02.01. Of the Duties we Owe the Lord Jesus Christ
Chapter 1 - Of the Duties we Owe the Lord Jesus Christ THE three Persons of the Godhead are equal in power and glory. Each is entitled to supreme love, veneration, and worship; and it is not to be supposed that we dishonour any of the Divine Persons by placing one of them before the others. The Father is the first Person in the Godhead, yet we find Him mentioned second in the well-known apostolic benediction-"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen " (2 Corinthians 13:14). The special office of the Son, the second Person in the Godhead, is set forth in these words-"There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. By Him we believe in God, and are accepted as righteous in His sight. "Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. . . . For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:13, Ephesians 2:18).
It is not, therefore, out of place to begin the consideration of religious duties, by dwelling first and chiefly, on those which we owe to our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
"This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
I. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."- Hosea 6:3. Who should seek to know the Lord Jesus? All men without exception, whether high or low, rich or poor, young or old. "Doth not wisdom cry? .. . Unto you, 0 men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man" (Proverbs 8:1-4). But "wherefore is a price put into our hands to get wisdom if we have no heart to it?" Have we not precious souls? Are they not lost? Is there any Saviour but Jesus? Can we be saved through Him without knowing Him? "Where there is no vision the people perish." But where vision is neglected and despised, people must perish more miserably than where the means of religious knowledge are not enjoyed. "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48). Ignorant and uneducated persons should seek to know Christ. The entrance of His word will give them light; "it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Psalms 119:130). Men of genius and learning should seek the knowledge of Christ, for without it their talents and acquirements will only intensify their misery in the place of woe. Awakened sinners should acquaint themselves with Him who is the only Saviour of the lost, and from whom only they can obtain relief from their wretchedness. Believers, who are already rejoicing in His salvation, should desire to grow in the knowledge of Him whom their souls love; as yet they know nothing as they ought to know, or as they shall know hereafter (1 Corinthians 8:2). Let not the poor imagine that they may warrantably neglect the means of knowing Christ, because most of their time is spent in labouring for their daily bread. They are not on that account to be guilty of preferring" the meat that perisheth to the meat that endureth unto everlasting life!" Let not the rich or noble act as if their dignity raised them above the necessity of becoming acquainted with Him to whom they owe all temporal blessings. Such, from their greater opportunities of acquiring information, are less excusable than the poor, if "they incline not their eats unto wisdom, and apply their hearts to the noblest kind of understanding!" The young should learn without delay what the Bible tells of Him who said, "I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me." The old come far short of knowing Christ as they ought; and should spend their declining years in the pursuit of that knowledge which is better for them than thousands of gold and silver (Php 3:3). THE ELEMENTS OF THIS KNOWLEDGE.
What should we seek to know concerning Christ? His excellencies are innumerable, and, so far as possible, we should seek to become acquainted with them all. Something may and ought to be known by us of His original and underived glories, and of the love He cherished and expressed for us in the "counsels of peace" before we or the world existed. Then He was by the Father, as one brought up with Him, and was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; and His delights were with the sons of men (Proverbs 8:30-31). We can never expect fully to understand the "great mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh." But even this mystery has not been revealed in vain. We may know so much of the nature and design of our Saviour’s incarnation as shall make us rejoice in His ability and willingness to save all that come unto God by Him, and as shall prepare us for "seeing Him as He is" in the world of glory (John 1:14). The offices to which He has been appointed by the Father, and the gracious relations in which He stands to His people, should be the subjects of earnest study. We should search into the glory that encircles Him, as the High Priest of our profession, "who was once offered to bear the sins of many," and who "ever liveth to make intercession for them;" -as "a Prophet, mighty in deed and word," who, by His Word and Spirit, reveals to men the will of God; -as the King whom God has set on His holy hill of Zion, to subdue His people to Himself, and who "must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet." If we have been reconciled to God through His sacrificial death, enlightened by Him in the knowledge of the truth, delivered from the power of Satan, and made His loving, loyal subjects, then we ought to know that He has become our Surety, our Elder Brother, our Shepherd, our Husband, our Head. We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. His Church is the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. If we love our earthly relations, and seek to be acquainted with everything relating to them, much more should we seek full and accurate knowledge of Him who is "a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother." There is no Friend like the Lord Jesus! His offices and titles are not empty names, but gracious realities, from which we may derive unfailing consolation, The wonderful things that Christ has done and suffered in accomplishing our salvation, afford materials for frequent and profitable meditation. What He did for the ancient Church from the days of Adam until the time of His appearance in the flesh. What works of power and mercy were wrought by Him while He lived in a state of humiliation on earth. What grace was shown forth, in His sufferings and death, in His resurrection from the dead as the first-fruits of them that slept, in His glorious ascension, and sitting down at the right hand of God. What He has been doing for the Church since He left our world. How He has been overruling the events of Providence for the advancement of His kingdom; and how the history of nations, no less than the history of churches, has been the history of the acts of His gracious administration (Ephesians 1:22). What gifts He has been bestowing upon some of His people for the good of others; and how each of them has been the object of His special solicitude and care. In these things we just behold a little portion of His ways. Happy are they who observe and understand them (Psalms 107:43).
What Christian can call to mind His mighty acts without exclaiming, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Revelation 5:9-10; Revelation 15:3). The honours that have been or shall yet be paid to Jesus should engage our earnest attention. He has been the confidence of His people in every age; loved, trusted, and obeyed by all who looked to Him for the salvation of their souls. He is praised and honoured, not only by the Church which He has redeemed, but by all the angels of God, who are the fellow-servants of them that keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. These glorious, happy beings cannot claim Christ as their own Saviour, but they never cease to honour and praise Him as the Saviour of lost sinners of the human race, saying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Revelation 5:12). When Isaiah saw His glory, and spake of Him, he saw Him encompassed with seraphs, who celebrated the praises of His glorious holiness. When John saw Him in His state of exaltation, he heard the angels sounding forth the praises of His grace, and all the creatures which are in heaven and the earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, heard he saying, "Amen. Blessing, and glory, and honour, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 5:11-14). We see not yet all creatures praising and honouring our glorious King. We see too many of them lifting up unrighteous weapons of rebellion against Him; but the word is gone out of His own mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear (Isa. x55:23). It cannot but fill our hearts with joy to contemplate those honours that are paid to Christ by believers, by angels, and by all the creatures of God. But our joy must rise still higher when we contemplate the honours conferred upon Him by His eternal Father.
These are the honours which Christ Himself chiefly regards, and in which we ourselves are most deeply interested. They are the sure proofs that our confidence in Him is not misplaced, for God hath raised Him from the dead and given Him glory, that our faith and hope might be in God; and the same exceeding greatness of power is manifested in us, which wrought in Christ when God raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principalities and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but likewise in that which is to come (1 Peter 1:20-21; Ephesians 1:1, Ephesians 1:19-23).
Christians cannot but rejoice to know that Christ hath gone to the Father, and is crowned by Him with glory and honour. Nor will they be transported with less pleasure when they learn what honour is done to our Lord by His own Spirit, who is His agent in the world, and who glorifies Him, by taking the things which are Christ’s and showing them unto us (John 16:14).
It is needful that we should know the position which Christ holds in His own religion. There are some who allow no higher place to Christ in practical Christianity than Moses held in the religion of the Jews. But believers are better taught. To them Christ is "all and in all." He is the object of their faith. He is their hope, their righteousness, their joy, their life, the Rock of their salvation, on whom is all their dependence for time and for eternity. If we give Him only a part where everything is due, we dishonour Christ, and turn His religion into a mere shadow, because, rejecting the animating soul, we hold fast only a lifeless form. What benefit can we derive from the law if we know not Christ as the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth? What consolation can we derive from the Gospel if we know not Christ to be the sum and substance of the Gospel? It is the glory of the Gospel that it is the ministration of righteousness and of the Spirit. Now, the righteousness which it ministers is the righteousness of Christ. The spirit which is ministered by the Gospel is the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 10:6).
Such are some things revealed concerning Christ which are specially worthy of our most serious consideration; as yet it is but little that we can know of His personal and mediatorial glory, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). THE NATURE OF THIS KNOWLEDGE.
Consider what sort of knowledge regarding Christ we should seek to obtain.
There is a knowledge of Christ which is obtained by the simple exercise of our rational powers. There is another kind of knowledge which proceeds from the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. It was of the latter that Christ said to Peter, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." This sort of knowledge excels the former as much as light excels darkness. If we thus know the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed by His Word; and while we see the beauty and glory of the truths that relate to Him, we shall feel their power, and live under their influence. "The branch of the Lord" will be beautiful and glorious in our eyes, and all worldly excellencies will appear contemptible, when compared with the brightness of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. A speculative knowledge of Christ is valuable on account of the use that is made of it by the Spirit, who is often pleased to make it really beneficial to our souls, by enabling us to understand the importance, and to see the excellency of what we know. But a knowledge that is merely speculative produces evil rather than good effects. It is at the best like a winter’s sun, which gives light without heat. Very frequently it puffs up the soul with a fond and false apprehension of its own wisdom. The Laodiceans had no other kind of knowledge, and they fancied themselves rich and increased with goods, when in reality they were poor and miserable and blind and naked. It was knowledge of a very different character that Paul desired when he wished to know Christ, "and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" (Php 3:10). When men have no other knowledge than that which consists in uninfluential notions, they know nothing as they ought to know. That man truly knows Christ, in the right sense of the term, who is taught by the Spirit to obey Christ; the man who says that he knows Him, and yet refuses to obey Him, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:3-5; Ephesians 4:21-24).
REASONS FOR SEEKING THIS KNOWLEDGE.
Why should we seek to know Christ? Our deep personal interest in Christ makes the knowledge of Him exceedingly valuable. Children are expected to know their own parents, and servants their masters. Much more may it be expected of creatures that they know their Creator and Preserver, who shall also be their Judge. God made us, and all things in the world, by Jesus Christ. He rules us by Him, to whom He hath given power over all creatures. And He hath appointed a day in which He will judge us by Jesus Christ. Can anything be of greater personal consequence than the knowledge of Him who stands towards us in such relations, and to whom we belong by a title so unquestionable? Then we are lost creatures, and must for ever perish without Christ. He is the only Saviour of self-ruined sinners of the human family. His ’blood is the only true atonement. No power but His can break our fetters and bestow on us the glorious liberty of the sons of God. It must therefore be a matter of infinite importance to us to be acquainted with everything that can give us just apprehensions of the character of Jesus, of the efficacy of His death, the love that is in His heart, and the reliance which it may be safe for us to place on Him. If there were any other Saviour, we might safely be ignorant of Him who is the Author of our religion; but if He be the only hope of the guilty, it is strange infatuation, indeed, to continue willingly ignorant of the glory of His person, of the riches of His grace, of the extent of His saving power, and of the marvellous things which He hath done!
Further, the knowledge of Christ is desirable, for it comprehends all we need to know for our present direction and our eternal happiness. The knowledge of Christ includes the knowledge of God the Father; for he who hath seen the Son hath seen the Father also. It contains in it the knowledge of heaven; for wherein does the happiness of heaven consist, but in seeing Christ, and being like Christ. It embraces also the knowledge of human duty; for Christ is our King and Leader in the ways of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment. If we know Christ, we know everything that is necessary to furnish us for every good work, for we are complete in Him who is the Head of all principality and power. If we know Christ, we know the way wherein we should walk, we are acquainted with the springs of all true consolation. It maybe said that we know: all things, for Christ is "all and in all," and in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. But if we know not Christ, we are blind, and cannot see afar off,-we are yet unacquainted with the first principles of true wisdom, and with the most essential requisites of true happiness!
Hence it is that the happy effects of the knowledge of Christ also render it exceedingly desirable.
We cannot believe in an unknown Saviour, and if we know Him as we ought, we cannot but believe in Him (Psalms 9:10; John 6:40). We must be for ever lost if we are not lovers of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (1 Corinthians 16:22); but we cannot love Him without knowing Him, and if we, know Him we cannot withhold from Him our supreme affection. If we know Christ, it will be impossible for us not to love the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, for Christ is the brightness of His Father’s glory, the express image of His person, in whom He appears to be not only infinitely glorious in Himself, ’but infinitely gracious to us, If we know Christ we shall be like Christ, for "beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). The revelations which God has been pleased to give us of His Son form powerful motives to diligence in this noblest of all studies.
