of Israel. Who can describe the distress throughout the camp; and the
appearance of the people, when they were invited to approach a flinty
rock, instead of a fountain or a stream, to quench their thirst? What
angry countenances were there, what bitter censures, and ungrateful
murmurings, as Moses went up to the rock, with nothing in his hand but a
rod! “Where is he going,” said they, “with that dry stick? What is he
going to do on that rock? Does he mean to make fools of us all? Is it
not enough that he has brought us into this wilderness to die of thirst?
Will he mock us now by pretending to seek water in these sands, or open
fountains in the solid granite?” But see! he lifts the rod, he smites
the rock; and lo, it bursts into a fountain; and twelve crystal streams
roll down before the people! Who can conceive the sudden transport?
Hear the shout of joy ringing through the camp, and rolling back in
tumultuous echoes from the crags and cliffs of Horeb! “Water! water! A
miracle! a miracle! Glory to the God of Israel! Glory to his servant
Moses!” It was a resurrection day to Israel, the morning light bursting
upon the shadow of death. New life and joy are seen throughout the camp.
The maidens are running, with cups and pitchers, to the rock. They fill
and drink; then fill again, and haste away to their respective tents,
with water for the sick, the aged, and the little ones, joyfully
exclaiming—“Drink, father! Drink, mother! Drink, children! Drink, all
of you! Drink abundantly! Plenty of water now! Rivers flowing from the
rock!” Now the oxen are coming, the asses, the camels, the sheep, and
the goats—coming in crowds to quench their thirst, and plunging into the
streams before them. And the feathered tribes are coming, the
turtle-dove, the pigeon, the swallow, the sparrow, the robin, and the
wren; while the croaking raven and the fierce-eyed eagle, scenting the
water from afar, mingle with them around the rock.
Brethren, this is but a faint emblem of the joy of the church, in
drinking the waters that descend from Calvary, the streams that gladden
the city of our God. Go back to the day of Pentecost for an instance. O
what a revolution of thought, and feeling, and character! What a change
of countenance, and conscience, and heart! Three thousand men, that
morning full of ignorance, and corruption, and guilt—idolaters,
sensualists, blasphemers, persecutors—before night were perfectly
transformed—the lions converted into lambs—the hard heart melted, the
dead conscience quickened, and the whole man become a new creature in
Christ Jesus! They thirsted, they found the “Spiritual rock,” tasted its
living waters, and suddenly leaped into new life, like Lazarus from the
inanition of the grave!
This is the blessing which follows the church through all her wanderings
in the wilderness; accompanies her through the scorching desert of
affliction, and the valley of the shadow of death; and when at last she
shall come up out of great tribulation, her garments shall be found
washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; and the Lamb who is in
the midst of the throne shall lead her to everlasting fountains, and she
shall thirst no more!
SERMON IV.
FALL AND RECOVERY OF MAN.
“_For if_, _through the offence of one_, _many be dead_; _much more
the grace of God_; _and the gift by grace_, _which is by one man_,
_Jesus Christ_, _hath abounded unto many_.”—Rom. v. 15.
MAN was created in the image of God. Knowledge and perfect holiness were
impressed upon the very nature and faculties of his soul. He had
constant access to his Maker, and enjoyed free communion with him, on the
ground of his spotless moral rectitude. But alas! the glorious diadem is
broken; the crown of righteousness is fallen. Man’s purity is gone, and
his happiness is forfeited. “There is none righteous; no, not one.”
“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” But the ruin is
not hopeless. What was lost in Adam, is restored in Christ. His blood
redeems us from bondage, and his gospel gives us back the forfeited
inheritance. “‘For if, through the offence of one, many be dead; much
more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ, hath abounded unto many.” Let us consider;—_First_, The
corruption and condemnation of man; and _Secondly_, His gracious
restoration to the favor of his offended God.
