Sermons of Christmas Evans Part 16

Here is the testimony of two credible witnesses, a sufficient number to attest the truth of our Lord's resurrection; who testified to nothing but what they had personally witnessed, and knew to be fact; and delivered their testimony in simple and unambiguous language, that could not well be misunderstood.

While the women went to inform the disciples of what they had seen and heard, "behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done." And what was done? What can be the testimony of these enemies of Christ concerning his resurrection? That "an angel, whose countenance was like lightning, and his garments white as snow, descended from heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it;" which so terrified them that they "became as dead men."

To confirm these testimonies, our blessed Lord himself "appeared unto many after his resurrection, who were witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews, and at Jerusalem; and how he was slain, and hanged on a tree; and how G.o.d raised him up the third day, and showed him openly; not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before of G.o.d; even to the disciples, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead; whom he commanded to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he who is ordained of G.o.d to be the judge of quick and dead"-"to whom he showed himself alive after his pa.s.sion by many infallible proofs; being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of G.o.d."

Here we may observe, that he appeared to those who knew him best, and gave them satisfactory and incontestible evidence of his resurrection.

And he appeared, not only to the apostles, but to more than five hundred brethren at once. We have an account of his appearing at ten or eleven different times. On these occasions, he conversed with his disciples, reminded them of what he had said to them before his crucifixion, showed them his hands and his feet, and besought them to touch arid examine his person, and satisfy themselves as to his ident.i.ty. So that they had ample opportunity, and every facility that could be desired, for ascertaining whether he was indeed Jesus of Nazareth, their master, who was lately crucified before their eyes.

It was therefore with great power that the apostles bore witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And the Holy Spirit corroborated their testimony. Our faith in this distinctive doctrine of Christianity rests on a Divine foundation. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of G.o.d is greater." "And the apostles went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord also working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." In a few weeks after the resurrection of their Master, their testimony concerning it was received and firmly believed by many thousands, not in some distant and desert part of the world, but in Jerusalem, where he had been crucified.

How n.o.bly the apostle Peter reasoned on this subject when he said:-"Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of G.o.d among you, by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which G.o.d did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of G.o.d, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom G.o.d hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."

Such was the evidence of our Lord's resurrection, that among those who were living at the time, and even those of them who so strenuously opposed the gospel, it appears to have been scarcely doubted. Pilate, in a letter to Tiberius, the Roman emperor, said, that Jesus, being raised from the dead, was believed by many to be G.o.d; whereupon the Roman Senate expressed no doubt of his resurrection, but debated the question of receiving him as one of the G.o.ds of Rome; which, however, was overruled by Divine Providence, for the honor of Christianity; for he who is higher than heaven, and the heaven of heavens, was not to be ranked with dumb idols upon earth.

II. Let us now consider the fact of our Lord's resurrection, and its bearing upon the great truths of our holy religion.

This most transcendent of miracles is sometimes attributed to the agency of the Father; who, as the Lawgiver, had arrested and imprisoned in the grave the sinner's Surety, manifesting at once his benevolence and his holiness; but by liberating the prisoner, proclaimed that the debt was cancelled, and the claims of the law satisfied. It is sometimes attributed to the Son himself; who had power both to lay down his life, and to take it again; and the merit of whose sacrifice ent.i.tled him to the honor of thus a.s.serting his dominion over death, on behalf of his people. And sometimes it is attributed to the Holy Spirit, as in the following words of the apostle:-"He was declared to be the Son of G.o.d with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

_The resurrection of Christ is clear and incontestible proof of his Divinity_.

He had declared himself equal with G.o.d the Father, and one with him in nature and in glory. He had told the people that he would prove the truth of this declaration, by rising from the grave three days after his death. And when the morning of the third day began to dawn upon the sepulchre, lo! there was an earthquake, and the dead body arose, triumphant over the power of corruption.

This was the most stupendous miracle ever exhibited on earth, and its language is:-"Behold, ye persecuting Jews and murdering Romans, the proof of my G.o.dhead! Behold, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, the power and glory of your victim! I am he that liveth, and was dead; and lo! I am alive for evermore! I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star! Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am G.o.d, and besides me there is none else!"

_Our Lord's resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the truth of Christianity_.

Pilate wrote the t.i.tle of Christ in three languages on the cross; and many have written excellent and unanswerable things, on the truth of the Christian Scriptures, and the reality of the Christian religion; but the best argument that has ever been written on the subject, was written by the invisible hand of the Eternal Power, in the rocks of our Saviour's sepulchre. This confounds the skeptic, settles the controversy, and affords an ample and sure foundation for all them that believe.

If any one asks whether Christianity is from heaven or of men, we point him to the "tomb hewn out of the rock," and say-"There is your answer!