We could have known nothing concerning Jesus Christ without a Divine revelation. The light of nature reveals nothing regarding Him. But from the beginning, communications about Christ have been given us from on high. God Himself spake of Him in the ears of Adam as that blessed "Seed of the woman who should bruise the head of the old serpent." New discoveries of Jesus were made by the ministries of Moses, of David, of Isaiah, and other holy men, to whom God spake, and whom He furnished with treasures of knowledge, not for themselves only, but for us. Had we no other information about Christ save that which the ancient Church possessed, we should still be quite inexcusable if we did not search the Scriptures daily to know what they testified concerning Him. But our advantages are far superior to those enjoyed under previous dispensations. We have not only the prophets but the apostles for our instructors in the knowledge of Christ. The mystery which was hid from ages and generations is now made manifest to the sons of men. Christ Himself has become our Teacher. From His Father’s bosom He has come to give us the knowledge of His Father, and of Himself. He did not indeed write the books of the New Testament with His own hand; nor does He preach in our streets or churches, as He did in Jerusalem and Galilee. But the Scriptures were dictated by His Holy Spirit; and the writers of the New Testament were directed to record such of the discourses spoken by Him, in the days of His flesh, as He knew would be most useful to the Church in every age. Now, if this Divine Instructor came from heaven to earth, to give us the knowledge of Himself by words, deeds, and sufferings; if He still speaks to us from heaven,-we, surely, are shutting our eyes against the clearest light, if we refuse to receive the instruction He communicates. Who but those who are in love with folly will refuse to listen? But our understandings are very narrow and corrupt. By nature we are blind,-we are darkness itself. Can the light of the knowledge of the glory of God ever make its way into our minds? We never could have formed any right apprehensions of the mystery of Christ if we had been left entirely to ourselves. But through the mercy of God, the Spirit of counsel and knowledge is promised. We are directed to pray for this Spirit, and to depend upon Him for that spiritual enlightenment which will enable us to understand what the Scriptures reveal regarding our blessed Redeemer. Blessed with such abundant means of information, how blind must we be to our own interest, how insensible to the obligations of duty and gratitude, if we do not study diligently to increase in the knowledge of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ. If God had only given us ministers of the Gospel to explain His truths, their instructions, however valuable, would not have availed to the chasing away of darkness from our souls; but when He has given us such a full and comprehensive revelation of His Son, and ’crowned the gift with the promise of the Holy Spirit to make it effectual, what should hinder us from digging hopefully for the knowledge of Christ as for silver, and searching for it as for hid treasure? THE MEANS OF OBTAINING THIS KNOWLEDGE.
How shall we best attain the knowledge of Christ, and increase in it more and more?
We have already advanced very considerably on the way, if we are animated with a sincere and earnest desire to obtain it. If we regard this wisdom as more precious than rubies, and if all the things we can desire appear to us unworthy to be compared with it; if we esteem the words of God’s mouth more than our necessary food, because they bear testimony concerning Christ,-we shall soon be found rejoicing in the knowledge of our blessed Saviour! It is a sign that we already know Him in some measure, when we cannot think ourselves happy without knowing Him better. Our anxiety thus to know Him will make us diligent in the use of means; and the means which God has promised to bless may be used with a joyful confidence of success, "for then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord." The desires which His own Spirit has kindled within our souls shall not be disappointed. We must seek out the Book of the Lord and read. The Scriptures are the Word of Christ. They were designed and fitted by the infinite wisdom of God to give the knowledge of Christ unto men. From beginning to end they testify of Him (John 5:39). We must make use of the public ordinances, which Christ has appointed for conveying the knowledge of Himself to our souls (Ephesians 4:11-13). We must wait upon the ministrations of the sanctuary, receive the truths preached, with faith and love, meditate upon them, converse about them, and practise them in our lives (Proverbs 8:34-35; Matthew 28:20).
We ought to edify each other by religious conversation. Christ is present with His people when their converse is such as it ought to be, and makes their pious intercourse the means of mutual communications of light (Luke 24:15, Luke 24:27, Luke 24:31). Frequent meditation on Christ tends to increase our knowledge of Him (Psalms 119:97-99). By holy meditation, we may preach to ourselves more effectually than the most eloquent preacher. While we muse on the truths we already know, they become clearer, and new truths necessarily connected with them, spring up to our view. Earnest prayer to the Father of lights is absolutely necessary for those who desire to obtain the knowledge of Christ. The Lord alone giveth true wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding, and therefore we ought to cry to Him for wisdom, and to lift up our voice for understanding. The more we actually know of Christ, the more sensible will we become of our remaining ignorance, and of the value of increased knowledge, and thus shall we be led to importunate prayer for further communications of light. What man in David’s time was so wise as David himself, and yet how frequently and earnestly did he entreat fresh wisdom from above. In proof of this, we need only turn to Psalms 119:1-176.
Finally, we ought to depend upon Christ, as "made of God unto us wisdom." He is given for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people; for a "light to lighten the Gentiles," that He may be God’s salvation unto the ends of the earth. He hath graciously promised His Spirit, to take of His own things and show them unto us. This Spirit knoweth all the deep things of Christ, and in His light we shall see light. He irradiates the minds of believers, and makes their path like the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Whilst we seek the knowledge of Christ for ourselves, let us not neglect others. We are bound, according to our ability, to make Him known unto all around us, especially unto those whom Divine Providence has placed under our charge. If the knowledge of Christ is of great value in our eyes, it will be a pleasure to impart it to others. Happy are the men who are really, and not merely in their own estimation, guides of the blind, lights to them that are in darkness. Whilst they water others, they shall themselves also be watered, and whatever success they may have in their labours of love, they will shine at last as the brightness of the firmament, and as the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43).
II. - FAITH IN CHRIST.
"These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." - John 20:31.
We ought to believe in Jesus Christ to the saving of our souls.
Faith in Christ is a necessary duty. There is no salvation except in Christ; and without faith in His name, we can obtain none of His precious blessings. "Saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness:" "He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned." If so, who would not wish above all things to know the character of Him in whom we are called on to believe, - what is meant by believing on Him,-what ground we have for our faith,-and what motives or encouragements we have for looking exclusively to Him for the salvation of our souls? IN WHOM ARE WE TO BELIEVE?
How shall we believe in Him of whom we have not heard? We cannot trust in Christ for salvation unless assured on unimpeachable evidence that He is able and willing to save us. If He were able but not willing to save, His power would be the object of terror, and not of confidence. If not almighty, His willingness to save would be worthless, for only an omnipotent arm could deliver sinners from the ruins of their fallen condition. But blessed be God, from the writings of the prophets and apostles we have the most perfect assurance of the infinite grace and infinite power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Take only the testimony of John, the beloved disciple, who wrote his gospel that we might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that believing, we might have life through His name. In its opening sentence he gives such an account of the person of Christ as must convince every unprejudiced reader that our Saviour is the Great God, equal in power and glory with the Father, and therefore "mighty to save."
"In the beginning was the Word." This "Word" was a distinct Person from another Person who is called God. Not differing in essence, for the Word who was in the beginning with God is God. In no respect inferior, for He who lay in the bosom of the Father was the Creator of all things, and "without him was not anything made that was made." If Christ had not been a Divine Person, He could not have been entrusted with the salvation of our souls. Only "in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength;" "who is God, but the Lord; who is a rock, save our God?"
"The Word was made flesh," and tabernacled among the Jews. Most of them saw no beauty in the incarnate Word that they should desire Him; but the men whose eyes were opened by the grace of God "saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." He was from eternity appointed to be the Saviour of self-ruined sinners. In consequence of this appointment, He took part of our flesh and blood, that He might obey the law, and satisfy all its demands in that nature by which it had been violated. The Messiah was cut off, but not for Himself. For sinful men He lived a holy life, and died an accursed death. Being made perfect through sufferings, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him. Had Jesus continued for ever under the power of death, our faith and our hope had been vain. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and is become the first-fruits of them that slept." God hath not only raised Him from the dead, but all power in heaven and earth has been given unto Him, that He might give eternal life to all that believe on His name.
Such is the account which the Scriptures give of Him in whom we are called to believe. They assure us that He is a Person truly Divine and yet, incarnate,-having assumed human nature that He might do everything needful for our salvation. Further, they assure us that every saving office belongs to Him by His Father’s appointment, and His own voluntary undertaking; that He is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world; a light given to the Gentiles, that He might be God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; a King highly exalted, seated on a throne of mercy, that He may dispense in rich abundance spiritual blessings to perishing sinners. In the representations given of the Lord Jesus Christ we find everything fitted to impart perfect confidence in His ability and willingness to save. We behold in Him all Divine excellencies, every saving office, an exhaustless fulness of grace and truth, an everlasting righteousness, and a Complete Salvation, purchased by His precious blood, placed before our view, offered and recommended to our acceptance by the blessed God, the Author of the glorious Gospel. What shall we say to these things? Shall we not say with joy and gratitude, "We will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is our strength and our song, and he also is become our salvation." When we believe in Christ, we give not that glory to another which is due only to God (Psalms 146:3-5). The confidence we place in the Redeemer is not alienated from God. Our justification is through faith in Christ, as Paul shows at great length in his epistle to the Romans; and yet in the same epistle he sometimes speaks of that faith by which we are justified as if it were placed in God the Father-"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" (Romans 10:9; Romans 4:24). To believe in Christ as an exalted Saviour is to believe in God, who raised Him from the dead.
We cannot come to Christ without coming to God by Him, and we cannot come to God but by Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The name of Christ is frequently represented as the object of our faith. By His name is meant the full representation made of Him in Holy Scripture. We cannot believe the word of truth without believing in Christ. For what is the Gospel, but the revelation of Christ as our Saviour; and what is the faith of the Gospel, but faith in Him whom it so clearly displays to our view (Romans 1:16-17). THE NATURE OF FAITH.
What is that faith which is so necessary for our salvation, and so highly commended in the Bible?
There have been many disputes about the true nature of faith; and yet one would think that the characteristics of this grace must be fully described in a book which was designed by Divine Wisdom to be a light to our feet and a lamp to our path.
If the Scriptures do not clearly explain the way of salvation, how can they be a light to guide our feet in the way that leads to life everlasting? We are not to suppose that some men are saved in one way and some in another. "There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the name of Jesus." There is no other way in which we can receive salvation from Jesus but by faith; and there is only one kind of saving faith. How important, therefore, the question, "What is faith in Jesus Christ?" How dangerous to be mistaken on a point of such vital consequence!
It is, however, a comfortable thought that different men may exercise the same faith in Christ, and obtain the same salvation through His name, who use very different language in describing their faith in Him.
All men do not mean the same thing by the same words. Those who deny something to belong to the nature of faith which others hold to be essential to it, may, in a greater or less degree, practise, under another name, that which they deny to be needful. There are some, for instance, who allege that it forms no part of our faith to assure ourselves of salvation, and yet they may really enjoy personal assurance of salvation by receiving and resting upon Christ. There are others who maintain that coming to Jesus is a distinct exercise of the soul from believing, and yet allow that it is inseparably connected with faith. It is, however, of great importance to have clear, precise, and distinct apprehensions of the true nature of faith, that the exercise of our hearts in believing may not be perplexed and encumbered by mistakes or doubts. Besides, if we err simply in words in regard to this grace, we may lead other men into errors of judgment or practice, by conveying to them our sentiments in language to which they may affix very different ideas from our own.
One thing is certain, our faith, if genuine, must be in exact accordance with the word of the truth of the Gospel. Hence, in Scripture it is called obedience to the Gospel, or the "obedience of faith." If we receive the testimony of man, the testimony of God is greater; and if we know what is meant by the belief of a man’s testimony, we may from this form a clear idea of the nature of that grace by which we set to our seal that God is true.
It may be observed, therefore- That Faith must include a full persuasion of the truth of those great doctrines concerning Christ which are revealed in Scripture.
We must believe in our hearts that God hath raised Him from the dead (Romans 14:9). But it does not follow from that expression that no more is necessary to be believed than that single article of Christian doctrine. The belief of that doctrine includes the ·belief of the whole truth included in our salvation by Christ-His divinity, His incarnation, His substitution, His sufferings, His glory. We accordingly find the same stress laid upon the belief of other parts of the work of Christ that is here laid upon belief in the fact of His resurrection (1 John 5:1, 1 John 1:5; John 8:24).
A. firm, intelligent assent to the doctrines concerning our Lord Jesus Christ is less common than many suppose. Numbers give but a wavering, precarious assent to the capital articles of our religion. They scarcely know what they believe, or why! They were trained up in the persuasion that the Bible is the Word of God, just as the Turks are trained in the belief that the Alcoran is a Divine book.
If they hear no objections made to the truth of Christianity, they continue in the profession of what they believe; and if they be persons of decent behaviour and steady minds, they will not be easily shaken by anything that may be alleged against their faith, although they can give no better reason for the belief that is in them, than the Turk can give for believing that Mahomet was the Apostle of God. But if their tempers are flexible and their judgments unimpressed with reverence for ancient institutions and creeds, very trifling arguments, or even foolish jests, will be apt to shake or overturn the whole fabric of their belief. It is not, however, to be denied that men may be able to describe and defend their creed with strong arguments, and may continue to profess their belief of its truth with unshaken firmness, whilst they are still destitute of the faith of God’s elect. It is certain that the faith which is merely the effect of reason, or of natural principles, cannot be that faith which distinguishes Christians from other men; for it cannot be doubted that there are arguments so conclusive in favour of the doctrine of Christ, that they cannot fail to approve themselves to the judgment of every candid, thoughtful inquirer. The fact that Jesus wrought many miracles cannot well be called in question; and if so, then the doctrine confirmed by them can admit of as little doubt. Men, by the mere force of truth, may be convinced that Jesus Christ really did come from God, and that His religion is Divine, while they themselves continue in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. We meet with not a few illustrations of this sad truth in the Word of God. At one of the passovers which Jesus attended at Jerusalem, we are told that many believed on His name when they saw the miracles which He did; but Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because "He knew all men." These men were surely destitute of saving faith, for all true believers are regarded and treated by Jesus as His friends.
