Sermons of Christmas Evans Part 18

The world is the great castle of Belial, containing three temples; "the l.u.s.t of the flesh, the l.u.s.t of the eye, and the pride of life;" in one or another of which every unconverted soul is a worshipper. But Jesus has demolished that castle, and abolished the service of its several temples.

The world has two modes of warfare. Sometimes it puts on the apparent mildness of a lamb, and allures to destruction with the song of a siren.

Again it leaps upon its prey like an angry lion, or pursues its victim like an exasperated dragon. Its frown has destroyed thousands; its smile, tens of thousands.

A certain man has laid it down as a rule, that all must take the world as it is. But all general rules have their exceptions. Christ is the exception here. Christ conquered the world. The Prince of this world met him in the wilderness, when he was alone, in poverty and distress-weary, hungry, and thirsty-and offered him all the kingdoms of the world, for which have been fought so many battles. But Jesus refused the offer; choosing rather to be poor, that we might be made rich. He detected the lion in his affectation of the lamb, and stripped from the angel of darkness his garment of light.

Then the enemy a.s.sumed another aspect-a.s.sailed him with the rage of a wild beast, and the malice of a fiend. No sooner had he preached his first sermon, than there was an attempt to hurl him down the precipice.

"The archers sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him." Judea became to him a mountain of leopards, and humanity seemed infernalized.

He was stigmatized as a hypocrite-an impostor-a demoniac. He was falsely accused before rulers, and insult was added to perjury. "But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty G.o.d of Jacob." "He was tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin." "He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in his mouth." He went through the wilderness without contracting any of its defilement.

But this was comparatively a small part of his victory. A more glorious conquest of the world was achieved by his death upon the cross, and his resurrection from the grave. It is here we behold him "glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength," trampling the hosts of h.e.l.l, till his raiment is red with blood. It is here we behold him "spoiling princ.i.p.alities and powers, and making a show of them openly-triumphing over them" in his atonement. It is here we behold the Prince of this world cast out and judged. The Prince of Peace has broken his sceptre, demolished his throne, and established upon the ruins of his empire an everlasting kingdom of grace.

Caiaphas rejoiced that Christ was under the king's seal in the grave; but his unholy joy was brief as "the crackling of thorns under a pot." At the dawning of the third day, Caesar's seal is broken, the stone rolled away, the tomb deserted of its occupant, Caiaphas' feast of joy turned to lamentation and mourning, and the eternal power and G.o.dhead of him whom they crucified engraved for ever on the rent rocks of Calvary.

Alexander conquered the world, but did not live to enjoy the fruits of his victory. But the Captain of our salvation, though he was dead, is alive for evermore. He shall prosecute his conquests, and put all enemies under his feet, and retain his dominion for ever. "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." He lives to confer upon his people the riches which he procured for them by his death. He lives to defend his redeemed, and draw all men unto himself. He lives to perpetuate in the church the peace which he bequeathed to her in his last will and testament.

A servant of Julian the Apostate asked one of the martyrs-"What is thy G.o.d, the carpenter, doing now in heaven?" He answered-"Making a coffin for thy master!" Julian was soon afterward mortally wounded by an arrow from one of the Scythians. When he was expiring, he waved his hand sorrowfully, and exclaimed-"O Galilean, thou hast conquered!"

"Be of good cheer," therefore, ye trembling disciples! Christ has vanquished all your enemies. Ye are more than conquerors, through him that loved you, and gave himself for you. "In those things wherein they were proud, he was above them." When Pharaoh exulted to overtake Israel, shut in between Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon, with the sea before them, Jehovah was higher than the Egyptian. His sight was clearer-his arm was stronger-his purpose was firmer. He said to his people-"Stand still! you are not able to raise this rampart. I must do it for you. I will divide the sea, and lead you through on dry land, and drown those who have drowned so many of your infants. Every one of them shall perish, from the king to the last footman." Thus the Prince of Peace has triumphed over your foes, and you may conquer through faith in his conquest.

"Whatsoever is born of G.o.d overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

John in the Apocalypse saw the army of the victors-a great mult.i.tude, out of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues-standing before the throne, and before the Lamb; clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and crying with a loud voice-"Salvation to our G.o.d, who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb!" And one of the elders asked him-"Who are these, and whence came they?" But so wonderfully were they changed, since he saw them on earth-in exile, in prison, in torture and death-that he confessed he knew them not. Then answered the elder-"These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of G.o.d, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and G.o.d shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

Thus, ye saints, shall you "overcome by the blood of the Lamb;" "for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world;" and your sorrows shall be lost in unspeakable joy, and your disgrace in eternal glory!

