The true Way of beholding the LAMB of GOD.
JOHN i. 35, 36.
_Again, the next Day after, John stood, and two of his Disciples;
and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the LAMB
of GOD._
GLORIOUS words these! Before we set about the opening and enforcing
them, permit me to introduce myself in the language of _Paul_ to
King _Agrippa_, “Would to GOD that both my own heart, and likewise
the hearts of all that hear me this day, may not only be almost, but
altogether in such a divine frame, as I am persuaded the heart of that
man of GOD was who first uttered these words!” I need not tell you his
name; our text tells us, it was _John_; emphatically called _John_ the
Baptist, because he was sent to baptize with water unto repentance, in
order to prepare his hearers for the further baptism of the Holy Ghost.
He was a _Boanerges_, a son of thunder. He came in the spirit and power
of _Elias_, and thereby soon rendered himself so exceedingly popular,
that not only _Jerusalem_, all _Judea_, and all the regions round about
_Jordan_, flocked to hear him preach, but even some of the _Jewish
Sanhedrim_ began to doubt, whether he was not the _Messiah_ himself.
Accordingly we are told in this chapter, “That they sent priests and
levites from _Jerusalem_ ask him, Who art thou? What sayest thou of
thyself?” A most commodious opportunity this, had he any thing in view
but his master’s glory and the good of souls, for _John_ to have set up
for himself. He might have said, “_Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur_;
if people will be deceived, let them; I will impose on their credulity,
and let them look upon me as the _Messiah_;” But scorning any such
sinister and base ends, “He confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I
am not the CHRIST.” The Evangelist expresses himself in a very peculiar
manner, “He confessed, and denied not, but confessed;” implying that
he took more than ordinary pains to rectify their mistake, and guard
them against thinking more highly of him than they ought to think: nay,
impatient, as it were, of the least appearance of any such thing, he
speaks of himself in the most diminutive terms, acknowledges that he
was unworthy even of carrying his blessed master’s shoes, and seizes
the very first opportunity that offered itself to point him out in
person to the people. The next day (verse 29.) _John_ seeth JESUS
coming unto him, and upon seeing him, immediately cries out, “Behold
the Lamb of GOD:” “Gaze not on, nor let your views terminate in me,
but look to and behold the Lamb of GOD which taketh away the sin of
the world.” Thus _John_ spoke in public; and to prove that he acted
the same consistent part in private, our text informs us, that, “Again,
the next day after, _John_ stood, and two of his disciples,” who like
other newly awakened souls, having their master’s person too much
in admiration, he labours to divert their views also from himself to
CHRIST, and that too in the very same language. “For looking upon JESUS
as he walked, he saith, Behold the LAMB of GOD.”
Thus does this disinterested, honest-hearted baptist, unweariedly and
repeatedly recommend the LORD JESUS, under the same endearing character
of the LAMB of GOD.
It shall be our business in the following discourse,
_First_, To shew you why it is that JESUS CHRIST is stiled the
LAMB of GOD. And,
_Secondly_, What we are to understand by beholding him, Way will
then be made for a word of application.
And first, Why is JESUS stiled the LAMB of GOD?
I presume one reason that may be assigned for it may be drawn from the
account we have given us of his most amazing and unparalleled meekness.
A Lamb, you all know, is one of the most pacific creatures in the
world. When we would describe, or point out a person of a peaceable
disposition, we say such a one is as quiet as a Lamb. But what is
the meekness of any person, even _Moses_ himself, nay, of all the
saints that ever lived, put them all together, in comparison of the
meekness of the blessed JESUS? To prove this, I might refer you to
his whole life, which was one continued meek and patient enduring of
contradiction of sinners against himself; but if you want me to specify
particular instances, only take a walk with me to _Gethsemane_’s garden;
there you will see the traitor _Judas_ at the head of a troop of
ruffians, accosting his glorious LORD with a Hail master! then kissing
him, and then betraying him. But what says the Prince of peace? Only,
“Friend, wherefore art thou come? _Judas_, betrayest thou the son of
man with a kiss?” But how does this same JESUS behave after he was
apprehended? Even in the same meek manner: for when his warm-hearted
disciple _Peter_, through a misguided zeal, had cut off the High
Priest’s servant’s ear, Suffer ye, said the holy JESUS, thus far. In
all probability these words were addressed by our LORD to the officers
who had tied his hands behind him. As though he had said, “Be pleased
to unloose me, whilst I cure that poor man’s ear, which my too forward
disciple hath imprudently cut off, and then you shall bind me again.”
