_SUMMARY OF GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTMAS EVANS AS A PREACHER_.
Remarks renewed in Vindication of his Use of Parable in the Pulpit—His
Sermons appear to be born of Solitude—His Imitators—His Probable
Acquaintance with “the Sleeping Bard” of Elis Wyn—A
Dream—Illustrations—The Gospel Mould—Saul of Tarsus and his Seven
Ships—The Misplaced Bone—The Man in the House of Steel—The Parable of the
Church as an Ark among the Bulrushes of the Nile—The Handwriting—Death as
an Inoculator—Time—The Timepiece—Parable of the Birds—Parable of the
Vine-tree, the Thorn, the Bramble, and the Cedar—Illustrations of his
more Sustained Style—The Resurrection of Christ—They drank of that Rock
which followed them—The Impossibility of Adequate Translation—Closing
Remarks on his Place and Claim to Affectionate Regard.
FROM the extracts we have already given, it will be seen that Christmas
Evans excelled in the use of parable in the pulpit. Sometimes he wrought
his mine like a very Bunyan, and we believe no published accounts of
these sermons in Welsh, and certainly none that we have found translated
into English, give any idea of his power. With what amazing effect some
of his sermons would tell on the vast audiences which in these days
gather together in London, and in our great towns! This method of
instruction is now usually regarded as in bad taste; it does not seem to
be sanctioned by the great rulers, and masters of oratorical art. If a
man could create a “Pilgrim’s Progress,” and recite it, it would be found
to be a very doubtful article by the rhetorical sanhedrim. Yet our Lord
used this very method, and without using some such method—anecdote, or
illustration—it is doubtful whether any strong hold can be obtained over
the lower orders of mind. Our preacher entered into the spirit of
Scripture parable, and narrative. One of the most famous of his
discourses is that on the Demoniac of Gadara, which we have already given
in preceding pages. Some of our readers will be shocked to know that, in
the course of some of his descriptions in it, he convulsed his audience
with laughter in the commencement. Well, he need not be imitated there;
but he held it sufficiently subdued before the close, and an alternation
of tears, and raptures, not only testified to his powers, but to his
skill in giving an allegorical reading of the narrative.
For the purpose of producing effect,—and we mean, by effect, visible
results in crushed, and humbled hearts, and transformed lives,—it would
be a curious thing to try, in England, the preaching of some of the great
Welshman’s sermons. What would be the effect upon any audience of that
great picture of the Churchyard World, and the mighty controversy of
Justice, and Mercy? Let it be admitted that there are some things in it,
perhaps many, that it would not demand a severe taste to expel from the
picture, but take it as the broad, bold painting of a man not highly
educated,—indeed, highly educated men, as we have said, could not perform
such things: a highly-educated man could never have written the
“Pilgrim’s Progress”—let it be remembered that it was delivered to men,
perhaps, we should say, rather educated than instructed, men illiterate
in all things _except_ the Bible. We ourselves have, in some very large
congregations, tried the preaching of one of the most famous of Evans’s
sermons, “The Spirit walking in dry places, seeking rest, and finding
none.”
Christmas Evans’s preaching was by no means defective in the bone, and
muscle of thought, and pulpit arrangement; but, no doubt, herein lay his
great _forte_, and power,—he could paint soul-subduing pictures. They
were not pieces of mere word-painting, they were bathed in emotion, they
were penetrated by deep knowledge of the human heart. He went into the
pulpit, mighty from lonely wrestlings with God in mountain travellings;
he went among his fellow-men, his audiences, strong in his faith in the
reality of those covenants with God, whose history, and character we have
already presented to our readers.
There was much in his preaching of that order which is so mighty in
speech, but which loses so much, or which seems to acquire such
additional coarseness, when it is presented to the eye. Preachers now
live too much in the presence of published sermons, to be in the highest
degree effective. He who thinks of the printing-press cannot abandon
himself. He who uses his notes slavishly cannot abandon himself; and,
without abandonment, that is, forgetfulness, what is oratory? what is
action? what is passion? If we were asked what are the two greatest
human aids to pulpit power, we should say, Self-possession and
Self-abandonment; the two are perfectly compatible, and in the pulpit the
one is never powerful without the other. Knowledge, Belief, Preparation,
these give self-possession; and Earnestness, and Unconsciousness, these
give self-abandonment. The first, without the last, may make a preacher
like a stony pillar, covered with runes and hieroglyphics; and the last,
without the first, may make a mere fanatic, with a torrent of speech,
plunging lawlessly, and disgracefully abroad. The two, in combination in
a noble man, and teacher, become sublime. Perhaps they reached their
highest realization, among us, in Robertson of Brighton. In another, and
in a different department, and scarcely inferior order of mind, they were
nobly realized in Christmas Evans.
Perhaps there never was a time when ministers were more afraid of their
audiences than in this day; afraid of the big man, with his wealth,
afraid of the highly-cultured young man with the speculative eyeglasses,
who has finished his education in Germany; afraid lest there should be
the slightest departure from the most perfect, and elegant taste. The
fear of man has brought a snare into the pulpit, and it has paralysed the
preacher. And in this highly-furnished, and cultivated time we have few
instances of preachers who, in the pulpit, can either possess their
souls, or abandon them to the truth, in the text they have to announce.
It must have been, one thinks, a grand thing to have heard Christmas
Evans; the extracts from his journal, the story they tell of his devout,
and rapt communions of soul with God, among the mountains, the bare, and
solitary hills, reveal sufficiently how, in himself, the preacher was
made. When he came into the pulpit, his soul was kindled, and inflamed
by the live coals from the altar. Some men of his own country imitated
him, of course. Imitations are always ludicrous,—some of these were
especially so. There was, says one of his biographers, the shrug, the
shake of the head, the hurried, undertoned exclamation, “Bendigedig,”
etc., etc., always reminding us, by verifying it, of Dr. Parr’s
description of the imitators of Johnson: “They had the nodosities of the
oak without its vigour, and the contortions of the sibyl without her
inspiration.”
It was not so with him: he had rare, highly spiritual, and gifted
sympathies; but even in his very colloquies in the pulpit, there was a
wing, and sweep of majesty. He preached often amidst scenes of wildness,
and beauty, in romantic dells, or on mountain sides, and slopes, amidst
the summer hush of crags, and brooks, all ministering, it may be thought,
to the impression of the whole scene; or it was in rude, and unadorned
mountain chapels, altogether alien from the æsthetics so charming to
modern religious sensibilities; but he never lowered his tone, his
language was always intelligible; but both it, and the imagery he
employed, even when some circumstances gave to it a homely light, and
play, always ascended; he knew the workings of the heart, and knew how to
lay his finger impressively upon all its movements, and every kind of
sympathy attested his power.
It is a great thing to bear men’s spirits along through the sublime
reaches, and avenues of thought, and emotion; and majesty, and sublimity
seem to have been the common moods of his mind; never was his speech, or
his pulpit, like a Gilboa, on which there was no dew. He gave it as his
advice to a young preacher, “Never raise the voice while the heart is
dry; let the heart, and affections shout first,—let it commence within.”
A man who could say, “Hundreds of prayers bubble from the fountain of my
mind,”—what sort of preacher was he likely to make? He “mused, and the
fire burned;” like the smith who blows upon the furnace, until the iron
is red hot, and then strikes on the anvil till the sparks fly all round
him, so he preached. His words, and thoughts became radiant with fire,
and metaphor; they flew forth rich, bright, glowing, like some rich metal
in ethereal flame. As we have said, it was the nature, and the habit of
his mind, to embody, and impersonate; attributes, and qualities took the
shape, and form of persons; he seemed to enter mystic abodes, and not to
talk of things as a metaphysician, or a theologian, but as a spectator,
or actor. The magnificences of nature crowded round him, bowing in
homage, as he selected from them to adorn, or illustrate his theme; all
things beautiful, and splendid, all things fresh, and young, all things
old, and venerable. Reading his discourses, for instance, the _Hind of
the Morning_, we are astonished at the prodigality, and the unity of the
imagination, the coherency with which the fancies range themselves, as
gems, round some central truth, drinking, and reflecting its
corruscations.
Astounded were the people who heard; it was minstrelsy even more than
oratory; the truths were old and common, there was no fine
discrimination, and subtle touch of expression, as in Williams, and there
was no personal majesty, and dignity of sonorous swell of the pomp of
words, as in John Elias; but it was more,—it was the wing of prophecy,
and poetry, it was the rapture of the seer, or the bard; he called up
image after image, grouped them, made them speak, and testify; laden by
grand, and overwhelming feelings, he bore the people with him, through
the valley of the shadow of death, or across the Delectable Mountains.
There is a spell in thought, there is a spell in felicitous language; but
when to these are added the vision which calls up sleeping terror, the
imagination which makes living nature yet more alive, and brings the
solemn, or the dreadful people of the Book of God to our home, and life
of to-day, how terribly majestic the preacher becomes!
The sermons of Christmas Evans can only be known through the medium of
translation. They, perhaps, do not suffer as most translations suffer;
but the rendering, in English, is feeble in comparison with the at once
nervous, bony, and muscular Welsh language. The sermons, however,
clearly reveal the man; they reveal the fulness, and strength of his
mind; they abound in instructive thoughts; their building, and structure
is always good; and many of the passages, and even several of the
sermons, might be taken as models for strong, and effective pulpit
oratory. Like all the preachers of his day, and order of mind, and
peculiarity of theological sentiment, and training, his usage of the
imagery of Scripture was remarkably free; his use also of texts often was
as significant, and suggestive as it was, certainly, original.
No doubt, for the appreciation of his purpose, and his power in its
larger degree, he needed an audience well acquainted with Scripture, and
sympathetic, in an eminent manner, with the mind of the preacher. There
seem to have been periods, and moments when his mind soared aloft, into
some of the highest fields of truth, and emotion. Yet his wing never
seemed little, or petty in its flight. There was the firmness, and
strength of the beat of a noble eagle. Some eloquence sings, some
sounds; in one we hear the voice of a bird hovering in the air, in the
other we listen to the thunder of the plume: the eloquence of Christmas
Evans was of the latter order.
We have remarked it before,—there is a singular parable-loving instinct
in Wales. Its most popular traditional, and prose literature, is imbued
with it; the “Mabinogion,” the juvenile treasures of Welsh legend,
corresponding to the Grimm of Germany, and the other great Teutonic and
Norse legends, but wholly unlike them, prove this. But we are told that
the most grand prose work in Wales, of modern date, and, at the same
time, the most pre-eminently popular, is the “Sleeping Bard,” by Elis
Wyn. He was a High Church clergyman, and wrote this extraordinary
allegory at the commencement of the last century. Christmas Evans must
have known it, have known it well. It portrays a series of visions, and
if Mr. Borrow’s testimony may be relied upon, they are thoroughly
Dantesque. He says, “It is a singular mixture of the sublime, and the
coarse, the terrible, and the ludicrous, of religion, and levity, and
combines Milton, Bunyan, and Quevedo.”
