Part 8
VI. The liberty wherewith Christ has made us free consists of freedom from all illegitimate authority, and of subjection to truth, reason, and God, and final deliverance of his people and of "the whole creation" from the bondage of corruption.
CXXII. He that is called in the Lord, being
a servant, is the Lord's freeman.—1 Cor.
7:22
[September 16th, 1867.]
The ideas of liberty and slavery are antithetical. They therefore explain each other. We cannot understand the liberty spoken of until we understand the bondage. The reverse is true. We cannot understand the nature of the bondage without understanding the nature of the liberty.
Liberty is not freedom from restraint or authority. This cannot be predicated of any creature. All rational beings are under the authority of reason and right. And as these are in infinite perfection in God, all creatures are under absolute subjection to him. And this subjection is the highest liberty. In renouncing subjection to God, man lost his liberty. He became:
1. The slave of sin. This Christ declares. This subjection to sin is true bondage. a. Because it has no right to rule. It does not belong to our normal state, and is inconsistent with the end of our being. b. Because it is independent of the will. We cannot throw it off. This is a matter of consciousness and experience.
2. The slave of the law. He is under the obligation of satisfying its demands or of bearing its penalty. a. This obligation is inexorable. b. It reveals itself in the conscience. c. It produces the most intolerable bondage. d. It produces a slavish spirit. e. Fear and anxious looking for of judgment.
3. This subjection to sin and the law involves subjection to Satan. We are in his kingdom. We are in his power. We are under his control.
4. This subjection to sin and the law leads to subjection to men in various ways.
a. It destroys the balance and power of the soul. Not being subject to God and being unable to guide itself, it submits to the world, to public opinion, to authority in some form. And especially does it lead to subjection to the priesthood and to the church.
Now, as Christ is a Redeemer, as he came to preach deliverance to the captives, to proclaim the acceptable year, i.e., the year of jubilee; as he is the author of our liberty; as they only are truly free whom the Son makes free, he must deliver his people from all the forms of bondage above referred to. This he does in the following way and order: 1. He frees us from condemnation. Until this is done nothing is done. A man in prison under sentence must be freed from death or he cannot be delivered from other evils. How Christ frees us from condemnation we know.
2. He frees from the law or the obligation of fulfilling its demands. How this is done we know.
3. He frees us from the authority and power of Satan. How we know. Heb. 2:14, 15.
4. From the reigning power of sin.
5. From a slavish spirit.
6. From all undue subjection to men. a. By bringing the reason under subjection to his truth, we are freed from their authority as to doctrine. b. As we are subject to him alone, as to the conscience, we cannot be subject to any other authority in deciding what is morally right or wrong. c. As we have through Christ deliverance from condemnation and acceptance with God, we are free from the priesthood. d. As all we do is done in obedience to him, subjection to men is part of our liberty.
So a slave may be truly and perfectly free. He is the Lord's freeman. And this is the reason why Paul exhorts slaves to regard their bonds as of little account.
No tongue can tell our obligations to Christ, as our Redeemer, from the awful bondage into which we were brought by our apostacy from God.
CXXIII. Ye believe in God, believe also in
[Date not given.]
The discourses of Christ were designed for and indirectly addressed to all believers. This discourse was immediately addressed to the apostles, when they were about to experience a great trial and to enter on the discharge of a great duty. It was designed therefore to comfort and to encourage them.
Here are three things presented for our consideration; the duty enjoined, to believe; the object of faith, believe in me; the truths concerning Christ which we are to believe.
I. What is it to believe? Faith includes two things, assent and trust. It includes, therefore, first, the submission of the reason to all Christ has revealed; and, secondly, trust in all that he has promised. Both of these are difficult duties. To receive as true what we cannot understand on the testimony of God is declared to be irrational. But two things are to be remarked, first, that faith is rational; and, secondly, that the testimony of God is informing. It gives light.
To trust is no less difficult. To trust that we shall be pardoned, saved, preserved, is hard for our unbelieving hearts.
II. The object of faith is Christ. That is, the things to which we are to assent are truths concerning Christ, and the things in which we are to trust are the promises of Christ. Christ is here distinguished from God. The faith which the apostles were required to exercise was faith in Christ. This is the only form in which we can exercise faith in God. If we believe not God as seen, how can we believe in him as not seen.
III. But what are we to believe concerning Christ and what are the promises that we are to trust?
First. We must believe that he is the way, i.e., that he brings us to God. There are three senses in which we are absent from God, or separated from him.
1. By our ignorance. Christ brings us near to God as an object of knowledge. He is the Logos or Revealer. He is God; God in our nature, God in fashion as a man.
2. By our guilt. Christ brings us near to God by reconciliation through his blood. He atones for our sins. We are enabled to draw near to God with hope of acceptance.
3. By our pollution or enmity. Christ by revealing the knowledge of God and by reconciling us to him, removes our enmity. Believe that I am the way, that God in me is revealed to you, brought nigh to you, that he is reconciled, that you through me are brought to love him.
Secondly. We must believe that he is the truth. This means,
1. That he is real; the true God. That he is the true prophet, priest and king.
2. That in him is all truth, religious, moral and scientific.
3. That in him is all excellence. For truth is goodness. Christ is the absolute good; a sea of excellence and glory.
Thirdly, that he is the life.
1. The source of universal life.
2. Of intellectual life.
3. Of spiritual and eternal life. It is not we that live, but Christ that lives in us.
What promises are we to trust to? The promises of the Spirit.
1. That his presence is permanent and internal.
2. That he will reveal Christ.
3. That he will be our Paraclete.
CXXIV. Ye are bought with a Price.—1
Cor. 7:23
[Sept. 14th, 1856.]
We, in common with others, sustain different relations to God. 1. As our Creator. We owe to him our existence, our faculties, and we are sustained by him. 2. As our Father, that is, as the objects of his care, of his beneficence. He gives us every thing that we possess, and is the source of all good. 3. As our moral governor, whose will is the rule of duty, to whom we are responsible, and who will reward us or punish us according to our works. These are relations common to all men. They belong to us as rational beings. They are not peculiar to us as Christians. Our peculiar relation to God as Christians is that we are his redeemed ones.
I. What is redemption? II. By whom we are redeemed. III. At what price? IV. To what end?
This redemption is peculiar to us not only as distinguished from other men, but from all other creatures. No angels, no other order of beings are the subjects of redemption.
I. What is redemption?
It is deliverance from captivity or bondage, or death, by purchase.
1. We were in captivity to Satan. He could do with us what he pleased; we were in his power, hopelessly and helplessly under his control.