I. To find the cause of man’s corruption and condemnation, we must go
back to Eden. The eating of the “forbidden tree” was “the offence of
one,” in consequence of which “many are dead.” This was the “sin,” the
act of “disobedience,” which “brought death into the world, and all our
wo.” It was the greatest ingratitude to the Divine bounty, and the
boldest rebellion against the Divine sovereignty. The royalty of God was
contemned; the riches of his goodness slighted; and his most desperate
enemy preferred before him, as if he were a wiser counselor than Infinite
Wisdom. Thus man joined in league with hell, against Heaven; with demons
of the bottomless pit, against the Almighty Maker and Benefactor; robbing
God of the obedience due to his command, and the glory due to his name;
worshipping the creature, instead of the Creator; and opening the door to
pride, unbelief, enmity, and all wicked and abominable passions. How is
the “noble vine,” which was planted “wholly a right seed,” “turned into
the degenerate plant of a strange vine!”
Who can look for pure water from such a fountain? “That which is born of
the flesh is flesh.” All the faculties of the soul are corrupted by sin;
the understanding dark; the will perverse; the affections carnal; the
conscience full of shame, remorse, confusion, and mortal fear. Man is a
hard-hearted and stiff-necked sinner; loving darkness rather than light,
because his deeds are evil; eating sin like bread, and drinking iniquity
like water; holding fast deceit, and refusing to let it go. His heart is
desperately wicked; full of pride, vanity, hypocrisy, covetousness,
hatred of truth, and hostility to all that is good.
This depravity is universal. Among the natural children of Adam, there
is no exemption from the original taint. “The whole world lieth in
wickedness.” “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness
is as filthy rags.” The corruption may vary in the degrees of
development, in different persons; but the elements are in all, and their
nature is everywhere the same; the same in the blooming youth, and the
withered sire; in the haughty prince, and the humble peasant; in the
strongest giant, and the feeblest invalid. The enemy has “come in like a
flood.” The deluge of sin has swept the world. From the highest to the
lowest, there is no health or moral soundness. From the crown of the
head to the soles of the feet, there is nothing but wounds, and bruises,
and putrefying sores. The laws, and their violation, and the punishments
everywhere invented for the suppression of vice, prove the universality
of the evil. The bloody sacrifices, and various purifications, of the
pagans, show the handwriting of remorse upon their consciences; proclaim
their sense of guilt, and their dread of punishment. None of them is
free from the fear which hath torment, whatever their efforts to overcome
it, and however great their boldness in the service of sin and Satan.
“Mene! Tekel!” is written on every human heart. “Wanting! wanting!” is
inscribed on heathen fanes and altars; on the laws, customs, and
institutions of every nation; and on the universal consciousness of
mankind.
This inward corruption manifests itself in outward actions. “The tree is
known by its fruit.” As the smoke and sparks of the chimney show that
there is fire within; so all the “filthy conversation” of men, and all
“the unfruitful works of darkness” in which they delight, evidently
indicate the pollution of the source whence they proceed. “Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The sinner’s speech
betrayeth him. “Evil speaking” proceeds from malice and envy. “Foolish
talking and jesting,” are evidence of impure and trifling thoughts. The
mouth full of cursing and bitterness, the throat an open sepulchre, the
poison of asps under the tongue, the feet swift to shed blood,
destruction and misery in their paths, and the way of peace unknown to
them, are the clearest and amplest demonstration that men “have gone out
of the way,” “have together become unprofitable.” We see the bitter
fruit of the same corruption in robbery, adultery, gluttony, drunkenness,
extortion, intolerance, persecution, apostasy, and every evil work—in all
false religions; the Jew, obstinately adhering to the carnal ceremonies
of an abrogated law; the Mohammedan, honoring an impostor, and receiving
a lie for a revelation from God; the Papist, worshipping images and
relics, praying to departed saints, seeking absolution from sinful men,
and trusting in the most absurd mummeries for salvation; the Pagan,
attributing divinity to the works of his own hands, adoring idols of wood
and stone, sacrificing to malignant demons, casting his children into the
fire or the flood as an offering to imaginary deities, and changing the
glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the beast and the
worm.
“For these things’ sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of
disobedience.” They are under the sentence of the broken law; the
malediction of Eternal Justice. “By the offence of one, judgment came
upon all men unto condemnation.” “He that believeth not is condemned
already.” “The wrath of God abideth on him.” “Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things written in the book of the law, to do them.”
“Wo unto the wicked; it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his
hands shall be given him.” “They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness
shall reap the same.” “Upon the wicked the Lord shall rain fire, and
snares, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup.”