This is immense praise. The Vision of the World, the first portion,
leads the traveller down the streets of Pride, Pleasure, and Lucre; but
in the distance is a cross street, little and mean, in comparison with
the others, but clean, and neat, and on a higher foundation than the
other streets; it runs upwards, towards the east; they sink downwards,
towards the north—this is the street True Religion. This is very much in
the style of Christmas Evans, and so also is the vision of Death, the
vision of Perdition, and the vision of Hell. This singular poem appears
to have been exceedingly popular in Wales when Christmas Evans was young.
But our preacher has often been called the Bunyan of Wales—the Bunyan of
the pulpit. In some measure, the epithet does designate him; he was a
great master of parabolic similitude, and comparison. This is a kind of
preaching ever eminently popular with the multitude; it requires rather a
redundancy of fancy, than imagination—perhaps a mind considerably
disciplined, and educated would be unable to indulge in such exercises—a
self-possession, balanced by ignorance of many of the canons of taste, or
utterly oblivious, and careless of them; for this is a kind of teaching
of which we hear very little. Now we have not one preacher in England
who would, perhaps, dare to use, or who could use well, the parabolic
style. This was the especial power of Christmas Evans. He excelled in
personification; he would seem frequently to have been mastered by this
faculty. The abstraction of thought, the disembodied phantoms of another
world, came clothed in form, and feature, and colour; at his bidding they
came—
“Ghostly shapes
Met him at noontide; Fear, and trembling Hope,
Silence, and Foresight; Death, the skeleton,
And Time, the shadow.”
Thus, he frequently astounded his congregations, not merely by pouring
round his subject the varied hues of light, or space, but by giving to
the eye defined shapes, and realizations. We do not wonder to hear him
say, “If I only entered the pulpit, I felt raised, as it were, to
Paradise, above my afflictions, until I forgot my adversity; yea, I felt
my mountain strong. I said to a brother once, ‘Brother, the doctrine,
the confidence, and strength I feel, will make persons dance with joy in
some parts of Wales.’ ‘Yea, brother,’ said he, with tears flowing from
his eyes.” He was visited by remarkable dreams. Once, previous to a
time of great refreshing, he dreamt:—
“He thought he was in the church at Caerphilly, and found many harps
hanging round the pulpit, wrapped in coverings of green. ‘Then,’ said
he, ‘I will take down the harps of heaven in this place.’ In removing
the covering, he found the ark of the covenant, inscribed with the name
of Jehovah. Then he cried, ‘Brethren, the Lord has come to us, according
to His promise, and in answer to our prayers.’” In that very place, he
shortly afterwards had the satisfaction of receiving one hundred and
forty converts into the Church, as the fruit of his ministry.
As we have said, nothing can well illustrate, on paper, the power of the
orator’s speech, but the following may serve, as, in some measure,
illustrating his method:—
“THE GOSPEL MOULD.
“I compare such preachers to a miner, who should go to the quarry
where he raised the ore, and, taking his sledge in his hand, should
endeavour to form bars of iron of the ore in its rough state, without
a furnace to melt it, or a rolling mill to roll it out, or moulds to
cast the metal, and conform the casts to their patterns. The Gospel
is like a form, or mould, and sinners are to be melted, as it were,
and cast into it. ‘But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you,’ or into which you were delivered,
as is the marginal reading, so that your hearts ran into the mould.
Evangelical preachers have, in the name of Christ, a mould, or form
to cast the minds of men into; as Solomon the vessels of the temple.
The Sadducees and Pharisees had their forms, and legal preachers have
their forms; but evangelical preachers should bring with them the
‘form of sound words,’ so that, if the hearers believe, or are melted
into it, Christ may be formed in their hearts,—then they will be as
born of the truth, and the image of the truth will appear in their
sentiments, and experience, and in their conduct in the Church, in
the family, and in the neighbourhood. Preachers without the mould
are all those who do not preach all the points of the Gospel of the
Grace of God.”
We will now present several extracts, derived from a variety of sources,
happily illustrating the general character of his sermons.
“SAUL OF TARSUS AND HIS SEVEN SHIPS.
“Saul of Tarsus was once a thriving merchant and an extensive
ship-owner; he had seven vessels of his own, the names of which
were—1. Circumcised the Eighth Day; 2. Of the Stock of Israel; 3.
Of the Tribe of Benjamin; 4. A Hebrew of the Hebrews; 5. As
touching the Law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning Zeal, persecuting the
Church. The seventh was a man-of-war, with which he one day set out
from the port of Jerusalem, well supplied with ammunition from the
arsenal of the Chief Priest, with a view to destroy a small port at
Damascus. He was wonderfully confident, and breathed out
threatenings and slaughter. But he had not got far from port before
the Gospel Ship, with Jesus Christ Himself as Commander on board,
hove in sight, and threw such a shell among the merchant’s fleet that
all his ships were instantly on fire. The commotion was tremendous,
and there was such a volume of smoke that Paul could not see the sun
at noon. While the ships were fast sinking, the Gospel Commander
mercifully gave orders that the perishing merchant should be taken on
board. ‘Saul, Saul, what has become of all thy ships?’ ‘They are
all on fire.’ ‘What wilt thou do now?’ ‘Oh that I may be found in
Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God. by faith.’”
“THE MISPLACED BONE.
“Let every one keep his own place, that there be no schism in the
body. There arose a fierce contention in the human body; every
member sought another place than the one it found itself in, and was
fitted for. After much controversy, it was agreed to refer the whole
matter to one whose name was Solomon Wise-in-his-own-conceit. He was
to arrange, and adjust the whole business, and to place every bone in
its proper position. He received the appointment gladly, and was
filled with joy, and confidence. He commenced with finding a place
for himself. His proper post was the heel; but where do you think he
found it? He must needs be the golden bowl in which the brains were
deposited. The natural consequences followed. The coarse heel bone
was not of the right quality, nor of the suitable dimensions to
contain the brains, nor could the vessel intended for that purpose
form a useful, or comely part of the foot. Disorder ensued in foot,
head, face, legs, and arms. By the time Solomon
Wise-in-his-own-conceit had reconstructed the body, it could neither
walk, nor speak, nor smell, nor hear, nor see. The body was,
moreover, filled with intolerable agony, and could find no rest,
every bone crying for restoration to its own place, that is to say,
every one but the heel-bone; that was mightily pleased to be in the
head, and to have the custody of the brains. Sin has introduced
similar disorder amongst men, and even amongst professors of
religion, and into congregations. ‘Let every one keep his own place,
that there be no schism in the body.’ The body can do much, can bear
heavy burdens, all its parts being in their own positions. Even so
in the Church; much good can be done by every member keeping and
filling his own place without high-mindedness.”
“THE MAN IN THE HOUSE OF STEEL.
“A man in a trance saw himself locked up in a house of steel, through
the walls of which, as through walls of glass, he could see his
enemies assailing him with swords, spears, and bayonets; but his life
was safe, for his fortress was locked within. So is the Christian
secure amid the assaults of the world. His ‘life is hid with Christ
in God.’
“The Psalmist prayed, ‘When my heart is overwhelmed within me, lead
me to the Rock that is higher than I.’ Imagine a man seated on a
lofty rock in the midst of the sea, where he has everything necessary
for his support, shelter, safety, and comfort. The billows heave and
break beneath him, and the hungry monsters of the deep wait to devour
him; but he is on high, above the rage of the former, and the reach
of the latter. Such is the security of faith.
“But why need I mention the rock, and the steel house? for the peace
that is in Christ is a tower ten thousand times stronger, and a
refuge ten thousand times safer. Behold the disciples of Jesus
exposed to famine, nakedness, peril, and sword—incarcerated in
dungeons; thrown to wild beasts; consumed in the fire; sawn asunder;
cruelly mocked, and scourged; driven from friends, and home, to
wander among the mountains, and lodge in dens, and caves of the
earth; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; sorrowful, but always
rejoicing; cast down, but not destroyed; an ocean of peace within,
which swallows up all their sufferings.
“‘Neither death,’ with all its terrors; ‘nor life,’ with all its
allurements; ‘nor things present,’ with all their pleasure, ‘nor
things to come,’ with all their promise; ‘nor height’ of prosperity;
‘nor depth’ of adversity; ‘nor angels’ of evil; ‘nor principalities’
of darkness; ‘shall be able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus.’ ‘God is our refuge, and strength; a very
present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the
earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst
of the sea—though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof.’ This is the language of
strong faith in the peace of Christ. How is it with you amid such
turmoil, and commotion? Is all peaceful within? Do you feel secure
in the name of the Lord, as in a strong fortress, as in a city well
supplied, and defended?
“‘There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of
God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. God is in
the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help her, and
that right early.’ ‘Unto the upright, there ariseth light in the
darkness.’ The bright and morning star, shining upon their pathway,
cheers them in their journey home to their Father’s house. And when
they come to pass over Jordan, the Sun of Righteousness shall have
risen upon them, with healing in His wings. Already they see the
tops of the mountains of immortality, gilded with his beams, beyond
the valley of the shadow of death. Behold, yonder, old Simeon
hoisting his sails, and saying, ‘Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant
depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation.’ Such is the peace of Jesus, sealed to all them that
believe by the blood of His cross.
“When we walk through the field of battle, slippery with blood, and
strewn with the bodies of the slain—when we hear the shrieks, and the
groans of the wounded, and the dying—when we see the country wasted,
cities burned, houses pillaged, widows, and orphans wailing in the
track of the victorious army, we cannot help exclaiming, ‘Oh, what a
blessing is peace!’ When we are obliged to witness family turmoils,
and strifes—when we see parents, and children, brothers, and sisters,
masters, and servants, husbands, and wives, contending with each
other like tigers—we retire as from a smoky house, and exclaim as we
go, ‘Oh, what a blessing is peace!’ When duty calls us into that
church, where envy, and malice prevail, and the spirit of harmony is
supplanted by discord, and contention—when we see brethren, who ought
to be bound together in love, full of pride, hatred, confusion, and
every evil work—we quit the unhallowed scene with painful feelings of
repulsion, repeating the exclamation, ‘Oh, what a blessing is peace!’
“But how much more precious in the case of the awakened sinner! See
him standing, terror-stricken, before Sinai. Thunders roll above
him—lightnings flash around him—the earth trembles beneath him, as if
ready to open her mouth, and swallow him up. The sound of the
trumpet rings through his soul, ‘Guilty! guilty! guilty!’ Pale and
trembling, he looks eagerly around him, and sees nothing but
revelations of wrath. Overwhelmed with fear, and dismay, he cries
out—‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me! What shall I
do?’ A voice reaches his ear, penetrates his heart—‘Behold the Lamb
of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!’ He turns his eyes to
Calvary. Wondrous vision! Emmanuel expiring upon the cross! the
sinner’s Substitute satisfying the demand of the law against the
sinner! Now all his fears are hushed, and rivers of peace flow into
his soul. This is the peace of Christ.
“How precious is this peace, amid all the dark vicissitudes of life!
How invaluable this jewel, through all the dangers of the wilderness!
How cheering to know that Jesus, who hath loved us even unto death,
is the pilot of our perilous voyage; that He rules the winds, and the
waves, and can hush them to silence at His will, and bring the
frailest bark of faith to the desired haven! Trusting where he
cannot trace his Master’s footsteps, the disciple is joyful amid the
darkest dispensations of Divine Providence; turning all his sorrows
into songs, and all his tribulations into triumphs. ‘Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he
trusteth in Thee.’”