There are others of whom it is said that "they believed in Jesus," and yet we find them continuing under the reigning power of worldly dispositions (John 12:42-43). The faith ascribed to Simon Magus may be taken as another instance of a sort of belief which came short of securing the salvation of the soul (Acts 8:21-23). The assent given to the truths of Christianity by such hypocrites or formalists is something altogether different from that of those whose eyes have been enlightened, and whose hearts have been disposed to believe, by the influence of the Holy Spirit. "It is the will of him that sent me," saith Christ, "that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." That we may believe in Christ to eternal life, it is necessary that we should see Him; and they who really see Him in His beauty and glory, assent to the truth of the Gospel, not merely because it has been confirmed by miracles, and prophecies, and other incontrovertible evidences, but because they see in it so much of the love of God as proves it to be from heaven; just as the marks of His eternal power and Godhead on the face of nature proclaim Him to be the Creator of the material universe. God Himself shines into their minds to give them the light of the knowledge of His own glory in the face of Jesus Christ. He speaks to their ears and hearts in the Gospel. They receive it not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. The glory and salvation of Christ is manifested to them, not by flesh and blood, but by the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 16:17).
Along with this assent there must be a cordial reception of Christ as the gift of God to sinners. Our faith must correspond with the declarations of the Gospel, But the Gospel not merely reveals Christ to the understanding-it sets Him before us as the unspeakable gift of God, to be gratefully received and trusted in.
Jesus preaching to a great multitude of unbelievers said, "My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." These men had asked Christ to give them such bread from heaven as Moses gave to their fathers in the desert. Jesus tells them that God was much kinder to them than they desired, He had given them bread as much superior to that given to their fathers as the substance is better than the shadow. Every Israelite in the wilderness was permitted to go out of the camp and freely gather and eat the manna; and every hearer of the Gospel has an equal right to receive Christ, and with Him all the blessings of salvation. God in His Word makes to them a free grant of Christ. There are, alas! too many who despise this gift. They will have none of Christ, they do not feel their need of Him, or they are not fully convinced of God’s sincerity in calling them to accept of Christ and His salvation;-but notwithstanding all this, the offer is to them as well as to others, and if they will only arise and come, they shall not be sent empty away. When the manna fell around the camp of Israel there might be some to whom the precious gift was useless, through their inability to partake of it. The sick, for example, whose "soul abhorreth dainty meat," would be unable even to eat of that heavenly bread. Still they had the same right to it as their neighbours. In like manner, all who hear the Gospel have a right given them by God to receive Christ and all His benefits. If they are not nourished and strengthened by the spiritual manna, the reason is to be sought for in themselves. They have no relish for the bread of heaven, or no confidence in the grace and truth of the Giver of it. We cannot receive the precious gift of God if we have no real desire for the blessings of grace. No man can believe in Christ in opposition to his own will. But mere desire is not enough. An avaricious man may be anxious to obtain food, without eating it. A criminal may earnestly desire a free pardon though he has not the slightest hope of receiving it. And so there may be many eager desires for salvation in the heart of one who is still a stranger to saving faith. His desires have not for their object that complete salvation which is revealed in the Gospel, but something which men call by the same name, although God has never promised to give it-a deliverance, not from sin itself, but from the miserable consequences of sin. Sincere desires for deliverance from the present dominion and power of sin are inseparable from true faith, and shall certainly be satisfied (Matthew 5:6). When we receive Christ we appropriate Him as our own. Isaiah directs us to this exercise of faith when he declares, "Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength!" There are indeed true believers who cannot use these words as the joyous record of their own experience. Though their faith is genuine, it is feeble and imperfect, and they are often harassed with doubts of their saving interest in Christ. There is flesh as well as spirit, unbelief as well as faith, in real believers, though these remnants of unbelief are a burden to their hearts. Men are sometimes vexed with doubts concerning some of the doctrines of our holy religion, though clinging with all their souls to the grand fundamental truths wrapt up in the method of a sinner’s justification in the sight of God.
They may also stagger at the promises of God through unbelief, although they would not for a thousand worlds let go that confidence which will have a full recompense of reward. There is nothing wished for by them with greater earnestness than to be able to say, "Behold, the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, and he also is become my salvation;"-but as yet the limit of their attainments is just that of the poor man, who could only say, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." They have as much of assurance as of faith; but their faith is weak, and therefore their personal assurance of salvation through Christ is disturbed by anxious apprehensions. Christ is greatly displeased with such fears,-but He is pleased with their deep anxiety about salvation, with their fervent desires, and with such faith as they have. The bruised reed He will not break, and the smoking flax He will not quench: He will bring forth judgment unto victory. Though expressed in different words and phrases, this will be admitted by all,-that when men come to Christ, and trust in Him, they receive Him; and their assured confidence of being saved by Him is just according to the measure of their faith. Further, it must be admitted that those are dangerously deceived who place a presumptuous confidence in Christ, in room of that humble faith which looks to Him alone as the Saviour of the lost.
We read of many wicked persons in the days of Isaiah and Micah who called themselves of the "Holy City," and stayed themselves upon "the God of Israel, whose name is the Lord of Hosts," but not in truth and in righteousness (Isa. xlvi ii. 1, 2; Micah 3:11). When the ancient Jews apostatised from God, they still hoped that He would save them from their enemies, because they were His peculiar people; because His temple was amongst them; because they were the seed of the patriarchs; because they thought their crimes were no crimes at all, or at least not such as deserved the wrath of God (Jeremiah 2:23-35; Jeremiah 7:4; Isaiah 58:1-3). A similar spirit is manifested now-a-days by those who build their hopes of saIvation on the gospel privileges they enjoy, or on their fancied innocence, or their good wishes and resolutions. If they look for eternal life, in some measure, to the free grace of God, they also look for at least a part of it to themselves. They cannot deny that they are sinners, but refuse to believe that sin is so malignant in its nature as to expose men, by a righteous sentence, to everlasting condemnation. Such persons presume upon the mercy of the Lord, and seek safety in what they shall discover to be a "refuge of lies" (Isaiah 28:16-17). So it is with those who in their unscriptural views regard Christ as if He were a Saviour from hell, but not a Saviour from sin; and who put asunder what God has inseparably joined together, -salvation from sin and salvation from wrath. To such men eternal misery is the object of dread, but deliverance from the bondage of corruption is a matter of comparative indifference. They forget that where there is pardon there must also be purity. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus," said the angel, "for he shall save his people from their sins;" from their power and defilement, no less than from their guilt and penalty. Our faith must correspond to the characters under which Christ is set before us in the Gospel.
These are all suited to our needs as sinful creatures. The first thing that disquiets an awakened sinner is the consciousness of guilt. The number and heinousness of his sins are vividly impressed on his mind, and he feels that on account of them he has become exposed to God’s righteous displeasure. But when his eyes are opened to see the excellency of Christ as an atonement for sin, he rests on Him, and is emboldened to say, "Iniquities prevail against me; but as for our transgressions thou shall purge them away." Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. For surely Christ was "wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Unconverted persons are apt to imagine that it is in their own power to deliver themselves from the dominion of sin whenever they choose to put forth their full strength; and this most of them intend doing when they have had their fill of the pleasures of sin.
Widely different from this are the feelings of the man who has been really roused from spiritual sleep. He feels that he can no more deliver himself from the power of his lusts than he can merit the forgiveness of his iniquities. He groans under the oppression of his spiritual enemies, and feels that deliverance can come to him through Christ alone. On Him therefore he depends for sanctification as well as righteousness, knowing that "he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead unto sin should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 7:24-25). The lusts that war in our members are dangerous foes, but we must wrestle likewise with principalities and powers. It is folly to imagine that anyone can triumph over such enemies in his own strength. The true believer trusts for safety and victory to the Captain of his salvation (Ephesians 6:11-12).
We are called to the discharge of many duties, none of which by our own might can we perform in a manner acceptable; but Christ is revealed to our faith as the "Lord our strength," and we are invited to rely on Him for all needful supplies of His Spirit, as well as for the acceptance of all our holy services (Php 4:13). We cannot walk alone in safety through this ensnaring world. But we have a Guide of unerring skill and almighty power in our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has given for a Witness to the people, for a Leader and Commander to the people. We are to commit ourselves to His guidance, that we may be led by His Word and Spirit to the place where He dwells, and where we hope to be with Him for ever (Ps. 74:24).
Whilst in this world, we need also daily supplies for the present life. For these also we must depend on Christ, to whom all judgment is committed by the Father (Matthew 6:26-34). Here also we may lay our account with constant changes in our condition and relationships; but, through faith, we shall amid them all maintain a peaceful, happy frame of mind; for it will enable us to live under the powers of the world to come, and make us feel that all earthly vicissitudes will turn to the furtherance of our salvation, and that in all things, whether by death or life, Christ will be magnified in us. THE GROUND AND WARRANT OF A SINNER’S FAITH.
It is certainly a point of the highest importance to be assured that we have sufficient ground and authority for believing on Chris. That we are fully justified in assenting to the great truths revealed in Scripture, will be denied by no one who believes the Bible to be true.
Those who make reason the rule of their faith rather than the Word of God, will doubtless find means of explaining away all that is taught us in Scripture regarding the divine and mediatorial glory of our blessed Redeemer. But those who accept the Bible as the revelation of the Divine will, and who study it with unbiassed minds, must admit that these doctrines relating to the person and offices of Christ are set forth with sufficient clearness, and that the Gospel is hid only from those whom the god of this world hath blinded.
Even in Old Testament times the Word of God was a lamp to men’s path, and a light to their feet, but now life and immortality are enlightened by the Gospel, and the "righteousness of God without the law is manifested," even that righteousness which was formerly "witnessed by the law and the prophets." Different interpretations have indeed been given of some passages of Scripture, but it does not follow that their meaning is uncertain. Let not the infirmities of men be charged against the Word of Christ. In the writings of Paul there are some things dark and "hard to be understood," but he himself assures us that he uses great plainness of speech in setting forth those truths which are of eternal importance to the souls of men (2 Corinthians 4:2-6). It would be a most unjust reflection upon a book given as the rule of our faith to allege that it leaves us at a loss to know whether our Saviour is really God, or simply a created being; whether we are indebted to Him for our entire salvation, or only for a part of it; and what is the nature and design of those offices and relations which as our Saviour He sustains. But the "law of the Lord is perfect," and in its revelation of Christ it affords firm footing for our faith. Our fathers hoped in Him, and they were saved; and no one who places implicit confidence in Jesus shall be disappointed. We are assured that whosoever believeth in Him shall not be confounded (Romans 10:13; Isaiah 28:16). When the Bible says that whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed, it is plain that according to the rule of His Word all men are warranted to believe in Christ. If a house had stood firm from the beginning of the world, and if we were assured that it would remain immovable till the consummation of all things, we would not hesitate to say that it had a good foundation. If all men, whatever be their tempers, capacities, characters, and circumstances, are warranted to believe in Christ for salvation, it is evident that their warrant for doing so cannot consist in anything which distinguishes one man from another; and therefore men of exceptionally good dispositions must not imagine that their right to come to Christ depends on their moral virtues or amiable behaviour. If it did, they would be more welcome to Christ and the enjoyment of His blessings than other men whose dispositions were the reverse of theirs. But that this is not the case appears abundantly plain from the Word of God. "Go," said Christ to His disciples, "and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved." And "him that cometh unto me," says our gracious Saviour, "I will in no wise cast out."
There are many who take it for granted that a deep sense of sin and misery is necessary for authorising men to believe in Jesus. It is admitted that no man will seek salvation through Christ until deeply impressed with a sense of his wretchedness through sin; but this feeling of need does not constitute his warrant to come to Christ. A man will not avail himself of the physician’s skill until he feels that he is sick or suffering; but it is not his apprehension of disease or danger that gives him a right to the physician’s care. A man will not think of soliciting a pardon from his prince until he finds himself condemned; but the knowledge of his perilous condition by no means entitles him to pardon. In like manner, no man will truly believe in Jesus until he is thoroughly convinced of his sin and misery; but it is not that conviction that warrants him to look to Christ for salvation. The ground of faith lies not within us, but without us, in the Gospel. Not in the frames and feelings of our own hearts, but in the finished work of Christ as set forth in the Word of truth. To all men without exception Wisdom calls, and her voice is to the sons of men, saying, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of my wine which I have mingled" (Proverbs 8:4; Proverbs 9:5).