Was ever reply, was there ever meekness like unto this thy meekness, O
thou blessed LAMB of GOD! Well did _Isaiah_ prophecy concerning thee,
“That thou shouldst be led as a lamb to the slaughter,” which goes as
willingly to the shambles, as to the pasture: and as justly might thy
forerunner call upon sinners to behold thee under the pacific character
of the LAMB of GOD. Help us, holy JESUS, to come at thy invitation, and
to learn of thee, who gavest such amazing evidences of thy being meek
and lowly in heart! then, and not ’till then, shall we find true rest
in our souls.
But further, the dear LORD JESUS may properly be called a LAMB, or The
LAMB, by way of emphasis, not only in allusion to the Lamb that was
offered under the law morning and evening, but more especially because
he was typified by the paschal lamb. Hence he is stiled, by that prince
of preachers St. _Paul_, CHRIST our passover; and in allusion to the
same, the Apostle _Peter_ tells us, “That we are not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from our vain conversation, but
with the precious blood of JESUS CHRIST, as of a Lamb without blemish
and without spot.” This was an indispensable requisite to be found in
the paschal lamb. It was to be a lamb without blemish. A proper type of
him who knew no sin, but was spotlessly holy, harmless, and altogether
undefiled in heart, lip, and life. Indeed, if we consider him as
having the chastisement of our peace, and the iniquities of us all
laid upon him by way of imputation, he was, as some divines express
it, the greatest sinner that ever was: and we should esteem him to be
such in reality, were we to judge of his innocence by the abusive and
barbarous treatment that he met with whilst tabernacling on earth.
But, notwithstanding all this, he was without sin, and therefore could
boldly and truly give men and devils the challenge, and say, “Which
of you convinceth me of sin?” The prince of this world cometh, but
shall find nothing in me. There was no corruption in the heart of this
immaculate LAMB of GOD for _Satan_’s temptations to lay hold on: But
this properly belongeth only to him: for any of his followers, though
arrived at the highest pitch of christian perfection, much less for
young converts, mere novices in the things of GOD, to presume that
they either have, or ever shall, while on this side eternity, arrive
at such a sinless state, argues such an ignorance of the spiritual
extent of the moral law, of the true interpretation of GOD’s word,
of the universal experience of GOD’s people in all ages, as well as of
the remaining unmortified corruptions of their own desperately wicked
and deceitful hearts, that I dare venture to tell the preachers and
abettors of any such doctrine, however knowing they may be in other
respects, that they know not the true nature of gospel-holiness, nor
the COMPLEATNESS OF A BELIEVER’S STANDING IN THE UNSPOTTED IMPUTED
RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST, as they ought to know, or as I trust
they themselves, through divine grace, will be made to know before they
die. Surely it is high time to awake out of this delusive dream! Pardon
this short, (would to GOD there was no occasion of adding) though too
necessary a digression.