“THE PARABLE OF THE CHURCH AS AN ARK AMONG THE BULRUSHES OF THE NILE.
“I see an ark of bulrushes, daubed with slime, and pitch, placed on
the banks of the Nile, which swarmed with fierce crocodiles.
Pharaoh’s daughter espies it, and sends her maidens to find out what
there can be in it. Little Moses was there, with a face of
miraculous beauty, to charm the princess of Egypt. She determined to
adopt him as her son. Behold, a great wonder. On the brink of the
river, where the three great crocodiles—the Devil, Sin, and
Death—have devoured their millions, there lay those who it was seen,
before the foundation of the world, would be adopted into the court
of heaven. The Gospel comes forth like a royal princess, with pardon
in her hand, and mercy in her eye; and hastening with her
handmaidens, she glances at the thousands asleep in the perils of
sin. They had favour in her sight, and she sent for her maidens,
called Justification, and Sanctification, to train them for the
inheritance of the saints.”
“THE HANDWRITING.
“When Adam sinned, there was issued against him the writ of death,
written by the finger of God in the book of the moral law. Adam had
heard it read before his fall, but in seeking to become a god, by
eating of the fruit of the tree, had forgotten it. Now God read it
in his conscience, and he was overwhelmed with fear. But the promise
of a Redeemer having been given, Mercy arranged that sacrifices
should be offered as a typical payment of the debt. When God
appeared on Sinai, to enter into covenant with His people, He brought
this writ in His hand, and the whole camp understood, from the
requirements of the law, that they must perish; their lives had been
forfeited. Mercy devised that a bullock’s blood should be shed,
instead of the blood of man. The worshippers in the temple were
bound to offer living sacrifices to God, that they might die in their
stead, and be consumed. Manoah feared the flames of the sacrifice
that was offered upon the rock; but his wife understood that, since
the angel had ascended in the flame, in their stead, it was a
favourable omen. Every worshipper, by offering other lives instead
of their own on the altars of God, acknowledged that the
‘handwriting’ was in force against them, and their high priest had
minutely to confess all their sins ‘over’ the victim. Yet, by all
the blood that ever crimsoned Levi’s robe, and the altars of God, no
real atonement was made for sin, nor forgiveness procured for the
smallest crime. All the sacrifices made a remembrance of sin, but
were no means of pardon. More than two thousand years the question
had been entertained, how to reconcile man with God. The
‘handwriting’ was real on Mount Ebal every year; meanwhile the debt
was fast accumulating, and new bills were being constantly filed.
The books were opened from time to time; but to meet the claims there
was nothing brought to the altar but the blood of sacrifices, as a
sort of draft in the name of Christ upon the Bank of Gold. When
Heaven, and earth had grown weary of this fictitious or seeming,
pardon of sin, I hear a voice exclaim: ‘Away with sacrifices, and
burnt-offerings: Heaven has no pleasure in them; a body has been
prepared for me. Lo, I come to reconcile man with God by one
sacrifice.’ He came, ‘leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon
the hills.’ Calling at the office where the ‘handwriting’ lay, when
only eight days old, He signed with His own blood an acknowledgment
of the debt, saying: ‘This is an earnest, and a pledge that my
heart’s blood shall be freely given.’ The three-and-thirty years
have expired; I see Him in Gethsemane, with the priceless purse of
gold which He had borne with Him through the courts of Caiaphas and
Pilate; but to them the image, and the superscription on the coin was
a mystery. The Father, however, recognised them in the court of
Sinai, where the ‘handwriting’ was that demanded the life of the
whole world. The day following, ‘the Virgin’s Son’ presented Himself
to pay the debt in liquid gold; and the treasure which He bore would
have set free a myriad worlds. He passes along the streets of
Jerusalem towards Sinai’s office; the mercy-seat is removed to ‘the
place of skulls;’ as He proceeds, He exclaims: ‘I am come not to
destroy, but to fulfil the law.’ Send in, before the hour of three,
each curse, and threat ever pronounced against my people. Bring in
the first old bill against Adam as their head. I will redeem a
countless host of infants to-day; their names shall be taken out of
old Eden’s accounts. Bring in the many transgressions which have
been filed through the ages, from Adam until now; include Peter’s
denial of me last night; but as to Judas, he is a son of perdition,
he has no part in me, having sold me for thirty pieces of silver. We
have here an exhaustless crimson treasure,—enough to meet the demand;
enough to fill every promise, and every prophecy with mercy; enough
to make my beloved, and myself happy, and blest for ever! By three
in the afternoon of that day, there was not a bill in all Eden, or
Sinai, that had not been brought to the cross. And when all was
settled, Christ bowed down His head, but cried with a loud voice: ‘It
is finished!’ The gates of death, and hell trembled, and shook.
‘The posts of the doors moved at the voice.’ The great gulf between
God, and His people was closed up. Sinai appeared with the offering,
and grew still; the lightnings no longer flashed, and the thunder
ceased to roar.”
“DEATH AS AN INOCULATOR.
“Death may be conceived of as a gigantic inoculator. He carries
about with him a monstrous box, filled with deadly matter, with which
he has infected every child of Adam. The whole race of man is doomed
by this law of death. But see! This old inoculator gets paid back
in his own coin. The Son of Man, humbling Himself to death, descends
into the tomb, but rises immortal. He seized death in Joseph’s
grave. But, amazing spectacle! with the matter of His own
immortality He inoculated mortality with death, whose lifeless corpse
will be seen, on the resurrection morning, among the ruins of His
people’s graves; while they, with one voice, will rend the air as if
eternity opened its mouth, exclaiming: ‘O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?’”
“TIME.
“Time, considered as a whole, is the age of the visible creation. It
began with the fiat, ‘Let there be light;’ and it will end with the
words: ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father,’ and ‘Go, ye cursed.’ Each
river, and mountain, town, and city, hovel, and palace, every son,
and daughter of Adam, must undergo the change, pass away, for
whatever is seen is only for a time. The time of restoration, by the
presence of the glory of Christ, will be the morning of judgment, and
resurrection. That morning will be the last of time: then eternity
begins. From that time, each man will dwell in his everlasting home:
the ungodly in a lake of fire, that will burn for ever; while the
joy, and happiness of the blest will know no end.
“Oh the fearfulness of the word _everlasting_, written over the door
of the lake of fire! Oh the happiness it will create when read above
the eternal kingdom!
“Time is the age of the visible world; but eternity is the age of
God. This limitless circle centres in Him. The age of the visible
world is divided into years, and days, according to the revolutions
of the earth, and sun,—into weeks, in memory of the world’s creation,
and the resurrection of Christ,—into hours, minutes, seconds, and
moments. These last can scarcely be distinguished, yet they are
parts of the great body of time; but seven thousand years constitute
no part of eternity. One day, and a thousand years, yea, millions of
years, are alike, compared with the age of God, forming no part of
the vast changeless circle that knows neither loss, nor gain. The
age of time is winding up by minutes, days, and years: the age of God
is one endless to-day; and such will be your age, and mine, when we
have once passed the limits of time, beyond which Lazarus is blessed,
and the rich man tormented. My brethren in the ministry, who in
years gone by travelled with me from one Association to another, are
to-day living in that great endless hour!
“Time is an age of changes, revolutions, and reforms; but eternity is
calm, stationary, and changeless. He who enters upon it an enemy to
God, faithless, prayerless, unpardoned, and unregenerate, remains so
for ever. Great changes take place in time, for which the new song
in eternity will never cease. Natures have been changed, and enmity
has been abolished. In time, the life covenant was broken, and man
formed, and sealed his compact with hell. One, equal with God, died
upon the cross, in the form of a servant, to destroy the works of the
devil, and to unite man, and God in the bond of peace through His own
blood. Time, and language would fail to recount what in time has
been accomplished, involving changes from life, to death, and from
death, to life. Here the pure have become denied, and the guiltless
condemned; and here, also, the sinner has been justified, the
polluted cleansed, the poor enriched, the enemy reconciled, and the
dead have been made alive, where one paradise has been lost, and a
better regained. The new song from the midst of eternity sounds in
our ears. Hear it! It has for its subjects one event that took
place in eternity, and three that have transpired in time: ‘Unto Him
that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath
made us kings, and priests unto God, and His Father: to Him be glory,
and dominion for ever, and ever. Amen.’”
“THE TIMEPIECE.
“You may move the hands on the dial-plate this way, and the other,
and finger as you please the machinery within, but if there be no
mainspring there your labour will be in vain. So the ‘hands’ of
men’s lives will not move, in holy obedience, at the touch of the
law, unless the mainspring be supplied by God through the Gospel;
then only will the whole life revolve on the pivot of the love of
Christ, as upon an imperishable diamond. It is not difficult to get
the timepiece to act well, if the internal machinery be in proper
order; so, with a right spirit within, Lydia attends to the word,
Matthew leaves ‘the receipt of custom,’ Saul of Tarsus prays; and the
three thousand repent, believe, and turn unto the Lord.
“A gentleman’s timepieces were once out of order, and they were
examined, when it was found that in one of them the mainspring was
injured; the glass which protected the dial-plate of the other was
broken; while the machinery of the third had got damp, and rusty,
although the parts were all there. So the lack of holiness, in some
cases, arises from the want of heart to love God; another man has not
the glass of watchfulness in his conduct; another has got rusty with
backsliding from God, and the sense of guilt so clogs the wheels of
his machinery, that they must be well brushed with rebuke, and
correction, and oiled afresh with the Divine influence, before they
will ever go well again.
“The whole of a Christian’s life is a reaching forward; but he has to
begin afresh, like the people of Israel in the wilderness; or, like a
clock, he has constantly to recommence at the figure one, and go on
to that of twelve, through all the years of his experience on earth.
But after the resurrection, he will advance, body, and soul, to the
figure of million of millions, never to begin again throughout
eternity. The sun in that world will never rise, nor set; it will
have neither east, nor west! How often has an invisible hand wound
up thy religious spirit below, but there the weights will never come
down again!”
“PARABLE OF THE BIRDS.
“A gentleman kept in his palace a dove, a raven, and an eagle. There
was but little congeniality, or friendship amongst them. The dove
ate its own proper food, and lodged in the aviary. The raven fed on
carrion, and sometimes would pick out the eyes of an innocent lamb,
and had her nest in the branches of a tree. The eagle was a royal
bird; it flew very high, and was of a savage nature; it would care
nothing to eat half-a-dozen doves for its breakfast. It was
considered the chief of all birds, because it could fly higher than
all. All the doves feared its beak, its angry eyes, and sharp
talons. When the gentleman threw corn in the yard for the dove, the
raven would be engaged in eating a piece of flesh, a part of a lamb
haply; and the eagle in carrying a child from the cradle to its
eyrie. The dove is the evangelical, industrious, godly professor;
the raven is the licentious, and unmanageable professor; and the
eagle the high-minded, and self-complacent one. These characters are
too often amongst us; there is no denomination in church, or
meeting-house, without these three birds, if there be birds there at
all. These birds, so unlike, so opposed, never can live together in
peace. Let us pray, brethren, for union of spirit in the bond of
peace.”
“PARABLE OF THE VINE-TREE, THE THORN, THE BRAMBLE, AND THE CEDAR.
