SERMON VII.

APOSTOLIC COMMISSION.

LUKE XXIV. 47.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

THE work which the Father had given the Lord Jesus to do was now finished. He had gone through the several stages of his humiliation, and had ceased to be the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He had magnified the law and made it honorable, and brought in everlasting righteousness, even the righteousness of God, for the justification of men. He had put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, pouring out the blood of his

cross as a ransom for their souls. He had passed through the gates of death; had remained in his territories long enough to prove the fact of his having died, and to work the overthrow of his kingdom; had risen in his majesty, and repassed as a conqueror those barriers through which he was led as a prisoner; had frustrated, defeated, and made an open show of the hosts of hell, and was just about ascending in the glory of the Captain of salvation up to his native heavens, there to appear in the presence of God for us! How awful the pause! how tender yet terrifying the crisis! Methinks the cry is heard to the farthest verge of Creation, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. The partition-wall is tottering to its base, and presently will be heard the crash of its fall. The gates of heavenly light are to be unbarred to the world, and floods of living water from the rock of Zion, are to cool and refresh and invigorate the nations. The tabernacle of God is to dwell with men; they are to become his people; he is to be their God; he is to dwell among them, to walk in the midst of them, to cast out the prince of this world, and to bring back the days of primeval glory and blessedness. What! is all this to be effected in our world? Yes! in our world! Why, it is full of crimes and curses; it is overrun with the enemies of God. Devils

and devilish men have the rule here. The soil is yet reeking with the blood of the Prince of life. Not a bosom heaves nor a tear starts under the guilt of this "deep damnation." How then shall this marvelous revolution be accomplished? Gather together the wise men, the philosophers; ask them whether the scheme is practicable, whether these fairy visions can be realized. The wise men! the philosophers! They are deep in the great apostasy; they are themselves ringleaders in treason, leaders of the bands of rebels: they are as ignorant as they are criminal. Away with their fooleries! Let me hear the Son of God breathe this portentous silence, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. He who controls the spirits of all flesh issues forth the command in its simple majesty, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Observe, my Christian friends, the grandeur of this commission. The Lord Jesus speaks like one who had the "spirits of all flesh" under his control. The magnitude of the object, the difficulty of the enterprise, the feebleness of the means, are not so much as mentioned. Let there be light, was not uttered with more decision at the first creation, than is this charge to his apostles at the second. The speaker and the energy were the same. It was all worthy of God manifest in the flesh, and so

surely as his lips have pronounced the words the effect must follow. The disciples felt their power. Eleven men, without arms or armies, influence, connections, wealth, or literature, are sent to subdue the nations. Not a remonstrance, a scruple or a doubt, is heard from their lips. I am with you always, I will give you a mouth and wisdom which · all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist, hushed every fear, resolved every difficulty, filled them with courage, crowned them with

success.

The text embraces three topics of most interesting inquiry; the extent of the apostolic commission, the substance of their message, and a singular circumstance connected with the commencement of their labors. They were charged with an embassy to all nations. They were to preach repentance and remission of sins in the name of Jesus, and they were to begin at Jerusalem.*

I. The substance of their commission: "To preach repentance and remission of sins in the name of Jesus."

Repentance is a term of great latitude. It primarily signifies, a change of mind: and this general idea adheres to every form of its application. When the Jew was commanded to repent, his whole notions concerning the person and salvation

* The third topic was reserved for a second sermon, which was never written.-ED.