“God is angry with the wicked every day; if he turn not, he will whet his
sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.”
Who shall describe the misery of fallen men! His days, though few, are
full of evil. Trouble and sorrow press him forward to the tomb. All the
world, except Noah and his family, are drowning in the deluge. A storm
of fire and brimstone is fallen from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The
earth is opening her mouth to swallow up alive Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Wrath is coming upon “the Beloved City,” even “wrath unto the uttermost.”
The tender and delicate mother is devouring her darling infant. The
sword of man is executing the vengeance of God. The earth is emptying
its inhabitants into the bottomless pit. On every hand are “confused
noises, and garments rolled in blood.” Fire and sword fill the land with
consternation and dismay. Amid the universal devastation, wild shrieks
and despairing groans fill the air. God of mercy! is thy ear heavy, that
thou canst not hear? or thy arm shortened, that thou canst not save? The
heavens above are brass, and the earth beneath is iron; for Jehovah is
pouring his indignation upon his adversaries, and he will not pity or
spare.
Verily, “the misery of man is great upon him!” Behold the wretched
fallen creature! The pestilence pursues him. The leprosy cleaves to
him. Consumption is wasting him. Inflammation is devouring his vitals.
Burning fever has seized upon the very springs of life. The destroying
angel has overtaken the sinner in his sins. The hand of God is upon him.
The fires of wrath are kindling about him, drying up every well of
comfort, and scorching all his hopes to ashes. Conscience is chastising
him with scorpions. See how he writhes! Hear how he shrieks for help!
Mark what agony and terror are in his soul, and on his brow! Death
stares him in the face, and shakes at him his iron spear. He trembles,
he turns pale, as a culprit at the bar, as a convict on the scaffold. He
is condemned already. Conscience has pronounced the sentence. Anguish
has taken hold upon him. Terrors gather in battle-array about him. He
looks back, and the storms of Sinai pursue him; forward, and hell is
moved to meet him; above, and the heavens are on fire; beneath, and the
world is burning. He listens, and the judgment trump is calling; again,
and the brazen chariots of vengeance are thundering from afar; yet again,
and the sentence penetrates his soul with anguish unspeakable—“Depart! ye
accursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!”
Thus, “by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” They are “dead in
trespasses and sins;” spiritually dead, and legally dead; dead by the
mortal power of sin, and dead by the condemnatory sentence of the law;
and helpless as sheep to the slaughter, they are driven fiercely on by
the ministers of wrath to the all-devouring grave, and the lake of fire!
But is there no mercy? Is there no means of salvation? Hark! amidst all
this prelude of wrath and ruin, comes a still small voice, saying: “much
more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ, hath abounded unto many.”
II. This brings us to our second topic, man’s gracious recovery to the
favor of his offended God.
I know not how to represent to you this glorious work, better than by the
following figure. Suppose a vast graveyard, surrounded by a lofty wall,
with only one entrance, which is by a massive iron gate, and that is fast
bolted. Within are thousands and millions of human beings, of all ages
and classes, by one epidemic disease bending to the grave. The graves
yawn to swallow them, and they must all perish. There is no balm to
relieve, no physician there. Such is the condition of man as a sinner.
All have sinned; and it is written, “The soul that sinneth shall die.”
But while the unhappy race lay in that dismal prison, Mercy came and
stood at the gate, and wept over the melancholy scene, exclaiming—“O that
I might enter! I would bind up their wounds; I would relieve their
sorrows; I would save their souls!” An embassy of angels, commissioned
from the court of Heaven to some other world, paused at the sight, and
Heaven forgave that pause. Seeing Mercy standing there, they
cried:—“Mercy! canst thou not enter? Canst thou look upon that scene and
not pity? Canst thou pity, and not relieve?” Mercy replied: “I can
see!” and in her tears she added, “I can pity, but I cannot relieve!”
