Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

tions? And is he not still a lovely High-priest, now that he is paffed into the heavens, and appears in the prefence of God for us?

(3.) As a King, on account of his gift of the Spirit, and the government which he exercifes over the world and the church. The nations of men are not only involved in guilt, but deeply polluted by fin. This is the account the fcripture every where gives us of our deplorable condition. And, indeed, we need only confult the hiftory of mankind in former ages, or attend to our own obfervation and experience, to be convinced of it. Now, in this corrupt state of man, when the nations were at enmity with God, and, confequently, incapable of eternal life, the divine Redeemer appeared, and made effectual provifion for our being fanctified and reconciled to God. He purchased, and fent the Holy Spirit, as a fountain opened to all nations, for fin, and for uncleannefs" He was made a curfe for us, that we "might receive the promise of the Spirit through "faith (b)." And what an invaluable bleffing is this to mankind? Nothing, indeed, can be of greater confequence to us, in our present state of depravity and guilt. How infinitely worthy, then, is He to be the defire of all nations, who gave himself for us, that he might thus redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; who, for our fakes, fpoiled principalities and powers, and, making a fhow of them openly, triumphed over them on his crofs; who, in fine, conquered death and the grave, and rendered the victory fo extenfive, that every believer may triumph over them in the words of the apoftle; "O Death, where is "thy fting? O Grave, where is thy victory? Thanks "be to God, who giveth us the victory through our "Lord Jefus Chrift."

It now remains to make fome practical improvement of what has been faid. And,

(b) Gal. ii. 13, 14.

I.

1. Is Chrift the defire of all nations? Hence, we may learn, that he is the true and promifed Meffiah. Was it foretold concerning the Meffiah, that to him fhould the Gentiles feek; that the gathering of the people should be to him; and that nations which knew him not, fhould be bleffed with the knowledge of him? All this was remarkably accomplished in our Lord Jefus Chrift, who is eminently the defire of the nations. This is he that should come; and the nations look for no other.

2. How incomparably happy muft that nation be, which enjoys Chrift in the power and purity of gofpel ordinances? If Chrift, reprefented under a vail of legal ceremonies, made Canaan the glorious land, as we find it is called once and again, by way of diftinction (d); what a glorious place muft that country be, the inhabitants of which behold him, as it were, unvailed in the brightness of the gofpel? O that we knew our happiness, and the day of our merciful vifitation; for, what many prophets and faints of old defired to fee and hear, we enjoy. Let us therefore be thankful for our privileges, and careful to improve them; left the gospel, by the righteous judgment of God, be taken away, and our abused seafons of grace be brought to a speedy termination.

3. How vile and provoking a fin muft it be in any nation, upon whom the light of the gospel fhines, to reject Jefus Chrift, and, in effect, to fay with those in the book of Job, "Depart from us, we defire not "the knowledge of thy ways?" How bafe and ungrateful to difregard his worship, to despise his mesfengers, and declare, by our actions, that "we will

not have this man to reign over us!" In the primitive days of Chriftianity, this was the conduct of the Jews. They put away Chrift from among them, and, by that means, judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. But, how foon did vengeance overtake them! Let us beware, left, by our unbelief and contempt of the gofpel, we, in like manner,

(d) Dan. xi.

provoke

provoke the Lord to depart from us, and even to make us defolate; a land not inhabited: And wo, wo, will be to us indeed, if the Lord depart from

us.

4. What reafon have we to pity and lament the blindness and mifery of the Jews, and other nations, in their obftinate infidelity? The Jews are the most inexcufable of all the unbelieving nations; and God has remarkably punished them above all people, by a long continued, and general difperfion among the kingdoms of the earth: So that they are, as it were, fet up a spectacle to the nations; a standing monument of the terrible judgment of God.

And now, to conclude, let us therefore, without wavering, hold faft the profeffion of our faith and may the God of all grace, grant that we may continue grounded, and fettled in it, that when Chrift, the defire of the nations, fhall appear, we may have -confidence, and not be ashamed at his coming.

SER

SERMON VII.

THE FULNESS OF CHRIST ILLUSTRATED.

COLOSS. i. 19.

For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness

dwell.

TH HE apoftle, from the 12th verfe of this chapter, having mentioned feveral of the great and glorious privileges we enjoy by the gofpel, in the 15th verfe, and downwards, gives a fublime character and defcription of the bleffed Redeemer, by whom they were procured.

It deferves your particular attention, that this apoftle, in many of his epiftles, when he is infisting on this fubject, finds his foul under fuch a constrain ing power of divine love, that he delights to dwell on the heavenly theme: his heart is enlarged in the high praifes of his Redeemer; and as we take pleafure in fpeaking of thofe whom we love and esteem, it was impoffible for him to fupprefs or conceal the emotions of his love, while defcribing the beauty and excellence of its object. Here you may obferve, the apostle labours, as it were, under the weight of. his fubject. The expreffions he makes ufe of, are lively and ftrong. He feems, however, to be fenfible, that they come infinitely short of the dignity of

I

the

the perfon whom he attempts to defcribe. He calls him the image of the invifible God; the firft-born of every creature, by whom all things were created, that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible; and therefore, he is before all things, and by him all things confift.

And having thus defcribed our Redeemer as equal to the Father, he next fhews what he is as Mediator. He is the Head of his myftical body, the Church; the Beginning, the First-born from the dead, the First who rofe from the dead by his own power, and rofe to an immortal life, never to die any more, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. Then follow the words of the text; "For it pleafed the "Father, that in him fhould all fulness dwell."

We may confider thefe words as expreffive of our Saviour's qualifications for that important charge, the Head of the Church; and of the Father's reafon for advancing him to that eminent dignity and power. Or, we may view them in a fomewhat more extended fenfe; as the foundation of his all-fufficiency as Mediator, his being able to fave to the uttermoft all that come unto God by him.

[ocr errors]

By the fulness that dwells in Chrift, we are not to understand his perfections, as he is God; for those are effential to him, and not communicated at the Father's pleafure; neither that fulness of which the apoftle fpeaks (a), whereby his mystical body, the Church, is gradually completed; for fulnefs can only be faid to dwell in Chrift in this fenfe, when all who belong to the election of grace are gathered unto him. But we are here to understand, that fulness of grace and truth, as the evangelift John calls it, which he, as Head of his Church in general, and of every believer in particular, is conftantly communicating to his fervants, and out of which they are daily receiving, and grace for grace. This fulness is faid in the text to dwell in Chrift.

(a) Eph. i. 2, 3.

Under

« AnteriorContinuar »