“The trees of Lebanon held a council to elect a king, on the death of
their old sovereign, the Yew-tree. It was agreed to offer the
sovereignty to the Cedar; at the same time, in the event of the
Cedar’s declining it, to the Vine-tree, and then to the Olive-tree.
They all refused it. The Cedar said, ‘I am high enough already.’
The Vine said, ‘I prefer giving forth my rich juice to gladden man’s
heart.’ In like manner, the Olive was content with giving its fruit,
and would receive no other honour. Recourse was then had to the
Thorn. The Thorn gladly received the office; saying to itself, ‘I
have nothing to lose but this white dress, and a berry for pigs,
while I have prickles enough to annoy the whole wood.’ The Bramble
rebelled against the Thorn, and a fire of pride, and envy was
kindled, which, at length, wrapped the whole forest in one blaze.
Two or three vain, and high-minded men have frequently broken up the
peace of congregations; and, by striving for the mastery, have
inflicted on the cause of religion incalculable injuries; when they
have had no more fitness for rule than the white-thorn, or the
prickly bramble.”
The following extract is of another order; it is more lengthy, and it is
upon a theme which always drew forth the preacher’s most exulting notes:—
“THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD.
“Let us now consider the fact of our Lord’s resurrection, and its
bearing upon the great truths of our holy religion.
“This most transcendent of miracles is sometimes attributed to the
agency of the Father; who, as the Lawgiver, had arrested, and
imprisoned in the grave the sinner’s Surety, manifesting at once His
benevolence, and His holiness; but by liberating the prisoner,
proclaimed that the debt was cancelled, and the claims of the law
satisfied. It is sometimes attributed to the Son Himself; who had
power both to lay down His life, and to take it again; and the merit
of whose sacrifice entitled Him to the honour of thus asserting His
dominion over death, on behalf of His people. And sometimes it is
attributed to the Holy Spirit, as in the following words of the
Apostle:—‘He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.’
“_The resurrection of Christ is a clear and incontestable proof of
His Divinity_.
“He had declared Himself equal with God the Father, and one with Him
in nature, and in glory. He had told the people that He would prove
the truth of this declaration, by rising from the grave three days
after His death. And when the morning of the third day began to dawn
upon the sepulchre, lo! there was an earthquake, and the dead body
arose, triumphant over the power of corruption.
“This was the most stupendous miracle ever exhibited on earth, and
its language is:—‘Behold, ye persecuting Jews and murdering Romans,
the proof of my Godhead! Behold, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, the power,
and glory of your Victim!’ ‘I am He that liveth, and was dead; and
lo! I am alive for evermore!’ ‘I am the root, and the offspring of
David, and the Bright, and Morning Star!’ ‘Look unto Me, and be ye
saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and besides Me there
is none else!’
“_Our Lord’s resurrection affords incontrovertible evidence of the
truth of Christianity_.
“Pilate wrote the title of Christ in three languages on the cross;
and many have written excellent, and unanswerable things, on the
truth of the Christian Scriptures, and the reality of the Christian
religion; but the best argument that has ever been written on the
subject was written by the invisible hand of the Eternal Power, in
the rocks of our Saviour’s sepulchre. This confounds the sceptic,
settles the controversy, and affords an ample, and sure foundation
for all them that believe.
“If any one asks whether Christianity is from heaven, or of men, we
point him to the ‘tomb hewn out of the rock,’ and say—‘There is your
answer! Jesus was crucified, and laid in that cave; but on the
morning of the third day it was found empty; our Master had risen,
and gone forth from the grave victorious.’
“This is the pillar that supports the whole fabric of our religion;
and he who attempts to pull it down, like Samson, pulls ruin upon
himself. ‘If Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and
your faith is also vain, ye are yet in your sins;’ but if the fact is
clearly proved, then Christianity is unquestionably true, and its
disciples are safe.
“This is the ground on which the Apostle stood, and asserted the
divinity of his faith:—‘Moreover, I testify unto you the gospel,
which I preached unto you; which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the
Scriptures.’
“_The resurrection of Jesus is the most stupendous manifestation of
the power of God_, _and the pledge of eternal life to His people_.
“The apostle calls it ‘the exceeding greatness of His power to
usward, who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,
which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.’ This
is a river overflowing its banks—an idea too large for language. Let
us look at it a moment.
“Where do we find ‘the exceeding greatness of His power’? In the
creation of the world? in the seven Stars and Orion? in the strength
of Behemoth and Leviathan? No! In the Deluge? in the fiery
destruction of Sodom? in the overthrow of Pharaoh, and his host? in
hurling Nebuchadnezzar, like Lucifer, from the political firmament?
No! It is the power which He wrought in Christ. When? When He
healed the sick? when He raised the dead? when He cast out devils?
when He blasted the fruitless fig-tree? when He walked upon the
waters of Galilee? No! It was ‘when He raised Him from the dead.’
Then the Father placed the sceptre in the hands of the Son, ‘and set
Him above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come; and put all things under His feet, and gave Him to
be Head over all things to the Church.’
“This is the source of our spiritual life. The same power that
raised the dead body of our Lord from the grave, quickens the soul of
the believer from the death in trespasses, and sins. His riven tomb
is a fountain of living waters; whereof, if a man drink, he shall
never die. His raised, and glorified body is the sun, whence streams
eternal light upon our spirits; the light of life, that never can be
quenched.
“Nor here does the influence of His resurrection end. ‘He who raised
up Jesus from the dead shall, also, quicken our mortal bodies.’ His
resurrection is the pledge, and the pattern of ours. ‘Because He
lives, we shall live also.’ ‘He shall change our vile body, that it
may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.’ We hear Him speaking
in the Prophet:—‘Thy dead shall live; together with my dead body
shall they arise. Awake, and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for
thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her
dead.’
“How divinely does the Apostle speak of the resurrection-body of the
saints! ‘It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it
is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness,
it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory! O
death, where is thy victory? O grave, where is thy sting? Thanks be
unto God that giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
“Ever since the fall in Eden, man is born to die. He lives to die.
He eats, and drinks, sleeps, and wakes, to die. Death, like a dark
steel-clad warrior, stands ever before us; and his gigantic shadow
comes continually between us, and happiness. But Christ hath
‘abolished death, and brought life, and immortality to light through
the gospel.’ He was born in Bethlehem, that He might die on Calvary.
He was made under the law, that He might bear the direst penalty of
the law. He lived thirty-three years, sinless, among sinners, that
He might offer Himself a sin-offering for sinners upon the cross.
Thus ‘He became obedient unto death,’ that He might destroy the power
of death; and on the third morning, a mighty angel, rolling away the
stone from the mouth of the sepulchre, makes the very door of death’s
castle the throne whence He proclaims ‘the resurrection, and the
life.’
“The Hero of our salvation travelled into Death’s dominion, took
possession of the whole territory on our behalf, and returning, laden
with spoils, ascended to the Heaven of heavens. He went to the
palace, seized the tyrant, and wrested away his sceptre. He
descended into the prison-house, knocked off the fetters of the
captives; and when He came up again, left the door of every cell
open, that they might follow Him. He has gone over into our promised
inheritance, and His glory illuminates the mountains of immortality;
and through the telescope which He has bequeathed us we ‘see the land
which is very far off.’
“I recollect reading, in the writings of Flavel, this sentiment—that
the souls in Paradise wait, with intense desire, for the reanimation
of their dead bodies, that they may be united to them in bliss for
ever. Oh what rapture there shall be among the saints, when those
frail vessels, from which they escaped with such a struggle, as they
foundered in the gulf of death, shall come floating in, with the
spring-tide of the resurrection, to the harbour of immortality! How
glorious the reunion, when the seeds of affliction, and death are
left behind in the tomb! Jacob no longer lame, nor Moses slow of
speech, nor Lazarus covered with sores, nor Paul troubled with a
thorn in the flesh!
“‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He
shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.’
The glory of the body of Christ is far above our present conception.
When He was transfigured on Tabor, His face shone like the sun, and
His raiment was white as the light. This is the pattern shown to His
people on the mount. This is the model after which the bodies of
believers shall be fashioned in the resurrection. ‘They that be wise
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn
many to righteousness, as the stars for ever, and ever.’
“In conclusion:—The angel said to the woman, ‘Go quickly, and tell
His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and behold, He goeth
before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him; lo! I have told
you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre, with fear, and
great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.’
“Brethren! followers of Jesus! be ye also preachers of a risen
Saviour! Go quickly—there is no time for delay—and publish the glad
tidings to sinners! Tell them that Christ died for their sins, and
rose again for their justification, and ascended to the right hand of
the Father to make intercession for them, and is now able to save
unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him!
“And you, impenitent, and unbelieving men! hear this blessed message
of salvation! Do you intend ever to embrace the proffered mercy of
the Gospel? Make haste! Procrastination is ruin! Now is the
accepted time! Oh, fly to the throne of grace! Time is hastening;
you will soon be swallowed up in eternity! May the Lord have mercy
upon you, and rouse you from your indifference, and sloth! It is my
delight to invite you to Christ; but I feel more pleasure, and more
confidence in praying for you to God. I have besought, and entreated
you, by every argument, and every motive in my power; but you are yet
in your sins, and rushing on toward hell. Yet I will not give you up
in despair. If I cannot persuade you to flee from the wrath to come,
I will intercede with God to have mercy upon you, for the sake of His
beloved Son. If I cannot prevail in the pulpit, I will try to
prevail at the throne.”
This must be regarded as a very noble piece; the words make themselves
felt; evidently, the resurrection of our Lord, to this preacher, was a
great reality; it is now, by many, regarded only as a charming myth; a
very curious eschatology in our day has found its way even into our
pulpits, and we have eminent ministers of the Church of England,
well-known Congregational, and other ministers, who affect to believe,
and to preach the Resurrection of Christ; but a careful listener in the
pew, or a converser by the fireside, will find, to his amazement, that
the resurrection, as believed by them, is no honest resurrection at all:
it is a spiritual resurrection which leaves the body of Jesus unrisen,
and in the possession of death, and the grave. In that view, which has
just passed before us, a very different, and most absolutely real
resurrection is preached; indeed, it is the only view which leaves a
heart of immortal hope in the Christian faith, the only view which seems
at all tenable, if we are to believe in the power of Christ’s
resurrection.
We will close these extracts by one of yet another order,—a vivid
descriptive picture of the smiting of the rock, the streams flowing
through the desert, and the joy of the mighty caravan of pilgrims on
their way to the promised land.
“‘THEY DRANK OF THAT ROCK WHICH FOLLOWED THEM.’
“Having spoken of _the smiting_, let us, _now_, look at _the result_,
the flowing of the waters; a timely mercy to ‘the many thousands of
Israel,’ on the point of perishing in the desert; shadowing forth a
far greater mercy, the flowing of living waters from the ‘spiritual
rock,’ which is Christ.
“In the death of our Redeemer, we see three infinite depths moved for
the relief of human misery: the love of the Father, the merit of the
Son, and the energy of the Holy Spirit. These are the depths of
wonder whence arise the rivers of salvation.
“_The waters flowed in the presence of the whole assembly_. The
agent was invisible, but His work was manifest.
