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"Hark! the voice of love and mercy,
Sounds aloud from Calvary;
See, it rends the rocks asunder,
Shakes the earth, and veils the sky
It is finished,

Hear the dying Saviour cry!

"Finished all the types and shadows
Of the ceremonial law;

Finished all that God had promised,
Death and hell no more shall awe:
It is finished,

Saints, from hence your comforts draw.

"Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs,
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
Saints on earth, and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel's name:
Hallelujah!

Glory to the bleeding Lamb."

CHAPTER XXX.

THE RENDING OF THE ROCKS AN EMBLEM OF THE ROCKY HEART.

We have seen the triumph of Christ as God-man, displayed in the removal of the ceremonial law and the bringing in of the everlasting gospel, signified by the rending of the vail, and in his public declaration on the cross, "It is finished." We will now speak, the Lord helping us, on the earthquake, and the rending of the rocks, which took place when Christ as our High Priest expired on the

cross.

Christ's power as God-man was exhibited over inanimate things, that they are at his disposal; He can rend rocks and earth at his pleasure. It was Christ that divided the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through. It was He that cleft the rock in the wilderness. He was the Angel of the Lord's presence, who went before them before whose presence "The everlasting mountains were scattered,

the perpetual hills did bow. The mountains saw thee and they trembled, the overflowing of the water passed; the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high;" as it were, trembling before his presence. This infinite Being when expiring on the cross, caused these creatures to tremble before their Maker, and as it were, rending their garments at his death, and also reproving the stupidity of the Jews, who were not moved at their heinous crimes. The rending of the rocks was an emblem of the future conversion of sinners, through the powerful preaching of Christ, and Him crucified; when hearts as hard as rocks were rent to pieces, stony hearts taken away, and hearts of flesh given: of which the three thousand being pricked to the heart under Peter's sermon were an instance. The hearts of graceless souls are compared in the word of God to stones-"I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh." If there were no such thing, it could not be taken away. It is compared to an adamant-" Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former prophets-" Because I know that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass." What a picture of a natural man! What a deplorable state is he in.

1st. Why the hard heart of a man is compared to a stone. There is a five-fold resemblance. 1st. Insensibility. 2nd. Inflexibleness. 3rd. Resistance. 4th. Heaviness. 5th. Unfruitfulness.

1st. It is insensible. What sense of feeling is there in a stone. Hence a sinner is said to be past feeling-" Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto, lasciviousness" (Eph. iv. 19). Though he may have as many sins upon his soul, as would make the very creation groan, yet he neither complains, nor feels; he goes on in his sin, drinks up iniquity as water, and says, What evil have I done? Though the anger of the Lord is upon him, encompassed with his wrath, yet he lays it not to heart. Like Ephraim, strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, grey hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not." Such is the insensibility of a graceless heart.

2nd Inflexibleness. We may bend wood and iron, melt brass -not so a stone. We may break it to pieces, it still remains stone, it will not bend or yield. This is the natural man; he will not hearken nor obey: he will not receive instruction, advice, or counsel. God speaks in his word, thunders threatenings in his law, holds forth a free salvation in his gospel, and his ministers preach; yet the heart still remains the same until the word is applied by

the power of God the Holy Ghost.

Pharaoh receives a message from God through Moses and Aaron, accompanied with miracles and plagues; his heart remains the same, and asks, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?" (Read 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16; Amos iv. 6—11). These will demonstrate the hardness of man's heart-neither mercy nor judgment will affect it.

3rd. Resistance. A stony heart, not only it does not receive impression, but it resists and opposes the word-"As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth." "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost." Hence sinners are said to despise, reject, and blaspheme the word.

4th. It may be compared to a stone for its heaviness, and tending downward. If you would find it, you must look downward. You may cast it upward, it will descend; the earth is its centre: thither it inclines, and there it rests. So is the heart of man; it is earthy, and delights in earthly things.

5th. Unfruitfulness. What fruit can be gathered from a stone? We may cast seed on it, yet it will remain fruitless; rain and dew may descend, the sun shine on it, it still remains barren. Thus it is with the heart. It may have the means of grace, and many other blessed privileges; and for all this receives no benefit.