SERMON XVI.

THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL.

"_According to the glorious gospel of the blessed G.o.d_."-1 Tim. i.

11.

THE being of G.o.d, and some of his attributes, are revealed to us by natural religion. The proof is seen in all his works, commending itself to the reason and conscience even of pagan nations. "Because that which may be known of G.o.d is manifest in them, for G.o.d hath showed it unto them; for the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and G.o.dhead; so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew G.o.d, they glorified him not as G.o.d, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." {223}

Paul's sermon in Athens was founded on the revelations of natural religion:-"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superst.i.tious; for as I pa.s.sed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN G.o.d; whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. G.o.d that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." {224}

But natural religion, though it reveals the being and attributes of G.o.d, cannot teach the way of salvation, nor lead us in the path of holiness.

It may excite a thousand fears, not one of which can it allay; and suggest a thousand questions, not one of which can it answer. It leaves us, with the deist, in a region of doubt and perplexity; and neither of its four oracles-creation, providence, reason, and conscience-can satisfy the soul that inquires, "What must I do to be saved?" Its light affords us no guidance in the path of virtue; no certain indications of duty, either to G.o.d or man. Our understandings are so darkened, our wills so perverted, our affections so carnal, that we can depend upon no suggestions of external nature, or of reason and conscience, for the regulation of our moral conduct. G.o.d, therefore, of his infinite mercy, has given us his written word-a perfect rule both of faith and practice-a law by which we ought to live, and by which we shall be judged-a revelation of the mystery which had been hidden for ages, but is now made manifest to the saints, dispelling the fears of conscience, soothing the sorrows of the heart, and bringing life and immortality to light.

Divine revelation, though infinitely above human reason, does not in the least oppose it. That G.o.d should clearly make known his will to man, is so far from being contrary to reason, that we may truly say, nothing is more reasonable. The deductions of reason from the insufficiency of natural religion strongly indicate the necessity of such a revelation; and as to its possibility, we know that there can be no impossibility on the part of G.o.d to give it, and there is no impossibility on the part of man to receive it. G.o.d is able to communicate his will to his creatures in any way he pleases. He can stamp it on the mind, and make us know that it is he who speaks to us. But he has chosen another method. He has given us a record of his will in the Holy Scriptures. "G.o.d who, at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip."

Is the gospel the truth of G.o.d or not? Much has been written on this question. The arguments that have been advanced in support of the affirmative have never been overthrown, and never can be, by all the skeptics in the world. The revelation of the method of salvation was given in the garden of Eden to our first parents. Since that period great talents have been employed, talents worthy of a better cause, in ridiculing the Bible; but to very little purpose. The character of the Book of G.o.d stands firm as a mountain amid the clouds, the thunders, and the whirlwinds; and all the opposition of infidels and blasphemers, instead of tarnishing, have only brightened its l.u.s.tre; and from every trial through which it has pa.s.sed, it has come forth as fine gold from the furnace. The religions of the world, the vices and virtues of the world, all its wisdom and sagacity, and all its power and authority, in league with the demons of the pit, have not been able to destroy the gospel, or stay the wheels of its chariot. Though they were headed by the prince of darkness-the prince of this world-the prince of the power of the air, that worked mightily in the children of disobedience, in Palestine, in Greece and Rome, and all over the world; yet the gospel has proved triumphant. Its enemies, human and infernal, may wonder and be amazed at its prosperity; but let them remember that its author is the living G.o.d, and liveth for ever. Though its ministers have been persecuted and imprisoned, stoned, sawn asunder, slain with the sword, and burnt in the flames; yet the word of the Lord is not bound, but is freely preached in many parts of the world, and its doctrines and practices maintained in their purity by mult.i.tudes of Christians, notwithstanding the most dreadful attempts that have been made at different times to corrupt and destroy them. "For all flesh is as gra.s.s, and all the glory of man as the flower of gra.s.s. The gra.s.s withereth and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."

We would now call your attention to the Divine authority of the gospel, and its characteristic glory.