“Why canst thou not enter?” inquired the heavenly host. “Oh!” said
Mercy, “Justice has barred the gate against me, and I must not—cannot
unbar it!” At this moment, Justice himself appeared, as if to watch the
gate. The angels asked, “Why wilt thou not suffer Mercy to enter?” He
sternly replied: “The law is broken, and it must be honored! Die they or
Justice must!” Then appeared a form among the angelic band like unto the
Son of God. Addressing himself to Justice, he said: “What are thy
demands?” Justice replied: “My demands are rigid; I must have ignominy
for their honor, sickness for their health, death for their life.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission!” “Justice,” said
the Son of God, “I accept thy terms! On me be this wrong! Let Mercy
enter, and stay the carnival of death!” “What pledge dost thou give for
the performance of these conditions?” “My word; my oath!” “When wilt
thou perform them?” “Four thousand years hence, on the hill of Calvary,
without the walls of Jerusalem!” The bond was prepared, and signed and
sealed in the presence of attendant angels. Justice was satisfied, the
gate was opened, and Mercy entered, preaching salvation in the name of
Jesus. The bond was committed to patriarchs and prophets. A long series
of rites and ceremonies, sacrifices and oblations, was instituted to
perpetuate the memory of that solemn deed. At the close of the
four-thousandth year, when Daniel’s “seventy weeks” were accomplished,
Justice and Mercy appeared on the hill of Calvary. “Where,” said
Justice, “is the Son of God?” “Behold him,” answered Mercy, “at the foot
of the hill!” And there he came, bearing his own cross, and followed by
his weeping church. Mercy retired, and stood aloof from the scene.
Jesus ascended the hill, like a lamb for the sacrifice. Justice
presented the dreadful bond, saying, “This is the day on which this
article must be cancelled.” The Redeemer took it. What did he do with
it? Tear it in pieces, and scatter it to the winds? No! he nailed it to
his cross, crying, “It is finished!” The Victim ascended the altar.
Justice called on holy fire to come down and consume the sacrifice. Holy
fire replied: “I come! I will consume the sacrifice, and then I will
burn up the world!” It fell upon the Son of God, and rapidly consumed
his humanity; but when it touched his Deity, it expired. Then was there
darkness over the whole land, and an earthquake shook the mountain; but
the heavenly host broke forth in rapturous song—“Glory to God in the
highest! on earth peace! good will to man!” {114}
Thus grace has abounded, and the free gift has come upon all, and the
gospel has gone forth proclaiming redemption to every creature. “By
grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God; not of works, least any man should boast.” By grace ye are
loved, redeemed and justified. By grace ye are called, converted,
reconciled and sanctified. Salvation is wholly of grace. The plan, the
process, the consummation, are all of grace.
“Grace all the work shall crown,
Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise!”
“Where sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded.” “Through the
offence of one, many were dead.” And as men multiplied, the offence
abounded. The waters deluged the world, but could not wash away the
dreadful stain. The fire fell from heaven, but could not burn out the
accursed plague. The earth opened her mouth, but could not swallow up
the monster sin. The law thundered forth its threat from the thick
darkness on Sinai; but could not restrain, by all its terrors, the
children of disobedience. Still the offence abounded, and multiplied as
the sands on the sea-shore. It waxed bold, and pitched its tents on
Calvary, and nailed the Lawgiver to a tree. But in that conflict sin
received its mortal wound. The Victim was the Victor. He fell, but in
his fall he crushed the foe. He died unto sin, but sin and death were
crucified upon his cross. Where sin abounded to condemn, grace hath much
more abounded to justify. Where sin abounded to corrupt, grace hath much
more abounded to purify. Where sin abounded to harden, grace hath much
more abounded to soften and subdue. Where sin abounded to imprison men,
grace hath much more abounded to proclaim liberty to the captives. Where
sin abounded to break the law and dishonor the Lawgiver, grace hath much
more abounded to repair the breach and efface the stain. Where sin
abounded to consume the soul as with unquenchable fire and a gnawing
worm, grace hath much more abounded to extinguish the flame and heal the
wound. Grace hath abounded! It hath established its throne on the merit
of the Redeemer’s sufferings. It hath put on the crown, and laid hold of
the golden scepter, and spoiled the dominion of the prince of darkness,
and the gates of the great cemetery are thrown open, and there is the
beating of a new life-pulse throughout its wretched population, and
Immortality is walking among the tombs!