"Come unto me," says our Lord, "all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." From these words some have inferred that none but those who are heavy laden with a sense of their iniquities are warranted to apply to Christ for salvation. On the supposition that such persons were referred to by our Saviour, it does not follow that they only are authorised to come to Him for rest. All the seed of Israel are called on to fear God (Psalms 22:23), but we are not to conclude that to fear God is the exclusive duty of the house of Israel (Jeremiah 10:7). That highly-favoured people were under peculiar obligations to fear God, but all nations are bound to have regard to the will of their Creator and Judge, and make Him their fear and their dread. So likewise, persons feeling the weight of their sins are in a position which supplies peculiar motives for their coming to Christ, but He came to call sinners in general to repentance, and if so, they are all entitled to believe in Jesus, for He is the only way to the Father, and it is only through Him that men can turn from sin unto holiness. But there is no good reason for restricting the word "heavy laden" to those burdened with a sense of sin. All men in their natural condition labour and are heavy laden; the most senseless sinners are those who are most heavily laden with iniquity (Isaiah 1:3,
God not only reveals Christ as the Saviour of the world, and authorises all men to come to Him for salvation, but He uses means, which, by influencing the heart and conscience, are designed to induce compliance with His gracious proposals. He commands us to believe in Jesus-"This is his commandment; that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 3:23). The same authority that bids us observe the Sabbath of the Lord and speak the truth to our neighbour lays upon us the binding obligation of believing in Christ. But because love has a more constraining influence than authority, God kindly condescends to argue and expostulate, and even beseech men to be reconciled to Himself. What heart can resist the tender eloquence of Divine love? None, surely, but that which is harder than adamant! Was it possible for Philemon to resist the touching importunities of Paul, when be might have been bold to enjoin him, but for love’s sake rather besought him, to show mercy to Onesimus? If either the authority or entreaties of Paul would have sufficed to obtain compassion for the indiscreet servant, will neither the sovereign authority nor marvellous loving-kindness of the Lord induce men to have mercy on their own souls? But whatever the reception given to the Saviour, it is certain God would not woo men so lovingly, and employ so many means to draw them to Christ, unless they had an undoubted right to come to Him for the salvation of their souls. "He that boasteth himself of a false gift, is like clouds and wind without rain." Far be it from us to ascribe such conduct to that God in all whose testimonies is eternal righteousness (Psalms 119:144).
It is true God hath not chosen all men to salvation, but we have no more right on that account to conclude that He is insincere in calling upon all men to believe, than we have for thinking that He is insincere in calling upon them to observe all the precepts of His law, because He has not given to all men a disposition to obey every commandment.
It is certain that He requires everyone of us to walk blamelessly in every part of life, and to yield a perfect obedience to His commandments; and yet it is no less certain that without His sanctifying grace we are utterly unable to yield such obedience. Hence the propriety of the prayer, "Lord, give what thou commandest, and then command what thou wilt." For every instance of obedience to the Divine commands, we owe praise to Him who in His secret counsels determined to bestow upon us that grace without which we would have followed the direction of our own corrupt hearts; but, on the other hand, when we wilfully act in opposition to the rule of duty, it would be blasphemy to say that God never sincerely enjoined upon us those duties we have neglected to perform. Let us apply this reasoning to the doctrines of Divine sovereignty and human responsibility in the matter of salvation. We must not decry His "decrees" any more than His "laws;" but remember that our rule of duty is not the secret but revealed will of God, and that it is impiety to place the one in direct opposition to the other.
It may appear difficult to conceive how a universal offer of salvation can be founded upon an expiation which, in the secret purposes of God, was to be limited in its application. But why, it may be asked, does God sometimes seem to make promises which He knows will not be accomplished? When He redeemed the Israelites from the land of Egypt, He promised to conduct them to Canaan. "I will bring you up," He said, "unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites" (Exodus 3:8,
Instead of regarding any of the doctrines of His Word as opposed to the rule of our duty, let us adore that wisdom which glories in ordaining and accomplishing unsearchable things without number. It is an illustrious instance of God’s wisdom, that upon a particular expiation He has founded a general invitation to partake of it; and that He has made the general offer of it the means of savingly applying that particular atonement, without either extending it beyond the limits set in His secret counsels, or leaving the least reason of complaint to any to whom the revelation of His grace is ineffectual. "No man," says our Lord, "can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him: all that the Father giveth me shall come unto me; and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." The proper question for a sinner, therefore, is not whether or not I am one of those given by the Father to the Son; but whether or not I am one of those to whom a crucified Saviour is presented in the Gospel as the object of their hope and confidence. Let us take the true method appointed by God, for making our election sure, by taking the Word of God as the rule of our faith and practice. Knowing that we have a right to believe on Jesus, let us exercise this right by unreservedly entrusting Him with our salvation, and we shall know assuredly our election of God, and our redemption by Christ. The same ground of faith on which sinners are invited to build their hopes remains for them after they have believed. It is true a work of grace is begun in their souls, and shall be carried on to perfection; but the ground of their faith still lies without them, in the Word of grace. They have new encouragements to faith which they are bound diligently to improve; but there is a great difference between marks of faith, or encouragements to faith, and the grounds of faith. Paul ceased not to regard the revelations of Divine grace in the Gospel to the chief of sinners as the ground of his hope, although he by no means neglected to take comfort from the marks of grace which he felt within himself, as undoubted evidences that his hope would not leave him ashamed (1 Timothy 1:15).
If we were to make anything in ourselves the ground of faith, we should find no solid rest for our souls. The work of grace is always imperfect. It is sometimes in such a languishing state that it can scarcely be discovered; and the best of believers are occasionally surrounded by so many temptations, harassed by so many evils, and conscious of so many imperfections, that they are incapable of discerning the operations of the sanctifying Spirit within them. But the Word of God is an immutable foundation. To say that our faith is founded on the Word of Divine revelation, is to say that it is founded upon unvarying faithfulness, upon untainted holiness, upon almighty power. The Word of God cannot deceive us, for it is the Word of Him who cannot lie, and who being of purer eyes than to behold evil, cannot possibly impose upon His creatures. The heavens and the earth shall pass away, but we are sure that the Word of God shall never pass away. Having, then, this Word as the ground of our confidence, we may trust and not be afraid.
Although it would be wicked as well as unreasonable to cherish any doubt of the truth of God’s Word, still, that we might have the more abundant encouragement to believe in Jesus, He has confirmed it by His oath. Abraham could entertain no doubt of the truth of that which had been confirmed by the oath of God. We naturally imagine that if we had been in his place we could have had no suspicion of the fulfilment of a promise which had received confirmation far beyond what it seemed to need. But the Apostle Paul tells us that the oath was sworn to Abraham, not only for the consolation of the patriarch, but of all who flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them (Hebrews 6:16-17). God’s Word cannot possibly require confirmation; why then is there also His oath? Just that every shadow of excuse for unbelief might be cut off. How shameful to disbelieve the Lord, when, if we may so speak, He descends below Himself, and, as if He were a fallible creature, strengthens His word of promise by a solemn oath, that thereby He may dispel our doubts and fears. In ancient times, for the establishment of His people’s faith, God was sometimes pleased to confirm His word by visible signs (Genesis 15:17; Isaiah 38:22). No signs seem needful now, after the wondrous demonstration which God has given of His love in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:32). Still, in His goodness, He is pleased to allow us the signs of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, that we may never call in question the truth of His Word, or the excellency of that grace which it displays.
Thus we see what sure ground is laid for our faith. Sinners have all possible assurances of their free access to Christ, of His sufficiency and willingness to save, of the absolute certainty of everything connected with their salvation. Those who already through grace believe in Jesus, have rich and strong encouragements to cleave to Him with full purpose of heart. They have the witness in themselves. The Word of God has been tried by them, and by blessed experience they have found that it is no vain thing to trust in the Lord. Although the foundation of their confidence is not firmer than before, yet they have obtained new lights for ascertaining its stability. They have felt the sweet influence of the Word of God in pacifying conscience, sanctifying the soul, fortifying against temptation, and sustaining amid the varied troubles of the present life. Having through the mercy of God obtained such personal, experimental conviction of the truth of God’s Word, they ought to increase in faith day by day, and, like Abraham of old, give glory to God by trusting Him implicitly under every possible discouragement.
If our faith bore anything like a just proportion to the stability of its foundation, we might well say with the Psalmist: "In God is my salvation, my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. Thou, 0 Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head."
MOTIVES AND ENCOURAGEMENTS TO FAITH IN CHRIST.
First.-It is certain that we absolutely need a salvation that can only be obtained through Faith in Jesus Christ.
How shall man be just with God, how shall he be pure with his Maker? Can we redeem ourselves from the sin and misery of our fallen condition? Can the discoveries of philosophers point out any method of deliverance? We are without strength, and philosophy gives no relief; for the world by wisdom knew not God. The law itself, instead of relieving, condemns us. The law is indeed every way worthy of its Divine Giver, but it was never designed to give life to men dead in trespasses and sins; on the contrary, the law meeting with our corrupt nature, rather strengthens than destroys our corruptions. Sin, at least, taking occasion by the commandment, deceives, and thereby slays us. By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, even that righteousness of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all, them that believe. We must therefore seek that righteousness and salvation by exercising faith in Christ, or perish for ever.
If a pardon can be obtained by a condemned criminal only by applying to the sovereign, he must have recourse to royal clemency, or lay aside all hope of escaping the fatal stroke. Benhadad, king of Syria, found himself in a desperate condition. Only one faint ray of hope was left to him. It had been reported that the kings of the house of Israel were merciful kings. He sends, therefore, to implore the mercy of Ahab; because he must either be indebted for life to that deeply-injured prince, or perish. His appeal was not in vain. The king of Israel suffered him not only to live but to reign.
We have infinitely greater encouragement to trust in the mercy of Christ, and we are under infinitely stronger necessity of having recourse to Him for our salvation.
Second.-The knowledge of God’s love and faithfulness should encourage us to believe in Jesus.
We have already spoken of the gift which God has made of Christ, and of eternal life in Him, to every hearer of the Gospel. Would it not have been strange conduct on the part of the children of Israel if they had refused to accept God’s grant to them of the land of Canaan? Were they not worthy of severe punishment for objecting to go up and take possession of it? (Num. xiv.) Would not the good name of Jephthah have been sullied had he yielded to the unjust claims of the king of the Ammonites, who pretended a right to recover part of that good land from Israel. But Jephthah had a spirit too noble to part with anything that God had given to His people. "Wilt not thou possess," he said, "that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?" And shall not we possess that which the Lord our God giveth us to possess? The Lord not only sets before us the gift of righteousness-of life-of Christ Himself-but invites, reasons, commands, yea, beseeches us to accept His precious Gift. Shall our Divine Creator manifest such solicitude in our happiness, and our response be, "Thy gifts be unto another"? Absalom supposed his servants bound to expose themselves to the just resentment of Joab when he commanded them to set fire to his fields,-"Have not I commanded you," he said; as if he thought the commandment of a king’s son warranted the commission of any crime, however atrocious. But we are certain that the express command of God is amply sufficient to answer every objection that may start up in the mind against believing in Christ. If He had only said, "Do this," we would have been bound instantly to do it; but when He enforces His injunction by so many touching considerations, we show inexcusable stiffness of spirit in prolonging our disobedience from day to day. The promises of rest, and peace, and life to all that believe in Jesus are "exceeding great and precious." To live on in unbelief is to pour contempt upon a God of grace, freely promising the choicest blessings He can bestow upon His creatures. All His promises are "yea and amen" in Christ. Although they originate in the sovereign love of God, the mediation of Jesus is the channel through which they flow. To reject them, therefore, is not only to despise the favour of our Heavenly Father, but to trample under foot the blood of His Son our Saviour. In connection with these promises, God has employed all the wisdom and eloquence of heaven to remove excuses, and to enforce those arguments which, by their own native energy, ought to induce every hearer of the Gospel to believe in Christ to the saving of his soul.
How shall men escape if they neglect the salvation procured at so great a cost, or impugn the truth of those gracious words which afford so cheering an illustration of the Divine faithfulness?
Third.-The records of Christ’s administration afford powerful encouragements to the exercise of faith in His name.
Think of the life and character of many sinners who have been saved. Not a few of the vilest and guiltiest of the human family-as we learn from the unerring oracles of truth-have been washed, and sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Why have such instances of the grace of God, and the efficacy of faith, been recorded in Holy Writ?