2. We were in bondage to sin; to its power, from which no resources of our own, or of any creature, now or in eternity, could deliver us. To be forever sinners was all that we could expect.
3. We were in bondage to the law, subject to its demands, and to its penalty, which is eternal death. There was no possibility of escape. To be redeemed is to be delivered by a ransom from this captivity to Satan, this bondage to sin, and this condemnation. It is not to have the offer of deliverance, or to have it rendered possible, but it is actual deliverance.
II. Who is the redeemer? "The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person forever." Our eye does not rest on any angel, nor on the throne of God, but on the Incarnate Son. As he did not undertake the redemption of angels, so he did not assume their nature.
To God we stand in the relation of creatures, of children, of subjects; but to Christ, as redeemed. We are his property. We belong to him. We are the δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ (servants of Christ). This is our distinguishing peculiarity. It involves two things: (a.) That our relation is to Christ. (b.) That it is that which arises from redemption, that is, by purchase; so that we are his, and are bound to make his
will the rule of our conduct, and his service the business of our lives. This all the redeemed must and will do.
III. The price of redemption was himself. He gave himself for us. It involves, 1. His incarnation. 2. His subjection to the law, to fulfil all righteousness. 3. To its curse, including all the miseries of this life, the painful death of the cross, and the wrath of God.
IV. The end of redemption.
1. The proximate end is our holiness and happiness; that we should glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are his; that is, that we use our bodies, all their members and all their powers, and all the resources of our spirits, to his glory, i.e., so as to cause him to be honored. This is to be done in honoring him ourselves, and in causing others to honor him. We glorify God when we worship, love and serve him, and also when we cause others to do the same.
CXXV. Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be
revealed in the last time. 1 Pet. 1:5
[September 17th, 1854.]
The salvation of the renewed is secured by the power of God, and through faith.
1. Those here addressed are elected unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
2. They are renewed.
3. They have a living hope.
4. They have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.
5. They are kept by the power of God.
The attainment of salvation is difficult. The dangers arise,—
1. From our own corruption.
2. From the temptations of the world.
3. From the power and malice of Satan.
Yet salvation is certain,—
1. Because they are elected.
2. Because they are renewed.
3. Because they are kept by the power of God. How are believers kept by the power of God? There are two forms under which the power of God expresses itself, viz.: his providence and his grace. The one is outward, and the other inward.
Providence includes all the oversight and guarding which God exercises over his people.
1. In ordering their circumstances.
2. In protecting them from their enemies and persecutors.
3. In restraining and conquering Satan.
Grace includes all the inward operations of the Spirit.
1. In teaching and revealing truth.
2. In sanctifying and consoling.
3. In sustaining under temptation, and thus preserving from apostacy.
How are believers kept through faith?
Faith is used in two senses, or two kinds of exercises are included under the term.
1. Acts of credence in the truth, an abiding conviction of the truth of God; a persuasion, i.e., of the truth of the gospel, and all that it reveals.
2. Acts of confidence in Christ. (a.) Confidence in his being what he is declared to be. (b.) Confidence in his protection. (c.) Confidence in his merit, and in the prevalence of his intercession. The soul may repose itself securely, assured that it is guarded as in a citadel. This protection is to be continued until the end. The salvation of believers begun here, is continued at death, and consummated at the Second Advent. Then their bodies are to be raised, and then the whole number of the redeemed are to be united.
INFERENCES FROM THIS DOCTRINE
1. The duty of patience, even in the midst of trials.
2. The duty of being hopeful.
3. The duty of being holy as God is holy.
4. The duty of brotherly love.
CXXVI. Security of Believers
[Sept. 2d, 1856.]
I. In what sense they are secure.
1. From the condemnation of the law. 2. From the power of temptation. 3. From the dominion of Satan. 4. From everlasting death.
II. The grounds of this security.
Negatively. 1. It is not their own righteousness. 2. Not their own strength. 3. Not their own prudence. 4. Not their own fidelity. 5. Not the efficacy of the means of grace. 6. Nor the security of the asylum, i.e., the church, to which they have betaken themselves.
Positively. 1. It is the covenant of Redemption. 2. The work of Christ. 3. The indwelling of the Spirit. 4. The fidelity of God.
III. Inferences.
1. Not that we may live in sin and yet be saved; because the security of believers is a security from sin. This is the great distinction between the doctrine of perseverance and Antinomianism. As it is a contradiction to say that God saves the lost, so it is a contradiction to say that he preserves those who indulge in sin.
2. Not that we may neglect the means of grace. For the security promised is as much a security from negligence as from any other evil. The promise of God is to save his people from sin, to purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works, to make them diligent and faithful in the discharge of all duty; but,—
3. This truth 1. Is adapted to fill the heart with abounding gratitude and love to God. The doctrine that believers may fall from grace and perish, supposes an entirely different theory of the gospel. It supposes that Christ makes salvation possible; that whether or not a man is saved, depends, (a.) on whether he chooses to believe, and (b.) on whether he will persevere in his faith. Both depend upon himself. The other theory supposes that the work of Christ secures the salvation of his people; that faith is God's gift, and that its continuance depends simply on God's fidelity. The one supposes that
God loves us because we love him, and so long as we love him. The other supposes that his love is gratuitous and infinite; that we love him because he loved us; and that having loved us when enemies, he will continue to love us as friends. The practical effect of this doctrine is, therefore, to promote holiness.
2. It is adapted to produce peace and a filial spirit. The man who is under a legal system, who stands in the relation of a slave to God, who feels that his standing depends on his good behaviour, of necessity has a slavish spirit. Whereas he who is under grace, who is a child of God, who feels that God's love is founded on something else than good conduct, that he loves us because we are his children, and that holiness is the result and not the ground of adoption, by a like necessity has a filial spirit, and that spirit is a joyful, confident, peaceful spirit. He who thinks that his soul is in his own keeping, and that no promise of God secures its safety, must be in continual anxiety and doubt.
3. The third effect of this doctrine is to produce alacrity in the service of God, and in working out our own salvation. The greater the doubt of success, the less the motive to exertion. If there is no hope, there is no effort; on the contrary, the greater the hope, the greater the cheerfulness and diligence. You assure a man that he will become rich or become great by the faithful and diligent use of certain means, and he will be faithful and diligent. If you tell him that he will be rich whether he uses them or not, or that there is a bare probability of success, you destroy in a good degree the motive to exertion. The case of the individual believer is analogous to that of the Church. What motive would there be to preach the gospel at home, or to carry it abroad, if we had not the assurance of the ultimate triumph of the Redeemer?
