Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

the awakened and renewed mind. This consists in the consciousness of the existence of the principle of evil within, of the guilt of original sin, of the defilement of hereditary and inborn sin, and of the actual influence and dominion of sin; joined with the deep conviction of its heinousness, as a transgression of the sacred law of God, an opposition to his holy nature, a rebellion against his authority, an insult to his purity and his goodness, and an indication of natural alienation of heart and enmity against him. When this is felt, sin is found to be burdensome, degrading, polluting, destructive. The sense of separation from God is of itself sufficient to plunge the soul into remediless despair.

3. And this burden becomes increasingly oppressive when the violated requisitions of the divine law are set in contrast with that total incapacity to fulfil them, of which the awakened person is also conscious, and of which his daily renewed anxieties and efforts to yield obedience render him more and more deeply and painfully convinced. For, in proportion as sin is felt to be burdensome, (if the true and only mode of deliverance is not practically discovered), repeated efforts will be made to establish a righteousness by the works of the law. At the same time, increasing acquaintance with the power of inward corruptions, and with the spiritual force and extent of the sacred injunctions of that law, will produce increasing consciousness of defilement, depravity, guilt, and inability for self-deliverance. Thus hope deferred will make the heart sick; and the afflicted soul becomes more weary, while it labours under repeated disappointment.

Nor is it only at the outset of the Christian life that sin is felt to be a heavy load on the conscience. The child of God, throughout his whole life, finds this to be the occasion of his weariness, the burden which oppresses him. Temptation would have no influence, but for the indwelling corruption which is too ready to yield to every unholy suggestion. Afflictions would be exempt from their chief bitterness, were it not for the past offences which they recall to mind, and the present corruptions which they stir up and bring into exercise. And while one great business of the believer's life is to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset him," the inward struggles of the natural principle compel him again and again to exclaim, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

The view of sin thus communicated by divine teaching, and the experience of its character as a heavy burden, is directly op

[ocr errors]

posed to the various palliations which the pride, the indolence, and the self-love of men have invented. It may, for example, be quite in character for the corrupt church of Rome to cherish the unscriptural distinctions borrowed from earlier writers, concerning mortal and venial sins, and thus to afford to her priests a kind of scale to which they may adapt their equally unscriptural modes of penance. But the true penitent, while he fully acknowledges that there are degrees of heinousness in different offences, knows at the same time that the offence which, in man's estimation, is of smallest import, possesses a weight of guilt which no temporal penalties can obliterate, but which is sufficient by itself to sink him into the lowest gulf of misery. And the advanced Christian is conscious that the remaining infection of his nature, and consequent concupiscence within, has of itself the nature of sin. It is true that there is a wide difference between the habitual practice of any sin, and the yielding to the force of sudden and vehement temptation; between the thought of evil cherished and dwelt upon, even though not brought into action, and the same thought resolutely checked as soon as it has presented itself to the mind. Yet even the latter is truly sin, and is not in its own nature more venial than the other. No human effort can remove the guilt of either; both alike need the interference of sovereign grace. To the man whose conscience is tender as it should be, the secret sin is as loathsome as the open offence; the evil which man calls light will be dreaded as a weighty and oppressive burden. And all human distinctions calculated to diminish the estimate of any offence against God ought to be rejected with holy indignation and abhorrence.

When impressed by such feelings as these, the mind is prepared to receive the tidings of II. An all-sufficient Deliverer; for the call of our blessed Saviour to the weary, labouring, and heavy-laden is, "Come unto me."

And why does he thus direct the oppressed exclusively to himself? Because he is at once able and willing, and endued with the right and authority to bestow the deliverance which is needed.

1. Does the oppressed sufferer require a deliverer who is able to give relief?

Jesus Christ may say, Come to me; for he is the Almighty God. This glorious truth shines so brightly throughout the sacred word of God, that were all Christendom to unite in its denial, the most simple reader of that word might discover it there. And by those who feel the burden of sin, it will be received not merely as a doctrine theoretically true, but as an invaluable principle of life and consola

tion. Nothing less than the arm of Omnipo- | tence can give relief. Hence the consciousness of utter depravity and helplessness opens the eyes to the glorious revelation of the Triune Jehovah, and affixes a value beyond conception on that great mystery of godliness, that Jesus our Deliverer is God manifest in the flesh.