Paul informs us in the case of Abraham-"Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him (for righteousness); but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:23-24). Paul makes a like observation in regard to the design of God, in his own conversion (1 Timothy 1:17). Let us read with attention not only the writings of the apostles, but those of Old Testament prophets and historians, and we shall find faith recommended as one of the noblest graces of the Christian life. Paul deduces strong arguments and encouragements to believe in Christ, not only from the history of Abraham, but that of all the elders who obtained a good report. They obtained it, he tells us, by faith. And surely of all kinds of faith, that is the most precious by which we commit our immortal souls to Christ for salvation. Is that faith justly commended by which, in the days of old, men quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, stopped the mouths of lions? Still more excellent is that faith by which we receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness; by which we take hold of the strength of Christ, and walk calmly onwards to celestial blessedness; by which, whilst warring a good warfare, we stand firm against all our spiritual enemies, and become more than conquerors through Him that loved us!
Many are discouraged from believing in Christ from an overwhelming sense of guilt. But when viewed in the light of the Gospel, even such painful consciousness supplies a motive to faith. If sin is always hateful to God, and if our iniquities are exceedingly great and heinous, we have the greater need of that deliverance which is only to be found in Christ; and we have abundant assurance that all who believe in Him shall be justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses, and that where sin abounded grace did much more abound (Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 55:7; 1 Timothy 1:14).
"Who ever perished," said Eliphaz, "being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?" The question implied a grievous mistake in the sense in which it was asked. But we may confidently inquire of those who are weighed down by a sense of their sinfulness, "What humble believer ever perished? what man was ever cut off who placed his entire dependence on Christ for salvation?" Before such a calamity could happen eternal truth must fail, the inspired writers be found false witnesses for Christ, yea, the word and promise of the immutable Jehovah must be broken (Psalms 36:5-6).
Fourth.-The representations made in Scripture of the sin and danger of unbelief should stimulate to the exercise of faith. That unbelief was extremely offensive to our blessed Saviour is no less evident than that He took pleasure in those who honoured Him with their confidence. When He commended the faith of the centurion, He did so in terms that showed His dissatisfaction with the weak and imperfect faith at that time prevailing in the land-"Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." In other places we find Him ascribing the unbelief of the Jews to its true cause, and describing the severe punishment due to a sin by which He was so much dishonoured-"If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
Although He tenderly loved His disciples, and was pleased with the sincerity of their faith, yet we often find Him sharply reproving them for its weakness. When He promised that His Spirit should accompany the ministrations of His disciples, he told them that when He was come He would reprove the world of sin, because they did not believe in Him, a proof of the prominent place which Christ assigned to unbelief in the catalogue of human sins. Frequently, too, in the course of His personal ministry did He inculcate that awakening truth which He commanded His apostles to preach, that all who believed should be saved, and that all who refused to believe should be condemned.
We cannot wonder that a sin so displeasing to God should be uniformly set forth in denunciatory terms. By unbelief men counteract the gracious designs of God for the salvation of sinners; they treat the blood of the covenant as an unholy thing, as if shed in vain. They oppose the renewing influences of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to make them partakers, through faith, of that redemption which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Thus rejecting the counsel of God against themselves, and pouring contempt on all His revealed perfections which would have been glorified in their salvation, what can be more just than that they should reap the fruit of their own ways, and be filled’, with their own devices?
God made a grant of the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, but Moses tells us that they could not enter in because of unbelief. They distrusted God’s promise of help, and refused to go up against the sons of Anak. "With whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?" This, we learn from Paul, is designed for our warning, that we fall not after the same example of unbelief. Glad tidings have been brought to us of a promised rest. From us, as from the Jews, faith is required for our entering, in. To us, as to them, unbelief will prove fatal! But all that came out of Egypt did not die in the desert. Joshua and Caleb, through faith, followed the Lord fully. Let us be wise, and choose rather to follow the example of these two men, than walk in the way of the unbelieving multitude (Ps. x105:6-11; Heb. iii. iv.) In addition to what is said of unbelief, all that is written in Scripture concerning the evil and danger of any sin, affords powerful motives to faith. If sin be so bad in its own nature, and so dangerous to the sinner, necessity is laid upon us to use the only possible means of deliverance from its power. If a man were pursued by a fierce enemy seeking his life, the instinctive law of self-preservation would urge him to escape to a place of safety. This is our danger-every sin exposes us to the wrath and curse of God. Security and protection are only to be found in Christ, by faith. Not a single sin can be pardoned save through Christ; and the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin.
What, then, though conscience accuseth us of innumerable transgressions, the wisdom which is from above will teach us, for this very reason, to flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us, breathing the prayer, "For thy name’s sake, 0 Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great."
How fearful is the condition of those who continue in unbelief. They are still in a state of sin and misery. They are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath, by adding daily to their iniquities. Condemned already,-unless their state is changed before the judgment of the great day, their eternal portion shall be with those angels who kept not their first habitation. But, unlike them, these malignant spirits never rejected a salvation, revealed and urged upon their acceptance. As the angels in heaven are unable to sing that charming note in the song of the redeemed from among men, " Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood,"-so devils will not be condemned for neglecting the great salvation which at the first was spoken by the Lord Himself, and was afterwards confirmed by them that heard Him.
Fifth.-Every argument that can enforce any duty of the Christian life, enforces also the duty of believing on the Son of God; for, apart from this, it is impossible to perform any duty in a manner acceptable to God.
What profit is there in a servant who performs no part of his work in a manner advantageous or pleasing to his master? Such an one will receive no thanks, and might as well spare his labour! Equally profitless shall be our religious services if performed in a way displeasing to God. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. "We labour," says the Apostle Paul, "that whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him." Without such a prospect of acceptance, his hands would have been palsied in the good work of the Lord. And there cannot be a comfortable persuasion of Divine acceptance without faith in Christ, for we come unto God by Him (Hebrews 7:25). Through Him we believe in God (1 Peter 1:21). We offer our spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God, only by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Besides," we are not sufficient to do anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God," and it hath pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell in Christ for us. Since we can do nothing spiritually good without Christ, we must by faith carry on a constant intercourse with Him, receiving out of His fulness and grace for grace, that we may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works (John 15:1-5; Colossians 2:6-7). No duty is more universally binding than that of prayer. The true disciple delights in the exercises of devotion; he would not neglect them for a single day; much less can he neglect the duty of believing in Christ, in whose name alone we can acceptably present our requests, and for whose sake we expect an answer. Unless offered in faith, our prayers are worthless; it is only when asked for believingly that the blessing is obtained (John 14:14; James 1:6). It would be easy to show that faith in Christ is equally necessary for our profitable meditation on spiritual subjects, for our sorrowing for sin after a godly sort, for our praising God with the melody of the heart, for our waiting with advantage on Divine ordinances; and, therefore, when urged by conscience to the performance of any other duty, we should feel that this duty comes first, and that God will be glorified by our intelligent faith in Christ (Romans 4:18-19; 1 John 5:10).
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
First.-Some men call in question the value of faith. Being ignorant of their inherent weakness and depravity, they suppose they have no need to rely on Christ alone for salvation, as their own righteousness and good resolutions must, to a certain extent at least, screen them from the wrath of God. The Epistle to the Galatians supplies abundant answers to this objection. It teaches us that to look in any degree to the law for justification is to renounce all hope of salvation through Christ; because if righteousness can come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain (Galatians 2:20-21). In order to be fully convinced of the necessity of faith in Christ, we ought often and seriously to consider the terrible majesty, the unspotted holiness, the immutable righteousness of God,-the price required for the satisfaction of Divine justice in the redemption of sinners,-the hateful character of sin, -the worthlessness of our best services, and the utter insufficiency of all of them put together to compensate for the least of our iniquities,-the indignity done to Christ by those who would divide the glory of salvation between Him and themselves,-the complete opposition stated in Scripture between the law of faith and the law of works, and the place assigned to human holiness in the covenant of grace. That we are not justified by the works of the law is manifest, for the just shall live by faith; but the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. What, then, remains for us but to seek life in the way wherein Paul and the ancient believers sought it (Galatians 2:15-20; Php 3:8-11; Acts 15:10).
Second.-Some men, being deeply convinced of sin, are tempted to say, "There is no succour for us in Christ; our sins are so exceptionally heinous as to place us beyond the hope of forgiveness. The Bible furnishes a satisfactory answer to this objection. It reminds us that the blood of Christ is the blood of the Son of God, that the design of God in the scheme of human redemption is to show forth the exceeding riches of His grace; that His mercy abounds far above the greatest offences of men; that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; that many of the Gospel invitations are addressed to the worst of sinners, and every possible assurance is given that their application to Christ shall not be rejected; that as a matter of fact many notoriously wicked men have been forgiven, and made monuments of mercy, for the encouragement of similar transgressors to believe on Christ for everlasting life.
Third.-Others say, that being anxious to obtain salvation, they have tried, but tried in vain, to believe in Christ, and commit their eternal interests into His hands. They have little or no experience of the victories of faith or the joys of religion, and therefore they conclude that their trust in Christ is a delusion, and that all future attempts to believe will issue in like disappointment. This objection may be urged by a dejected believer, or by one who, while thinking he believes, is deceiving himself, and therefore it is very needful that persons whose minds are perplexed by it, should impartially’ examine themselves by the standard of God’s Word, whether or not they are in the faith. On the one hand, we must not conclude that we are real believers because we have felt some motions of the heart towards Christ. The stony-ground hearers believed the Word for a time, but brought forth no fruit to perfection. On the other hand, men must not suppose that they are in a state of unbelief because there is a law in their members warring against the law of their minds, or because they have not yet tasted all those holy pleasures which other men have obtained through faith.
If, as the result of self-scrutiny, we discover that we are not true believers, it is high time to make ourselves acquainted with the real nature of faith, and pray God that we may henceforth be preserved from error on a point so exceedingly important. If we find that amid much remaining corruption there is some good thing in us toward the Lord God of Israel, let us call to mind the firm foundation on which faith rests, and implore that grace which alone can relieve our perplexities and enable us anew to place all our dependence on Christ for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Fourth.-Erroneous views of the doctrine of Divine sovereignty have given rise to a specious objection. It is sometimes asked, How can we be expected to believe in Christ when we are so often told that Divine grace is absolutely necessary to enable us to do so?
It must be acknowledged that no man can come unto Christ by faith unless it be given him by God. But it admits of as little doubt that when God says to men, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead," He is so far from mocking their misery, that He appears in the full glory of His grace, manifesting His marvellous love to perishing sinners. His ways are not as man’s ways, nor His thoughts as man’s thoughts; neither are His calls and invitations like those which men address to each other. No sane man would think of commanding the sick to be well, or the dead to come forth out of their graves; but why should we compare feeble mortals with the mighty God? Let us rather compare God with Himself, and form our judgment of one part of His conduct by what we know of another. When our Divine Saviour dwelt on earth He often commanded the diseased and infirm to be made whole. Did they think that He mocked them when He bade them stretch forth the withered arm, or arise from the bed of weakness and walk? Nay; they had faith in His power and goodness, and, filled with grateful joy, they found health and vigour in the very act of obedience. Sometimes, too, Jesus spake to the dead, and life at once returned to the inanimate frame. What Christ did upon the bodies of men was just a visible illustration of the effectual working of His power upon their souls. "The hour cometh," He says, "and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God," and they that hear shall live.
We know that the Spirit of God works upon whom and in what manner, at what time and by what means, He pleases. The unregenerate man can neither convert himself nor prepare himself for conversion, but he can remove himself to a greater distance from it by the indulgence of vicious inclinations, or by the voluntary surrender of his faculties to a spirit of sloth or despondency. We place ourselves in the way where the Divine Spirit is accustomed to come, and where we are most likely to feel His gracious influence, when in the closet or the sanctuary we meditate on God’s Word, and seek diligently to improve the means of grace. The Spirit works in us both to will and to do. We deceive ourselves if we suppose that the will is in us, whilst we make no attempts to do; and if He works in us really to will, He will also work in us to do, of His good pleasure. This we know-it is no vain thing, but our life, to respond to His gracious call, and bring our hearts under the sanctifying influence of the truth. The four lepers of Samaria, who were ready to perish with hunger, went out to the camp of the Syrians. It seemed extremely unlikely that these cruel enemies of Israel would suffer the famished men to live. But what could they do? They were sure to die if they continued in the city; they could but die if the Syrians refused to show them mercy. They took, therefore, the wisest course, though it seemed a desperate step, when they said one to another, "Why sit we here until we die? Let us go unto the host of the Syrians." How much more should those who are called by the Gospel to believe strive to enter in at the strait gate. Let them consider what must be their doom if they obtain not that salvation which is in Christ. If they are not found in Him they must perish; for there is no other sacrifice for sin. If their efforts to lay hold on eternal life, through faith in His name, are unsuccessful, they can but perish! But, blessed be God, such a catastrophe can never happen. "None perish that him trust." His words are, "Him that cometh unto me. I will in no wise cast out."
PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS.
First. -Let us labour to be well acquainted with the true nature of saving faith, that we may not substitute a dangerous counterfeit for that grace so essential to the Christian life, and so powerfully commended in the Word of God. For this end, let us look carefully into the real import of the word, and the testimony on which it is built; for our faith must correspond with the truths we believe. It is a firm persuasion of the truth of the doctrine concerning Christ revealed in Scripture, resting on God’s faithfulness to His promise, and the sincerity of that grant which is made to us of eternal life in Christ (Hebrews 11:1-3).
