Matt. 5:8.

Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for He shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

THE dispensations of Providence are extremely dark and intricate: the things which appear most afflictive often prove to be the richest mercies that could have been vouchsafed to us. This was remarkably verified in the history before us. Joseph was espoused to a virgin of consummate piety; but, before their nuptials, she proved to be in a state which gave him reason to suspect her fidelity. Desiring to exercise all the lenity which the case would admit of, he determined to put her away privily. How distressing must such an event have been to this holy man! But God sent an angel to unfold to him the mystery, to declare the ends for which the child should be born, and to impose on the infant a name, that should mark his office in the world.

I. The appointment of the name—

God had often condescended to assign names to men—

[Sometimes he had made an alteration in their names; and sometimes totally changed themb. Sometimes he had assigned a name before the child was conceived. In these things he always acted with unerring wisdom. When men have attempted to give significant appellations, they have only manifested how ignorant they were of futurity. But God sees all things from the beginning to the end. And his designation of Christ’s name was a prognostic of his character.]

The appellation given to the Virgin’s son was peculiarly suitable—

[“Jesus” simply means a Saviour; and was a common name among the Jews. It was sometimes assigned to those who were great deliverersf. It had been given in a peculiar manner to the son of Nun. He was eminently a Saviour, as leading the Israelites into the promised land, which Moses was not permitted to doh. But Christ, whom he typified, is a far greater deliverer. He “does that for us which the law could not do.” He leads the true Israel of God into the heavenly Canaan.]

So remarkable an event may justly lead us to inquire into,

II. The reason of that appointment—

Waving all other reasons, we notice two before us:

1. To fulfil a prophecy—

[Isaiah had foretold that the Messiah should be called Emmanuel. From the event it appears, that God did not intend this prophecy to have a literal accomplishment. We may expect however that the spirit of it should be accomplished. Now the name “Jesus” was in fact equivalent to Emmanuel. “Jesus” means “Divine Saviour;” and Emmanuel, God with us. And the Evangelist himself tells us, that the imposition of THAT name was in order to the fulfilment of THIS prophecy.]

2. To declare the infant’s office and character—

[The virgin’s child was to be the Saviour of the world. He was to save his people by price, and by power. They were under sentence of eternal condemnation. His life was the ransom to be paid for their souls. Hence they are called his purchased possessiono. They were also in bondage to sin and Satan. And he was to make them a peculiar people, zealous of good worksq. Yea, he was ultimately to place them beyond the reach of all the penalties and pollutions of sin. It was of importance that this great work should he represented in his very name. And the text informs us that the name was given him for this very purpose.]

III. The interest we should take in it—

[Surely most precious should the name of Jesus be to all his followers. What benefit can be bestowed like salvation from sin? A deliverance from its dominion is an unspeakable blessing. The godly desire it no less than deliverance from hell itself. Deliverance too from its penalties is an inconceivable mercy. O, how delightful is pardon to a burthened conscience How sweet is a sense of God’s favour in a dying hour! What joy must the glorified soul possess in the day of judgment! Yet Jesus has bought it all for us with his own most precious blood, and has bestowed it freely on all his faithful followers. He will impart it liberally to all who will believe on him. Is there not reason then for that divine anathema—? Will not the very stones cry out against those who refuse to praise him? Let Jesus then be precious to us all. Let us adopt the grateful strains of that sweet Psalmist of Israel—.]

I cannot conclude without a short ADDRESS, to those who make this a season of carnal mirth—

[The great majority of Christians seem to think that the incarnation of Christ gives them a greater licence to commit sin. And this impious thought greatly aggravates their guilt. But what madness is it to imagine that they can ever be saved in such a state. If they could, the angel should have assigned a very different reason for the appointment of Jesus’ name. In that case, Christ would have been a minister of sin. But who must not, with the Apostle, express his abhorrence of such a thoughtu? Our Lord has plainly told us what shall ere long be his address to self-deceiving sinners—. Let us then improve the incarnation of Christ for the ends for which he came; and tremble lest we provoke the Saviour himself to become our inexorable destroyer.]

MCCLXXIX

THE WISE MEN SEEKING CHRIST

Matt. 2:1, 2.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

THE humiliation of our blessed Lord was attended with many circumstances tending to counteract its influence on the minds of men. To see him born in a stable, and laid in a manger, was doubtless a stumbling-block in the way of many: but the birth by the voice of angels—the restoration of a spirit of prophecy after an interval of four hundred years—and the pointing him out to the Eastern Magi by a new-created star—were abundantly sufficient to remove the offence which his apparent meanness might occasion. This last event, the visit of the Magi to him, will occupy our attention at this time. We shall,

I. Make some general observations upon the visit—

That we may not go forward without some kind of order, we shall notice,

1. Who they were—

[The term by which they are designated, means magicians. But we are not to understand by this, that they were persons practising enchantments; we are rather to conceive of them as philosophers, who were attentive observers of nature, and ‘probably’ proficients in astronomy. They came from the East; but whether from Persia or Arabia, we cannot say. All that is affirmed of them more than this, is vain conjecture, or foolish superstition.]

2. How they came to think of the Lord Jesus Christ—

[God, who is sovereign in the distribution of his favours, chose them, as he did the shepherds, to be the objects of his peculiar favour. He sent a star, or meteor, to attract their attention; and then revealed to them, that the star was intended to announce to them the birth of Him who was to be the King of the Jews. Whether they had heard of Balaam’s prophecy, ‘that a star should come out of Jacob, and a sceptre rise out of Israel,’ we do not know: ‘the expectation of a ruler to spring out of Israel was certainly far extended through the world:) but, however the first conjecture might arise in the minds of the Wise Men, they could have known nothing certain but from revelation.]

3. What means they used in order to find him out—

[Being informed of the design of the star, they proceeded to visit this new-born King, and to pay him their profoundest homage. They pursued their journey to Jerusalem, and began to inquire, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” But they could hear nothing respecting him: their inquiries tended only to spread consternation through the whole city. Herod was alarmed, lest his throne should be endangered; and the Jews were terrified, lest that suspicious and cruel tyrant should make this report an occasion of inflicting on them some heavy calamities. To get some light into the matter, Herod summoned a council of all the chief priests and scribes; and inquired of them where Christ should be born. They readily informed him, from the prophecies, that Bethlehem was the place destined to that honour. This information being given to the Wise Men, they instantly proceeded thither; and, as soon as they went forth, the star, which had at first appeared to them in the East, became visible to them again, and went and “stood over the very house where the young child was.” God withheld the miraculous appearance of the star when it was not necessary; and renewed it only when it was wanted to confirm the faith of the Wise Men, (which the indifference of the Jews might have caused to waver,) and to point out infallibly the house where the child abode.]

4. How they conducted themselves towards him when they had found him—

[Filled with holy awe and reverence, they no sooner beheld him, than they prostrated themselves before him; and presented to him the offerings which they had brought with them for that purpose. It is possible, that their worship was only such as it was customary to pay to kings; and that their presents were only such as were the produce of their own country, without any thing mysterious in their import. Still, however, we read not of their paying any such regard to Herod; and therefore we may conclude, that at least they considered Jesus as excelling all other kings in dignity and glory.]

We shall now,

II. Call your particular attention to the Wise Men—

They may be regarded by us in a three-fold view:

1. As witnesses to confirm our faith—

[Does the indifference of the Jews respecting their new-born King appear to weaken the evidence of his birth? Let us hear the testimony of the Magi respecting him: ‘We beheld a new-formed star, and were instructed by Jehovah in the reason of its formation. We went to see the child whose birth it announced, and we saw him with our eyes, and paid to him the homage which was due from us. We know that we found the very child that was referred to, because that miraculous star pointed him out to us; and when we had honoured him to the best of our ability, Jehovah appeared to us again, revealed to us the purpose which Herod had conceived, and directed us to return to our own country without informing Herod, that so the parents of the child might have time to remove him to a land of safety.’

Must we not in all this acknowledge the hand of God? and would God thus set his seal to a falsehood, and thus countenance an impostor?]

2. As types to animate our hope—

[We are taught to believe that the day shall come, when all nations of the earth shall be converted to God, and the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought into the Church of Christ. The conversion of these Wise Men was, as it were, the first fruits, which assure to us the complete harvest. Does the event appear incredible? It was no difficulty to God to convince, and encourage them: nor will it be difficult with him to effect the universal change, whenever his time is come. The same thing shall then take place on an extended scale; and “the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Lord and his Christ.”]

3. As patterns to direct our conduct—

[Much may we learn from those heathen philosophers. First, let us learn to improve our studies or pursuits, whatever they may be, for our spiritual advantage. Do we behold strange phenomena in nature? Let them lead us to the God of nature: and whatever light we obtain from him, let us use it as the means of obtaining more light.

Next, let us not regard any scoffs, or difficulties, or dangers that we may have to encounter in the way of our duty. Doubtless, the sages found many obstacles in their way; but they persisted to the end; and never ceased from their labour, till they had found Him whom they sought. Thus, let us resolutely seek the Lord Jesus, till we have found him. He is pointed out to us, not by a star, but by “the more sure word of the Gospel.” True enough, we may inquire after him of many who might well be expected to give us all needful information; and, after all, find them even more ignorant than ourselves. Our very solicitude about him may even provoke their enmity; but we must go on without weariness, and without fear; and still prosecute our inquiries after him, till we can say, “I have found Him whom my soul loveth.”

Lastly, having found Jesus, let us present to him all that we are, and all that we have. Let our body, soul, and spirit be consecrated to him. Let us confess him as “King of kings, and Lord of lords;” let us devote to him our silver and our gold: and let us glorify him with our body and our spirit, which are his. This is our reasonable service: and if we be backward to render it unto him, surely these heathen converts will rise up in judgment against us: for, if they so honoured him, when they saw him only as a babe, wrapt in swaddling-clothes, much more should we, who view him seated on his throne of glory.]

MCCLXXX

THE JOY OF THE MAGI

Matt. 2:10.

And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

IN so concise a history as that of our blessed Lord, the events of whose life and death were so numerous, that, if circumstantially related, they would occupy too many volumes to be read by the world at large, it must of necessity be found, that there is much omitted which we should have been glad to know. But the Scriptures were not written to gratify a vain curiosity: the inspired writers had a far higher object in view: they were content to record so much only as was necessary for our instruction, and to give us such brief hints as would set before our eyes one continuous and comprehensive whole. In the account of the wise men, who came from the East to worship the new-born Jesus, there is much left to mere conjecture. We know not who they were, nor whence they came, except that it was to the eastward of Judæa; nor how long it was after the birth of Christ; whether a few weeks, or several months. What the star was, we know not. It could not be a common star; but only a meteor, resembling one. How they came to regard it as intimating the birth of any one, and especially of one who should be the King of the Jews, we know not. It is probable that they were astronomers; and that, seeing this new star over the land of Judæa, they concluded it to be ominous of some great event: and, having heard of the general report, that there was expected to arise, about that time, in Judæa, one who should govern the whole earth, they might suppose the star to be an indication of his birth. Yet, on the whole, I think it more probable, that the same Almighty and gracious God, who sent this star to guide them to Judæa, revealed to them the occasion of its appearance, and the wonderful event of which they themselves were to be the favoured witnesses. The inquiry which they make on reaching Jerusalem seems indeed to place this matter beyond a doubt: for they do not ask whether some great personage were born: they express no doubt whatever respecting the fact; but only inquire where the new-born infant was; “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?; for we have seen his star, and are come to worship him.” The Jews themselves, it seems, were unconscious of any remarkable occurrence, till the confident inquiry of these strangers drew their attention to it: and then both Herod the king, and all the people at Jerusalem, were filled with consternation. Herod, a remarkably jealous prince, summoned the chiefs of the Jewish nation, that he might learn from them where their Messiah, according to the Scriptures, should be born. They, from a well-known prophecy, informed him, that Bethlehem was the highly-favoured city for which this honour was reserved: and he, on receiving this information, directed the Magi thither, with an express command, that, when they should have found him, they would come back to him, and communicate all that they should have learned respecting him. Thither the Magi now directed their steps. But no sooner had they re-commenced their journey, than the star, which they had seen in the East, and which had for some time disappeared, came again; and guided them, not to the city only, but to the house where Jesus was; thus pointing out, with infallible precision, the very child whom they desired to find. On this occasion it is said, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” Now, the terms in which their joy is here spoken of are so strong, as to be incapable of being translated literally into our language. Their general import, however, is sufficiently conveyed in the words before us: “They rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”

In speaking of this their joy, we shall find it profitable to inquire, What it indicated in relation to them.

From this interesting portion of divine history we may learn,

I. The magnitude of the object which they pursued—

They sought to behold and to honour the new-born King. This was an object worthy of pursuit:

As viewed by them, it was of great moment—

[Supposing them only to conceive of him as born to a kingdom, yet, taking into consideration the miracle with which his birth was announced, and the prophetic declarations relative to the place of his birth, they might well regard him as worthy to be served and honoured. And in proportion as we suppose their views of his character and office to have been enlarged, the importance of their object must, of course, have been magnified in their minds.]

With the additional light which we enjoy, it was an object the most important that any creature could pursue—

[We know that infant to have been “Emmanuel, God with us.” Yes, he was “God manifest in human flesh:” and not a king of one nation only, but of the whole earth, even “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”

To behold HIM in this his humbled state; to worship HIM, and glorify HIM; what could the highest archangel desire more? This was an object worthy of ambition to every child of man: nor could any labour, any privation, any suffering, be too great to be encountered willingly, and sustained cheerfully, in the pursuit of it.]

In their labours, we behold also,

II. The ardour of mind with which it should be pursued—

Their journey, whether from Arabia or any other country, was long and arduous—

[Their setting out from their own country, and prosecuting their journey to Judæa, argued no little zeal: but to persevere when the star had disappeared, and when so much difficulty and uncertainty must, in all probability, attend their future exertions, required a zeal more than ordinarily intense and ardent: and we admire their steady perseverance in so great a work.]