IV. How can we attain a sense of security?
As the Scriptures teach that whom God predestinates, them he calls, the only evidence of election is vocation, and the only evidence of
vocation is holiness. Everything else is a delusion and fanaticism. It can only be by keeping ourselves in the love of God, that we can have a present sense of his favor, and the assurance of salvation.
CXXVII. Ye are complete in him. Col. 2:10
[October 27th, 1872.]
The false teachers in Colosse were Jews, but not Judaizers. They were philosophers. They designed to substitute philosophy for Christianity, not by denying the latter, but by explaining it. They distinguished between faith and knowledge. Faith was for the people, knowledge for the educated few. The objects of faith were the historical and doctrinal statements of the Bible. The objects of knowledge were the speculative truths underlying those statements, and into which they were to be sublimated. Paul's object in this epistle is to prove two things.
I. That philosophy was art utter failure. He pronounces it a vain deceit: that is, (a.) Void of truth. (b.) Void of reality. (c.) Void of all worth and power. It was κενός (empty, vain) in all those senses. And moreover, it was a deceit. It disappointed all our expectation, and betrayed those who trusted to its guidance. This was no slight matter. He warned his readers lest any man in this way should make a prey of them to their utter destruction.
II. That all the objects which philosophy vainly attempted to accomplish, were effectually and completely accomplished in Christ.
1. As to the first proposition, viz., that philosophy is a vain deceit.
It is important to determine what Paul means by philosophy. This is not to be decided arbitrarily. Some would say he means heathen philosophy, as opposed to Christian philosophy; others, that particular system which prevailed in Colosse, the Gnostic. Every one
would say, false and not true, yours and not mine. There must be some way of deciding this question. The apostle decides it for us,
First, by what he says of the system which he opposes. By philosophy he means systems of that nature.
Secondly, by the arguments which he uses against it. He includes under the term philosophy, every system against which his arguments legitimately bear. What then was the nature of that system? It undertook to determine a priori, and from the principles of reason, 1. The nature of God, or of the absolute Being. 2. His relation to the world, or what the world is in relation to him (or rather it). 3. What the origin, nature and destiny of man. 4. What Christ is, and how he effects the restoration of man.
Such is the system. The arguments which Paul urges against it are, 1. These are matters about which, from the nature of the case, we know and can know nothing. They are matters of revelation. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:9, 10, 11). "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:18).
2. He shows that God, in the Scriptures, hath declared the wisdom of this world to be folly. "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" (1 Cor. 1:20).
3. Experience has proved that the world by wisdom knows not God.
4. God has determined to save man, not by philosophy, but by the gospel.
Paul does not depreciate reason. The senses have their sphere. Reason has its sphere. But there is a supernatural or spiritual sphere into which reason cannot enter. We might as well judge of a syllogism by the tongue. This conclusion is sustained by consciousness. What do you know? There lies the grave! Where does it lead to? What lies beyond it?
We see, therefore, that Paul, by philosophy does not mean, 1. Exclusively the oriental philosophy; for what he says here, he says to the Corinthians. 2. Not natural philosophy. 3. Not mental and moral philosophy. But 4. Any attempt to solve the great problems above mentioned, a priori.
III. All that philosophy vainly pretends to do is accomplished in Christ.
1. As to knowledge. This is necessary; even knowledge of these supreme problems. In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and he is the only source of knowledge. The knowledge which he gives is sure, satisfying, sanctifying. This we know.
2. Redemption. It is, first, objective, pardon and reconciliation. This is accomplished by Christ's atoning work. Second, it is subjective, delivery from inward sin and restoration of divine life. This Christ does, because in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily. We are filled with God in him.
3. Restoration to our former status, to the kingdom of light; it is exaltation. This is done by being made partakers of the glory of Christ. All this depends on our union with him. This union is (a.) Representative. (b.) Spiritual. (c.) Voluntary, by faith.
The great lesson is,
1. That we are not to trust to our own reason or that of other men for instruction on these great points.
2. That we have sure knowledge in the gospel, and to reject it is certain perdition.
CXXVIII. Priesthood of Believers
[Feb. 8th, 1857.]
Priests and kings are the two highest classes of officers among men, e.g., Moses and Aaron, David and the High Priest, the Pontifex Maximus among Romans. To say that believers are priests and kings may be a figurative expression, declaring their dignity and exaltation. More however is meant.
I. The nature of the priesthood.
It includes properly, 1. The right of access to God. 2. The duty of offering sacrifices for sin. In the strict sense, therefore, there is under the New Testament dispensation, no other priest than Christ. This is one of the greatest differences between Romanists and Protestants, which supposes a radically different theory of the gospel.
II. The sense in which all believers are priests, is.
1. That they all have liberty of access to God. This is the main idea. This is the great distinction and blessedness intended to be expressed by the term. 2. They offer to God the sacrifice of a broken heart, the incense of prayer, the thank-offering of praise. They minister before God, and are in this sense priests. 3. They make intercession for others.
III. The qualifications for the priesthood.
1. No man taketh the priesthood on himself. This is true both of the official priesthood and of the general priesthood of believers. A priest must be selected and constituted such by God. 2. This appointment must be signified and certified; the external priesthood by external
forms, the spiritual priesthood by internal anointing. 3. A priest must have something to offer. What was a priest without a sacrifice? What are we without a contrite spirit? Without a believing and grateful heart our priesthood would be merely nominal. The external priesthood had its external dignities, emoluments and prerogatives; but the spiritual priesthood has only spiritual advantages. The latter is indeed as much higher than the former, as the things of the Spirit are higher than the things of the flesh; but the want of these spiritual gifts is more fatal in the latter ease than in the former. 4. As a priest acts not for himself only, but for others also, he must sympathize with them. This is taught with regard to the priests of the Old Testament, with regard to our blessed Lord, and it is no less true with regard to us. 5. A priest must be holy in two senses. (a.) As to his personal character. Under the Old Testament it was required that the priest should be free from all blemish of body and deficiency in intellect. Under the New, we cannot draw near to God unless we are pure in heart. The Old Testament priests were required to abstain from all defiling contact with external things. We are to abstain from the pollutions which are in the world. They could not approach, unless ceremonially clean; we cannot, unless inwardly sanctified. (b.) In the second place, a priest must be holy in the sense of sacred, set apart, or consecrated. The Old Testament priests were a distinct class, separated from the people. They could not engage in ordinary avocations, nor seek support in the ordinary way. Those who ministered at the altar were partakers of the altar. In like manner, Christians are a people separated from the world, and consecrated to God. They cannot belong to the world, seek its objects, or enjoy its pleasures. 6. A priest must be faithful. This includes, (a.) The assiduous discharge of all his duties, as opposed to negligence. (b.) Trustworthiness. The people should be able to rely upon them as being what they professed to be, and really possessing the qualifications of their office. So we as priests should be faithful in drawing near to God, in offering sacrifices, and in interceding; and all should have reason to confide in us as being indeed the priests of God.