But to proceed. The paschal lamb was further typical of CHRIST,
its great antitype, in that it was to be killed in the evening, and
afterwards roasted with fire. So CHRIST, our passover, was sacrificed
for us in the evening of the world; only with this material difference,
the paschal lamb was first slain, and then roasted; whereas the holy
JESUS, the spotless LAMB of GOD, was burnt and roasted in the fire
of his Father’s wrath before he actually expired upon the cross. To
satisfy you of this, if you can bear to be spectators of such an awful
tragedy, as I desired you just now to go with me to the entrance, so I
must now entreat you to venture a little further into the same garden,
But――stop――What is that we see? Behold the LAMB of GOD, undergoing the
most direful tortures of vindictive wrath! Of the people, even of his
disciples, there is none with him. Alas! was ever sorrow like unto that
sorrow, wherewith his innocent soul was afflicted in this day of his
Father’s fierce anger? Before he entered into this bitter passion, out
of the fulness of his heart, he said, “Now is my soul troubled.” But
how is it troubled now! his agony bespeaks it to be exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death. It extorts sweat, yea, a bloody sweat. His face, his
hands, his garments, are all over stained with blood. It extorts strong
cryings and many tears. See how the incarnate deity lies prostrate
before his Father, who now laid on him the iniquities of us all. See
how he agonizes in prayer! Hark! Again and again he addresses his
Father with an “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me!” Tell me,
ye blessed angels, tell me, _Gabriel_ (or whatsoever thou art called,
who wast sent from heaven in this important hour, to strengthen our
agonizing LORD) tell me, if ye can, what CHRIST endured in this dark
and doleful night; and tell me, tell me what you yourselves felt when
you heard this same God-man, whilst expiring on the accursed tree,
breaking forth into that dolorous, unheard-of expostulation, “My GOD,
my GOD, why, or how hast thou forsaken me?” Were you not all struck
dumb? And did not an universal awful silence fill heaven itself, when
GOD the Father said unto his sword, “Sword, smite thy fellow?” Well
might nature put on its sable weeds; well might the rocks rend, to
shew their sympathy with a suffering Saviour: and well might the sun
withdraw its light, as though it was shocked and confounded to see
its maker suffer. But our hearts are harder than rocks, or otherwise
they would now break, and our souls more stupid than any part of the
inanimate creation, or they would even now, in some degree, at least,
sympathize with a crucified Redeemer; who for us men, and for our
salvation, was thus roasted, as it were, in the fire of his Father’s
wrath, and therefore fitly stiled the LAMB of GOD.
But further. The paschal lamb was typical of CHRIST our passover in
another respect. For as the blood of the lamb, after it was slain, was
sprinkled upon the door-posts of the _Israelites_ houses, so the blood
of JESUS CHRIST, shed for the sins of the world, is to be applied to,
and by faith sprinkled upon the hearts of the true _Israel_ of GOD.
And as the destroying angel had no power to execute vengeance on, or
hurt those whose door-posts were thus sprinkled with the blood of the
paschal lamb, so in the great and terrible day of the LORD, he shall
be prohibited both from destroying or hurting true believers, who by
a living faith in the blood of JESUS, have their hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience. Hence the blood of CHRIST is called “The blood of
sprinkling.” And lastly, As the lamb under the law was feasted upon
by GOD’s people, after it was slain, so believers under the gospel by
faith feast upon a crucified Redeemer. CHRIST, our passover, says the
apostle, is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast, not
barely upon an Easter-day, but all the year round. For the just, i. e.
truly justified souls, live by faith, and find, by happy experience,
that in a spiritual sense CHRIST’s flesh is meat indeed, and his blood
drink indeed; and therefore believing on him is stiled “Eating the
flesh and drinking the blood of the son of man.” Agreeable to this,
in our communion office, the minister, when he gives the bread to the
communicants, is directed to make use of these affecting words, “Take
and eat this in remembrance that CHRIST died for thee, and feed on him
in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.” May all who give, and all
that receive that bread, feel the meaning of this form of sound words
experimentally, and powerfully pressed home upon their souls! Then
indeed, but not till then, may they expect to take this holy sacrament
to their comfort. Upon all these accounts then, well might the Baptist
recommend the holy JESUS under the significant character of the Lamb.
And with equal propriety might he be called the LAMB of GOD, not only
because he was a Lamb of GOD the Father’s providing, but because he was
co-equal, co-essential with the Father: “The Word that was with GOD,
the Word that was GOD,” even GOD over all, GOD blessed for evermore.
For ever adored be the triune GOD for this great mystery of godliness,
GOD manifest in the flesh! O may it be continually marvellous in our
eyes! O make us, thou altogether lovely Redeemer, like-minded with
thy blessed angels, that with them we may always so eagerly, and so
perseveringly desire to look into it, that neither the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eye, or pride of life, may ever in the least
divert us from beholding thee!
What this beholding him imports, comes next to be considered, under our
second general head.
And here I take it for granted, that it cannot imply a beholding
the LORD JESUS in person with our bodily eyes. It is true, indeed,
when _John_ called upon the people and his disciples to behold the
LAMB of GOD, they were thus highly favoured: and we are apt to say
within ourselves, Blessed are the eyes which saw what they saw; and
so undoubtedly they were. But had their views terminated only in
beholding his person, or knowing him barely according to the flesh,
they might notwithstanding have died in their sins, and been condemned
to depart from him into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels.――Our LORD himself hath told us, that there will be many
who will plead that they eat and drank in his presence, and heard him
preach in their streets, to whom he will say, “Verily I know you not.”