It will be proper also to consider the import of those figurative expressions by which faith is frequently set forth in Holy Scripture. It is represented as the soul’s "coming to Christ" (Matthew 11:28); as " receiving" Christ (Colossians 2:6); "building" upon Christ (Ephesians 2:20); "putting on" Christ (Galatians 3:17); laying hold of Christ (Hebrews 6:18); eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:55); looking to Christ (Hebrews 12:2); a committing of the soul to Christ (2 Timothy 1:12). Some of these images have called forth the sarcasm of graceless writers, but they are full of light and sweetness to "those who have senses exercised to discern good and evil.
It will likewise be profitable to study the account given us of the faith of those holy men who lived in former times. If we have the same spirit of faith, we shall, to a certain extent resemble, though we may not equal, them in that noble attainment (Romans 4:23-25 ; Heb. xi.) As the tree is known by its fruits, a knowledge of their practical influence will enable us, in some measure, to distinguish the spurious faith of the formalist from that genuine faith which animates the soul with love to God, and manifests its power in the fruits of holiness (Galatians 5:6).
Secondly.-Let us inquire if personally we have become partaken of the precious faith of God’s elect.
Inseparably connected, not only with our everlasting welfare, but with every part of Christian practice, the doctrine of faith ought never to be considered without application to ourselves. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates" (2 Corinthians 13:5). There are many who lose much of the comfort of faith, because they cannot tell whether or no they are really believing in Jesus. There are some who deceive themselves by mistaking a false, dead faith for that true, living faith which is wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit. Let us ask, therefore, if Jesus Christ be the object of our faith, and if it be exercised about Him in a way suited to His gracious character, as an Almighty Saviour sent by His Father to save us, not only from the penalty, but the power of sin. To believe in Him only as a Saviour from the fearful consequences of sin is to mistake His character and work as grossly as was done by those carnal Jews, who would have gladly received Him on their own terms to deliver them from the Roman yoke, and feed them with miraculous supplies of bread; but who went away and walked no more with Him, when He asked from them a faith corresponding to those spiritual designs of His mission which He unfolded in their hearing (John vi.) Have we any of the marks of faith? If really believers we shall have the "witness" in ourselves (1 John 5:10). We shall be sanctified in part, and through our fellowship with Christ shall bring forth some of those fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory of God. The Apostle James devotes a part of his epistle to an exposure of the inconsistency of those who lay claim to the possession of faith, when they can produce no good works in proof of its genuineness and power. The Apostle John also frequently insists on the necessity of faith manifesting itself by godly works.
We are not to imagine that we are destitute of faith because we are not yet completely sanctified. When we are perfectly holy faith will be at an end. But there will always be an amount of holiness corresponding to the measure of our faith. In obeying the truth through the Spirit we purify our souls unto an unfeigned love of God and the brethren, and ought to abound more and more in the fruits of love, that the grace bestowed on us may become more apparent. By adding to our faith virtue, and all the other graces of the Spirit, we become neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so an abundant entrance into His everlasting kingdom shall be ministered unto us (1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 1:8).
Third.-If we have not yet believed in Christ, it is high time for us to flee from the wrath to come.
Today, if we will hear the voice of God, we must lay hold on eternal life. "Now is the accepted time," and we know not how long it may continue. This night our souls may be required of us, and there is no work nor device in the grave. Just dissuaded from self-murder, the Philippian jailor seemed as incapable as most men of doing anything truly good; yet he believed in Christ, and at once tasted the joys of salvation. The murderers of our Lord were in a very bad way when Peter and the other apostles preached to them the glad tidings of salvation through Him, whom a few weeks before, they had treated as a malefactor; and yet they believed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. David sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, that he would not go into the tabernacle of His house, nor rest in his bed, nor give sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, till he had found a house for the Lord! Did he account the finding of a habitation for the Lord a matter of so much moment that it admitted of no delay? How great must be our infatuation if, through sloth or selfishness, we postpone for a single night or hour the duty of finding for Jesus a dwelling in our hearts. He stands at the door and knocks. Let us remember how short and uncertain human life is, and not for a single instant shut Him from our souls through unbelief. No doubt our evil hearts will offer great opposition to this needful duty of believing; but let us bear in mind, we are not called to perform it by any strength inherent in ourselves. Abraham and other believers in ancient times experienced similar difficulties, both in the beginning and progress of their faith; but they judged Him faithful who had promised. The grace of God is as rich and free as in the days of old, and He still delights in glorifying it (Ephesians 2:6-8). Think of the irreparable loss already sustained by millions of the human family because they refused to believe in Jesus, or because they trifled away their precious hours in perplexing doubts or half-formed resolutions. Think of the mercy and power of our compassionate Redeemer, and of the commission He received of the Father in favour of miserable sinners, and let us build all our confidence on that foundation which God hath laid in Zion-"It is a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste."
Fourth.-" Let us hold fast our faith in Christ, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end" (Hebrews 3:5),
Trials of faith are necessary and useful; and God, who manages all things for the best interests of His people, will take care that they shall not be wanting (James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6). No one need expect to live long without having his faith severely tried and assaulted. Satan is an irreconcilable enemy of faith, for he knows it to be destructive to the interests of his kingdom in the world. When he fought to have Simon that he might sift him as wheat, it was his intention if possible to destroy his faith. The faith of the good man could not have endured the trial had not Jesus prayed for him that it might not fail. The world is unfavourable to faith,-worldly prosperity and adversity being equally unfriendly to it. Pleasant things are too apt to draw away our thoughts and desires from the Rock of our salvation. Disagreeable events often tend to shake our confidence in Him who hath promised that no evil shall happen to the just. The flesh is a foe of faith. The corruptions within us: which war against the soul, the carnal appetites and inclinations which wound the conscience, all tend to weaken that faith by which we stand. The maintenance of our faith amid so many trials and assaults depends, not upon our own powers, but upon the grace of our Divine Redeemer; but to receive from Him needful supplies of strength we must be diligent in the use of those means which His wisdom has prescribed. He told Peter that He had prayed for him that his faith might not fail; but He at the same time directed him and the other disciples "to watch and pray that they might not enter into temptation." With a view of maintaining a vigorous faith we ought to cultivate just apprehensions of the administration of Divine Providence. Job’s friends were good and wise men, but the unscriptural doctrine they taught in regard to the providence of God would have staggered the faith even of that holy man, if his own views had not been exceptionally steady and clear. The providence of God often seems to run counter to His promises, but the steadfast believer knows that when" clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne" (Psalms 92:2.)
Experience is confirmatory of faith. It is therefore useful for believers to retain in their minds what God has done for them in former times (Deuteronomy 8:3). They may also get great benefit by considering the experiences of saints who continued steadfast in the faith amidst greater trials and discouragements than their own (Ps. xxvii.)
We ought frequently to call to remembrance the promises which have been given for the security of our faith, as well as the inviolable faithfulness of the promiser (Hebrews 10:23). That our faith may be firm, we should accustom ourselves to look not at the things which are seen and temporal, but at the things which are unseen and eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). The false glitter or earthly objects is apt to draw away our hearts from a better world. Just notions of the vanity of those things which the world admires will preserve us from many vain and unworthy thoughts which cannot be cherished without impairing our faith. We could never, for example, have supposed that God had forgotten His promises to His people when we see them destitute, afflicted, and tormented, if we had not formed too high conceptions of the value of those temporal blessings which are often granted to the worthless, and withheld from the best of men. With all other means, we can only maintain our faith unmoved by fervent and persevering prayer to God for His preserving grace. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. If we trust to ourselves, we shall certainly fall before the tempter; but if we trust in Christ for the establishment of our faith, we shall rise and stand upright amid a thousand enemies and dangers (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Fifth.-We should endeavour to grow in faith, as well as in every other Christian grace.
Though our faith were vigorous as that of Abraham, it would still be capable of increase. But the majority of Christians have too much reason to acknowledge that their faith falls far short of that of the eminent men who obtained a good report in ancient times. It is very improbable that ours shall ever equal the faith of Abraham or David or Paul, still it is our duty to aspire after such faith. Nor shall our efforts be altogether in vain in the Lord,-for although we never attain to their measure of grace, yet the more earnestly we follow their example, we shall enjoy in richer abundance the consolations of faith and the joys of God’s salvation. That we may be convinced of the necessity of growing in this grace, we should be duly alive to the present weakness of our faith. Of this we have many sad proofs. For example, how apt are we to sink in the day of adversity, and to listen willingly to the voice of unbelief, or of Satan, whispering that there is no succour for us-even in God. How often do we reveal the alienation of our hearts from the faith of the Gospel by the easy admission of sentiments and feelings inconsistent with the glory of Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour. This was one of the special infirmities of the churches of Galatia, and is still a snare even to real believers. How often do we feel strangely disinclined to the more difficult duties of religion, as if there were no strength in Christ to enable us to perform them. How often do slight dangers appal and dispose us despondingly to say, "We shall certainly perish one day by the hands of our enemies;" though we have Christ’s own assurance, that His sheep shall never perish, and that no power in earth or hell shall be able to pluck them out of His hand! How often, too, do we feel our souls dragged down to earth by the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, and all those varied desires, anxieties, and fears which agitate the minds of men who know not God. It is true some of these symptoms of a feeble faith appear in the experience of vigorous believers,-still, even in their case, they are evidences of temporary weakness, and should call forth the prayer, "Lord, increase our faith."
All the directions given for the establishment of faith might be repeated for the strengthening of it. But the following hints may suffice. That we may grow in faith, let us labour to increase in the knowledge of Christ. Our souls are invigorated by the clear and intelligent contemplation of His character, and of those important truths in which His character is displayed. We must see the Son that we may believe in Him; and the clearer our vision, the deeper shall be our conviction of the sin and folly of unbelief. The truths of the Gospel are the nourishment of faith, and that we may abound in it more and more, we must study and appropriate all the promises and encouragements given us in the Word of God (Psalms 119:98-99). The institutions of Divine grace are designed for the strengthening of faith, and must be improved for this end. God hath given to the Church pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry, till we all come, in the unity of the faith, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
Sixth.-We must endeavour to live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved us, and gave Himself for us. In this world Christians walk by faith, and not by sight; in the next world they shall walk by sight, and not by faith. "The just shall live by his faith," said Habakkuk. Paul makes great use of this statement of the prophet; he proves from it, in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians; that we must seek justification by faith without the works of the law; and in his epistle to the Hebrews he proves that if we would endure unto the end, we must encounter all the trials of life in the spirit of faith (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
How can the Christian live except by faith? Whilst in this world we are absent from the Lord, and yet the Lord is our life and our strength and our salvation. By faith we rejoice in an unseen Saviour. By faith He dwells in our hearts. By faith we receive out of His fulness. By faith in Christ we do everything, in a manner at once acceptable to God and useful to ourselves. We are to live by faith upon Christ as our righteousness, and to derive from His atonement, intercession, and grace all those joys and consolations which arise from pardon of sin and reconciliation with God.
We are to live by faith in Christ for our sanctification. He died not only to deliver us from the condemnation due to our sins, but also from the power of iniquity; and therefore, when engaged in spiritual conflicts with the world, the devil, and the flesh, we must draw strength and courage from the cross of Christ. There the victory has been already gained for us, in the person of our Redeemer. He has already subdued all our iniquities. He has finished transgressions and made an end of sin. Our sin was condemned in His flesh, and it is at present under an irreversible sentence of destruction. N or are we left to execute the sentence as we are able; He who once died to subvert the foundations of the empire of sin, still lives and reigns to accomplish the designs of His death.
We ought to live by faith in Christ for the communication of heavenly influence to nourish and improve all our spiritual graces. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. In these holy qualities we are called to abound to the honour of our profession, to the comfort of our own souls, and to the glory of God. But how shall we abound in them? All hope of success in the use of the appointed means lies in Christ our life. It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell, and out of His fulness we receive grace for grace. Of every grace that was in Christ, the ancient believers received a portion according to this measure; and He is still the channel through which God conveys grace into the hearts of men; for by Him the whole body of Christians, being knit together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in the Lord Jesus! when he is weak then is he strong. How wonderful were the exploits which Paul achieved by the strength of Christ (Romans 15:19). We are not called to such arduous work, yet the meanest Christian is called to services -of great moment to himself, and of no small importance to the Church of Christ; but he is called to no service without correspondent promises of help from Christ. Whatever we do, therefore, in word or deed, let it be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. We must pray in His name,-we must render thanks to God through Him, and for His sake must expect the acceptance of everything we do in the service of the Lord. To suppose that God will be pleased with anything we do on any other ground than that of Christ’s mediation would be no less presumptuous than it would have been for an ancient Israelite to have presented to God his own sacrifices, instead of putting them into the hands of the priests who were consecrated to bear the iniquity of holy things (1 Peter 2:5).
