Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

trust we can truly say, I was dead, but am alive. I was in darkness, but Christ has given me light. I knew not the way of peace, but He has shed abroad in my • heart that peace, which passeth all understanding, which the world can neither give nor take away.'

[ocr errors]

3. Christ will give thee Holiness. Remember that without Holiness thou canst never see the Lord. Holiness is our meetness for heaven. It is that state and disposition of heart which alone can fit us for seeing and serving God. At present thou knowest nothing of this state of heart. It is impossible, while thou sleepest, and art dead in Sin, that thou canst know any thing of it. But obey the Call in the text, Awake, arise, and Christ will give thee light. He will make thee holy. He will change and sanctify thy heart. He will cause thee to love Him, and to find pleasure in His ways. Obedience to God shall be thy delight; and the sin, of which thou art now so fond, shall become thy aversion, thy burden, and thy grief.-May I not again hope, that some of us can testify to the reality of this change also? Have we not found this blessed effect, in some degree at least, wrought upon our hearts? All who have really come to Christ in the Gospel, must have found it thus for wheresoever He gives Knowledge,

and Peace, He assuredly gives Holiness also. These things are never separated. And where Christ gives these, He will as assuredly give more, He will give also Eternal Life: for all these Blessings are the steps to Heaven, and the earnest of it.

Upon the whole, what Encouragement is there to obey the Call in the Text! Since Christ is ready, and has promised to give such great and glorious blessings to those who obey His call, why should any of you continue in a state of sleep and death? May His grace accompany the Call to your hearts! May His Spirit rouse and quicken you! So shall you awake indeed, and be roused to newness of life. So shall you die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Be warned. Be admonished. Sleep not till you awake in another world, and find too late that a Death in sin here will surely end in Death Eternal hereafter.

34 Para

SERMON VI.

CHRIST'S INVITATION TO THE HEAVY-LADEN.

MATTHEW, xi. 28.

Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest.

ONE reason why men esteem Religion so little is, that they so little understand it. They know not its worth and excellence. They are not aware of the consolation and delight which it would yield, if they would but heartily embrace it. They look upon it as a dull, and an unprofitable thing. They think, that it would make them gloomy, would spoil their enjoyments, and destroy their peace. But how great is their mistake! Did they see the matter aright, they would know, that to be truly religious, is in fact another expression for being truly happy. Would they but make trial of the ways of God, they would find in them that real enjoyment, that practical satisfaction, which they are vainly seeking in other ways. There is no passage more likely to fix this truth

upon our minds, than the one which I have read to you. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."-May God vouchsafe his blessing to us, while I endeavour to explain and apply these gracious words!

I shall with this view lead you to consider, I. The Person speaking, and the Persons spoken to.

II. The Words addressed to them.

I. The Person speaking. -This is a point of the greatest moment: a point on which the whole depends. When any one makes an offer, gives a promise, or enjoins a command, the first thing which we are concerned to know is this, By what authority doeth he these things? Is he one whom we may credit? Is he able to make good his offers? Is he willing to fulfil his promises? Has he a right to enjoin these things? Till we are satisfied on these points, we cannot be fully persuaded to believe and to do all that he says; we cannot perfectly repose in him our confidence, nor implicitly follow his commands. Who then is the person speaking in the text? What is his authority? What are his claims to our faith and obedience? He is One, whom we have the strongest reasons to believe and obey: for the Father, by a voice from heaven, has said of Him, "This my beloved Son, hear ye Him." He is

is

One, whose Word we cannot distrust; for He is the Truth itself, the Faithful Witness, who cannot lie nor be deceived. He is One, whose Power we cannot question; for He has all power in heaven and in earth, according to what He Himself declares in the verse before the text, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father." He is One, whose Willingness to fulfil His offers we cannot doubt for He came into the world to save Sinners. He, who was willing to lay down His life for our souls, cannot but be willing to do for us all that He has promised. On every ground, therefore, He has the strongest claim to our attention, and our confidence. We may rely on what He says with full assurance. He has not said more than He is authorised to say, or than He is able and willing to fulfil. He tells us nothing but what is most certainly true. He directs us to nothing but what is absolutely for our good. He promises nothing but what He will surely perform. How greatly ought we to value the words of such a Friend! diligently should we listen to them! readily obey them! May we be more thankful for them than we have been! May we regard them more attentively, love them better, and try to fix them deeper in our hearts!

How

How

Such is the Person who is here speaking.

« AnteriorContinua »