It floods their hearts with unutterable exultation, and admiration perfectly boundless. It fills their mouths with loudest and most hilarious praises, which they cannot restrain if they would. Their joy overflows. Their adoration, their intense delight, must come out. And so heaven's high arches ring with it. The thunder of it travels, like the sound of many waters, far and wide, awakening responsive echoes everywhere as it goes. From the uttermost parts are heard "songs, even glory to the Righteous One;" while still the chorus swells and grows and reverberates all round God's universe. And does it not appear as if the church is destined to lead the praise of heaven? For here have not the inner circle of worshippers the first word and the last? They pitch the tune. They start the key-note. And when the grand chorus flows in, they confirm it all with their loud "Amen!" Yes, it is the church which strikes the chord and leads the magnificent hymn, "Crown Him with many crowns! The Lamb upon the throne.' Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns All music but its own." Who but the church can sing, "All hail! Redeemer, hail ! For Thou hast died FOR ME"? But the myriads of angels, though they cannot compete with that chorus, can respond with all their hearts, "Crown Him the Lord of Love! Behold His hands and side; Rich wounds, still visible above, In beauty glorified." And who should head the praise? Surely they who, raised up out of the lowest hell, now stand on the very heights of heaven and inherit the throne of glory. In full remembrance of "the hole of the pit whence they were digged and the rock whence they were hewn," now that they are invested with all the glory of heaven,-if they did not sing the loudest of all,-if they were not first and foremost in praise,-if-nay! in the very nature of things it could not be otherwise. As they owe the mightiest debt, their praise must soar higher than any besides. And so they sing a song the loftiness of which no other choristers can emulate. But now we must turn from the enchanting vision, and go on with our expository theme. I have said that our sins were imputed to Christ, or "laid on Him. That was in order that His righteousness might be imputed And this explains why He is called "The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." to us. LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jer. xxiii. 6, xxxiii. 16. We read in the Bible of two Adams-the first, the father of us all; LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 259 and the second, the "Lord from heaven," Jesus Christ. Each of these was 66 a covenant head." A covenant head! Perhaps the younger ones would like to have this expression explained. Well, suppose I were to say to the boys of a school, "Next week I will give you a holiday and treat you all to an excursion, on condition that one of your number commit to memory the whole of the Book of Ruth. I will select that boy from among you who has the best memory, and he shall undertake the task." Now the boy to whom this duty was committed would be a sort of "covenant head" to the rest. On him would entirely depend their enjoyment or their disappointment. If he should accomplish the task the treat would be theirs, but if he should fail it would be forfeited. You see how his learning or not learning the Book of Ruth by heart would be imputed to the rest, or reckoned to their account, for they would all share in the fruits of his triumph or his failure; also, how if he were to fulfil the task, his performance would constitute their title to the proposed reward, on the ground of my promise or covenant. Now we gather from various parts of the sacred writings that when Adam was placed in Eden, the future happiness of all his children was in some such manner committed to him. Had he done well, his obedience would have entitled them (as well as himself) to the possession of that Paradise, and the continued favour of God for ever and ever. But he did evil, and "by his disobedience many were made sinners," and had entailed on them the curse of the broken covenant. Ruined thus in our first covenant head, God gave us another. This "Last Adam" had certain duties to discharge, on condition of which all His seed would become entitled to a better Paradise and better blessings than those forfeited by the first Adam. And Jesus Christ fufilled the conditions of this New Covenant, and His RIGHTEOUSNESS in so doing is imputed to all who believe. Thus then our RIGHTEOUSNESS is of Him. He suffered for our sins and we are rewarded for His RIGHTEOUSNESS, or as the Scripture has it, "He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Him." "Jesus! how glorious is Thy grace! When in Thy Name we trust, Observe, we must believe on Him in order to enjoy the benefit of His RIGHTEOUSNESS. Suppose the boy I spoke of just now had accomplished the task-he repeats the whole of the Book of Ruth. Immediately I announce that "every boy who wishes to share in the promised reward must set his name down on a certain sheet of paper." You see that by so doing he would not merit the reward-he would only secure it for himself; the boy who repeated the lesson deserved or earned it for him. And faith is just like the rest setting their names to that paper. Faith is necessary to salvation, but it does not merit it. All the merit is in THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, and it is faith which makes that RIGHTEOUSNESS ours. When the Lord Jesus healed a sick man and said to him, "Thy faith hath made thee whole," He did not mean literally that his faith had cured the dropsy or the palsy. It was the power of Christ which did that. And in the same manner, when we read that faith makes us righteous, it is not our faith which justifies us, but the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ in which our faith interests us. Thus He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. He fulfilled the law for us, and thereby procured a title to heaven and all spiritual blessings for every one who believes. Then He is also our "LAWGIVER.” LAWGIVER. James iv. 12; Isa. xxxiii. 