two sources ; his works and his word ;
each of them addressed to, and interpreted by our under-
standing. His works — by which we mean the whole con-
stitution of nature, so far as exposed to the view and in-
vestigation of man — offer the most convincing proofs of
the existence, perfections and agency of the omnipresent
spirit ; and afford instructions, to a certain extent, clear
and unquestionable, concerning his will and purposes.
This is the religion of nature. His word contains the
religion of revelation ; a more complete discovery of his
perfections and government, and comprising information
respecting his designs and law, of which his works teach
nothing. Especially in what regards the final purposes of
God respecting the human race, and the mode in which
they shall be accomplished ; revelation unfolds what reason
could never have gathered from nature. That there is a
God, and that he rules the universe, ' all nature cries aloud
through all her works.' '• That he delights in virtue,' is
also evinced by the law written on the heart. But of the
great purpose of the present administration, of the final
10

106 CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

issue of this state of things, and the destiny which awaits
man at the close of his mortal career ; nothing is taught
with certainty, and little can be even distinctly conjectured,
from the intimations of nature around us, or the working of
reason within us. What is known upon these points, is
derived from revelation. There we learn distinctly the
objects of our existence, the intentions of our IViaker con-
cerning us, the means of securing his favor, the certain-
ty of another life, and the true way to avoid its misery
and ensure its bliss. The important mysteries of the di-
vine administration are laid open before us — ' even that mys-
tery, which was kept secret since the world began, but is
now made manifest by the writings of the prophets, accord-
ing to the commandment of the everlasting God.'

These scriptures especially teach — what the works of
God could never tell us — by what agency and through
whose intervention the eternal benefits ol divine grace are
offered and secured to man. They alone unfold the offices
of the Mediator between God and men, who brings the
instructions and promises of a new covenant, and announces
the peculiar relations and duties thence arising. All this,
however, although not recorded in the volume of nature, is
yet consistent with whatever that volume teaches. The
dispensing of grace by Jesus Christ is an arrangement of
the divine will altogether analogous to the other dispensa-
tions of God. It is conformable to all that we discern of
the uniform and general procedure of providence. Every
tiling in the universe is conducted through the ministration
of subordinate agents. God bestows existence and sup-
ports it, not by his own direct action, but through interme-
diate agency. He guides and ruleS; dispenses favor and
manifests displeasure, by the operation of second causes,
interposed between himself and his children. All things
are his ministers and messengers to his offspring, in which
and through which he is manifested, and they are his min-
isters and messengers to one another. It is one vast and
unbroken system of mediation, ministration.

In perfect conformity to this, when he would establish
among men tne way of salvation and bring them to ever-

CHRIST THE JUDGE OP THE WORLD. 107

lasting life, he sent to them a Mediator — who should exe-
cute all which might be necessary to fulfil the pur}30ses of
the new dispensation, and be the head and prince of God's
spiritual kingdom.

In order to the complete accomplishment of this exten-
sive work, the scriptures inform us that the authority of
Judge is given to him ; that he, who oversees and guides
the whole progress of the great spiritual kingdom among
men, and is in God's stead to carry it forward to its con-
summation ; is also to be the final distributer of its awards.
To this effect our text contains an express assertion ; ' The
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to
the Son.' This is repeated further on ; ' He hath given
him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the
Son of man.' The same is implied in several of our
Lord's parables, and especially in that which describes him
as coming in the clouds, with the angels and glory of his
Father, ' to separate the evil from the good, as a shepherd
divides the sheep from the goats.* The Apostle Paul
says, * We must all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ.' In his address to the Athenians, he stated in
express terms, ' that God has appointed a day in which he
will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom
he hath ordained.' Peter also, addressing Cornelius, ' tes-
tified, that it is he who is ordained of God to be the judge
of quick and dead ;' an expression, which he repeats in his
first epistle, and which Paul u,ses in his second epistle to
Timothy.''^

These passages decide what is the doctrine of the New
Testament on this point. It has been the acknowledged
doctrine of the church in all its divisions. It may have been
understood in senses somewhat various, but in some sense
it has been universally received.

Nothing can be more interesting to the human soul, than
the solemnities of judgment. Nothing can be better
worthy our habitual reflections, than the fact that there will
be a righteous retribution when life shall have closed. All
that pertains to that judgment, and to him who shall ad-

* J Peter iv. 5. 2 Timothy iv. 1.

108 CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

minister it, must be matter of deepest and most affecting
interest. No one, who suffers himself to think at all, can
think of it with indifference. I therefore ask attention to the
remarks suggested by our text, concerning the nature of
the office which Christ thus holds, the authority by which
he exercises it, the reasons of his appointment to it, and
the duties which are consequently imposed upon us.

I. The nature of this office.

The passages already cited teach, that it is to be exe-
cuted at the final consummation of all things, when tlie
issues of this probation shall be made known, and every
man shall receive * according to the deeds done in the
body.' i\t that time, it is the Son of man, who shall sit on
the throne of the kingdom, and welcome the righteous to
the joy of their Lord, and deliver the unprofitable to outer
darkness.

The inquiry is here suggested, whether we are to under-
stand that this shall be strictly the act of the Saviour,
present in his own person ; or whether we are to suppose
it intended only to represent, that the doctrines and laws
of his religion shall determine the final state of every indi-
vidual. Is he Judge, in the sense that he personally ad-
ministers the sentence, or in tlie sense, that it is by his law
that judgment shall be passed f

Each of these interpretations may find support from
some passages of the Scriptures, apd it may not be easy to
satisfy ourselves which is the truth.

In regard to the first, it is strongly countenanced by
the direct phraseology of the New Testament, in a multi-
tude of instances. Jesus is there represented as personally
appearing, sitting, speaking, and pronouncing judgment, in
a manner which seems at first to require a literal interpre-
tation. It does not at once suggest the idea, that nothing
else is intended, but that the final distribution of rewards
and punishments shall be made according to the rules of
his gospel.

But then, on the other hand, it is well understood, that
in commo!! language, and most frequently in the language
of the Bible, one is said to do what he causes to be done.

CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD. 109

or provides for doing. According to which sense, we may
understand Christ to be called the Judge of the world,
because he provides the rules and publishes the laws by
which judgment shall proceed. He himself authorizes tliis
interpretation, when he says, ' If any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not ; he hath one that judgeth
him; the word that I have spoken, ihe same shall judge
him at the last day.' It seems also to corroborate this
interpretation, that he promises his disciples, that they shall
' sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel ;'
and also that Paul says, ' Know ye not that the saints shall
judge the world ? Know ye not that we shall judge angels ?'
Now we do not for a moment suppose that the apostles
shall be actually seated on twelve thrones, and take part in
the distribution of rewards and punishments to God's crea-
tures ; much less that all christians shall be so employed ;
for they are all to be themselves subject to judgment. And
still less do we imagine, that they shall be exalted to pass
sentence upon angels. We do not hesitate to understand
by this language, that the doctrine they hold is the rule by
which all shall be judged, that the gospel they profess is
the standard by which sentence shall be passed. And why
are we not warranted in adopting the same exposition in
the instance of our Lord ? Why not use as a key to the
other expressions his own declaration, that it is *the word
which he hath spoken, that shall judge them at the last
day ?'

