'•"S?§ RIST M KEDE 'urrrrrATf': -J^jXAxM.-y^-\j ; f V. / 3^/-^-'^X.. Division IBS 2-42. Section . S 7 2.4- rHK LAST SUPPER. CHRIST OUR REDEEMER. BEING S^lj0ugljts antr P^tritatinrts xip0it 0iir l^artr's l^tfc. ILLUSTRATED IN PASSAGES FROM THE "WRITINGS OF ANCIENT AND MODERN AUTHORS. , :. L 1924 SKLECTED AND ANALYTICALLY ARRANGED V^jb- «S '' HEjSTRY SOUTHGATE, AUTHOR OP "MANY THOUGHTS OF MANY MINDS," "NOBLE THOUGHrS IN NOBLE LANaUAGE, "gone before," &c. &c. See. " llwrc are also vmny other tkiiigs which Jesus did, the wliich, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contaiii the books that should be written." — St. John xxi. 25. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. LONDON, PARIS dh N'HW YORK. [all rights reserved.] LET HIM KNOW THAT UNDERTAKES TO PICK OUT THE BEST EAR AMONGST AN ACRE OF WHEAT, THAT HE SHALL LEAVE AS GOOD, IF NOT BETTER, BEHIND HIM, THAN THAT WHICH HE CHOOSETH. THOMAS FULLER. PEE FACE. " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." Colossians ii. 8—10. Jesus Christ is ever drawing to Himself more and more of the interest and attention of the world. To this the evident direction and movement of thought in our time bear witness, and to-day more than ever, when Faith does not already rest, and Inquiry waits upon the Son of God. Who, and what Jesus was. His life. His character. His purpose. His work. His doctrine. His influence over individual lives. His public power in human society, and over the ideas and conduct of many millions of our race, have a high degree of speculative interest for all educated and intelligent persons, while to the believing and earnest Christian they have a personal and spiritual interest which is ever increasing with the growth of his religious life. To the Christian what The Chuist is as Mediator, Saviour, Exemplar, and Sovereign, is of far more than intellectual or speculative interest, his connection and concern with Him being personal and eternal. What He was, and is, and ever will be, is in the Christianas deepest convictions of the most vital moment. It has therefore occurred to me, following my un-ambitious vocation as a compiler, in which I have foimd much pleasant occu- pation, and an amount of recognition from the reading and studious public with which I have reason to be well satisfied, that I might very iv PREFACE. usefully add to my other labours of this kind a selection from a very wide and comprehensive range of Christian literature^ ancient and modern, concerning- especially the person and significance of Jesus Christ, the work He achieved, the doctrines He taught, as well as the place He fills in history, His influence in the progress of the human race, and on the eternal destiny of mankind. My purpose it will thus be seen is of the very first importance. The manner in which it has been fulfilled must be judged of by thoughtful and candid readers. I limit my selections to no one school of Christian thought. I do not imagine that any one such school has the lohole truth concerning our Blessed Lord, or that even the universal Church, with all its varied and diligent research, has yet evolved from the Divine Records the full, entire, and complete truth concerning Him who was revealed to the ancient Hebrew Church as the " Wonderful,^^ and to the later Christian Church as " the power of God and the wisdom of God.^'' Nor is it less my desire to illustrate by a work of tins kind the essential oneness of many of our now separate and divided Churches in Evangelical Faith and Doctrine. Whatever does this is serviceable not less to Charity than to our common Christianity, and is on this ground at least not unworthy of welcome. I cannot conclude my Preface without gratefully acknowledging the many quotations I have been favoured with from the Rev. J. S. Sidebutham, now Vicar of Aymeslrey, Herefordshire, selected with eminent devotion and judgment from a wide range of secular and religious reading. HENRY SOUTHGATE. Woodbine, Salcomhe Ecgk, Devon. JN'OiiCfc'.— The iu-sL Edition of this Work was pulOishcd under the title of "Chiustus Bedemi'tou." CONTENTS. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN HIS SEVERAL CHARACTERS, OE UNDER THE ASPECTS, EESPECTIVELY, OF— PAGE The Redeemer ........ 1 The Saviour . The Mediator . The Adtocate . The Messiah . iMJi^VNUEL The Son of God The Son of Man The Man of Sorrows The Corner-Stoxe The Rock The Way The Truth The Life The Door The Shepheud The Vine The Light The Bread Prophet Priest . King Love Grace . Bert 16 20 24 27 3e 47 51 54 57 59 62 66 68 71 73 74 82 84 85 93 102 105 CONTENTS. Power ..... FAG« . 108 Strength .... . Ill Wisdom ..... . 113 Word .... . 114 The Holt One . 116 The Lamb .... . 121 The Passover .... . 126 The Eansom .... . 129 The Child Jesus . 131 The Example .... . 144 The Teacher .... . 154 The Helper .... . 166 The Friend .... . 171 The Consoler .... .178 The PhysicI/VN .... . 184 Peace ..... . 189 The Fountain .... . 193 The Sun . 196 The Judge .... . 200 Sanctipication .... . 204 Eighteousness .... . 206 Atonement .... . 214 Incarnate .... . 231 Baptised .... . 239 Tempted .... . 243 Transfigured .... . 248 Crucified . . . • . 258 Descended into Hell . . 277 Eisen ..... . 279 Ascended .... . 286 All, and in All - 291 LIST OF AUTHOES QUOTED. Adam of St. Victor (atout 1150). Adamson, Kev. W. Addisox, Joseph, M.A. (1672 — 1719) of Queen's College, Oxford; subsequently Demy and Fellow of Magdalene College. AiKMAi*^, Eev. J. Logan. A'Kempis, Thomas (1380 — 1471), Sub-Prior of the Convent of St. Agnes, near ZwoII. Alexander, the Right Eev. William, D.D. of Brasenose College, Oxford (bom 1824) Bishop of Deny and Eaphoe, 1867. Alfobd, the Very Eev. Henry, D.D. (1810—71), late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Dean of Canterbury, 1857 — 71. Ambrose, Eev. Isaac (1593 — 1664), Nonconformist Divine. Ambrose, St. (330—397), Bishop of Mian. Anderson, E. Andrewes, the Eight Eev. Lattncelot, D.D. (1565 — 1626) of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Bishop of Winchester, 1618 — 26. Anselm, St. (1033—1109). Archbishop of Canterbury, 1093—1109. Anselm, St., of Lucca (1036—1086) Arndt, Frederic. Arnold, Eev. Thomas, D.D. (1795—1842) of Corpus Christi College, Oxford; after- wards Fellow of Oriel; from 1827—1842 Head Master of Eugby, and 1841—42 Eegius Professor of Modem History at Oxford. Atkinson, Mary E. Atterbury, the Eight Eev. Francis, D.D. (1662 — 1731), late Student and Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Eochester, 1713 — 23. Augustine, St. (354—430). Bishop of Hippo, 395—430. Bailey, Philip James (bom 1816), educated at the University of Glasgow, and caUed to the Bar in 1840. A weU-known English poet. Bateman, Eev. Josiah, M.A. of Queens' College, Cambridge. Honorary Canon of Canterbury, 1863, and Eector of Southchurch, Essex, 1873. Bernard, St. (1091—1153), Abbot of Clairvaux. Bevan, Eev. Llewellyn D., LL.B. Beveridge, the Eight Eev. William, D.D. (1638—1708) of St. John's College, Cam- bridge. Bishop of St. Asaph, 1704 — 8. Bickersteth, Eev. Edward Henry, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. Vicar of Christ Church, Hampstead, 1855. Bickersteth, the Eight Eev. Egbert, D.D. of Queens' College, Cambridge. Bishop of Eipon, 1857. viii LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTEL. BiNNEY, Rev. Thomas, LL.D, (1798 — 1874), Nonconformist Divine. BiNNiKG, Rev. Hugh (died, 1653). Blomfield, the Right Rev. Charles James, D.D. (1785 — 18G0), late Fello-w of Trinitj College, Cambridge. Bishop of London, 1828 — 58. Blunt, Rev. Henry, M.A., late Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Bolland, William. BoNAR, Rev. HoRATixJS, D.D., Minister of Chalmer's Memorial Church, Edin- burgh. Bonaventura, John De Fidenza (1221 — 74), an Italian Franciscan Professor of Theology at Paris, known as the " Doctor Seraphicus." BossuET, James Benignus (1627 — 74), Bishop of Meaux. Bowles, Rev. William Lisle, M.A. (1752—1850) of Trinity College, Oxford. Pre- bendary of Sarum. BowRiNG, Sir John, LL.D. of the University of Groningen (born 1792). A celebrated English linguist. Boyle, Hon. Robert (1627 — 91), the founder of the "Boyle Lectures." Boys, the Very Rev. John, D.D. (1577 — 1625) of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Dean of Canterbury, 1619—25. Bradley, C. Bridges, Rev. Charles, M.A. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Brooke, Rev. Stopford Augustus, M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. Incumbent of St. James's Chapel, York Street, 1866 ; Chaplain to the Queen, 1872. Broughton, the Right Rev. William Grant, D.D. (1788 — 1853) of Pembroke College, Cambridge. Bishop of Sydney, 1836 — 53, BuNYAN, John (1628—88). Burgess, the Right Rev. Thomas, D.D. (1755—1837), late Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Bishop of Salisbury, 1825—37. BuRKiTT, W. (1650—1703). Burnett, the Right Rev. Gilbert, D.D. (1643 — 1715) of the Universities of Aberdeen and Glasgow. Bishop of Salisbury, 1689 — 1715. Bcshnell, Rev. Horace, D.D. (bom 1802), an American Divine, formerly Tutor of Yale Colleges. Butler, Archer (1814 — 1848), Trinity CoUege, Dublin. Professor of Moral Philosophy. Caird, Rev. John, D.D., one of the Chaplains to the Queen, a Minister of the Established Church in Scotland. Chalmers, Rev. Thomas, LL.D. (1780 — 1847), a Scottish Divine. Chandler, Rev. John, M.A. of Corpus Chi-isti College, Oxford. Channing, Rev. William Ellery, D.D. of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1780 — 1842), an American Divine. Charnock, Rev. Stephen, B.D. of Emanuel College, Cambridge; afterwards Fellow of New College, Oxford (1628—80). Chrysostom, John (347 — 407), one of the Greek Fathers. Clarke, Rev. Adam, LL.D. (1760 — 1832), a commentator on the Scriptures. Clemens Alexandrinus (a.d. 210). Clemens Romanus, the friend and fellow traveller of St. Paul. Coleman, Rev. Benjamin, M.A. (about 1728), Pastor of a church in Boston, U.S. LIST OF AUTHOES QUOTED ix Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772 — 1834). CoLEY, Eev. Samuel. Copleston, the Eight Eev. Edward, D.D. (1777 — 1849) of Corpus Christi College, Oxford ; afterwards Fellow and Provost of Oriel, Dean of Chester, and Dean of St. Paul's. Bishop of Llandaff, 1828—49. Cotton, the Eight Eev. George Edward Lynch, D.D. (1813 — 67), late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Head Master of Marlborough College, 1849 — 58. Bishop of Calcutta, 1858 — 67. CowPER, William (1731—1800). Cox, Eev. Samuel, of Nottingham. Cranmer, the Most Eev. Thomas, D.D. (1489 — 1556) of Jesus College, Cambridge. Ai'chbishop of Canterbury, 1533 — 56. Crashaw^ Eichard, M.A. (1612 — 50), late Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and poet. Creswell, Eev. Henry, of Canterbury. Croly, Eev. George, LL.D. (1780—1860), late Eector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook. Cudworth, Eev. Ealph, D.D. (1617 — 88) of Emanuel College, Cambridge. Suc- cessively Master of Clare College, Eegius Professor of Hebrew, Master of Christ College, and, from 1678 to his death, Prebendary of Gloucester. CuMMiNG, Eev. John, D.D., Minister of the Scotch Church, Crown Court, Covent Garden. Cyprian, St. (200 ?— 258). Bishop of Carthage, 248—58. Cyril, St. (died 444). Bishop of Alexandria, 412 — 44. Dale, the Very Eev. Thomas, D.D. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Canon of St. Paul's; afterwards Dean of Eochester (died 1870). Dana, Eichard Henry (1787 — 1879), an American writer. De Courcy. De Pressense, Edmond, D.D. of the University of Breslau, a French Protestant Mini ster (bom 1824), a theological writer. Dewey, Eev. Orville, D.D. of William's College, Massachusetts, an American Divine (bom 1794). Doane, the Eight Eev. W. C, D.D., Bishop of Albany, 1869. Doddridge, Eev. Philip (1702 — 75), a Nonconformist Divine. Donne, the Very Eev. John, D.D. (1573—1631) of Hart Hall, Oxford; afterwards of Cambridge. Dean of St. Paul's, 1621—31. Downhame, Eev. John (about 1656). Drew, Eev. George Smith, M.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge. Vicar of Holy Trinity, Lambeth, 1873. Dryden, John (1631—1700), B.A. of Trinity CoUege, Cambridge, 1654; M.A. by Archbishop of Canterbury, 1668 ; Poet Laureate, 1668 — 1700. Dwight, Eev. Timothy, D.D. (1752 — 1817), an American Divine. President of Yalo College. Dyer, Eev. William (about 1665). Ellicott, the Eight Eev. Charles John, D.D., late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, 1863. Elliott, Charlotte (1837 — 78). Ephrem, Syrus (died 378), bom at Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, ono of tho Fathers, styled "The Apostle of the Syrians." Erskine, Eov. Ealph, M.A. (1685—1762). X LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTED. Evans, Eev. Alfred Botven, D.D., Eector of St. Mary-le-Strand, 1861. Fabrar, Rev. Adam Storey, D.D. of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford; afterwards Michel FeUow of Queen's College. Professor of Divinity and Ecclesiastical History in the University of Durham, 186-i. Farrar, Rev. Frederic William, D.D., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge ; Head Master of Marlborough College, 1871 ; Chaplain in Ordinar}- to the Queen, 1873 ; Canon of Westminster, and Rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster, 1876. Fenelon, Francois de Salignac de la Mothe (1651 — 1715), Axchhishop of Camhray, 1695—1715. Flavel, Eev. John, of University CoUege, Oxford (1627 — 91). Fletcher, Eev. Giles, B.D. of Trinity College, Cambridge (died 1623). Gouge, Eev. William, B.D. (about 1616). Gellert, Christian Furchtegott (1715 — 69). Gerhardt, Paul (1607 — 1675), a German theologian and poet. Gibson, the Eight Eev. Edmund, D.D. of Queen's College, Oxford. Bishop of London, 1723—48. Goodwin, Eev. Thomas, D.D. (1600 — 79), President of Magdalene College, Oxford, 1649—62. Gore, Eev. John. GouLBURN, the Very Eev. Edward Meyrick, of Balliol College, Oxford ; afterwards Fellow of Merton and Head Master of Eugby. Dean of Norwich, 1866. Grahame, Eev. James (died 1811), a Scotch barrister and poet, who afterwards received Holy Orders in the Church of England. Grant, Eev. Johnson, M.A. of St. John's College, Oxford. Grant, Eev. Peter (of Dundee). Greenwell, Dora. Gregory Nazianzen, St., Bishop of Constantinople (died 389). Grey, Lady Jane, (1537 — 54). GuRNALL, Thomas. Guthrie, Eev. Thomas, D.D. (1800—73). GuYON, Madame Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Mothe (1648 — 1717). Hale, Sir Matthew (1609 — 76), of Magdalene Hall, Oxford ; an eminent English lawyer. Lord Chief Justice of the Court- of King's Bench. Haliburton, Thomas. Bom at Windsor, in Nova Scotia, 1796 ; died at Isleworth, 1865. Hall, Eev. Newman, LL.B., Minister of Surrey Chapel. Hall, Eev. Egbert (17G4— 1831), Baptist ]\Iinister. Hamilton, Eev. Patrick (1503 — 27), the first Scotch Eeformer. Hanna, Eev. William, LL.D. of the University of Glasgow. Hannah, Eev. John, D.C.L. of Corpus Christi College, Oxford; afterwards Fellow of Lincoln. Vicar of Brighton, 1870. Hare, Eev. Augustus William, M.A. (1792—1834), late Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Vicar of Alton Barnes, Wilts. Hake, the Ven. Julius Charles, M.A., late Fellow 'of Trinity College, Cambridge. Archdeacon of Lewos, 1840 — 55. Haweis, Eev. Hugh Eeginald, M.A., Incumbent of St. James's Episcopal Chaiiel, Westmoreland Street, JIarylcbone. Hawker, Eov. Robert, D.D. (1753 — 1827), Vicar of Charles, near Plymouth. LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTED. t? Heber, the Eight Eev. Reoinald, D.D. of Brasenose College, Oxford ; afterwards Fellow of All Souls. Bishop of Calcutta, 1823—32. ^ Heerman, Johann. Henry, Rev. Matthew (1663 — 1714), a Biblical Commentator. Henshaw, the Right Rev. Joseph, D.D., Bishop of Peterborough, 1663 — 79. Heeaud, John A. (born in London, 1799), an epic poet and dramatic writer. Herbert, Rev. George, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Successively Public Orator of his University, Prebendary of Leighton, Ecclesia in Lincoln Cathech-al. A celebrated sacred poet and divine, and Vicar of Bemerton, near Salisbury. HippoLYTUs, St., a disciple of Irenseus, Bishop of Portus Romanus (the modem Aden), suffered martjTdom at Rome, 230. Hooker, Rev. Richard, M.A. (1553 — 1600), late Fellow of Corpus Christi CoUege, Oxford ; Rector of Bishopsboume in Kent ; Prebendary and Sub-Dean of Sarum ; and Master of the Temple. Horne, the Right Rev. George, D.D. (1730 — 92), late President of Magdalene College, Oxford, 1768—91 ; Dean of Canterbury, 1781—90; Bishop of Norwich, 1790—92. Horne, Rev. Thomas Hartwell, B.D. of Tiinity College, Dublin, and Queens College, Cambridge (1780 — 1862) ; one of the late Librarians of the British Museum, and Prebendary of St. Paul's. HoRSLEY, Rev. John William, M.A. of Pembroke CoUege, Oxford. Curate of Witney, 1870 ; Chaplain of Middlesex House of Detention, 1876. HoRSLEY, the Right Rev. Samuel, D.C.L. (1733—1806) of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and Christ Church, Oxford. Bishop of St. Asaph, 1802—1806. Horstixjs, Jacob, M.D. of the University of Frankfort-on-the-Over. Professor of Medicine in the University of Helmstadt. Howe, Rev. John (1630 — 1705), a Nonconformist Divine, Chaplain to CromweU. HowsoN, the Very Rev. John Saul, D.D. of Trinity College, Cambridge. Dean of Chester, 1867. Ignatius, St., Bishop of Antioch (died 115). James the Less, St. (Quotation from apocryphal writings). James, Rev. John Angell, of Birmingham (1785 — 1859). Jay, Rev. William, of Bath (1769—1853). Johnson, Charles H. (1679 — 1748), poet and dramatist. Jowett, Rev. Benjamin, D.D., Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford, 1855 ; Master of BaUiol CoUege, 1870. Justin Martyr (90 — 164). Keble, Rev. John, M.A. (1785 — 1866) of Corpus Christi CoUege ; afterwards FeUow of Oriel, Professor of Poetry, and Vicar of Hursley. Kelly, Rev. Thomas. Ken, the Right Rev. Thomas, D.D. (1637—1711), FeUow of New CoUege, O.xford. Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1685—91. Kingsley, Rev. Charles, M.A. (1819—75), of Magdalene CoUege, Cambridge. Pro- fessor of Modem History at Cambridge, 1860—69 ; Rector of Eversley, 1844 ; Canon of Westminster, 1873 ; Chaplain to the Queen. Lamb, Charles (1775—1834), educated at Christ's Hospital. A weU-known essayist and humourist. xii LIST OF AUTEOHS QUOTED. Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1802 — 1838), a distinguished English poetess, better known by her initials " L. E. L." Married to llr. George Maclean Governor of Cape Coast Castle. Lapide, Cornelius a (died 1657), Biblical Commentator and Professor of Hebrew at Louvain. Lash, Mrs. N. B. Le Bas, Philippe (bom 1794), the author of numerous literary works. Leiohton, the Most Rev. Eobert (1613 — 84), Archbishop of Glasgow. LiDDON, Eev. Henry Parry, D.D., Student of Christ Chui'ch, Oxford. Canon of St, Paul's, 1870; Professor of the Exegesis of Scripture at Oxford, 1871. LiGHTFOOT, Eev. John, D.D. (1602 — 75), Master of St. Catharine Hall, Cambridge, 1650—75. Llanvjedonon, "William (about 1655). Lucas, Eev. Eichard, D.D. (1648—1715). Luther, Martin (1484—1546). Lyte, Eev. Henry Francis, M.A. (1791—1847) of Trinity College, Dublin. Macafee, Eev. Daniel. Mackarness, the Eight Eev. John Fielder, D.D. of Merton College, Oxford: after- wards FeUow of Exeter. Bishop of Oxford, 1870. Maclean, Mrs. Letitia Elizabeth, nee Landon, which see (1802 — 38). Macleod, Eev. Norman, D.D., late Chaplain to the Queen (1812 — 1872). Magee, the Eight Eev. "William Conner, D.D. of Trinity College, DubUn. Bishop of Peterborough, 1868. Mant, Eight Eev. Eichard, D.D. (1776—1848), Fellow and Tutor of Oriel CoUege, Oxford. Bishop of Eallaloe, and afterwards of Down and Connor. Hansel, the Very Eev. Henry Longueville, D.D. (1820 — 71), late Fellow of St. John's CoUege, Oxford. Dean of St. Paul's, 1869—71. Manson, James Bolivar, M.A., Aberdeen (died, 1868). Mason, Eev. John, M.A. (1706—63). ^[ather, Eev. Marcus, D.D. (1639 — 1723), an American Divine. Maurice, Eev. Frederic Denison, M.A. (1805 — 72) of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Exeter College, Oxford. Late Professor of Theology in King'ri College, London; Eeader of Lincoln's Inn ; Incumbent of St. Peter's, Vere Street, and Professor of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge. Medley, Eev. Samuel (1738—99). Mellbn, Eev. Glanville. Melvill, Eev. Henry, B.D. (1798—1870) of St. John's College, Cambridge; after- wards Fellow of Peterhouse, Chaplain to the Tower, Canon of St. Paul's, and Eector of Barnes. Miller, Eev. John Cale, D.D. of Lincoln College, Oxford. Vicar of Greenwich, 1866 ; Canon of Eochester, 1873. Milman, the Very Eev. Henry Hart, D.D. (1791—1868), late Fellow of Brasenose CoUege, Oxford. Canon of Westminster; Dean of St. Paul's. 1849 — G8. Milton, John, M.A. (1608—74) of Christ College, Cambridge. Moberly, the Eight Eev. George, D.C.L. of BaUiol College, Oxford. Head Master of "Winchester, 1835—66; Bishop of Sarum, 1869. Montgomery, James (1771 — 1854). LIST OF AUTHORS QVOTED. xiii Montgomery, Eev. Egbert, M.A. (1807—55) of Lincoln College, Oxford. Late Incumbent of Percy Chapel. MooRE, Eev. Daniel, M.A. of St. Catharine College, Cambridge. Vicar of Holy Trinity, Paddington, 1866. Moultrie, Eev. Gerard, M.A. of Exeter College. Vicar of South Leigh, Oxon, 1869. Murrey, Eev. Eobert (about 1715). Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 — 1821). Neale, Cornelius. Neale, Eev. John Mason, M.A. (1817—66) of Trinity College, Cambridge; D.D. of Hartford College, Connecticut. Warden of Sackville College, East Giinstead, 1846—66. Neander, John Augustus William (1789 — 1850), Professor of Theology in the University of Berlin. Newton, Eev. John, D.D. (1725—1807). Origen (185—254). Owen, Eev. John D.D. (1616 — 83) of Queen's College, Oxford; a Nonconformist Divine. Paley, Ven. William, D.D. (1763—1805), of Christ College, Cambridge. Eector of Bishop- Wearmonth, Prebendary of St. Paul's, and Archdeacon of Carlisle. Parr, Catherine, sixth Queen of Henry VIII. (died 1548). Pascal, Blaise (1623 — 62), a French Philosopher and Mathematician. Patrick, the Eight Eev. Simon, D.D. (1626—1707) of Queens' College, Cambridge; D.D. of Christ Church, Oxford. Bishop of Ely, 1691—1707. Pearson, the Eight Eev. John, D.D. (1612—86), late Fellow of King's CoUege, Cam- bridge. Bishop of Chester, 1673—86. Plumptre, Eev. Edward Hayes, M.A. of University College, Oxford; afterwards FeUow of Brasenose. Professor of Exegesis of New Testament in King's College, London ; Prebendary of St. Paul's, 1863 ; Eector of Bickley, in Kent, 1873 ; Editor of " The Bible Educator." PoLYCAup (SO — 169), the disciple of St. John: one of the Apostolic Fathers; Bishop of Smyrna. Pope, Alexander (1688 — 1744). PoRTEus, the Eight Eev. Beilby, D.D. (1731—1808) of Christ College, Cambridge. Bishop of London, 1787—1808. PuLsroRD, Eev. John. PuNSHON, Eev. William Morley, LL.D., President of the Wesleyan Conference, 1874. PusEY, Eev. Edward Bouverie, D.D. of Christ Church, Oxford ; afterwards Fellow of Oriel. Canon of Christ Church and Eegius Professor of Hebrew, 1828. QuARLES, Francis (1592—1644). Ealeigh, Sir Walter (1552 — 1618), poet, educated at Cambridge. Eamsden, Eev. Charles Henry, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge. Vicar of Chilham, Kent, 1862. Eennell, Eev. Thomas (1787—1824). Egbert II., King of France (971—1031). Eobertson, Eev. Frederick AVilliam, M.A. (1818 — 53) of Brasenose College, Oxford. Late Incumbent of Trinity Chapel, Brighton. EoBiNsoN, Eev. Ralph (1614 — 65), of Catharine Hall, Cambridge. Eector of St. Mary« Woohioth, 1645—55. xiv LIST OF AUTIIOIiS QUOTED. Rogers, Rev. H. EoMAiNE, Eev. William, M.A. (1714—95) of Hertford College and Christ Churcli, Oxford. Rector of 8t. Anne's, Blackfriars. Rousseau, Jean Jacques (1712 — 78). Rutherford, Samuel (1600 — 61), Professor of Theology at the University of St. Andrew's. Sanderson, the Right Rev. Robert, D.D. (1587 — 63), late Fellow of Lincoln CoUege, Oxford. Bishop of Lincoln, 1660—63. Sandford, the Yen. John, B.D. (1801-73) of Balliol College, Oxford. Archdeacon of Coventry, 1851—73. Sandys, George (1577 — 1644), a scholar, traveller, and poet. Scott, Rev. Thomas, M.A. (1747—1821). Sears, Rev. Edmund Hamilton (born 1810), M.A. of University College, Schenectady, and of Harvard College, Massachusetts. Serle, Ambrose (1741 — 1812). Shakespeare, William (1564 — 1616). Shephard, Rev. Thomas (about 1652), co-founder, with John Harvard, of Harvard CoUege, Massachusetts. Simeon, Rev. Charles, M.A. (1759 — 1836), late Fellow of King's CoUoge, Cambridge. Smith, the Very Rev. Robert Payne, D.D. of Pembroke College, Oxford. Regius Pro- fessor of Divinity, and Canon of Christ Church, 1865 — 71 ; Dean of Canterbury, 1871. South, Rev. Robert, D.D. (1633—1716), late Student of Christ Church, Oxford. PubUc Orator at Oxford, 1660—77; Prebendary of Westminster, 1663—1716; Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, 1670—1716. Stanley, the Very Rev. Arthur Penrhyn, D.D. of BaUiol CoUege, Oxford ; after- wards Fellow of University; Canon of Canterbury, 1851 — 58; Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, 1856 — 64 ; Canon of Christ Church, 1858 — 64 ; Dean of Westminster, 1864. Stier, Rudolf, Doctor of Theology and Superintendent of Schkeuditz. Stillingfleet, the Right Rev. Edward, D.D. (1635 — 99), late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Bishop of Worcester, 1689—99. Stoughton, Rev. John, D.D., Congregational Minister. Stratford de Redcliffe, Viscount, K.Gr., educated at Eton; LL.D. and late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Late Ambassador at the Ottoman Com't. Sumner, the Most Rev. John Bird, D.D. (1780—1862), late FeUow of lung's College, Cambridge. Ai-chbishop of Canterbury, 1848 — 62. Tailor, Rev. Thomas, D.D. (1576 — 1632), a Nonconformist Di\ine ; Hebrew Lectur-cr at Christ College, Cambridge ; Rector of St. Mary Aldermary. Tait, the Most Rev. Archibald Campbell, D.D., late FeUow of Balliol CoUcgc, Oxford. Head Master of Rugby School, 1842—49 ; Dean of CarUsle, 1849—56 ; Bishop of London, 1856 — 68 ; Archbishop of Canterbury, 1868. Taverner, Richard, M.A. of Oxford (1505 — 75). Taylor, the Right Rev. Jeremy, D.D. (1613 — 67) of Caius College, Cambridge; after- wards Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore, 1661 — 67. Temi'le, the Right Rev. Frederick, D.D.,latcFcUowof Balliol College, Oxford. Head Master of Rugby School, 1858 — 69; Bishop of Exeter, 1869. LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTED. xw Tenxyson, AiFRED, D.C.L. of Oxford. Poet Laureate. Theophilus (about A.D. 170), Bishop of Antioch. Thomson, the Most Eev. William, D.D., late FeUow and Provost of Queen's College, Oxford. Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, 1861 — 63 ; Archbishop of York, 1863. Thokold, Eev. Anthony Wilson, M.A., of Queen's College, Oxford. Canon of York, 1874; Bishop of Eochester, 1877- TiLLOTSoN, the Most Eev. John, D.D., of Clare HaU, Cambridge. Archbishop of Canterbury, 1691—94. ToPLADY, Eev. Augustus Montague (1740 — 78), of Trinity College, Dublin; Eector of Broadhembuxy, Devon. Trench, the Most Eev. Eichard Chenevix, Trench, D.D., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Dean of Westminster, 1857—64 ; Ai-chbishop of Dublin, 1864. Usher, the Most Eev. James, D.D. (1580—1656) of Trinity CoUege, Dublin. Arch- bishop of Armagh, 1624 — 56. Vaughan, Eev. Charles John, D.D., late FeUow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Head Master of Harrow School, 1844—59 ; Vicar of Doncaster, 1860—69 ; Master of the Temple, 1869 ; Chaplain to the Queen ; Dean of Llandaff, 1879. Wallace, Eev. A. Warburton, the Right Eev. William, D.D. (1698—1779), Bishop of Gloucester, 1759—79. Wardlaw, Eev. Ealph, D.D. (^1779-1853). Waterland, the Yen. Daniel, D.D. (1683—1740), late Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Canon of Wiadsor, 1727—40 ; Archdeacon of Middlesex, 1730—40. Watts, Eev. Isaac, D.D. (1674 — 1748), a well-known Nonconformist minister and author. Wesley, Eev. Charles, M.A. (1708—88), late Student of Christ Church, Oxford. Wesley, Eev. John, M.A. (1703—91), late Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. Whitby, Eev. Daniel, D.D. (1638—1726), late FeUow of Trinity CoUege, Oxford. Whitehead, Eev. Henry, M.A. of Lincoln CoUege, Oxford. Vicar of Brampton, Cumberland, 1874. Whittier, John Greenleap, an American writer. Bom at HavenhiU, Massachusetts, 1808. Wilberforce, the Eight Eev. Samuel, D.D. (1805—73) of Oriel CoUege, Oxford. Dean of Westminster, 1843—45 ; Bishop of Oxford, 1845—69 ; Bishop of Win- chester, 1869—73. Williams, William (1774). Willis, Nathaniel Paches (1807 — 67), an American poet and essajdst. Educated at Yales CoUege. Willison, John, of Dundee Wilson, the Eight Eev. Daniel, D.D. (1778—1857) of St. Edmund HaU, Oxford. Vicar of IsUngton, 1824—32; Bishop of Calcutta, 1832—67. Wilson, the Eight Rev. Thomas, D.D. (1663—1755) of Trinity CoUege, DubUn, and of Oxford. Bishop of Sodor and Man 1698 — 1755. Wiseman, Eev. Luke H., M.A WoGAN, William. Woodward, H. ivi LIST OF AUTHORS QUOTED. Wordsworth, the Eight Rev. Christopher, D.D., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambiidge; Head Master of Harrow School, 1836 — 44; Canon of "Westminster, 1844—69 ; Bishop of Lincohi, 1869. WoETHiNGTOK, Rev. Dr., flourished at Cambridge about 1689. Boyle Lecturer at St. James's. WoTTON, Rev. Sir Henry, M.A. (1668—1639) of New College, Oxford. Provost of Eton CoUege, 1623—39. Xavier, Francis (1506 — 52). Young, Rev. Edward, D.D. (1684—1765), late Fellow of New College, Oxford, and afterwards of All Souls ; Vicar of Welwyn. Zanchius, Jerome (1516—90), Professor of Di-sdnity at Heidelberg, 1568—78. Zinzendorf, Count Nicholas Louis (1700—60), the Founder of the sect of the Mora%aan Brethi-ea. CHRIST OUR REDEEMER. THE REDEEMER. " Our Saviour Jesus Christ (ivJio) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem ns from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus ii. 14. OHj that I may awaken in some hearts a fresh desire to ponder ovor for themselves the connections of the blessed history of their own and the workFs redemption ! The close study of it may require all our highest powers, and tax all our freshest energies ; but, believe me, the consolation of that study no tongue of men or of angels can fully tell. While we are so engaged, we do, indeed, feel the deep meaning of what an Apostle has called the "comfort^"* of the Word of God. Though at times we may seem as yet in doubtfulness or perplexity, yet soon, very soon, all becomes clear and comforting ; lights break around our path, assurance becomes more sure ; hopes burn brighter, love waxes warmer ; sorrows become joys, and joys the reflections of the unending felicities of the Kingdom of Christ. Around us and. about us we feel the deepening influence of the Eternal Son. All inward things — 3'ea, all outward things — appear to us verily trans- figured and changed. We cast our eyes abroad on earth ; ^tis the earth that He trod, and earth seems bright and blessed. We raise our eyes to heaven — and we know that He is there — we gaze, and faith rolls back those everlasting doors ; yea, we seem to see the vision of beauty, and in our spirit we behold our God. Bishop Ellicott. This is the account which the New Testament gives of the redemption wrought for us by Christ : — " That His death was a » CTIRlSTrS REJ>EMPT(nt. satisfaction made to the Divine justice for the sins of m:inkind ; tha^;, through faith in Him, we are assured of the forgiveness of our sinK upon our repentance and ameudment ; that, being forgiven, we are justified in His sight — we are reconciled to Him ; that He who recon- ciles us to God, sanctifies our hearts hy the Holy Spirit, to enable us to perform the will of God, and thereby to continue in His favour; that, for the same end, He mediates and intercedes for us with God while we continue in this present life; and that through Him we have the promise of the life eternal. This is a scene, full of comfort to all those wlw comply with the terms of the Gospel/^ Bishop Gibson. Scrijiture shows how little mankind have to depend upon in themselves, in order that they may learn to seek a surer ground of truth. It convicts them of sin, that they may see their need of a Redeemer. It points out the wickedness of the world, for the pur- pose of explaining why Christ took our nature upon Him. It proves that we cannot justify ourselves : that we may thankfully apply to Him "who is the propitiation for our sins" — "Jesus Christ the Righteous.^^ It takes away all self-complacency, and excludes all l:»oasting, not to make men despair, but to inspire them with true confidence — not to prove that there is no salvation, but rather that •'there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" — not to darken the way of life, but to light them into it by a lamp that shall not fail at the Bridegroom's coming. AiicHBiSHOP Sumner. The "perfection" of which the Apostle speaks, as opposed to the princi]des or the elementary doctrine of Christ, is an understanding that the law, its priesthood and its sacrifices, were no longer necessary, inasmuch as Christ, by His eternal priesthood and one sacrifice had done elTectually that work which they could but typically foreshadow. It is well known that the Jewish Christians still observed the cere- monial law ; and the Apostles sanctioned this, not only to avoid unne- cessary offence to the unbelieving Jews, but also because the converts themselves would have been shocked at the notion of renouncing it. St. Paul, however, and those who followed him, were well aware that this (.bservanee of the law wns very apt to be coupled with a TEE REBEEMER. S belief of its necessity in a spiritual point of view ; and therefore they represent the full-g-rown Christian as one who feels the unimportance of all Jewish ceremonies; and as one who places his whole reliance upon Christ. Rev. De. Aknold. The covenant of the new dispensation is a covenant of love, founded upon the free gift of salvation ; but^ at the same time, it is a covenant of indispensable holiness. The tenderness of its Author is shown in the forg-iveness of repented and forsaken sin^ but not in permitting a continuance in transgression. There is nothing like connivance at crime in the principles of the Gospel. Through its medium^ on the contrary^ "mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.'''' For the very restoration of man to the favour of the Father, implies a restoration to the image of His likeness — a restoration to a capacity of increasing in heavenly wisdom — a restoration to a state from which spirituality and holiness are inseparable; and redemption, by the evident analogy of the metaphor, presupposes a right to the services of those who have been bought with a price. Archbishop Sumner. We owe more to God for redeeming us than for making us ; His word made us ; but when He came to redeem us, that Word must be made flesh, and that flesh must suffer. In our creation He gave us ourselves, but in our redemption He gave us Himself : and by giving Himself for us, gave us ourselves again, that were lost ; so that we are ourselves, and all that we have, twice-told ; and now, what shall we give unto thee, O thou Preserver of men, for ourselves thus given and redeemed? If we could give ourselves a thousand times over, yet what are we to God ? And yet, if we do give ourselves to Him and His service, such as we are, and such as w^e can. He accepts it, and will reward it. I will never grudge God His own. I have nothing that is not His; and if I give it to Him, He will restore it again with interest ; never any man was a loser by God. Bishop Henshaw. The knowledge of God, without the knowledge of our own misery, engenders pride; the knowledge of our own misery, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, despair. But the knowledge of Jesus 4 CEMISTUS REBEMPTOE. Christ exempts us alike from pride and from despair ; by giving us at once a knowledge of God, and of our misery, and of the only remedy provided for it. Pascal. " Ye are bought with a price.^^ This price was paid, not to Satan, whose captives we were, but mito Almighty God, His Father, and our Lord, under whose heavy curse we lay; a price was paid by our Redeemer, and that the greatest that ever was paid for any purchase since the world began — not silver and gold, says St. Peter, but even Himself, in whom are amassed and hidden all the treasures of the wisdom of God. This redemption came not for nothing in respect of Him ; it cost Him full dear — even His dearest life's blood. But then in respect of us, it was a most free and gracious redemption. This work was merely an act of grace, not a fruit of merit — grace, abun- dant grace, on His part ; no merit, not the least merit at all, on ours. The tidings of a Redeemer are most blessed and welcome nevrs to those who are sensible of their own poverty, and take it as of grace. But whoso thinketh " his own penny good silver,'' and will be putting in, and bidding for it, will stand upon his terms, as David did with Araunah, and will pay for it, or he will not have it ; let that man beware lest his money and he perish together, and lest he get neither part nor fellowship in this business. Bishop Sanderson. The blessed Jesus came into the world to declare the goodwill of our Heavenly Father to the forfeited posterity of Adam. He testified the truth of His mission by amazing miracles, and sealed the redemp- tion of mankind by the more amazing devotion of Himself to an ignominious death. But as the redemption, so generally procured, could only operate on particulars, under certain circumstances of faith and obedience very repugnant to our corrupted nature, the blessed Jesus, on His leaving the world, promised His followers His inter- cession with the Father, to send another Divine Person — the Holy Ghost, called the " Spirit of Truth " and the " Comforter " — who, agreeably to the import of those names, should co-operate with us in estal)lishing faith, and in perfecting obedience ; or, in other words, should sanctify us to redemption. An atonement was to be made for the offended majesty of the Father, and this was the work of the Son ; and a remedy was to be TEE REDEEMER. provided for the miserable condition of man, whicli hindered tlie atonement from producing- its effect; and this was the office of the Holy Ghost ; so that both are joint workers in the great business of reconciling man to God. Bishop Warburton. O for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer^'s praise ; The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace. My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim — To spread through all the earth abroad The honours of Thy name. Jesus, the Name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease ; 'Tis music in the sinner^s ears, ^Tis life and health and peace. He breaks the power of cancelled sm. He sets the prisoner free ; His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood avails for me. He speaks, and listening to His voice, New life the dead receive ; The mournful, broken hearts rejoice. The humble poor believe. Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ ; Ye blind, behold your Saviour come ; And leap, ye lame, for joy Look unto Him, ye nations ; own Your God, ye fallen race ; Look, and be saved by faith alone. Be justified by grace. Rev. C. Wesley. CHRISTUS SEDEMFTOS. Survey the wondrous cure ; And at each step let higher wonder rise ! Pardon for infinite offence ! and pardon Thro^ means that speak its value infinite I A pardon boug-ht with blood ! with blood Divine ! — With blood Divine of Him I made my foe ; Persisted to provoke ! though mov^d and aw'd, Blest and chastised — a flagrant rebel still ! A rebels -"midst the thunders of His throne ! Nor I alone ; a rebel universe ! My species up in arms^ not one exempt I Yet for the foulest of the foul He dies. Bound, every heart_, and every bosom, burn ! Oh, what a scale of miracles is here ! Its lowest round high-planted on the skies j Its tow^'ring summit lost beyond the thought Of man or angel. Oh ! that I could climb The wonderful ascent with equal praise ! — Praise ardent, cordial, constant ! Young, All the souls that were, were forfeit once. And He that might the vantage best have took Found out the remedy. How would you be If He, which is the top of judgment, should But judge you as you are ? O think on that. And mercy then will breathe within your lips, Like man new-made. Shakespeare. TEE SAVIOUE. THE SAVIOUR. " My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." St. Luke i. 47. " Tliis is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the ivorld." St. John iv. 42. This shall be His great business in the world; the great errand on which He is come — viz., to make an atonement for, and to destroy sin. Deliverance from all the power, guilt, and pollution of sin, is the privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus. Less than this is not spoken of in the Gospel, and less than this would be unbecoming the Gospel. The perfection of the Gospel system is not that it makes allowances for sin, but that it makes an atonement for it ; not that it tolerates sin, but that it destroys it. Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke. Let this glorious Saviour, in His person, offices, and benefits, be the desire of our souls. Let the desire of our souls be to His name, and the remembrance of Him. Let us wonder at the nations, wonder at ourselves, and at one another, that the desires of our souls are no more to Jesus Christ. Alas ! this desire of our souls, this desire of the people, is and has been the least of anything desired in the world. When He came to His own, they saw no beauty in Him for which they shoidd desire Him. They desired a worldly Saviour, a temporal prince, and rejected Him for the very reason for which they should have desired Him — even for His meekness and lowliness, for His griefs and sorrows ; saying, like the sons of Belial, '' How can this man save us?" But '^ surely He bore our griefs, He carried our sorrows, and was wounded for our transgressions.'''' Rev. B. Coleman. The Lord Jesus Christ says, " Come unto Me." There was never a man saved yet, who did not come to Christ Himself. People can do a great many things for you, but nobody else can save you but Jesus. Then the first thing is to come to Jesus ; and the second is to receive Jesus. He is God's great gift to men. You have only to accept Him. " He was wounded for my transgressions •'' you have only to say, '^ I accept that sacrifice. He was bruised for my ? CSMISTVS REDEMPTOR. iniquities : I accept that. Why should I he bruised ? Tlie chastise- ment of my peace was upon Him : I accept that. He is God^s great gift to me. He is the sin-bearer for me. He is the atonement for me. The Lord hath laid on Him my iniquity. I believe that.'^ The Apostle Paul said, " He loved me and gave Himself for me." He didn't say it about Peter, although he knew well that Jesus loved Peter, but he spoke of himself individually ; just as though he had said, " The sun shines for me as much as if I walked alone, a solitary traveller ; but I do not say that it does not shine for them.'''' So you can say, "I come, O Jesus, to Thee. Thou art my Jesus. The Father gave Thee for me. I come to Thee.''"' Rev. S. Coley. It is a very hard matter for people to be made sensible of their sin, and danger by reason of sin, so as to flock in to Christ before He comes and apprehend them in their sin by His judgments ; and, therefore, before He comes this way to us. He again and again requires us to come to Him, and take shelter in Himself as the only hiding-place. The wicked desire to be let alone in their wickedness, that they may live at peace therein ; while " there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." We are all, by reason of sin, under God's anger, and yet know it not ; and, therefore, we are not seeking to go out of the way wherein God's anger burns, nor to be friends with Him ; but here the merciful God is opening the door of mercy, and all the chamber doors of the city of refuge, saying, '' Before the storm of wrath comes on, turn in there.'' O may we hearken to His call ! Rev. R. Erskine. In the great sacrifice of Calvary we behold not only His character and work as a Saviour, but His willingness to save. If He were willing to be crucified for us. He must be willing to save us. The willingness of Christ to save — what an encouraging and consolatory truth ! What amazing mercy beams in it, and what redeeming love shines in it ! How it spans the heaven above us, as the rainbow of the covenant ! Tliis is light in darkness, mercy in wrath, hope in despair, life in death, grace triumphing over deserved vengeance, and love reigning on the very throne of justice, resplendent with mercy and crowned with glory. Rev. H. Creswell. THE SAVIOUR. « Tliougli we may believe that many hearts were cheered and many donbts hushed by the Christian apologies, yet the revival of religion which marked the eighteenth century was due to the spiritual yearnings created by the ministrations of men, often rude and unlettered, who told the wondrous story of Christ crucified ; heart speaking to beart, with intuitions kindled from on high. The sinful began to feel that God was not afar off, reposing in the solitude of His own blessedness, and abandoning mankind to the government of conscience and to the operation of general laws, but nigb at hand, with a heart of Fatherly love to pity, and an ear of mercy to listen. The narrative of Christ, the Son of God, coming down to seek and to save that which was lost, awoke an echo in the heart which neutralised the doubts infused by the deist. And it is a comfort to every Christian labourer to know that if he cannot wrangle out a controversy with the doubter, he can speak to the doubter^s heart. Rev. Dr. A. S. Farrar. " Jesus came to save sinners,^' and " He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.^"" The invitation is universal. " Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.^'' Jesus said not "Come unto Me, ye whose names are in the book of life,''^ but " Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden !'^ Ai-e you heavy laden with sin ? Then come to Jesus, and your salvation is certain ! Come to Jesus ! and you will be received among the elect ; but if you stay away, you will perish. Rev. Newman Hall. Salvation is the redeeming us from that miserable condition in which by nature we lie plunged, most deservedly, and restoring us to that happy state which we should have enjoyed had we continued in our integrity. But Christ Jesus hath performed both these for us ; therefore Hee is a sufficient Saviour. For Christ hath redeemed us from all our misery, whether sinne, the roote, or punishment, the fruit, be considered. Hee hath taken away all sinne, both our originall im- puritie, by the original purity of His manhood, which was therefore sanctified in His conception, by the worke of the Holy Ghost, that it migl\t be exempted from the common condition of corruption ; and our actuall impietie, by the actuall observance of the whole law of God. The " Pharisees " could not take Him tripping in a word, though they 10 CHMISTUS REBEMPTOR. laid many traines to intrap Him. The " High Priests " could lay nothing- to His charge, though they hired false witnesses against Him. " Pilate " himselfe was constrained, through the innocence o£ His cause, ceremonially to justifie Him by washing his hands, though hee were constrained, through the importunitie of His enemies, judicialli/ to proceed against Him, and so spilt blood guiltlesse. Thus was Christ Jesus the Lambe without spot, the Israelite without guile, fairer than the children of men, that so Hee might take away the pollution of our nature, with which we were wholly defiled. And this was His active obedience, wherein Hee did that which we should have done, but could not, exactly fulfilling even the rigorous exaction of all God's Com- mandments. The p2inishnent of sinne Hee took away likewise, by suffering and overcoming that which we must have suffered, but could not overcome — even the full viols of God's wrath, and the weight of His hand, the heavie weight of His heavie wrath, which was due to us for our offences ; for Hee tooke not on Him our nature only, but the infirmities of our nature: Hee that was rich hecnxne pa ore for our sakes, that we which were poore might be made rich : Hee that was cloathed with majestic as with a garment, became naked, that we might be decked with the robes of His ricjhteousnesse : Hee ^zk,y^2i^ annointed with the oile of gladnesse above Hisfellowes, wept, that all teares might be wiped from our eyes : Hee whose throne was in the heavens, wandered and had not whereon to rest His head, that Hee might lead us, who had lost ourselves in the labyrinth of sinne, to eternall rest, and fix us like starres in the firmament. Doe you believe in Him for these things ? (as Hee once said to Nathaniel) follow me with your attention, and you shall see greater things than these. For Hee took upon Him the chastisements of our sinnes, and bare the burden of our iniquities : Hee was accused, that we might be acquitted : Hee was hanged upon the crosse, and accounted a sinner, that our sinnes might be crossed out of the booke of accounts, and we might be accounted holy and righteous and wholly righteous. " Who now shall lay anything- to the charge of God's elect ? ■" Take a view of all the enemies ; they were three — terrible to all the sonnes of Adam — Sinne, Death, and Hell. " If the Lord had not beene on our side," may we now say — " if the Lord had not been on our side. THE SAVIOUR. 