IV. The prerogatives and privileges of the priesthood.
1. Access to God. This is the end of redemption. It includes all its blessings. When the people saw the High Priest enter the most Holy place, they felt that he was the most honored of mortals.
2. The favor of God. The priest was highly distinguished.
3. Power with God. The power of the priesthood has ever been higher than that of kings. Believers have power with God. Their prayers control the world.
CXXIX. Priesthood of Believers. (No. 2)
[April 12th, 1863.]
Exaltation and honor tend to make men worse,
1. When assumed as a right. 2. When sought and enjoyed for selfish ends. 3. When consisting in external prerogatives and advantages.
They have a contrary tendency
1. When felt to be undeserved.
2. When regarded as designed for God's glory and the good of others.
3. When what is outward is merely accessory to inward excellence. All the distinction and glory promised in the Scriptures have these conditions, and therefore tend to humble and purify. Believers are represented as a priesthood.
I. The priests were a separate class of the people. The people generally were not priests, and no man could become a priest by his own will. He must be called of God. In this respect believers are like
them. They are a separate class of men; they are chosen and called of God.
II. They were an elevated and honored class. Kings and priests were the highest order of men. The one governed the body, the other the soul. The one had regard to the world and the things of this life, the other to the things of eternity. The sphere of the latter was higher, and their actual power greater. The two offices were united in Melchizedek, Christ, and in believers. In saying that believers are priests, it is meant that they are a higher order of men, exalted above their fellows in all that elevates and ennobles.
III. The priests were a sacred class.
1. They were consecrated with peculiar solemnity. They were washed, anointed, and clothed with pure garments; and victims of expiation and consecration were presented in their behalf.
2. They were required to be personally holy. a. Free from bodily defects. b. Free from vice. c. Free from ceremonial defilement. d. Many things lawful to others were not lawful to them.
3. They were sacred in their occupations; that is, they were not to engage in worldly occupations, but minister in holy things. In like manner believers are a sacred class of the community. They are consecrated to God in baptism. They are washed, anointed and purified with atoning blood. They are to keep themselves unspotted from the world, and live not for the world, but for God.
IV. Priests were not an idle, useless or merely ornamental class of the community. They had most important functions to perform.
1. They approached God for the people. There was no access to God but through them, no pardon, no acceptable worship, no enjoyment of God's favor. This is the distinctive idea of a priesthood. It is a class of men who have access to God for the benefit of others. Believers
have this access; no other men have, and therefore believers are priests.
2. The priests offered sacrifices of worship, of expiation, of thanksgiving. Believers offer true worship, and they only. They present and plead before God the sacrifice of Christ, in their own behalf and in behalf of the unconverted. They offer the constant sacrifice of thanksgiving, and the incense of praise. They are the priests of the earth. What the Jewish priests did for the Jews, believers do for the world. What would the Jews have been without their priests? And what would the world be without believers? No acceptable worship would ascend from earth to heaven, and no blessings descend from heaven to earth.
3. The priests were the instructors of the people. Their lips kept knowledge. It was their business to teach the law in its doctrines and precepts. When they were ignorant or apostate, the people perished. So believers are depositaries of the truth. They have the great prerogative of presenting and extending it. The church is the pillar and ground of truth.
V. The priests were a dependent class.
1. They had no portion in the land. They depended on the contributions of the people.
2. Their services were not for themselves. They were not the end.
3. They were designed to promote the knowledge and glory of God, and the good of the people.
So believers do not live for themselves. They are saved and exalted to this dignity not to honor themselves, but to honor God, and to do good to their fellow-creatures.
Great honor, great sanctity, great responsibility are involved in belonging to the royal priesthood of believers.
CXXX. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is
the Son of God? 1 John 5:5
[March 22d, 1863.]
I. Who is the conqueror, ὁ νιχῶν, but the believer, ὁ πιστεύων? The word world in the Scriptures means, 1. The material universe. 2. Our earth. 3. What they contain, and all that they contain. 4. Their rational inhabitants, and when spoken of the earth, mankind. 5. The wicked as opposed to the Church. 6. What characterizes the world, i.e., men, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 7. Things seen and temporal; all things, the fashion of which is passing away.
II. Overcoming the world is therefore a very comprehensive work. It includes, 1. Successfully resisting the influence of the things of the world, as seductions to sin, its wealth, its pleasures and its honors.
2. Raising ourselves above all under the influence of the things seen and temporal, and living under the influence of the things unseen and eternal.
3. Taking the word "world" to mean men, and especially the ungodly, to overcome the world is to overcome their undue and pernicious influence over our opinions and over our conduct. The force of public opinion and passion is almost irresistible. The dominating influence of the philosophy, of the maxims and customs of the world, is of all things the hardest to overcome.
4. The world is the kingdom of darkness; it is Satan's kingdom. To overcome it, is to overcome error, ignorance, vice, evil, in short, in all its forms. This, therefore, is a stupendous work. Think of a solitary soul—and in one sense every soul is solitary, it is isolated, having its own life, consciousness and character—think of such a soul in a
world, in a universe of evil, operated on by all things sensible, by all other souls, itself corrupt, its own nature in alliance with its enemies, and it will be seen that to overcome the world is indeed a work exceeding all human power.
III. How is this work to be accomplished?
1. Not by asceticism. 2. Not by philosophy. 3. Not by the power of reason, conscience, or the will. 4. Not by Theism. 5. Not by faith in the word of God in the general. 6. Not by the Church, its rites, its ministry, or its worship. But, 7. By believing that Jesus is the Son of God. What does this mean? and why does this faith secure us the victory over the world?
What is it to believe that Jesus is the Son of God? (1.) That the man Jesus, the person who appeared and was recognized under that name, was the eternal Son of God; that he was God manifest in the flesh. This includes faith in his divinity and incarnation. (2.) It is not only the person but also the work of Christ that is here intended. His relation to us is expressed by the name Jesus, his relation to God, by his title, Son of God. As to us he is a Saviour, as to God he is his equal. The truth believed then, is that we have a divine Saviour, therefore an almighty, an all-sufficient, an everywhere present Saviour.