It must be acknowledged, however, that perfect satisfac-
tion upon this point is not easily obtained. Neither can it
be considered essential. There is necessarily much per-
taining to the last great day and hs dread events, which
the day only can reveal. It is sufficient for us, that we
know by what law our actions shall be tried, and by how
strict a standard our lives shall be judged. It will be the
same thing, as regards our own state, whether our condition
be silently determined by the word of Christ, which was
given for our direction ; or whether it be audibly announced
from his lips. In either case, it will be bliss for those who
are received, and woe for those who are rejected.
10*

1 10 CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

II. We come to the second point proposed ; the authority
by which our Lord exercises this office. Is it original, or
is it derived ? Is it his own, or does he receive it from
another ?

This is a question which can, of course, be answered
only by the written testimony of revelation. Conjecture
and reasoning upon this point are equally unprofitable and
out of place. Only that word, which informs us that he
holds the office, can tell us by what authority he holds it.

And here there is no deficiency of information, nor want
of explicitness. Every passage to which we have refer-
red, either directly asserts, or necessarily implies, that the
authority is derived from the Father. ' The Father hath
committed all judgment to the Son.' ' He hath given me au-
thority to execute judgment.' ^ He is ordained of God to
be judge of quick and dead.' No language can be more
unambiguous than this. Words could not deny more
strongly all claim on our Lord's part to an original inde-
pendent authority in this particular.

But notwithstanding this, it is remarkable, that men have
been sometimes ready to forget this plain language of our
Lord, and be rather guided by the suggestions of their own
understanding. For, they argue, it is impossible that the
office of judging the world should be delegated. It is a
work to which only omniscience and omnipotence are equal;
and these qualifications cannot be communicated to a finite
being. For which reason, they say, it is necessary that
the Judge should be the supreme deity himself; and hence
they conclude that Jesus is himself the Almighty God.

Upon remarks of this sort we may observe, in the first
place, that we have no right to say what powers God can
or cannot communicate, what authority he can or cannot
delegate. It is presumption in beings like us. How do we
know that he may not impart to one of his creatures know-
ledge wide enough and power large enough to execute
righteous judgment on the human race, without making it
omnipotent or omniscient? What right have we to say that
one cannot receive from God authority and wisdom suffi-
cient to rule his church of this world, without makine: it

CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE tVORLD. IH

extend to all worlds ? Why is it impossible to believe that
God may ' commit all judgment' to another ?

It is hazardous to reason on this point in opposition to
the plain language of revelation. Jesus Christ declares,
that this authority is delegated, and refrains from all lan-
guage which may imply underived wisdom, or native right.
In words immediately following our text, he adds, ' I can
of mine own self do nothing ; as I hear I judge ; and my
judgment is just, because 1 seek not my own will, but the
will of the Father who sent me.' Shall we suffer any no-
tion respecting the impossibility of a judgment without inde-
pendent omniscience, to contradict this decisive language f

But further still. The very circumstance which we are
ready to rely upon as proving that Jesus could not execute
judgment, if he possessed only delegated power ; is the
very circumstance assigned in the sacred volume as a rea-
son for its being delegated. Judgment, it is sometimes af-
firmed, cannot be impartial and just in the hands of one of
limited knowledge. Who can feel safe, it is asked, to
commit his eternal destiny to the decision of one who is
not omniscient ? Such is the wisdom of man. But not
such the wisdom of God. He has seen fit to ' give' Jesus
this authority. And why ? For the very reason which
men assign for its being impossible — ' because he is the Son
of man.' This is so frequently implied, that we might
almost fancy it designed as a rebuke to man's presumptuous
argument on the subject. ' He hath appointed a day' says
Paul, ' in which he will judge the world in righteousness —
iy the man whom he hath ordained.' He himself says,
* My judgment is just.' Why ? Because my knowledge
and power are infinite ? because I am the eternal and un-
erring God ? Not at all. This is what men may say ;
but Christ assigns a very opposite reason : ' because I seek
not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.'

It may well be added here, that, even on the supposition
of the union of the divine and human natures in the person
of our Lord ; this speculative reasoning is altogether unsat-
isfactory and deceitful. For in that case, the scriptures
speak of him as judge, never in his divine nature, but only

112 CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

and always in his inferior nature. He hath authority, not
because he is God, but ' because he is the Son of man.'
So likewise says Paul — 'the man whom he hath ordained.'
So that, whatever ground may be taken, the scriptures deny
that the possession of divine attributes is essential to this
work. If it be said, that an influence is derived to the in-
ferior nature by its union with God ; this is undoubtedly
true. This is what Jesus teaches, and what we insist upon
always. ' The Father dwells in him,' and acts by him.
It is not his own will, but the Father's. He judges as he
hears, not according to his own will, but according to that
of the Father who sent him: But this is a very different
thing from possessing imderived and inherent audiority.

But still it may be urged, that judgment is ascribed to
God in the scriptures, as his peculiar work ; and how is this
consistent with Christ being Judge, if he be not God ?

Its consistency will be very apparent, if we take into
view this obvious and simple consideration ; that while it
has pleased the Father to ' commit all judgment to the
Son,' it is His infinite wisdom, justice, goodness, which rule
in the Son, and accomplish the great work. He has not
left him incompetent, but has given to him *the spirit with-
out measure.' ' It hath pleased the Father that in him all
fulness should dwell.' In a word, 'God judges the world
by him.^

In this view of the subject, every thing is consistent and
satisfactory. Let us hear no more of reluctance to submit
to him who is thus appointed. If we will consent to take
the doctrine as it stands in the scriptures, and will not strive
to be wise above what is written ; we shall find nothing in
it to perplex our understandings, nothing that needs the
remedy of our speculations, but every thing to warrant our
steadfast confidence, our fervent faith, our unfeigned ado-
ration.

If, however, we desire a little further satisfaction, we
may find it in the remarks which occur under the next
head of discourse ; in which it was proposed

III. To consider the reasons of this appointment; to in-
quire briefly and humbly into some of the causes why the

CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD. 113

Father of the universe, the kind and equal parent of all,
should himself judge no man, but commit nil judgment to
the Son.

We may undoubtedly find one reason in the circumstance
to which we have already alluded — that it is the general
method of God's administration to provide for and rule his
creation by the agency of intermediate ministers. From
this method we do not know diat there is any departure.
To maintain a uniformity with the general system, we may
readily suppose to be one reason of this judicial appoint-
ment. As he had led his people by Moses and Joshua, and
taught them by the prophets, and chastened them by the
heathen, and enlightened men by a special messenger, and
reconciled and saved them by a chosen mediator ; so he
would in like manner judge the world by his Son. It is
one instance among multitudes of what is the established
ordinance of the divine government.