11 they had swallowed us up quicker. But thanks be to God, in Christ Jesus the net is broken, and we are escaped, and behold they are dead that sought our lives." . . And thus was Christ the Lambe slaine — the price paid, the propitiatory sacrifice, whereby Hee suffered and overcame that which we should have suffered, but could not have over- come, satisfying even the rigorous exaction of Code's exact justice; and these are both the parts of the payment, which Hee tendered up to God in our behalf e and for our behoofe ; by which Hee hath not only freed us from our naturall miserie, which was the first part of salvation, but hath also filled us with all good things, which consists in two things, hoUnesse and hapjnnesse : both which Christ hath furnished us withall, out of the rich storehouse of His mercies ; for what Hee did, Hee did for us, and we are righteous in His righteousnesse ; and what Hee merited, for us Hee merited, and we are victorious in His victorie ; in a word, Hee hath cloathed us with an undetiled, immaculate robe of righteousnesse, and crowned us with an immortall crown of glory — even an incorruptible crown of inconceivable glory ; with righteousnesse irreprehensible, with glory incomprehensible. And if any man doubt yet of the sufficiency of His satisfaction, let him con- sider but Who it was that did these things, and what the things were which He did and suffered, and then I hope that he shall bee sufficiently satisfied. It was the Lord of Glory that emptied Himselfe into the forme of a servant ; it was the Lord of Life that shed His precious blood for us on the crosse — Who descended out of the bosome of blessednesse into the bottom or basenesse ; therefore needes must His passion be very meritorious, whose person was so magnificent, whose descent — for He was " God-Man " — was so glorious. Rev. Dr. Stoughton. We must not, then, imagine Christ to be innocent, and as a private Person (as do the school men, and almost all the fathers have done) which is holy and righteous for Himself only. True it is, indeed, that Christ is a Person most pure and unspotted, but thou must not stay there ; for thou hast not yet Christ, although thou know Him to be God and Man ; but then thou hast Him indeed, when thou believest that this most pure and innocent Person is freely given unto thee of the Father to be thy High Priest and Saviour — yea, rather thy servant, that is — putting off His innocency and holiness, and taking thy sinful 12 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. person upon Him, might bear thy sin, thy death, and thy curse, and mig-ht be made a sacrifice and a curse for thee, that by this means He might deliver thee from the curse of the law. Martin Luther. Whosoever believeth or thinketh to be saved by his works, denieth that Christ is his Saviour, that Christ died for him, and that all things pertain to Christ. For how is He thy Saviour, if thou mightest save thyself by thy works ? or wherefore should He die for thee, if any of thy works might have saved thee ? P. Hamilton. Christ could not save us, if He did not pluck up the very roots of sinne. He saves us from the guilt, from the power, from the filthi- ness, yea, from the very being of sinne. His salvation is a compleat salvation. It is to save the whole man — to save from all evil to all good. ^Tis to save to eternity. This is what it is to " save to the uttermost " (or to perfection) , and Jesus is able thus to save all that come unto God by Him. Rev. Ralph Robinson. If sin was better known, Christ would be better thought of. Rev. J. Mason. Surely it is sweet to us to listen to this brief saying : " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ! " To save those who had missed the mark, and came short as much of happiness as of holiness. To restore to peace with God those who had broken it by their sins. To knit again in a bond of tender affection children who had left their Father's home, and were wasting His goods, in selfish misery, in a distant and desolate country. To make God known and near and present, in all His longsuffering and in all His love, to those whose wretchedness it was to have lost sight of Him, and to have flung away all assurance of His concern for them, and of His will to bless. To take away the sting of death, and to bring life and immortality to light by His Gospel. Yes, and in order to do this — for without it we lose the surest basis and the tenderest tie of all — in order to this, to take our sins upon Him, and by dying to make propitiation for iniquity. Christ the Sacrifice — the Sacrifice not to wrath, but of love — the gift given, out of boundless compassion, by Him who so loved us that He spared not His own Son from dying on our behalf, so TEE SAVIOUR. 13 making- peace in Christ the Sacrifice of our Father^s love — must ^o before^ Christ the Resurrection^ Christ the Mediator, and Christ the Life. When He came to save sinners, He came first to die for them ; " He came first to be the propitiation for our sins." He who came to save sinners was manifested also to take away our sins, that He might destroy in us the works of the devil. A Gospel which proclaimed an unconditional pardon, but said nothing of an indwelling and inworking- spirit, would be no Gospel to him whose desire it is not only to escape God^s punishment, but to be made capable of God^s presence and receptive of God^s love. Christ comes with His message of forgive- ness and of reconciliation, of death vanquished and immortality revealed. Rev. Dr. C. J. Vajjghan. Oh, what a melting consideration is this ! that out of His agony comes our victory ; out of His condemnation our justification ; out of His pain our ease ; out of His stripes our healing ; out of His gall and vinegar our honey ; out of His curse our blessing ; out of His crown of thorns our crown of glory ; out of His death our life. If He could not be released, it was that you might. If Pilate gave sentence against Him, it was that the great God might never give sentence against you. If he yielded that it should be with Christ as they required, it was that it might be with our souls as well as we can desire. It would weary the arm of an angel to write down all the wonders that are in this salvation. Rev. J. Flavel. Come, lovely name ! life of our hope ! j Lo ! we hold our hearts wide ope ; Unlock Thy cabinet of day. Dearest, sweet, and come away. Lo ! how the thirsty lands Gasp for Thy golden showers, with long-stretched hands ! Lo ! how the labouring earth. That hopes to be All heaven by Thee, Leaps at Thy birth ! The attending world, to wait Thy rise, First turned to eyes, 14 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. And then, not knowing what to do. Turned them to tears, and spent them too. ■X- •x- -Jf- -x- •X- s Sweet Name ! in Thy each syllable, A thousand blest Arabias dwell, A thousand hills of frankincense. Mountains of myrrh and beds of sj)ices, And ten thousand paradises, The soul that tastes Thee takes from thence. How many unknown worlds there are Of comforts, which Thou hast in keeping I How many thousand mercies there In pity^s soft lap lie a-sleeping ! Happy he who has the art To awake them, And to take them Home, and lodge them in his heart ! ^ * * * ^ ¥.■ Welcome, dear, all-adored Name, For sure there is no knee That knows not Thee ; Or, if there be such sons of shame, Alas ! what will they do When stubborn rocks shall bow. And hills hang down their heaven-saluting heads To seek for humble beds Of dust, where, in the bashful shades of night. Next to their own low nothing they may lie. And couch before the dazzling light of Thy dread majesty ? They that by lovers mild dictates now Will not adore Thee, Shall then with just confusion bow. And break before Thee. Cuasuaw. O God ! my heart is fix^d on Thee, Not that Thou may^st deliver me. Nor because those who love not Thee THE SAVIOUR. 16 In quenchless fire must languish ; But Thou J my Saviour^ on the tree, EmbracecVst me with mercy free — For me didst bitter mockings bear. For me the torturing nails and spear, Much shame and speechless anguish, And death itself, and aU for me, And in my stead — a sinner. How, therefore, can I not love Thee, O worthy best-beloved to be ? Not for the hope of joy in heaven, Not fear lest I to hell be driven, Nor, O my freely loving Lord ! For any promise of reward. But all because Thou lovedst me. Thus love I Thee with steadfast heart. Only because my King Thou art. And because Thou art God. F. Xavier. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. ^^ This is the work which must be done by all; and this really and truly done, you shall as surely find accej)tance with God as if you were already in heaven. I do not say that when you have done this there remains nothing more to be done, but I say that, if this be really done, all the rest will follow. Only find the sweetness of that truth, " There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,^^ and you will soon attain the character inseparable from it. You will not " walk after the flesh, but after the spirit/^ _, _, ^ ■^ Rev. C. Simeon. 16 CSBISTUS REBEMPTOR. THE MEDIATOE " There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. ii. 5. Through this great Mediator all that come to Him are acceptable to God. Without Him the best of us are lost; by Him the chief of sinners may, even at the eleventh hour_, come to the Throne of Grace. Through Him the curse of the law is removed^ even that curse which lighteth on every one " that trusteth in man^ and maketh flesh his arm; and whose heart departeth from the Lord ; " and by His spirit we are taught to rest our confidence on God alone. So that we may then say, with an alacrity and spring of soul which nothing but a happy experience can give, " It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in man. The Lord is my light and my salvation : whom, then,, shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life : of whom, then, shall I be afraid ?'^ H. Woodward. Faith does not only acknowledge a Mediator, but takes a full view of the misery of that state wherein we lay through sin, and of the blessedness of that into which we are translated by the redemption which is in Jesus. It contemplates this Mediator in all the several steps of condescension and humiliation, in all the tenderness and transports of His passion, in all the melancholy scenes of His suffer- ings, and the bright and cheerful ones of His glory. Rev. Dr. R. Lucas. As certainly as a vessel can hold no more than its own measure, so certainly no being can understand anything higher than itself. The animals have no power of understanding those qualities in which man transcends the limits of their nature; man has no power of under- standing those qualities in which angels excel us; the very angels and archangels have no power of comprehending God^s infinities. For the finite, however large, can never comprehend the infinite. If, TEE MEDIATOR. 17 then, any knowledge of heavenly things is to be given to man, there must be a mediator between God and man. The very centre of Christianity is that there was such a Mediator — One in whom the infinite, incomprehensible, unapproachable God becomes one with finite man. In this God-Man, the Immanuel of whom the prophets speak, there was this meeting of heaven and earth, by means of which the truths of heaven could be communicated to man. " God spoke in the Son ; " it became impossible to express in human ideas and human words, not perfect knowledge, but such knowledge of Divine things as are necessar""^ for man's salvation. And such was Christ in His fulness Dean Payne Smith. But albeit His office of mediation in God's appointment was before all eternitie,, yet actually it beganne upon Adam's fall, comming after the covenant of workes, which was from the beginning, as soone as angels and men were made, when as yet the purpose of God to save us through Christ lay hid within Himselfe, when first Hee revealed in Paradise, as soon as man had fallen, " The seed of the woman shall breake the head of the serpent." Hereupon we find Him invested into the place. Not onely after Hee had taken flesh, when a voice came from heaven, saying : " This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased, '■* but before Hee came into the world, by him that sware : " Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek."" And againe : " Thou art my Sonne. This day begat I Thee." In regard, partly of His calling to the ofiice of mediation, partly of the graces that God His Father did adorne Him with, Hee is named Christ — that is to say, anoynted, and because soe of God's everlasting decree it is said (Prov. viii. 23). Hee was anoynted before the world. The ofiice of mediation belongeth to the whole Christ, not to any one several nature, in that great work of our redemption ; the Manhood being assisted of the Godhead, and the Godhead in an unspeakable manner working by the Manhood. So the whole Christ is called the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, our Peace, our Wisdom, Righteousnesse, Sanctification, and Kedemption, and finally, our Lord, and Head of the Church — an office so appropriate unto Him, that 18 CHRISTUS REBEMFTOR. there neither are^ nor can be any more ; the Apostle telling us that Hee hath a Priesthood which cannot passe into any other, but remayneth in Himselfe for ever. There is no other Name given us under heaven whereby we may be saved. Therefore Hee proclaymeth of Himselfe, " I am the Way ; I am the Doore." Rev. J. DowNHAME. To come unto God by Christ for forgiveness, and therein to behold the law issuing all its threats and curses in His blood, and losing its sting, putting an end to its obligations unto punishment in the cross; to see all sins gathered up in the hands of God's justice, and made to meet on the Mediator ; and eternal love springing forth triumphantly from His blood, flourishing into pardon, grace, mercy, forgiveness: this the heart of a sinner can be enlarged imto, only by the spirit of Christ. Rev. Dr. Owen. Christ as Mediator fills up the chasm between us and God. Because He is God, He can lay His right hand on the Throne, and secure it ; and because He is man. He can lay His left hand on the human family and secure them. It is only through Him, as our Mediator, that God's love can reach us, and that our prayers can alone be accepted by God. There is only one Mediator. There is no room for another. He is God, and so truly identified with Him that there is no chasm there ; and so united to man, that there is no chasm there. There is but one Mediator between the heights of heaven and the depths of earth. A mother^s tears cannot blend with His sufferings and death. " He trod the wine-press alone." Jesus exclaims of His mother, " Who is my mother, and who are my brethren ? It is those who hear the word of God and do it.'' And the Virgin Mary herself says, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God MY Saviour.^' There is extinguished thereby the use of all images, ceremonies, forms, &c. The perfect mediation of Christ destroys everything like inherent sanctity in any place whatever ; and it extinguishes any supposed holiness in any specific tongue or language, or the necessity of any other priest. Christ is the Daysman betwixt us, that lays His hand upon us both. The law was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the THE MEDIATOR. 19 promise was made; it was ordained in the hands of a Mediator. " For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.''-' Rev. Dr. Gumming. It is plain that our Lord^s mediatorial character and office was meant to be represented as a perpetual character and office, because it is described in conjunction with the existence of God and men, so long as men exist : " There is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ.''^ " Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name.'''' "At that day ye shall ask in my name." These words form part of our Lord^s memorable conversation with His select disciples, not many hours before His death ; and clearly intimate the mediatorial office which He was to discharge after His ascension, Aechdeacon Paley. 20 CRRISTUS EEDEMPTOR. THE ADVOCATE. "Jjf any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." 1 Jolin ii. 1. Oh, most powerful Advocate, blessed Jesus ! I put my cause in Thy hands ; let it be unto Thy servant according to Thy word. Let Thy blood and merits plead for my pardon; say unto me, as Thou didst unto the penitent of the Gospel, " Thy sins are forgiven ; '' and grant that I may "bring forth fruits for repentance/'' Perfect, therefore, oh, my Saviour, the work in my heart : and let me feel the effects of Thy grace in the constancy of my devotions, in the care of my soul, in the faithful discharge of my duties, and in all such acts of righteous- ness, piety, and charity by which I shall be judged at the last day. Grant this. Almighty God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Bishop T. Wilson. O Thou, the contrite sinners' Friend, Who, loving, lov'st them to the end, Oil this alone my hopes depend — That Thou wilt plead for me ! When, weary in the Christian race, Far off appears my resting-place. And, fainting, I mistrust Thy grace. Then, Saviour, plead for me ! When I have err'd and gone astray, Afar from Thine and wisdom's way. And see no glimmering guiding ray, Still, Saviour, plead for me. When Satan, by my sins made bold. Strives from Thy cross to loose my hold. Then with Thy pitying arms enfold. And plead, O plead for me ! TBE ADVOCATE. 21 And when my dying- hour draws near, Darken''d with anguish, guilt, and fear, Then to my fainting sight appear, Pleading in heaven for me ! When the full light of heavenly dav. Reveals my sins in dread array, Say Thou hast washed them all away ; O say Thou plead^st for me ! Charlotte Elliott. Though angels in heaven and saints on earth are petitioners in our behalf to God, yet Christ alone is our Advocate, in that He is the reconciliation for our sins. No saints can be a reconciliation for us ; therefore, no saints can be advocates. Zajstchius. Under the Gospel there being but one High Priest, and but one Sacrifice once offered for sin, and intercession for sinners being founded in the merit and virtue of the Sacrifice by which expiation for sin is made, there can be no other Mediator of intercession but He who hath made expiation of sin by a Sacrifice offered to God for that purpose, and this Jesus Christ only hath done. He is, therefore, the only Mediator between God and man, because He only gave Himself as ransom for all ; He is, therefore, our only Advocate' with the Father, because He only is the propitiation for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world. Aechbishop Tillotson. Have you contemplated Christ as your Intercessor, watching over you by His care, protecting you by His grace, pleading for you by His precious blood? Have you desired that through His mediation your prayers and your actions might become pleasing to God ? Has the expectation of His second coming restrained you in the hour of temptation, lest He should say at last, " Depart from Me, I never knew you ? " Have you been encouraged in His service by the assurance that " whop )ever shall confess Him before men, him shall the Son of Man also -onfess before the angels of God?^"* Have you so far realised to yourselves His promise, "^ Surely I come quickly," as to be ready to reply, "Even so, come. Lord Jesus ?" These were the 22 CERISTUS REBEMPTOR. feelings of tlie Apostolic age, and we must not rest satisfied with our state as Christians till we have made those feelings our own. Archbishop Sumner. For mine own part, I verily think there is no joy, no pleasure in this world comparable to that which ariseth from a firm faith, and right apprehension of Christ's being alu-ays not only interceding for us in heaven, but also present with us upon earth, to direct, support, and carry us through the various changes and chances of this mortal life, till He hath brought us to Himself in glory ; that He is always more ready to help, than the devil can be to tempt us ; that His grace is always sufiicient for us, and His strength made perfect in our weakness. He that thinks not this to be matter of real joy knows not as yet what it is to be a real Christian. Bishop Beveridge. There is One above, Jesus Christ the Righteous, that sits continually on the right hand of the Majestic on high to hear the causes and complaints of His poore people, and to receive and present our petitions to the Divine Majestic, and is never weary of it. Come when we will, Hee is at leisure to hear us. It is a pretty observation St. Augustine makes out of the parable proposed by our Saviour (Luke xi.), where he that knocks at midnight to borrow bread of his neighbour, found all the whole family asleepe : onely the master of the house was awake, and he answered, and opened, and gave him that he craved, though it was an unseasonable time. None of all the porters, none of all the servants, none of all the children made him any answer. They were all asleepe ; only the master was awake and heard him when he called. Just so it fares with us when we knocke and call at the doore of heaven for any mercie. None of all the prophets nor Apostles, none of all the blessed saints departed, make us any answer ; alas ! they heare us not ; they sleepe in peace, and are at rest from their labours. Only God Almighty, who is the Master and Maker of that blessed familie, Hee, and only Hee, doth heare and answer, at what time soever we cry unto Him. Hee that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth. Call when we will, Christ is alway awake to heare and helpe. No time unseasonable to seeke Christ. Rev. J. Gore. TEE ADVOCATE. 