What, then, should ever damp our ardour in the service of our Lord?

[Methinks, this is a labour in which our whole lives should be occupied. We need not, indeed, leave our homes in order to behold his face, since he is here in the midst of us: but we must be ready to part with all, if called to it: and, whatever difficulties may obstruct our way, we should determine, with God’s help, to surmount them all — — — Nor should we take with us a portion only of our property; but go and offer to him all that we are, and all that we have. Our whole selves, body, soul, and spirit, must be consecrated to his service, that he may be glorified in all — — —]

In them we may yet further see,

III. The blessedness that shall crown our labours—

“They rejoiced with exceeding great joy”—

[They, even before they had fully attained their object, rejoiced: what joy, then, must have filled their souls, when they were introduced into the very presence of this infant, and had the honour of presenting to him their gifts of gold, and frankincense and myrrh!]

But the believer’s joy at finding the Saviour, is incomparably more exalted—

[It is truly said to be a “joy unspeakable and glorified.” O how richly are the labours of a whole life repaid by one glimpse of the Saviour’s glory! And what prospects does it open to him in the eternal world! — — — Truly, no languagecan express the joy that he feels, nor any heart conceive the blessedness that awaits him — — —]

ADDRESS—

1. The nominal Christian—

[Though not truly interested in the Saviour, you are highly privileged: because you have an infinitely better guide than ever the Magi had, even the word of God, which will he a light to your feet, and a lantern to your paths; and will infallibly, if duly followed, lead you to the Saviour’s presence. Improve, then, your privileges; and let them remind you of your obligations also: for if your light be more clear than theirs, so should your surrender of yourselves to Christ be more entire.]

2. The inquiring Christian—

[You, like the Magi, may feel discouragement in your journey heavenward; and, through the withdrawment of light from your soul, be ready to doubt whether you shall ever attain the object of your desires. But hold on, in the midst of all discouragements; and doubt not but that your labour shall be crowned with success at last: for God’s promise to you is, “Then shall ye know, if ye follow on to know the Lord. His goings forth are prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto you as the rain, as the former and as the latter rain upon the earth.”]

3. The assured Christian—

[You have found the Saviour, and presented yourselves to him. Now, then, shew yourselves worthy of this high privilege. A sad indifference exists in relation to him, even amongst those who from their office and their general information ought to be most forward in calling the attention of others to him. And, from the reports which we have of his reception in heathen lands, even amongst the most barbarous Africans and Hottentots, we may all blush for our coldness and ingratitude. However, if you have been led to the Saviour, take care to honour him in the midst of an ungodly world, and labour to make him known to all around you.]

MCCLXXXI

THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INFANTS

Matt. 2:16, 18.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

WHILST ungodly men are perpetrating every species of wickedness, the language of their hearts, as interpreted by God himself, is this: “The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.” A similar thought is apt to arise in the heart, when our trials are multiplied, and relief is not speedily afforded us. It was in this way that the Israelites at Massah, when destitute of water, vented their murmurs: this was their atheistical inquiry; “Is the Lord amongst us or not?” Even godly persons, under violent temptation, are sometimes ready to ask, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender merciesc?” But a diligent attention to the Scriptures will fortify us against any such absurd conclusions. From them we shall learn, that however inattentive God may appear to be to the concerns of men, he directs, limits, and overrules all their actions, for the promotion of his own glory. Scarcely on any occasion should we have expected his interposition, more than for the prevention of that murderous edict, whereby all the infants of Bethlehem and the adjacent country were destroyed. Yet God saw fit to permit it; and interfered no further than was necessary for the fulfilling of his own word, and the accomplishing of his own eternal purpose.

Let us contemplate,

I. The fact recorded—

A more strange occurrence can scarcely be conceived. We wonder that any human being should be invested with such power, as to cause, by his own arbitrary mandate, the slaughter of so many innocent persons. We wonder still more, that, supposing this authority to be delegated to any one, there should be found agents to carry such an inhuman edict into execution. But most of all do we wonder, that a creature endued with reason should be capable of issuing such an order as Herod did on this occasion. But let us trace this action to its source: let us inquire into the principle from which this unparalleled barbarity proceeded—

[The murderous purpose originated in jealousy. Herod possibly had heard of the birth of Jesus, previous to the arrival of the Wise Men: but that was the circumstance which put him upon making inquiries into the pretensions of this newborn infant. From them he learned, that a star or meteor had appeared to them in the East, and that they, either from revelation or from the traditionary prophecy of Balaam, had been led to interpret the appearance of that star as an intimation, that He who was to reign over the Jews was now born into the world. He was also informed by them, that they had come on purpose to pay him the homage which was due to such an exalted character. Upon this, Herod summoned all the chief priests and scribes, that he might learn from them what the prophets had declared respecting the place of their Messiah’s nativity: and on understanding that Bethlehem was the place destined to that honour, he sent the Wise Men thither, and ordered them, when they had found the child, to come and give him information respecting him. This order he grounded upon a pretended desire to honour Christ; but with a secret determination to destroy him: for he concluded, that Christ was to have a temporal dominion; and that, if suffered to live, he would wrest the kingdom out of his hands. But such a rival he could not endure: and hence arose the secret purpose to destroy him.

But though jealousy first prompted him to form the murderous purpose, with respect to his supposed rival, it was offended pride that caused it to be extended to all the children around Bethlehem. The Wise Men, being warned by God of Herod’s purpose, returned no more to him: at this Herod was indignant: he conceived himself slighted and despised; but he was determined not to be disappointed of his desire; and therefore, to secure his object, he gave order’s that all infants near the age of Jesus, and within the neighbourhood of the place where he was born, should be massacred without distinction.

What an amazing ascendant must these principles have over the heart of man! Well may it be said, that “jealousy is cruel as the grave:” nor indeed is pride less cruel, when its wounded feelings have scope for exercise. This we see in the two sons of Jacob, who, on account of their sister having been defiled by the Prince of Shechem, slew every male in the city: and, when reproved for their cruelty, they shewed, in their vindication of themselves, from whence that cruelty had proceeded: “Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?;”

Happy would it have been for the world, if such dispositions and conduct had been altogether banished by the Gospel of Christ: but the human heart is the same in every age and place: we still see that the love of power is a predominant principle in the mind of man; that where it is suffered to gain an ascendency, it will leave no means untried for the accomplishment of its ends; and that, if the more lenient methods of deceit and treachery will not succeed, it will wade through seas of blood to the attainment of its object: the cries of thousands and tens of thousands will not divert it from its purpose: nor will any thing but the utter extinction of a rival satisfy its blood-thirsty appetite.

We must not however forget, that the same evil principles are in our own hearts: and, if we will only call to mind the irritation which we have felt on some particular occasions, we shall see reason to be thankful to God, who has kept us from carrying into execution all that our offended pride might have prompted us to effect.]

Before we proceed to make any practical remarks upon this fact, it will be proper to notice,

II. The prophecy accomplished by it—

The New Testament writers sometimes appeal to the prophecies of the Old Testament, as direct proofs of what they assert, and sometimes in a more lax way of accommodation only. It is in this latter way, we apprehend, that the prophecy before us is adduced? In its primary meaning, it represented the Jews as collected at Rama, for the purpose of being carried into captivity to Babylonh; and Rachel (who had about eleven hundred years before been buried near that place) as weeping over the disconsolate state of her posterity. The Evangelist beautifully applies the same figure to the slaughter of the children which took place at Bethlehem, which also was near to Rachel’s tomb; and, in this view, he speaks of the prophecy as again accomplished. This he might well do: for who can conceive the distress which that event occasioned?

[The murderous bands could not stop to see, whether, in every instance, the wounds they had inflicted had actually destroyed life: they must proceed rapidly in their work, lest any of the children should be carried off or concealed: and what anguish must the cries of so many children, (probably some thousands,) writhing in the agonies of death, in agonies protracted by the kind solicitude of their parents, have produced in the bosoms of their bereaved mothers! No language can paint, no imagination conceive, the horrors of that day. We may use the terms, “lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning;” but we cannot affix to them any adequate ideas, or realize, in any just degree, that awful scene — — —]

We cannot but SEE from hence,

1. How early our Lord’s sufferings began—

[Scarcely was he born, before his life was sought, and he was forced to be carried an exile to the country which of all others had been most hostile to his progenitors. And, after the death of Herod, he was forced, for his security, to take up his abode in a town which fixed a stigma upon him to his latest hour. These were, indeed, only “the beginnings of his sorrows:” but they may well reconcile his followers to any privations or reproaches which they may be called to endure for his sake. If for us he became “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” let us cheerfully bear our cross for him, and willingly “suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together” — — —]

2. How vain are any attempts of man to counteract the designs of God—

[Herod foolishly thought to defeat the purposes of heaven; but “God held him in derision, and laughed him to scorn.” God knew his murderous plans, and warned the parents of our Lord to escape his fury; yea, and provided too for their journey and support in Egypt, by the offerings which the Wise Men had just before presented to the new-born King. Herod, to secure his purpose, ordered, not the children of Bethlehem only, but of all the neighbouring country; and not of one year old only, but all under two years old, to be massacred: but his attempts were vain; and instead of frustrating the designs of Heaven, he unwittingly fulfilled them; occasioning, by this very act, no less than three prophecies to be accomplished. Thus it is with all who set themselves against God: they may shew their malignity, but they cannot counteract his gracious designs. “Many are the devices in men’s hearts; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” “The wrath of man ‘as far as it is permitted to be exercised’ shall praise him; and the remainder of that wrath shall he restraino.” We never need, therefore, to be afraid of man; for, if we commit our way unto the Lord, “he will be our shield and buckler;” and, “if He be for us,” we may triumphantly ask, “Who can be against us?”]

3. How certainly will there be a day of future retribution—

[Can it be, that such an inhuman monster should never meet with any just recompence for his deeds? The mind revolts at the idea. If there be a God that governs the world, there must be a period when the present inequalities of his government shall be done away, and the equity of his dispensations be made apparent. Hence the day of judgment is in Scripture called, “The day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God:” and we are told, that “it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble us: and to us who are troubled, restr.” Let us then act in reference to that day: whether exalted and at ease, or depressed and persecuted, let us look to that day, when our happiness or misery shall be for ever fixed. Let us dread prosperity, if it divert our attention from a future state; and let us welcome adversity, if it be the means of bringing us nearer unto God. The infants now have no cause to regret that they were called to such early martyrdom: and it is highly probable, that many of their parents have since found reason to give thanks to God for the weight of sorrow that then oppressed them. But the proud oppressor,— who can reflect on his state without shuddering? how will he feel, when he shall stand at the tribunal of that very Jesus, whom, with such hypocrisy and cruelty, he laboured to destroy? O that, whenever tempted to sin, we may think of the account which we must one day give; and, whenever called to suffer, may “look with Moses to the recompence of the reward!”]

MCCLXXXII

JOHN’S ADDRESS TO THOSE WHO CAME TO BE BAPTIZED OF HIM

Matt. 3:7–10.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them., O generation of vipers! who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

WHEN a profession of religion is become fashionable, as it were, and common, it is necessary for ministers to be doubly careful that they do not sanction, much less promote, the delusions of hypocrites or impostors. At such seasons, peculiar faithfulness and discrimination will be wanted, that the upright may not be discountenanced, nor the vain pretenders to piety be encouraged.

The Baptist was signally successful in his ministrations, insomuch that Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan, went to be baptized of him. Amongst this great multitude came many Pharisees and Sadducees, desiring to be numbered amongst his disciples. At this he was utterly astonished; because the Pharisees were so conceited of their own goodness as to think that they needed no better religion; and the Sadducees, the free-thinkers of the day, despised religion altogether. He would not immediately reject them, but, in a most faithful and energetic address, declared what they must be, if they would obtain happiness in the future world. He called them “a generation of vipers,” because of the poisonous and infectious nature of their principles, and the manifest relation which, both in sentiment and conduct, they bare to the old serpent the devil. Such an address became him as a prophetb; but it would not be suited to us who bear an inferior commission. Nevertheless the same fidelity should be found in all: and what he spake to them, we must declare to you; namely, that,

I. True religion must be judged of by its fruits—

As this is the only criterion whereby the excellence of a tree can be known, so is it the only true test of religion. There are “fruits meet for repentance;” fruits that manifest its existence, and denote its power. Let us inquire what they are: and, as they will be found in every part of our conduct, let us examine them in reference to,

1. God—

[It will certainly shew itself in high thoughts of God’s unbounded goodness and mercy; in deep humiliation of our souls before him; in a joyful acceptance of his proffered salvation; and in love, ardent love, to the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us; together with a simple reliance on his atoning sacrifice. It will stimulate the soul to fervent prayer for the continued influences of God’s Holy Spirit, and to a surrender of the soul, with all its faculties and powers, to his service. It will make the pleasing of God to be henceforth the great object of our lives; and will moderate all our regards to the creature, insomuch that, though we are in the world, we shall not be of it; and, though “we use it, we shall not abuse it.”]

2. Our neighbour—

[Repentance extends not to the sins of the first table only, but to those of the second table also. It will give a new principle to us in all our dealings with mankind. We shall be strictly just and honest in all our transactions, doing to others precisely as, in a change of circumstances, we should think it right for them to do to us. If a man be our superior, we shall be ready to pay him, for God’s sake, all that respect and obedience which the laws of God or man enjoin. If he be our inferior, we shall act towards him with all kindness and condescension, all tenderness and love. Whatever be his state and condition, we shall be cautious of grieving him by word or deed; we shall applaud his virtues, conceal his faults, and exercise towards him that forbearance and forgiveness which we ourselves desire to meet with at the hands of God. It will be the joy of our hearts to alleviate his troubles, to supply his necessities, and to seek his welfare, not only as well as, but even in preference to, our own.]