Another reason for this appointment is contained in the
remarkable expression of a verse, which I have already
more than once cited. ' He hath appointed him to execute
judgment, because he is the Son of man.' There is some-
thing indescribably affecting in the disclosure which is thus
made of the tenderness of our heavenly Father. He, who
has made all and has a right to all, has not only forborne
and cherished his sinful offspring here, and made punish-
ment his strange work upon earth ; but has extended his
forbearance even to the last sad trial ; has, if we may so
represent it, descended from his throne of majesty, and
stript it of those terrors of vengeance and indignation, be-
fore which neither stubborn guilt nor timid innocence w^ould
be able to stand ; and has pui-posed to issue the decisions
of that awful day — not even from the milder seat of pater-
nal justice — but from the serene and sympaihizing lips of
the once human Saviour ; of one who had been in the
world and known the trials and weaknesses of flesh ; who
had himself combated temptation, and endured suffering,
and been acquainted with grief; who is therefore capable
of being touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and ex-
tending compassion to those who are oqt of the way. With

114 CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD.

such an Advocate and Judge, of whom all that we have
known has been benevolent, tender, and forbearing, — we
feel assured that mercy shall reign in the midst of judg-
ment ; that while severity flashes on the criminal, there
shall yet be no room for unrelenting wrath ; but every in-
firmity shall receive compassion, and all possible allowance
be made for the weakness of the flesh and the seductions
of the world. Let the timid and desponding disciple be
comforted and at peace. Let the tempted and tried, the
sorrowing and fearful, give way to no despair. For it is
to him, who bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
who breaks not the bruised reed, nor quenches the smok-
ing flax ; it is to him that judgment has been committed,
* because he is the Son of man.'

Thus has this appointment been made for the purpose
of manifesting the compassion of God. ' Mercy belongeth
unto thee, O Lord 3 because thou renderest to every man
according to liis works.'* Rich indeed that mercy ! which
began with the mission of the Saviour, and is consummated
in the gracious tenderness of the judgment seat ! What an
aggravation to the guilt of that man, who can still go on,
hardening himself in sin ! and who will carry nothing but
corrupt and obstinate disobedience to the presence of eter-
nal love !

TV. We were to notice, in the last place, the duty which
is in consequence of this doctrine imposed upon us. This
is stated by our Lord himself in the words succeeding our
text — ' that all men should honor the Son, even as they
honor the Father.' In consequence of this appointment to
judge the world, it becomes our duty to render to him the
reverence, submission, and confidence, which appertain to
the great Sovereign in whose name he acts. The honors
which belong to the prince, are demanded for his ambassa-
dor. The Lord said, ' They who receive you receive me ;
and they who receive me, receive him who sent me.' ' God
bath highly exalted him, and given him a name abov^e every
name j that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

* Psalm Ixii, 12.

CHRIST THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD. 115

and every tongue confess him to be Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.' This is one appointed test of devotion
to God. A right spirit of subjection and submission to
Him, will necessarily be manifested by confidence, faith,
and trust in him, whom He has commissioned — to refuse
which, is an evidence of disrespect toward the Sovereign
himself.

But this is not our only duty. If Christ is to sit on the
judgment seat, we are to stand before it, and give account
of every work which we have done, and of every secret
thought, whether it be good or whether it be evil. For
that day we are to prepare. The thought of it should
have influence upon the whole habitual frame of our minds,
and the entire character of our lives. It sliould make sin
our abhorrence and holiness our delight. It should excite
us to diligence in the work of obedience and faith, that we
may be found blameless and accepted at last. It should
lead us to familiar acquaintance with that word according
to which our destiny shall be determined, and to the devout
performance of every duty it enjoins; that so we may be
welcomed to the joy of our Lord, and not be cast out with
the rejected and impenitent.

Finally, brethren, since so momentous consequences de-
pend on the account we are to give at the judgment seat of
Christ, let us accustom ourselves to reflect on the nature
of this office, on the audiority by which he is invested with
it, the reasons for which it is committed to him, and the
duties which thence are demanded of us. Let us thus
cherish and confirm our conviction of the supremacy of
the God and Father of all, and of that excellent grace
which is here exhibited. Let us habitually reverence and
submit to the avithority which he has laid upon his Son.
Let us feel with what diligent and grateful fidelity, and with
what scrupulous dread of sin, we should look forward to
the day of final recompense ; when the penitent and be-
lieving s]i;ilj view wi h joy the smiles of the Redeemer's
face; vvJisn tiie unbelieving and disobedient shall taste ten-
fold anguish from tlie very tenderness of that compassion-
ate Judge, who shall pity while he condemns.

DISCOURSE X.

ON HONORING THE SON

John v. 22.
That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.

It is impossible to contemplate the character and offices
of our Lord Jesus Christ, without perceiving that exalted
honor is due to him. The insensibility of that man can
hardly be conceived, who should be able to question or
withhold it. We yield a tribute of respect to the good men
with whom we meet in the ordinary intercourse of life ; and
every distinguished benefactor is accounted to deserve the
distinguished gratitude and respect of his fellow-men. No
one therefore, who has the common feelings of a man, can
deny to Jesus Christ his claims to reverence, gratitude and
honor — whose character exhibits the perfection of moral
excellence, whose history is connected with the most won-
derful works of universal benevolence, worthy the counsels
of heaven ; who was declared to be the Son of God by a
voice from above ; proved himself the friend of men by his
labors in their cause, and the conqueror of death by his
resurrection from the tomb; who is declared to be • the
brightness of God's glory and the express image of his
person,' and to whom God has committed the judgment of
the world. Even those, who have rejected his revelation,
and denied his authority as a divine messenger, have been
unable to speak of him in any accents but those of admira-

ON HONORING THE SON. 117

tion. One of the most eloquent tributes in his praise, was
from the pen of an open infidel. What then should be the
feeling of his disciples, who believe that he came from
God, and that 'the Father dwelt in him' and taught by him,
and constituted him our Prince and Saviour and Judge ? and
that ' to receive him, is to receive the Father who sent him ?*
Their hearts must surely burn within thein when they think
of him. They must anxiously inquire what are the honors
demanded for him, that they may not be remiss in render-
ing them.

The expression of our text is a remarkable one, and of-
fers some important suggestions relative to so interesting a
topic. These we shall perhaps pursue to the most satisfac-
tory result by inquiring first why, and secondly how, we are
to honor the Father, that we may thence be instructed why
and how we are to honor the Son.

I. We are to consider, in the first place, why we are to
honor the Father. Upon what reasons are founded the
honors due to him f

Of the infinite Being who is called God, we can com-
prehend but little. ' Who by searching can find out God.^*
Who can find out the Almighty to peifection ?' We know
not the essence of the Deity, nor can we fully comprehend
the mode of his existence. Our whole knowledge of him
is comprised in a few facts. We know that he exists and
exists through all extent, omnipresent, and omniscient. That
he is a spirit ; that is, he is not the subject of any of our
senses, and exists in a manner so different from our mode
of existence, that he may be equally present in all places.
That he is eternal ; there never was a point of time in which
he was not, and there never shall be a time when he shall
cease to be. That he is infinitely powerful ; capable of
doing all which is possible to be done, while not all the col-
lected force of the countless multitudes of other beings
could offer opposition. These facts respecting the Deity,
constitute what are called his natural attributes. They en-
ter into the very definition of God ; so that a being, who
does not possess these attributes of almighty power, univer-
sal presence, infinite knowledge, and spirituality, is not God.
11

118 ON HONORING THE SON,

Now the question is, whether it be these attributes, which
require of us the honors we pay to God ? Though witli-
out these he would not be God, yet is it these, upon which
are built religious homage and allegiance ? There is one
simple consideration, which, I think, may satisfy us, that it
is not, certainly not entirely nor chiefly ; and that is, that if
these natural attributes were united with an evil and ma-
lignant character — supposing such a union possible — we
could not be bound to render to that Being the same hom-
age, which we now render to our beneficent Creator. If,
for example, Satan, the personified principle of evil, —
selfish, perverse and malicious — were a self-existent, all-
knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent, eternal, spirit ; still, we
should not for a moment imagine, that the honors, now paid
to the infinitely Good, would of right belong to him.