23 The first of those benefits that flow from a remembrance of Christ IS comfort to the soul when wounded by a sense of sin. What can be more reheving", what more cheering to the contrite heart of a mourning- sinner, than to think of a Saviour who was wounded for his trans- gressions and bruised for his iniquities — to remember One whose blood cleanseth from all sin, Who has already saved thousands of the guilty sons of Adam, and Who is still inviting all the weary and heavy laden of His sinful race to come unto Him for pardon and for rest. It is sweet to the soul to think of such a Saviour as pouring out His soul an offering for sin; but it is still more sweet to think of Him as at this very moment appearing before God for us, standing, as a Lamb that had been slain, before His throne, and still bearing in His sacred body the very marks of His suffering and death. This surely must be a source of strong consolation to the soul that is really mourning for sin. Here is something to lean on — something that can bear the weight of a sinner^s doubts and fears and cares. Only let us once be brought to lean on it, and though heaven and earth be destroyed on account of the sin that has defiled them, our souls shall escape unhurt in the wreck. C. Bradley. I see, I see Him with the eyes of faith, crowned with glory and honour, standing for ever in Thy presence, at the right hand of Majesty, to make intercession for us. And what breath can harbour misgiving of the love that inspires, or the mercies that flow out of that mediation ? For He is God of Thy substance, and Man of ours ; He who is Thy Son is also our Brother, bone of our bones, and flesh of our flesh, St. Anselm. 24 CERISTUS SEDESTPTOE. THE MESSIAH. " Tlie woman saith unto Him, I Jcnow that Messias cometh, which, is called Christ : when He is come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speah unto thee am He." St. Jolm iv. 25, 26. He had those, indeed, who loved Him ; Galileans, it may be, chiefly, who were too far away from the centres of thought to hold very settled theories as to w^hat the Messiah ought to he ; but plainly some of the Jews in Jerusalem also believed in Him. The mass saw in Him One who contradicted and frustrated all their hopes ; and if the Galileans were content to follow a lowly King with their hosannas, their own cry was '' Crucify Him ! " Peter and the few said, '' Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal lif e.^^ What was eternal life to the populace? They wanted the empire of the world ; and if the Messiah would not give it them, then they would destroy Him. And, secondly, the Christ of the Gospels is no human invention. Men did not at all learn what He would be from the words of prophecy, plain though they be. Give men what proof you will, but seldom do they find more than what it suits them to find. If what is said agrees with their preconceived notions, well : if not, they reject it. So it was with the oracles of truth. The Jew did not find the interpretation, because he never sought to find it. If we see it, it is because the Holy Ghost has given us the true exposition of those Scriptures which He has Himself inspired. Dean Payne Smith. In Judea, where the minds of men were burning with feverish expectation of a Messiah, I can easily conceive of a Jew imagining that in himself this ardent conception, this ideal of glory, was to be realised : I can conceive of his seating himself in fancy on the throne of David, and secretly pondering the means of his appointed triumphs. But that a Jew should fancy himself the Messiah, and at the same time should strip that character of all the attributes which had fired THE MESSIAH. 25 his }'OTithful imag-ination and heart — that he should start aside from all the feelings and hopes of his age, and should acquire a consciousness of being destined to a wholly new career, and one as unbounded as it was new — this is exceedingly improbable ; and one thing is certain, that an imagination so erratic, so ungoverned, and able to generate the conviction of being destined to a work so immeasurably dispro portioned to the power of the individual, must have partaken of insanity. Now, is it conceivable that an individual mastered by so wild and fervid an imagination, should have sustained the dignity claimed by Christ — should have acted worthily the highest part ever assumed on earth ? Would not his enthusiasm have broken out amidst the peculiar excite- ments of the life of Jesus, and have left a touch of madness on his teaching and conduct ? Is it to such a man that we shall look for the inculcation of a new and perfect form of virtue, and for the exempli- fication of humanity in its fairest form ? The charge of an extrava- gant, self -deluding enthusiasm, is the last to be fastened on Jesus. Serenity and self-possession were pecuharly His attributes. The singular and sublime character claimed by Jesus can be traced neither to imposture nor to an ungoverned, insane imagination. It can only be accounted for by its truth, its reality. And when I can receive the full import of such passages as the following : — " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ;" "I am come to seek and to save that which was lost ; " " He that con- fesseth Me before men, him will I confess before My Father which is in heaven ; " '' Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me before men, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of the Father with the holy angels ■/' " In My Father's house are many mansions : I go to prepare a place for you " : — I say, when I can succeed in realising the import of such passages, I feel myself listening to a Being such as never before and never since spoke in human language. I am awed by the consciousness of greatness which these simple words express; and when I connect this greatness with the proofs of Christ's miracles, I am compelled to say with the centurion : "Truly this was the Son of God.'' Rev. Dr. Channing. Rise, crowned with light, imperial Salem, rise I Exalt thy towering head, and lift thy eyes ! 26 CHRISTUS EEBEMPTOR. See a long- race thy spacious courts adorn ! See future sons and daughters yet unborn In crowding ranks on every side arise^ Demanding life^ impatient for the skies ! See barbarous nations at thy gates attend, Walk in thy Hght, and in thy temple bend ! See thy bright altars thronged with prostrate kings, And heaped with products of Sabsean springs. For thee Idumea^s spicy forests blow, And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow; See heaven its sparkling portals wide display, And break upon thee in a flood of day ! No more the rising sun shall gild the morn, Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn, But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays — One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze O'erflow thy courts ; the Light Himself shall shine Revealed, and God''s eternal day be thine ! The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay. Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away ; But fixed His word, His saving power remains ; The realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns ! Pope. Messiah comes ! Ye rugged paths, be plain ; The Shiloh comes ! Ye towering cedars, bend ; Swell forth, ye valleys, and, ye rocks, descend ; The withered branch let balmy fruits adorn. And clustering roses twine the leafless tliorn j Burst forth, ye vocal groves, your joy to tell — The God of Peace redeems His Israel ! C. H. Johnson, IMMANUEL. IMMANUEL. 27 *'Sehold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." Isa. vii. 14. The Manhood could suffer, but not overcome^ the sharpness of death ; the Godhead could suffer nothing-, but overcome everything. He, therefore, that was to suffer and to overcome death for us, must be partaker of both natures ; that, being put to death in the flesh. He might be able also to quicken Himself by His own Spirit. Archbishop Usher. In One alone has the divine been so blended with the human, that, as the ocean mirrors every star and every tint of blue upon the sky, so was the earthly life of Christ the life of God on earth. Rev. F. W. Robertson. As long as men are men, can they ever have a higher moral conception of God than that given to them through the character of a Perfect Man, and can we conceive, in centuries to come, men ever getting beyond that idea as long as they are in the human state ? The conception of what the ideal Man is will change, as men grow more or less perfect, or as mankind is seen more or less as a vast organism ; but as long as there is a trace of imperfection in us, this idea — that perfect humanity, that is, perfect Fatherhood, perfect love, perfect justice — all our imperfect goodnesses — realised in perfection, and impersonated in One Being, is God to ns — can never fail to create religion and kindle worship. Rev. Stopford Brooke. This '^original primary temple hath matter of rational inducement in it, as it gives us a plain representation of Divine holiness,''^ brightly shining in human nature. For here was to be seen a most pure, serene, dispassionate mind, unpolluted by any earthly tincture, in- habiting an earthly tabernacle like our own : a mind adorned with the most amiable, lovely virtues — faith, patience, temperance, godliness; 28 CERISTUS HEBF.MPTOR. full of all righteousness^ g'oodness, meekness^ mercifulness, sincerity, humility; most abstracted from this world, immoveably intent on what had reference to a future state of thing-s, and the affairs of another country ; inflexible by the blandishment of sense — not apt to judge by the sight of the eye, or be charmed by what were most grateful to a voluptuous ear ; full of pity towards a wretched, sinful world, compassionate to its calamities, unprovoked by its sharpest injuries ; bent upon doing the greatest good, and prepared to the suffer- ing of the greatest evil. . . . Men might see a God was come down to dwell among them — " the brightness of the Father^s glory, and the express image of His person/'' A Deity inhabiting human flesh for such purposes as He came for, could not be supposed to carry any more becoming appearance than He did. Here was, therefore, an " exemplary temple.'^ Howe. The scene around me disappears, And, borne to ancient regions. While time recalls the flight of years, I see angelic legions Descending in an orb of light : Amidst the dark and silent night I hear celestial voices. Tidings, glad tidings from above To every age and nation ; Tidings, glad tidings ! God is Love, To man He sends salvation. His Son beloved, His only Son, The work of mercy hath beg"un ; Give to His name the glory ! Through David's city I am led : There all around are sleeping ; A light directs to yon poor shed : There lonely watch is keeping : I enter; ah ! what glories shine ! Is this ImmanucFs earthly shrine, Messiah''s infant temple ? IMMANUEL. 29 It \s, it is ! and I adore This Stranger meek and lowly. As saints and angels bow before The throne of God thrice holy ! Faith throug'h the veil of flesh can see The face of Thy Divinity, My Lordj my God, my Saviour ! James Montgomery. The infinite significance of the life of Christ is not exhausted by saying that He was a perfect man. The notion of the earlier Socinians that He was a pattern man commissioned from heaven with a message to teach men how to live, and supernaturally empowered to live in that perfect way Himself, is immeasurably short of truth. For perfec- tion merely human does not attract; rather it repels. It maybe copied in form ; it cannot be imitated in spirit — for men only imitate that from which enthusiasm and life are caught — for it does not inspire nor fire with love. Faultless men and pattern children — you may admire them, but you admire coldly. Praise them as you will, no one is better for their example. No one blames them and no one loves them ; they kindle no enthusiasm ; they create no likeness of themselves ; they never reproduce themselves in other lives — the true prerogative of all original life. If Christ had been only a faultless being. He would never have set up in the world a new type of character which at the end of two thousand years is fresh and life-giving and inspiring still. He never would have regenerated the world ; He never would " have drawn all men unto Him " by being lifted up a self-sacrifice, making self-devo- tion beautiful. In Christ the divine and human blended ; immortality joined itself to mortality. There was in Him the divine, which re- mained fixed; the human, which was constantly developing. One uniform idea and purpose characterised His whole life with a divine, immutable unity throughout, but it was subject to the laws of human growth, for the soul of Christ was not cast down upon this world a perfect thing at once. Spotless ? — Yes. Faultless ? — Yes. Tempted, yet in all points without sin ? — Yes. But perfection is more thau 30 CERISTUS REDEMPTOR. faultlessness. All Scripture coincides in telling us that the ripe perfection of His manhood was reached step by step. There was a power and a life in Him which were to be developed — which could only be developed, like all human strength and goodness — by toil of brain and heart. Life up-hill all the way, and every footprint by which He climbed left behind for us, petrified on the hard rock, and indurated into history for ever, to show us where and when and how He toiled and won. Take a few passages to prove that His perfection was gained by degrees : — " It became Him for whom are all things, and by \^■hom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.''^ Again, " Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrOw, and the third day I shall be perfected." "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience. ^^ " And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature.'^ Now see the result of this aspect of His perfectibility. In that changeless element of His Being which, beneath all the varying phases of growth, remained divinely faultless, we see that which we can adore. In the ever-changing, ever-growing — subject, therefore, to feeble- ness and endearing instability — we see that which brings Him near to us, makes Him loveable, at the same time that it interprets us to ourselves. Rev. F. W. Robertson. Oh, Thou light of my life. Thou joy of my heart. Thou knowest how I wish for the end of my faith, when I shall no longer see through a glass darkly, but with open face behold the glory of God ! Thou hast so endeared Thyself to me. Thou precious Immanuel, by ten thousand thousand kindnesses, that I cannot be entirely satisfied until I have the full vision and complete enjoyment of Thyself. Oh, for the marriage of the Lamb, when I shall be presented as a chaste virgin to my heavenly Bridegroom ! Rev. W. Roilaine. Though He had all the passions of a man, yet He had all the per- fections, likeunse, of God, that none might be so profanely contumelious as to contemn His Deity, because He took upon Him the grossness of our humanity. He was born of a woman, but she a virgin ; that was human, this divine. He was wrapt in swaddling cloaths when He IMMANUEL. 31 was an Infant^ but shaked off the cloaths that wrapt Ilim in the sepulchre when He was dead ; He was laid in a manger, but then glorified by angels, pointed to by a star, and worshipped by the wise men. He was driven into Egypt; but there drove away the errors o£ the Egyptians. The Jews saw no beauty in Him, but He shone upon the mountain brighter than the sun, prefiguring the glory to which He should ascend. He was baptised and tempted as man, but He took away the sins of the world and got the victory as God. He was hungry, but fed many thousands, and is Himself the heavenly Bread which giveth life. He was thirsty, but gave the Waters of Life, and made rivers of living waters flow from those that believed on Him. He was called a Samaritan, and they said He had a devil ; but He put devils to flight, and tumbled whole legions of them into the deep, and made the prince of devils fall like lightning from heaven. He was sold for thirty pieces of silver, but purchased the whole world with the great price of His own blood. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, but was the Shepherd of Israel, and now is of all the world. He was dumb as a lamb before the shearers, but is the Word, preached by the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He was wounded and bruised, but healed every sickness and all manner of disease. He was lifted up on the tree, and there fixed, but restored us to the Tree of Life, and saved the thief who was crucified with Him. He laid down His life, but had power to take it again ; and the veil was rent, the rocks were cleft, and the dead were raised. He died ; but He gives life, and by death extinguished death. He was buried ; but rose again out of the grave. He went down into hell; but He brought up souls with Him, and ascended into heaven, and will come again, to judge the quick and the dead, and to examine all such discourses as detract from His glory. St. Gregory Nazianzen. The Lord of Hosts hath walked This world of man : the One Almighty sent His everlasting Son to wear the flesh And glorify this mortal human shape : And the blind eyes unclosed to see the Lord, And the dumb tongues brake out in songs of praise ; And the deep grave cast forth its wondering dead- 52 CERISTTTS REBEMPTOR. And trembling devils murmured sullen homage : Yet Him^ the meek, the merciful, the just. Upon the cross the rebel people hung, And mock'd His dying anguish. Dean Milmait. I know not what can be added to heighten the wonder, reverence, and love which are due to Jesus. When I consider Him not only as possessed with the consciousness o£ an unexampled and unboimded majesty, but as recognising a kindred nature in all human beings, and living and dying to raise them to a participation of His Divine glories; and when I see Him under these views allying Himself to men by the tenderest ties, embracing them with a spirit of humanity which no insult, injury, or pain could for a moment repel or overpower, I am filled with wonder, as well as reverence and love. I feel that His character is not of human invention, that it was not assumed through fraud, or struck out by enthusiasm; for it is infinitely above their reach. Rev. Dr. Chaining. If the life and death of Socrates be those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus Christ are those of a God. Rousseau. The roaring tumult of the billowed sea Awakes Him not : high on the crested surge Now heaved, his locks flowed streaming to the blast : And now, descending ^tween the sheltering waves, The falling tresses veil the face Divine : Meek through that veil, a momentary gleam Benignant shines : He dreams that He beholds The opening eyes — that hopeless long had rolled In darkness — look around, bedimmed with tears Of joy : but suddenly the voice of fear Dispelled the happy vision. Awful He rose ; Rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, " Peace, be thou still I '' And straight there was a calm. With terror-mingled gladness in their looks. The mariners exclaim : " What Man is this. That even the wind and sea obey His voice?" Geahame. IMMANUEL. 33 When the only begotten Son was made Man^ finding man's nature bereft of its ancient and primitive good^ He hastened to transform it again into the same state, out of the fountain of His fulness, sending forth the Spirit, and saying : " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." St. Cyeil. Tree of Eternal Life, Thee all adore. Accept this prayer, O Saviour ! that if men Can nothing do but sin. Thou may'st forgive The creature crime, and bring back all to Thee. Thou art the One who made the universe ; Yet didst Thou walk on earth ; Thou breakest bread ' And drankest wine with men, betokening so Thine own complete. Divine humanity. May all obey Thy words and do Thy will ! Thy cross be multiplied, till every heart Become a Calvary, whereon is wrought The mystery of our nature suffering death. And the diviner secret of the soul. And perfect sacrifice ; and where above This deadly level of creation's orb. The immortal spirit mountainlike aspires Into thine infinite, O eternity ! What though the written Word be born no more, The spirit's revelation still proceeds. Evolving all perfection; therefore most i We bless Thee, God our Saviour; whoso are Saved, are in Thee ; the One, the Twin, Triu'.^e. The antiformal spirit wants no word Whereby to mark its union with the soul ; For kindled, like a sacrifice of old. By Heaven's spontaneous fire, the soul achieves In death its final cause, accomplishing In very aspiration being's end. Thou doest all things rightly ; all are best, Sorrow and joy and power and suffering. For sorrow comes of nature ; of God, bliss ; 34 CESISTUS REBEMPTOR. The mysteries of one are full of woe, Cavernous darkness, shrieks, and fire ; of Heaven Light, peace, and jubilation, such as He, The all felicitating Sun, instils. Providing therefore, all things that must he And ought to be, as Thou dost and hast done. From the beginning even to the end, This heart let cease from prayer, these lips from praise, Save that which life shall offer pauselessly. Now go I forth again, refreshed, consoled, Upon my time-enduring pilgrimage. P. J. Bailey. The nature of Christ^s existence, I admit, is mysterious ; but this mystery meets the wants of man. Reject it, and the world is an inexplicable riddle ; believe it, and the history of our race is satis- factorily explained. Napoleon. Believe, O man, in Him who is Man and God ; believe, O man, in Him, who suffered, and is adored — the living God; believe, ye that are enslaved, in Him, that was dead ; all ye men, believe in Him, who only of all men is God. St. Clement op Alexandria. Love, justice, tenderness — if we would know what they mean in God, we must gain the conception from their existence in ourselves. But inasmuch as humanity is imperfect in us, if we were to learn of God only from His image in ourselves, we should run the risk of calling the evil good, and the imperfect divine. Therefore, He has given us the representation of Himself in Christ, where is found the meeting-point of the Divine and the human, and in whose life the character of Deity is reflected as completely as the sun is seen in the depth of the still, untroubled lake. Rev. F. W. Robertson. Christ, by His life and death, merited so much for us, because the same Person that so lived and died for us was God as well as Man ; and every action that He did, and every passion that He suffered, was done and suffered by Him that was God as well as Man. And hence it is that Christ, of all persons in the world, is so lit — yea, only fit — to be my Redeemer, Mediator, and Surety, because He alone is both God and Man in one Person. Bishop Beveuidge. IMMANUEL. 36 Ohj my soul, praise the Lord, and forget not the good He has done thee ! Who art thou, fallen with Adam, that He should have such compassion on thee ? What Divine love, to come and live in the thorny field of thy heart, and stretch out His arms toward thee ! It is well to wait in such a valley of tears, to halt in such a troubled path, for such a favour to meet thee. However dark and sorrowful, then, it looks around thee, there are beams from the cross of recon- ciliation shining from beyond those clouds ! An eternal refuge stands open ; a Saviour is walking through the midnight hours of thy life ; and on the pillars of this earth a great Name stands written — the Name of Immanuel ! F. Arndt. He was not In costly raiment clad, nor on His brow The symbol of a princely lineage wore ; No followers at His back, nor in His hand Buckler, or sword, or spear : yet in His mien Command sat throned serene. And if He smiled, A kingly condescension graced His lips The lion would have couched to in his lair. His garb was simple, and His sandals worn ; His stature modelled with a perfect grace ; His countenance the impress of a God, Touched with the open innocence of a child ; His eye was blue and calm, as is the sky In the serenest noon. His hair, unshorn. Fell to His shoulders ; and His curling beard The fulness of perfected manhood bore. N. P. Willis. 86 CERISTUS SEDEMFTOS. THE SON OF GOD. " Truly this was the Son of God." St. Matthew xxvii. 