I. It is "the gospel of the blessed G.o.d"-a message from G.o.d to man-a revelation of G.o.d's gracious method of saving sinners through the death of his Son-a declaration of his sovereign love and mercy to the utterly wretched and perishing children of men. It testifieth of the coming of the promised Messiah; of the glory of his person as G.o.d-man; of the excellency of his offices, as our Prophet, Priest, and King; the honor which he has conferred upon the law that we have violated, and the satisfaction which he has given to the Divine justice that we have insulted. It records the sufferings and death of Christ, his victory over the powers of darkness, his resurrection from the grave, his ascension to glory, his session at the right hand of the Father, and his intercession for sinners on the ground of his vicarious sufferings; and predicts his second coming in glory, on the clouds of heaven, to judge the quick and the dead.

I do not mean to say that there is no other truth necessary to be preached and believed, but all the truths of Divine revelation are immediately connected with the doctrine of the cross. This is the testimony that the Father hath testified of his Son. This is the glad tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people. This is the faithful saying, or true report, that is worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save the chief of sinners. This is "the glorious gospel of the blessed G.o.d;" emanating from his spirit, and conducting to his kingdom. Let us consider the evidences of its Divine authority.

The perfections of G.o.d, in some degree, are manifested in all his works and words; his character is stamped on every thing that his hands hath formed, and his mouth hath spoken; so that there is a vast difference between the work and language of G.o.d, and the work and language of men.

This is especially the case in reference to the Christian revelation. It is "the gospel of the blessed G.o.d," and bears throughout the impress of its author. When John saw the Lamb in the midst of the throne, he had no difficulty in determining that he was a proper object of adoration and praise. As soon as any one sees the stone with seven eyes laid before Zerubabel, he knows that it is not a common stone. When you look to the book of the firmament, the fingers of the Creator's eternal power and G.o.dhead are evidently seen in the sun, the moon and the stars. So, in the Bible, we trace the same Divine hand. As often as I read it, I see eternity, with its flaming eye, gazing upon me. It unfolds to me the mysteries of creation and providence. It informs me who made, and still sustains and governs the universe. It leads me to the spring and original cause of all things; and places me immediately before the eyes of the eternal G.o.d; and I find myself, in his presence, both killed and made alive-most dreadfully oppressed, and set at perfect liberty-sunk in the valley of repentance and humiliation, and lifted upon the top of Pisgah-full of fears, and full of joy-desiring to hide myself from his sight, yet wishing to abide in the light of his countenance for ever!

I see the eye of Omniscience looking out upon me from every chapter of the Bible-from every doctrine, every precept, every promise, every ordinance of the gospel-penetrating alike the darkness and the light-searching me through and through, till I can hide nothing from its gaze-giving me a faithful representation of my conscience and my heart-making me hate myself, and confess my uncleanness, and cry out for the creation of a right spirit within me. And then I see it looking far into futurity-discovering, many hundreds of years beforehand, the smallest circ.u.mstances in the life and death of Jesus, even to the price of his betrayal, the gall mingled with his drink, and the lot cast for his vesture. How can I doubt that this is the eye of G.o.d?

Again: I see Holiness, Justice, and Truth, gazing upon me from the very heart of the gospel, like so many eyes of consuming fire. I tremble before them, like Moses before the burning bush, or Israel at the base of Sinai. Yet do I wish to behold this terrible glory, for it is mingled with milder beams of mercy. I take off my shoes, and approach that I may contemplate. "Truly, G.o.d is in this place!" I cannot live in sin under the intense blaze of his countenance. But here also I find the cleft of the Rock, even the Rock of Ages, wherein he hides me with his hand, while he makes all his goodness pa.s.s before me, and proclaims to me his name-"The Lord, the Lord G.o.d, merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty!"

"The word of G.o.d is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword; piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and discerning"-revealing-condemning-correcting-"the thoughts and intents of the heart." It unlocks my soul, and sits upon its throne; an infallible judge over all my secret imaginations, purposes, and feelings; bringing them under its own perfect law; examining them in the light of spotless holiness, inflexible justice, and eternal truth. And when I shrink from the scrutiny, overwhelmed with a sense of my corruption, and confessing my guilt with a broken and contrite heart, then it speaks to me of the boundless love of G.o.d, and the infinite merit of Christ; and "a still small voice" directs my sight to the holy of holies; where I see, through the rent vail, the King of Zion, sitting upon his throne of grace, more glorious than the ancient Shekinah upon the mercy-seat. I approach with joyful confidence, and find him invested with my own nature, "G.o.d manifest in the flesh," his royal garments red with sacrificial blood; and again I hear the still small voice-"Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace!" And when the dark mountains of tribulation rise up before me, I see their tops gilded with beams of love; and when I look into the valley of the shadow of death, I see it brightening with the footsteps of the Son of G.o.d; and when the soul sits solitary and dejected in her mortal prison, longing for the wings of a dove, that she may fly away and be at rest, she sees the eyes of her Deliverer looking through the crevices of the wall, and hears his voice at the grated window-"Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy G.o.d!"