2. Again, do we need a deliverer who is willing to espouse our cause?

and the use of all the other ordinances of Christ's appointment, will be the actings and evidences of that faith by which this spiritual approach to Christ is made.

And all who, in obedience to his word, resort to this Deliverer, will find his promise fulfilled in the experience of—

III. Effectual relief,-" I will give you rest."

This promise involves at once the removal of every evil, and the enjoyment of every good.

His free surrender of himself to assume our nature and to fulfil his Father's will in the work of redemption; his miraculous in- 1. It includes deliverance from the burden carnation; his deep abasement; his actions; of spiritual ignorance. It affords an answer his sufferings; his death; his repeated de- to the restless inquiry of the men of the clarations of love; and his exceeding great world, "Who will shew us any good?" It is and precious promises, all manifest his the calming influence of divine instruction, abundant willingness to save to the utter-pointing out the way of life to those who most all who come unto God by him.

3. And further, do the weary and heavyladen require one endued with authority and competency to deliver?

On this ground likewise the Redeemer says, Come unto me. He is the appointed Mediator, for whom God the Father had prepared a body, that by partaking of our flesh and blood he might become one with his redeemed, Emmanuel, God with us. The Father hath made him perfect through sufferings, that he might through him fulfil his purpose of bringing many sons to glory. And to evince the fulness of this authority, the Saviour testifies, "all things are delivered to me of my Father," and especially claims his sheep as made over to him by an everlasting covenant, which can never be violated.

To this omnipotent and gracious Deliverer, thus consecrated for his sacred office in the councils of heavenly love, the weary and heavy-laden may approach with confidence.

The emblematic description of faith involved in the expression, "Come unto me," beautifully represents the operation of simple confidence and of earnest desire for an experience of his saving influence. Thus does the sick man come to the physician on whose skill and attention he relies; thus does the destitute come to the liberal benefactor for the supply of his wants; thus does the heavily laden apply to the kind and vigorous friend for the removal of his burden. As Noah entered into the ark provided for his rescue from the flood; as the manslayer hastened to the city whose appointed walls were to screen him from the pursuit of the avenger of blood; so does the deeply contrite soul hasten to Christ. The same Spirit who has revealed the danger and given a consciousness of the burden, inspires the faith which resorts to the Saviour, in obedience to his word, Come unto me. And the exercise of prayer, the study of the revealed word,

have been groping in the gloom of dismal uncertainty. It is the communication of the knowledge, not merely of our own state of sin and wretchedness, but of that God who is love. It is the revelation of the everlasting good-will of God the Father to his chosen people; of the redeeming grace of the eternal Son; of the manifold saving operations of God the Holy Ghost; of the covenanted engagements of the Triune Jehovah. It is the possession of the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; the experience of that practical acquaintance with God the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, through the teaching of the blessed Spirit, which our Lord has characterised as the basis of life eternal.

2. The promised rest comprehends, moreover, a deliverance from condemnation; for there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The pardon conferred by Christ on all who come unto him, is an immediate, an entire, a full, a complete, an absolute pardon. In him, the broken-hearted and penitent believer has redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of his sins. There is no partial, imperfect, or gradual pardon on record in the sacred word of

truth.

Even Israel, after repeated rebellions and backslidings, receives the gracious assurance, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." The chastisements of the people of God are by no means intimations that their sins are not wholly and completely pardoned; rather, they are solemn memorials of the absolute evil of sin, and are instruments which God employs in their purification. David was fully pardoned when the prophet declared, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin;" and the many trials which followed him through life, deeply as they were felt by him as chastisements, were exempt from every thing of a penal character. He knew what it was to rest in the consci

ousness of pardoned transgression, and to rejoice in the experience of the favour of his God.

[ocr errors]

3. Another essential portion of this rest is deliverance from the influence of sin. In the experience of those who live by faith in Christ, this promise is fulfilled, "Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace." Being Christ's, they "have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." They "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The description of St. Peter is realised: "He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." They who are in Christ know and love the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, and advance in conformity to it. The fulfilment of the purpose of God in their sanctification is the present blessedness of his people; and the prospect of the completion of that holiness is one of the great incentives to their earnest desires for that rest which is reserved for them hereafter.