54. Whensoever thou hast to do in the matter of justification, and disputest with thyself how God is to be found that justifieth and accepteth sinners ; when, and in what sort He is to be sought ; then know thou that there is no other God besides this Man, Christ Jesus. Embrace Him, and cleave to Him with thy whole heart, setting aside all curious speculations of Divine majesty; for he that is a searcher of God^s majesty shall be overwhelmed of His glory. I know by experience what I say, that these vain spirits which so deal with God that they exclude the Mediator, do not believe less. Christ himself said, " I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life : no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.-''' Therefore, besides this Way, Christ, thou shalt lind no way to the Father, but wandering ; no verity, but hypocrisy and lying ; no life, but eternal death. Wherefore, mark this well in the matter of justification: that when any of us shall have to wrestle with the law, sin, and death, and all other evils, we must look upon no other God, but only this God, incarnate, and clothed with man^s nature. Martin Luther. Bred a Jewish peasant or carpenter. He issues from obscurity, and claims for Himself a divine office, a superhuman dignity, such as had not been imagined ; and in no instance does He fall below the character. The peasant, and still more the Jew, wholly disappears. We feel that a new Being, of a new order of mind, is taking a part in human affairs. There is a native tone of grandeur and authority in His teaching. He speaks as a Being related to the whole human race. His mind never shrinks within the ordinary limits of human agency. A narrower sphere than the world never enters His thoughts. He speaks in a natural, spontaneous style, of accomplishing the most arduous and important changes in human affairs. This unlaboured manner of expressing great thoughts is particularly worthy of atten- tion. You never hear from Jesus that swelling, pompous, ostentatious THE SON OF GOB. 37 language which almost necessarily springs from an attempt to sus- tain a character above our powers. He talks of His glories as One to whom they vrere familiar^ and of His intimacy and oneness with God as simply as a child speaks of his connection with his parents. He speaks of saving and judging the world^ of drawing all men to Himself, and of giving everlasting life^ as we speak of the ordinary powers which we exert. He makes no set harangues about the grandeur of His office and character. His consciousness of it gives a hue to His whole language^ breaks out in indirect, undesigned expressions, showing that it was the deej^est and most familiar of His convictions. This argument is only to be understood by reading the Gospels with wakeful mind and heart. It does not lie on their surface^ and it is the stronger for lying beneath it. When I read these books with care, when I trace the unaffected majesty which runs through the life of Jesus, and see Him never falling below His sublime claims, amidst poverty, and scorn, and His last agony, I have a feeling of the reality of His character which I cannot express. I feel that the Jewish carpenter could no more have conceived and sustained this character under motives of imposture, than an infantas arm could repeat the deeds of Hercules, or his unawakened intellect comprehend and rival the matchless works of genius. Rev. Dr. Channing. Upon what account or score is it that the Father will do so much for His Son ? Why, it is solely on the account of His Son-ship. " Thou art JNIy Son, this day have I begotten Thee •/' therefore now, " Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. ^^ God will give this gift to none but His Son, and were He not His Son He should not have it ; it is a gift too rich, too glorious, for any besides the Son of God, the Heir of the promises. " Thou art My Son," saith God, " and I am engaged, as I am Thy Father, to bestow a Fatherly gift upon Thee ; and now ^ ask of Me/ and I will bestow such a gift upon Thee as becomes My glory to give, and Thine honour to receive.''^ " Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee." I conceive that this is not only meant of the eternal generation of the Son — not only of that day of Christ's exaltation and honour, when the Father raised Him from the dead, not suffering His Holy One to see corruption, making it 38 CERISTUS BELEMFTOR. evident He was the eternal Son of God, a jDerfect and all-sufficient Mediator — but also o£ this day wherein God exalteth Him as King-, and makes Him King in Sion. William Llanv^donon. Sometimes some of those first disciples utter their faith on Him as Son of God j so Nathanael, upon his very first seeing and hearing of Him, answered and said imto Him, " Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel/'' The faith of the Samaritan disciples is thus expressed : " Now we believe, for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world/' And Peter, in the name of the disciples, expresseth the same : " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God/' And the revelation of this was that which caused them to cleave to Him, and say, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life/' And it was from the Father teaching-, " Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven/' Rev. De. Goodwin. The proclamation of the crucified Man as the Son of God was the Gospel or good tidings of the Apostles. In that character men were invited to receive Him. The Apostles believed their own words ; they could therefore trust God to prove them true. If this Man were the King of the world, strange and ridiculous as the proposition might sound in the ears of Jews or heathens. He would be shown to be such by one means or other. Some of the Apostles knew nothing of the previous feelings and discipline of the nations ; since, as the Apostle Paul might have meditated on that subject, and have conversed much with men of different opinions, that all alike met the peoj)le among whom they came, not with arguments to prove this true or that false, but with the announcement of a Person who had a right to men's obedience, and whom it was good that they should obey. Rev. Professor Maurice. The blessed mother knew that the Holy Ghost, whose Being, Divinity, and greatness she could scarcely have heard of, was to come upon her, and that, therefore, the Holy Child born of her should have the name of the Son of God. Yet even she, and even then — though she pondered deeply, and treasured iu her heart the many marks of TEE SON OF GOD. 39 Divine love and subjection of her dutiful Child^ and felt her neart burn within her, no doubt, at the sparks of unearthly wisdom which fell from His lips, while, even as a boy. He was bent upon His Father's business — knew not the full revelation of His greatness. Still less did the Jews, and even the disciples, understand the great truth that was about to burst upon them ; so that the mysterious words : " Before Abraham was, I am,''' " I and the Father are One,'' and others such as these, with all His words and deeds of Divine power and majesty, must have been like glimmering' lights in the East, foretelling an approaching dawn of high and divine truth. Bishop Mobekly. Every one knows what it is to become like those whom we admire or esteem — the impress which a disciple may sometimes have received from his teacher, or the servant from his lord. Such devotion to a particular person can rarely be thought to open our hearts to love others also ; it often tends to weaken the force of individual character. But the love of Christ is the conducting medium to the love of all mankind ; the image which He impresses upon us is the image not of any particular individual, but of the Son of Man. And this image, as we draw nearer to it, is transfigured into the image of the Son of God. As we become like Him we see Him as He is ; and see our- selves and all other things with true human sympathy. Lastly, we are sensible that more than all we feel towards Him he feels towards us, and that it is He who is drawing us to Him, while we seem to be drawing to Him ourselves. This is a part of that mystery of which the Apostle speaks — " of the length, and breadth, and love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." Rev. Pkofessok Jowett. The character which the Apostles give of Christ Jesus Himself is, that He was a Person of the greatest humility and condescension ; that He did not assume to Himself that which He might justly have done. For, let the words of St. Paul be understood either as to the nature or dignity of Christ, it is certain that it must imply thus much : that when Christ Jesus was here on earth. He was not of a vain, assuming humour ; that He did not boast of Himself, nor mag- nify His own greatness, but was contented to be looked on as other men ; although He had at that time far greater and diviner excel- lency in Him than the world would believe. Less than this cannot be 40 CESISTUS REBEMFTQR made of those words of the Apostle : — '' Who, being in the form of God, thoug-ht it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant/^ Now, this being the character given of Him, let us consider what He doth affirm concerning Himself. For although He was far from drawing the people after Him, by setting forth His own iDerfections, yet upon just occasions, when the Jews contested with Him, he did assert such things which must savour of vanity and ostentation, or else must im2)ly that He was the eternal Son of God. For all mankind are agreed that the highest degree of ambition lies in affecting divine honour, or for a mere man to be thought a God. How severely did God i^unish Herod for being pleased with the people's folly in crying out, " It is the voice of a god, and not of a man " (Acts xii. 22), and therefore He could never have borne with such positive assertions and such repeated defences of His being the Sun of God in such a manner as implied His being so from eternity. This, in His disputes with the Jews, He affirms several times ; that " He came down from heaven " (John vi. 32, 33), not in a metai:)liorical but in a proper sense, as appears by those words, " What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?^' (John vi. 38, 50, 58, 62.) In another conference He asserted that '' He was before Abraham,-" which the Jews so literally understood, that without a metaphor, they went about to stone Him (John v. 59). But, above all, is that expression which He used to the Jews at another conference (John x. 30) : " I and My Father are One ;" which they understood in such a manner that immediately "they took up stones to have stoned Him." What means all this rage of the Jews against Him ? What ? for saying that He had unity of consent with His Father ? No, certainly. But the Jews misunderstood Him. Let us suppose it. Would not our Saviour have immediately explained Himself to prevent so dangerous a misconstruction ? But He asked them what it was they stoned Him for. They answer Him directly and plainly, " Because that Thou, being a man, makest Thyself God.'' This was home to the purpose. And here was the time for Him to have denied it, if it had not been so. But doth He deny it? Doth He say, it would be hlasjiheniy in Him to own it ? No ; but He goes about to defend it, and proves it to be no lilasphany for Him to say that He icas the Son TEE SON OF GOB. 41 of God — i.e., so as to be God, as the Jews misunderstood it. Can we imagine that a )nere man, knowing- himself to be such,, should assume this to himself? and yet God to bear witness to Him not only by miracles, but by a voice from Heaven, wherein He was called " His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased'" (Matt. iii. 17). Could God be pleased with a mortal, finite, despicable creature, as the Jews thought Him, that assumed to Himself to be God, and maintained and defended it among His own people, in a solemn conference, at a very public jjlace, in one of the porticos of the Temple ? And this He persisted in to the last ; for when the High Priest " adjured Him by the living God to tell whether He were the Christ, the Son of God ■'■' (for he, no doubt, had heard of the result of this conference in Solomon^s Porch), Jesus said unto him, '^ Thou hast said^^ — and mark, more expressly, Jesus said, " I am.^"* And this was the ])lasphemy for which they put Him to death; as appears by the Evangelists. So that this ought to be a dispute only between Jews and Christians ; since it was the very point for which they condemned Him to death. And in His last most Divine prayer, just before His suffering, He owns the glory which He had with the Father before the world was (John xvii. 5). Was this nothing- but the glory which God had designed to give Him ? This is so far from being peculiar to Christ, that it is common to all whom God designs to glorify ; and takes away the distinction between the decree and the execution of it. Here we have, therefore, a thing which must be owned by all; and yet such a thing which can be conceived by none; which shows the narrowness and shortness of our understandings, and how unfit they are to be the measures of the possibilities of things. " Vain men would be wise ;" they would fain go to the very bottom of things ; when, alas ! they scarce understand the very surface of them. They will allow no masteries in religion, and yet everything is a mystery to them. There is not a spire of grass but is a mystery to them ; they will bear with nothing in religion which they cannot comprehend ; and yet there is scarce anything in the world which they can comprehend. But, above other things, the Divine perfections, even those which are most absolute and necessary, are above their reach. '^ Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness — God manifest in the flesh. ''•' Bishop Stillingfleet. 42 CIIRISTUS EEBEMPTOR. The moral results of Calvary are what they are oecause Christ is God. He vdio stooped from heaven to the humiliations of the cross, has opened in the heart of redeemed man a fountain of love and compassion. No distinctions within the vast circles of the human family can narrow or pervert its course; nor can it cease to flow, while Christians believe that Christ crucified for men is the only begotten Son of God. It is, therefore, an error to suppose that the doctrine of our Lord^'s Divinity has impoverished the moral life of Christendom, "by removing* Christ from the category of imitable beings.''^ For, on the one hand, the doctrine leaves His humanity altogether intact; on the other, it enhances the force of His example as a model of the grace of humility and love. Thus, from age to age, this doctrine has in truth fertilised the moral soil of human hfe, not less than it has guarded and illuminated intellectual truth. How, indeed, could it be otherwise? "If God spared not His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ? " Who shall wonder if wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption are given with the gift of the Eternal Son ? Who shall wonder if^ by this gift, a keen, strong sense of the personality and life of God, and withal a true estimate of man^s true dignity — of his capacity, through grace, for the highest forms of life — are guarded in the sanctuary of human thought ? Who shall gainsay it, if along with this gift we inherit a body of revealed and certain truth, reposing on the word of an infallible Teacher? If we are washed in a stream of cleansing blood, which flows from an atoning fountain opened on Calvary for the sin and uncleanness of a g'uilty world; if we are capable of virtues which embellish and elevate humanity, yet which, but for the strength and example of our Lord, might have seemed too plainly unattainable? For the Divinity of Code's own Son, freely given for us sinners to suffer and to die, is the very heart of our Christian faith. It cannot be denied without tearing out the vitals of a living Christianity. Its roots are struck far back into the prophecy, the typology, the ethics of the Old Testament. It alone supplies a satisfactory explanation of the moral attitude of Jesus Christ towards His contemporaries. It is the true key to His teaching, to His miracles, to the leading mysteries of His life, to His power of controlling the issues of history : TEE SON OF GOB. 48 as such it is put forward by Apostles, who, differing in much besides, were made one by this faith in His Divinity, and in the truths which are bound up with it. It enters into the world of speculative discussion : it is analysed, criticised, denounced, proscribed, betrayed; yet it emerges from the crucible wherein it has been exposed to the action of every intellectual solvent that hostile ingenuity could devise. It has lost nothing from, it has added nothing to, its original significance; it has only been clothed in a symbol which interprets it to new genera- tions, and which lives in the confessions of the grateful Church. Its later history is explained when we remember the basis on which it really rests. The question of Christy's Divinity is the questiin of the truth or falsehood of Christianity. " If Christ be not God,''^ it has been truly said, " He is not so great as Mohammed.^^ But Christ^s moral relation to Mohammed may safely be left to every unsophisticated conscience, and if the conscience owns in Him the moral chief of humanity, it must take Him at His word when He unveils before it His superhuman glory. The doctrine of Christ's Divinity does not merely bind us to the historic past, and above all to the fiirst records of Christianity ; it is at this hour the strength of the Christian Church. Canon Liddon. This I am sure of : there is nothing to make it credible that any man among them in those ages was thus honoured by a testimony from Almighty God — by a voice from heaven. Nobody appears that dare say they heard it of any of the " Rabbies." Nor does any of them pretend that they saw these " Rabbles " shine in the least glimpse of such glory as our Saviour did, when He was honoured with that glorious testimony from heaven, which pronounced Him the Head of all principality and power. Much less were they, as St. Luke speaks, " by many infallible proofs " declared to be the men of God. And therefore^ that which to me seems nearest to the truth in this matter is, that there had been a perfect deep silence since the death of the latter prophets, and no revelation made of God's mind of any sort whatever in that nation till John the Baptist came, who was filled with the Holy Ghost, and sent by God in the spirit and power of Elias to prepare the way of our Lord ; who, when lie first appeared, had such an approbation given Him by God the Father, in the 44 CRRISTUS REDEMPTOR. audience of " John," as had not been vouchsafed to any person ; and in such a manner {by a voice from heaven) as had not been in use for many ages, but yet was the most ancient way of His communicating His mind to men. Thus God called to Adam in the garden, and thus He spake to Abraham and Moses and Samuel ; and therefore so He now speaks to Him who was the Second Adam, the true seed promised to Abraham, the Prophet like to Moses ; testifying both to Him and to others, by His own voice from heaven (which was the old way of revelation before all others, and a clearer way there cannot be) that He was His only begotten Son. And here, perhaps, it may not be amiss to observe that this voice anciently was very low, like a small whisper in one^s ear ; whereas the voice to our Saviour was loud and strong, making a great noise in the eai-s of those that heard it. So Eliphaz tells us (Job iv. 16) that, in a vision which he had, " there was silence, and I heard a voice." And so Elias is said to hear a voice of silence (1 Kings xix. 12) — "a still small voice" — a speech next to silence, which did but whisper very low, and made no noise at all in his ears. On the contrary, you read in John xii. that the voice which spake of our Saviour was so loud and audible that the people who were at some distance thought it had been a clap of thunder. It did not silently creep into their ears, but rent the clouds to make its way with a great deal of power and force into them. I cannot say that the other voice was so loud, which the Disciples heard on the " Holy Mount," but it was so clear and piercing that when they heard it they were astonished, and fell flat upon their faces (Matt. xvii. 6). The light wherein He appeared was not more visible than the voice which testified to Him was audible ; and both were very amazing, which may very well denote the excellency of our Saviour's person, and the efficacy of His doctrine above all that had been before Him. He declared God's mind more fully and perfectly, and spake it more plainly and perspicuously. But whatsoever became of this, we may certainly conclude, from the audibleness and clearness of the voice whereby God gave His testimony to Jesus, that they are the more to be believed who affirm that they heard this voice from heaven, and report it to us. This voice was like that of an herald who proclaims a prince, and it said in effect : " I have set My King upon My holy hill of Zion ; Thou art My Son." And also, " This is my well-beloved TEE SON OF GOB. 45 Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him/'' And thus you see that the testimony of the " first and greatest Witness," we find it so full and clear on His behalf that we must either disbelieve God, or else believe in Jesus, and receive Him for the Son of God. For He received more than once honour and glory from God the Father. Who was so highly glorified also by Him that He hath now completely glorified Him with Himself, and therefore expects that His name should be perpetually glorified and praised by us. Bishop Patrick. " Before Abraham was, I am ! " The most awful words ever spoken on earth, and yet most divine in their simplicity. The Maker of the World telling His creatures that He is their God ! What might He noi have said at such a moment ? What might we not fancy His saying ? What words grand enough, awful enough, might not the Evangelists have put into His mouth, if they had not been men full of the spirit of truth ? And yet, what does the Lord say? — " Before Abraham was, I am." Could He say more ? If you think of the matter. No, likewise. Truly, " never man spake as He spake," because never man was like Him — perfect strength, wisdom, determination, endurance, and yet perfect meekness, simplicity, sobriety, zeal, and modesty. They are the last two virtues which go together most seldom. In Him they went together utterly, and were one, as He was, one in spirit. Canon Kingsley. Those words of our Lord, " Before Abraham was, I am," are as a sudden (not to Himself) flash of revelation, out of the depths of His own eternal consciousness. That Christ should have spoken thus is not to be wondered at, on the supposition of this eternal consciousness ever abiding with Him. Rather is it wonderful that He should ordinarily, and as a rule, have restrained it so much. Here, too, indeed. He restrains Himself. He does not go on to say, as after- wards, in the Great Intercession, " And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.''^ Rudolf Stier. The mercy of Jesus is the highest style of proof which could l)e furnished of His Godhead. Rev. J. Logan Atkman. 