We ought to live by faith in Christ, amidst the conflicts and trials of life. We are called to fight the Lord’s battles against the devil and the world, as well as against the corruptions of our own hearts; and as David went forth against Goliath in the name of the living God, we must be strong in the Lord Jesus and in the power of His might, that we may stand firm against all the powers of darkness seeking our overthrow (Ephesians 6:12). The prince of this world is already judged. We are to fight against him as a foe already effectually subdued by our great Leader, and in the assured hope that the God of peace will bruise him under our feet shortly. Paul, buffeted by Satan, prayed to Christ, and trusting in Him, out of weakness he was made strong (2 Corinthians 12:9). The world also is a dangerous enemy. We are too easily frightened from duty by its frowns, or seduced by its smiles, or corrupted by its ensnaring example. But Christ gave Himself for us, to deliver us from this present evil world. In His life and death we see how little regard Jesus paid either to the great or evil things of the present life. The contemplation of His glory will change us into the same image. Who had greater reason than the Apostle Paul to complain of a hard conflict with the world,-but he lived by faith of the Son of God, and could say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom I am crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto me." Hence the world had no terrors for him. He was not afraid to go to Jerusalem, the dwelling-place of his most malignant adversaries, he was not afraid to go to Rome and appear before Caesar,-he was not afraid to advance alone into any of the great centres of population, though warned beforehand that in every city bonds and afflictions awaited him. He trusted in the Lord, and knew that he would be delivered from every evil work, and preserved safe unto God’s heavenly kingdom.
Amongst the sorest afflictions of Christians are those which are embittered by a consciousness of guilt and shortcoming. It is a sign of great hardness of heart not to be overcome with grief when God testifies His displeasure against us; but even at such times we must not cast away our confidence in a merciful Redeemer, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way. David out of the depths cried unto God; he confessed that if the Lord should mark iniquity, neither he nor any of the human race could stand; but he reflected that that there was forgiveness with God, and so he waited for the Lord, and exhorted every Israelite to hope in the Lord, because with Him there is mercy, and with Him there is plenteous redemption.
Spiritual distress occasioned by a sense of guilt, or the prevalence of sin, or the force of sore temptation, is sometimes almost insupportable. Where, in such a case, is our help to be found? Only in Him who Himself suffered, being tempted, and is ever able to succour them that are tempted. David was greatly cast down through guilt resting on his conscience, but he was well assured that the application of atoning blood, typified by that of the legal sacrifices, would make him whiter than the snow, and would make the bones which sin had broken to rejoice. The one oblation of Christ for ever perfects all them that are sanctified. Resting on His finished work, Jesus becomes their Advocate, their Prince, their Shepherd, their Guide to the land of uprightness. He will heal all their diseases. He will bind up their painful wounds. He will make them as if they had never sinned, and will take occasion from their very unworthiness and wretchedness to display the riches of His grace (1 John 1:7-9; 1 John 2:1; Psalms 86:5-6).
We ought to live by faith in Christ amid public calamities befalling the nation or church to which we belong. We are assured that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords; that He has been made Head over all things to the Church, which is His body; and that He knows how to make the most disastrous events subservient to His gracious purposes. We ought, therefore, while deploring the evils of our times, to rejoice in the administration of Christ, and to believe that, through His wise and gracious management, light shall spring out of darkness, and the wrath of man be made to praise Him (Luke 21:28). When the Church of God was carried captive to Babylon, the hearts of her pious members sank almost into despair. They wept when they remembered Zion, and hung their harps upon the willows; but what was the counsel given them by the prophet Habakkuk in view of that calamitous event? "The just," said he, "shall live by his faith." And Paul repeats the sentiment to the believing Hebrews, in the prospect of the crushing judgments that were soon to come upon their nation and country (Hebrews 10:1-39)
Even in death we ought to live by faith in Christ, as the atoning High Priest by whose sacrifice we are delivered from sin, which is the sting of death; and as the Prince of Life, who has in His hands the keys of death and the invisible world; who opens, and no man shuts; who sends His angels to conduct the souls of His people to the place where He dwells; and who, by His glorious power, shall raise them up at the last day, and cause them to sit for ever with Himself upon His throne. By faith in our dying moments, survivors may be greatly benefited through the testimony thus borne to the power of the Gospel; and we shall have the pleasing consciousness of having improved the very latest opportunity of glorifying God amongst the inhabitants of a world which, though so full of His goodness, is very empty of His praise (John 11:15, John 11:26; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
Blessed and holy are those who live from day to day by the faith of the Son of God. They are happy in life and in death. They are strong and able to do exploits. No enemy shall ever prevail against them. No disaster shall ever overthrow them. For them to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Seventh.-Let us demomstrate the genuineness of our faith by "being fruitful in every good work."
If we really believe in Christ, and hope for His salvation, we ought to rejoice greatly in the Lord, and manifest our happiness by contentment with our condition in life, by cheerfulness under worldly reverses, by a disposition on all occasions to praise the Lord, who hath already blessed us, and from whose favour we hope to receive blessings that shall make us equal to the angels in heaven. "Why art thou, being the king’s son, sad from day to day?" said Jonadab to Ammon. That prince might have answered: "Why should not the king’s son be sad when he feels the bitterness of adversity, and the tyranny of wicked passions as acutely as other men?" But believers are, in many respects, superior to their fellow-men. They are, indeed, exposed with their brethren of the human family to the varied evils of life, and frequently to a greater share of them than their neighbours; but they have this inner source of satisfaction, that in the end they shall obtain the salvation which is in Christ, with eternal glory. And they know that all the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in them. Why, then, should their souls be cast down, or why should they be disquieted within them? Should they not still hope in God, in the full confidence that they shall yet praise Him as the health of their countenance and their God? Can they forget that their present troubles, instead of obstructing the completion of their hopes, are just tending to the furtherance of their salvation, through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ? The soul is infinitely more precious than the body, and there is greater reason for joy than sorrow in the most painful of these trials, which are really working together for one’s spiritual advantage. At the very time, therefore, when they are in heaviness through manifold temptations, Christians have reason to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Believing in Jesus, let us testify the strength of our faith by showing a noble superiority to the present world, and living as citizens of heaven. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Can we place our happiness in any earthly object when we know that we have an inalienable title to that inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading? Can we believe that Jesus would purchase heaven for us by His precious blood, and yet suffer us to want any accommodation that is really needful by the way? Who gave Himself, what gift will He deny?
If we believe in Christ, we ought to hate sin, and flee from every form of temptation. None have such clear views of the evil of sin as believers. They know at what cost their redemption from it has been secured, and they know that they have been redeemed that they may serve God in righteousness and holiness continually. How can they who know and believe that they are dead to sin, by their fellowship with Christ, live any longer therein? (Zechariah 12:10). If we believe in Christ for salvation, we ought to walk as He also walked (1 John 2:6). Let us be followers of God as dear children, walking in all lowliness and meekness and long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us (Titus 3:3-8).
Renouncing our own works, and sensible that we must be accepted before God, on the ground of a better righteousness than our own, we ought to act as pardoned criminals, who, but for the interposition of infinite mercy, must have been for ever associated with devils, amid the horrors of their infernal prison-house (Ephesians 2:8-9). Forgiven much, we should love much. Deeply impressed with a sense of the danger we have escaped, we should be earnestly active in seeking to bring others to share in our happy deliverance. Are we animated by the spirit of faith? Then it will be our heart’s desire and prayer that the number of our fellow-believers be multiplied a thousand-fold! This was the disposition of the apostles-that which they saw and heard they declared, that others also might have fellowship with them. This was the disposition of the holy forerunner of our Lord. When his disciples envied for his sake the popularity of Jesus, alleging that all men were following him, John just expressed regret that so few believed in him-"What he hath seen and heard he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony" (John 3:32). With similar zeal let us endeavour to bring those under our care, and all others whom our influence may reach, to a saving acquaintance with Christ, by instructing them in those blessed truths which are the seed and nourishment of faith (Psalms 78:1-8). By abounding in those holy works which are the proper fruits of faith, our example may prove the means of winning relations and neighbours to the knowledge and service of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:15; 1 Peter 3:1-2).
Let us show all due respect to those holy institutions which are so often blessed by God for the conversion of sinners. Let us strive to maintain them in their purity, and extend their influence throughout all the world. We are greatly indebted to those good men who in early times preached the Gospel in this land, and introduced the ordinances of religion. How ungrateful shall we be to God, and to our ancestors, if the means of faith, through our indolence or neglect, should be transmitted less purely to our posterity (Exodus 20:24). Let it be our earnest desire not only to hold fast, but to hold forth, the truth; especially let us be active, in defending and disseminating those cardinal doctrines bearing on the person and offices of Christ, the way of salvation through faith in His name, and the right which all sinners have to come to Him for salvation. In the Epistle to the Galatians we find how zealous Paul was in propagating these truths, and with what fervour of spirit he warned men against the seductions of false teachers, who, by subverting the Gospel of Christ, subverted also the souls of men. All the apostles were animated by the same sacred fervour (Acts xv.) Let us work and pray like them. God giveth the increase. That His Word may have free course amongst ourselves and throughout the world; that Christ may be glorified and sinners saved,-let this be our supplication, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations" (Psalms 67:1-2).
We have spoken largely of the knowledge of Christ, and of faith in His name. There are many other duties we owe Him, concerning which the Scripture furnishes us with abundant materials of discourse. It will be necessary in this place to say something of the chief of them. It is true that those who know and trust Him will never think they can do enough to please Him. But we ought to search the Scriptures that we may know what instances of our regard He expects and will accept at our hands (John 15:14; Romans 6:1-23) III. - LOVE TO CHRIST.
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."-1 Corinthians 16:22.
"He is altogether lovely." Christ loved us when we were altogether unlovely and vile. The love of God, like Himself, is underived and independent, but we cannot love unless there are amiable qualities to attract our esteem. In our Saviour there are such transcendent excellencies that the moment they are seen by faith we are constrained to exclaim, "How great is His goodness, how great is His beauty." The divine nature of Christ is the ground of our love; His person, as God-man, is the object of it. As a man, grace and truth shone forth in every part of His character, and there was in Him everything fitted to endear Him to our hearts. His love to righteousness and hatred of iniquity, the depth of His compassion and forbearance, His zeal for the Father’s glory were so wonderful, that those must be blind indeed who see not in . His person and work a beauty and excellency fitted to fill the soul with gratitude, love, and praise.
Christ puts a high value upon our love.
What can this love be to Him who inhabits the praises of eternity? Yet, as if our hearts were worthy of His acceptance, He asks and accepts of them as a most precious oblation. "0 daughter, hearken and consider, forget also thy father’s house and thine own people, so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty." "How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse, how much better is thy love than wine, and the smell of thine ointments than all spices."
If our love were worth anything to Christ, what merit could we claim from it? Is it not richly deserved? has He not bought it with a price of inconceivable value? Yet, as if He had done nothing to constrain us to love Him, He is pleased to express satisfaction with every token of our regard, and would reckon Himself unrighteous if He should forget any of our labours of love, or ministrations to the meanest of His people. Those who do the will of His father in heaven are His mothers, His sisters and brothers, and a cup of cold water given in His name shall in no wise lose its reward.
If our love, in all its workings and fruits, is so well-pleasing to Christ, why should He not have it all? Why should we pervert the warm affections of our souls, by suffering them to run waste upon vanities and lies? Let Him, who so well deserves it, who has done and endured so much to gain it, who sets so high a price upon it-be its great object. Let us love Him above all earthly enjoyments, above all relatives and friends. The chief place in our hearts is due to Christ, our love to Him must be pure and entire. Saith Christ, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Jas. iv.4; Ps. x55:10).
IV. - PRAISE TO CHHIST.
"Prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised."- Psalms 72:15.
"Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people." -Romans 15:11.
If we praise God who created us, we ought also to render thanks to Christ, by whom we have been redeemed, and through whose grace existence has been made not a curse to us, but the basis of the richest blessings (John 1:4; 1 Peter 3:18). If we praise God for the wonderful things He has done to us and our fathers, ought we not to render thanks also to Him through whom God’s works of goodness and mercy are accomplished? He was the Angel of Jehovah’s presence, who saved His ancient people. He is God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; and into His hands is all judgment committed, that men might honour the Son even as they honour the Father (John 5:23). The reasons for rendering thanks to Christ are so powerful, that if we should be silent in His praise, the very stones might cry out, and upbraid our ingratitude (Luke 19:40). The angels in heaven are represented as joining with the living creatures and the elders and the vast company of the redeemed in adoring praise of the "Lamb that was slain" (Revelation 5:9-12).