3. Ourselves—

[The office of repentance in regulating the secret dispositions of our hearts, is by no means sufficiently considered: but, if it extend not to these, it is not genuine, nor will it ever prove “a repentance to salvation.” In the natural and unrenewed heart, pride, envy, malice, wrath, discontent, uncleanness, lasciviousness, and many other hateful evils, are harboured, even where the external and visible exercise of them is restrained. But the true penitent “puts away all these,” and and cultivates a spirit of meekness and gentleness, of love and kindness, of patience and thankfulness; and endeavours to guard against an impure thought or desire, no less than against the most criminal indulgence.

I do not say, that a penitent so attains all these graces as never to betray his weakness; but this I say, that these are the fruits of the Spirit which every penitent will produce; that they necessarily arise out of godly sorrowe; and that every sincere penitent will advance in these attainments, so that they who are most conversant with him shall be constrained to bear testimony to the progressive amelioration of all his tempers.

O that there might be in all of us such an heart; and that all who profess repentance might thus make their profiting to appear!]

It is of infinite importance to ascertain in this way whether our religion be genuine; for,

II. Without it, all hopes of salvation are delusive—

The Jews were apt to found their hopes of mercy on their relation to Abraham—

[Many of them had a strange conceit that no child of Abraham could perish: and it is probable that they built that notion on the promise of God never to cast off the seed of Abraham. They had no idea that there was such a thing as a spiritual seed; and therefore they limited the promise to his descendants according to the flesh, and included all of them without any regard to their moral character. Against this erroneous notion the Baptist cautioned those whom he now addressed; and told them, that God would rather raise up a posterity to Abraham out of the very stones, (or perhaps from among the Gentile soldiers, many of whom might be present with them on that occasion,) than either suffer his promise to fail, or admit impenitent sinners to heaven.]

And similar to this are the delusions which obtain amongst us—

[Because men have been born of Christian parents, and educated in a Christian land, and have never formally renounced Christianity, they imagine that they are Christians, notwithstanding they havenever cordially embraced the doctrines of Christianity, nor obeyed its precepts. They have the same reason for being Christians that Mahometans have for being Mahometans, and no better. They have never seen the suitableness of Christianity to their wants, nor the sufficiency of it for their necessities: nor have they been concerned about it, any further than just to observe its outward forms. Yet on this the generality found their hopes of heaven. Whether they will express it in words or not, it is that which they “think to say within themselves.” But we must remind all such persons of the declaration of St. Paul, “that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” It is not any external profession that will avail us in the day of judgment: we may have the sublimest knowledge, the strongest faith, the most ardent zeal, and the most unbounded liberality, and yet perish at last for want of that principle of love, which is the source and summit of all vital godliness. O that we may never deceive our own souls, nor rest in any thing short of “pure, practical, and undefiled religion!”]

Such indifference about true religion would not long exist, if men would but reflect, that,

III. There is a time shortly coming, when the want of it will be attended with the most bitter consequences.

God had determined to punish the Jewish nation for their unfruitfulness—

[Long had he waited to see whether the vines he had cultivated with so much care, would bring forth fruit: but they brought forth none but wild grapes: and therefore, though he had spared them long at the intercession of the vine-dresser, he determined speedily to cut them down, that they might cumber the ground no longer. Of this the Baptist warned his audience: he assured them, that God was ready to execute his purpose; that “the axe was even now lying at their roots;” and that nothing but immediate and true repentance could avert their doom.]

The same awful judgment awaits every unfruitful soul—

[An unfruitful tree stands unconscious of the destiny that awaits it: but they who see the preparations made for cutting it down, anticipate its fate. Thus, if impenitent transgressors had eyes to see, they might see the axe lying at their root, and God giving his orders to him that is to use it. Disease or accident are just tarrying awhile, but coming at the appointed moment, to execute their commission.

And here let it be remembered, that it is not a mere negative goodness that will obtain a respite. It is not said, that every tree which brings forth peculiarly bad fruit, shall be cut down; but every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit. There must be such fruits as we have before spoken of; such as characterize a converted state; such as are “meet for” and “worthy of” true repentance. As the “unprofitable servant” is numbered with those who are positively “wicked,” so the unfruitful tree will receive the same doom as that which is laden with the most pernicious fruits. And happy would it be for such professors of religion, if they had only temporal judgments to expect: but there remains for them a fire, after they are cut down; a fire into which they will be cast, and which, though incessantly consuming them, will never be extinguished.]

ADDRESS—

1. Guard against delusive expectations—

[Every person, whatever may have been his life, hopes to be happy in a future world. The vanity of such hopes is in many cases so manifest, that we cannot but pity the selfdeluding people who cherish them. Yet, though we can see the delusions of others, we cannot see our own: we all hope that our own state is safe: “a deceived heart turns us aside, so that we cannot deliver our souls, or say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Pharisees had a high conceit of their own comparative sanctity, as the Sadducees had of their superior wisdom: and though each condemned the other, neither would condemn themselves. But John saw that neither the one nor the other would ultimately attain salvation, unless they experienced an entire change both of heart and life. They however would not believe him, and therefore rejected the counsel of God, which the more humble publicans thankfully embraced. Let me guard you then against their mistakes; and entreat you all, however wise or good you may conceive yourselves to be, to entertain a godly jealousy respecting your state: and be fearful, lest by building your hopes upon the sand, you then begin to find your error when it is beyond a remedy.]

2. Be thankful to those who will shew you your true character.

[Those ministers who commend themselves most faithfully to your consciences, deserve your thanks. Many are the reproaches which they bear on account of their fidelity; but a hope of benefiting your souls emboldens them to proceed; and they account themselves richly recompensed, when they see you bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. Do not then be angry with them for speaking plainly and pointedly, as the Pharisees were when they saw that our Lord had spoken a parable against them; but rather take occasion, from what they say, to search and examine your own hearts with sincerity and diligence, desiring and determining, with God’s help, to know the worst of yourselves.

You will do well also to encourage your friends to communicate to you freely what they see amiss. You cannot but know, that if a skilful lawyer were to point out to you a flaw in the title of an estate which you were about to purchase, you would feel greatly indebted to him: and why? Because you would save your money. And will you not be thankful to one who by his counsel endeavours to save your soul? Alas! alas! to flatterers we can listen without weariness; but to a faithful monitor we can scarcely for a few minutes lend an ear: what the one says is received gladly, even though we have every reason to believe that he goes beyond the truth; but what the other says, calls forth all our ingenuity to weaken its force, though we know every syllable of it to be true. Beloved, be on your guard against this self-love: you may easily deceive yourselves, but you cannot deceive your God.]

3. Let nothing retard you in fleeing from the wrath to come—

[There is no room to ask, “Who hath warned you?” for I have warned you; and God has warned you; and, I hope, your own consciences have warned you: or, if none of these have spoken yet so as to attract your attention, I now warn you, with all plainness and faithfulness, to “flee from the wrath to come.” Consider whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of Almighty God. Consider the description given of it: it is, and ever will be, the wrath to come: yes, many millions of years hence, it will be no nearer its termination than at this moment: to all eternity it will be the same, The wrath to come. Can you reflect on the greatness and duration of this wrath, and not be diligent in fleeing from it? What other work can you have to do that is of the least importance when compared with this? Would the man-slayer loiter, when he saw the pursuer of blood just ready to overtake him? Do ye then use all diligence: leave nothing till to-morrow that can be done to day. I would lay hold of your hand, as the angels did of Lot and his daughters, and hasten your steps. Stop not even to look behind you; but “what your hand findeth to do, do it with all your might.” The Saviour is ready to receive you: he will cast out none that come unto him: and the express promise of your God is this, “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.”]

MCCLXXXIII

THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT

Matt. 3:11.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.

IT is ignorantly imagined, that they who are most enlightened with the knowledge of Christ, and are most zealous in bringing others to an acquaintance with him, must of necessity be puffed up with pride, and be filled with a high conceit of their superiority to others. But none ever surpassed the Apostle Paul either in zeal or knowledge; yet none ever manifested more deep humility, since language could not even afford him words whereby sufficiently to express the low sense he had of himself before God: he calls himself “less than the least of all saints.” Another eminent example of humility is exhibited in the conduct of John the Baptist, who, though faithful in the highest degree as a preacher of righteousness, never sought his own glory, but invariably directed the eyes of his followers to Christ, in comparison of whom he accounted himself unworthy of the smallest regard. His expressions before us lead us to consider,

I. The transcendent dignity of Christ—

Christ, in a civil view, was not at all superior to John, yea, perhaps inferior, inasmuch as the son of a carpenter might be reckoned inferior in rank to the son of a priest: nevertheless he was, in other points of view, infinitely superior:

1. In his person—

[The person of John might well be considered as dignified in no common degree. He was the subject of prophecy many hundred years before he came into the world: his formation in the womb was announced by an angel from heaven, and that too at a period when his parents, according to the common course of nature, could entertain no hope of having any progeny. He was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his very birth; and was ushered into the world with the restoration of prophecy, after that gift had been withdrawn from the church almost four hundred years. But in all these respects Christ was far greater than he: Christ had been the subject of prophecy from the very foundation of the world: his work and offices had been exhibited to the world in numberless types and prophecies during the space of four thousand years. His body was formed, not merely in a preternatural, but in a supernatural way, by the immediate agency of the Holy Ghost, who created it in the womb of a virgin; by which means he was not merely holy, but spotless, without the smallest taint of that corruption, which every child of Adam inherits. Without noticing the songs with which the heavenly choir celebrated the tidings of his birth, or any of those miraculous circumstances which pointed him out to the Eastern Magi, we see already how far superior he was to John, even in those things wherein John surpassed all other men.

But what must we say, when to this we add, that he was God, “God manifest in the flesh,” “God over all, blessed for ever?” Then all comparison must cease: and the expressions used by John, instead of appearing exaggerated, will be acknowledged to be infinitely below the truth: though the loosing of the sandals, and carrying them to the bath, was deemed too mean an employment for a Hebrew servant, or for any but a slave, yet John accounted it far too high an honour for him to render such a service to that glorious person, whose advent he announced.]

2. In his office—

[John was a prophet of the most high God, yea, “more than a prophet.” He had the distinguished honour of being the forerunner of the Messiah, who should prepare his way, and point him out to the people, being himself divinely instructed how to distinguish him from all others who should attend his ministrations. Hence our Lord himself declares respecting him, that there “never had been a greater person born of woman than John the Baptist;” but glorious as he was, Jesus far excelled him in glory. Jesus was the great prophet, to whom Moses and all the prophets gave testimony, and to whose directions all were commanded to submit. He was the Messiah himself, the very “Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world,” of whom “John himself needed to be baptized,” and by whom alone John himself could be saved. Surely then the words of John respecting him were not an unmeaning hyperbole, the offspring of affectation and the footstool of vanity, but they were the words of truth and soberness; for though John was like the morning star, yet he was altogether eclipsed as soon as ever the Sun of Righteousness arose.]

The superiority of Jesus will still further appear while we consider,

II. The baptism he administered—

Jesus never administered the baptism of water to any: but to him was committed the work of baptizing with the Holy Ghost—

[Though the Church had from the beginning received, in some measure, the communications of God’s Spirit, yet, “till Christ was glorified, the Holy Ghost was not given” in a very genera or abundant manner: it was reserved for Christ to send him down, in order that, through the Spirit’s testimony, his own divine mission might be established beyond a possibility of doubt. Accordingly, a few days after his ascension, he fulfilled his promise, and sent down the Spirit upon his waiting disciples, causing it to rest upon them visibly, in the shape of cloven tongues of fire. And when, on another occasion, he poured out the Spirit upon Cornelius and his company, Peter particularly called to mind this declaration, which John the Baptist had made to the infant Church, and acknowledged it to be a glorious completion of his prophecy.]

This baptism infinitely surpassed that of John—

[John baptized with water those who were penitent, testifying to them that they should believe on him who was to come after him: but Jesus, by the baptism which he administers, makes men both penitent and believing. John, in applying water to the body, even if he had immersed his followers ten thousand times, could do no more than cleanse the outward body; he could not reach the mind; he could not affect the soul; he could not in any degree change the character of his disciples. But the Spirit, with which Jesus baptized, acted with the powerful energy of “fire.” This was no sooner poured out than it penetrated the inmost recesses of the soul, and, like a furnace, purged away the dross which was there concealed. What a change it effected in the characters of men may be seen by its operations on the day of Pentecost: how was the lion instantly transformed into a lamb! and how did the noxious qualities, which had so lately rendered men like incarnate fiends, immediately subside and disappear! And such are the effects which it invariably produces wheresoever it is bestowed.]

INFER—

1. How awfully are they mistaken who rest in the outward form of baptism!

[I would on no account depreciate baptism, or detract in the least from its importance. It is necessary for all who embrace the faith of Christ: and is replete with blessings to all who receive it aright. Even the outward ministration of it gives us a title to the blessings of the Christian covenant, exactly as circumcision gave to the Jews a title to “the adoption” of sons, and to “the promises” which God had made to his people. But if we receive it not aright, we are still, like Simon Magus, “in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquityf.” To receive any saving benefit (for, if it be rightly received, “baptism does save us”) we must have not only the sign, but the thing signified, a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness; or, in other words, we must be “baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” For the truth of this I will even appeal to the consciences of the ungodly themselves. Who does not feel at times that he needs somewhat more than he has ever yet received, in order to fit him for death and judgment? There is in every man at times, I say, this conviction: and this which is so wanted, is the very gift which Christ alone can bestow, namely, the baptism of the Spirit, as contrasted with, and superadded to, the baptism of water: it is “the renewing of the Holy Ghost” superadded to “the washing of regeneration.” If we have received this spiritual baptism, it will infallibly discover itself by its effects upon our heart and life. “As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christi,” seeking daily to be clothed with his righteousness, and to be transformed into his image. So also, if we have been “baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body,” with the holy Apostles and the primitive saints, we shall have been “made to drink into one spirit with them.” “Now it is easy to see whether such a change have been wrought upon our heart and life, by our being altogether like-minded with them: and I wish you all to judge yourselves, that you may not be judged of the Lord.”