If then, these attributes do not form the ground of the
honors rendered to the Father ; what are the divine perfec-
tions to which they are rendered ? Obviously, those which
we call the moral perfections — his essential holiness, his
perfect rectitude, unerring wisdom, unwavering truth and
faithfulness, impartial justice, infinite goodness and mercy.
He is clothed with righteousness, purity and love — the kind
Creator, the observing Governor, the gracious Father ;
earnestly desiring first the perfect virtue, and then the per-
fect happiness, of every living being. For these attributes
he is reverenced ; for these it is that angels and archangels
praise him, and hymns of adoration ascend from the lips
of glorified spirits ; for these it is that his people bend in
awe before him, for these that his children love him, and
his saints bless him. ' Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and magnify thy name ^ For thou only art holy.' ' Praise
the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.'*

Such are the reasons for which God is honored. You per-
ceive that they niay easily be reduced to two ; first, his own
character; second, the relation in which he stands to his crea-
tures. He is infinitely excellent and glorious in himself, and
to us he is Creator and Proprietor, Governor and Father.

We take these remarks to guide us in speaking of the

^ A note upon this passage will be found at the end of the volume.

ON HONORING THE SON. 119

honor due to the Son of God. As we honor the Father,
because of his own cliaracter, and because of his relation
to us ; so we honor the Son, because of his character, and
because of his relation to us. As it is not the divine na-
ture simply — not the natural attributes of eternity, omni-
presence, and spirituality — on account of which divine ho-
mage is rendered, but rather the moral perfections of
character ; so likewise honor is demanded for the Saviour,
not simply on account of his nature, whatever it may be —
not because he is more or less elevated in precedence of
existence or native powers ; but rather because of his per-
fections of character, and the offices in which he stands
related to us. For it is evident, beyond all dispute, that a
Being of precisely the same natural rank as our Lord, but
without the same character and offices, would have no pe-
culiar claims to honor from men ; and that, on the other
hand, these claims would be precisely the same, whatever
his nature or rank might be, so long as his relations to man
were unchanged, and he sustained the place to which God
has exalted him in his spiritual dispensations. If, when we
receive him as God's Ambassador and Son, clothed with
divine authority and wisdom, we obey him as our Master,
and love him as our Saviour, and reverence him as our
Judge — then we honor him as the Father. If, when we
see the same holy attributes which we adore in God, dis-
played in the benevolent and spotless life of Jesus, we are
led to emotions of admiration and love — then we honor
him as we honor the Father. We receive him in the offices
and relations to which God appointed him, and thus in fact
receive and honor Him v/ho sent him.

It never must be forgotten, that ' all things are of God.'
He is the beginning and end, the support and head of every
thing which exists. Jesus indeed is ' Head over all things
to the church ;' but the apostle tells us, that he 'was made'
so by God. God is the origin and foundation of all. His
relation to us he assumed of his own pleasure ; he sustains
it of his own right and power. Our relation to Him is de-
rived from the very frame of our nature, and the original
purpose of our creation. We are his offspring, he is our
Creator. In these respects our relation to the Lord Jesus

120 ON HONORING THE SON.

Christ differs. It did not commence with the act of crea-
tion, is not founded in the original constitution of nature,
but is founded by an express appointment of our Creator
and Father. It originates in the purposes of his redeem-
ing iove, and is in every respect dependent upon his ordi-
nance. This distinction is important to be kept in view, if
we would understand the subject rightly. It is amply sup-
ported by the perpetual testimony of the scriptures. It is
repeatedly asserted in express terms, and every where im-
plied in their language respecting Jesus. Why does he
hold the place of Lord and Christ ? Because, saith Peter,
' God hath made this same Jesus whom ye crucified, to be
both Lord and Christ.' Why does he sustain the impor-
tant rank of Prince and Saviour ? Because, saith the
Apostle, ' him hath God exalted to be a Prince and Sa-
viour.' In a word, whence hath he his name above every
name, and why in that name must ' every knee bow, and
every tongue confess him to be Lord .^' The Apostle
replies, because ' God hath highly exalted him, and given
him that name.' And for whose glory is all this to be
done ? The same Apostle declares, ' to the glory of God —
the Father.'

In all this we find fully maintained the distinction be-
tween the honors which christians are to render to their
God and to their Saviour. The infinite God claims them
in his own name, by his own right, for his own glory.
Jesus claims them, not in his own name, nor by his own
right, nor for his own glory. He refers them constantly to
the Father. Even in the powerful language of our text,
he challenges to himself no independent honors, but ex-
pressly founds his title on the appointment of God. 'The
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
to the Son ; that all men should honor the Son even as
they honor the Father.' Here he declares that he is ajj-
pointed to be Judge, not that he is so by inherent right ;
and that in the execution of that ofiice he is to be honored
as the Father who appointed him, and in whose place, and
for whose glory he acts. In this manner the honor de-
manded for Jesus, is on account of the offices to which

ON HONORING THE SON. 121

God has exalted him ; his own authority or right is never
alleged as a ground of it, as it always is in the case of God
himself. * Of himself,' he says, ' the Son can do nothing.'
* All power is committed to me of my Father.'

I have thus endeavored to exhibit the foundation of our
Lord's claims to honor from his disciples. They rest upon
the perfection of his character, and the places to which
God has exalted him. As we bow to the authority of
God, so, brethren, let us acknowledge these claims. Let
us bow in that name above every name, with which the
eternal God hath glorified his Son. Since it hath pleased
Him to bestow upon him the spirit ' without measure,' and
to cause ' the fulness of the Godhead to dwell in him,' let
us not be backward in those ascriptions which are justly his
due ; but let * every tongue confess him to be Lord, to

THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.'

But what are these honors, and how to be rendered ?
This is the second topic of which I proposed to treat.

II. And here also, as under the other head, we shall be
guided by considering how we honor the Father,

In the first place, we honor the Father by the direct
offering to him of supreme worship, by the express and
immediate presentation of adoration and prayer to him, as
the ever present, all guiding, and infinitely powerful Sove-
reign of the universe ; who can hear, who receives, and
who will reward, this tribute to his glory.

Now the question is, whether the honors to the Son
are to be in the same sense divine and supreme ; worship,
is this high degree ; adoration, praise, prayer. There are
several reasons which show it to be impossible. The re-
marks already made, prove it ; for, we have seen, they show
these honors to be derived from different sources. The
Father is to be honored as the infinite and sole origin and
support of all beings and all things, from whom we came,
and for whose glory all things exist. But Jesus derived
his power and offices from the will of the supreme Father,
and his honors result not to himself alone, but to the
Father's glory. Which decisively evinces that those hon-
ors are not supreme worship.
11*

122 ON HONORING THE SON.

Besides, our Lord himself determines the point very
simply and satisfactorily. As there is but one object of
supreme worship, he repeatedly and emphatically — as if
for the express purpose of preventing all doubt and mis-
take— declares that object to be the Father. He never
says, Pray to God ; in which expression, if we believed
Jesus to be God, we might possibly suppose him to include
himself; but he always says, ' Pray to the Father,^ ' wor-
ship the Father ;' ' Pray to thy Father who is in secret ;'
• after this manner therefore pray ye ; Our Father who art
in heaven ;' ' The true worshippers sliall worship the
Father.' He himself, repeatedly, in the presence of his
disciples and of the Jews, prayed ; and in every instance
to the Father. Nay, and what is more still — as if anxious
to remo/e all cause and every possibility of mistake — he
said to his disciples, ' in that day' (that is, after the resur-
rection) ' ye shall ask me notJiing ; verily, verily, I say
unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, in my name,
he will give it you.' Language cannot be more explicit
than this. A more plain and positive declaration cannot
be given, that we must pray to the Father only. It goes
decisively to prove, that the honor spoken of in our text,
cannot be supreme worship, or divine homage.