Thus the gospel commends itself to my conscience and my heart, as "the gospel of the blessed G.o.d." But there is other, and if possible still stronger, proof of its divinity; namely, its power to renew the human soul, and reform the human character. The Earl of Rochester was a great skeptic, and one of the most witty and sarcastic men of his age. In his last sickness, he was reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah; where the prophet, in so graphic and touching a manner, describes the vicarious sufferings of Christ. It scattered all his deistical doubts, as the sun scatters the mist of the morning; led him with a broken and believing heart to the atoning Lamb of G.o.d; and converted his death-bed into a vestibule of heaven. This is not a solitary case. Thousands and millions have been, in like manner, awakened and converted through the gospel, and brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. It is "mighty through G.o.d, to the pulling down of strong-holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of G.o.d; and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"-turning men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to G.o.d, that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among all them that are sanctified through faith in Jesus.

Matthew at the custom-house, the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well, the dying malefactor upon the cross, the penitent jailor at Philippi, the blasphemous persecutor on the road to Damascus, and three thousand souls under Peter's preaching at the Pentecost, all found it "the power of G.o.d unto salvation." And still it retains its convincing and quickening virtue. Wherever it is proclaimed in its purity, and accompanied with the power of the Holy Ghost, proud and hardened sinners are p.r.i.c.ked in their hearts, and forced to cry out-"Men and brethren, what must we do?"

It answers the question. It points to the crucified and saith-"Believe and be saved!" It reconciles the enemy unto G.o.d. It makes the blasphemer a man of prayer, the sensualist a man of purity, the inebriate a man of sobriety; and where sin abounded, grace much more abounds. The dead whom Jesus quickened had no time to inquire into the mysterious process by which the work was wrought. They sprang instantly into life by the power of G.o.d. Yet the evidence of the change was clear and incontestible. So it is with the transforming effects of the gospel. We cannot rationally doubt its power to raise the soul from death in trespa.s.ses and sins. Suppose I have been long afflicted with a cancer, or have been bitten by a mad-dog, or a rattlesnake; and I find a sovereign and instantaneous remedy; but after I am cured, a skeptic calls upon me, and tries to convince me that the remedy is good for nothing, insists that it is a cheat lately invented by a villain, demands of me to prove that such things were used before the deluge, and asks me a thousand questions about the cure which Solomon could not answer; how can I look upon such a man as better than a maniac? I have tried the experiment, and found it successful; and all his pretended philosophical reasoning rings in my ears like a sounding bra.s.s, or a tinkling cymbal.

The wisdom of men has invented many remedies for the guilt and the love of sin; but the vain philosophy of the world has never, like the gospel, restored a single soul to peace, purity, and happiness. I can truly say, after the most careful self-examination, and millions more can testify the same thing, that the gospel, in the hand of the Spirit of G.o.d, has subdued the love of sin, and quenched the fire of guilt within me; and has taken away the sting of death, and the terrors of the grave. If the infidel will allow that I am a sane man, and a man of truth, what farther proof does he want that this is "the gospel of the blessed G.o.d?"

Once more: The character of G.o.d, as exhibited in the gospel, is perfect, every way worthy of himself, infinitely above any original conception of the human mind. The G.o.ds of Homer and Virgil are cruel and revengeful.

The G.o.d of Mohammed delights in pollution and crime. The G.o.d of Voltaire is a buffoon, and the G.o.d of Paine a tyrant. But the gospel represents the Deity in his true character, as the concentration and the fountain of all moral excellence.

All this evidence of the Divine authority of the gospel is corroborated by an overwhelming array of external proof. It was certainly written by the men whose names it bears. They were men of irreproachable character.

Their declarations were confirmed by the testimony of miracles, and the fulfilment of prophecy. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on Calvary, rose from the dead the third day, and ascended to heaven, according to the Scriptures. These were facts believed by the primitive Christians, and admitted by their enemies. They were received with the most perfect confidence by the immediate successors of the original witnesses; and farther corroborated by the testimony of neutrals, apostates, and the most inveterate opponents. The question therefore is settled; all is admitted that is necessary to prove that the Christian's gospel is "the gospel of the blessed G.o.d."