It is easy to put this off with a sneer: but we cannot change that declaration of God, that, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his;” or that, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of Godm: and, if we will brave those explicit declarations, we shall find ere long, “whose word shall stand, whether ours or God’s.”]

2. What rich encouragement does the Gospel afford to drooping contrite souls!

[It is by the Gospel that Christ communicates this blessing to mankind. See this exemplified in the instance of Cornelius. Peter, in preaching to him, said, “To Christ give all the prophets witness, that whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Then we are told, “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word.” Now to you also do I make the same blessed declaration, that “all who believe in Christ shall be justified from all things.” O that God might bear the same testimony to it at this time, by sending to you the Holy Ghost in rich abundance! What joy that event would occasion, you may see in the effect produced on all the college of Apostles at Jerusalem, at the recital of it in reference to Cornelius: “They glorified God, saying, Then hath God unto the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” Yes, my dear brethren, “Repentance,” “repentance unto life,” would infallibly accompany the gift of the Holy Spirit to your souls. And is not that worth seeking? You are sure to repent sooner or later: and how much better is it to repent on earth, than to repent in hell; to have “repentance unto life,” than “repentance that shall be eternally to be repented of!” Go then to the Lord Jesus for this heavenly baptism. The baptism of water you are to receive but once: bat the baptism of the Spirit you are to be receiving every day and hour. St. Paul speaks of “supplies of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,” which you are to be continually receiving: and it is the very office of Christ to impart them to you. The Lord grant, that you may all now “be filled with the Spirit,” and that, having him poured out abundantly upon you, you may possess also, in the richest abundance, all his attendant blessings both of grace and gloryr!

MCCLXXXIV

THE ISSUE OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT

Matt. 3:12.

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

THE great duty of a Christian Minister is, to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ in all his characters, and to impress on the minds of all the necessity of believing in him for the salvation of their souls. But the view which we give of the Saviour should be altogether such as is exhibited in the Holy Scriptures. If, at one time, we represent him as a propitiation for sin, saying, with the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world;” or, at another time, exalt him as the Head of his Church, ready to “baptize men with the Holy Ghost and with fire;” we must not fail to proclaim him also as the Judge of quick and dead; and to declare, with the Baptist, that “his fan is in his hand, and that he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner: but that he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

This is a subject to which we cannot too often call your attention, seeing how deeply we are interested in,

I. The discrimination which will be made at the last day—

Men are here divided into two classes, under the images of “wheat and chaff”—

[These images are just: for though all men spring from one common root, yet is there a great difference between them: some, as righteous, resembling wheat; and others, as wicked, answering rather to the chaff.

The righteous may fitly be considered as wheat: for they are solid in the whole of their experience: their repentance is deep and genuine: their faith is lively and operative: their self-dedication to God is uniform and entire. They have in themselves a real and intrinsic worth.

The wicked, on the contrary, whether they be merely nominal Christians or hypocritical professsors, may well be compared to chaff: for they are light, unsubstantial, worthless. They may, to a superficial observer, appear like solid grain: but they will not bear a scrutiny. Examine their repentance: it has no depth in it: they have never known what a broken and contrite spirit means. Examine their faith: it has nothing beyond a bare assent to certain truths: they have never fled to Christ, as the manslayer to a city of refuge: they have never been cut off from their old stock, and been grafted into Christ, as scions; and been made to live by him, as branches of the living vine: such “a life of faith on the Son of God” is altogether unknown to them. Examine their obedience too: it goes to externals only; whilst the heart, instead of being given to him, is set upon the things of time and sense. In a word, they may “have the form of godliness; but they have not the power:” they may “have a name to live; but they are really dead.”]

In this world, however, they lie in one promiscuous mass—

[After that the corn is threshed, it lies on the floor, mixed together in one indiscriminate heap. Thus, in the house of God, persons of every character are assembled: nor is any man such a discerner of spirits, as that he can separate the evil from the good. The two are united in the same works of charity and beneficence; yea, and compose the members of the same family: they even join frequently in the same religious society; and sit down together, like Judas with the eleven, at the same supper of the Lord. This we are taught by the Lord Jesus Christ to expect, as long as we continue in the world: “the tares and the wheat grow together in the field;” nor is it in the power of man to separate them.]

But the Lord Jesus Christ, in the day of judgment, will discriminate infallibly between them—

[The husbandman, by the simple process of winnowing the corn, makes the wished-for separation. Thus, at the last day, the Lord Jesus Christ will “purge his floor;” yea, already is the fan in his hand, prepared for the work: and so perfect will the operation be, that not a single grain of wheat will be found among the chaff; nor the smallest atom of chaff be left among the wheat. The least and weakest of God’s people are infallibly distinguished by him here; as it is said, “I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted with a sieve: yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” And shall not the same care be taken by the Judge of quick and dead hereafter? On the other hand, “nothing that is unclean, or that defileth, shall enter into the mansions of bliss; and therefore we are sure that no hypocrite can find admittance there. The distinction between the wheat and the chaff will be unerring and complete.]

Let us proceed to contemplate,

II. The final issue of it to the souls of men—

“The wheat will be treasured up in his garner”—

[The husbandman regards the wheat as the object for which he has laboured, and as the recompence of all his toils; and he considers it as a treasure whereby he is enriched. It is in this light that the Lord Jesus Christ regards his faithful and obedient people. When the separation of them shall be made, and he shall behold them all assembled in one vast body, with what delight will he view them! How will he call to mind his own labours and sufferings in their behalf! and how will “he be satisfied, when he sees in them the travail of his soul.” It was with a view to this, that “he endured the cross, and despised the shame,” when he was in this lower world: to “this joy” he had then respectd: and no feeling of regret will occupy his mind, when he shall see their number, their safety, their felicity. And shall not the saints themselves rejoice, when they shall find themselves thus approved of their Lord, and have no more wintry blasts to menace, or noxious blights to endanger, their security? O, blessed day! The Lord prepare us for it, and grant us all to behold that day in peace!]

But “the chaff will be burned up with unquenchable fire”—

[The chaff, as being altogether worthless, was burned. And what other end can the wicked hope for in that day? Can they suppose, that, after all the labour that has been bestowed upon them, and bestowed in vain, they shall meet with the same favour as the grain by which the labourer’s toil has been repaid? Can it be hoped that there shall be no “difference put between those who have served their God, and those who serve him not?” No: for them is a fire prepared; and happy would it be for them if they might be consumed by it speedily, like chaff! but, though ever burning, they will never be consumed: they themselves will be as imperishable, as “the fire is unquenchable;” and to all eternity will they endure the justly-merited wrath of an avenging God. Then shall be fulfilled in them the prediction of the Prophet Malachi, “Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven: and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” “The worm,” that is in their consciences, “shall never die; and the fire that shall torment them shall never be quenched.”]

SEE, then, Brethren,

1. What need there is to examine the real state of your souls—

[Nothing would be more easy than to ascertain this, if you would listen to the voice of conscience: but what a fearful thing will it be to dream of heaven, till you awake in hell!]

2. What need there is to live in a preparation for the eternal world—

[Whilst you are here, your character may be changed, and your bliss secured: but in the grave there is no work,” &c. As you are found in death, you will exist for ever.]

MCCLXXXV

FULFILLING ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS

Matt. 3:15.

Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.

TO consult, in difficult circumstances, the judgment of wise and good men, is doubtless very advisable: but to place implicit confidence in any is not expedient; since even the best of men may err. We have a very remarkable instance of the fallacy of human judgment, in the case of the Apostle Peter; who would have dissuaded the Lord Jesus from subjecting himself to those sufferings which were about to come upon him; and who, on account of the carnality of his sentiments, incurred the marked displeasure of his Lord. We do not impute any measure of such blame to John the Baptist, for the unwillingness he expressed to comply with the wishes of our Lord: for he was evidently under the influence of a most becoming spirit, and had good grounds for the advice he offered: but still he erred; and our blessed Lord overruled his objections, declaring, that the administration of baptism to him at that time was a measure not only expedient, but necessary: for that “thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness.”

The precise force of our Lord’s assertion not being perfectly clear, I shall,

I. Confirm it as a truth, in relation to our Lord—

John, feeling his own utter unworthiness to administer baptism to our blessed Lord, and having in his mind a persuasion that, however needful baptism was for others, it could not be so for Jesus, declined to execute the office that was assigned him. And, so far as Jesus alone was concerned, the judgment of John was right: for the rite of baptism imported, that the person receiving that ordinance needed to be washed from sin, and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and to be saved by the Messiah who should come. But Jesus had no sin to wash away, nor any need to be either regenerated or saved; and, consequently, he could have no need of this ordinance, which was intended to shadow forth, and to impart, those blessings unto men. Yet did our Lord say what was strictly true, when, in reference to this very ordinance, he spoke of the observance of it by himself as a necessary part of that righteousness which he had come to fulfil. It was so,

1. Because he stood in the place of sinners—

[The Lord Jesus Christ having undertaken the great work of our redemption, had “the iniquities of the whole world laid upon him; and therefore, as the representative of sinners, he needed all which was needed by those whom he undertook to save. Hence he had in his infancy submitted to circumcision, which was of precisely the same import as baptism. So, at the close of his ministry, he endured the full penalties of the broken law, suffering all that we deserved to suffer at the hands of a righteous and offended God. He needed not on his own account to drink this bitter cup: but, when he was found in the place of sinners, those sufferings could not be dispensed with. “Seeing, therefore, that the cup could not pass away from him,” he drank it to the very dregs. Every part of his humiliation, from the first to the last, was necessary, for the full attainment of his end: and therefore baptism, as an essential part of that humiliation, was required by him, in order to the completion of that righteousness which he had undertaken to fulfil.]

2. Because it became him to give his public attestation to the divine mission of John—

[John had been sent into the world as his forerunner, to announce his advent, and to call men’s attention to him as the true Messiah. Moreover, John had been informed, that the person who was to sustain that high office should be made known to him by a visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon him: and this descent was to be at the time of our Saviour’s baptism. Now, if Jesus had not submitted to the ordinance of baptism, the ends of John’s mission would have been defeated. For Jesus was not personally known to John: and it was only by this miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost upon him that he was to be distinguished: and, consequently, the plan which Jehovah had adopted for the manifestation of his Son would, so far as the Baptist’s testimony was concerned, have been altogether frustrated. In order, therefore, that the mission of John might produce the effects proposed, Jesus overruled the objections of John, and received at his hands the ordinance which he was commissioned to administer.]

3. Because it was the appointed means of his own solemn consecration to God—

[There were two ways in which the Lord Jesus was to be consecrated to his office: the one was by an effusion of the Holy Ghost upon him (as the typical high priests were by a holy unction); and the other was by an audible voice from heaven, bearing testimony to him as the person sent of God to be the Saviour of the world. Now these two attestations from above were of vast importance, not only for the satisfaction of John, but also for the satisfaction of the whole world. Besides, this effusion of “the Spirit, which was given to him without measure,” was given in order to qualify him, as it were, for the discharge of his high office. It had been said by the prophet, that God would “anoint him” to his officee: and that there “should rest upon him a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of might, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and that God would make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.” Now though, as God, he possessed “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” yet, as man, and as Mediator, he needed to be thus qualified by the gifts of the Holy Spirit: and therefore on this account, as well as for the reasons before mentioned, it was necessary he should comply with the ordinance that had been enjoined, and not be diverted from his purpose by the well-meant, but mistaken, scruples of the Baptist. In truth, from the administration of this ordinance to him, and the consequent testimony borne to him by the Father and the Holy Spirit, we have an evidence of his Messiahship, which ought to carry conviction to every mind of man.]

Having explained our Lord’s assertion, as referring personally to him, I shall,

II. Enforce it as a duty, in reference to ourselves—

When our Lord says, “It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,” we must consider the obligation as extending, of course, to every child of man. And certainly this obligation does attach to us,

1. As creatures of God—

[The whole intelligent creation are under obligation to serve and obey the Lord. Whether the command given them be moral, and necessarily arising from their relation to him, or merely positive, arising from the arbitrary appointment of heaven, it makes no difference: they are equally bound to fulfil whatever they know to be his will. Adam was as much bound to abstain from eating the forbidden fruit, as he was to love his God. And so it is with us: we must fulfil all righteousness: however humiliating the command be, or whatever our obedience may expose us to, we have no alternative: we must yield a cheerful and determined obedience to it. It was beyond measure humiliating to the Lord Jesus Christ to submit to a rite which made him appear to be a sinner like unto us, and gave reason to all around him to suppose that he needed a Saviour like unto us. Yet he regarded not what men might say or think respecting him: he determined to submit to the ordinance, and would not be dissuaded from his purpose. Thus men may think and say of us, that we are weak, enthusiastic, absurd: but we must know no authority but God’s, and have no standard for our actions but his revealed will: and our determination, through grace, must be to “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”]

2. As followers of Christ—

[Though the Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us the remission of our sins, and we have been “baptized into his name for the remission of sins;” yet we are in no respect absolved from our obedience to God, nor is any one duty we owe to him in any measure relaxed. On the contrary, our obligations to holiness are, if possible, increased; since the very end of Christ’s mediation was “to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Besides, he came to “set us an example, that we should follow his stepsl.” Was “he then without sin; and was he without guile?” We should, as far as possible, resemble him; and neither do any thing, nor forbear any thing, but in perfect accordance with the commands of God. If we profess to belong to him, we must “walk in all things as he walked.”]