How are men brought into this deplorable state? 1st. Through the fall. All the faculties of the soul partake of this hardness; judgment, will, affection, and conscience, each of these resist and oppose the truth.

2nd. In addition to the fall, our hearts become harder through habitual sinning against light, with delight, and a continuation therein.

3rd. There is a judicial hardness, that is, when God leaves a man to himself; so left, he will be sure to sink into eternal perdition. This hardness is universal in all the sons and daughters of fallen Adam; like the deluge which covered every part of the earth, leaving not so much as a piece of ground for Noah's dove to rest upon. This we will demonstrate.

1st. The readiness of man to sin. If a temptation is presented to the natural man, he readily complies. If the world and Satan do not tempt, the heart will, and the sinner is led away with it. Not so with a gracious soul-" How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" said Joseph.

2nd. Quietude of conscience in sinning. Man will commit all kinds of wickedness, oppose all that is good, and feel no condemnation.

3rd. The security of heart in sinning. A broken-hearted sinner under a sense of sin, will weep bitterly, and water his couch with tears. He is afraid of the Lord whom he has provoked. Not so with a hardened sinner; though he knows that he offends God, that He destroyed thousands for the same sin, yet he goes on in his sinful practices.

4th. The heart is destitute of repentance. When a heart is blessed with a godly repentance, there will be a solemn consideration of sin; a mourning for it, self-judging and confessing: an abhorrence of it, and supplications for pardoning mercy. Contrary to all this, is found in a heart destitute of true repentance.

5th. God's word has little effect. The word is compared to the sun, which enlightens and quickens; to water, that softens and cleanses; to a hammer that breaks; to fire, that melts and refines the heart. Yet it is without effect until the Holy Ghost brings it to the heart with almighty power.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE removing of the stubbornness of the heart is a work of God. "I will take away the stony heart, and give you an heart of flesh." This is done in regeneration, when convinced of sin by the Spirit of God, He brings the law in its spirituality upon the conscience, that it rends the rocky heart, fills it with fear, trembling, and astonishment, whereby all our presumption and confidence are shaken ; the heart is convinced that it has transgressed the law. It quakes, trembles, nor finds rest or peace; it is filled with bitterness and terror, and cries out with woful complaints, I am undone, I am ruined, by reason of my sin. Alas! what will become of me?

What can I do to be saved? Lord, have mercy upon me! I am miserable while living, and undone when I die. This is the spirit of bondage that is brought by the law; it breaks the heart, but cannot melt it. The melting of the heart belongs to the gospel

"Law and terrors do but harden,

All the while they work alone;
But a sense of blood-bought pardon.
That will melt a heart of stone."

This harduess is removed by a revelation of the mercy of God in Christ to the soul. Thou art a rebel, and sinned against me; but I am merciful and gracious: I desire not the death of a sinner. "Whosoever believeth in me shall not perish." When such promises are applied to the soul by the Spirit of God, the soul is melted into a flood of tears, and admires the richness of God's mercy. This softness of heart is produced by gospel invitations. Christ comes by his Spirit to the contrite heart, and says, Be not afraid, come unto me. In me you shall find mercy and salvation; I can save to the uttermost-I will not reject, but pity and help. The heart is softened through faith in Christ; the Spirit enables the sinner to receive Christ, and his atonement; to lay hold upon his righteousness, and to appropriate it to himself" In the Lord have I righteousness and strength." God melts a sinner's heart as a sovereign. Sometimes He does it by affliction-" Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept thy word." Sometimes by kindness-"Thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed." "I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord."

The reason why the Lord gives them an heart of flesh, that they may receive the Lord for their God; that they might hear his voice, and obey his holy commandments. As God is willing that they should be his people, so they must be willing to have Him for their Lord. That they might be united to Christ is another reason. This union took place before time, and in God's own time He brings them into the actual enjoyment of the same; and in order to realize this union a heart of flesh must be given. The application of the promises of God requires it. He has promised to spread peace to give pardon, which a hard heart cannot receive. Oh what a glorious promise is this to God's people, that the Lord will take away the stony heart. It is beyond the power of men or

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