This abounding grace is manifested in the gift of Jesus Christ, by whose
mediation our reconciliation and salvation are effected. With him,
believers are dead unto sin, and alive unto God. Our sins were slain at
his cross, and buried in his tomb. His resurrection hath opened our
graves, and given us an assurance of immortality. “God commendeth his
love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us;
much more, then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through him; for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life.”
“The carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be.” Glory to God, for the death of his Son, by
which this enmity is slain, and reconciliation is effected between the
rebel and the law! This was the unspeakable gift that saved us from
ruin; that wrestled with the storm, and turned it away from the devoted
head of the sinner. Had all the angels of God attempted to stand between
these two conflicting seas, they would have been swept to the gulf of
destruction. “The blood of bulls and goats, on Jewish altars slain,”
could not take away sin, could not pacify the conscience. But Christ,
the gift of Divine Grace, “Pascal Lamb by God appointed,” “a sacrifice of
nobler name and richer blood than they,” bore our sins, and carried our
sorrows, and obtained for us the boon of eternal redemption. He met the
fury of the tempest, and the floods went over his head; but his offering
was an offering of peace, calming the storms and the waves, magnifying
the law, glorifying its Author, and rescuing its violator from wrath and
rain. Justice hath laid down his sword at the foot of the cross, and
amity is restored between heaven and earth.
Hither, O ye guilty! come and cast away your weapons of rebellion! Come
with your bad principles, and wicked actions; your unbelief, and enmity,
and pride; and throw them off at the Redeemer’s feet! God is here,
waiting to be gracious. He will receive you; he will cast all your sins
behind his back, into the depths of the sea; and they shall be remembered
against you no more for ever. By Heaven’s “Unspeakable Gift,” by
Christ’s invaluable atonement, by the free and infinite grace of the
Father and the Son, we persuade you, we beseech you, we entreat you, “be
ye reconciled to God!”
It is by the work of the Holy Spirit within us, that we obtain a personal
interest in the work wrought on Calvary for us. If our sins are
cancelled, they are also crucified. If we are reconciled in Christ, we
fight against our God no more. This is the fruit of faith. “With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness.” May the Lord inspire in every
one of us that saving principle!
But those who have been restored to the Divine favor may sometimes be
cast down and dejected. They have passed through the sea, and sung
praises on the shore of deliverance; but there is yet between them and
Canaan “a waste howling wilderness,” a long and weary pilgrimage, hostile
nations, fiery serpents, scarcity of food, and the river Jordan. Fears
within and fightings without, they may grow discouraged, and yield to
temptation, and murmur against God, and desire to return to Egypt. But
fear not, thou worm Jacob! Reconciled by the death of Christ; much more,
being reconciled, thou shalt be saved by his life. His death was the
price of our redemption; his life insures liberty to the believer. If by
his death he brought you through the Red Sea in the night, by his life he
can lead you through the river Jordan in the day. If by his death he
delivered you from the iron furnace in Egypt, by his life he can save you
from all the perils of the wilderness. If by his death he conquered
Pharaoh, the chief foe, by his life he can subdue Sihon, king of the
Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan. “We shall be saved by his life.”
“Because he liveth, we shall live also.” “Be of good cheer!” The work
is finished; the ransom is effected; the kingdom of heaven is opened to
all believers. “Lift up your heads and rejoice,” “ye prisoners of hope!”
There is no debt unpaid, no devil unconquered, no enemy within your own
hearts that has not received a mortal wound! “Thanks be unto God, who
giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
SERMON V.
ONE GOD AND ONE MEDIATOR.
“_For there is one God_, _and one Mediator between God and man_, _the
man Christ Jesus_.”—1 Tim. ii. 5.
THE apostle Paul urges the propriety, and importance of praying for all
men, in the several conditions and relations of life, from a
consideration of God’s merciful intentions toward all men, as exhibited
in the sufficiency of the gospel provision for their salvation. But if
any are saved, it must be through the medium which God has ordained, and
in the manner which God has prescribed. Therefore the apostle adds: “For
there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ
Jesus.” “There is one God,” to whom sinners have to be reconciled; “and
one Mediator,” through whom that reconciliation is to be effected. We
have a nearly parallel passage in another epistle: “To us there is but
one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” The unity of God,
and the mediation of Christ, are the two great topics of the text, to
which we solicit your attention.