“The water flowed _in great abundance_, filling the whole camp, and
supplying all the people. Notwithstanding the immense number, and
the greatness of their thirst, there was enough for each, and for
all. The streams ran in every direction to meet the sufferers, and
their rippling murmur seemed to say—‘Open thy mouth, and I will fill
it.’ Look to the cross! See there the gracious fountain opened, and
streams of pardoning, and purifying mercy flowing down the rock of
Calvary, sweeping over the mount of Olives, and cleaving it asunder,
to make a channel for the living waters to go out over the whole
world, that God may be glorified among the Gentiles, and all the ends
of the earth may see His salvation.
“The water flowed _from the rock_, not pumped by human labour, but
drawn by the hand of God. It was the same power that opened the
springs of mercy upon the cross. It was the wisdom of God that
devised the plan, and the mercy of God that furnished the Victim.
His was the truth, and love that gave the promise by the prophet—‘In
that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and uncleanness.’ His was
the unchanging faithfulness that fulfilled it in His Son—‘Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.’ Our salvation is wholly of God; and we have no other agency
in the matter than the mere acceptance of His proffered grace.
“The water flowed _in twelve different channels_; and, according to
Dr. Pococke, of Scotland, who visited the place, the deep traces in
the rock are visible to this day. But the twelve streams, one for
each tribe, all issued from the same fountain, in the same rock. So
the great salvation flowed out through the ministry of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb, and went abroad over all the earth. But the
fountain is one. All the apostles preached the same Saviour, and
pointed to the same cross. ‘Neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we
must be saved.’ We must come to this spring, or perish.
“The flowing of the waters _was irresistible by human power_. Who
can close the fountain which God hath opened? can Edom, or Moab, or
Sihon, or Og dam up the current which Jehovah hath drawn from the
rock? Can Caiaphas, and all the Jews, aided by the prince of this
world—can all the powers of earth and hell combined—arrest the work
of redemption, and dry up the fountain of mercy which Christ is
opening on Calvary? As soon might they dry up the Atlantic, and stop
the revolutions of the globe. It is written, and must be fulfilled.
Christ must suffer, and enter into His glory—must be lifted up, and
draw all men unto Him—and repentance, and remission of sins must be
preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
“_The water flowing from the rock was like a river of life to the
children 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 round 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. Oh 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!”
Among the great Welsh preachers, then, in closing, it will now be enough
to say, that, without claiming for Christmas Evans pre-eminence above all
his contemporaries, or countrymen, it may, with truth, be said, we have
yet better means of forming an opinion of him than of any other. We have
attempted to avail ourselves of such traditions, and stories of their
pulpit ministration, and such fragments of their spoken words, as may
convey some, if faint, still fair, idea of their powers. Even of
Christmas Evans our knowledge is, by no means, ample, nor are there many
of his sermons left to us; but such as we possess seem sufficient for the
formation of as high an estimate, through the medium of criticism, and
the press, as that which was formed by the flocking crowds, and thousands
who deemed it one of their greatest privileges, and pleasures to listen
to his living voice. And it must be admitted, we think, that these
sermons are of that order which retains much of its power, when the voice
through which it spoke is still. Welsh sermons, beyond almost any
others, lose their vitality by the transference to the press, and no
doubt this preacher suffers in this way, too; some, however, will not
bear the printing machine at all, and when the voice ceases to speak, all
which made them effective is gone. With these sermons it is,
undoubtedly, otherwise, and from some of them it may, perhaps, even be
possible to find models of the mould of thought, and the mode at once of
arrangement, as well as the qualities of emotion, and expression, which
make preaching successful, whether for converting, or comforting the
souls of men. Nor is it less significant that this man, who exercised a
ministry of immense usefulness for more than half a century, and retained
his power over men, with the same average freshness, and splendour until
within four days of his death, did so in virtue of the living freshness
of his heart, and mind. Like such men as John Bunyan, and Richard
Baxter, no University could claim him, for he was of none; he had
graduated in no college, had sat before no academical prelections, and
was decorated with no diplomas,—only the Divine Spirit was master of the
college in which he was schooled. We write this with no desire to speak
disparagingly of such training, but, rather, to bring out into
conspicuous honour the strength of this self-formed, severely toiling,
and nobly suffering man. He was a spiritual athlete in labours more
abundant; perhaps it might seem that the “one-eyed man of Anglesea,” as
he was so familiarly called, until this designation yielded to the more
affectionate term of “Old Christmas,” throughout the Principality—must
have been in bodily presence contemptible; but if his appearance was
rugged, we suppose it could scarcely have been less than royal,—a man the
spell of whose name, when he came into a neighbourhood, could wake up all
the sleepy villages, and bid their inhabitants pour along, up by the
hills, and down by the valleys, expectant crowds watching his appearance
with tears, and sometimes hailing him with shouts—must have been
something like a king among men. We have seen how poor he was, and how
indifferent to all that the world regarded as wealth, but he was one of
those of whom the apostle speaks “as poor, yet making many rich, as
having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” And thus, from every
consideration, whether we regard his singular genius, so truly national,
and representative of the mind, and character of his country, his
indomitable struggles, and earnest self-training, his extraordinary power
over his congregations, his long, earnest life of self-denying
usefulness, especially his intense reality, the holy purity, and
consecration of his soul, Christmas Evans deserves our reverent memory
while we glorify God in him.
APPENDATORY.
_SELECTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE SERMONS_.
AND now, although the various, and several selections we have given in
the different preceding sections of this volume, may assist the reader in
forming some idea of the manner, and method of Christmas Evans, before
closing the volume we will present some selections from entire sermons,
translated from the Welsh; and while, of course, labouring beneath the
disadvantages of translation, we trust they will not unfavourably
represent those various attributes of pulpit power, for which we have
given the great preacher credit.
SERMON I.—THE TIME OF REFORMATION.
SERMON II.—THE PURIFICATION OF THE CONSCIENCE.
SERMON III.—FINISHED REDEMPTION.
SERMON IV.—THE FATHER AND SON GLORIFIED.
SERMON V.—THE CEDAR OF GOD.
SERMON I.
THE TIME OF REFORMATION.
“_Until the time of reformation_.”—HEB. ix. 10.
The ceremonies pertaining to the service of God, under Sinaitic
dispensation, were entirely typical in their character; mere figures of
Christ, the “High-priest of good things to come, by a greater, and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands;” who, “not by the blood of
goats, and calves, but by His own blood, has entered once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Sustaining such a
relation to other ages, and events, they were necessarily imperfect,
consisting “only in meats, and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal
ordinances,” not intended for perpetual observance, but imposed upon the
Jewish people merely “until the time of reformation,” when the shadow
should give place to the substance, and a Greater than Moses should “make
all things new.” Let us notice the time of reformation, and the
reformation itself.
I. Time may be divided into three parts; the Golden Age before the fall,
the Iron Age after the fall, and the Messiah’s Age of Jubilee.
In the Golden Age, the heavens, and the earth were created; the Garden of
Eden was planted; man was made in the image of God, and placed in the
garden, to dress, and keep it; matrimony was instituted; and God, resting
from His labour, sanctified the seventh day, as a day of holy rest to
man.
The Iron Age was introduced by the temptation of a foreigner, who
obtruded himself into Paradise, and persuaded its happy denizens to cast
off the golden yoke of obedience, and love to God. Man, desiring
independence, became a rebel against heaven, a miserable captive of sin,
and Satan, obnoxious to the Divine displeasure, and exposed to eternal
death. The law was violated; the image of God was lost, and the enemy
came in like a flood. All communication between the island of Time, and
the continent of Immortality was cut off, and the unhappy exiles saw no
hope of crossing the ocean that intervened.
The Messiah’s Age may be divided into three parts; the time of
Preparation, the time of Actual War, and the time of Victory and Triumph.
The Preparation began with the dawning of the day in Eden, when the
Messiah came in the ship of the Promise, and landed on the island of
Time, and notified its inhabitants of His gracious intention to visit
them again, and assume their nature, and live and die among them; to
break their covenant allegiance to the prince of the iron yoke; and
deliver to them the charter, signed, and sealed with His own blood, for
the redemption, and renovation of their island, and the restoration of
its suspended intercourse with the land of Eternal Life. The motto
inscribed upon the banners of this age was,—“He shall bruise thy heel,
and Thou shalt bruise his head.” Here Jehovah thundered forth His hatred
of sin from the thick darkness, and wrote His curse in fire upon the face
of heaven; while rivers of sacrificial blood proclaimed the miserable
state of man, and his need of a costlier atonement than mere humanity
could offer. Here, also, the spirit of Messiah fell upon the prophets,
leading them to search diligently for the way of deliverance, and
enabling them to “testify beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow.”
Then came the season of Actual War. “Messiah the Prince” was born in
Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling bands, and laid in a manger,—the Great
Deliverer, “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” With
His almighty hand, He laid hold on the works of the devil, unlocked the
iron furnace, and broke the brazen bands asunder. He opened His mouth,
and the deaf heard, the blind saw, the dumb spoke, the lame walked, and
the lepers were cleansed. In the house of Jairus, in the street of Nain,
and in the burial ground of Bethany, His word was mightier than death;
and the damsel on her bed, the young man on his bier, and Lazarus in his
tomb, rising to second life, were but the earnests of His future triumph.
The diseases of sin He healed, the iron chains of guilt He shattered, and
all the horrible caves of human corruption, and misery were opened by the
Heavenly Warrior. He took our yoke, and bore it away upon His own
shoulder, and cast it, broken, into the bottomless pit. He felt in His
hands, and feet, the nails, and in His side the spear. The iron entered
into His soul, but the corrosive power of His blood destroyed it, and
shall ultimately eat away all the iron in the kingdom of death. Behold
Him hanging on Calvary, nailing upon His cross three bills, the
handwriting of the law which was against us, the oath of our allegiance
to the prince of darkness, and the charter of the “everlasting covenant;”
fulfilling the first, breaking the second, and sealing the third with His
blood!
Now begins the scene of Victory and Triumph. On the morning of the third
day, the Conqueror is seen “coming from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah.” He has “trodden the winepress alone.” By the might of His
single arm He has routed the hosts of hell, and spoiled the dominions of
death. The iron castle of the foe is demolished, and the Hero returns
from the war, “glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of
His strength.” He enters the gates of the everlasting city, amid the
rejoicing of angels, and the shouts of His redeemed. And still He rides
forth in the chariot of His grace, “conquering, and to conquer.” A
two-edged sword issues from His mouth, and, in His train, follow the
victorious armies of heaven. Lo! before Him fall the altars of idols,
and the temples of devils; and the slaves of sin are becoming the
servants, and sons of the living God; and the proud sceptic beholds,
wonders, believes, and adores; and the blasphemer begins to pray, and the
persecutor is melted into penitence, and love, and the wolf comes, and
lays him down gently by the side of the lamb. And Messiah shall never
quit the field, till He has completed the conquest, and swallowed up
death in victory. In His “vesture dipped in blood,” He shall pursue the
armies of Gog and Magog on the field of Amageddon, and break the iron
teeth of the beast of power, and cast down Babylon as a mill-stone into
the sea, and bind the old serpent in the lake of fire, and brimstone, and
raise up to life immortal the tenants of the grave. Then shall the New
Jerusalem, the metropolis of Messiah’s golden empire, descend from
heaven, adorned with all the jewellery of creation, guarded at every gate
by angelic sentinels, and enlightened by the glory of God, and of the
Lamb; and the faithful shall dwell within its walls, and sin, and sorrow,
and death, shall be shut out for ever!