How does faith in this doctrine overcome the world? 1. Not by the mere moral power of the truth believed. It is not merely because the doctrine of the incarnation is a more exalted and powerful doctrine than the doctrine of God; it is not that God as manifested in the flesh is more intelligible, more accessible, more lovely, more congenial than God as an infinite Spirit. All this is true. But all this is true to devils, as well as to thousands who are the slaves of the world.
2. It is (a.) Because those who believe this doctrine are reconciled to God. This is the first step. So long as the soul is an outcast, an unpardoned criminal, incarcerated in the prison of God's justice, the
object of his displeasure, he is of the world, he is a member of the kingdom of darkness. It is only when he is delivered from God's curse, reconciled to him by faith in Christ, that it is possible for him to resist or overcome the influences by which he is surrounded, and by which he is thoroughly pervaded. (b.) But secondly, those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God are born of God. They are partakers of a new life. The life of Christ is communicated to them. The principle in them, antagonistic to the world, is no longer mere feeble darkened reason, a scared conscience and perverted and rebellious will, but the indwelling God, the Holy Ghost. It is therefore an almighty, indestructible, permanent power, which is imparted to them, and which manifests itself in them by raising them above the world. "Because I live," says Christ, "ye shall live also." (c.) Thirdly, the spiritual, not the moral power of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, is made by the Holy Ghost the proximate means of our overcoming the world. (1.) The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is made so clear that we are ravished by it, absorbed by it, delivered thereby from the love of sin and of the world. (2.) The constraining influence of the love of this incarnate God, leads us to renounce all things for his sake. (3.) Zeal for his glory, for the advancement of his kingdom is enkindled in the soul, and overcomes all other motives to action. The great lesson taught is, that it is not by ourselves, nor by human means that we can be delivered from this present evil world, but only by believing what the Scriptures teach concerning Christ.
CXXXI. Ye are Christ's. 1 Cor. 3:23
[March 10th, 1861].
The two ideas of dependence and possession are here expressed. "We are Christ's," means that we are dependent on him, and also that we belong to him. In the preceding verse the apostle had said, "All things are yours;" that is, all things are designed and overruled to promote your welfare, and all things are comprehended in that
dominion or kingdom to which you are destined. Still you are nothing, you belong to Christ.
In this is involved, 1. The denial that we are our own. We do not belong to ourselves, in the sense that our own advantage can be the legitimate end of our pursuit, or that our own will can be the legitimate rule of our conduct.
2. The denial that we belong to the world, to parents, friends, country, mankind, in either of the above senses; that the good of parents, friends, &c., can be the legitimate end, or their will the legitimate rule.
3. Nor do we thus belong to the Church. This could not have entered the apostle's mind. But in after years it became a common form of apostacy from Christ, and still is. Men feel that they belong to the Church, live for and are governed by it, and know no higher end, or rule of duty.
4. Positively, the declaration includes, that we are Christ's in such a sense that his glory is the end, and his will the rule of our life. He, and he alone, has the right to us. To him, and to him alone, is this devotion and submission due.
II. This proprietorship is founded,
1. Not specially on creation, for as creatures we belong to God, the Triune God, but,
2. It is founded on gift. We were given to him in the counsels of eternity. From the countless orders of creatures, and from the countless millions of the race of man, the people of Christ were given to him as a possession, as a peculium, a specialty, in which he was to have a peculiar and exclusive right. This ground of proprietorship is supreme. God as sovereign of the universe can give what he pleases, and his will is the only real and stable ground of property or possession.
3. It is founded on purchase. This gives, (a.) The right of property as founded on justice. (b.) The purchase involving redemption from infinite evil gives the higher and tenderer obligation of gratitude, and (c.) The price paid being his own precious blood, it gives the highest of all obligations, that of love.
4. It is founded on the right of conquest. We were the captives of Satan. Christ has destroyed his power, and delivered us who were led captive by him at his will.
This general idea of possession is illustrated in various ways in the Scriptures. 1. We are the δούλοι (servants) of Christ, which expresses the relation as founded in justice. We are bound as his δούλοι to live for him, and to obey him. Any failure in this devotion or obedience is a violation of our relation to him as his servants or slaves.
2. We, i.e., the Church, are his bride. This includes (a.) The idea of exclusive possession. (b.) Of preference and peculiar love. (c.) Of perfect community of interest.
3. We are his φίλοι, (friends) bound to him by the bond of mutual love and confidence.
4. We are his body, the members of his body. Nothing is so intimately a man's own as his body. It has a common life with him. It has a common consciousness with him. The pains and pleasures of the body are our own pains and pleasures. It has a common interest and destiny with him. So if we are Christ's body, we are bound to him in all these ways. This is nearer and higher than δούλοι, φίλοι, νόμφη (bride).
III. The blessedness resulting from this relationship.
1. Security. If we belong to Christ, as his δούλοι, φίλοι, νύμφη and σῶμα (body), we are secure, here and hereafter, for time and eternity.
2. Participation in Christ's excellence, both as to soul and body; in his happiness, in his glory and dominion.
IV. Duties.
1. That we should always act worthily of this relation; remember that we belong neither to ourselves nor to the world, but only to the Lord.
2. Contentment. We may well be satisfied if we are Christ's; for if we are his, all things are ours.
3. Not merely contentment, but joyful anticipation of Christ's coming and glory.
CXXXII. The Lord is my strength
[September 10th, 1865.]
All religion is founded upon the personality of God. A person only can be the object of the religious affections, of adoration, love and confidence. A person only can be addressed in prayer; and it is only with a person that we can have fellowship and communion. Who is the person with whom we stand in the relation indicated in the text? The word Lord is an appellative. There are many Lords. The article renders the term definite. It is the Lord, the person universally recognized as standing to men in the relation of Lord. It is the substitute of the proper name, Jehovah. He, therefore, is the person intended. But the Lord of the Old Testament is the same person with the Lord, and our Lord of the New Testament. The person, therefore, who is so designated is the Logos, the second person of the Trinity, the incarnate Son of God. The relation, therefore, here indicated, is not merely the relation which a creature bears to the creator, which man bears to God, but more definitely, that which we bear to God manifest in the flesh, who has assumed the work of our redemption.
The senses, then, in which the Lord is our strength are, 1. The general sense in which all power is derived from God. He is the giver of whatever measure of strength is possessed by any of his creatures. All created power is derived, and not inherent.
2. This power of the creature is not self-sustained. It is not an ability to exist, act, and accomplish its purposes out of God, and independently of him; but it is ability which he constantly sustains. It is in him we live and move and have our being.
3. Not only the general ability of the creature is thus derived and sustained, but the ability to act as efficiently as the emergency demands, the physical, intellectual or moral strength required for any special work or occasion, is given by God; and it is given in different measures to different individuals, and to the same individual, on different occasions.