Jesus was crucified, and laid in that cave; but on the morning of the third day, it was found empty; our Master had risen and gone forth from the grave victorious."

This is the pillar that supports the whole fabric of our religion; and he who attempts to pull it down, like Samson, pulls down ruin upon himself.

"If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins;" but if the fact is clearly proved, then Christianity is unquestionably true, and its disciples are safe.

This is the ground on which the apostle stood, and a.s.serted the divinity of his faith:-"Moreover, I testify unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you; which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."

_The resurrection of Jesus is the most stupendous manifestation of the power of G.o.d_, _and the pledge of eternal life to his people_.

The apostle calls it "the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead." This is a river overflowing its banks-an idea too large for language. Let us look at it a moment.

Where do we find "the exceeding greatness of his power?" In the creation of the world? in the Seven Stars and Orion? in the strength of Behemoth and Leviathan? No! In the deluge? in the fiery destruction of Sodom? in the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host? in hurling Nebuchadnezzar like Lucifer from the political firmament? No! It is the power which he wrought in Christ. When? When he healed the sick? when he raised the dead? when he cast out devils? when he blasted the fruitless fig-tree?

when he walked upon the waters of the Galilee? No! It was "when he raised him from the dead." Then the Father placed the sceptre in the hand of the Son, "and set him above all princ.i.p.ality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church."

This is the source of our spiritual life. The same power that raised the dead body of our Lord from the grave, quickens the soul of the believer from the death in trespa.s.ses and sins. His riven tomb is a fountain of living waters; whereof if a man drink, he shall never die. His raised and glorified body is the sun, whence streams eternal light upon our spirits; the light of life, that never can be quenched.

Nor here does the influence of his resurrection end. He who raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies. His resurrection is the pledge and the pattern of ours. "Because he liveth we shall live also." "He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." We hear him speaking in the prophet:-"Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead."

How divinely does the apostle speak of the resurrection-body of the saints! "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pa.s.s the saying that is written-Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto G.o.d, that giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Ever since the fall in Eden, man is born to die. He lives to die. He eats and drinks, sleeps and wakes, to die. Death, like a dark steel-clad warrior, stands ever before us; and his gigantic shadow comes continually between us and happiness. But Christ hath "abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." He was born in Bethlehem, that he might die on Calvary. He was made under the law, that he might bear the direst penalty of the law. He lived thirty-three years, sinless among sinners, that he might offer himself a sin-offering for sinners upon the cross. Thus he "became obedient unto death," that he might destroy the power of death; and on the third morning, a mighty angel, rolling away the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, makes the very door of Death's castle the throne whence he proclaims "the resurrection and the life."

The Hero of our salvation travelled into Death's dominion, took possession of the whole territory on our behalf, and returning laden with spoils, ascended to the heaven of heavens. He went to the palace, seized the tyrant, and wrested away his sceptre. He descended into the prison-house, knocked off the fetters of the captives; and when he came up again, left the door of every cell open, that they might follow him.

He has gone over into our promised inheritance, and his glory illuminates the mountains of immortality; and through the telescope which he has bequeathed us, we "see the land that is very far off."

I recollect reading in the writings of Flavel this sentiment-that the souls in paradise wait with intense desire for the reanimation of their dead bodies, that they may be united to them in bliss for ever. O, what rapture there shall be among the saints, when those frail vessels, from which they escaped with such a struggle, as they foundered in the gulf of death, shall come floating in, with the spring-tide of the resurrection, to the harbor of immortality! How glorious the reunion, when the seeds of affliction and death are left behind in the tomb! Jacob no longer lame, nor Moses slow of speech, nor Lazarus covered with sores, nor Paul troubled with a thorn in the flesh!

"It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." The glory of the body of Christ is far above our present conception. When he was transfigured on Tabor, his face shone like the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. This is the pattern shown to his people in the mount. This is the model after which the bodies of believers shall be fashioned in the resurrection. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."

In conclusion:-The angel said to the women-"Go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him; lo! I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre, with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word."

Brethren! followers of Jesus! be ye also preachers of a risen Saviour!

Go quickly-there is no time for delay-and publish the glad tidings to sinners! Tell them that Christ died for their sins, and rose again for their justification, and ascended to the right hand of the Father to make intercession for them, and is now able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto G.o.d by him!

And you, impenitent and unbelieving men! hear this blessed message of salvation! Do you intend ever to embrace the proffered mercy of the gospel? Make haste! Procrastination is ruin! Now is the accepted time!