Then shall Time be swallowed up in Eternity. The righteous shall inherit
life everlasting, and the ungodly shall find their portion in the second
death. Time is the age of the visible world; eternity is the age of the
invisible God. All things in time are changeful; all things in eternity
are immutable. If you pass from time to eternity, without faith in
Christ, without love in God, an enemy to prayer, an enemy to holiness,
“impurged and unforgiven,” so you must ever remain. Now is the season of
that blessed change, for which myriads shall sing everlasting anthems of
praise. “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
To-day the office is open: if you have any business with the Governor,
make no delay. Now He has time to talk with the woman of Samaria by the
well, and the penitent thief upon the cross. Now He is ready to forgive
your sins, and renew your souls, and make you meet to become the
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now He waits to
wash the filthy, and feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and raise the
humble, and quicken the spiritually dead, and enrich the poor, and
wretched, and reconcile enemies by His blood. He came to unloose your
bands, and open to you the gates of Eden; condemned for your acquittal,
and slain for the recovery of your forfeited immortality. The design of
all the travelling from heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven, is the
salvation of that which was lost, the restoration of intercourse, and
amity between the Maker and the worm. This is the chief of the ways of
God to man, ancient in its origin, wise in its contrivance, dear in its
accomplishment, powerful in its application, gracious in its influence,
and everlasting in its results. Christ is riding in His chariot of
salvation, through the land of destruction, and death, clothed in the
majesty of mercy, and offering eternal life to all who will believe. O
captives of evil! now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation;
now is the year of Jubilee; now is the age of deliverance; now is “the
time of reformation.”
II. All the prophets speak of something within the veil, to be
manifested in due time; the advent of a Divine agent in a future age, to
accomplish a glorious “reformation.” They represent him as a prince, a
hero, a high priest, a branch growing out of dry ground, a child toying
with the asp, and the lion, and leading the wolf, and the lamb together.
The bill of the reformation had been repeatedly read by the prophets, and
its passage required the descent of the Lord from heaven. None but
Himself could effect the change of the dispensation. None but Himself
had the authority and the power to remove the first, and establish the
second. He whose voice once shook the earth, speaks again, and heaven is
shaken. He whose footsteps once kindled Sinai into flame, descends
again, and Calvary is red with blood. The God of the ancient covenant
introduces anew, which is to abide for ever. The Lord of the temple
alone could change the furniture, and the service from the original
pattern shown to Moses on the mount; and six days before the rending of
the veil, significant of abrogation of the old ceremonial, Moses came
down upon a mountain in Palestine to deliver up the pattern to Him of
whom he had received it on Sinai, that He might nail it to the cross on
Calvary; for the “gifts and sacrifices” belonging to the legal
dispensation, “could not make him that did the service perfect, as
pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats, and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of
reformation.”
This reformation signifieth “the removal of those things that are shaken,
as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may
remain;” the abrogation of “carnal ordinances,” which were local, and
temporal in their nature, to make room for a spiritual worship, of
universal, and perpetual adaptation. Henceforth the blood of bulls, and
goats is superseded by the great reconciling sacrifice of the Lamb of
God, and outward forms, and ceremonies give place to the inward
operations of a renovating, and purifying Spirit.
To the Jewish Church, the covenant of Sinai was a sort of starry heaven.
The Shekinah was its sun; the holy festivals, its moon; and prophets,
priests, and kings, its stars. But Messiah, when He came, shook them all
from their spheres, and filled the firmament Himself. He is our “Bright
and Morning Star;” the “Sun of Righteousness,” rising upon us “with
healing in His wings.”
The old covenant was an accuser, and a judge, but offered no pardon to
the guilty. It revealed the corruption of the natural heart, but
provided no renovating, and sanctifying grace. It was a natural
institution, for special benefit of the seed of Abraham. It was a small
vessel, trading only with the land of Canaan. It secured, to a few, the
temporal blessings of the promised possession, but never delivered a
single soul from eternal death, never bore a single soul over to the
heavenly inheritance. But the new covenant is a covenant of grace, and
mercy, proffering forgiveness, and a clean heart, not on the ground of
any carnal relationship, but solely through faith in Jesus Christ.
Christianity is a personal concern between each man, and his God, and
none but the penitent believer has any right to its spiritual privileges.
It is adapted to Gentiles, as well as Jews, “even as many as the Lord our
God shall call.” Already has it rescued myriads from the bondage of sin,
and conveyed them over to the land of immortality; and its voyages of
grace shall continue to the end of time, “bringing many sons to glory.”
“Old things are passed away, and all things are become new.” The
circumcision of the flesh, made with hands, has given place to the
circumcision of the heart by the Holy Ghost. The Shekinah has departed
from Mount Zion, but its glory is illuminating the world. The Sword of
Joshua is returned to its scabbard; and “the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God,” issues from the mouth of Messiah, and subdues the
people under Him. The glorious High-priesthood of Christ has superseded
sacerdotal office among men. Aaron was removed from the altar by death
before his work was finished; but our High-priest still wears His
sacrificial vestments, and death hath established Him before the
mercy-seat, “a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec.” The
earthquake which shook Mount Calvary, and rent the veil of the temple,
demolished “the middle wall of partition” between Jews and Gentiles. The
incense which Jesus offered fills the temple, and the land of Judea
cannot confine its fragrance. The fountain which burst forth in
Jerusalem, has sent out its living streams into every land; and the heat
of summer cannot dry them up, nor the frosts of winter congeal them.
In short, all the vessels of the sanctuary are taken away by the Lord of
the temple. The “twelve oxen,” bearing the “molten sea,” have given
place to “the twelve Apostles of the Lamb,” proclaiming “the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” The sprinkled mercy-seat,
with its over-shadowing, and intensely-gazing cherubim, has given place
to “the throne of grace,” stained with the blood of a costlier sacrifice,
into which the angels desire to look. The priest, the altar, the
burnt-offering, the table of shew-bread, and the golden candlestick, have
given place to the better things of the new dispensation introduced by
the Son of God, of which they were only the figures, and the types.
Behold, the glory has gone up from the temple, and rests upon Jesus on
Mount Tabor; and Moses, and Elias are there, with Peter, and James, and
John; and the representatives of the old covenant are communing with the
Apostles of the new, and the transfigured Christ is the medium of the
communication; and a voice of majestic music, issuing from “the excellent
glory,” proclaims—“This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him.”
“God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake unto our fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.”
Behold Him nailed to the Cross, and hear Him cry—“It is finished!” The
voice which shook Sinai is shaking Calvary. Heaven and hell are in
conflict, and earth trembles at the shock of battle. The Prince of Life
expires, and the sun puts on his robes of mourning. Gabriel! descend
from heaven, and explain to us the wondrous emblem! As set the sun at
noon on Golgotha, making preternatural night throughout the land of
Palestine, so shall the empire of sin, and death be darkened, and their
light shall be quenched at meridian. As the Sun of Righteousness, rising
from the night of the grave on the third morning, brings life, and
immortality to light; so shall “the day-spring from on high” yet dawn
upon our gloomy vale, and “the power of His resurrection” shall reanimate
the dust of every cemetery!
He that sitteth upon the throne hath spoken—“Behold, I make all things
new.” The reformation includes not only the abrogation of the old, but
also the introduction of the new. It gives us a new Mediator, a new
covenant of grace, a new way of salvation, a new heart of flesh, a new
heaven and a new earth. It has established a new union, by a new medium,
between God, and man. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.” “Forasmuch as the children were partakers of
flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same.” “God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory.” Here was a new thing under the sun; the “Son of man” bearing the
“express image” of the living God; bearing it untarnished through the
world; through the temptations and sorrows of such a wilderness as
humanity never trod before; through the unknown agony of Olivet, and the
supernatural gloom of Golgotha, and the dark dominion of the king of
terrors: to the Heaven of heavens; where He sits, the adorable
representative of two worlds, the union of God and man! Thence He sends
forth the Holy Spirit, to collect “the travail of His soul,” and lead
them into all truth, and bring them to Zion with songs of everlasting
joy. See them, the redeemed of the Lord, flocking as returning doves
upon the wing, “to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God;
and to the spirits of just men made perfect; and to an innumerable
company of angels; and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant; and to
the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”
Oh, join the joyful multitude! the year of jubilee is come. The veil is
rent asunder. The way into the holiest is laid open. The blood of Jesus
is on the mercy-seat. The Lamb newly slain is in the midst of the
throne. Go ye, with boldness, into His gracious presence. Lo, the King
is your brother, and for you has He stained His robe with blood! The
robe alone can clothe your naked souls, and shield them in the day of
burning. Awake! awake! put on the Lord Jesus Christ! The covenant of
Sinai cannot save you from wrath. Descent from Abraham cannot entitle
you to the kingdom of heaven. “Ye must be born again,” “born not of the
flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God.” You must have a new heart,
and become a new creation in Jesus Christ. This is the promise of the
Father,
“This is the dear redeeming grace,
For every sinner free.”
Many reformations have expired with the reformers. But our Great
Reformer “ever liveth” to carry on His reformation, till His enemies
become His footstool, and death and hell are cast into the lake of fire.
He will finish the building of His Church. When He laid “the chief
corner-stone” on Calvary, the shock jarred the earth, and awoke the dead,
and shook the nether world with terror; but when He shall bring forth the
top stone with shoutings of “Grace!” the dominion of Death and Hades
shall perish, and the last captive shall escape, and the song of the
bursting sepulchre shall be sweeter than the chorus of the morning stars!
Even now, there are new things in heaven; the Lamb from the slaughter,
alive “in the midst of the throne;” worshipped by innumerable seraphim
and cherubim, and adored by the redeemed from earth; His name the wonder
of angels, the terror of devils, and the hope of men; His praise the “new
song,” which shall constitute the employment of eternity!
SERMON II.
THE PURIFICATION OF THE CONSCIENCE.
“_How much more shall the blood of Christ_, _who_, _through the
eternal Spirit_, _offered Himself without spot to God_, _purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God_.”—HEB. ix. 14.
The Hebrew Christians, to whom the Apostle wrote, were well acquainted
with the laws of ceremonial purification by the blood of beasts, and
birds, for by blood almost everything was purified in the service of the
Temple. But it is only the blood of Christ that can purge the human
conscience. In speaking of this purification, as presented in our text,
let us notice—_the object_, _the means_, and _the end_.
I. The object of this purification is the conscience; which all the
sacrificial blood shed, from the gate of Eden down to the extinction of
the fire on the Jewish altar, was not sufficient to purge.
_What is the conscience_? An inferior judge, the representative of
Jehovah, holding his court in the human soul; according to whose decision
we feel either confidence, and joy in God, or condemnation, and
tormenting fear. His judicial power is graduated by the degree of moral
and evangelical light which has been shed upon his palace. His knowledge
of the will, and character of God is the law by which he justifies, or
condemns. His intelligence is the measure of his authority; and the
perfection of knowledge would be the infallibility of conscience.