4. All this pertains to the natural man, or to the natural relation in which men stand to God. And all this is included in the relation in which the believer stands to Christ. He is our strength, as its giver, its sustainer, and as the source whence all the supplies which we need from time to time are derived. But beyond this, especially in relation to the divine life, and to the duties therewith connected, is Christ our strength. He is the source from which that life is derived. It is sustained by him, and from him come the daily supplies needed for our daily duties. The strength to believe, the strength to understand, the strength to obey, the strength to resist temptation, the strength to bear afflictions, come from Christ only. Paul said that of himself he could do nothing, but through Christ strengthening him, he could do all things. No limits can be assigned to this divine strength. History is filled with examples of men, weak in intellect, weak in character, feeble of purpose, who have been transformed into heroes by the power of Christ. They have subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouth of lions, put to flight the armies of the aliens.
There are here three things for us to learn and to lay to heart.
1. That we have no strength in ourselves; so that the man who depends on himself, his understanding, his will, his efficiency, will fail, whether it be in arriving at truth, in living a holy life, or in doing good to others.
2. The second is, that the Lord is our strength, and that in him there is an inexhaustible supply of strength for all these ends; for attaining knowledge, for becoming holy, and for doing good, and for bearing all our trials in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can be strong in the Lord. Through Christ we can do all things.
3. The third thing is, that the conditions on which we are made partakers of this strength are first, the renunciation of our own, and second, the seeking of his strength in the way of his appointment, that is, by faith in him and by looking to him at all times.
CXXXIII. Good Hope through Grace
[Date not given.]
I. Nature of hope.
No man since the fall, probably no creature, can be satisfied with the present. Here is always either some evil pressing on us, some capacity of enjoyment unfilled, or some desire for the perpetuity of what we possess, which passes beyond the present into the future. This expectation and desire of future good is hope. Its object is the unseen. This desire and expectation of future good is, 1. The spring of all activity. 2. With regard to sinners under the sentence of the law, and in prospect of eternity, it is indispensable to any rational peace.
II. Good Hope; that is, a well founded hope. It is a hope directed towards what is truly good.
1. Some men are insensible and indifferent with regard to their future destiny. This state of mind is (a.) Irrational. (b.) Unsatisfying,
(c.) Precarious, (d.) Destructive.
2. Others have a hope, but it is not good. It is founded (a.) On the general mercy of God. (b.) On their relation to the church. (c.) On the assumption that all are to be saved. (d.) On assumed revelations. (e.) On spurious religious experience of. (f.) On the assumption of our own goodness. The general basis therefore, of a false hope is error; either error as to the purpose of God in reference to the punishment of sin, or error as to the conditions on which exemption from sin is promised, or as to our having fulfilled or experienced those conditions. A good hope is, therefore, (a.) A hope which is founded on the truth, on the promise of God, and the work of Christ. (b.) One which we have a right to entertain, i.e., which is the genuine fruit of the Spirit; not an unauthorized anticipation on our part, but one which is inseparable from faith. (c.) One which has for its object the infinite blessings of redemption, sometimes Christ's coming, sometimes the resurrection, sometimes the glory of God. Towards this the whole creation looks forward with earnest expectation.
III. Through grace, i.e., a hope which God graciously gives, and gives in the exercise of his grace. God gives us this hope, 1. In that he promises to us the blessings which are the object of our hope.
2. Because he produces in our minds the exercise of our hope.
IV. Evidence that a hope is good.
1. That it has a scriptural foundation; that is, that it rests on the promise of God clearly revealed in his word.
2. That it has scriptural blessings for its objects; not earthly good or millennial prosperity, but conformity to Christ, and the enjoyment of him forever.
3. That this hope sanctifies the soul, makes us pure even as he is pure.
4. That it is the fruit of faith, which is by appropriate evidence proved to be genuine.
V. This hope,
1. Is a helmet. 2. Is an anchor. 3. Is to the soul what wings are to the eagle. It elevates it above the world. It raises us toward heaven, and fills us with its spirit.
CXXXIV. Assurance
[October 23d, 1859.]
I. Its nature.
In general it is the full conviction or persuasion that we are the children of God and the heirs of eternal life.
1. This may be Antinomian, when that conviction is founded on a false view of the plan of salvation, supposing that the elect are sure of eternal life irrespective of their character, and that a man may know his election by other evidence than that derived from holiness of heart and life. So Antinomians in the Protestant church hold that the law is abolished, and Christ is their sanctification by imputation. They pervert the doctrine of salvation by grace; so the Romanist, so the Pharisee, both of whom are Antinomians.
2. There is a form of assurance which assumes that saving faith can exist in no other form. It is held (1) That the object of faith is that God is reconciled to us. (2) That this, if believed at all, is believed without wavering; or that the only faith required is simple assent, of which there can be no doubt.
3. There is another view, which almost discards assurance, or which makes it a rare and almost unattainable gift. This makes hope an inference, drawn from promises in a rational way. God promises
eternal life to the renewed. I find in myself the evidences of regeneration; therefore I have a title to eternal life. Here all depends on the clearness of the evidences of regeneration; and as these can seldom or never be so clear as to preclude all doubt, so there can seldom be any scriptural assurance of salvation.
4. The common form of this doctrine is, (a.) That Christ has fully satisfied the law for us. We are not required to do anything to merit salvation. (b.) Christ is freely offered to all who hear the gospel, not only without merit, but just as they are, without preparation, without holiness. (c.) That all who receive him and rest on him shall be saved. In other words, all who believe that he is the Son of God, that he loved us and died for us, shall inherit eternal life. (d.) That the warrant for our having Christ is not our inward state or experience, but the promise of God; and therefore we may believe without waiting for the evidence of sanctification.
II. The ground of assurance, therefore, is,
1. The promise of God as perfectly free and unconditional.
2. The consciousness that we do believe; not that we are regenerated, but that we do believe.
3. The witness of the Spirit; or the love of God shed abroad in the heart.
III. The effects of assurance when genuine.
1. Peace.
2. Joy and gratitude.
3. Love and zeal for the glory of God.
When spurious, the effects are, 1. Self-righteousness. 2. Neglect of duty, and indulgence in sin. 3. False security.
CXXXV. Hope maketh not ashamed, because the Love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us.—Rom. 5:5
[April 26th, 1857.]