4. The rest which our Lord promises comprehends also deliverance from unreasonable doubts and fears, and the communication of solid and permanent peace. The command of the Gospel is, "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees: say unto them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not." The love of Christ delivers the soul from the restless bondage to the legal covenant under which it once lay. The partakers of this rest are not required to labour with the harassing uncertainty whether they have done or can do enough to contribute their share to salvation, or to rescue themselves from wrath. They see salvation secure in Christ; they know the unchangeableness of the promise; they rest on the everlasting covenant, which is ordered in all things and sure; and they work with all energy and perseverance, not that they may obtain grace, but because they have already received grace. Sinful anxiety is banished; they cast their care on God; they acquiesce with humility and patience in all his dispensations; they receive chastisements as from the hand of a loving and beloved parent; they stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has set them free. The Spirit of God bears witness to their adoption into the family of the redeemed, and teaches them to cry, Abba, Father. They dwell in Christ, are united to him by an indefeasible union; and because they have this security of full salvation, they have nothing to interrupt the stedfast uniformity of their efforts to glorify God and to shew forth his praise.

5. And this rest involves a calm and assured expectation of eternal happiness. They who come to Christ are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. This prospect cheers the believer under the many trials and conflicts which painfully remind him that the rest on earth is but an incipient and incomplete state of blessedness. There is a higher blessedness to the dead which die in the Lord; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. The evils and difficulties occasioned by temptations from without, and by unbelief and the struggles of other partially subdued corruptions within, shall for ever cease; while the works which especially characterised the new man, the works of holy obedience and thankful adoration, shall so follow them into heaven as never to be again interrupted; nay, they shall be brought to their fullest perfection, when that better thing provided for all the Church shall be bestowed, and the whole company of redeemed saints shall, with their risen and glorified bodies reunited to the soul, enjoy the fulness of everlasting rest.

1. Of the many practical inferences which this important subject suggests, that which claims the first attention is this, that there is no genuine and abiding rest except that which is bestowed by Christ.

The methods of relief to which men resort, however various, and however insufficient, agree at least in betraying the uneasiness within. Hence the efforts to drown the consciousness of disquietude by continued occupation in business or in pleasure, according to the varied tastes of the sensual, the worldly, or the intellectual. Hence, too, the sacrifices, and ceremonies, and self-tortures of many among the heathen, and the fictitious modifications of religion among those who name the name of Christ. Some seek rest for the conscience in a course of outward virtues, valuable in their influence on the comfort of society, but worthless, in a religious view, in the eye of a pure and heartsearching God. Others place reliance on the outward services of religion, and even pervert the precious sacraments of Christ's own appointment into substitutes for Christ; putting the emblematic parts of these sacraments in the place of the graces and gifts of which they are the representatives and the channels; interpreting the sound and spiritual language of our own sacramental formularies by the careless, if not erroneous, expressions of early writers, instead of referring them to their genuine prototype, the sacred word of God; while they attempt to supply their still acknowledged deficiencies by acts of will-worship, prohibited by God, and derogatory to the freedom of his grace and the profession

of the work and office of the Redeemer. | prohibitions against will-worship and volunThe Saviour himself decides the point: "Itary humility; in spite of the contempt therewill give you rest." None can communicate by cast on the merits and the righteousness the gift but himself; and while the believer of the only and all-sufficient Saviour. The thankfully employs those sacraments, as well promise of Christ is rest. How then can a as other appointed ordinances, as instru- permanent and self-entailed bondage be conmental in leading the soul to him, and as sistent with childlike faith and spontaneous channels by which he may convey the gift of and cheerful obedience? No, God is the his Spirit, still in Christ alone his confidence Father of his people; and he delights, not in is placed; to Christ alone the honour is the slavish service of one who works with ascribed. uncertainty of success, and obeys through fear of stripes; but in the happy and filial obedience of those whose hearts are filled with love and confidence. Christ will " not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord," is the characteristic announcement of the Gospel; and "rejoice evermore " is a precept peculiar to the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

2. But we may be further reminded, that it is an offence against Christ himself to attempt to preclude any who are labouring and heavy-laden from the rest which he bestows. The ministers of Christ are not permitted to lay on the already oppressed penitent the heavy burden of despair; and to taunt him with the supposed contrast between his state and the imaginary, but never realised, condition of those who have lived since baptism in unsullied purity. Thus did not Christ to the publicans and sinners who flocked to his instructions. Who, indeed, that knows any thing of the purity of God's law, of the evil of sin, and of the workings of his own heart, can dare to class himself among the pure, or do otherwise than join the publican's cry, "God, be merciful to me a sinner?"