This faithful recorder, and deputy judge is with us through all the
journey of life, and will accompany us with his register over the river
Jordan, whether to Abraham’s bosom or the society of the rich man in
hell. While conscience keeps a record on earth, Jehovah keeps a record
in heaven; and when both books shall be opened in the final judgment,
there shall be found a perfect correspondence. When temptations are
presented, the understanding opposes them, but the carnal mind indulges
them, and there is a contest between the judgment, and the will, and we
hesitate which to obey, till the warning bell of conscience rings through
the soul, and gives distinct notice of his awful recognition; and when we
turn away recklessly from his faithful admonitions, we hear low
mutterings of wrath stealing along the avenues, and the quick sound of
writing-pens in the recording office, causing every denizen of the mental
palace to tremble.
There is a _good conscience_, _and an evil conscience_. The work of
both, however, is the same; consisting in keeping a true record of the
actions of men, and passing sentence upon them according to their
deserts. Conscience is called good, or evil only with reference to the
character of its record, and its sentence. If the record is one of
virtues, and the sentence one of approval, the conscience is good; if the
record is one of vices, and the sentence one of condemnation, the
conscience is evil.
Some have a _guilty conscience_, that is, a conscience that holds up to
their view a black catalogue of crimes, and rings in their ears a
sentence of condemnation. If you have such a conscience, you are invited
to Jesus, that you may find peace to your souls. He is ever in His
office, receiving all who come, and blotting out, with His own blood, the
handwriting which is against them.
But some have a _despairing conscience_. They think that their crimes
are too great to be forgiven. The registry of guilt, and the decree of
death, hide from their eyes the mercy of God, and the merit of Christ.
Their sins rise like mountains between them, and heaven. But let them
look away to Calvary. If their sins are a thousand times more numerous
than their tears, the blood of Jesus is ten thousand times more powerful
than their sins. “He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto
God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
And others have a _dark_, _and hardened conscience_. They are so
deceived, that they “cry peace, and safety, when destruction is at the
door.” They are “past feeling, having the conscience seared as with a
hot iron.” They have sold themselves to work evil; to eat sin like
bread, and drink iniquity like water. They have bribed, or gagged the
recorder, and accuser within them. They will betray the just cause of
the righteous, and slay the messengers of salvation, and think that they
are doing God service. John the Baptist is beheaded, that Herod may keep
his oath of honour. A dead fish cannot swim against the stream; but if
the king’s conscience had been alive and faithful, he would have
said:—“Girl, I promised to give thee thy request, even to the half of my
kingdom; but thou hast requested too much; for the head of Messiah’s
herald is more valuable than my whole kingdom, and all the kingdoms of
the world!” But he had not the fear of God before his eyes, and the
proud fool sent, and beheaded the prophet in his cell.
A _good conscience_ is a faithful conscience, a lively conscience, a
peaceful conscience, a conscience void of offence toward God, and man,
resting in the shadow of the cross, and assured of an interest in His
infinite merit. It is the victory of faith unfeigned, working by love,
and purifying the heart. It is always found in the neighbourhood, and
society of its brethren, “a broken heart and a contrite spirit;” an
intense hatred of sin, and an ardent love of holiness; a spirit of
fervent prayer, and supplication, and a life of scrupulous integrity, and
charity; and above all, a humble confidence in the mercy of God, through
the mediation of Christ. These constitute the brotherhood of
Christianity; and wherever they abound, a good conscience is never
lacking. They are its very element, and life; its food, its sunshine,
and its vital air.
Conscience was a faithful recorder, and judge under the law, and
notwithstanding the revolution which has taken place, introducing a new
constitution, and a new administration, Conscience still retains his
office; and when “purged from dead works to serve the living God,” is
appropriately called a _good conscience_.
II. The means of this purification is “the blood of Christ, who through
the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.”
Could we take in, at a single view, all the bearings of “the blood of
Christ,” as exhibited in the Gospel, what an astonishing light would it
cast upon the condition of man; the character of God; the nature, and
requirements of His law; the dreadful consequences of sin; the wondrous
expiation of the cross; the reconciliation of Heaven, and earth; the
blessed union of the believer with God in Christ, as a just God, and a
Saviour; and the whole scheme of our justification, sanctification, and
redemption, through free, sovereign, infinite, and unspeakable grace!
There is no knowledge like the knowledge of Christ, for the excellency of
which the apostle counted all things but loss. Christ is the Sun of
Righteousness, in whose light we see the tops of the mountains of
immortality, towering above the dense clouds which overhang the valley of
death. All the wisdom which philosophers have learned from nature, and
providence, compared with that which is afforded by the Christian
revelation, is like the _ignis fatuus_, compared with the sun. The
knowledge of Plato, and Socrates, and all the renowned sages of
antiquity, was nothing to the knowledge of the feeblest believer in “the
blood of Christ.”
“The blood of Christ” is of infinite value. There is none like it
flowing in human veins. It was the blood of a man, but of a man who knew
no iniquity; the blood of a sinless humanity, in which dwelt all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily; the blood of the second Adam, who is the
Lord from Heaven, and a quickening Spirit upon earth. It pressed through
every pore of His body in the garden; and gushed from His head, His
hands, His feet, and His side, upon the cross. I approach with fear, and
trembling, yet with humble confidence, and joy. I take off my shoes,
like Moses, as he approaches the burning bush; for I hear a voice coming
forth from the altar, saying, “I and my Father are one; I am the true
God, and Eternal Life.”
The expression, “the blood of Christ,” includes the whole of His
obedience to the moral law, by the imputation of which we are justified;
and all the sufferings of His soul and His body as our Mediator, by which
an atonement is made for our sins, and a fountain opened to wash them all
away. This is the spring whence rise the rivers of forgiving and
sanctifying grace.
In the representation which the text gives us of this redeeming blood,
are several points worthy of our special consideration:—
1. It is “_the blood of Christ_;” the appointed Substitute and Saviour
of men; “the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world.”
2. It is the blood of Christ, _who offered Himself_. His humanity was
the only sacrifice which would answer the demands of justice, and atone
for the transgressions of mankind. Therefore “He has made His soul an
offering for sin.”
3. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself _to God_. It was the
eternal Father, whose broken law must be repaired, whose dishonest
government must be vindicated, and whose flaming indignation must be
turned away. The well-beloved Son must meet the Father’s frown, and bear
the Father’s curse for us. All the Divine attributes called for the
offering; and without it, could not be reconciled to the sinner.
4. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, _without
spot_. This was a perfect sacrifice. The Victim was without blemish, or
defect; the altar was complete in all its appurtenances; and the High
Priest possessed every conceivable qualification for his work. Christ
was at once victim, altar, and high-priest; “holy, harmless, and
undefiled”—“God manifest in the flesh.” Being Himself perfect God and
perfect man, and perfect Mediator between God and man, He perfects for
ever all them that believe.
5. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, without spot,
_through the eternal Spirit_. By the eternal Spirit, here, we are to
understand, not the third Person of the Godhead, but the second; Christ’s
own Divine nature, which was co-eternal with the Father before the world
was, and which, in the fulness of time, seized on humanity—sinless, and
immaculate humanity—and offered it, body, and soul, as a sacrifice for
human sins. The eternal Spirit was at once the priest that offered the
victim, and the altar that sanctified the offering. Without His agency,
there could have been no atonement. The offering of mere humanity,
however spotless, aside from the merit derived from its connection with
Divinity, could not have been a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savour unto
God.
6. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, without spot,
through the eternal Spirit, _that He might purge your conscience_. As
the typical sacrifices under the law purified men from ceremonial
defilement, so the real sacrifice of the Gospel saves the believer from
moral pollution. Blood was the life of all the services of the
tabernacle made with hands, and gave significance, and utility to all the
rites of the former dispensation. By blood the covenant between God, and
His people was sealed. By blood the officers, and vessels of the
sanctuary were consecrated. By blood the children of Israel were
preserved in Egypt from the destroying angel. So the blood of Christ is
our justification, sanctification, and redemption. All the blessings of
the Gospel flow to us through the blood of the Lamb. Mercy, when she
writes our pardon, and when she registers our names in “the Book of
Life,” dips her pen in the blood of the Lamb. And the vast company that
John saw before the throne had come out of great tribulation, having
“washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
The children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, on the very night that
the paschal lamb was slain, and its blood sprinkled upon the doorposts,
as if their liberty, and life were procured by its death. This typified
the necessity, and power of the Atonement, which is the very heart of the
Gospel, and the spiritual life of the believer. In Egypt, however, there
was a lamb slain for every family; but under the new covenant God has but
one family, and one Lamb is sufficient for their salvation.
In the cleansing of the leper, several things were necessary; as running
water, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop, and the finger of the priest; but
it was the blood that gave efficacy to the whole. So it is in the
purification of the conscience. Without the shedding of blood, the leper
could not be cleansed; without the shedding of blood, the conscience
cannot be purged. “The blood of Christ” seals every precept, every
promise, every warning, of the New Testament. “The blood of Christ”
renders the Scriptures “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness.” “The blood of Christ”
gives efficiency to the pulpit; and when “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”
is shut out, the virtue is wanting which heals, and restores the soul.
It is only through the crucifixion of Christ that “the old man” is
crucified in the believer. It is only through His obedience unto death,
even the death of the cross, that our dead souls are quickened, to serve
God in newness of life.
Here rest our hopes. “The foundation of God standeth sure.” The bill of
redemption being presented by Christ, was read by the prophets, and
passed unanimously in both houses of parliament. It had its final
reading in the lower house, when Messiah hung on Calvary; and passed
three days afterward, when He rose from the dead. It was introduced to
the upper house by the Son of God Himself, who appeared before the throne
“as a lamb newly slain,” and was carried by acclamation of the heavenly
hosts. Then it became a law of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Holy Ghost
was sent down to establish it in the hearts of men. It is “the perfect
law of liberty,” by which God is reconciling the world unto Himself. It
is “the law of the Spirit of life,” by which He is “purging our
conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
III. The end of this purification is twofold,—that we may cease from
dead works, and serve the living God.
1. The works of unrenewed souls are all “dead works,” can be no other
than “dead works,” because the agents are “dead in trespasses and sins.”
They proceed from the “carnal mind,” which “is enmity against God,” which
“is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” How can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, or a corrupt fountain send forth
pure water?
But “the blood of Christ” is intended to “purge the conscience from dead
works.” The apostle says—“Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver, and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition
from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb
without blemish, and without spot.” The Jews were in a state of bondage
to the ceremonial law, toiling at the “dead works,” the vain, and empty
forms, which could never take away sin; and unjustified, and unregenerate
men are still captives of Satan, slaves of sin, and death, tyrannized
over by various evil habits, and propensities, which are invincible to
all things but “the blood of Christ.” He died to redeem, both from the
burdens of the Mosaic ritual, and from the despotism of moral evil—to
purge the conscience of both Jew, and Gentile “from dead works to serve
the living God.”