3. As hoping for a testimony from God in the last day—

[We all of us look for a future judgment, wherein “the inmost counsels of our hearts will be made manifest,” and “every man will be dealt with according to his works.” Then will God bear witness to his faithful and obedient servants; saying, “Well done, good and faithful servants; enter ye into the joy of your Lord.” But how can we hope for such a testimony from him, if we have any reserves in our obedience to him? How can he say, “This is a beloved son of mine, in whom I am well pleased,” if he has seen in us any wilful departure from his ways? How can he acknowledge us as “Israelites indeed, if we have not been without guile?” Know then, my brethren, what your duty is, and how it must be performed, if ever you would be approved of your God in that day. Verily, “it becometh every one of us to fulfil all righteousness:” and if there be any reserve whatever in our minds, instead of being approved of God as his children, we shall be condemned by him as hypocrites. “A right hand or a right eye” that is retained contrary to his command will inevitably subject us to his everlasting displeasure. It will be to no purpose to say, that, whilst following our superiors in rank and learning, we concluded we were acting right: for “the rulers of the Jewish nation rejected the counsel of God against themselves, by refusing the baptism of John;” whilst the publicans and harlots availed themselves thankfully of the proffered benefit. And, if Christ himself thus withstood the current of public example in his day; and sanctioned, by his conduct, the more duteous deportment of the lower classes; so should we, unawed and uninfluenced by the whole world, determine, with God’s help, to “follow the Lord fully,” and to sanction nothing which God himself will not approve. We should prefer entering heaven with publicans and harlots, to the being excluded from it with the great and mighty of the earth. To the approbation of God alone should we look; and with the prospect of that we should be content.]

MCCLXXXVI

CHRIST’S TEMPTATION

Matt. 4:1.

Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

THE agency of Satan in the affairs of man cannot be doubted by any one who really believes the representations given us in the inspired volume. His great employment from the very first has been to seduce men to sin. And from the success which he obtained over our first parents in Paradise, he is said by our Lord to have been “a murderer from the beginning.” Even our blessed Lord himself did he assault, in the hope of prevailing against him, and of thereby defeating the great ends and purposes for which he was sent into the world. This, in the counsels of the Most High, was permitted, in order that that great adversary of God and man, who had been the means of introducing sin into the world, might be himself confounded; and man, his wretched victim, be rescued from his dominion. I say, this conflict was permitted by God himself: for we are told in my text, that “Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

To unfold to you this mysterious transaction, I shall,

I. Consider it in all its leading circumstances—

II. Shew what interest we have in it—

The first thing to be noticed is the season which Satan chose for making his assaults on our blessed Lord—

[It was, in part, a season of peculiar elation, and, in part a season of more than ordinary depression.

Our Lord’s Messiahship had just before been audibly attested by a voice from heaven; “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now this would appear to us the most unfit season that could be imagined, since by such a testimony as had been given him, our Lord’s mind, so to speak, would be doubly fortified against every temptation. But Satan knew, that exalted enjoyments are apt to put us off our guard; as David had evinced; “In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved: Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong.” Accordingly he is wont to embrace all such opportunities of assaulting man. It was when Paul had been caught up into the third heavens, that Satan buffeted him with more than ordinary forced. And he actually vanquished Peter immediately after the highest honour had been conferred upon him. It should seem that Satan particularly availed himself of the occasion now afforded him, because he founded his temptations upon the testimony itself: “If thou be the Son of God,” do so and so.

To counterbalance this testimony, our Lord had now been left forty days without food: and consequently, it seemed as if he were neglected by his heavenly Father. Satan therefore took advantage of this circumstance to urge upon our Lord yet more strongly the expediency of dissipating without delay the doubt which the occasion suggested, and the expediency of giving to the world some satisfactory proof of his Messiahship. It was in the absence of her husband that he had prevailed against Eve; and he hoped to prevail against Jesus also, now that his heavenly Father had in appearance withdrawn himself from him. Thus, whether our Lord was in a state of light and joy, or of darkness and distress, Satan hoped to make his condition the means of forwarding the object which he had in view.]

The particular suggestions whereby Satan tempted our Lord must next be distinctly stated—

[The period allotted for this conflict being now come nearly to a close, Satan renewed with still greater energy the assaults which had more or less been made on our Lord during all the days of his temptation. He tempted our Lord, to a distrustful questioning of his Father’s care. Both Moses and Elijah, the one the giver, and the other the restorer, of the law, had fasted forty days: and it seemed good to Almighty God, that Jesus, when introducing a new dispensation, should fast in like manner, and for the same period of time. But Satan strove to impress our Lord with the thought, that he was forsaken by his heavenly Father, and that it was therefore expedient for him to relieve his own wants, by “commanding the stones to be made bread.” This, however, as casting a reflection on his heavenly Father, Jesus would on no account do. Indeed, without the Father’s blessing, no such supply would be of any avail. This our Lord shewed from the Scriptures of truth, wherein it is said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” who alone can render any thing available for our real good.

Having failed in this, Satan urged him to an opposite extreme, even to a presumptuous tempting of the Father’s power. He took our Lord, doubtless with his own concurrence, as one man would take another, to a pinnacle or battlement of the temple, and urged him, in proof of his Messiahship, to cast himself down from thence, which he told him he might safely do, because God, on whom he seemed so confidently to rely, had promised to “give his angels charge over him, that he should not dash his foot against a stone.” But, in citing this Scripture, Satan withheld that part which restricted the promise to persons walking in the path of duty. For any person to expose himself to danger without necessity, in order to see whether God would preserve him from injury, would be the highest act of presumption. It would be, in fact, to tempt the Lord. And therefore our Lord repelled the temptation by adducing another passage of Scripture, more appositely and justly quoted, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

What Satan could not do by deceit he now endeavoured to effect by the greatness of his offers, whereby he would induce our Lord to an idolatrous rejection of his Father’s authority. He took our Lord to an exceeding high mountain, and “shewed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them,” most probably the kingdoms in and around Canaan, from whence the glory of all other kingdoms might be inferred; and promised to “give him all, if only he would fall down and worship him.” This would have been, in fact, to renounce his heavenly Father, and to give to Satan the honour due to God alone. How offensive such a proposal must be to our blessed Lord, we may well conceive. But, though filled with indignation, our Lord still had recourse only to the written word for the repelling of this impious proposal, and, bidding him to depart, he gave him this as the rule to which every creature must adhere, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God; and him only shalt thou serve.”]

The issue of these temptations comes now in the last place to be mentioned—

[Satan, foiled, was obliged to leave the field. He could not withstand the authoritative command of Jesus. Abashed and confounded, he, for the present, desisted from his enterprize. True, he departed only for a season, as the Evangelist informs us, and as the subsequent history of our Lord attestsm. But on the present occasion the victory was gained by our blessed Lord; and, as I shall shew under my next head, immense advantage was obtained for the followers of Christ in all ages.

Now too, that evil spirit being vanquished, other spirits came down from heaven to succour and congratulate our victorious Lord. Whether they administered to his bodily wants, we are not informed: but they doubtless were God’s messengers to him to console his fainting spirit, and to animate him to all future conflicts.]

We may now proceed to consider,

II. What interest we have in this mysterious occurrence—

The account here given us is of far greater importance than we in general are apt to imagine—

1. It is a record of what the Lord Jesus Christ has effected for us—

[Satan, by overcoming the first Adam, had caused him and all his posterity to be excluded from Paradise, and to be consigned over to the curse due to sin. But Christ, the second Adam, by vanquishing for us that great adversary, has reopened for us the gate of Paradise, and caused his holy angels not only to abstain from prohibiting our entrance with a sword of fire, but to aid us, and encourage us in our endeavours to regain the blessedness we have lost. From that time they have been “sent forth to minister unto the heirs of salvationo, to uphold them under any difficulties to which they may be exposed in life, and to attend them in the hour of death for the purpose of bearing their departing spirits to the realms of bliss. We before mentioned that Satan left him but for a season. At a subsequent period, he returned again to the charge, attended with innumerable hosts, even with all “the powers of darkness.” Yea, and he prevailed to “bruise the heel” of our most adorable Lord. But our Lord “bruised his head:” and even “by death overcame him that had the power of death, that is, the devils:” yes, he then “spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them openly on his very cross,” and in his ascension, “led captivity itself captiveu;” thus “judging and condemning the Prince of this world,” and leaving us nothing but a vanquished enemy to contend with. To appreciate this mercy aright, we should look all around us, and see what evil that wicked fiend has occasioned to the whole human race from the very beginning of the world; and then look down to the regions of the damned, to see what misery he has entailed on millions of immortal souls, and will entail on us also, if the Saviour make not his victories available for us. Surely in the contemplation of these things we cannot but feel thankful to our blessed Lord for having thus undertaken our cause, and by his victorious conflicts obtained for us a restoration, to our forfeited inheritance.]

2. A pledge of what he will effect in us—

[There is a striking correspondence between the assaults which Satan made upon our Lord, and those which we also, each of us in our measure, have to contend with: for so saith the Scripture; “In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren:” and “in all points he was tempted, even as we arez.” In fact, the reason of his submitting to these trials was, that by means of them he might acquire a sympathy with us in our conflicts, and “being touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” attain both a disposition and ability to afford us the succour which we stand in need of. In our conflicts with the world, he bids us look to his victories over it as a pledge of what he will vouchsafe to us: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” So, in like manner, he tells us that “the prince of this world is cast out;” and that, provided only we “resist him, he shall flee from us” alsod, and in due season “be bruised under our feet” for ever.

Let us not then be discouraged at the thought that “we have to wrestle, not with flesh and blood only, but with principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places:” for there is armour provided for us, even the very same that Jesus himself made use of: from the Holy Scriptures we may take, as it were, “the shield of faith and the sword of the Spiritg: and, fighting in the strength of the Lord Jesus, we shall be enabled to withstand all the powers of darkness, and stand victors over all. Yes, we shall rise superior to them all, even as Jesus Christ himself did, and, as assessors with him in judgment, shall unite with him in pronouncing the sentence which shall doom them all to that lake of fire into which they have in vain laboured to plunge our soulsi.

Are any of you then under circumstances of temptation to distrust, as persons forsaken by the Lord? Know that “your God will never leave you nor forsake you.” If the vision tarry ever so long, wait for it: for it shall surely come, and not tarry “one moment beyond the fittest time. If, on the other hand, you are tempted to presumption, and to run uncalled into scenes of bodily or moral danger, remember that, whatever stress you may lay on garbled extracts from God’s word, you cannot hope to be preserved, except in the ways that God himself has prescribed. If, like Israel of old, you go against your enemies unsent, you shall, like them, assuredly, meet with a repulse. Finally, if, like Demas, you are tempted to apostatize from God, and to prefer the things of this world as your portion, reject the proposal with abhorrence, and, instead of yielding, like him, determine, through grace, to live only for Him, who lived and died for you.]

MCCLXXXVII

THE CALL OF FOUR APOSTLES

Matt. 4:18–22.

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

IT has pleased God on many occasions to give marks of his special approbation to persons while they were employed in their worldly callings. David was taken from his father’s sheep-folds, when he was appointed to feed and govern the kingdom of Israel. The shepherds were watching over their flocks by night, when a choir of angels announced to them the Messiah’s birth. And four of the Apostles were occupied in spreading, or in mending their nets, when the Lord Jesus selected them for his stated and most intimate attendants. We do not mean to say, that a discharge of earthly duties can merit any thing at the hand of God, or that he will have respect to it in that view: but certainly, to fulfil the duties of our respective stations is a service highly pleasing and acceptable unto God; nor are we ever more likely to receive blessings from God, than when we are occupied in performing the offices which he himself has assigned us.

But it is not so much to the season when these Apostles were called, as to the call itself, that we now propose to direct your attention. For this end let us inquire,

I. How far the call given to them is applicable to us—

We must consider our Lord’s address to them as relating, in part, to the high office to which he had destined them as his Apostles. The world at large were not called to renounce their worldly occupations, and become itinerant ministers of the word: on the contrary, the great body of Christians were repeatedly bidden to “abide in the calling wherein they were called,” yea, “to abide therein with God.” Thus far, therefore, the command given to them is not properly applicable to us. But, in part, the command referred to their general duty as Christians: and in that sense it is given to every one to whom the Gospel itself is sent. We may consider our Lord as at this moment addressing us, and requiring us,

1. To embrace his religion—

[We cannot follow Christ one single step, without first coming to him as the Saviour of the world. We must regard him as the true Messiah; we must view him as invested with all power in heaven and in earth, that he might redeem us to God by his blood, and deliver us by his almighty grace. We must consider him as having all fulness treasured up in him for us, that we may receive out of it, according to our respective necessities, “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” It is not merely to give an assent to certain truths that we are called, but to realize them, and to live upon them. We must not merely acknowledge that Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and that “he has reconciled us to God by his blood,” but we must determine, with the Apostle, to know nothing but Christ crucified, to trust in nothing but his righteousness, and to glory in nothing but his cross — — —]

2. To walk in his steps—

[Next to our believing in him is that obedience which we are to render to his commandments. If faith in him is the root, obedience to him is the fruit, which must immediately and with increasing abundance, proceed from it. Our blessed Lord came, not only to save us by his meritorious death and passion, but, to “set us an example that we should follow his steps.” To follow him, therefore, we must “walk as he walked.” Behold his zeal for the glory of his God and Father; it even “consumed him,” so ardently did it burn within him: such should be our zeal also: it should be “our meat and drink to do our Father’s will.” Behold his humility, his self-denialb, his meekness, his patienced, his compassion, his lovef: in all of these we are to resemble him; and to be progressively “changed into his image from glory to glory by the Spirit of our God” — — — O that all who profess themselves his followers were more like Him in the whole of his spirit and temper! It is this that marks the Christian: all without this is hypocrisy and delusion.]

