Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

and that therefore you are in danger. You may perhaps be lovely, and amiable, and honourable, in the estimation of your fellow-mortals; and you may be perhaps wholly unsullied and unstained by those vices in which multitudes flagrantly and flagitiously indulge: but if it be sin to admit and cherish in the heart passions which are unholy and impure, are you not guilty? If it be sin not to love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, are you not guilty? If it be sin not to render your high faculties and endowments practically and exclusively to his praise and his glory, are you not guilty? If it be sin to have neglected the great salvation, and to have refused to the divine realities of eternity the paramount and pre-eminent supremacy and government of the thoughts and the life—are you not guilty? It is, my hearers, to no purpose that you play the part of the sophist, that you avoid, that you qualify, that you object, and that you lay the flattering unction to your souls. Your consciences dare not-if they are not so seared and so perverted, that they cannot utter a single whisper of truth within you-dare not, in justice, deny the tremendous allegation, that you are guilty before God. My dear brethren, I state the fact most distinctly to every one now in the presence of God; and in the name of that God before whose tribunal, in a brief space of time, you will be called upon for judgment, I tell you, you are in need of mercy ; and that, if you receive it not, you will be absolutely, eternally, and unchangeably undone.

We will now observe, secondly, that GOD HAS PROVIDED A METHOD BY WHICH MEN MAY OBTAIN MERCY. The Apostle, you observe, states that he personally had obtained it; and the spirit of the text implies that that same blessing might easily be applied to others. This, my brethren, is an animating and a delightful truth indeed; a truth which it is the great object of all revelation distinctly to state and to impress; and a truth which is emphatically "glad tidings of great joy, to you and to all people." There are two facts with regard to the method of mercy, to which I have now to request your serious regard; by which I trust the whole matter will be faithfully and sufficiently explained.

The first fact is, that mercy is provided through the atonement, and the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You observe that the Apostle, in immediate connexion with, and as an illustration of, the spirit of the text, beautifully exhibits in the subsequent verses the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour. "This," says he, "is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners:" and then he states, in the following verse, how it is that the work of Christ becomes applicable to individual men; it is by "believing in him to life everlasting." The Son of God, the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, was given in "the fulness of time," that upon the cross of Calvary he might offer an atoning sacrifice for sin, the merit of which, when applied to his people through the appointed instrumentality of faith, should sanctify, should justify, and should save, in perfect consistency with the honour of that justice insulted by sin, and to the anathema of which, without satisfaction, man must always be exposed.

You are aware, my brethren, how many times in the writings of the Apostle

we have a distinct development of the doctrine of regeneration, to which your attention is now called. We are told in one place, that "God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." We are reminded again, that, "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a good man some will even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And again, that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man who doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith, speaketh this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is the word of faith which we preach: that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The Apostle, for himself, you are aware, rushed (as it were) to the sacrifice of Christ, under the sense of his own need, as that upon which he would repose with absolute confidence of soul. The Apostle, on a memorable occasion, when he had been referring to the numerous privileges in which in former times he had boasted, and in which he had been accustomed to delight, exclaims, in elevated strains," But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Behold, my brethren, the mode of mercy in the sacrifice of the Saviour. It was on him, when on the cross of Calvary, that there fell the fire that justice had lighted up to desolate when Adam fell: it had run along the surface of the earth, finding fresh fuel in every folly, and in every crime, of man; and which, had it not been for the interposing power of his divine sacrifice, would have consumed the habitations of our race to ashes, and would have wrapped the universe in flames: and therefore, my brethren, that redemption and mercy are to be obtained through the sacrifice of Christ alone. Men may embrace other creeds if they will; they may resort to other refuges if they will; and they may institute other pleas if they will; but to be saved from the wrath that is to come, excepting by Him who died on the ignominious tree, is utterly impossible. "Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.". Neither is there any

other name under heaven given among men, whereby they can be saved, but the name of Jesus." "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life." "He that believeth not shall be damned."

Secondly, my brethren, connected with the mode of mercy, to which we now call your attention, is, that the mercy provided by atonement and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, is sufficient for the very vilest of our race. This, you remark, the Apostle argues from in consequence of circumstances in his own experience and history. "Christ Jesus," says he, 66 came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief." And as, notwithstanding he was "the chief of sinners," he had yet been permitted to obtain mercy, the general conclusion intended to be established by him is, that there is mercy for the chief of sinners. It is, you observe, in this reference also, that in the fourth verse he says, “The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." It was also in this reference that in the sixteenth verse he says, "Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy "-and I request your special attention to the perpetuity of this passage-" I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." His pardon being received, although he had been, according to his own acknowledgment, so guilty and so vile, is to be regarded as a pattern, as a proof, and as a presage that there is no guilt which man can commit, in any age, or under any state of the world, that is to be regarded beyond the power of the atoning merit of Him who was crucified; and that whosoever-no matter by what crimes and by what blasphemies he may have been branded" that whosoever believeth on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ should be saved."