A true beholding of the LAMB of GOD, must therefore necessarily import
something more; and what can that be but a beholding him with an eye
of faith? This is what the Old Testament saints were invited to, when
the glorious Redeemer called upon them in those emphatic terms, “Behold
me, behold me;” and again, “Look unto me, all the ends of the earth.”
This our LORD in another place terms, believing on him: “Blessed are
they which have not seen me, and yet have believed:” not barely as
the result of a mere rational conviction, which is no more than an
historical faith, but as the consequence of a true spiritual conviction
of our being every way undone, and liable to eternal condemnation
without him. This is believing on him with the heart, and is sometimes
expressed by coming to, receiving, and trusting in him: different
expressions, but all importing one and the self same thing. “I wound,
and I heal.” That is the method the Holy Ghost takes, and that is the
pattern gospel ministers must follow in preaching him. From any other,
though prescribed to us by an angel from heaven, good LORD, deliver us!
But secondly. By beholding the LAMB of GOD, we are to understand not
only looking to him so as to trust him for the pardon of our sins,
but beholding him so as to have our hearts broke with a true and godly
sorrow for having crucified and slain him by them. For thus speaks the
LORD by the mouth of the Prophet _Zechariah_, “They shall look upon
him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one that
mourneth for an only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one
that is in bitterness for his first-born.” This prediction was in some
degree fulfilled immediately after the descent of the Holy Ghost, in
the days of Pentecost, when so many being pricked to the heart, were
made to look to, believe on, and lament over a pierced JESUS. But it
will be continually fulfilling in the experience of every true beholder
of the LAMB of GOD, till time shall be no more. True faith, at the same
time as it opens the heart to receive CHRIST, melts and dissolves it
into tears of godly sorrow, for having betrayed and crucified him. Such
were the tears of _Mary_, when she washed the feet of her sin-forgiving
LORD. They flowed from a sense of pardoning love. She loved much,
having much forgiven her. And though she knew the LORD had forgiven her,
yet she could not forgive herself. _Hinc illæ lachrymæ._ Hence those
repenting tears: they proceeded from love: sorrow, flowing from any
other principle, is not a godly, but a legal sorrow, which the most
abandoned wretch may have without the least degree of saving grace.
Thus we hear of a _Judas_ his repenting, and of an _Esau_ crying out
with an exceeding bitter cry; but the one all the while was a prophane
person, and the other immediately went and hanged himself. And why?
Their sorrow was only extorted by a fear of hell, and a despairing
sense of impending ruin. It is true, a godly sorrow may, and I believe
generally does, begin with something of this nature; but then it does
not end there. Through want of a due consideration of this, it is
to be feared, many seeming converts have taken up with a few legal
convictions, which never ended in savingly and truly beholding the
LAMB of GOD. May none here present, by a half-way repentance, and
hypocritical sorrow for sin, add to the unhappy number!
But this is not all. A scriptural beholding of the LAMB of GOD, denotes
not only such a relying on CHRIST for pardon of sin, as is attended
with a truly godly sorrow for it, but such a believing on him, as is
productive of a holy life, and a universal chearful observance of all
his divine commands. When the two disciples mentioned in our text,
heard _John_ speak, we are told that they followed him, viz. the LORD
JESUS CHRIST. And if GOD hath given us an hearing ear, when called upon
to behold the LAMB of GOD, we shall certainly have an obedient heart,
and follow him in the way of holy obedience. But then it will be an
obedience flowing from love: A working not for, but from life. Not out
of a servile fear of being damned, but from a grateful sense of having
received the beginning of salvation in our hearts. And this is what
the Apostle calls “faith working by love.” Many, I know, censure and
look upon us as troublers of _Israel_, for preaching up the doctrine
of justification by faith alone in the imputed righteousness of JESUS
CHRIST. We own the charge. We do preach, and hope shall continue to
preach it, till we can preach no more. _Luther_ stiles it, _Articulus
stantis aut cadentis ecclesiæ_; the article by which the church must
stand or fall: and in the ninth article of our own church, it is termed,
a most wholesome doctrine. Take away this, and you take away the only
solid foundation upon which a truly weary and heavy-laden sinner can
possibly build his hopes of pardon and acceptance in the sight of a
holy and sin-avenging GOD. But why this outcry against the doctrine
of justification by faith alone? They say this doctrine destroys good
works. But do we, by preaching this doctrine, make void the law of GOD?