22. He does not fulfil RIGHTEOUSNESS for us that we may go on living in sin. Not so! He redeems us from the curse of the broken law that He may teach us to love that law. The law of the ten commandments is still the law of Christ, and though we cannot be saved for keeping it, we are saved in order that we may keep it. And though none of us can keep it perfectly-only Christ could do that-yet we must ask continually for strength and grace, that we may walk before Him in holiness and righteousness all our days. Moses was the great Lawgiver of the ancient church. Before he died he foretold that God would raise them up a 66 Prophet like unto himself,"-a TEACHER and LAWGIVER. Christ is that LAWGIVER, and is to be "counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house." Some of Moses's laws He abolished, some he enlarged, and some He altered, for He is Lord over the Law. I might here show how sweet all His Laws are, and what great reward there is in keeping them. But I will only direct you to one-"Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day," for to that the next Title draws our attention; the Son of Man is "LORD OF THE SABBATH." LORD OF THE SABBATH. Luke vi. 5. Indeed He is LORD of all days, and therefore has a full right to require them to be put to any use He pleases. We are not at liberty to spend our days as we please. Our LAWGIVER says distinctly, "Six days shalt thou labour." Life requires labour; we cannot live without it, and six days are given to us for this use; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord which He requires us to keep holy. He first gave this command to Adam in innocence, and often repeated it afterwards. Nor has it ever been withdrawn: God still requires a seventh part of our time. But the precise day of the week on which the Sabbath is to be kept, has been altered from the seventh to the first day. And why was this alteration made? The seventh day of the week was, as you all know, appointed to be kept in commemoration of the glorious work of creation. But we read in Isaiah lxv. 17, that there shall be a LORD OF THE SABBATH. 261 new creation, so much more glorious than the first that it shall be commemorated instead of it, and that the former "shall not be remembered or come into mind" in comparison with it. What can be a greater work than creation if it be not the work of redemption? And you know that work was finished on the first day of the week, for it was then our Lord rose from the dead; and it has been kept sacred ever since as the LORD'S DAY. It was on the first day of the week our Lord so frequently appeared to His disciples during the forty days He continued upon earth. And there can be no doubt that the apostles were instructed to keep that day sacred, since they all observed it as their day of meeting. And Paul must have had directions from Christ concerning it also, because, though he says "he gave them no other commandment than that which he received from the Lord," yet he gave orders that the collection for the saints should be made on the first day of the week. Why but because it was their practice to come together on that day for worship? John also, Rev. i. 10, speaks of "the LORD'S DAY." And the Christians of the first age walked by the same rule. It was even a test of their religion. A martyr was asked by the Roman Governor, “Hast thou kept the LORD's day?" He replied, “I am a Christian:" as much as to say, "All Christians do this, therefore of course I have done so." Thus we conclude that the change was made by the express command of the LORD OF THE SABBATH, since it was enforced by His own example and that of the authorized teachers of His laws, as well as practised by the Christians who lived immediately after them. “This, then, is the day which the Lord hath made; let us therefore rejoice and be glad in it." But do not forget that although the day has been altered by the LORD OF THE SABBATH from the first to the seventh, the Bible breathes not a word of any alteration in the proportion of time to be thus set apart. It is still the seventh part-one day in every week on which we are to "rest from labour." And you must be careful not to mistake the intention of it. True, you are to rest on the Sabbath, but you may not spend it in idleness and sloth. It is a holiday too -you are to " rejoice and be glad in it; " but this language does not refer to carnal recreation and amusement. For the same authority that enjoins the observance of the day, informs you how you are to employ it. "You shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary." "The people shall worship before the Lord on the Sabbath.' "Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day." There are, indeed, some necessary works which we are allowed to do. We may relieve the distressed, and instruct the ignorant. We may partake of food ourselves, and supply what is necessary to "the ox or the ass." But we must be very careful how we appropriate its holy hours, ever remembering that we are not at liberty to spend the Lord's day otherwise than in accordance with the will of the LORD OF THE SABBATH. "The Sabbath was And what a kind indulgent institution it is! made for man," for his benefit and relief. Besides which, God's special blessing is promised to all who observe it, while His displeasure is many times denounced against all who "despise His Sabbaths." No greater curse can befall any country than that threatened in Hosea ii. 11,-“I will cause her Sabbaths to cease;" and so bitterly complained of in Lam. ii. 6,-"The Lord hath caused the Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion." In France the Sabbath is shamefully abused now, but once it ceased to be observed altogether. The week was abolished in defiance of God, and divisions of ten days adopted instead. And the history of that period shows a frightful increase of violence and bloodshed and universal confusion. May God preserve England's Sabbaths and convince Sabbath-breakers of the great guilt they incur in polluting that holy day; and frustrate the reckless efforts of some, (who ought to know better,) to break down its most salutary sanctions. Thirty-first Sunday. LORD OF LORDS. LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT. LORD GOD. LORD FROM HEAVEN. LOWLY. LORD OF HOSTS. LORD OF THE DEAD AND LIVING. LORD OF GLORY. LORD OF ALL. LORD OF THE WHOLE EARTH. LORD OF THE HARVEST. LAST. THE wise man saith, "I considered the oppressions that are done under the sun, and beheld the tears of such as are oppressed; on the side of the oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter." And who among ourselves has not often, with mingled emotions of anger and grief, done the same? In all times men have wept over wrongs which no power on earth could redress; and have passionately prayed for the interposition of heaven, as though they would themselves (if they could) grasp the sleeping thunderbolts of vengeance and smite the insolent oppressor to the earth. And God's ears are not heavy that they cannot hear the cry of the oppressed, nor is His arm shortened that it cannot save them. "If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for He that is Higher than the highest regardeth." And the wisdom which hath permitted the injustice for some worthy purpose, will put an end to it whenever the proper time shall arrive. "The Lamb will overcome those who make war with Him, for He is LORD OF LORDS and KING OF KINGS." Rev. xvii. 14. Let us now consider this, and some high Titles similar thereto, expressive of His universal Lordship. |