The proof of this gracious and delightful truth is multiplied in many a page of the sacred Scriptures. Hear the language of ancient prophecy: "Who is this," says the prophet, "that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Hear the record of the Saviour himself in the days of his flesh: "The Son of man came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance;" "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Hear the record of his Apostle: He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin," "He is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him." Remember, my brethren, all that is stated in the Sacred Word with regard to his divinity -remember all that is stated with regard to his mediation, as deriving its efficacy from that divinity. Every part of this Sacred Volume is one testimony of the omnipotence of mercy; one demonstration, that it is impossible for any who are found in the hands of Jesus, to be lost. Yea, my hearers, I tell you, doubt what you will, doubt not that Jesus is omnipotent to redeem. Doubt that the sun-beam must chase the shadows of the night, and pervade and gild the firmament with the radiant splendour of the day: doubt that the balmy and sweet spring will hush and succeed the wintry tempest, and summer put forth foliage to clothe creation with the garments of beauty and loveliness: doubt, if you will, any established ordinance of heaven, or the regular revolutions of the earth: but doubt not, I repeat, that Christ is almighty to redeem. Standing

upon the impregnable rock of his promises, I now proclaim, in all the gladness of a buoyant and grateful heart, in the personal retrospection of his grace, that, as true as that there is a God, and as true as that that God cannot lie, so true is it, that, if you will but believe upon the atoning sacrifice of the cross, you shall obtain mercy, and find the salvation of your souls.

It is to be observed, thirdly, as we proposed, that MERCY, WHEN OBTAINED BY MAN, MUST JUSTLY BE THE SUBJECT OF GRATEFUL ADMIRATION. It is clear that the feelings of the Apostle in regard to the kindness of the Saviour towards him, were those of grateful astonishment. "O wonder! I obtained mercy; even I, the chief of sinners, even I obtained mercy! How marvellous the work-how worthy of eternal admiration and praise, that free and sovereign grace, by which I became what I am!” There have been, in every period of the world, many who have obtained mercy, who must have regarded their privilege with emotion similar to that of the great Apostle; and I trust there are many in this assembly who have obtained mercy (and I trust that multitudes will receive this mercy) who cannot do otherwise than express this emotion in its most ardent and fervent form. Yet, for the purpose of further impression, both on ourselves and their minds, we must notice several different reasons, in connexion with the great change before us, by which we have cause for grateful admiration and joy.

And, first, this grateful admiration is properly excited in contemplating the nature of the change itself. When we obtain mercy, we undergo a high and wondrous transformation, which, when we contemplate it, must excite grateful amazement in every sensitive and enlightened mind. What, my brethren, is that change? A change from alienation to friendship; a change from condemnation to justification; a change from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; a change from death to life; a change from a state of wrath and terror to a state of favour and of love.

There are two or three cases in which the Apostle, in addressing different churches, reminds them of the nature of their change, in the spirit of contrast: and, for myself, I have never been able to read those sublime and beautiful statements, without tears of melting tenderness: let me commend them to your regard in the same spirit. Take the record of the Apostle which he presents to the Corinthian church, in 1 Corinthians, vi. 9—11: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Take, again, another statement which we find in Ephesians, ii., “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom, also, we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved

us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus." And again: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus, ye, who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." And once more, take the record of the Apostle Peter, in 1 Peter, ii. 9, 10: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Which, in time past, were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

My Christian brethren and sisters, apply these statements to yourselves; remember what you were, and what you are: and when you contemplate the change which has been wrought upon you, are you not, even now, in contemplating its nature, lost and overwhelmed in astonishment and joy; made, as you are, the subjects of a high transformation, which renders you new creatures in a lost world? It is with wonder, then, in this respect, that we must exclaim, "I obtained mercy."

And again, my brethren, it will be observed, that this grateful admiration is also rightly excited by contemplating the circumstances under which the change was accomplished. The circumstances under which the Apostle of the Gentiles was caused to receive mercy, are those of a very singular and extraordinary kind. You are aware, at the time of his conversion, he was engaged in a relentless malignant crusade against the interests of the infant Church of Christ. "Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter"-for such is the description introducing the event, in Acts, ix.-"Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near to Damascus ;"-he was close to the spot where he was about to rage and let loose the hell-hounds of his fury; and now mark-the eagle was struck at the very moment he was about to pounce; the lion was seized, and tamed, and hushed, in the very delirium and madness of his thirst for blood:-" and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him, stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no one. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was

« EdellinenJatka »