No: We thereby establish the law. For, though faith alone justifies,
yet, as the good old Puritans used to observe, That faith which is
alone, justifieth not. Agreeable to this, speaketh the 12th article of
our Church. “Albeit that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and
follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the
severity of GOD’s judgment, yet are they pleasing and acceptable to GOD
in CHRIST, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith,
insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a
tree is discerned by the fruit.” They, therefore, who object against
our insisting upon justification by faith alone, as destructive of
morality, not only betray great ignorance of the articles of our Church,
and of GOD’s word, but give too great reason to suspect, that they
never experienced the blessed influence of a true and lively faith in
their own hearts. For true and undefiled religion, is nothing more or
less, than a universal morality, founded upon the love of GOD and faith
in CHRIST JESUS. And a true beholding him as pierced for our sins, will,
in its own nature, sweetly compel us to cry out, “What shall we render
unto the LORD?” It was this, that, perhaps, in a quarter of an hour,
made that covetous worldling _Zaccheus_, give half of his goods to
the poor; it was this, that all of a sudden made the Jailor wash the
stripes of those whom he had but a little before thrust into an inward
prison; it was this that caused _Lydia_, whose heart the LORD had
opened, so freely to open her house to entertain the Apostles; and
it was this that excited the Apostles themselves in general, and St.
_Paul_ in particular, to bid adieu to worldly honours, to glory in
nothing but the cross of CHRIST, and to fly like an arch-angel from
pole to pole, publishing the blessed and everlasting gospel. “The love
of CHRIST, said he, constraineth us.” Preaching faith in this manner,
seems to me the only scriptural way of preaching CHRIST: and by this
means we shall steer a middle course between two dangerous extremes.
For to insist only upon morality and good works, and not lay a true
lively faith, as a foundation whereon they are to be built, (as it
is to be feared too many do) is to act like _Pharaoh_’s task-masters,
and bid people make brick without shewing them ♦where to get straw.
“My soul, come not thou into their secret!” On the other hand, to
call upon people to believe in, and behold the LAMB of GOD, and at the
same time not exhort them to maintain good works, as an evidence and
fruit of their beholding him, is the way to turn the grace of GOD into
lasciviousness. And therefore, however evangelical such preachers may
seem in their own eyes, yet if the writings of _Moses_ and the Prophets,
of our LORD and his Apostles, are to be our judges, they do not rightly
divide the word of truth. “To their assembly, mine honour, be not thou
united!”
♦ “were” replaced with “where”
Once more. A true beholding of the LAMB of GOD, implies such a
beholding him, as will transform us into his divine likeness. This will
be the effect of our seeing him as he is in heaven; and this, in its
degree, will always be the consequence of our beholding him with an eye
of a true and lively faith on earth. When _Moses_ came down from mount
_Horeb_, where he had been conversing with GOD, we are told, that his
face shone; and if we have been upon the mount of ordinances beholding
by faith the blessed LAMB of GOD, though our faces will not shine, yet
our hearts will be moulded into his blessed image. This is what the
Apostle _Paul_ terms, in one place, “Being transformed by the renewing
of our minds;” and in another, “Passing from glory to glory, even by
the Spirit of the LORD.” All manifestations, of whatever kind or degree,
if not attended with this transforming and truly sanctifying influence,
are unprofitable, delusive, or merely imaginary. _Balaam_ could call
himself the man whose eyes were open, and the man who had seen the
visions of the Almighty, and yet he was a poor worldling all the
while. He loved the wages of unrighteousness, though forced by GOD not
to receive them. Hence we may easily and rationally account for the
falling away of some, and it may be the final apostacy of many others,
who in the late religious stir, (as some are pleased to call it) seemed
to be uncommonly gifted, and to be lifted up, as it were, to the third
heaven. Satan being sensible that the Holy Spirit of GOD was working
a great work upon the earth, turns himself into an angel of light,
introduces his extraordinaries, and thereby mimics GOD’s true work
now, as the magicians were once permitted to mimic the real miracles
of _Moses_ formerly. Such counterfeits, those who are not ignorant of
Satan’s devices, ought from time to time to add all diligence to search
out and detect; but after the utmost caution imaginable, I believe we
shall find the saying of a very zealous Reformer (who thought, at his
first coming out, that he should convert the whole world) to be too
true, viz. “That old Satan will be, in many cases, too hard for young
_Melancthon_.” Satan is an old practitioner, and we, comparatively