3. To devote ourselves openly to his service—

[It is well to be Christians in our secret chamber: but we must remember, that “our light is also to shine before men.” We must confess Christ before men: and if we are ashamed or afraid to do so, we cannot be his disciples. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” His name, his cause, his people are despised by an ungodly world: and we must share in their contempt: we must “follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” There is no occasion to affect singularity in trivial matters; (THAT should rather be avoided:) there are points enough of importance in which we must be singular; we cannot resemble him without being singular; because the ungodly world are as opposite to him as darkness is to light: of course, therefore, we must be “as lights in a dark place, as cities set upon a hill.” Nay, we are not to be contented with “abstaining from fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; we are actively and boldly to reprove them;” and must shew ourselves on the Lord’s side; endeavouring to maintain his honour, and to advance his interests in the world — — —]

These are points of universal and unalterable importance: and we are required to follow Christ in these respects, no less than the Apostles themselves. This call, I say, is given equally to us; and it becomes us all to inquire,

II. In what manner we should obey it—

We need only notice the conduct of these holy Apostles, and we shall be at no loss how to regulate our own. The command itself is plain; and we must obey it,

1. Instantly, without delay—

[We see not the smallest hesitation in any one of those whom Jesus called, in our text. Elsewhere we find that one expressed a wish “to go first and bid farewell” to his friends; and another desired to “go first and bury his father.” But there is no time for compliment on an occasion like this. The call of God is of paramount obligation: nothing is for a moment to interfere with our obedience to it. We know not but that it may be the last call we ever shall receive. The persons invited to the marriage supper wished to excuse themselves for that time; but they were never invited again: on the contrary, the founder of the feast resolved, that “no one of them should ever taste of his supper.” A similar resolution may at this very moment be formed by the Lord Jesus Christ, if we now refuse to become his followers. “His Spirit will not always strive with man.” There is “a day when the things which belong to our peace may be for ever hid from our eyes;” and our “God may swear in his wrath, that we shall never enter into his rest.” O that that day may never come with respect to us! O that we may not foolishly dream of “a more convenient season,” which shall never arrive! But let us “to-day, while it is called to-day,” comply with this divine call. Let us imitate the man after God’s own heart, whose experience is recorded in those memorable words, “I made haste, and delayed not, to keep thy commandments.”]

2. Fully, without reserve—

[Whilst some are wishing to defer their compliance with this command, others make exceptions against it in some particulars, and would gladly have it lowered to their taste and convenience. Thus it was with the Rich Youth, who, when required to “sell all and give it to the poor, and to look for his treasure in heaven,” accounted it a hard saying, and parted with Christ and heaven rather than with his wealth. “One thing he lacked;” and that one thing as effectually ruined him, as ten thousand would have done. O that we may learn from his fate, not to make any exceptions or reserves; but to “follow the Lord fully,” even as Caleb and as Joshua did! It was a great trial to Peter and Andrew to leave their nets; and to James and John to leave their father also: but the grace of Christ was sufficient for them;, and they willingly forsook all for him. Thus must we do: we must give a preference, a strong and decisive preferencek, to Christ, above all earthly relatives, or worldly possessions. We cannot now be called to act as Levi did; but the zeal of Levi must be in us, and all things, not excepting parents or life itself, must be hated in comparison of Christm. We are plainly warned respecting the terms on which alone our Lord will consider us as his; and we must “count the cost,” gladly parting with every thing, that we may obtain “the pearl of great price.”]

3. Perseveringly, without end—

[Religion is not for a day or a year, but for the whole of our lives. “Our hands being once put to the plough, we must look back no more:” God warns us, that, “if we draw back, his soul shall have no pleasure in us.” “It is he who endures to the end, and he only, that shall be saved” at last. As for a temporary obedience to this command, it would be worse than a continued opposition to it: “It were better not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to depart from it.“” The latter end of an apostate is worse than his beginning.” We are particularly told to “remember Lot’s wife,” who was made an everlasting monument of his vengeance, not for going back to Sodom, but for looking back, and thereby shewing, that her heart was yet cleaving to the things which she had left behind. Happy will it be for us if we bear her in mind, and consider the danger of departing even in heart from the Lord — — — If our trials be multiplied, we must cry the more earnestly to God for help, that through his all-sufficient grace we may say with David, “All this has come upon us; yet is not our heart turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way.”]

ADDRESS—

1. Those who think that such obedience is impracticable—

[See how powerfully the word of Christ wrought on them — — — It is no less powerful now — — — Pray that it may come to your hearts in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.]

2. Those who are hesitating whether to obey or not—

[If it appear formidable to you to follow Christ now, think what it will be to be hidden to depart from him hereafter — — — That you will meet with trials is certain: but your losses shall be repaid a hundredfold in this life, besides a proportionable weight of glory in the world to come. Thousands can attest the truth of this — — — O choose the better part, which shall never be taken away from you!]

3. Those who are engaged in following the Lord—

[Though you may not be called, as preachers, to be “fishers of men,” yet in your several stations God will make you instrumental to the salvation of men. A holy life will operate on many who would never have been wrought upon by the preached word. None prove such stumbling-blocks as you, if your lives be unsuitable to your profession, and none such blessings, if you walk worthy of your high calling — — — “Seek therefore more and more to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.”]

MCCLXXXVIII

THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE HUMBLE

Matt. 5:1–4.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

THERE is no portion of the Holy Scriptures for which mankind at large express so great a reverence, as that which is called the Sermon on the Mount. Some exalt it in opposition to the rest of the sacred volume, and affirm, that we need not attend to any other part. This is certainly wrong, since every part of that blessed book is given by inspiration from God. On the other hand, there are some who would get rid of it altogether, by supposing that it was addressed to the Apostles only, and that common Christians have nothing to do with it. But these also do greatly err: for, not to mention that the Apostles were not yet chosen from among the disciples; the very declaration of St. Matthew, at the end of this discourse, shews that it was spoken to all the people. The multitudes being too numerous to be accommodated in any house or synagogue, our Lord went up into a mountain, and sat down after the custom of the Jewish teachers, in order to instruct them. Those disciples who were most eager for instruction, drew nigh unto him; whilst those who were more indifferent about it, contented themselves with remoter situations: but, for the benefit of all, “he opened his mouth” with peculiar solemnity, and taught them.

His design in this sermon, was to open to them the nature of that kingdom which he had before announced as about to be established, and to rescue the moral law from those false glosses which the Pharisees had put upon it. The people in general had an idea, that their Messiah should establish a temporal kingdom, under which they were to enjoy the highest privileges and blessings. To counteract this vain expectation, he tells them, that his subjects would be indeed most blessed; but that their character and blessedness were widely different from any thing that they supposed. They dreamed of riches and mirth; but the persons whom he pronounced blessed, were the poor and mournful.

To illustrate and confirm the declarations of our Lord, we shall inquire,

I. Who are depicted under these characters—

[Poverty of spirit, if viewed in all its extent, will include a variety of dispositions and feelings, which will more properly fall under our consideration in other parts of the Sermon on the Mount. On this account, we shall confine ourselves to one view of it, which, however, we consider as most appropriate and most important. It is thought by many, to import a disregard of riches and honours: but we consider it as designating a far more peculiar state of mind, not specified in any other part of this discourse. What poverty is, we need not be told. That man is poor who is destitute of all things needful for the body. From hence we may collect what poverty of spirit is: it is a sense of utter want and helplessness in relation to the soul.

All men by nature are poor, because they are destitute of every thing that is good — — — But many who are in this state, are far enough from poverty of spirit; they think they are “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” — — — When they are become poor in spirit they are of a very different mind; they know that “they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” They feel themselves altogether destitute of wisdom — — — goodnessd — — — strength — — — and every good thingf — — —

Nearly allied to these are “they that mourn.” As poverty of spirit implies a sense of want and helplessness, so “mourning” implies a sense of guilt and corruption.

All men are guilty, and all corrupt — — — but, as in the former case, so in this, many are insensible of their state, and “think more highly of themselves than they ought to think.” Not so “the mourners in Zion:” they know their real character: they look back through their whole lives, and see that they have been altogether “alienated from God,” and have “lived without him in the world.” They see that their transgressions have been multiplied beyond the sands upon the seashore. They behold their iniquities set, as it were, in array against them; their rebellions against their God and Father — — — their contempt of Christ and his salvation — — — their resistance to all the motions of the Holy Spirit — — — the particular evils to which they have been more especially addicted — — — the evils that yet cleave to them, in spite of their better judgment, and repeated endeavours to east them off — — — the mixture that there is in all their principles—the defect in all their duties—and the iniquity even of their holiest actions—and, in the view of all these things, “they groan, being burthened;” they “blush and are confounded;” they “abhor themselves in dust and ashes;” they cry day and night, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?” It appears to them a miracle of mercy, that they are out of hell; and that too, not only for the transgressions of their former lives, but for the opposition which their flesh, or corrupt nature, is daily and hourly making to “the spirit,” or heavenly principle, which has been imparted to them.

These two characters, “the poor in spirit,” and “the mourners,” though distinguished in the text, are so nearly allied, that they are united by the prophet Isaiah, and therefore are united by us. In fact, they are never separate: they always participate in each other’s feelings, and always are subjects of the same blessedness.

Let us, in the next place, inquire,]

II. In what their blessedness consists—

Doubtless, to carnal eyes, there is little in such characters that can render them objects of envy: to a superficial observer, they appear rather to be in a most melancholy and pitiable condition. But they are truly blessed:

1. Their privileges are great—

[“The kingdom of heaven is theirs,”even that kingdom which Christ has established in the world, and maintains in the hearts of men. The blessings of that kingdom are precisely such as they want; and they are in the very state to which all those blessings are promised. The Lord Jesus Christ has come into the world, in order to seek and save them that were lost. In him is treasured up all that they can desire. “He is wisdom” to the blind, “righteousness” to the guilty, “sanctification” to the polluted, “redemption” to the enslaved. He addresses himself to the very persons who are thus mourning over their blind, naked, destitute condition; and bids them accept at his hands, “gold, that they may be enriched; raiment, that they may be clothed; and eye-salve, that they may seek.” To feel and to lament their need of these things, is all the qualification that he requires for the reception of them. To those who are insensible of their need he will impart nothing; but to the humble and contrite he will give more than they can either ask or think. Indeed the “kingdom of heaven” is theirs: they have not only a title to all its blessings, but an earnest of them already in their souls. Their poverty and contrition are evidences that the throne of Christ is already established in their hearts: and as certainly as they are made partakers of the kingdom of grace, so shall they in due time inherit the kingdom of glory.

And are not these persons justly called “happy?” Who are “happy, but they who have their unrighteousness forgiven, and their sin coveredm?” Who are happy, but they who have Christ for their friend, and heaven for their everlasting inheritance? — — —]

2. Their comforts are great also—

[Strange as it may appear, there is a comfort, an exceeding great comfort, in mourning for sin; insomuch that the true Christian reckons the seasons of his deepest humiliation among the happiest hours of his life. But view the penitent when applying to his soul the great and precious promises of the Gospel: feels he no comfort in this exercise? — — — View him when he obtains a glimpse of his Lord and Saviour, and a taste of his pardoning love: with what “unspeakable, and even glorified joy” is he filled! The admiration, the love, the gratitude which he feels on such occasions, sometimes overwhelm him; and he is silent, not for want of will, but for want of power, to declare what God has done for his soul — — — What views has he at times of that inheritance which is reserved for him! With what adoring thoughts does he contemplate it; with what ardent longings does he desire it; with what assured confidence does he expect it! — — — Yes, beloved; his poverty and mourning, so far from robbing him of these joys, are the means of obtaining, enhancing, and perpetuating them — — —

Tell me, then, whether these be not comforts far beyond all that the world can give? Yet these are but the beginnings of the Christian’s joy: for the cup which he but tastes of upon earth, he shall drink of to the full in heaven, where there are rivers of pleasure at God’s right hand for evermore.]

There are two descriptions of persons to whom we wish in few words to ADDRESS this subject:

1. To those who seek after happiness, but are not religious—

[How long shall it be ere ye shall be convinced of your error? Have ye not had ample proof that Solomon’s verdict respecting all worldly enjoyments is true? Have ye not found them to be “vanity and vexation of spirit?” Is there one amongst you that has found the creature to be any thing better than “a broken cistern?” We appeal to the aged, who have had leisure to reflect upon their past experience: we appeal even to the young in the midst of all their gaieties; have ye found in earthly things any solid and permanent satisfaction? have ye found a portion suited to the desires and capacities of your immortal souls? Go, ask the rich, the great, the gay, Are ye happy? They must all tell you, that “in the fulness of their sufficiency they are in straits.” Know ye then, that “God is the only fountain of living water:” in Christ only can ye “find rest for your souls.” Continue to seek happiness in the world, and you will only treasure up sorrow and disappointment: begin to seek it in the exercises of religion, and you will soon find that “her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”]

2. To those who seek after religion, but are not happy—

[Whence is this? Has our blessed Lord deceived us? Has he talked so much about the blessedness of being poor in spirit, and of mourning for sin, and is it all a delusion? No, surely: if you find not happiness in these exercises, it is because you do not engage in them aright. You either will not endure to think so meanly of yourselves as you ought, or you are making your own vileness a reason for distrusting the tender mercy of your God. The reverse of this must be your conduct. You must endeavour to get the most humiliating views of your own guilt and helplessness; and must make that a reason not for staying away from the Saviour, but for going to him. The more you feel your need of a physician, the more earnest you should be in your application to him; and the more will he be glorified in your salvation. Only follow his direction in going to him weary and heavy laden, and you shall soon experience the truth of his promise in finding rest unto your souls.