The effects or fruits of justification are,
1. Peace with God.
2. The enjoyment of his favor.
3. Hope of glory.
Man as a sinner is the object of the divine wrath, under condemnation, unable to secure either justification, sanctification or eternal life. These are the necessities of his nature. They cannot be obtained by works. It is only when we are so united to Christ by faith that we become interested in his righteousness and partakers of his life, that we are justified, and being justified, have peace and hope. This hope is sure; it does not disappoint, for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
I. The love of God, is his love to us. The fact that we are the objects of a love which embraces all the creatures of God, would not be a ground of hope. But it is, 1. A special love, a love which stands opposed to wrath. It includes reconciliation, or divine favor. To be assured of God's love, is to be assured that he is propitious toward us; that his wrath is turned away from us; that his justice no longer demands our condemnation. It is the love which secures all the benefits of redemption. 2. It is infinitely great. It led to the gift of the Son of God. 3. It is gratuitous. It is not founded on our character. It was exercised towards us when we were sinners. 4. It is therefore immutable. If founded on anything in us, it would continue no longer
than our attractiveness continued. But if perfectly gratuitous, flowing from the mysterious fulness of the divine nature, it cannot change.
II. This love is shed abroad in our hearts: that is, we have a full conviction and assurance that we are its objects. There might be a conviction that God is love, that his love towards some men is infinitely great, that it is gratuitous and unchangeable, and yet we might remain in the blackness of despair. It is only when we are assured that we are its objects, that we have a hope which sustains and renders blessed.
III. But how do we know that we are the objects of this love?
1. It cannot be because God has this love for all men, and, therefore, for us; because this is not true.
2. It is not because we see in ourselves the effects of regeneration or the evidences of holiness, because (a.) This love was prior to regeneration, and (b.) Because holiness is the fruit of the assurance of God's love.
3. The knowledge is produced by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost produces in our mind the conviction that we are the objects of that love of God which induced him to give his Son for our salvation, which is gratuitous and unchangeable, and which secures all other gifts. But how does the Holy Ghost produce this conviction? We cannot tell, and it is unreasonable to ask. We might as well ask how he produces faith, peace, joy, or any other grace. It is enough to answer negatively, that it is not (a.) By exciting our love to God, whence we infer his love to us. The true order is the reverse. Nor (b.) By simply opening our eyes to see what a wonderful display of love is made in redemption; for that we might see, and yet suppose ourselves excluded.
IV. The proof that we are not deluded in this matter, is to be found in the effects of this conviction. The effects of a conviction of our being the favorites of God, or the objects of his special love, when that
conviction is unfounded, are seen in the Jews, the Romanists and in Antinomians. These effects are, 1. Pride. 2. Malignity. 3. Immorality; the divorce of morals from religion. On the other hand, when the conviction is produced by the Holy Ghost, then the effects are,—1. Humility. Nothing so bows down the soul as a sense of undeserved love. 2. The tenderest concern for those who are not thus favored, and an earnest desire that they may share our blessedness. 3. Love to God. Love begets love; and our love to God is mingled with wonder, admiration, gratitude, and zeal for his glory. 4. Obedience. When aliens, and under the law, we brought forth fruit unto death, but now we bring forth fruit unto holiness. The sixth and seventh chapters are designed to show that such are the effects of assurance of the divine love.
CXXXVI. Faith as the Source of Love and
Joy. 1 Pet. 1:8
[March 25th, 1854.]
The three great Christian graces are faith, hope and love, or Peter says, faith, love and joy. As to these graces the Scriptures teach us, 1. That they are inseparable. They never appear one without the others. 2. They stand in a certain relation to each other as cause and effect; faith is the cause of love, and love the cause of joy. It is a joy which is first, unspeakable. (a.) Because the objects of it are infinite. (b.) Because no words can express its value, or blessedness. It is incomparable. Other things can be measured, as riches, learning, honor, but this can be compared with nothing else in value. We would give up everything for this joy. It is, secondly, full of glory because it elevates, purifies, and renders glorious; and because it is attended with the anticipation of glory.
I. Why joy is the fruit of love, is plain. 1. From the fact that love itself is a joyous affection. It is in its nature happy. Though it may incidentally be the cause of anxiety and sorrow, yet in itself it is a
source of blessedness. God is love. All the blessed love, and are blessed because they love. 2. From the nature of its object. The exalting feeling of love, to a beautiful child, to anything of special value and excellence, is a matter of experience. And as Christ is the object of the Christian's love, and there is no end to his glory or his worth, the joy connected with love to him is unspeakable and full of glory.
II. Why faith produces love. It may be admitted that there is something mysterious in love; that is, that we cannot explain its origin, or tell always why we love. The love of God to his people is thus mysterious. No one can tell why he loved us. Still love in man, so far as it is not instinctive, has a rational ground; and this is, 1. The beauty and excellence of its object. 2. Congeniality, or sympathy; a feeling of mutual interest and delight; a reciprocation of benefits, or at least of benefits and gratitude. 3. Propriety; a consciousness that the object is ours. This is by no means exclusive, and is of course, different in different cases.
Now faith is the source of love to Christ, 1. Because it discerns his beauty and excellence. Christ is supremely glorious and beautiful, (a.) As possessed of all divine perfections. (b.) As possessed of all human excellence and loveliness. (c.) As uniting these in his own person, so that he is the centre, the light, the glory of the universe. He is to all intelligences what the sun is to our system. Faith discerns all this.
1. It is to the soul, what the eye is to the body.
2. It is a cognition or spiritual apprehension. It is not merely light, but discernment. It does not see the object merely, but its excellence also. 3. It produces congeniality. 4. It appropriates.
CXXXVII. Love of God
I. The nature of this love.
Love is used for any form of complacency or delight in an object. Its nature, therefore, depends upon the nature of this object. Men love not only persons but things, and not only things but ideal and abstract conceptions. Properly, however, it expresses an affection of which only a person can be the object.
It includes 1. Desire of union and fellowship. 2. Complacency. 3. Benevolence. This is true of all the forms of love directed towards persons. It presupposes therefore, 1. Community or similarity of nature. 2. Excellence, or what is regarded as such in its object. 3. The possibility of service in some form.
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and immutable in his being, wisdom power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. Hence a proper object of love. 1. Because he is a person. He is a Spirit, a being with whom intercourse, fellowship, communion is possible. We can say to him, My Father! and he can say to us My Child! It is impossible to love a law, such as the law of gravitation or of attraction. He is the Father of our spirits. He loves us. 2. His excellence is infinite, in his power, wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. These are objects of complacency. They excite,
(a.) Admiration, reverence, adoration.
(b.) Approbation. They command the fullest consent of the reason and conscience.
(c.) Confidence. Men trust in the Lord because he is thus holy, just and good.