speaking, but novices; and therefore no wonder, that we sometimes
mistake his extraordinaries, for the powerful operations of the
Holy Spirit; or look upon those, at least for a while, who are only
stony-ground hearers, and have received the word with joy, as though
they were truly converted to, and had by a living, soul-transforming
faith, beheld the LAMB of GOD. Such mistakes may serve to make us more
cautious. But to condemn a work in the lump, as merely delusive and
diabolical, or roundly to affirm, that all the pretended subjects of
it have taken up only with an ideal CHRIST, because some have mistaken
imaginations for the true spiritual manifestation of GOD’s love to
their hearts, discovers such an ignorance of scripture, of Satan’s
devices, and the accounts given us of past revivals in all ages, that
if one did not know the dreadful blindness of a bigotted sectarian zeal,
and what a proneness there is in the best of men, to condemn every
thing that doth not come just in their own way, we should think it
morally impossible that good men should run such lengths as some have
done of late, in censuring what I think may be called, amidst all the
infirmities and weaknesses that have attended it, A great and glorious
work of a GOD.
But it is time for me to draw nearer to a conclusion. We have now then,
my dear hearers, done with the doctrinal part of our text; in opening
of which, that we might deal with you as rational creatures, we have
endeavoured calmly, and in the fear of GOD, to address ourselves
to your understandings: but the hardest work is yet behind, namely,
to affect and warm your hearts. This I take to be the very life of
preaching: for man is a compound creature, made up of affections, as
well as understanding; and, consequently, without addressing both, we
only do our work by halves. It is true, every one hath his proper gift,
and some excel in making use of a proper method to inform the judgment,
whilst others are more eminent for exciting the passions. Both are
beautiful in their season; and both ought and will be used by all who
have warm hearts, as well as clear heads. _Moses_ and the Prophets,
CHRIST and his Apostles, dealt much in exhortations, as well as in
opening and explaining the weighty matters of the law. And if we
are taught by the same Spirit, we shall, like them, bring light and
heat with us, when called to speak of, and enforce the things which
concern the kingdom of GOD. Without a proper mixture of these, however
a preacher may acquire the character, in the letter-learned and
polite world, of being a calm and cool reasoner; yet he never will be
looked upon by those whose senses are exercised to discern spiritual
things, as a truly evangelical and christian orator.――And surely if
a minister’s heart is ever warm, it ought to be so in a more especial
manner, when calling on a blind and drowsy world, to behold the Lamb
of GOD. O! that my tongue was at this time touched with a coal from
his altar. O! that my cold and frozen heart (for I must again repeat
the wish I put up at the beginning of this discourse) was in the same
blessed and divine frame, as we have reason to believe the holy Baptist
was favoured with, when he called upon his disciples and the people, so
repeatedly, to behold the Lamb of GOD. But to whom shall I apply myself
first? Or with what language shall I address you, when pressing you to
the same important thing?
Will my brethren in the ministry suffer a word of exhortation from one
who is less than the least of them all? Does not the practice of this
fervent harbinger and fore-runner of the Son of GOD, naturally lead me
to it? For did he so unweariedly recommend the LORD JESUS? Did he take
such care to preach not himself, but CHRIST JESUS his Lord? And shall
not we make this same JESUS the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end
of all our discourses? Did he take such pains to debase himself, exalt
his LORD, and evidence to the world that he was disinterested, and
sought not his own glory, but the glory of him whose fore-runner he
was? And shall we not go and do likewise? To prepare the Redeemer’s way
before him, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just, and to proclaim a coming Saviour, _John_ esteemed his highest
honour. This is an employ worthy angels. They thought themselves highly
favoured, when sent to give notice of the Mediator’s birth to some
humble shepherds. And I hope I am speaking to some, who had rather
be employed in such an errand, than be ambassadors to the greatest
monarchs on earth. Go on then, my brethren, or rather fathers, as it
becomes such a one as I to call you. Ye angels of the churches, ye
stewards of the mysteries of GOD, go on in the name and strength of the
everlasting I AM. Preach CHRIST, and him crucified; continue to preach
him: be instant in season and out of season; and though you should be
called to suffer for so doing, fear not, but rather rejoice, and be
exceeding glad: great will be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted
they _John_ the Baptist, and others that have been employed in calling
upon sinners to behold the Lamb of GOD before you.