And even in the case of open backsliders, who, after apparent devotedness to the service of God, have wilfully departed from him, and plunged themselves into worldly-mindedness, or other iniquity, may any man dare to withhold from them the promise of the Saviour, when they return, weary and heavy-laden under the sense of their accumulated and aggravated guilt? No, nothing is too hard for the Lord. They whose sins are as scarlet shall be washed in the blood of the Lamb, and made white as snow. It is true, that we know not the heart, and therefore must clothe our language of encouragement with many cautions. But no other source of rest must be pointed out besides the merits and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some, indeed, will say, "I do not seek rest here; my sins deserve it not, and I may well be satisfied with the simple possibility that salvation may be mine at last, although the chains of my guilt weigh me down in sorrow throughout my life."

But this feeling, under a show of humility, is in fact too frequently nothing more than one of the carnal substitutes put in the place of the pure Gospel of free grace. It may seem strange, but it is a fact, that the pride of man cannot indulge itself more effectually than by cherishing notions of self-torture. It would gladly accept deliverance from the burden of guilt by the superadded load of ascetic mortifications, in spite of the inspired

3. Lastly, we are reminded, that as the ministers of Christ are especially, like their Divine Master, sent to the weary and heavyladen, it is their duty fully and faithfully to teach every thing which the Scripture reveals concerning the excellency and sufficiency of Christ, and the way of salvation through him. It is an act of criminality to conceal what God has commissioned us to teach. Our business is to make known without reserve the whole counsel of God; and by manifestation of the truth to commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. To do otherwise, is to maintain, instead of renouncing, the hidden things of dishonesty, and to handle the word of God deceitfully. Shall the minister of Christ use his own judgment, or the judgment of his fellow-men, as to the portion which he may deem it expedient to conceal of divine truth? Shall the pastor, in a congregation of nominal Christians-shall the missionary, in an assemblage of ignorant heathen,-speak of rest for the heavy-laden, and not let them know that the security for this rest is the eternal Son of God, incarnate for the salvation of his people? Shall they suppress the glad tidings of that atonement, without which there can be no peace, no rest? Shall they leave any one, whom their instructions can reach, uninformed in the glorious revelation of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? What if any portion of the early Church was guilty of that unholy mimicry of heathenism, that they must have some fancied mystery, some secret, which God had not appointed? Are we, whom God has delivered from such bondage, to follow in their steps? God forbid ! yield to such a precedent, we shall soon find similar results produced, and rapidly descend from the follies and weaknesses of some of the fathers into the abyss of popish abomina

If we

tions. May those of us who are called to the service of the sanctuary, and those among us who are anticipating the privilege of that sacred office, remember always, that a dispensation is committed to every one invested with the holy ministry of God's word and sacraments. It is not left to our option what doctrines and what precepts we shall select. The conscience of each should testify within himself: " Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel."

And what can be a more delightful, a more privileged office, than to preach good tidings to the meek, to tell of Him who binds up the broken-hearted, who gives liberty to the captives, who comforts the mourners, and gives the garment of praise for the spirit of heavi ness? What more blessed than to take up the language of our Divine Master himself, and say, "Come unto Jesus, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and he will give you rest?"

The Cabinet.