This conclusion is fortified by looking once more at the
expressions of our text. Our Lord is speaking of his
character as Judge ; which, he says, is ' committed to h'm
of his Father ;' and therefore, while he exercises it in the
place and by the appointment of the Father, ' men should
honor him as the Father.' Now this is in accordance with
a very obvious and simple principle, which has never been
misunderstood in any other case — that he who executes an
office in the name of his King, is to be respected in that
office as the king. The magistrate is \p be Imn ired as
he who appoints him, the ambassador as he who delegates
him ; and to insult or disobey the ambassador or judge, is
to insult or disobey the king or nation for wlii( h that officer
acts. Yet though the one is honored as the other, the
forms and testimonials of that homage are not exactly the
same, nor even of equal dignity. It was according to ihe
same mode of speech, that our Lord said to his apostles,

ON HONORING THE SON. 123

* He that receiveth you receiveth me.' No one supposes
from this mode of expression, that no difference was made
in the reception of the apostles and of their master, or in
other words, that the same respect was or ought to be
shown to both. And when he immediately adds, ' He
that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me,' we under-
stand it in a similar sense. The honor to Jesus is as
much the same with that to God, as the respect to his
apostles is the same with that to their master. This sort of
language, indeed, is readily understood, and has never led
to any mistake, except in the instance of our text. Let us
not misunderstand it there. Let us render to the Father
the honor which is due to the Independent Creator, Pre-
server, and Ruler of all ; to the Son as the Teacher, Law-
giver, Saviour, and Spiritual Prince, whom he has appoint-
ed ; to the one, as sitting upon the throne ; to the other, as
the Lamb before the throne ; to tlie one therefore as re-
ceiving prayer ; to the other as him through whom it is
conveyed. Let us join the crowd of celestial worshippers
who cast their crowns before the throne, and worship ' Him
who liveth forever and ever,' and ' who hath created all
things ;' who also ' sing a new song' to the Lamb, who
' was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his blood.'

But direct worship, we are to remember, is not the only
mode in which we honor the Father. We honor him by
the exercise o( faith in him ; by reposing in his character
and providence and word, a thorough confidence, unre-
served and cheerful trust. When this is done by magnan-
imously bearing his will, acquiescing in his appointments,
and rejoicing in his government — even if it be silently, it is
a tribute greater than words can pay, a homage which the
tongue alone cannot render. Even so we honor the Son
of God by the exercise of yrt?YA in him. 'Ye believe in
God, believe also in me.' The reliap.ce on the truth of
his promises, on the excellence of his character, on the di-
vinity of his mission, and the sufficiency of his work for
our salvation — which is all implied in faith — is an unequiv-
ocal tribute of honoi''to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, we honor the Father by love to him. This is
' the first and great commandment ; thou shall love the

124 ON HONORING THE SON.

Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' In like man-
ner, we honor the Son by our love to him ; by cherishing
his image with deep and earnest affection ; by delighting to
meditate on his character and think of his excellencies ;
by commemorating whenever we may, his labors, sacrifices,
and death in our behalf. The love, which the sincere dis-
ciple cherishes for his holy master, is a tribute of the truest
honor. It burns in his bosom and elevates his soul, as it
did that of the apostles ; so that there are seasons, when,
kindling into rapture like theirs, he is ready to exclaim,
* Whom not having seen we love, and in whom, though
now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice \\'\\h. joy
unspeakable and full of glory.'

Gratitude also forms part of the honors which we ren-
der to the Father. That is a most acceptable homage which
is offered by the glowing and grateful heart, lilting itself up
to God on account of unnumbered and unmerited favors —
life, strength, reason, friends ; the blessings of earth, the
revelations of heaven ; the support of his providence, the
guidance of his word, the aid of his spirit. A similar
honor we yield to the Son by the gratitude we cherish
toward him — for his disinterested labors, his condescending
love, his gracious sacrifices ; for the life he spent in our
service, for the death he died in our behalf, for his interces-
sions at the right hand of God. It is a similar feeling and
a similar honor to the Son as to the Father.

Further ; we honor the Father by obedience. There
is no mode, indeed, by which we so surely demonstrate
our supreme reverence for the Creator and Governor of
men, as by the unreserved subjection of heart and life to
the obedience of his law. It is the highest and most ac-
ceptable tribute we can bring. Ten thousand offerings of
eloquent praise and costly gifts are light in comparison of
the great gift of the heart and life. So too we yield the
highest tribute of honor to our Lord Jesus, when we obey
his gospel in the spirit of it. Who honors him, like him
that obeys him f Who is his friend, but he that ' keeps
his commandments ?^ It is not by contentions respecting
the dignity of his nature, and vehement declamation con-

ON HONORING THE SON. 125

cerning the love and praise which are his due, that we
most effectually promote his glory. Tlje living, acting
eulogy ot'him who hreathes his spirit, imitates his example,
and keeps his commandments, is an ofFeriiig infinitely more
worthy.

In these several ways the injunction may be observed to
' honor the Son even as w^e honor the Father.' God is
our Creator and Sovereign, and claims our reverence,
faith, love,. gratitude, and obedience. Jesus Christ is our
Lord and Teacher, our Prince and Saviour, and claims
our reverence, faith, love, gratitude, and obedience. Let
them be yielded to him. Let the homage be rendered,
which belongs to him whom God has ordained to be the
religious head of the present dispensation of grace, and to
judge the world in righteousness. We sit beneath his
empire ; let us be subject to him. In truth and holiness,
in matters of conscience and duty, let us have no master
upon earth but him. This is his rightful claim ; let it be
given to no one else. We break our allegiance if we
yield to any other the dominion over our faith, or the keep-
ing of our consciences. This dominion has been granted
to Jesus alone. If any other exercise it, he is a usurper.
If any allow it to be exercised, they have rebelled against
their spiritual prince, and taken from his head the crown
of honor which God had placed there.

And yet — how prone are we to substitute some easier
show of allegiance, in place of this thorough submission of
life and conscience ! How ready are we to be loud in pro-
fessions and acclamations, while in fact we have another
master and follow another guide ! The disgrace of the
church in all ages has been its infatuated adherence to
human authority, and its willing subjection to human heads.
The crown has been torn from him, whose right it is to
reign, and placed — not unfrequently with bloody hands —
on the brows of arrogant and ambitious persecutors, who
ostentatiously became the infallible interpreters of a book
which they had sealed, and the capricious masters of the
consciences of the christian world. And thus, while the
banner of the cross was made to float proudly amid their
armies, and pomp and parade, and splendid ceremony

126 ON HONORING THE SON.

called the wondering multitude to gaze at the honors which
were lavished on the Saviour of the world ; in the mean
time, his authority was virtually trodden under foot, and
the hearts of men were far from him.