Peradventure there is some hidden abomination that you do not see, or will not part with. If so, it is no wonder that you are not happy: you may as well expect to be at case whilst thorns are festering in your flesh, as to be happy while sin is harboured in your souls. But if it be indeed so, that you are upright before God, and are seeking the Saviour with true humility of mind, and yet, through the present clouds that encompass you, you are not happy, God directs you to “stay yourself on him,” and gives you this word for your encouragement, that “light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart:” it is sown, though at present it be under the clods; and in due time it shall assuredly spring up in your souls: your “heaviness may endure for a night; but joy shall come in the morning.”]

MCCLXXXIX

CHRISTIAN MEEKNESS

Matt. 5:5.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

WHILST it is acknowledged on all hands, that Christianity far surpasses all other religions in the sublimity of its doctrines, few are aware how much it excels them also in the purity of its precepts. But we need go no further than to the words before us, to illustrate the superiority of the Christian code above all others. Whatever might assimilate us to ferocious beasts, has been a subject of praise among the heathen world. To contend with enemies, to revenge affronts, to be foremost in deeds of heroism, this has exalted men to deities: but to be of a meek and yielding spirit has been deemed rather an indication of weakness, and a reason for contempt. Yet this is the spirit which our blessed Lord particularly commands, and declares to be intimately connected with true happiness.

In vindication of his assertions, we propose to set before you,

I. The character here specified—

The disposition which distinguishes the persons here spoken of, is not that natural mildness and gentleness with which some are favoured even from the womb: (persons of this description may be as far from true Christian meekness, as others who are of a more violent temper:) but a meekness founded “in poverty of spirit,” and in “mourning for sin,” a fruit of the operation of the Spirit of God upon the soul. To view the Christian in the exercise of this grace, let us look at him,

1. In his conduct towards God—

[He no longer, like others, disputes against the word of God, or murmurs on account of the dealings of his Providence. Whatever God requires, appears, in his eyes, to be right: and whatever HE does, though for the present it may be dark and inexplicable, is considered as wise and good. He dares not on any account to “reply against God.” Instead of objecting to any declaration, command, or threatening, as “an hard saying,” he “trembles at itd;” and receives it with meekness as an engrafted word, “able to save his soul.” He may have many and great trials; but instead of “fretting against the Lord,” he bows with humble submission, saying, “Not my will, but thine be done.” “He is dumb, and openeth not his mouth,” from the consideration that it is done by a loving and gracious Fatherf.]

2. In his conduct towards men—

[He is courteous. If in his unconverted state he has been rough, severe, and harsh, he will not appear to the same advantage as one whose temper and habits have been mild: but the operation of divine grace will be more conspicuous in him, by reason of the greatness of the change that has been produced. He is become a new man: all around him discern and feel the difference: as a husband, he is more tender; as a father, more kind; as a master, more gentle; as a member of society, more engaging. He is modest, affable, easy of access, and amiable in the whole of his deportment. There is nothing of an overbearing disposition in him, but a willingness that others should think and act for themselves as well as he. This is his character, as described by the pen of an inspired writer: he is “no brawler, but gentle, shewing all meekness to all men.”

He is patient. Many in their natural state are so irritable, that it is impossible to please them long together: they are like the sea, tossed and agitated by every breath of wind. Not so the person who has attained the character in the text. We say not, that he never speaks unadvisedly with his lips; for even Moses, the meekest of the human race, transgressed in this particular; and, if a man so bridled his tongue, as never in any instance to offend in word, he would be altogether perfecti. But the Christian has attained such a measure of self-government, as “not to be easily provoked.” He is “slow to wrath, knowing that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” He accounts it “his glory to pass over a transgressionl.” Where the offence committed is of such a nature as to require an expression of his displeasure, he endeavours so to guard his anger, so to temper it with love and pity; and so to restrain it both in measure and duration, that he may fulfil the precept, “Be angry, and sin not.” He is particularly on his guard in relation to religious controversy. If his sentiments are represented as erroneous and absurd, instead of yielding immediately to vehemence and invective, he will “give a reason of the hope that is in him with meekness and fear;” and will “instruct in meekness them that oppose themselves, if God peradventure may give them repentance to the acknowledging of the trutho.” If, on the other hand, it falls to his lot to reprove a fallen brother, he will endeavour to “restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering himself, lest he also be tempted.”

He is forgiving. He may receive injuries like other men: but he will not resent them as others do. He knows that he is “not to recompense evil for evil unto any man,” but rather to “heap coals of fire on the head of his enemies,” if by any means he may at last melt them into love: “instead of being overcome of evil, he strives with all his might to overcome evil with good.” The rule to which he endeavours to conform, is that which is laid down by our blessed Lord; (and who might so well require it of us, seeing that he himself exemplifies it so wonderfully towards all his people?) it is that of forgiving, not once, or seven times merely, but seventy times seven. In this indeed he labours to resemble Christ himself, “forbearing and forgiving others, even as Christ hath forgiven hims.” He does not, it is true, receive to his bosom a person who is so constantly offending; nor is it necessary that he should, till the person himself be renewed in the spirit of his mind: but he will so far forgive, as to bear not the smallest ill-will towards him, but to be really glad of any opportunity to do him good.]

Such, though in different degrees, is the true Christian. All do not attain the same eminence in these virtues; but all are distinguished for them in proportion to the grace they have received; nor can any man be accounted a true Christian, unless he have “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

If such a man is distinguished in the character he sustains, he is no less so in,

II. The blessedness he enjoys—

The New Testament encourages us principally by a hope of spiritual blessings: yet it sometimes gives us reason to expect also such as are temporal. That the promise here given to the meek is temporal, appears from the passage in the Psalms, from whence it is quotedx: and it is indeed fulfilled to every one that answers to the character in the text.

1. He has fewer occasions of disquietude than others—

[Others, in addition to the common calamities of life, create trouble to themselves by their ungoverned tempers. When all would be peaceable and tranquil, they by their “grievous words stir up anger.” As, to a man in a fever, every posture is uneasy, every food insipid, every office troublesome; so, to an impatient fretful man, every thing becomes a source of trouble and vexation. Both the one and the other are ready to think that people are in league, as it were, against them: but the disease is within themselves; and it is the soreness of their own flesh, not the hardness of the touch, that is in reality the source of their pain. But the man that is truly meek, cuts off, instead of multiplying, occasions of pain. By kindness and courtesy he disarms his adversary; and “by his soft words, he turneth away wrath.” If he has himself inadvertently done wrong, he freely acknowledges his fault; and thus, by yielding, pacifieth even great offencesa.” If he have received an injury, the same disposition leads him to accept an acknowledgment, and not to insist on all the reparation which perhaps he might be justified in requiring. In many cases, he turns away his eyes from the evil that is done, and lets it pass unnoticed. In this manner he is kept from a thousand disputes which agitate others, and passes through life with half the troubles that vex and harass the world around him,]

2. He is less affected by those which do occur—

[The sturdy oak has often its branches broken off by a storm, or perhaps is torn up by the roots, whilst the supple reed sustains no injury at all. Thus the meek submissive Christian bears up under those trials which the stoutest of ungodly men would be unable to endure. He receives them as from the hand of God, and says, “Shall a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?” “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against himc.” Even when men are the immediate causes of his troubles, he still looks, through the second causes, unto God the first cause of all; and says with Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed is the name of the Lord!” How different is the state of such a man from one, who, “like a wild bull in a net,” foams and bellows with impotent unavailing rage! The world is not like the same place to the two characters: to the one it is as the confines of hell; to the other, the portico of heaven.]

3. He is more tranquil in his own mind—

[This necessarily arises from the two preceding considerations: but it is true in another point of view: the meek person has the testimony of a good conscience, and enjoys the presence of his God; whilst those who arc destitute of that holy disposition, are of necessity unacquainted with these sources of heavenly consolation. As it is not possible for an impenitent unbelieving soul to taste that peace which passeth all understanding; so neither can one who is morose, or irritable, or vindictive: “His sins will hide good things from him, and will separate between him and his God.

The promise in the text is supposed by many to refer to the land of Canaan; and to that as typical of heaven. And certainly in this sense also it is fulfilled to those who are truly meek. Often do they, (and never more than when suffering for righteousness’ sake,) obtain Pisgah views of that promised land; and often are refreshed with the grapes of Eschol, even when most destitute of earthly comforts. In a word, they have a joy with which the stranger intermeddleth not, and which is an earnest and foretaste of their heavenly inheritance.]

ADDRESS—

[Let St. Peter be heard in confirmation of all that has been said: “Good days” are “a blessing” which God designs us “to inherit:” and a meek demeanour is the means by which we are to obtain it. Let us not, however, put any Christian grace in the place of Christ: it is HE, and he alone, that can give us either peace with God, or peace in our own consciences — — — Nevertheless, meekness, as a means, is conducive to happiness: and it is in vain to expect happiness, either in this world or in the next, if we do not attain it. “Who then is a wise man and endued with knowledge amongst you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”]

MCCXC

HUNGERING AND THIRSTING AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS

Matt. 5:6.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.

MEN naturally desire happiness: but they know not in what it is to be found. The philosophers of old wearied themselves in vain to find out what was man’s chief good. But our blessed Lord has informed us wherein it consists: it is found in holiness alone; which, when embodied, as it were, and exercised in all its branches, renders us completely blessed. In this sense we understand the words of our text; wherein are set forth,

I. The distinctive character of a Christian—

It is a gross perversion of Scripture to interpret this passage as relating to the righteousness of Christ: for though it is true that every Christian desires to be clothed in that righteousness, and shall, in consequence of that desire, obtain his wishes, yet it is not the truth contained in the words before us: they certainly relate to that inward righteousness which every Christian must possess, and to that “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

Now the character of every Christian is, that he desires holiness,

1. Supremely—

[Other desires are not eradicated from the human breast: the natural appetites remain after our conversion the same as before, except as they are restrained and governed by a higher principle. In proportion, indeed, as religion gains an ascendant in the soul, those words will be verified, “He that eateth and drinketh of the water that Christ will give him, shall never thirst.” But from the very commencement of the divine life, all earthly things sink in the Christian’s estimation, and are accounted as dung and dross in comparison of the Divine image. In this sense “Christ is all” to himb: and he can say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.”]

2. Constantly—

[While other desires remain in the heart, they will of course occasionally rise in opposition to the better principle: but the prevailing desire of the soul is after holiness. “The flesh may lust against the Spirit,” and seem for a moment to triumph over it: but “the Spirit will lust and strive against the flesh,” till it has vanquished its rebellious motions. The needle may be driven by violence from its accustomed position: but its attractions are ever towards the pole; and it will never rest till it has resumed its wonted place. Its momentary diversion serves but to prove its fixed habitual inclination. In like manner, temptation itself, in rousing up the soul to action, calls forth its heavenly tendencies, and displays the holy energies with which it is endued.]

3. Insatiably—

[Every other desire may be satiated; but the more of spiritual nourishment we receive, the more will our hunger and thirst after it be increased. St. Paul himself could not sit down contented; but forgetting what he had attained, he reached forth for higher degrees of holiness. It is only “when we awake up after the perfect likeness of our God, that we shall be satisfied with ite.”]

Truly enviable will this state appear, if we consider,

II. The blessedness annexed to it—

To be filled with good and nutritious food is the utmost that the bodily appetite can desire. It is in this sense that we are to understand the promise in the text. The person who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, shall be made,

1. Truly righteous—

[There is a negative kind of holiness, which is neither pleasing to God nor profitable to man: it consists merely in an abstinence from open sin, and a discharge of external duties. But real holiness pervades the whole man: it comprehends the whole circle of divine graces: it reaches to the thoughts and desires of the heart; and assimilates us to God in all his communicable perfections. Now this is that with which the true Christian shall be filled: in all his dispositions towards God and man, he shall be changed: he shall not only be delivered from all that would injure his character among men, but shall be “transformed into the very image of his God in righteousness and true holiness.”]

2. Progressively righteous—

[That degree of perfection to which Christians may attain, is not gained at once. All the members of the new man, as well as of the material body, do indeed exist at the moment of our birth: but they are then in a state of infantine weakness: and their arrival at a state of maturity is a gradual work. Now this work shall be advanced in the souls of those who earnestly desire it: “they shall hold on their way, growing stronger and stronger;” and, like the risen sun, “shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect dayg.” “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth them,” and “carry on his work until the day of Christi.”]

3. Perfectly righteous—

[Though absolute perfection is not to be attained in this life, yet every righteous person may expect it, as the completion of his wishes, and the consummation of his bliss. The moment that his soul is released from this frail tabernacle, it shall bid an everlasting farewell to sin and sorrow. The hunger and thirst which characterize him in this world, will then cease for ever: there will remain to him no heights unattained, no wishes unaccomplished: his soul will be “filled” with the desired good, yea, filled to the utmost extent of its capacity.]

APPLICATION—

[Are there those who, instead of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, despise it? Tell me, will ye despise it in the day of judgment? will ye despise it, when ye shall see the difference that is put between the godly and the ungodly? And what is that which ye prefer to it? Can ye say of your pleasures, your riches, or your honours, what our Lord says of righteousness? shall ye certainly be filled with those things? or if ye were, would they ever render you truly blessed? Go, ask of Solomon, or ask of any who have made the experiment; and see whether, in their sober moments, they will not confess those things to be “vanity and vexation of spirit?” O “spend not your money any more for that which is not bread, nor labour for that which satisfieth not; but eat ye that which is good, and let your soul be satisfied with fatness.”

Are there those who rest in a form of religion? Know that it is not the form, but the power, of godliness that God requires. The Pharisees of old abounded in outward duties; but “except your righteousness exceed theirs, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” That which you must desire, that which you must attain, is an universal change both of heart and life: you must become new creatures: old things must pass away, and all things become new.”