3. Because as a Spirit he is a proper object of benevolence, i.e., of a desire to please, which it expresses (a.) In submission to his instructions, i.e., in docility. (b.) In submission to his dispensations, i.e., in resignation. (c.) In submission to his law, i.e., in obedience. Such is the nature of his love.
II. The evidences of the love of God. They are twofold. 1. Our own consciousness.
2. Its effects. (a.) Acquiescence in his truth. (b.) In what he does. (c.) Devotion to the service. (d.) Zeal for his glory.
Men are apt to distress themselves and puzzle others by a too strict analysis of their feelings. They endeavor to determine whether their love is disinterested. They do not act thus in other cases. No son asks these questions of his heart in reference to his parents, nor any parent in reference to his child. For metaphysical theology is apt to produce metaphysical religion. It is enough that we fear, delight in, desire to obey and to honor God.
III. The excellence of this love.
1. It is excellent because it includes all other excellence. The love of God comprehends in it the love of all that is good and the hatred of all that is evil.
2. It of necessity leads to all that is good or right—to obedience towards God—to the faithful discharge of all our duties towards our fellow-men—to all right efforts to promote God's glory and the good of his creatures.
3. Because it exalts our nature by bringing us into communion with the infinite God. It raises us up to our original status in the order of created beings.
4. Because it renders us supremely blessed. It fills all our capacity of enjoyments. Men embark their all on the objects of their affections. If they love the world, they can secure only the happiness which the world gives. If they love God, they have all the happiness which that love can give. "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." This, therefore, is the great command.
IV. The means of promoting this love.
It cannot be forced. It cannot be procured by any effort of the will. It is the gift of God's Spirit. We must do as we would to cultivate love to a parent.
1. We must abstain from offending him. 2. Endeavor in all things to do his will. 3. Cultivate fellowship with him by meditation, reading, prayer, public and private worship, and by all other means.
CXXXVIII. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Pet. 1:8
[May 24th, 1863.]
The Scriptures divide men into two classes, the good and the bad; the righteous and the unrighteous; men of the world and children of God; carnal and spiritual. Of course there is great difference of character among those included under each general division. Not all men of the world are of the same moral character. But as to the great point, there is no difference. All not the children of God are the children of the evil one. All who do not belong to the kingdom of light belong to the kingdom of darkness. Under the gospel, the distinction which supersedes all others, and determines the status of every man in the sight of God, and decides his destiny forever, is whether he loves the Lord Jesus Christ or not, whether he lives for Christ or for the world. Blessings are pronounced upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ—in sincerity; and "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maranatha." 1 Cor. 16:22. There must be a reason for this. There must be some adequate ground for pronouncing a blessing upon those who love Christ, and the curse of God upon all who do not love him. That reason is that not to love
Christ is the greatest of all crimes, and love to him includes all the excellence of which we are susceptible.
I. What is love? II. What are the grounds of love for Christ? III. What are the fruits of that love?
I. What is love?
No word in our language is more comprehensive and difficult of explanation. It is here, as in most cases, all true knowledge comes from experience. We can not know until we have felt. Setting aside the improper application of the word when used in reference to inanimate or irrational objects, it is to be remarked, 1. That love in the Scripture sense of the word, is an emotion, such as joy, fear, anger, an ebullition of feeling. 2. It is not simply an affection in the sense of a conscious state of the mind. Love may exist where there is no present or conscious exercise. A child loves its parent, a parent a child, a sister a brother, when their minds are engaged with other objects, and their feelings are called forth in other directions.
3. Love can no more be defined, than can matter, or spirit. You can only say what it is not, and what are its manifestations. Can any one say what maternal love is? It is not an emotion; it is not a feeling; it is not an affection. It is something which lies back of all these, an instinct, a law. It is that which makes a mother delight in her child; which leads her to seek its good; which makes her live for it, labor for it, and suffer for it, and do all this gladly without any thought of a return.
So also love to Christ is not an emotion, or a feeling. It is that in the soul which makes it delight in Christ; which leads it to prefer the honor and interests of Christ to all other objects; and which leads us to live, labor, suffer and die for him gladly.
II. The grounds of love.
1. Excellence of the object. 2. Suitableness to our necessities. 3. Relation to us.
III. Fruits of love.
1. Joy unspeakable. 2. Superiority to the World. 3. Holiness.
CXXXIX. Religious Joy and Despondency
[March 19th, 1854.]
I. The general nature of joy.
Joy is either a transient emotion, or a permanent, cheerful, and happy frame of mind. It enters into the nature of hope, insomuch as hope is always attended with joy; but it differs from hope inasmuch as the object of the one is future, and of the other present. Worldly joy is that which arises from the possession and expectation of worldly good. Religious joy is that which comes from the expectation or possession of spiritual good. Sorrow and despondency bear the same relation to each other that joy and hope do. The one arises from the experience of present evil, the other from the expectation of future evil. Sorrow enters into the nature of despondency, as joy does into the nature of hope.
II. Sources or causes of joy and despondency.
1. Natural temperament.
(a.) The fact is undeniable that there is a constitutional difference among men in this respect. Some dispositions are cheerful; others are sad or desponding. Some are inclined to be hopeful; others are always anticipating evil. So some men are contemplative; others active. Some amiable; others morose.
(b.) The natural temperament is not changed by regeneration. The same disposition, when natural, which characterized the man before conversion, or as a natural man, more or less characterizes his religious exercises. This is the case unless the measure of divine grace be so great as to infuse, as it were, a new nature as well as a new heart into the soul of the convert.
2. Another source is the state of the body.
(a.) The fact is undeniable that the state of the soul, as to its emotions, is intimately connected with that of the body. Exhilarating drinks, gas, atmosphere, the depressing influence of disease.
(b.) Besides this general fact, experience teaches that in reference to religious joy and despondency, the connection between the soul and body is not less intimate. This is proved by the fact that physical remedies often produce religious joy or remove despondency; by the fact that men pass from the one state to the other without any rational, as distinguished from physical, cause; and from the periodical nature of these changes.
3. Another source of these emotional frames is that which is suited to their nature; i.e., the possession of good or the experience or dread of evil.
With regard to joy, (a.) It is the fruit of the Spirit. (b.) It is the effect of faith. (c.) It has the blessings of providence and redemption for its sources and objects. (d.) The assurance of God's favor, presence and protection. (e.) The person and glory of Christ. (f.) The glories and blessedness of heaven.
With regard to sorrow and despondency. Sorrow is natural and proper under a sense of our sins. But despondency is a form of unbelief, and is always sinful, so far as it is not the effect of natural temperament or physical condition.