II. It is "the _glorious_ gospel"-emphatically and pre-eminently glorious; and this is our second topic of discourse.

It is a wonderful exhibition of the glory of G.o.d-the most perfect revelation of the Divine attributes ever granted to man-displaying the sovereign mercy of the Father, in the gift of his beloved Son; the infinite compa.s.sion of Christ, in offering himself upon the cross for our sins; and the gracious power of the Holy Spirit, in turning us from darkness to light, and renewing us in righteousness and true holiness after the image of G.o.d.

But it is chiefly from a comparison of the gospel with the law, both in its dispensation and its character, that we see its transcendent glory.

On this point let us fix our attention.

"The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

The ministration of the law brought the angels from heaven to earth, but the ministration of the gospel required the incarnation of the G.o.d of angels. The Mediator of the new covenant is Jehovah enshrined in humanity-"Emmanuel"-"G.o.d with us"-"G.o.d manifest in the flesh"-"the fulness of the G.o.dhead," that "filleth all in all," imbodied and made visible in the lowly Son of David.

This is the foundation of the apostle's argument, by which he convicts the despisers of the gospel of greater guilt than the transgressors of the law. "If the word spoken by angels"-that is, the law given upon Sinai-"was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape"-we who have heard the glad tidings of the gospel-"if we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; G.o.d also bearing them witness, with signs, and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost?" If G.o.d is greater than man, then the gospel is greater than the law; and its superior excellence const.i.tutes for it a superior claim upon our faith and our affections; and the strength of that claim graduates the guilt of its rejection. There is a fire more intense than that which flamed on Sinai, and a judgment more terrible than that of Korah and his confederates.

"He that despised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of G.o.d, and hath counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace!"

The ceremonial law contained many a type and shadow of Messiah; but the gospel is the history of his advent and mediatorial work. The ceremonial law pointed to the coming Prince of Peace; but the gospel brings him to his throne, and puts the crown upon his head. Christ is "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person;" and Moses and Aaron are lost in his light, as the moon and the stars in the blaze of the rising sun. The excellence of his person, the merit of his sacrifice, and the utility of his offices, give him an immense superiority. The many prophets, priests, and kings, of the former dispensation, were but the shadows cast by the one great Prophet, Priest, and King, which indicated his coming. A light arose from the cross of Calvary which turned the black cloud on Sinai into a pillar of glory.

Typical blood shielded the children of Israel from the arm of the destroying angel, healed the leper, anointed to holy offices, atoned for ceremonial sins, and sealed the covenant of G.o.d with his people; but never cancelled the sinner's debt, nor satisfied his conscience, nor sanctified his affections, nor calmed his trembling spirit in the hour of death. All these blessings, however, flow from the blood of Christ-these, and infinitely more-more than tongue can tell, or heart conceive.

The gospel is emphatically the ministration of mercy-the covenant of grace, "ordered in all things and sure"-a goodly ship, freighted with the bread of life, and commanded by the Son of G.o.d, who has steered into the harbor of our famishing world, and is dispensing the precious provision to all who will accept. These arc "the sure mercies of David."

The law is only a partial revelation of the Divine attributes, which, in the gospel, are all equally exhibited, and all equally glorified. Here, "Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other." The justice of G.o.d looks more terrible at the cross of Christ than at the gate of h.e.l.l; and is more glorified in the sufferings of his Son than in the eternal agonies of all the d.a.m.ned; while his mercy is more beautiful, because more honorable to his administration, than if sinners had been saved without an atonement.

Thus, while the law reveals the righteousness of G.o.d, the gospel brightens the revelation of his righteousness, and adds the revelation of his grace. While the law imprisons the sinner, the gospel liberates him, yet liberates him according to law. While the law shows the malignity of sin, and dooms the sinner to death, the gospel a.s.sents to both, but conquers the one and counteracts the other.

The law convinces us of our fall; the gospel a.s.sures us of our redemption. The law shows us what we are, and what we ought to be; the gospel tells us what we may become, and now the change must be effected.

The law tears open our wounds; the gospel pours in the healing balm. The law makes known our duty; the gospel aids us to perform it. The law plunges us in the ditch; the gospel opens to us the purifying fountain.

The law is a mirror in which we behold our own filthiness and deformity; the gospel is a mirror which reflects the glory of G.o.d in Christ, and transforms the believer into the same image.