Are there any discouraged because of the small proficiency they have made in holiness? Doubtless this is a matter of lamentation to the best of men. If indeed we are excusing ourselves, and pacifying our consciences from the idea that in this frail state we cannot but commit sin, we are deceiving our own souls; for “he that is born of God, sinneth not;” that is, he allows not himself in any sin, whether of excess or defect; whether of commission or of omission. But if “our souls are really athirst for God, and we are panting after him, as the hart after the water-brooks,” we need not fear. God will ere long “fill the hungry with good things;” “he will satisfy the longing soul, and replenish every sorrowful soul.” The very idea of hunger is a painful sensation of want; and if holiness be the object of that appetite, all shall be well, yea, and all is well: “that soul is blessed, and shall be filled.”]

MCCXCI

THE REWARD OF MERCIFULNESS

Matt. 5:7.

Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

THERE can be no doubt but that every Minister should set forth the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel with frequency and firmness. If he lay not the foundation well, he can never hope to have his labours crowned with success. On the other hand, it becomes him very earnestly to inculcate the necessity of a Christian temper: and, if he be not attentive to this, he must expect, that, whilst his people are filled with head-knowledge, they will dishonour their profession both by their spirit and conduct. Our blessed Lord, throughout this whole discourse, shews us the importance of cultivating holy and heavenly dispositions: and, at the same time that he corrects the false notions which were entertained respecting the nature of his kingdom, declares unequivocally, that it is the practical Christian, and he only, that is truly blessed.

In considering the declaration before us, let us inquire,

I. Who are they that answer to the character in the text—

Love has respect to men universally, whatever their condition be; but mercifulness has respect to them as objects of pity and compassion. Now “the merciful” man sympathizes with persons in affliction, and desires to relieve them. He looks with an eye of pity,

1. Upon those who are bowed down under their troubles—

[If their trials be of a temporal nature, he longs to render them such service as their necessities require. Are they labouring under bodily diseases? he will rejoice to procure for them all necessary aid Are they oppressed with poverty, or in embarrassed circumstances? he will deny himself in order to impart to them. Are they distressed on account of painful bereavements? he will labour to assuage the anguish of their minds by tender assiduities and suitable consolations.

If their trials be of a spiritual nature, he will labour to bring them to that heavenly Physician, who will apply “the balm of Gilead” to their souls. If a sense of guilt appal them, he will lead them to “the fountain opened for sin,” and encourage them with assurances that “the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse them from all sin.” If they be sorely tempted by Satan, he will endeavour to counteract the wiles and devices of their great adversary, and to direct them to that adorable Saviour, whose “grace shall be sufficient for them.” If they be dejected on account of the hidings of God’s face, he will “strengthen their weak hands, and confirm their feeble knees, and say unto their fearful hearts, Your God will come and save you.”]

2. Upon those who, though unconscious of their state, are really in a pitiable condition—

[Does he behold a poor drunken man staggering in the streets? he cannot laugh at his frantic gestures, but is ready to weep over him, as he would over a maniac or an idiot that was lacerating his own flesh, or beating his head against a wall. The scoffing infidel, the proud Pharisee, the profane sensualist, the self-deceiving professor, and the bitter persecutor, all in their turn call forth his compassionate regards. He mourns over them, well knowing the misery which they are bringing on themselves: and, instead of despising them on account of the superiority of his own character, he longs, if possible, to “turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” If he see any hopeful signs in them, “he travails in birth with them, till Christ be formed in them.” Even if they be incorrigibly obstinate, he will not presently give up all hope, but will still watch for opportunities of doing them good. Filled with compassion towards them, he will, if possible, “save them with fear, pulling them out of the firei.” If he himself be evil entreated by them, he is affected with pity rather than with anger; and laments, not so much the injury which he suffers from them, as the injury they do unto their own souls.]

Such is the merciful man: O that there were in all of us such a heart!

To prove that all such characters are “blessed,” we shall proceed to inquire,

II. What is the reward promised to them—

“They shall obtain mercy,” says our blessed Lord. But from whom? from man? yes, from man. Good men universally will account it the joy of their hearts to administer to them, whenever occasion shall require it — — — And even bad men have within themselves such a conviction of the excellence of such characters, that they must do violence to themselves, before they can withhold that assistance which their necessities may require. Thus Job found it, and so shall wem.

But supposing that men are ungrateful and unmerciful, still such characters shall be blessed; for God will be merciful unto them:

1. Here—

[He will rather feed them by the ministry of ravens, than suffer them to want. “The lions may lack and suffer hunger; but they shall not want any good thing.” “God will supply all their want according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” and “will bless them in all that they put their hand unto.” But it is in their souls that they shall experience the richest blessings. Who can express the joy and delight which merciful men often experience in the exercise of their benevolence. It is no little joy that they diffuse; but infinitely more that they receive: they find the truth of that favourite saying of our Lord, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This, indeed, is promised to themp — — — and that God who cannot lie, will not fail to fulfil his word. In the time of their own greatest need, they shall find God’s mercy to them most abundant.]

We make our appeal to all who have exerted themselves much in doing good, whether they have not found it incomparably “better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting.”

2. Hereafter—

[Though no dispositions or actions of ours can merit any thing at the hands of God, he will give unto them “a reward of grace.” He would even account himself “unjust,” if he did not do sos. He considers himself as our dehtor for every thing that we do, provided we do it from a sense of gratitude to him, and of zeal for his glory; and “he will repay us.” Not even “a cup of cold water, given for his sake,” shall pass without a recompenceu. Our exertions in acts of mercy will be the peculiar subjects of his inquiry in the day of judgment, and will be considered as evidences either of our being meet for glory, or ripe for vengeance. And if we be found to have fulfilled his will in relation to them, our harvest shall be proportioned to the seed that we have sowny. Certainly it becomes us to be jealous of ourselves, that we do not found our hopes of salvation upon our deeds of mercy: for Jesus Christ is the only foundation of a sinner’s hope: but if we look for happiness to arise from the employment of “the unrighteous mammon,” we must look for it, not in the hoarding of riches, nor in making them subservient to carnal gratifications, but in doing good with them: and in that view, we do lay up a good foundation against the time to come, a foundation that shall stand for ever.]

We will subjoin for your use some salutary CAUTIONS:

1. Be careful to distinguish between mercy and piety—

[It is possible for persons to be of a merciful disposition, whilst they are utter strangers to real piety. Natural constitution has made some more tender than others; and education has formed some to better habits. But it often happens, that persons of benevolent minds imagine all religion to consist in acts of kindness to their fellow-creatures. They found this notion even on the word of God itself: but they sadly misinterpret that passage, and entirely overlook the duty of “walking humbly with God.” But this is no less necessary than acts of justice and of mercy: yea, without it all our virtues will he no better than splendid sins — — —]

2. Be careful at the same time to combine mercy with piety—

[Piety cannot exist without mercy. “The wisdom that is from above is full of mercy and good fruits.” “The tree that bringeth forth not good fruit is fit only to be hewn down and cast into the fire.” It is by “bearing one another’s burthens that we fulfil the law of Christf.” We may talk of love to God, but we cannot possess it, if we delight not in every act and exercise of love. We may give good words to our indigent neighbour; but, if we do not administer relief at the same time, he will be no better for us: and as our pretences to love will be of no benefit to him, so neither will our pretences to faith be of any benefit to ourselvesh. If we have not learned to “weep with them that weep,” it is to no purpose to call ourselves Christians: we only deceive our own soulsk.”

But it may be said, We have not a capacity to instruct our fellow-creatures; nor have we ability to relieve them: must we therefore be excluded from the number of true Christians? No: “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” But let us be sure that there is in us that willing mind, and that God sees “the yearning of our bowels” in secret prayer for the relief of those, whom, in other respects, we are unable to assist.]

3. Be on your guard against any declension in the exercise of this duty—

[We are changeable creatures; and they who “have run well” for a season, are sometimes “hindered” in a more advanced stage of their course. But let us be on our guard, that we “be not weary in well-doing.” If we have learned how “to walk and to please God, we should then endeavour to abound more and moreo.” There is no limit at which we should stop. God himself is the pattern we should keep in view; and we should seek to “be merciful as our Father which is in heaven is merciful.” If we want motives to exertion, let us reflect on the mercy shewn to us by our adorable Lord and Saviour, “who gave his own life a ransom for us:” or let us consider what compassion he yet daily exercises towards us, “being touched with the feeling of our infirmitiesq:” and, as he has so loved us as to die for us, let us remember, that life itself is not too great a sacrifice for us to make, to promote the welfare of our fellow-creatures.]

MCCXCII

PURITY OF HEART

Matt. 5:8.

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

THERE is nothing in which mankind more generally imagine happiness to consist than in the uncontrolled indulgence of their passions. It is probable that among those who looked for the establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom, many pleased themselves with the idea, that his victories would open to them a way for multiplying captives to any extent, and consequently for the unlimited gratification of their corrupt appetites. To counteract such absurd notions, and to evince the spiritual nature of his kingdom, our blessed Lord declared, that happiness was to be found, not “in assimilating” ourselves to the brute creation, but in purity of heart and life: “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.”

I. The character here mentioned, is that which first claims our attention—

Purity of heart may be considered as opposed to hypocrisy: in that sense it denotes a freedom from base and selfish ends in the whole of our transactions, both with God and man. Strange as it may seem, the duties of religion itself may be performed from very unworthy motives. Pride, ostentation, self-righteousness, self-complacency, may lie at the foundation of those very services whereby we pretend to honour God; and may render them, not only worthless, but hateful in his sight. Our conduct also towards man may be very specious, and yet be full of dissimulation and craft. It is no uncommon thing, as all who are conversant with the world know, to see men, under the guise of friendship, aiming only at the advancement of their own interests. Such duplicity is hateful to a true Christian. He that is “an Israelite indeed, is without guile.” Purity of heart, in this sense, is beautifully exemplified in the Apostle Paul, whose ministrations had no other object than to advance the glory of God in the salvation of men. O that all of us possessed the same integrity; and could, like him, appeal both to God and man for the purity of our intentions, and the simplicity of our minds!

But purity may also be understood in opposition to uncleanness: and, if we suppose that our Lord designed to condemn the sensuality of those who expected the Messiah as a temporal Prince, we must of course annex that meaning to his words. Perhaps the more enlarged sense of the text, as comprehending both ideas, is the more just: but as the latter idea is of singular importance, we shall consider the character chiefly in reference to that.

We observe, then, that the person who is pure in heart,

1. Abstains from all acts of uncleanness—

[Others may make light of fornication and adultery: but he knows them to be ruinous and damning sins: and he abstains from them, not merely from the fear of detection and disgrace, but from a dread of displeasing Almighty God, and of plunging his soul into everlasting misery. He is well convinced, that “the body was not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.” He considers “his body as a member of Christ himself:” and, if tempted to “take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot,” he exclaims with horror, “God forbi!”]

2. Harbours no evil desires in his heart—

[Being of like passions with others, he cannot but feel as others on some occasions: but he has learned through grace to counteract the propensities of nature, and to “crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts.” He knows that “fleshly lusts war against the soulf;” and that, if not vigorously opposed in the first instance, they will soon gain the ascendant, and lead him captive. He sees how others are enslaved, “having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin.” He has heard of that confession in the book of Proverbs, “I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and the assemblyh:” and he dreads lest he in like manner should become a prey to his evil passions. If evil thoughts or desires arise, he regards them as fire, which, if not extinguished speedily, will inflame and consume his soul. Hence lie prays day and night, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” He is not contented with being “like a whited sepulchre, beautiful without, but full of all uncleanness within:” he is as attentive to “the inside of the cup and platter,” as he is to its exterior appearance.]

3. Avoids the occasions of evil—

[Many who have a regard for their character, will yet make no scruple of reading books, or hearing songs, or attending scenes, which tend to vitiate the mind. They will even court occasions of evil, delighting in that company and conversation which they know by experience to produce bad impressions on their hearts.

Not so the person that is pure in heart: he stands at a distance from every polluting object: like Joseph, he flies from those who would corrupt himm: like Job, he “makes a covenant with his eyes,” and with his heart, that he will neither look, nor think, upon an object that will ensnare him. He knows that “the very thought of foolishness is sin;” and he is determined through grace, that “vain thoughts shall not lodge with him.” He hates them: he lothes himself for his propensity to indulge them; and he longs to be “holy as God himself is holyp.”]

II. The blessedness of those who have attained this character, is the next point to be considered:

1. They shall enjoy a sight of God in this world—

[It is true, that “God dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto,” and that, in strictness of speech, “no man hath seen him, or can see him.” But there were manifestations of him vouchsafed to his people of old, sometimes through the medium of the human or angelic form, and sometimes by a bright effulgence of his glory. There are also other manifestations which God still makes of himself to the souls of men; and which he will vouchsafe to the pure in heart. It must not, however, be expected that, in speaking of these things, we can bring them down to the apprehension of the ungodly: they have no eyes to see them, no ears to hear them, no understandings to understand them: and it is as vain to speak of these things to them, as it would be to speak of colours to the blind, or sounds to the deaf, or tastes to those who had no palate. Nevertheless we must affirm, on the authority of God himself, that “the pure in heart shall see God.” They shall see him in his ordinances, whilst others are altogether unconscious of his presence. They shall see him in their secret chamber, where he will draw nigh unto them, and “say, Here I am.” They shall see him in all the works of creation, and in all the dispensations of his providence. They shall see him in every comfort and in every cross. His wisdom, his goodness, his love, his mercy, his faithfulness, are ever before their eyes. They have such views of him and his perfections as words cannot describe; and such fellowship with him as a carnal man has no idea of. The impure may mourn, and even “howl upon their beds;” but the pure, like Moses of old, have near access to God, and see “him who is invisiblet;” and by this sight are strengthened, supported, comforted, and sanctified.]

↑ Back to top