The church is not yet entirely purified from these sad
corruptions. The disciples do not yet sufficiently under-
stand what constitutes the true honor of their master and
of his gospel. Too many think it sufficient to cry ' Lord,
Lord,' without ' doing the things which he says.' Too
many are still bowing down to creeds and confessions, idols,
which their own hands have made, and which draw away
their reverence from the true word of life. Too many
are still taking from human lips the interpretation of God's
will, while its sacred records lie by them unsearched, and
the voice of him, who ' spake as never man spake,' is not
allowed to reach the understanding or the heart, till it has
been mingled with the interpretation of some later master.
Alas, how has the Son of God been robbed of his honors !
how have they been transferred to men ! Brethren, do
not suffer yourselves to be so deceived. If you call any
one master, you withdraw your allegiance from him who
should be your only master, you exalt a frail man to the
seat of judgment where God has placed his Christ, you
surrender your faith and salvation to the wisdom of a falli-
ble being, who ought to be sitting \^ith you at the feet of
your common Lord, and you are thus exposed to the
hazard of his weakness, errors, and sins. Take therefore
his word for your guide. All that you may say, or believe,
or profess, respecting his dignity, exaltation, and authority,
is but empty words, but unmeaning profession, if your con-
sciences are subject to any other dominion, or your life to
any other law. When you are so subject to the spirit and
influence of his truth, that men shall take knowledge of
you that you have been with him, and learned of him ;
then you will have yielded to him the only sufficient tribute.
— the only valuable and acceptable homage, which man on
earth can bring. Then you may know that you are his.
and that your labor is done ; for he who hath the Son hath
the Father also, and he who hath the Father, hath ever-
lasting life. ^

DISCOURSE XI.

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD.

Hebrews xii. 2.
Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

The Apostle had been naming, in the preceding chap-
ter, a long catalogue of those who were eminent for their
faith in former days. In the first verse of the present
chapter, he represents them as a * cloud of witnesses,' sur-
rounding christians, by whose presence they should be
excited to run well the race set before them. In thus
expressing himself, he evidently alludes to the public
games, which were of such celebrity and consequence in
that age of the world. He urges christians to persevere,
like combatants in the race, who struggled hard for the
prize, and to be animated by the attendant crowd of wit-
nesses ; and as a further incitement, directs them in our
text, to be also looking unto Jesus, ' the author and finisher
of their faith.' Commentators, who are skilled in the ori-
ginal languages, and acquainted with the customs of former
times, tell us, that the titles here given to Christ are those
which belonged to him w4io presided at the games. Mac-
knight accordingly translates, ' the captain and perfect er of
the faith ;' and observes, that ' the aposde, having exhorted
the Hebrews to run the race set before them, compares
Jesus to the judge of the games, whose office it was to
determine who were the conquerors, and to make them
perfect as combatants by bestowing on them the prizes.*

128 THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD.

But there is something further implied than even this.
The apostle speaks of him as one who has himself run the
same race, in spite of its discouragements and hardships,
and is now enjoying its rewards ; ' who, for the joy set
before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
now set down at the right hand of the throne of God ;'
whom we are, therefore, to regard as an example to our-
selves, and to animate our flagging spirits by remembering,
that as ' he overcame, and is set down with his Father on
his throne ; so, if we overcome, we shall sit down with him
on his throne.'

The disciples of Jesus are thus, in the passage before
us, directed to ' look unto him' as their Leader, their
Judge, and their example ; exalted at the right hand of God's
throne, because ' he endured the cross, and despised the
shame.' — By the example of their Master, thus honored
and exalted, the disciples are exhorted to be encouraged
and strengthened. It is this exhortation upon which we
are to meditate at the present time. Brethren, I wish you
to contemplate Jesus to day as your Example. I wish to
bring up to your minds and hearts the pattern of your be-
loved and honored Lord ; and to show you how great
encouragement, aid, comfort, and holy peace, may be ob-
tained in all duty, trial, and sorrow, by habitually and fer-
vently looking unto him.

The power of example is too well known to need to be
much insisted on. Maii has been called — and with some
propriety — the creature of imitation. The character of
children is very much formed on the model of their pa-
rents, and of those companions with whom they familiarly
associate. Every parent knows the importance of this
consideration in selecting the person by whom his children
shall be instructed, and the school at which they shall find
companions. The power of example is plainly seen in the
formation of national character. Every separate commu-
nity among men, whether larger or smaller, is distinguished
by certain peculiarities of chai'acter and habit. These are
to be traced almost exclusively to the influence of example
— the manners of one generation being caught by the

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD. 129

next, and transmitted down from sire to son indefinitely.
The power of example is also seen in the religions of the
world. Men have imitated the deities whom they have
worshipped, and formed in themselves the characters which
they supposed to exist in their gods. * The gods of the
heathen are vanity and a lie ; they that make them are like
unto them ; so is every one that trustelh in them.' When
the divinities, to whom worship and devotion were paid,
were believed to be possessed of human passions, and to be
guilty of human vices ; when their histories were filled
with selfishness, cruelty, revenge, lust, and every immorali-
ty ; it is not strange that men took countenance from the
examples, and went to an extravagant dissoluteness of man-
ners, into which, without such encouragement, they could
hardly have fallen. — As much of the prevalent vice of
heathen nations is to be ascribed to this cause ; so, doubt-
less, much of the prevalent virtue of the christian world is
to be attributed to the character of the true God, as he is
there worshipped. In christian lands, too, the efficacy of
example has been witnessed and valued in the use, which
has always been made of the lives of the apostles, saints,
and martyrs. In memory of their excellence some churches
have established festivals, and others have published re-
cords of their lives, and circulated volumes in their praise.
There can be no doubt, that much has in this way been
done to excite and strengthen in the practice of religion
and virtue. Living and breathing patterns of excellence
are placed before the way-faring christian. He witnesses
their ardor, is made acquainted with their anxious labors,
hears of their severe trials and persevering fidelity ; and by
observing how they watched and prayed, toiled and suffer-
ed, learns to go and do likewise.

Our own experience may perhaps confirm to us these
remarks. How often has a holy zeal been kindled within
us, while we have read of the faith and patience of some
eminent servant of God who has gone before us ! How
have our resolutions to do and to suffer been confirmed,
when we have listened to the story of another's unshaken

12

130 THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD.

fidelity and unwearying perseverance ! Next to the reading
of the scriptures, and the appointed preaching of God's
word, religion doubtless owes more to the persuasion of
pious example, than to all other causes. Every cliristian
can remember instances in which it has given ardor to his
faith, and confidence to his virtue, and comfort to his
troubles. The thought of what Howard did has prompted
the benevolence of thousands ; and the zeal of Clarkson
has kindled a flame in a multitude of souls. Many are
they that have been affected and won by the beautiful life
of Fenelon, and caught the contagion of religion from the
breathing spirit of Watts, or the singular excellence of
Cappe. In a word, whatever other means may have
been enjoyed, it is the example of the holy and good, which
has excited the energy of theii' minds, and made them
capable of great and perilous enterprises, and filled them
with longings after perfection.