Are any here present who are entrusted with the care of youth that are
intended for the ministry? My text warns me not to leave you out in
this address. _John_ directed his disciples to behold the Lamb of GOD:
and ought not such, who have the oversight of those who are hereafter
to be employed in the same divine work as _John_ was, to make it one
main part of their daily endeavours, to bring their pupils to a true,
experimental, and saving acquaintance with the ever-blessed Lamb of
GOD? This may be done without leaving any one necessary branch of
true knowledge and useful learning undone. A neglect of this important
point hath been, and it is to be feared even now is, the bane of
the christian church. For, if young men’s minds are from year to
year wholly engaged in studying the heathen mythology, instead of
being shewn the beauties of the New Testament; if they are taught to
delight more in reading _Cæsar_’s Commentaries, or the exploits of
an _Alexander_, than to admire the miracles of _Jesus_ of _Nazareth_;
if they are directed to employ themselves more in giving an account
of _Homer_’s battles, than of the important war between _Michael_
and the Dragon; if it is esteemed a greater excellency to be engaged
in studying the folds of a _Roman_ garment, than to enquire into
the various turnings and windings of their own corrupt hearts: if
these, and such-like trifling things, are recommended to their daily
study, and the glorious doctrines of the gospel, such as regeneration,
justification, &c. wholly neglected, or superficially spoken of, is
it any wonder, that so many ignorantly strike their heads against the
pulpit, or appear when put into it, more like heathen philosophers
or _Roman_ orators, than gospel preachers, though without half the
clearness and sound reasoning of the one, or a thousandth part of the
true pathos and unaffected eloquence of the other? The recommending
and enforcing the practical study of the doctrines and example of the
blessed JESUS, seems to me to be the only remedy for this great, not to
say growing evil.
And therefore, I beg leave in the next place to address myself to those
who are now actually engaged in the study of divinity, and are desirous
of being prepared according to the preparation of the sanctuary, for
the great and solemn work of calling upon sinners, to behold the Lamb
of GOD. When _John_ the Baptist was thus employed, he took care to
allure the people, that he himself was well acquainted with that CHRIST.
“I saw, said he, and bear record, that this is the Son of GOD.” And
doth not this at least intimate to you, young students, that above
all things you should study to get an experimental acquaintance with
the LORD JESUS in your own hearts, before you attempt to recommend him
to the choice of others? Then, having believed, you will speak; speak
not as mere dead, formal, letter-learned scribes, but as men having
authority. You will then, like _John_ the Baptist, be the voice of one
crying; you will lift up your voices like trumpets; you will preach not
with the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but with the demonstration of
the spirit and of power. This, with a moderate share of useful learning,
which is quite necessary in its place, will enable you to do wonders.
Vallies shall be filled up, mountains shall be brought low, and a
highway made, through your instrumentality, into sinners hearts, by
the blessed and all-powerful operations of the Spirit of the everliving
GOD. Such a method, perhaps, may render your preaching a little
unfashionable, but it is the only way to render it useful, and truly
evangelical. Take the Apostle _Paul_ for your ensample. He was a great
scholar, as well as a great saint; and, if called to it, could have
fought the learned world with their own weapons; but he chose to fight
only with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of GOD. And even,
when preaching at so polite a place as _Corinth_, determined to know
nothing among them, but JESUS CHRIST and him crucified. He too, like
another _John_, made it his constant, uninterrupted employ to beseech
poor sinners to behold the Lamb of GOD. May that mind be in you, which
was also in him!
But do not the words of our text lead me to address all in general, as
well as tutors and their pupils in particular? Yes: to you, even to as
many as hear me this day, whether high or low, rich or poor, young or
old, one with another, may a word of exhortation naturally be directed.