2. We cannot “serve the living God” without this preparatory
purification of conscience. If our guilt is uncancelled—if the love of
sin is not dethroned—the service of the knee, and the lip is nothing but
hypocrisy. “If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear
us.” Cherishing what He hates, all our offerings are an abomination to
Him; and we can no more stand in His holy presence than the dry stubble
can stand before a flaming fire. He who has an evil conscience flees
from the face of God, as did Adam in the garden. Nothing but “the blood
of Christ,” applied by the Holy Spirit, can remove the sinner’s guilty
fear, and enable him to draw nigh to God, in the humble confidence of
acceptance through the Beloved.
The service of the living God must flow from a new principle of life in
the soul. The Divine word must be the rule of our actions. The Divine
will must be consulted and obeyed. We must remember that God is holy,
and jealous of His honour. The consideration that He is everywhere, and
sees everything, and will bring every work into judgment, must fill us
with reverence and godly fear. An ardent love for His law, and His
character must supplant the love of sin, and prompt to a cheerful and
impartial obedience.
And let us remember that he is “the _living_ God.” Pharaoh is dead,
Herod is dead, Nero is dead; but Jehovah is “the living God.” And it is
a fearful thing to have Him for an enemy. Death cannot deliver from His
hand. Time, and even eternity, cannot limit His holy anger. He has
manifested, in a thousand instances, His hatred of sin: in the
destruction of the old world, the burning of Sodom, and Gomorrah, the
drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the sea; and I tell thee, sinner,
except thou repent, thou shalt likewise perish! Oh, think what
punishment “the living God” can inflict upon His adversaries—the loss of
all good—the endurance of all evil—the undying worm—the unquenchable
fire—the blackness of darkness for ever!
The gods of the heathen have no life in them, and they that worship them
are like unto them. But our God is “the living God,” and “the God of the
living.” If you are united to Him by faith in “the blood of Christ,”
your souls are “quickened together with Him,” and “the power which raised
Him from the dead shall also quicken your mortal body.”
May the Lord awaken those who are dead in trespasses, and sins, and
revive His work in the midst of the years, and strengthen the feeble
graces of His people, and bless abundantly the labours of His servants,
so that many consciences may be purged from dead works to serve the
living God!
“There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins,
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
“The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, as vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
“Dear dying Lamb! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed sons of God
Are saved, to sin no more.”
SERMON III.
FINISHED REDEMPTION.
“_It is finished_.”—JOHN xix. 30.
This exclamation derives all its importance from the magnitude of the
work alluded to, and the glorious character of the Agent. The work is
the redemption of the world; the Agent is God, manifested in the flesh.
He who finished the creation of the heavens, and the earth in six days,
is laying the foundation of a new creation on Calvary. Four thousand
years He has been giving notice of His intention to mankind; more than
thirty years He has been personally upon earth, preparing the material;
and now He lays the chief corner-stone in Zion, exclaiming—“It is
finished.”
We will consider the special import of the exclamation, and then offer a
few remarks of a more general character.
I. “It is finished.” This saying of the Son of God is a very striking
one; and, uttered, as it was, while He hung in dying agonies on the
cross, cannot fail to make a strong impression upon the mind. It is
natural for us to inquire—“What does it mean? To what does the glorious
Victim refer?” A complete answer to the question would develope the
whole scheme of redemption. We can only glance at a few leading ideas.
The sufferings of Christ are ended. Never again shall He be persecuted
from city to city, as an impostor, and servant of Satan. Never again
shall He say, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Never
again shall He agonize in Gethsemane, and sweat great drops of blood.
Never again shall He be derided by the rabble, and insulted by men in
power. Never again shall He be crowned with thorns, lacerated by the
scourge, and nailed to the accursed tree. Never again shall He cry out,
in the anguish of His soul, and the baptism of blood—“My God! my God! why
hast Thou forsaken me!”
The predictions of His death are fulfilled. The prophets had spoken of
His crucifixion many hundred years before His birth. They foresaw the
Governor who was to come forth from Bethlehem. They knew the Babe in the
manger, as He whose goings forth are of old, even from everlasting. They
drew an accurate chart of His travels, from the manger to the cross, and
from the cross to the throne. All these things must be fulfilled. Jesus
knew the necessity, and seemed anxious that every jot, and tittle should
receive an exact accomplishment. His whole life was a fulfilment of
prophecy. On every path He walked, on every house He entered, on every
city He visited, and especially on the mysterious phenomena which
accompanied His crucifixion, it was written—“that the Scriptures might be
fulfilled.”
The great sacrifice for sin is accomplished. For this purpose Christ
came into the world. He is our appointed High Priest, the elect of the
Father, and the desire of the nations. He alone was in the bosom of the
Father, and could offer a sacrifice of sufficient merit to atone for
human transgression. But it was necessary also that He should have
somewhat to offer. Therefore a body was prepared for Him. He assumed
the seed of Abraham, and suffered in the flesh. This was a sacrifice of
infinite value, being sanctified by the altar of Divinity on which it was
offered. All the ceremonial sacrifices could not obtain the bond from
the hand of the creditor. They were only acknowledgment of the debt.
But Jesus, by one offering, paid the whole, took up the bond, the
hand-writing that was against us, and nailed it to the cross; and when
driving the last nail, He cried—“It is finished!”
The satisfaction of Divine justice is completed. The violated law must
be vindicated; the deserved penalty must be endured; if not by the sinner
himself, yet by the sinner’s Substitute. This was the great undertaking
of the Son of God. He “bore our sins”—that is, the punishment of our
sins—“in His own body on the tree.” He was “made a curse for us, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.” There was no other way
by which the honour of God and the dignity of His law could be sustained,
and therefore “the Lord laid upon Him the iniquities of us all.” He
“died unto sin once;” not merely for sin, enduring its punishment in our
stead; but also “unto sin,” abolishing its power, and putting it away.
Therefore it is said, He “made an end of sin”—destroyed its condemning,
and tormenting power on behalf of all them that believe His sufferings
were equal to the claims of justice; and His dying cry was the voice of
Justice Himself proclaiming the satisfaction. Here, then, may the dying
thief, and the persecutor of the holy, lay down their load of guilt, and
woe at the foot of the cross.
The new, and living way to God is consecrated. A veil has hitherto
concealed the holy of holies. None but the High Priest has seen the ark
of the covenant, and the glory of God resting upon the Mercy-seat between
the cherubim. He alone might enter, and he but once a year, and then
with fear, and trembling, and the sprinkling of atoning blood, after the
most careful purification, and sacrifice for himself. He has filled His
hands with His own blood, and entered into heaven itself, there to appear
in the presence of God for us. The sweet incense which He offers fills
the temple, and the merit of His sacrifice remains the same through all
time, superseding all other offerings for ever. Therefore we are
exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace. The tunnel under the
Thames could not be completed on account of an accident which greatly
damaged the work, without a new subscription for raising money; but Jesus
found infinite riches in Himself, sufficient for the completion of a new
way to the Father—a living way through the valley of the shadow of death
to “the city of the Great King.”
The conquest of the powers of darkness is achieved. When their hour was
come, the prince and his host were on the alert to accomplish the
destruction of the Son of God. They hailed Him with peculiar
temptations, and levelled against Him their heaviest artillery. They
instigated one disciple to betray Him and another to deny Him. They
fired the rage of the multitude against Him, so that the same tongues
that lately sang, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” now shouted, “Crucify
Him! crucify Him!” They filled the priests, and scribes with envy, that
they might accuse Him without a cause; and inspired Pilate with an
accursed ambition, that he might condemn him without a fault. They
seared the conscience of the false witnesses, that they might charge the
Just One with the most flagrant crimes; and cauterized the hearts of the
Roman soldiers, that they might mock Him in His sufferings, and nail Him
to the cross. Having succeeded so far in their hellish plot, they
doubtless deemed their victory certain. I see them crowding around the
cross, waiting impatiently to witness his last breath, ready to shout
with infernal triumph to the depths of hell, till the brazen walls should
send back their echoes to the gates of the heavenly city. But hark! the
dying Saviour exclaims—“It is finished!” and the great dragon and his
host retreat, howling, from the cross. The Prince of our Salvation
turned back all their artillery upon themselves, and their own stratagems
became their ruin. The old serpent seized Messiah’s heel, but Messiah
stamped upon the serpent’s head. The dying cry of Jesus shook the
dominions of death, so that the bodies of many that slept arose; and rang
through all the depths of hell the knell of its departed power. Thus the
Prince of this world was foiled in His schemes, and disappointed in his
hopes, like the men of Gaza, when they locked up Samson at night,
thinking to kill him in the morning: but awoke to find that he was gone,
with the gates of the city upon his shoulders. When the Philistines
caught Samson, and brought him to their Temple, to make sport for them,
they never dreamed of the disaster in which it would result—never dreamed
that their triumph over the poor blind captive would be the occasion of
their destruction. “Suffer me,” said he, “to lean on the two pillars.”
Then he bowed himself, and died with his enemies. So Christ on Calvary,
while the powers of darkness exulted over their victim, seized the main
pillars of sin, and death, and brought down the temple of Satan upon its
occupants; but on the morning of the third day, He left them all in the
ruins, where they shall remain for ever, and commenced His journey home
to His Father’s house.
II. So much concerning the import of our Saviour’s exclamation. Such
was the work He finished upon the cross. We add a few remarks of a more
general character.
The sufferings of Christ were vicarious. He died, not for His own sins,
but for ours. He humbled Himself, that we might be exalted. He became
poor, that we might be made rich. He was wounded, that we might be
healed. He drained the cup of wrath, that we might drink the waters of
salvation. He died the shameful and excruciating death of the cross,
that we might live and reign with Him for ever.
“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to have entered into
His glory?” This “ought” is the ought of mercy, and of covenant
engagement. He must discharge the obligation which He had voluntarily
assumed. He must finish the work which He had graciously begun. There
was no other Saviour—no other being in the universe willing to undertake
the work; or, if any willing to undertake, none able to accomplish it.
The salvation of one human soul would have been too mighty an achievement
for Gabriel—for all the angels in heaven. Had not “the only-begotten of
the Father” become our Surety, we must have lain for ever under the wrath
of God, amid “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” None but the
Lion of the tribe of Judah could break the seals of that mysterious book.
None but “God manifest in the flesh” could deliver us from the second
death.
The dying cry of Jesus indicates the dignity of His nature, and the power
of life that was in Him to the last. All men die of weakness—of
inability to resist death—die because they can live no longer. But this
was not the case with the Son of God. He speaks of laying down His life
as His own voluntary act;—“No man taketh it from He, but I lie it down of
myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”
“He poured out His soul unto death”—did not wait for it to be torn from
Him—did not hang languishing upon the cross, till life “ebbed out by slow
degrees;” but poured it out freely, suddenly, and unexpectedly. As soon
as the work was done for which He came into the world, He cried—“It is
finished!” “bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.” Then the sun was
darkened, the earth quaked, the rocks rent, the graves opened, and the
centurion said—“Truly, this Man was the Son of God!” He cried with a
loud voice, to show that He was still unconquered by pain, mighty even
upon the cross. He bowed His head that death might seize Him. He was
naturally far above the reach of death, His Divine nature being
self-existent and eternal, and His human nature entitled to immortality
by its immaculate holiness; yet “He humbled Himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross”—“He bowed His head, and gave up
the ghost.”