But if such be the value and effect of contemplating
those who have exhibited before us christian faith and
obedience ; if we may be thus moved and animated by the
example of imperfect men, who after all have followed
their holy Master only at a distance ; what might not be
the effect of bringing home to our minds, and setting before
us in our lives, the perfect example of that blessed Master
himself.^ I fear, brethren, that we place him too far from
us. I fear that we too much neglect to bring him near,
and keep him before us, and realize the manner of his
conversation and life ; and that he requires us, not only to
do according to his commandment, but according to his
example. Yet why should we not realize this ? Why not
literally make him our Pattern ? why not in every season,
' look to him,' think how he did in a similar situation, what
dispositions he indulged on similar occasions, how he w^ould
conduct himself and how feel, in circumstances like our
own f Is not this practicable ? Would it not greatly assist
us ? Would it not often deliver us in perplexity and error ^
It is true, he lived many ages ago. But time and distance
are nothing in a case like this. The mind has power to

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD. 131

bring him near, and he is as important and personal a
friend now, as if we had lived in his own day. It is true
also, his example is in a sense so perfect, that we may not
hope to equal it. But this should be no discouragement.
It should rather animate us the more. It is an old proverb,
that he who aims at the sun, to be sure will not reach it,
but his arrow will fly higher than if he aimed at an object
on a level with himself. Just so, if other men are our
standard, we shall never be better than other ^«en; prob-
ably not so good. But if we imitate Jesus, we shall cer-
tainly rise above them, though we shall come far short ot
him. Besides ; there is nothing impracticable in the vir-
tues of Jesus ; that is to say, nothing, which is above the
earth and the concerns or wants of the earth, m sucn a
sense as to be unsuitable to men, or to render it romantic
for them to practise it. On the contrary, his is one ot
the most practical characters in the world ; exhibmng
specimens of the very dispositions, principles, habits, which
are of the most constant and indispensable need in the
intercourse and duties of life. What more so, than his
invariable gentleness, his untiring benevolence, his ready
forgiveness, his humility and condescension, his meekness
and patience, his cheerful contentment, his activity in duty,
his fortitude in suffering, his unreserved trust in divine
providence, his holy submission to the divine will .? 1 hese
are the prominent features in his human character, ihese
are the qualities in which he should be our example ; they
are qualities every day, every hour needed, and the pos-
session of which would render every day, every hour,
tranquil, lovely, and happy. And this example is set be-
fore us as one which we should by no means gaze at with
despair, because exhibited by one, who— in the language
of holy writ—' was made in all points like unto his breth-
ren ; who took not on him the nature of angels, but the
seed of Abraham ; as the children are made partakers ot
flesh and blood, so he also himself took part in the same ;
was in all points tempted like as we are, though without
sin ; and, though a son, yet learned obedience by the

132 THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD.

things which he suffered.' In this language of the sacred
volume, we find him represented as passing through the
infirmities and trials of life, obeying and suffering, in all
things like his brethren, and in all things an example to his
brethren; who, by witnessing his temptations and trials,
his ' strong crying and teai's,' his obedience and faithful-
ness, may learn what they ought to do, and how they
should do it ; and may be comforted, strengthened, and
supported in all, by looking unto him. In respect of such
things, says the apostle, ' he is not ashamed to call them
brethren ;' and how encouraging to them may be the
thought, that, in seeking to become ' heirs of God,' they
are 'joint heirs with Christ !'

Is there not something possible — I had almost said,
something easy — in setting up before us such a pattern ?
If we should do it faithfully, would not our hearts cleave to
it f and should we not soon learn to loathe every path, in
which we had not seen his pure feet tread ? Should we
not delight to gaze upon his benevolence and piety, his
activity and patience, his humility and fortitude ? and
while we contemplated them familiarly, should we not
even copy them involuntarily, and grow like him, as a
child grows like its beloved parent, — unconsciously, and
because we could not escape the celestial contagion f

It must be evident, then, that our Lord's example is not
such a one as we cannot follow ; but has been most wisely
and kindly adapted to our situation and wants. If then the
power of example over man be great, as we have seen,
and that of good men have done so much to influence and
form human character ; the value of this example, if faith-
fully applied to our lives, and assiduously followed,, must
be great beyond all calculation. There is no good feeling
which it might not perfect, no amiable virtue which it
might not form, no suffering which it would not enable us
to bear, no temptation which it might not help us to subdue.
It would be a present aid, a sure counsellor, an unerring
guide, in every perplexity, trial and duty. The world
might fling around you her most fearful shades of darkness

1.

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD. 133

and despair, and every human power be ready to shrink
from the path in which providence should lead you ; but
yet, steadfastly looking unto Jesus — who once endured it
all, — observing how he struggled, how he conquered, and
how he is exalted ; you would feel a strength by which
you might dissipate the cloud and the terror, and find
every mountain and hill brought low; — yea, you might
even, as the Lord promised his disciples, ' tread on ser-
pents, and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy ;
and nothing should by any means hurt you.'

This may be made yet plainer by observing its opera-
tion in a few particular cases.

You desire to kn6w by what dispositions toward God
you may attain his acceptance. You know, indeed, that
supreme love to him is the commandment ; but you would
learn more definitely in what this love consists, and in what
kind of demeanor it exhibits itself. — ^ Look unto Jesus,
and learn of him' — the fairest, the fullest example of per-
fect love. You see it in him an essential, all-pervading,
ever-operating principle ; not distinct and separate from
every other feature of his character, but inwoven with all
the others and inseparable from them ; the spirit of all,
rather than a spirit by itself. It is exhibited in a calm,
equal, and unwavering contentment ; because he entirely
trusts Him whom he loves : in quiet, solemn and constant
intercourse with Him in prayer ; not in noisy and extrava-
gant raptures, but in the deep and fervent communion of a
full heart, whose feeling is too real to be loud. Especially
it is exhibited in anxious efforts and ready sacrifices to do
his will, and accomplish the appointed work of his good
pleasure. Fix your eye upon this beautiful pattern of
perfect piety, follow these steps, and you will never need
be at a loss for the path of the perfect love of God.

Perhaps you are beset with temptation. The world and
sin entice you. They have spread their snares, and placed
you amid bad and seducing companions, from whom you
can hardly hope to escape without corruption. Your reso-
lutions are assailed, and your faith seems about to be
12*

134 THE EXPMPLE OF OUR LORD.

wrecked. — ' Look unto Jesus ;' remember him, tempted in
all points as you are, that he might be able to * succor
those who are tempted.' Remember how he struggled
with the adversary of souls in the desert, and overcame the
strongest solicitations — solicitations, to which yours are not
to be compared. Remember how the trial of his soul
wrought an agony in the garden, when so strongly tempted
to refuse the cup that was prepared for him. Remember
how, in those trying seasons, he summoned to his aid the
word of God, and baffled the tempter with this * sw^ord of
the spirit;' and how he waxed strong and became con-
queror by persevering in prayer. Go thou, and do likewise.
No temptation is too powerful for him, who will watch and
pray like his holy Lord ; and do not thou lose an honor-
able place in his kingdom by weakly shrinking from a con-
test, in which he hath taught thee how to fight, and to be-
come more than conqueror.