We hope to form part of that glorious assembly. Already we are admitted to such fellowship with the worshippers in the upper sanctuary as our present state will admit of (Hebrews 12:23), and therefore we ought, as far as our present weakness will allow, to join in their work. Blessed are they who dwell with Christ in His Father’s house; they are ever praising Him. But those also are blessed who are travelling in the way that leads to it. They are already in heavenly places in Christ, and have constant reason to show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into marvellous light. Each one, conscious of this blessed change in his condition, cannot surely refrain from saying with the beloved disciple, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father: to him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
John in vision saw not only saints and angels, but all creatures in heaven and earth, and under the earth, ascribing praise to Christ; and we find Isaiah calling upon the mountains and vales, the forests and all their trees, and heaven with all its hosts, to celebrate the praises of Him who hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel. If inanimate objects had tongues they would certainly use them in praising Him by whom they were made, and by whom the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and made to share in the glorious liberty of the children of God. Why should men who, above all creatures, are interested in Christ, and who, through His redeeming work, have been favoured with such fresh views of their Creator’s glory, be less forward to praise Him? Surely the wisdom, the power, the righteousness, the faithfulness, the wondrous love of their Divine Redeemer, supply the saints with an exhaustless theme of praise. Every office He executes, every suffering He endured, every gracious work He has performed, every promise, He has given, every assurance of His love, every triumph of His grace, demands most grateful thanksgiving. That we may praise Him as we ought it is necessary for us to know Him. If we have clear apprehensions of His character and work, we shall not be able to restrain our lips from uttering His praise. But we should earnestly seek to know Him better, that we may praise Him with greater intelligence and delight, and our thanksgivings be less unworthy of their glorious subject.
If our hearts are properly impressed with a sense of the glory of our Redeemer, and the priceless value of the benefits which come to us through His atonement, we shall not confine our praises to the sanctuary,-the voice of rejoicing and salvation will be heard in our dwellings. And in converse with our friends, we shall take pleasure in expressing our love and gratitude by commending our Redeemer, and spreading abroad the savour of His name. The Song of Solomon represents the’ spouse as seizing every opportunity of setting forth the grace and beauty of Him whom her soul loved (Malachi 3:16-17).
V. - INVOCATION OF CHRIST.
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."-Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13.
Prayer is a duty which we owe to the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as to the Father. Christians are described by Paul as persons who "call upon the name of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:2); and we find all the apostles, in their epistles, supplicating for the churches or believers to whom they wrote, grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is not only the Mediator, by whom we draw near to God, but a Divine Person equal with the Father, the giver as well as the purchaser of all saving blessings. He is the object of our faith, and how shall we not call on Him in whom we believe? We have indeed no authority from scriptural precept or example to pray that He would be pleased to perform His work of intercession on our behalf, nor is there any occasion for such petitions. Let us, by a genuine faith, commit our souls to His care, and we may be assured that He will be faithful to His trust. But we are authorised to seek from Him those precious blessings, and we are sure that He is more ready to bestow than we are to ask them,-only we must leave to Himself the time and the way of answering our requests. Paul besought the Lord thrice that the messenger of Satan might be made to depart; yet his trial was continued, and the Lord did better things for him than he asked. (2 Corinthians 12:9). The. divinity of Christ makes Him the proper object of our worship; but we are encouraged to seek and expect spiritual blessings, because He is man as well as God, and because He is our Redeemer. He died for us, and what gifts will He deny us? He is touched with a feeling of our infirmities. He was Himself a petitioner when He was upon earth. It is worthy of remark, that Stephen, in his dying moments, presented the same request to Christ which Christ, when expiring on the cross, presented to His Father. "Lord Jesus," said the proto-martyr, "receive my spirit." Jesus knows the heart of a petitioner, and when we both present our requests to Him as God, and by Him as Mediator, with what confidence may we expect an answer in peace.
VI. - OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST.
"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."-John 13:17.
Obedience to Christ is a duty imposed upon us by the authority of His Father. God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, and calls upon all who hear the Word, not only to receive the blessings of salvation, but to yield obedience to Him as their Lord. To give flattering words, and yet live in open violation of His laws, would be to act the part of Judas, who betrayed the Son of Man with a kiss. We must love our neighbour, not merely in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth; how much more ought we by our deeds to testify the sincerity of our love to our blessed Saviour. "If ye love me," He says, "keep my commandments." These commandments may be divided into two classes-those which the law of nature enjoins, and those which are laid upon us by the revealed will of God. We are to testify our love and subjection to Christ by our obedience to both of these. The laws arising from our natural relation to God and to one another contain their recommendation in themselves, for they are all holy and just and good. Apart from Christ’s advent and sacrifice, so binding are our obligations to obey them, that the least violation entails a just sentence of condemnation. But obedience is no less due to the positive institutions of Christ than to those laws which nature itself teaches us to obey. He is our Lord, and it is but reasonable that He should assert His own authority by laws and ordinances resting on His sovereign will. A positive law was given to our first parents, that by obedience to it they might manifest their regard to the will of God. In like manner Christ, our Redeemer, has instituted ordinances in His Church, by the observance of which we can testify our regard to Him as our Lord. Were we to behave virtuously towards our fellowmen, whilst living in the neglect of the duties which are peculiar to Christianity, we might with propriety be called "virtuous heathen," but it would be a profanation of the worthy name by which they are called to rank us among " Christians." A servant honours his master, a subject obeys his prince; if Christ is our Master and King, His appointments must be observed, His work must be done. He calls us friends rather than servants, but for this very reason we ought to serve Him faithfully, cheerfully, with all our heart, without intermission, and without end. Apart from the authority on which they rest, other reasons commend, to us the institutions of Christ. His wisdom and grace may be seen in them. They are fitted to exert a most beneficial influence on our hearts and lives. They are the means of carrying on intercourse with heaven, and with Him whose death or life, or royal authority, are clearly represented to us in every gospel ordinance. To render to Christ the obedience demanded we must acquaint ourselves with His laws and institutions. By the study of the Scriptures, and by prayer, we may easily come to know what the will of the Lord is. He has commanded nothing in vain; and it is dangerous to break, or teach other men to break, even the least of His commandments (Matthew 5:19; Psalms 119:6). That we may yield faithful service to Christ we must renounce every other lord, and break off from all sin; for what concord hath Christ with Belial? We must not attempt to serve both God and Mammon--yea, our own will must be renounced, in so far as it is opposed to the will of Christ.
We have earthly superiors, but we must obey them only in the Lord; and when we act thus, we yield obedience to the Lord Himself.
Jesus, our Judge and Lawgiver and King, is likewise our strength and sufficiency. This makes His yoke easy and His burden light. He is a kind Master, who promises to strengthen for duty, support under opposition, and compensate for all the losses and sufferings endured in His service. What loyal subjects should we be were we assured that the sovereign would give a kind testimony of regard for every act of cheerful obedience! But what is a smile or a gift from the greatest earthly prince, compared with the gracious approval of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ? "If any man," says He, "serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honour."
Doubtless self-denial must be exercised in our obedience to Christ. But why should it be deemed a hardship to deny ourselves for the sake of Him who pleased not Himself, who lived a life of sorrow, and died an accursed death for our salvation? Neither should it be forgotten that we do not really lose what is given up for His sake. It shall be compensated, "receiving an hundredfold now in this time, and in the world to come eternal life" (Mark 10:30).
VII. - IMITATION OF CHRIST.
"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."- 1 Peter 2:21.
We are to testify our faith and love to Christ by walking as He walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. There are too many princes who behave like the ancient Jewish doctors, who laid heavy burdens upon men’s shoulders, but would not themselves touch them with one of their fingers. Jesus, on the contrary, though Himself the Lawgiver, yielded implicit obedience to the laws which He has enjoined on us. Of His own free will Christ was made under the law, and His obedience to its most self-denying precepts was complete and perfect, lacking nothing. What saint on earth could ever say, I have no sin? But our Lord was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. We may err greatly by walking, without caution, in the steps of Abraham, or Moses, or David, but the life of Christ was a "living law," no less perfect, and every way fitted to recommend the "written Iaw" to our regard and practice. " Be ye holy," says God, "as I am holy."
There, is, however, one great difference between that holiness which is the glory of the Divine nature and the holiness required from us. God is the Lawgiver, and we are the creatures to whom the law is given. God’s holiness, therefore, could not consist in obedience, as ours must do. But Jesus Christ showed forth all the beauties of holiness in an obedience rendered to the law in our own nature. Further, there is a glory in Divine holiness too dazzling for our eyes to look upon. Unless seen in Him who is the image of the invisible God, we should feel amazed and terrified with the sight of God’s awful holiness. But that holiness is familiarised and endeared to us in the person of the Man Jesus Christ. Nor should the perfection of His obedience discourage; it assures us that we cannot possibly go wrong in imitating Him. The eminent saints of whom we read in Scripture never hoped to attain absolute perfection in the present life; but keeping their eyes fixed on our Redeemer, and endeavouring to trace His steps, they reached higher degrees of holiness than they could otherwise have done. Such a man was the Apostle Paul, who, though the humblest of men, could exhort the churches to be followers of himself, even as he was of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 11:1). The Lord fulfilleth the desires of them that fear Him; by faith in His name, we shall receive out of His fulness, and grace for grace-grace corresponding to that grace which is in Christ Himself. Let us, then, aim at that moral purity which Christ exemplified; though following at a great distance, our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Whilst with open face, as in a glass, we behold the glory of the Lord, we shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. That we may rightly follow the example of Christ, we must distinguish between those parts of His conduct in which He exercised powers, or performed works peculiar to Himself as our Redeemer, and those in which He manifested regard to that law which is the rule of our conduct. We dare not lay claim to the glory of Christ’s miraculous works or mediatorial offices. It is vain to pretend to observe a fast of forty days, to rule the winds and waves, to heal diseases, or disclose the secrets of the human heart, in imitation of our Saviour. Equally vain would it be to seek to rival Him in His saving work; but, as Christ died for the Church, we ought also to be ready, if called on, to lay down our lives for the brethren; as He did everything pertaining to His high office, we ought also to do all that lies in our power to save souls from eternal death. Jesus could not repent of sin, because He knew no sin; but He set us an example in His hatred of sin, in His grief for sins not His own, and in His uniform obedience to His Father amidst all the temptations with which He was surrounded.
Although Christ appeared in the form of a servant, yet princes may learn from Him how they ought to govern their subjects. Whilst exhibiting that condescension, meekness, forbearance, and wisdom which should beautify the character of those who are placed in high stations, He never forgot what was due to Himself, and amidst all the familiarities to which He admitted His disciples, He maintained the dignity and authority which belonged to Him as the Master and King of the Church. Besides, princes are taught to rule by the virtues and glories which shine forth in every part of His administration (Psalms 72:1-20)
Although our Lord did not form those family connexions that are common in the world, yet heads of families may learn from His example how they are to behave as becometh Christians. Let masters act towards their servants as Christ did towards His disciples; let husbands love their wives even as Christ loved the Church; let children obey their parents as the child Jesus was subject to His. That we may be furnished with that prudence and those dispositions which are necessary for the successful imitation of Christ, we must daily pray for the illuminating and sanctifying influences of His Spirit. It is also needful that we he well acquainted with those precious records that give us the history of His life and death. Among other valuable purposes served by the four different accounts given us of "the things that Jesus began both to do and to teach," this is not the least, that, by their attentive perusal, such an impression of facts and instructions is left upon the mind as is not easily effaced. With the histories of the evangelists in our hands, we can never be at a loss to know the character of thought, speech, and conduct by which, in different circumstances and situations, we may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. A superficial thinker may imagine that the circumstances of Christ’s life were so unlike those in which we are often placed, that on many occasions we can obtain no suitable direction from His example. No doubt much spiritual prudence is necessary in making the example of our Lord useful to us, but, when we cannot see His footsteps, we may, at least, discern the spirit by which He acted. He always preferred the glory of His Father to His own ease, or any other consideration whatever. He always preferred men’s spiritual to their temporal interests-their real advantage to their wishes. In all circumstances He acted according to the will of God, and His heart was constantly intent upon that great work which He came into the world to accomplish. We follow the example of Christ whilst we live under the governing influence of such principles. If the mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus, we shall find it pleasant to follow Him whithersoever He goeth. Were He to lead us to our rest through seas of blood, through furnaces seven times heated, ought we not cheerfully to follow Him who drank out the bitterest dregs of the cup of misery, that we might be furnished with those joys of salvation that turn the waters of Marah into wine. How much more should we follow Him through ways which, though hard, rugged, and thorny to flesh and blood, are all paths of pleasantness and peace. What man suffered more, or did more, for Christ than Paul, but he could thank God for making him always to triumph in Christ. In nothing was he ashamed, and he was not deceived in his earnest expectation that, whether in death or in life, Christ would be magnified in him. "For him to live was Christ, and to die was gain."
Let us also set the Lord always before us, and though oftentimes in heaviness through manifold temptations, through His Spirit imparted, we shall endure unto the end. In due season we shall reap if we faint not. For it is a faithful saying, if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. 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 (1 John 3:2).