O, fly to the throne of grace! Time is hastening; you will soon be swallowed up in eternity! May the Lord have mercy upon you, and rouse you from your indifference and sloth! It is my delight to invite you to Christ; but I feel more pleasure and more confidence in praying for you to G.o.d. I have besought and entreated you, by every argument and every motive in my power; but you are yet in your sins, and rushing on toward h.e.l.l. Yet I will not give you up in despair. If I cannot persuade you to flee from the wrath to come, I will intercede with G.o.d to have mercy upon you for the sake of his beloved Son. If I cannot prevail in the pulpit, I will try to prevail at the throne!

SERMON XIV.

THE ASCENSION.

"_Whom the heaven must receive until the times of rest.i.tution of all things_."-Acts iii. 21.

THESE words are part of St. Peter's sermon to the people of Jerusalem, on occasion of the cure of the lame man, at the "Beautiful Gate" of the temple, shortly after the day of Pentecost.

This, and the sermon recorded in the preceding chapter, were perhaps the most effective ever delivered on earth. As the fruit of Peter's ministry in these two discourses, about five thousand souls were converted to Christianity. {205}

It is recorded, that, on the day of Pentecost, the hearers "were p.r.i.c.ked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles-Men and brethren, what shall we do?" An inquiry which indicates the utmost solicitude and distress. A sense of sin overwhelmed them, especially of their guilt in rejecting the Son of G.o.d; and they pressed around the preacher and his colleagues with this earnest interrogative.

The answer was ready. True ministers of Christ are never at a loss in answering the inquiries of awakened sinners. When the Philippian jailer came trembling to Paul and Silas, and fell down before them, exclaiming-"What must I do to be saved?" "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," was the prompt and appropriate answer.

So Peter, on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand conscience-smitten and heart-broken hearers cried out under the sermon-"What shall we do?"

immediately replied-"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our G.o.d shall call."

And so in the sermon whence we have taken our text, when he saw that the truth had found its way to the understanding, and the conscience, and the heart-that many were awakened, and convinced of sin-he exhorted them to repentance and faith in Christ, as the condition of salvation:-"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of rest.i.tution of all things."

The doctrine of this text is-the necessity of Christ's return to heaven till the consummation of his mediatorial work.

It is generally admitted, that the twenty-second psalm has particular reference to Christ. This is evident from his own appropriation of the first verse upon the cross:-"My G.o.d! my G.o.d! why hast thou forsaken me?"

The t.i.tle of that psalm is-"Aijeleth Shahar;" which signifies-A hart, or-the hind of the morning. The striking metaphors which it contains are descriptive of Messiah's peculiar sufferings. He is the hart, or hind of the morning, hunted by the black prince, with his h.e.l.l-hounds-by Satan, and all his allies. The "dogs," the "lions," the "unicorns," and the "strong bulls of Bashan," with their devouring teeth, and their terrible horns, pursued him from Bethlehem to Calvary. They beset him in the manger, gnashed upon him in the garden, and wellnigh tore him to pieces upon the cross. And still they persecute him in his cause, and in the persons and interests of his people.

The faith of the church antic.i.p.ated the coming of Christ, "like a roe or a young hart," with the dawn of the day promised in Eden; and we hear her exclaiming in the Canticles-"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills!" She heard him announce his advent in the promise-"Lo, I come to do thy will, O G.o.d!"

and with prophetic eye, saw him leaping from the mountains of eternity to the mountains of time, and skipping from hill to hill throughout the land of Palestine, going about doing good. In the various types and shadows of the law, she beheld him "standing by the wall, looking forth at the windows, showing himself through the lattice;" and then she sung-"Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like the roe or the young hart upon the mountains of Bether!" b.l.o.o.d.y sacrifices revealed him to her view, going down to the "vineyards of red wine;" whence she traced him to the meadows of gospel ordinances, where "he feedeth among the lilies"-to "the gardens of cuc.u.mbers," and "the beds of spices;" and then she sung to him again-"Make haste"-or, flee away-"my beloved! be thou like the roe or the young hart upon the mountains of spices!"

Thus she longed to see him, first "on the mountain of Bether," and then "on the mountain of spices." On both mountains she saw him eighteen hundred years ago, and on both she may still trace the footsteps of his majesty and his mercy. The former he hath tracked with his own blood, and his path upon the latter is redolent of frankincense and myrrh.

Bether signifies division. This is the craggy mountain of Calvary; whither the "Hind of the morning" fled, followed by all the wild beasts of the forest, and the hunting-dogs of h.e.l.l; summoned to the pursuit, and urged on, by the prince of perdition; till the victim, in his agony, sweat great drops of blood-where he was terribly crushed between the cliffs, and dreadfully mangled by sharp and ragged rocks-where he was seized by Death, the great greyhound of the bottomless pit-whence he leaped the precipice, without breaking a bone; and sunk in the dead sea, sunk to its utmost depth, and saw no corruption.