Here is another man, beset by the sin of Pride. A lofty
spirit and high heart are his glory. He despises others,
and lives only to aggrandize himself. My friend, ' look
unto Jesus.' He — the Author and Finisher of our faith —
the noblest personage that ever walked the earth — who
possessed more than human knowledge and wisdom, and
wielded the powers of heaven — are you greater than he,
that you should thus exak yourself, while he was so hum-
ble, so lowly, so unassuming ? Behold him, who stript
himself of his honors, who took ' the form of a servant,'
who came, ' not to be ministered unto, but to minister,' —
and blush for your own swelling importance. There is no
pride in Jesus— How unbecoming then in you ! How des-
picable do the vam and haughty appear, by the side of the
unassuming and condescending humility, which graced the
life of the Son of God I How little able will you be to in-
dulge emotions of arrogance and self-sufficiency, if you faith-
fully set before you that beautiful and affecting example !

Here is another, the slave of angry and revengeful pas-
sions, easily provoked to wiath, and betrayed to violence.
* Look unto Jesus ; learn of him, who was meek and lowly

3^

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD. l35

in heart.' Is there any thing more lovely than his equable
and long suftering gentleness — ' who though reviled, reviled
not again, though he suffered, threatened not, but submit-
ted liimseh" to him that judgeth rigliteously.' Why may
not you do likewise ? Why will you not do likewise ?
Why should not patience and meekness be honorable in
you, as well as in him ? and why should revenge and pas-
sion be less odious ? Be but famihar with his quiet tem-
per, and feel how lovely it is in him ; and you cannot
cherish those opposite dispositions, which will then be hate-
ful in your sight.

Again ; you are perhaps suffering from the injuries of
men, and the injustice of the world ; you have been wrong-
ed, or disgraced, or persecuted ; and how shall you con-
duct yourself under these aggravated evils ? ' Look unto
Jesus,' and take instruction from his example. You see in
him no boiling indignation, no impatience of revenge, no re-
turning of malice for malice. But his spirit, though oppress-
ed, still retains its serenity, and turning from the injustice of
man, finds repose on the justice of God. Be not you, then,
impatient. Be not you overwhelmed by passion or despair.
Your sufferings cannot compare with his ; and shall you not
at least strive to bear them like him ? You cannot meet equal
injustice ; and will you not seek at least for equal compos-
ure ? Behold him, who had spent the faithful days of a
laborious life in doing good ; whose only care was to ben-
efit mankind ; and who displayed an extent of active be-
nevolence never before even imagined ; yet assailed by
those very persons for whom he had been laboring, cruelly
arraigned before and unfeeling tribunal on a false pretence,
and subjected to all the ignominy and torture of a mock
trial — smitten — buffeted — scourged — derided — insuked —
dragged away to a lingering and disgraceful death. Have
you endured hardship and injustice to be named with this ?
Yet no murmur escapes him — no passion ruffles his com-
posure— no resentment flashes from his meek and sup()li-
cati'g eye — no accent of wrath or threatening comes from
his oppressed and dying bosom ; but even in the last mo-

136 THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD.

ment of mortal agony, he lifts his compassionate voice in a
prayer of mercy — ' Father forgive them, for they know
not what they do !' In the hour of suffering and despair,
reflect upon this scene ; try if you cannot catch something
of the spirit of your master, and bear your trial like him.

Perhaps you have afflictions of another kind. Calamity
and death visit your dwelling, and the lights in which you
rejoice are quenched by your side. Your friends are re-
moved, your hopes are destroyed, and you sit in thick
darkness, desponding and alone. Here, toOj the example
of Jesus may cheer and sustain you. Look therefore to
him. Call to mind the instructions which he, the author
and finisher of your faith, has given, concerning the govern-
ment of your Father, and the purposes of his providence.
Call to mind also the day when he bore the calamities
which God had appointed him ; when he was emphatically
* a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;' when he
might have cried to you and said, ' Come and see, all ye
that pass by, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.'
Yet you see him, not giving way to the grief, not overcome
by the sorrow ; but struggling against it ; looking up to
God with serene and holy trust ; casting his spirit on his
Father with unrepining and tranquil submission : — ' The
cup which my Father hath given me, shall [ not drink it ?'
This is no example of unfeeling composure, of Stoical in-
sensibility, of unnatural fortitude. Jesus struggled — even
to an agony — that he might attain it. Go, heart-broken
mourner, and do likewise. Go, as he did, and pray — not
once, but twice and thrice ; and God will answer you too,
by ' an angel from heaven to strengthen you' — not indeed
in a visible form, but in an inward })eace. It is no sin to
mourn and weep. Jesus wept. The sin lies in refusing
to look for comfort, in obstinately murmuring against the
hand of God, in complaining of his severity. Jesus even
prayed that ' the cup might pass from him.' But not re-
piningly, not rebelliously. He added, with filial submis-
sion, ' Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.'
Brethren, this example is of infinite worth to us. Dwell

^

THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LORD. 137

upon it in the day of your sorrow. Imitate it in the hour
of your trouble. You will not fail to attain something of
the peace which the Saviour promised to his followers,
and which God gives to all those, ' whose hearts are stayed
on him, and who trust in him.'

In these various ways may the contemplation of our
Lord's example help to guide and support us in the weary
pilgrimage of life. Through its vicissitudes of joy and sor-
row, duty and suffering, perplexity and fear, it may keep
our hearts equal and our faith firm. At its close, it may
deliver us from fear, and make us more than conquerors
through him that hath loved us. And in heaven — it may
have helped to prepare us for the peace of that holy rest,
which remains for the people of God.

Blessed be God, who hath given us such a leader !
Happy, thrice happy vsre, if we be enabled successfully to
follow him !

NOTE REFERRED TO ON PAGE 118.

It has been objected to the reasoning on pages 118, 119, that it is
inconclusive, because it keeps too much out of sight the fact, that it
is the entire character of the Deity, and not any one portion of it,
which constitutes him the object of worship. The fact is undoubtedly
so, and therefore the statements in this passage are, perhaps, too broad
and unqualified ; yet I think that they will not be found essentially in-
correct by those who will give a careful attention to the whole course
and bearing of the remarks. The argument will be perceived to be this :
The honors rendered to the Father are grounded on his character, and
on the relations which he sustains to his creatures. By his character
I understand his moral attributes, while these relations grow out of his
natural attributes. It is the former, principally, as I say in the dis-
course, (p. 118.) on account of wH-^i worship is rendered ; although at
the same time (p. 117.') th« 'atter are essential to his very existence as
God ;-^and— it should have been expressed as well as implied,— his
relation to us is founded on them.

How then is this statement applied to the Son ? We are in like man-
ner to honor him on account of his character and of the relations he
sustains toward us ;— relations, founded, not as those of God, on his na-
tjiral attributes but on the appointment of the Father : as is explained
at length on pages 119, 120. So that even if it were true that the
natural perfections of God are in every respect an equal ground of
divine honors with the moral, yet the conclusion respecting the honors
due to our Saviour remains the same ;— his relations to us being ground-
ed, not, like those of God, on the perfections of his nature, but on
the appointment of his Father.

Or if it be said that these relations of God spring in part also from
his moral perfections ; still the conclusion is the same, for still the re-
lations and offices of Jesus spring from the appointment of God.