THE PSALMIST'S CONTEMPLATION OF THE WORKS OF GOD. In a former discourse to you on the fortysecond Psalm, I recommended the more frequent perusal of this portion of the holy Scriptures, not only on account of its general utility, from its embracing so wide a field of subjects (since there is no holy thought or feeling that may not be found embodied in the Psalmist's words), but also from the beautiful simplicity of the language and imagery employed, which, by engaging the imagination, at once touches the heart, and with greater force and perspicuity teaches the uneducated Christian to know and to understand rightly those great truths, which are able to make him "wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." But besides this high recommendation which is offered, there is yet another, which every attentive reader of the Psalms cannot fail to have observed; and this is, that no one writer of the holy Scriptures more frequently dwells upon the glorious works of the creation. These may be called the poor man's library,-that book of nature wherein he, be he a scholar or not, may, as he works, read of God; where the simple-minded but teachable Christian may trace the finger of the Almighty, and search out his wisdom and goodness; "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (Is. xxxv. 8). And if this be the case, the book of Psalms must be doubly interesting to many of you, my brethren, whose lot it is to be engaged in outof-door occupations, which must necessarily give you constant opportunities of observing the handy-work of a great and glorious God, some "going forth to their work and to their labour until the evening" (Ps. civ. 23); while others of you, "going down to the sea in ships, and occupying your business in great waters, see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep" (Ps. cvii. 24). How must our hearts at times be overwhelmed with gratitude and love, as we ponder on these things, as we think that for us were they all created, and to us has the government of them been committed. Who, impressed as he must be, with the excellency of his power, can refrain from joining in the chorus of praise into which the enraptured Psalmist bursts: "What is man, that thou

From "The Sea is his, and he made it :" a Sermon preached in Chideock Church, Dorset, on occasion of the violent hurricane, on the south-western coast, Nov. 1838. By the Rev. Henry Rawlinson, B.A., Curate. London, Burns, 1839; Tucker, Bridport.

art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou makest him lower than the angels, to crown him with glory and worship. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: and thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea, and whatsoever walketh through the paths of the sea." Thus did the inspired Psalmist find that the contemplation of the wonderful works of God was one of the best and purest sources of human happiness,-a pleasure that can never be weakened by repetition,-a pleasure that satisfies, inasmuch as there is an inward satisfaction while the mind is so employed; yet unsatisfying too, at the same time, because as it is a pleasure that never cloys or wearies, we desire ever to grasp at more; and therefore the more that such meditations are pursued, they raise it to the contemplation of diviner and the more do they delight the soul, and the more do purer objects, ever to think less of the creature, and more of the Creator. In a word, they shew us our own insignificance, and should therefore teach us humility; we, as we approach God and the things that are God's, should become smaller in our own eyes, like a "heaven-directed spire," which, as it rears its head to the firmament, where the God in whose honour it has been erected dwells in glory unapproachable, feels, as it were, and acknowledges its ascent to his throne by becoming smaller and more tapering.

HOLY SCRIPTURE.-It ought rather to recommend than disparage the Scriptures, that what is revealed is so copious and extensive, that, like a river, it will supply a lamb with what may quench its thirst, and cannot be exhausted by an elephant.-Boyle on the Style of the Scriptures.

THE NEW NATURE.- Intimately connected with this doctrine of the justification of the sinner by faith alone, to the utter exclusion of works in any degree whatever, is that of the renewal of the heart to holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit. Man, being by nature dead in sin, must be raised to newness of life. Man, being by nature alienated from God, must be brought nigh by the blood of Christ. And not only so, but a great and saving change must be wrought upon his heart; a change which, though it cannot render him worthy, will qualify him and make him meet for admission to heaven. For "they that are in the flesh cannot please God." The vastness of this change is fully manifested by the terms employed in Scripture to represent it. Figured by the external ablution in the waters of baptism, it is a cleansing of the inner man by the power of the Holy Ghost. Nay, it is spoken of as the possession of a new nature. Observe the striking, forcible language of God's word with reference to this important subject, and the strong terms employed to describe the vastness of the change. It is not a better heart that is to be possessed, but a new heart. Old things are not merely to be improved, but "old things" are to pass away, and all things are to become "new." It is not simply an external reformation of conduct that is required,-it is the renewal of the inner man. It is not merely the cultivation of many of the graces and virtues, for which even a heathen might be distinguished, and which may be possessed even while the soul is dead in trespasses and sins, and which are never to be confounded with the fruits of the Spirit's influence,-but that deep vitality of religion in the soul which is the source of all true practical godliness. No substitution of outward ablution must be made for this inward washing by the eternal Spirit. "Marvel not," when it is said unto you, 66 ye must be born again." Let it ever be recollected, that He who uttered the solemn declaration is to be the Judge of quick and dead,-that without being a partaker of this spiritual birth, no man "can see the kingdom of God." We may blot out the sun from the

« AnteriorContinua »