It was to the people, as well as to his disciples, that _John_, when
he saw JESUS coming unto him, spoke those endearing words, “Behold
the Lamb of GOD.” I therefore call upon you all in the same language,
and for the same reason; for it is He, and He alone, that taketh
away the sins of the world. It is this that you all stand in need of,
whether you know it or not. You are all stung by that old and crooked
serpent the devil. “Therefore, as _Moses_ lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so was the Son of Man lifted up, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” O then
behold him, behold him! Look unto him, all ye ends of the earth, even
ye upon whom the ends of the world are come, and be ye saved. Some of
you, I trust, through grace, have already been enabled to do this. O
come, come, I beseech you, and repeat the blessed look: for this is
the christian’s grand catholicon, the sovereign remedy for all the
remaining diseases of his soul. Are ye tempted? Behold the Lamb of GOD.
“He was tempted in all things like as we are,” that he might be able
experimentally to sympathize with, and succour those that are tempted.
Are ye deserted, and bewailing an absent GOD? Behold the Lamb of GOD.
He once complained, and that too to his own creatures, “My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;” He once cried out, and that
to his heavenly Father, “My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken me.”
Are ye poor? Behold the LAMB of GOD: He had not where to lay his head.
Are ye betrayed and forsaken by friends? Behold the LAMB of GOD: He
was betrayed by _Judas_, denied by _Peter_, and when apprehended,
all forsook him and fled. Are you blackened and maligned by enemies?
Behold the LAMB of GOD: He was accounted a mad-man, a deceiver, nay,
a Beelzebub, the very chief of the devils. Are ye afraid of death,
or dying? Behold the LAMB of GOD: He hath taken away the sting of
that king of terrors, and came to deliver those, who through fear of
death were all their life-time subject to bondage. Doubt ye whether ye
shall hold out to the end? Behold the LAMB of GOD; “He is the Author
and finisher of our faith;” and having loved his own, he loved them
even unto the end. Do ye want more grace, either to mortify remaining
corruption, or to enable you to bring forth more fruit unto GOD? Behold
the LAMB of GOD: “Out of his fulness we may all receive, and that too,
even grace for grace;” grace upon grace, grace to beget more grace,
even till we are filled with all the fulness of GOD. O ye believers,
my heart is enlarged towards you; look to, and live much on the blessed
JESUS; and then you will live to, and act for him more and more. Be
thankful for what you have received, but be looking out continually
for fresh discoveries of his love, and fresh incomes of heavenly grace,
till you are called to behold this LAMB of GOD in glory: that time,
blessed be GOD, will shortly come. Though worms destroy our bodies, yet
in our flesh we shall see our GOD; not as we do now, through a glass
darkly, but face to face: see him as he is: and what is yet better, be
growing up more and more into his divine likeness, through the endless
ages of eternity.
But as for ungodly and obstinate unbelievers that die in their sins,
it shall not be so with them. Behold him indeed you shall; behold him
you must; “For yet a little while, and we must all appear before the
judgment-seat of CHRIST.” But O! how shall I speak it? You must behold
him once, never to behold him any more! Behold him, not so much as the
LAMB of GOD, as the Lion of the tribe of _Judah_, and hear him roaring
out that dreadful sentence, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.” O think of this, all ye that
have hitherto neglected to behold this LAMB of GOD by faith, so shall
unbelief not prove your final ruin. To you, even to you I once more
call. Blessed be GOD, the door of mercy is not yet shut; the day of
grace is not yet over; look unto him, and you shall yet be saved: his
heart is open, and his arms stretched out ready to receive you. O that
he would rend the heavens and come down amongst you; and as he had once
compassion upon a poor woman, that was bowed down with the spirit of
infirmity, lo eighteen years! O that he would repeat that all-powerful
command, “Be ye loosed from your infirmity,” and enable every
unconverted sinner to look up to, and behold the LAMB of GOD! However,
if you will not come to him that you might have life, GOD forbid that
I should cease to pray for you. O LORD GOD most holy, O LORD GOD most
mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal,
by thine agony and bloody sweat, by thy cross and passion, by thy
precious death and burial, by thy glorious resurrection and ascension,
and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, we humbly entreat thee to help
all such to take the warning that has now been given them! O help them
to behold thee by faith here, that so no pains of hell may fall from
thee whenever they are summoned to appear before thy awful tribunal
hereafter! I am persuaded all that love the LORD JESUS in sincerity,
will say, _Amen!_ Even so, LORD JESUS! _Amen!_ and _Amen!_