46 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. He (tlie Son of God) hath the individual attributes of God the Father^ as much as He hath the individual essence ; for otherwise He must be a creature only. Rev. Dr. Waterland. Nothing but belief in Christ's Divinity^ His omnipotent influence and omnipotent power, could have induced His Disciples and Apostles to honour Him with divine worship, and to endure the privation, indignities, and sufferings which they underwent for His sake. The Divinity of Christ was not with them a speculative notion, a disputable dogma, as the Unitarians represent it, but a great practical principle, which influenced their whole conduct, and infused into their minds a fortitude and constancy which made them rejoice when they were counted worthy to suffer shame and death for His name. Bishop Burgess. Jesus said unto them, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.'''' In these tremendous words the speaker institutes a double contrast in respect both of the duration and of the mode of His existence between Himself and the great ancestor of Israel. Abraham had come into existence at some given point of time. Abraham did not exist until his parents gave him birth. But " I am.''' Here is simple existence, with no note of beginning or end. Our Lord says not, ^Before Abraham was, I was,' but " I am." He claims pre-existence, indeed; but He does not merely claim pre- existence. He unveils a consciousness of Eternal Being. He speaks as One on whom time has no effect, and for whom it has no meaning. He is the " I am " of ancient Israel ; He knows no past, as He knows no future; He is unbcginning, unending Being; He is the Eternal " Now.'' Canon Liddon. TUi: SON OF MAN. 47 THE SON OF MAN. " The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." St. Matthew viii. 20. " Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am ?" St. Matthew xvi. 13. The Son of INIaiy is not a distinct human person mysteriously linked with the divine nature of the Eternal "Word. The person of the Son of Mary is divine and eternal. It is none other than the person of the Word. When He took upon Him to deliver man, the Eternal Word did not abhor the virg-in^s womb. He clothed Himself with mane's bodily and man's immaterial nature ; He united it to His oven divinity. He took man's nature upon Him in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, of her substance, so that two whole and perfect natures — that is to say, the Godhead and manhood — were joined together in one person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ. Thus, to speak of Christ as a man, at least without explanation, may lead to a serious misconception. He is tke Man, or, rather. He is Man. Christ's man- hood is not of itself an individual being- ; it is not a seat and centre of personality. It has no conceivable existence apart from the act whereby the Eternal Word, in becoming incarnate, called it into being, and made it His own. It is a vesture which He has folded around His person; it is an instrument through which He places Himself in contact with men, and whereby He acts upon humanity. He wears it in heaven, and thus robed in it. He represents, He im- personates, He pleads for the race of beings to which it belongs. In saying that Christ took our nature upon Him, we imply that His person existed before, and that the manhood which He assumed was itself unpersonal. Therefore He did not make Himself a "double being " by becoming incarnate ; His manhood no more impaired the unity of His person than each human body, with its various organs and capacities^ impairs the unity of that personal principle which is the centre and pivot of each separate human existence, and which has its seat within the soul of each one of us. J. A. W. Neandee. 48 CERISTUS BEDEMPTOR If Christ had been only a more glorious Solomon or a better Herod, Ho could not have been the friend of the captive or the guide of the penitent. But now He is the humble Son of Man, preaching a Gospel of self-denial during a life of many sorrows ; and we try to reio-n as kings without Him, throned on our own self-esteem, care- fully exacting the tribute of the regards of others, and turning life into a feast and rejoicing,: and who can wonder that we miss the drift of the Divine message that the cross of Christ suggests to us neither Divine power nor Divine wisdom ? Let us humbly return to these warning words : — " If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me/' Let us very reverently ask what they signify. Archbishop Thomson. And this was Jesus, who calls Himself the Son of Man, but whom we know also to be the Son of God. They knew not as yet_, many of those who wished to follow Him, that He was the Son of God. And so they knew not this most remarkable truth concerning Him : that it was of His own accord, and by His own deliberate choice, that He had no place where to lay His head. He it was who had given the foxes their holes and the birds of the air their nests, and, had He been so minded^ could have given Himself a palace. He had made the world out of nothing, and could have built Himself a mansion with a word or a look. Neither was He obliged to be born in that lowly station. He could have been born, if He had wished it, to the office of high priest, or to sit in Moses' seat, or He could have seated Him- self on the throne of David. Yet for all this, though He was equal with God, and was God, '' He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant.'' Rev. H. Whitehead. Jesus, though " equa-1 with God," " took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and was formed in fashion as a man." He was predicted as " a man of sorrows," and frequ(!ntly styled Himself "the Son of Man." He became man in order to obey the law we had broken, and to suffer the punishment we had merited. Because no one can see God He lived among us as a man, that from His spirit and conduct we might have a clearer idea of what God is. Thus He said: " He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." And He became a man, that suffering what we suffer, we TEE SON OF MAN. 49 might feel sure that He can sympathise with us. Thus we read : " In that He himself hath suffered, being tempted. He is able to succour them that are tempted ; '' and, " We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin/^ Rev. Newman Hall. And from this moment (of the resurrection) onward, glory bursts upon glory in the eyes of the wondering- followers of Jesus. Where is the despised, abused form now ? Where the face defiled with shame and spitting ? " Reach hither thine hand, and thrust it into My side.^^ What a glorious body must have been unveiled when those words were uttered ! " A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have.''' Then His resurrection frame must have been compacted and built even as this of ours, but we may conceive with what beauty and splendour. And in the moment when He rose into the pure summer noon from the top of Olivet, and the clond received Him out of their sight, what a vision must they have enjoyed of the glory of perfected humanity ! what a streak of burning light on their memory must have been those forty days ! Dean Alford. Not shrinking from recognising in the perfection of our blessed Lord's human nature all our liabilities to sorrow, we may, without the least irreverence, discover, from more than one incident in the Gospels, how the Saviour was disappointed Himself. When the rich ruler came to Him, full of sincerity and zealousness, Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and enjoined on him the carrying of the cross as the one condition of discipleship. As the young man went away sorrow- ful, do not the words of the Lord indicate a deep mournfulness over the soul that would not be saved ? When, after the transfiguration. He was met by the mortifying failure of the disciples to cast out the evil spirit. His words of pained surprise testify to the disappointment. " O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and suffer you?'' Once more, when in His agony. His human soul needed human sympathy, and He came to the Apostle who but an hour before had promised to die for Him, only to find him sleeping, His troubled soul relieved itself in the sad exclamation : '' Simon, couldest not thou watch with Me one hour?" Bishop Thorold. 60 CHRISTUS EEJDEMPTOR. We know what our Lord's owii mission was. He himself pro- claimed it, in the frequent and thrilling- words with which He com- menced His ministry at Nazareth : — " The spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised/' And this Christ did, in virtue of His humanity. His ministry was founded upon homely and familiar intercourses, and an intense personal sympathy with man. " It behoved Him (as we are told) to be made like unto His brethren." And thus He became amenable to the conditions of human nature. He took part with flesh and blood, He submitted to privation and suffering, " He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He bare our sicknesses. He was in all points tempted like as we are ; He was made sin for us." Archdeacon Sandford. " He is touched with the feeling of om- infirmities." No grief can meet us that He does not bear a part in; no thorn can prick us that does not make His heart bleed; no fiery arrows can wound us that does not pierce Him. Whatever may trouble us, however trying it may be, it is not new to Him. He is acquainted with the little as well as with the great concerns of our life ; with our outward as well as with our inward sorrows of heart. The heavy weight that presses us down He feels with us. He hears every secret sigh, and sees every bitter tear. F. Aundt. THE MAN OF SORROWS 61 THE MAN OF SORROWS. " He is despised and rejected of men ; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Isaiah liii. 3. Arrived at the spot, the Lord leaves the greater part of His saddened Apostles in the outskirts of the garden, while with His three more especially chosen attendants, Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He himself advances farther into the solitude and gloom. And now was solemnly disclosed a mystery of unimaginable sufferings and woes. Removed from the three Apostles, but only at such a distance that their eyes might still behold, and their poor human hearts strive to sympathise with, the now consciously deepening agony of their beloved Master, the Eternal Son kneels, bows, and falls forward on the earth. Twice did the prayer pass those suffering lips, that "if it were possible '' — if it were compatible with His Father^s glory and the world's salvation — this cup, this cup of a present anguish, in which in an awful and indivisible unity all the future was included, might pass from Him ; and twice, with words of meekest resignation, did He yield Himself to the heavenly will of Him with whom He himself was One. Twice did He return to the three chosen ones whom He had bidden to watch with Him in this awful hour of uttermost conflict, and twice did He find himself bereft even of human sympathy, unwatched with, unheeded, alone. Yet a third time, if we here incorporate the narrative of the third Evangelist, even while the ministry of the sustaining^ angel, and the thick falling- drops of bloody sweat, alike bore witness to an agony fast transcending the powers of our common humanity, yet a third time was that prayer offered to the Eternal Father, and again was it answei-ed by the meek resignation of the Eternal Son. For the last time the Lord returns to His slumbering Apostles, and now, with words that sadly remind them that the holy privilege of watching with their suffering blaster is finally lost and forfeited. He forewarns them that the hour is come, and the traitor nigh at hand. Bishop Ellicott. 52 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. We cannot fully understand the suffering's of Christ j the Lord only knows what is included in the curse of the moral law, and what is the true and utmost desert of sin which Christ endured in our stead. How, then, do we know what Christ suffered, when the punish- ment due to our sins, when all our iniquity, was laid upon Him, and He had the curse of the law upon Him ? The Lord only knows what these things include. Rev. Dr. Owen. That the Son of God, out of compassion to His perishing creatures, should have determined to redeem them by His own sufferings, is more astonishing and mysterious than it is that, in order to the completion of that design of mercy. He should have taken ujDon Him the nature of man ; although both these troubles, separately and together, are subjects of inexpressible wonder and thankfulness. "What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him ?" Bishop Blomfield. Oh, sad hearts and suffering ! Anxious and weary ones ! Look to the cross. There hung your King ! the King of sorrowing souls, and more — the King of sorrows. Ay, pain and grief, tyranny and desertion, death and hell — He has faced them one and all, and tried their strength, and taught them His, and conquered them right royally ! And since He hung upon that torturing cross, sorrow is divine. Godlike, as joy itself. All that man^s fallen nature dreads and despises, God honoured on the cross, and took unto Himself, and blest and consecrated for ever. . . . All things are blessed now, but sin ; for all things, excepting sin, are redeemed by the life and death of the Son of God. Blessed are wisdom and courage, joy and health and beauty, love and marriage, childhood and manhood, corn and wine, fruits and flowers : for Christ redeemed them by His life ; and blessed, too, are tears and shame, blessed are weakness and ugliness, blessed are agony and sickness, blessed the sad remembrance of our sins, and a broken heart, and a repentant spirit Blessed are all days, dark as well as briglit, for all are His, and He is ours, and all are ours, and we are His for ever. Canon Kingsley. TEE MAN OF SORROWS. 53 Rise, my soul, from slumber now — leave the bed of sleep ; Languor^ torpor^ vanity, all outside must keep ; While the heart, lit up within, with love's torches glows. Dwelling on that wondrous work, and the Saviour's woes. Reason, thought, affections true^ gather all together, Nor, by trifles led astray, hither roam and thither ; Fancies wild, distracting doubts, busy cares, depart, While the sacraments of life pass before the heart. Jesu, Sovereign Lord of heaven, sweetest Friend to me. King of all the universe, all was made by Thee ; Who can know or comprehend the wonders Thou hast wrought. Since the saving of the lost, Thee so low hast brought ? Thee the love of souls drew down from beyond the sky — Drew Thee from Thy glorious home, Thy palace bright and high^ To this narrow vale of tears Thou thy footsteps bendest. Hard the work Thou tak'st on Thee, rough the way Thou wendest. The Joy of all is plunged in grief, the Light of all is waning. The Bread of Life needs nourishing, the strength of all sustaining. The Fount at which all heaven is filFd, the Fount of Life, is thirsting, What heart such wonders can behold, and not be nigh to bursting ? Oh ! faithful Saviour, wonderful Thy gracious condescension. The depths of Thy most tender love exceed all comprehension ; Spotless art Thou — no sin in Thee, that now Thou thus should'st languish I am the cause — O Jesus, I ! — of this Thy bitter anguish. I exalt myself in pride — Thou art humbled low ; Mine the sins — the penalty, my Saviour, bearest Thou ! I seek soft and easy paths — Thine was hardness all ; Whilst my cup is fill'd with sweets. Thine was mix'd with gall ! St. Anselm of Lucca. 64 CHRISTUS RELEMFTOS. THE CORNER-STONE. " Bid ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner : this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ?" St. Matthew ixi. 42. Christ is called the corner-stone in regard of sustentation. The corner-stone doth uphold the whole building. If the corner of the house fall^ the whole structure comes to the ground. Jesus Christ is the sustainer and upholder of His Church ; therefore He is called the foundation stone^ as well as the corner-stone (Isaiah xxviii. 16). He is the great pillar that bears up all. The Churches peace^ the Churches grace^ the Church's comfort^ the Church's salvation^ are all uj)held and maintained by Him. Second, — In regard of union : The corner-stone is that medium by which the walls of the house are united into one building. Jesus Christ is He_, and He alone, that doth imite the several stones of the spiritual building one to another. He hath '^gathered together in Him all things which are in heaven and which are in earth" (Ephesians i. 10). Third, — In regard of direction : The corner-stone is that which gives the builders direction how to lay and place all the other stones. If the several stones of the wall be not laid level to the corner-stone the whole building is spoiled. He that would build right, must have his eye to the corner-stone. Jesus Christ is the believer's pattern. His word and His example we must have an eye continually upon, if we would not miscarry. " He that saith he abideth in Christ, ought so to walk as He walked" (1 John ii. 6). Lay all things level to Christ, and then act vigor- ously. " I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John xiii. 15). Nothing will either be lasting or comfortable which doth not run parallel with the line of Christ. Fourth, — In regard of beauty : Skilful builders place the strongest stones in the corner, because of bearing; and the fairest stones because of beauty. If the corner-stone be graceful, the whole THE CORNER-STONE. 65 building is the more comely (Psalm cxliv. 12). More art is bestowed on the corner-stone than on any other part of the building. Jesus Christ is the beauty of the spiritual building. "Thou art fairer than the childi-en of men'' (Psalm xlv. 2). Look upon Him in His divine nature, and lo ! He is more beautiful than the sun. His soul was unsoiled by time, and it was richly furnished with all grace. Christ differs from all other corner-stones in five respects. First, — He is a living stone : The corner-stones of all material buildings are inanimate; but Christ hath life in Himself (1 Pet. i. 4.), and He communicates life unto the whole building. Second, — He is a stone of God's immediate laying : God himself did both polish and place this stone (1 Peter ii. 6)— "Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner- stone/' He is therefore called by the prophet (Daniel ii. 34), "A stone cut out of the mountain without hands." There was no human help for the pohshing of this stone. Third, — He is a corner-stone that can never drop out of the building, nor be weakened. Fourth, — He receives no strength from the other stones. All material corner- stones, as they strengthen the building, so they receive strength from the building. The other stones are some defence to the corner-stone, but what need hath Christ of strength and support ? and if He had, what can weak saints do to support Him. Fifth,— Christ is a corner- stone that reaches from the bottom to the top. In other buildings there are many corner-stones, because no one is large enough to serve for all j but let this building rise never so high, there will not need one corner-stone more. If there were but one corner-stone in other buildings, the whole structure would be spoiled. This spiritual structure would be spoiled if there should be one corner-stone more. Christ supplies the head of the whole Church. He hath strength, though you be weak — " help is laid on One who is mighty to save." Christ is the corner-stone of thy grace as well as of thy salvation. Rev. R. Robinson. Sin having defaced and demolished the first building of man in the integrity of his creation, it was God's design, out of the very ruins of fallen man, to raise a more lasting edifice than the former — one that should not be subject to decay; and therefore He fitted for it a foundation that might be lasting. He chose His own Son, made 56 CERISTUS REBEMPTOR. flesh. He was God, that He might be a strong foundation ; He was man, that He might be suitable to the nature of the stones whereof the building was to consist, that they might join and cement together. Archbishop Leighton. A man eager for divine knowledge, seating himself at the feet of Christ as his Teacher, will find here that satisfaction which the instinct of truth craves in him, because he recognises here no conjectural, no traditional, no tentative doctrine, but the word of One who can say. This is true. I know it, because I have seen it where knowledge is intuition ; seen it in the bosom of God, seen it in the counsels of an eternal age The knowledge of a Person, in whom all truth centres, and from whom all truth radiates with light and warmth to every point of the circumference of the being — this alone can satisfy the instinct of knowing, and this is that which distin- guishes the Gospel of Christ from every other rehgion or (so-called) revelation — namely, that it offers to us a Person divine at once and human, in whose exhaustless infinite love the soul may bask and revel with a perfect reciprocity of love for love. He is indeed our Corner- stone. C. J, Vaughan, D.D. The stone is Christ Jesus and His Gospel; the stone which the builders rejected. He who falls on or against a stone is bruised ; he on whom a stone falls is crushed. There are many who fall, as it were, against the stone, after the manner of those who said, "Look and see how out of Galilee ariseth no prophet ; " or, " How can this man give us His flesh to eat ? " Such are they to whom the doctrines of the Gospel are " a stone of stumblings and a rock of offence.^'' And it will heavily fall on those who opposed to the Son of God their prejudice, their malice, and their enmity; who perverted His word, spoke falsely of His miracles, assailed Him with culumnies, and prevented others from receiving the benefits of His mercy. " Wrath will come upon such to the uttermost.^' From all blindness and hardness of heart, and contempt of Thy word and commandment, good Lord, deliver us I Aechbisuop SuxMnee. TEE ROCK. 67 THE ROCK. •' Our fathers did all eat the same spiritual meat ; and did all drink the same spiritual drinh : for they drank of that spiritual Rock that folloived them : and that Bock was Christ." 1 Corinthians x. 3, 4. We are not going to speak of hope in general. We therefore say nothing of the hope of the worldlings which is a thing of nought ; or of the hope of the infidel, which is annihilation ; or of the hope of the antinomian, which is a deviFs dream ; or of the hope of the Pharisees, which is a spider^s web ; or of the hope of the hypocrite, which is a lie in his right hand ; but of our hope, as Christians. And what is this ? Jesus Christ, says the Apostles — He " is our hope.'''' He is the object, the ground, the author, the model of our hope. The supreme aim of the believer is " to win Christ,''^ " to be found in Him.^'' " No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, which is Christ.'''' Everything else we depend on will prove sand, but here is rock. Hope is not natural to us, neither is it derived from ourselves ; but He produces it in us by His Holy Spirit. Thus may I bear the image of the heavenly, till He shall appear, and I shall be perfectly like Him, for I shall see Him as He is. Rev. W. Jay, Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee ! Let the water and the blood. From Thy riven side which flow^l. Be of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and power ! Not the labours of my hands Can fulfil Thy law^s demands ; Could my zeal no respite know. Could my tears for ever flow. 68 CHRISTUS BEBEMPTOR. All for sin could not atone ; Thou must save, and Thou alone ! Nothing- in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling ; Naked, come to Thee for dress ; Helpless, look to Thee for grace : Foul, I to the Fountain fly, Wash me, Saviour, or I die ! While I draw this fleeting breath, ^Vhen my eyestrings break in death. When I soar through tracts unknown. See Thee on Thy judgment-throne : Rock of ages ! cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee ! Toplady. Are you in trouble ? It may be so, for " man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards/' Then get you to the cleft of the Rock ; there is no place like that to meet trouble. It can never hurt you whilst you are there. It is when we are ignorant of Christ, or far from Christ, that trouble strikes us down and keeps us down. Our Lord's own words are full of meaning : — " Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God : believe also in Me.'' Trouble cannot get into the heart of the true believer, though it may compass him round about. Therefore, let all betake themselves to the Rock who are in trouble. If you know not the way, ask God to show it you. If you do know the way, thank God for having shown it you. Canon Bateman. TEE WAT. 69 THE WAY. " IVhither I go ye Tcnow, and the way ye Tcnow. Thomas saith unto Him, Lord we know not whither Thou goest ; and how can we know the toay ? Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life : no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." St. John xiv. 4f— 6. The way o£ salvation lies in being justified^ not through our own^ but imputed righteousness. There is such a way, but certainly not by the works of the law. In perfect harmony with Him who pronounces our " righteousness to be filthy rags/"" Paul says, " By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified ; ■'■' and in that sets up such a notice as turns one back from a road where, though once frequented, the grass, growing rank and tall, has obliterated every footmark. Ever since the fall, the gate to heaven by the law has stood shut, nor once turned on its hinges ; the rust of long ages there, and over it a notice : — " No passage this way.^^ Yet, blessed be God, there is a way of re- turn to His favour, forgiveness, and the kingdom of heaven. Harlots, publicans, and sinners have found it, and why may not we ? To make it, God^s Son became a man, taking to Himself a body, that He might be capable of suffering : eyes, to weep; a brow, to bleed beneath the thorns; feet and hands, that, with the iron driven through the quivering flesh, He might hang, a sacrifice for sin, on the accursed tree. He was made under the law for the very purpose of answering its demands, both in the way of doing and suffering. Rev. Dr. Gutheie. The following of Christ makes any way pleasant. His faithful followers refuse no march after Him, be it through deserts and moun- tains and storms and hazards, that will affright self-pleasing, easy spirits. Hearts kindled and actuated with the spirit of Christ will '* follow Him whithersoever He goeth." Archbishop Leighton. 60 CERISTUS MEDEMPTOIt He is our way to the Father and to heaven : in His person, as " God manifest in the tlesh/'' and as our surety and mediator, by His perfect obedience and His atoning sacrifice, and by His intercession as our advocate before the throne. He is our great and only high priest, who, by His sacrifice on the cross, made propitiation for the sins of the world ; and by His resurrection, ascension, and intercession, gives us access with confidence to God. upon a throne of grace. Rev. Thomas Scott. And now, dear friends, we have arrived upon high ground agam. The man is now restored. He says in verse 24 (and it is a very common text, and a very beautiful one) : " Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory .''■' As if he should say, " Lord, I have had enough of guiding myself. Lord, I took my case into my own hands, and I was led by my own reasonings ; and bitter indeed has been the result. O Lord, by Thy grace, there shall be no mere of this. Thou shalt guide me henceforth. I will not trust my own wisdom any more. I will follow implicitly the teachings of Thy blessed Word, and the happy result will be, that afterwards I shall be received into glory.''^ And then the whole closes with the most joyful expressions of confidence and love and hope. " Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.-" Rev. L. H. Wiseman. Well is it said, "To whom shall we go?'' (John vi. 68). To whom instead of Him who spoke that which He knew, and testified that which He had seen ? To whom instead of Him whom God the Father hath sealed, that He might give eternal life to as many as believe in Him ? To whom instead of Him who bore our sins in His own body, that He might bring us to God ? To whom instead of Him, whom God hath made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ? Will ye also go away ? Let us reply, in the conxiction of our hearts, and affirm it by the devotion of our lives, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Tliou hast the words of eternal life."" AuchbxShop Sumner. TEE WAY. *1 Jesus^ still lead on, Till our rest be won ! And although the way be cheerless, We will follow, calm and fearless ; Guide us by Thy hand To our Fatherland. If the way be drear, If the foe be near. Let not faithless fears overtake us, Let not faith and hope forsake us ; For, through many a foe. To our home we go. When we seek relief From a long-felt grief. When temptations come alluring, Make us patient and enduring ; Show us that bright shore, Where we weep no more. Jesus, still lead on. Till our rest be won ! Heavenly Leader, still direct us, Still support, console, protect us. Till we safely stand In our Fatherland. ZiNZENDOaP. 62 CEEISTUS EEDEMPTOR. THE TRUTH. " Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." St. John xiv. 6. " Jesus said, If ye continue in My word, ye shall hiow the tt-uth, and the truth shall mahe you free." St. Jolm viii. 31, 32. " If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear.''^ '' Hvery one who is of the truth heareth My voice." The truth in man will hear the truth speaking in Christ. If the life which is according to nature^s order and limits prevail in him, he will close his ears to Christy and contra- dict Him. He will contradict Christ because the worldly form of life which he has fallen into is a constituted contradiction of ^' the hf e of the Son of God." No one hears Christ — or, if he hears Him, he under- stands Him not — until he has learned to contradict himself and to renounce " his own life.'"'' If he discover not that temporal nature is at fault, he will never seek to be constituted according to eternal nature. This is the cross — that a man allow the life of the Son of God in him to have authority over his own life. Christ, the King of truth, therefore, couples together the hatred of our own life and the bearing of His cross. '' If any man come to Me, and hate not his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." Rev. J. PuLSFORD. He is the Truth, not only as His is the substance of all typical shadows, and the accomplishment of all the prophecies and promises of a Saviour, but also as the great prophet of the Church, whose doctrine is that truth by believing which sinners come — through Him, " the Way "—to the Father and to heaven. Rev. Thomas Scott. The idea which our Lord meant to convey by the expressicta " bearing witness to the truth," seems to be not simply that Christ taught or preached truth, Ijut that He was Himself — in His person and history, in all He did, as well as in all He said — a living embodiment THE TRUTH. 68 or reflection of truth. Orally to teach truth is, at best, an inferior and imperfect way of expressing it. He who would manifest it truly must be the thing- it teaches ; for words are only the occasional and arbitrary expressions of thought. The Hp must often be silent; it is only the life that is ever speaking. We must already know the things they stand for, if words are to convey any definite notions to the mind. So our Lord, when He came to discover to men divine truth, to teach them about God and holiness and heaven, could never, if He had merely talked about these subjects, have been to men an intelligible "witness to the truth.-" To make them know what He meant. He must needs show them the thing, by becoming, in His own pure, sinless, perfect life, a living, breathing embodiment of goodness— the essence and reality of moral purity and beauty confronting the very eyes of men, and creating a new conception in their minds. Christ must reveal God, not by speaking about God, but by being Himself divine. He must show to man God himself— manifest in the flesh, a divinity present to the sight, and palpable to their apprehension. He must become Himself the living Word of God— breathing, speaking, acting God into the history of the world, so as to be able to say, " He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.'' Rev. Dr. Caird. There is something in the " verily, verily " of Jesus Christ which has a ring of certainty. ... A man, eager for divine knowledge, seating himself at the feet of Christ as his teacher, will find here that satisfaction which the instinct of truth craves in him, because he recoo-nises here no conjectural, no traditional, no tentative doctrine, but the w^ord of One who can say, " This is true." I know it, because I have seen it where knowledge is intuition — seen it in the bosom of God, seen it in the counsels of an eternal age. Christ satisfies the instinct of truth by not only speaking, but being it. He says of Himself, " I am the Truth.'' Only iu a person can the instinct of truth be satisfied. The knowledge of things, even if those things be essences — even if God be their author and heaven their home — is not the knowledge for which the soul is athirst. Not a knowledge of a book, not the knowledge of a science, not the knowledge of theology, nor of divinity, nor of deity, can fidfil the saying, " He that drinketh of this water shall never thirst— it shall be in him a well of water 64 CEEISTUS REBEMPTOR. springing up into everlasting life/'' The knowledge of a person in whom all truth centres, and from whom all truth radiates with light and warmth to every point of the circumference of the being — this alone can satisfy the instinct of knowing; and this is that which distinguishes the Gospel of Christ from every other religion or (so- called) revelation — namely, that it offers to us a person, divine at once and human, in whose exhaustless, infinite love the soul may bask and revel with a perfect reciprocity of love for love. . . . He calls Himself the Truth — Him (our Lord and Saviour) who, if ever there was a trvie man on earth, was true, and who says, with a response, all along the ages from the truest heart of humanity, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world: that I should bear witness unto the truth : every one that is of the truth heareth My voice/^ . . . Let us press forward to know Him for ourselves, as the home of all wanderings, the rest of all anxieties, the satisfaction of all wants, the object, divine at once and human, of all conscious and unconscious longings. In all that He reveals, in all that He offers, in all that He commands, He appeals not to imagi- nation, not to superstition, not to fear, not to self-interest — He appeals to an instinct of truth within us, and says, that if we have it, we shall hear His voice : we shall recognise the voice of Him who made us in His own image — that image of which the first feature is truth, and the second is truth, and the third is truth. ... In Him — the Word made flesh — God himself tabernacled among us — and we still behold His glory — full of grace and truth." Rev. Dr. C. J. Vaughan. One of the deepest parts of the Saviour's work was to resume in Himself all the past truth — to realise in Himself all the past ideals. He came to embody the longings of all mankind, to gather into Himself all the scattered lights of God which had shined before Him in men's souls, and condense them into a perfect star of truth. He came to be man, to represent in Himself Hindoo, Arabian, Chinese, Greek, Roman, Jew — all nations and tongues; for this follows directly from what seems the opposite, but is the converse, statement — that "in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but He is all and in all." And as. THE TRUTH. 66 one after another^ we find in these various peoples Christ's phrases before Christ, we rejoice : it only proves our point — that He absorbed all the floating truths o£ humanity, passed them through the purifying crucible of His soul, cleansed them of their dross, and built them up with others which He revealed, into a temple of stainless gold. Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. It was necessary that One should come into the world who should be true — the truest of all that are woman-born — whose life was truth ; who from everlasting had been the Truth. It was necessary that He should come to preach the Gospel to the poor, to dare to say to the people some truths which the philosophers dared not say, and other truths of which no philosopher had ever dreamed. The penalty of that true life was the sacrifice which is the world^s atonement. Men saw the mortal die. But others saw the immortal rise to take His place at the right hand of power ; and the Spirit which has been streaming out ever since from that life and death is the world's present lights and shall be its everlasting life. Kev. W. E-obertson. gg CEEISTUS REBEMFTOR. THE LIFE. " I am the Way, the Tiuth, and the Life." St. John xiv. 6. " The life was manifested, and we have seen it.''* 1 John i. 2. He is the Life^ by whose life-giving spirit the dead in sin are quickened^ and so enabled to believe in Him as " the Truth/'' and to come by Him as '' the "Way " to the mercy-seat of God. Neither can any man^ of any age or nation^ approach God as a Father who is not quickened by Jesus as " the Lif e/-" and instructed by Him as " the Truth/-' to come by Him as "the Way/^ All others will meet God merely as an offended sovereign and an offended judge. Rev. Thomas Scott. Amid the death-like torpor which hath fallen upon us^ stripping us of the desire and power to live wholly in God and wholly for God, who would not wish to feel the quickening touch of the great life- giver, Jesus Christ ; to be raised to newness of life in Him j to have our life bound up with His for ever — hid with Him in God ? This — nothing less than this, nothing lower than this — is set before us. Who would not wish to see and feel it realised in his present, his future, his eternal existence ? Then let us cleave to Christ, resolved in Him to live, desiring in Him to die, that with Him we may be raised at last, at the resurrection, on the great day, to those heavenly places where, free from all weakness or vicissitudes, corruption and decay, this life shall be expanded and matured throughout the bright ages of an imshadowed eternity. Rev. Dr. Hanna. Thus our Lord taught His Disciples, by His appearance at His transfiguration, that there is such a thing as a spiritual body; while, by the glory of His raiment, in addition to His other miracles, He taught them that He had power over the laws of nature, and could, in His own good time, "change the bodies of their humiliation, that they might be made like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.^' Canon Kingsley. THE LIFE. 67 Desire, witli David, to understand tlie law of the Lord God. Live still to die, that you by death may purchase eternal life, or after your death enjoy the life purchased for you by Christ's death. Labour always to learn to die. Deny the world, defy the devil, and despise the flesh. Be penitent for your sins^ and yet despair not ; be steady in faith, and yet presume not; and desire, with St. Paul, to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, with whom, even in death, there is life. Be like the good servant, and even at midnig-ht be waking-, lest, when death cometh and stealeth upon you like a thief in the night, you, with the evil servant, be found sleeping, and lest, for lack of oil, you be found like the five foolish women, and like him that had not on the wedding garment, and then ye be cast out from the marriage. Lady Jane Grey. In that the Church comes out of Christ's side, being in the sleepe of death, as Eve out of Adam's, hee sleeping, wee learne to seeke our life in Christ's death. That death should be propagated by the sinne of the first Adam was of no marvaile; but that life by the death of the seconde is an admired mystery. Here is the greatest work of God's power fetched out of His contrary. Of ranke poyson a soveraigne remedy, by the most skilful physitian of hearts. Let the Jews scorn a crucified God, and refuse the life offered by a dead man ; they know not the Scriptures, nor the power of God, who can and doth command light out of darknesse, life out of death, all things out of nothing. How easily can He repaire all things out of nothing ! He is of power to make clay and spittle (fit to put out the sight) a remedy to restore sight. He can as easily save a world by the death of His Son as multiply a world by the sleepe of Adam. Rev. Dr. Tailor. The Logos is life. He is the life, the eternal life ; the life which is the essence of God. It has been given Him to have life in Himself, as the Father has life in Himself. He can give life ; nay, life is so emphatically His prerogative gift, that He is called the Word of Life. Canok Liddon. 68 CHUISTUS REBEMl'TOR. THE DOOR. " I am the Door : by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in ana out, and find pasture." St. John x. 9. The blind man had been excommunicated by the Pharisees for con- fessing Christ. They were the doctors of the law and pastors of the people; but they had become hireling shepherds and idle pastors. And from this act of theirs our Lord takes occasion to show that they had excommunicated themselves. And why ? He answers, He is the door of the fold, and by casting a man out, who had come in by the door of a good confession to Christ, they who cast Him out had proved that they knew not the door, and were, therefore, not in the fold. Besides, they had endeavoured to make Moses into a door in opposUiofi to Christ. Thus they had shown that they did not understand the relation of Moses to Christ. Christ, therefore, here declares that He himself is the only Door, and that Moses and all true prophets have passed through that door, and that there is no other entrance for pastors or people but by Him, and that all who profess to be shepherds, but do not pass through that door, are " thieves and robbers. ''•' Bishop Wordsworth. A religious votary who boasts of his self-conscious rectitude, plumes himself in his conceit of personal goodness, soars on the wings of his applauding conscience, and glories in his well-spent life, is a pitiable character, dead in sin, and alienated from the life of God ; a daring rebel, for he would pull the Redeemer from His throne ; "a thief and a robber'' (John x. 1), that attempts to climb the fold and to scale heaven, in open contempt of Jesus, the '^Door'' (John x. 9) of intromission to both. And as for the religion of such a votary, it is nothing but unbelief and pride arrayed in the flimsy garb of formality. Bishop Porteus. Christ is the Door that opens into God's presence, and lets the soul into His bosom ; and faith in Him is the key that unlocks the door. John Bunyak. THE DOOR. 69 A door Is the medium of passage : and Jesus stands between God and us. He is the Mediator of the new covenant. God comes to us through Him, and conveys all His blessings to us by Him ; and we approach God through Him. " I am the Wa,j," said He ; " no man Cometh unto the Father but by Me.^' And as, with regard to our persons, we come unto God by Him ; so, with regard to our services, we offer up spiritual services, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And, with regard to both, we have boldness and access with con- fidence only by the faith of Him. Rev. W. Jay. Wait, then, patiently till He comes, and do not fret thyself if He delay. Christ presides over the doors that are within the kingdom. Thus it is that our Lord is the director and appointer of the work that we have to do. He unlocks the doors of life. He says, " Yondei is the passage by which thou must walk ; there is the room in which thy pleasure may be taken, or perhaps, thy toil must be performed.''^ Let us learn the lesson, brethren. Is the passage one of gloom, sorrow, danger, darkness, death? Christ opened the door, and we must walk along it, for it cannot be shut. Sometimes He only allows us to gaze into it, and He closes the door, and — blessed message ! — He shuts, and none can open. "V^^hether, then, it be work or sorrow or joy to which we are called, Christ^s is the hand that holds the key, and turns the lock, and opens or shuts these gates of life. He has the key which closes life. Christ opens that door and lets us through ; Christ closes it, and there is no return. Let us, then, live in the spirit of the Master ; remembering that every passage, every place, has been occupied by Christ already. This will be our joy, our solace ; and the ineffable delight will be to find, that not only at the door He stands to open and to close, but everywhere He will accompany us, and hold us up, and cheer us by His presence. Rev. Llewelyn D. Bevan. If thou trusteth to thyself, if thou indulgest thyself in setting a value before God upon any thing thou hast done, these very deeds will be the instrumental cause of thy ruin ; they will lead thee /"rom that gate through which alone thou canst enter, and will carry thee further and further in a wrong direction. Thv good works will never 70 GERISTUS EEDEMFTOS. bring thee to Christ : but if thou layest hold on Christ in sincerity of faithj He will easily and quickly bring- thee to good works. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is emphatically called the door of the kino-dom of heaven. No man cometh to the Father but by Him. Bishop Copleston. Let thy Saviour, Jesus Christ, be ever in thy thoughts and affections, and wear Him as a signet upon thy heart ; for when the door is kept and sealed by Him, all thy faculties will be imder His guidance. St. Bernard. Christ is the Door, both to the shepherds and to the sheep. By Him both " have access by one spirit unto the Father." By Him if any man enter in, he shall go in and out, and find pasture. He shall have freedom and comfort ; freedom of love, and grace to supply everv need. And such is the liberty wherewith Christ makes men free, and such the abundant blessings which they enjoy whilst they continue within His fold. The Lord, "the great Shepherd of the sheep,""" has them under His charge ; they shall not be destitute. " He maketh them to lie down in green pastures ; He leadeth them beside the still waters." Archbishop Sumner. THE GOOD SHEPEERD. 71 THE GOOD SHEPHERD. "lam the Good Slieplierd : the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." St. John, X. 11. The incarnation of the Son of God was a giving of Himself to go after His lost sheep. His whole life upon earth, His entire walk in the flesh, was a following of the strayed ones ; for this was the very purpose of His coming, viz., " To seek and to save that which was lost/' And He sought His own '' till He found it." He was not weary with the greatness of the way ; He shrank not when the thorns wounded His flesh, and tore His feet. He followed us into the deep of our misery, came under the extremity of our malediction. For He had gone forth to seek His own till He found it, and would not pause till then. And having found, how tenderly does the Shepherd of the parable handle that sheep which has cost Him all His labour and fatigue ! He does not punish it. He does not smite, nor even harshly drive it back to the fold ; nay. He does not deliver it to a servant, but He lays it upon His own shoulders, and Himself carefully carries it till He brings it to the fold. Archbishop Trench. He is no forgetful shepherd, but He is a shepherd knowing all ; He can forget nothing. For as the Eternal Father knoweth all, so in like manner He knoweth all. As the Eternal Father knoweth all in giving Him all, in like manner He knoweth His sheep in giving them all. For He giveth them life, wisdom, and might; yea, and such life, wisdom, and might as is above the capacity of the world ; for those that be according to the world be but shadows of them. And by this wisdom, which surmounteth the world, His sheep know Him. This is the good herdman giving life to all, knowing all, and which is Almighty. Richard Taverner. " I know in whom I have believed ; " I am not ignorant whose precious blood has been shed for me ; I have a Shepherd full of 72 CSEISTUS REBEMPTOR. kindness^ full of care, and full of power; unto Him I commit myself. Rev. R. Hooker. As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care. Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air. Explores the lost_, the wandering sheep directs. By day o'er-sees them, and by night protects ; The tender lambs he i-aises in his arms, Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms : Thus shall mankind His guardian care engage — The promised Father of the future age. Pope. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd of His sheep. In many places of Scripture the name and office of a shepherd is attri- buted to Christ, thus in Isaiah xl. 11. It is a prophecy of Christ, as the context shows, in. Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ; "I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them/"" and Ezek. xxxvii. 24. Also Zech. xiii. 7 and Matt. xxvi. 31: "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd : smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.-'^ Our Saviour doth give Himself this name, John x. 11, 14, 16, "I am the Good Shepherd,'^ &c. The Apostle Peter calls Him so in 1 Peter ii. 25, "The Shepherd and Bishop of our souls /^ and in chap. V. 4, " When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Rev. R. Robinson. THE VINE. 73 THE VINE " I am the true Vine, and My Father is the husbandman. I am the Vine, ye are the branches." St. John xv. "I, 5. Ministers are not to preach themselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord. But He was His own subject ; He preached Himself. How could He have done otherwise, concerned as He was to be useful? Here He calls Himself the Vine — a very easy and natural image. A vine is not so remarkable in its appearance as many other trees. In loftiness it yields to the cedar, in strength to the oak, in sightliness to the palm-tree and the fir. The greatness of Jesus was spiritual ; He had no earthly pomp and riches ; like His kingdom, He was not of this world. The image is pleasing and striking, and teaches us much by contrast and comparison. A vine is not always green ; it does not always bear; it never bears twelve manner of fruits; it does not endure for ever. But all this is true of Him. Rev. W. Jay. Strive that all your dispositions grow like tendrils on the cross of the Lord. This is the right lattice- work on which to train the branches of Christ. F. Arndt. Deep strike thy roots, O Heavenly Vine ! Within our earthly sod. Most human, and yet most divme — The flower of man, and God. O love ! O life ! — our faith and sight Thy presence maketh one ; As through transfigured clouds of white We trace the noonday sun. So, to our mortal eyes subdued. Flesh-veiled, but not concealed. We know in Thee the Fatherhood And heart of God revealed. John Greenleae Whittier. 74 CERISTUS MEBEMPTOR. THE LIGHT " Then spake Jesus unto them, saying, I am the Light of the World : he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." St. John viii. 12. •' I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness." St. John xii. 46. Eternal Light ! Eternal Lig-lit ! How pure that soul must be ; When placed within Thy searching- sight, That shrinks not, but, with calm delight. Can live and look on Thee ! The spirits that surround Thy throne May bear the burning bliss. But that is surely theirs alone, Since they have never, never known A fallen world like this. Oh ! how shall I, whose native sphere Is dc.'k, whose mind is dim, Before the Ineffable appear. And on my naked spirit bear That uncreated beam ? There is a way for man to rise To that sublime abode : An offering and a sacrifice, A Holy Spirit^s energies. An Advocate with God. These — these prepare us for the sight Of holiness above ; The sons of ignorance and night May dwell in the Eternal light, Through the Eternal love. Rev. T. Bimnky. TEE LIGHT. 75 The moon — a softer but not less beautiful object than the sun — returns and communicates to mankind the light of the sun in a gentle and delightful manner^ exactly suited to the strength of the human eye : an illustrious and most beautiful emblem, in this and several other respects, of the Divine Redeemer of mankind, who, softening the splendour of the Godhead, brings it to the eye of the understanding in a manner fitted to the strength of the mind ; so that, without being overwhelmed or distressed, it can thus behold "the light of the know- ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ/'' Rev. Dr. Dwight. To the end we may each one shine in his measure, we must learn to turn ourselves often towards Him from w4iom our light is derived. Conversing with Him will make us more and more like Him. . . . Were we more in the mount with God our faces would shine more with men. Archbishop Leighton. Is Christ the bright morning star ? Oh let us see and love and admire and praise His beauty and His brightness ! Let us look up, and fall down and worship. Let us seek light, truth, and grace from Him who has said, " I will give him the morning star^^ {i.e., myself). Let us follow Christ ; learn of, and imitate Him, " as the children of the day and of the light.'" Let Christ be the light of our eyes ; let us love the light ; let us wake early to see and adore Him. When we see the star, let us, with the wise men, " rejoice with exceeding gi'eat joy." Rev. B. Coleman. Christ is "the bright and morning star" which rose from tlie darkness of the grave, and Ijy that resurrection on the morning of the first Lord^s day brought life and immortality to light. Bishop Wordsworth. The Logos is light. He is the light — that is, the light which is the very essence of God. The Baptist, indeed, preaches truth ; but the Baptist must not be confounded with the light which he heralds. The Logos is the true light. All that has really enlarged the stock of intellectual truth or of moral goodness among men, all that has evre lighted any soul of man, has radiated from Him. He proclaims Him- self to be the Light of the World, and the Truth, and His Apostle, 76 CERISTU8 REDEMPTOR. speaking of the illumination shed by Him upon the Church, reminds Christians that ^^the darkness is passings and the true light now shineth/' Ca^jon Liddon. If it should be asked. Why was one particular age set apart for the visible manifestation of Christ upon earth ? we cannot answer you, any more than we could tell you why the Gentiles of old had less comprehension of God^s light than the Jews had, or why Christians in these days have more light than the heathen. Be sure of this : that God will judge all men aright, and according to the light which has been theirs. And if it should appear that some men have obscured the light from others, even from their children^'s children, theirs will be the greater condemnation. Christ is, as He has ever been, the Light of the World. He has come visibly upon earth. The Sun of Righteousness has developed the full brightness of daylight. The brilliant flame has flashed from soul to soul, like signal fire from hill to hill, for eighteen hundred years. E/EV. H. Whitehead. But, oh ! the mellow light that pours From God^s pure throne — the light that saves ! It warms the spirit as it soars. And sheds deep radiance round our graves. Mellen. The bounty of God, and benignity of His influence upon the world, the flowings forth of His infinite goodness, enrich the whole earth. Look, as the sun is the greatest and most miiversal benefactor, his influence and heat is the very renovation of the world ; it makes all new and green and flourishing ; it puts a youth upon the world, and so is the very spring and fountain of life to all sublunary things. How much is that true of the true light, of whom the sun is but a shadow ! He is the life of the world, and the lig-ht of men. Every ffood ffift descends from Him. His influence is more vmiversal to the being, to the moving, to the living of all things. And Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, is carried about in the orb of the Gospel, and in His beams there is a healing virtue. These are the refreshments of poor wearied souls. There is an admirable heat of love and affection THE LIGHT. 77 ttat this glorious light carries imbosomed in it, and that is it that pierces into souls, and warms hearts, and quickens dead spirits, and puts a new face upon aU. This is the spring of all the life that is truly spiritual; and it hath as sweet and comfortable effects upon the souls of men who receive the truth in love, the Hght in love— that is, the light with heat— as ever the sun approaching near the earth hath had upon plants and living creatures. Rev. H. Binning. The Stah in the East. A star that seemed to pant with life Was quivering in the sky, A floating light that ne'er appeared To Chaldee gazer's eye : Beneath its beams three dusky men To Palestina hie. They came from lands that no one knew, Those dusky strangers three, A throbbing light their only guide. Which none but they could see ; For they had gazed upon the star Of Christ's nativity. That star, whence did it come to rest O'er Bethlehem's little town ? Was it a gleaming diamond dropt From heaven's imperial crown ? Whate'er the glorious light that shone Upon the airy sea — Whate'er the floating splendour was That led the Magian three- Be sure, it did not steal a note From heaven's harmony. * X ^ * * Far into Pella's quiet dell It shot a tremulous ray, 78 OHRTf^TUS EEBEMrTOR. Passed swift o'er Gilead^s balmy slopefs Where now the neat-herds stray, But hung- awhile on Jordan^s wave, Anear Bethabara. And still the floating light was tracked By dusky strangers three, Who came from lands that no one knew, And saw what none could see. For they alone beheld the star Of Christ^s nativity. It tarried but a little space On palmy Jericho, But when it reached the wilderness Where the swart robbers go, It floated, like a harvest moon, Benignant, large, and low. Pull on the streets of Bethany Its softest radiance shone, And for a time it seemed to rest Mount Olivet upon ; — The strangers reached Jerusalem, And lo ! the light was gone ! It may be that the air had grown Too heavy to illume. It may be that the city steamM With vice's ranker fume. Or that the Pharisaic mind Had sphered all things in gloom. Old Judah's rod of power was gone, Or trembling to depart — Though still the red-brow'd Edomite, Who tore out his own heart. And did not love a living thing. Affected love of Art ; — TUB LIGHT. 79 Though Zion mount look'd regal yet, With turrets manifold — Though holier Moriah shone With gleams of milk and gold, Where Herod's marble had displaced The building quaint and old — And though as yet Jerusalem dreamt No dream of coming ills — Though still she wore her jagged crown Of glittering pinnacles — Her hours were numbered, and the storm Was muttering on her hills. The Magians leave her, with their gifts Of treasure and perfume ; No charm for them has Herod's court, No fear has Herod's gloom ; They seek the God-child for whose birth Bethlehem hath scarcely room. And on tbey bear — untax'd, untold — Their offerings divine, Of myrrh and spices that have felt Sabaea's summershine. And of the red gold that grew ripe In some far Eastern mine. In Judah's lonely ways there is No lack of robber bold. And much the Roman publican Delights to look at gold ; How both had smiled to see such men Coming to be enroU'd ! But now the publican's quick eye For once hath lost its ken ; Within the wild hill country The robber kept his den ; 80 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. And neither of them barred the way Of these deep-purposed men. They came to little Bethlehem, The dusky strangers three. They came from lands that no one knew, And saw what none could see. For there again they found the star Of Christ^s nativity. And there they found those shepherd swains Whose flocks were sleeping nigh, And heard the Angels' song, and saw Heaven's portals open fly. What time the light of the Sunless Land Shone through and filFd the sky. And from the vaulted heavens they heard The shouting of a host. As with those simple shepherd, swains The dewy fields they crossed ; And in the splendours of that sight Their guiding star was lost. But yet, be sure, that star is sphered For ever and for aye. In those transcendant skies, which eye Of man shall not survey, Until Death's statelier night puts out The light of common day. James Bolivar Manson. Christ alone, like His emblem, the light, passed through all things undefiled. Rev. T. Haetwell Hoiine. Christ did not rise that we should play and sport and wantonise with His light ; but that we should do the work of the day in it — that we should walk not in our night-clothes of sinful deformity, but clad all over with the comi'ly garments of light. Rev. Dr. Cudvvorth. THE LIGHT. 81 Kindle Thou thyself in us. Thou both light and fire ; Thou thyself still unto us Breath of life inspire. Thou the ray and Thou the sun, Sent and sender, Thee we own ; — Of the blessed Three in One, Thee we, suppliant, call upon. Save us now and ever. Adam of St. Victor. Christ, my Lord, I come to bless Thee, Thou who knowest no beginning, Light of the eternal light. Thou the darkness hast dissolved. And the outward light created. That all things in light might be , Fixing the unfixed chaos. Moulding it to wondrous beauty — Into the fair world we see. Thou enlightenest man with reason, Far beyond the creatures dumb. That light in Thy light beholding Wholly light he might become. Thou hast set the radiant heavens With Thy many lamps of brightness, Filling all the vaults above, Day and night in turn subjecting To a brotherhood of service And a mutual law of love. » St. Gregory Nazi.-lszen. 82 CURISTUS REDEMPTOE. THE BREAD, " And Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of Life : he that cometh to Me shall never hunger ; and he that helieveth on Me shall never thirst. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the loorld. St. Jolm vi. 35, 51. Every morning, during the feast, the priest came down from the holy mountain, with a golden vessel in his hand, to draw water from the famous fountain of Siloam, at the foot of Moriah. He returned in the midst of a great concourse of people, to the sound of psalms and trumpets, and concluded the ceremony by pouring the water from his golden vessel over the altar. This rite was designed to commemorate the miraculous stream which flowed from the rock beneath the rod of Moses. But in Israel, every memory was a hope and symbol of that which was to come. The work of Messiah was described in the prophets under the figure of floods of living water, fertilising the thirsty ground. " With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation,'-" had said the prophet Isaiah. The prophet Joel had foretold that a fountain should come forth out of the house of the Lord; Ezekiel had used similar images (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, &c.). Jesus was, then, certain of being understood by the people when He said, '' If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." He likened Himself to the rock in the desert which had given life to Israel. But the spiritual reality far surpasses the type; Jesus not only quenches thirst: He opens in the soul " a well of water springing up into ever- lasting life'' — a magnificent image of the expansive force of the Di\-ine life — freely given, that it may be freely diffused. E. De Pressense. Come to Christ, our Redeemer and Saviour, who refreshes all that truly come unto Him, be their anguish and heaviness never so great. THE BREAD. 83 Give credit unto Him^ in whose moutli was never found guile nov untruth. By Him you shall be clearly delivered from all your diseases ; of Him you shall have full remission. He it is that feedeth continually all that belong- unto Him with His own flesh that hanged upon the cross ; and giveth them drink of the blood flowing out of His own side ; and malceth to spring within them water that floweth unto everlasting life. . . . Hearken to Christ ; give ear unto His words, which shall lead you the right way unto everlasting life, there with Him to live ever as heirs of His kingdom. Amen. Archbishop Cranmer. Here the Lord declares Himself to be the Bread of Life — that is, the support and nourishment of the soul. The Israelites, no doiibt, had formerly been fed with manna in the wilderness : it nourished the body for a while, but there was nothing in that food which profited beyond the present life; whereas whoso came to Christ for nourishment should never die. He that believeth on Him hath everlasting life. For He was come to give His flesh for the life of the world. This life of the world was forfeited, and He gave His flesh — His human nature — to death, that as many as believed in Him might be restored from death to life. All were dead, and He died for all. Archbishop Sumner. 84 CERISTUS MEBEMPTOR. PROPHET. "Moses truly said vnto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; Him shall ye hear in all things what- soever He shall say unto you." Acts iii. 22. Jesus fulfilled when on earth the office of a prophet, by predicting- things to come, by expounding the Scriptures concerning Himself, by preaching the Gospel to the poor. And now He is the prophet of His Church still, the same as ever. When He went up on high, He '^gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. ■*' And these are His gifts still. His is the fulness with which all are filled. He speaks through them. We must never think that because He works through means, therefore the working is not His. We must carefully listen to the great prophet^s voice, when by His spirit. His word. His ministers, He is pleased to speak to us. We see that, together with the promise of a prophet, there is a word of solemn warning. " Every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." We know how fearfully the threat has been fulfilled in the case of the Jews. They for the most part refused to hearken to the prophet sent. And well we know how they were cut off, how wrath came upon them to the uttermost. Let us then take good heed lest we ''refuse Him that speaketh.^^ God sent His dear Son '' to bless ''■' us — sent Him first, indeed, to Jews, but afterwards to us who were afar off. But Jesus blesses by iurnhig us away from our iniquities/' He saves us ''from our sins " not " in " them. The great prophet calls us to give up our sins, and bring our burdens of grief and care to Him. May we hear and obey His voice of love, and meekly follow Him ! Rev. C. H. Ramsden. We see every day those events exactly accomplished which our S9.viour foretold at so great a distance. Addison. PRIEST. 65 PRIEST. " Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us holdfast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted liJce as ive are, yet without sin." Hebrews iv. 14, 15. Is Christ your hig-h priest, and His priesthood so indispensably neces- sary to your salvation? Then freely acknowledge your impotency to reconcile yourselves to God by anything you can do or suiier, and let Christ have the whole glory of your recovery ascribed to Him. It is highly reasonable that He that laid down the whole price should have the whole praise. If any man think or say he could have made an atonement for himself, he doth therein cast no light reproach upon that profound wisdom which laid the design of our redemption in the death of Christ. Rev. J. Flavel. Christ, passing through the courts of heaven in His ascension, and thus through a tabernacle not made with hands, completes the parallel, or satisfies the emblem, by entering into the holiest of all places — the presence of God himself, at whose right hand He sits, pre- senting His own blood as the price of expiation for the sins of the whole world. And He is thus, in the most transcendent sense, " an high priest of good things to come,'' inasmuch as, having obtained redemption for us by His own death. He will be " the author of eternal salvation " hereafter " unto all them that obey Him.-" Bishop Broughton. As Christ is a priest set on the right hand of the Majesty on high, He preserves the stability of the better covenant— the new covenant — and perpetuates the fruits of its justification in blotti;ig out the memory of our sins, and sanctifieation in \\Titing the law in our hearts (Heb. viii. 1, 6, 10, 12). He is the author of our first sanctifieation by His intercession, as the first-fruits of it was the sending that spirit by whose powerful operations the soul is reformed according to the SG CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. Divine image ; and He is the author of our repeated sanctification by the exercise of His advocacy. ... He doth not only sue out our pardon^ but sue out a grant of those graces which are necessary pre- parations and concomitants of pardon. Rev. S. Chaunock. How should faith triumph in this ? Is not our high priest in the sanctuary ? Is He not clothed in garments of salvation and rig'hteous- ness? And doth He not bear the names of His people upon His shoulders and upon His breast before the Lord ? Thy particular con- cernments, if thou art a believer, are written upon His heart, with the pen of a diamond, in such lasting letters of loving-kindness as shall never be blotted out. Rev. De. Mather. We know, upon Apostolical authority^, that "it was not possible for the blood of bulls or goats to take away sin.''^ We know that these sacrifices were only " shadows for the time then present.''^ We know that " Christ is the true High Priest," that heaven is the real sanctuary, and that " neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." And we know further that " if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sj)rinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, much more doth the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God." Bishop D. Wilson. Of the rankes and orders of holy persons, some were sanctified and separated to the Lord by office or sanction : as the priests and high priests, who of all others were the most expresse types of Jesus Christ (Heb. iv. 14). We have a great high priest, which is entered into heaven, even Jesus the Sonne of God. As Hee is a high priest wee are assured of a perfect reconciliation by His all-sufficient sacri- fice ; of sound instruction, for the priest must teach the law, His lips must present knowledge (John iv. 25). When the Messiah is come, Hee will tell us all things. Wee detest the blasphemy, therefore, that tells us that Hee hath left an imperfect doctrine that must bee eeked with traditions. Of His blessed intercession, which is meritorious and acceptable, Samuel, out of love to the people (1 Sam. xii. 23), saith PRIEST. 87 thus : God forbid that I should sinne, and cease to pray for you ; but I will teache you the good way. Christ's love to the Church is no lesse; therefore He will both teache and pray. Of powerful protection and safety, for Hee is not our priest onely, but our king; not our doctor onely, but our defender ; not a priest onely to pray, but a king to obtaine for us and bestow on us what Hee prays for. What if Hee had never so much power in teaching ; if Hee were impotent in defending ? But Hee is king of peace in Himselfe, and unto us. We have a powerful advocate in heaven. They never tasted the sweet- nesse of this doctrine that seeke after any other mediator. Eev. Dr. Tailor. Christ as priest goes before; and Christ as an advocate comes after. Christ as priest continually intercedes ; Christ as advocate, in case of great transgression, pleads. Christ as priest has need to act always ; but Christ as advocate sometimes only. Christ as priest acts in times of peace ; but Christ as advocate in time of broils, turmoils, and sharp contentions. Wherefore Christ, as advocate, is, I may call Him, a reserve; and His time is then to arise to stand up and plead, when His are clothed with some filthy sin that of late they had fallen into, as David, Joshua, or Peter ; when some such thing is committed by them as ministereth to the enemy a show of ground to question the trath of their grace; or when it is a question, and to be debated, whether it can stand with the laws of heaven, with the merits of Christ, and the honour of God, that such a one should be saved. Now let an advocate come forth. Now let Him have time to plead ; for thi^ is a fit occasion for the saints' advocate to stand up to plead for the salvation of His people. John Buxyan. «8 CHRISTUS EEBEMPTOR. KING. " T7iott art the Son of God ; Thou art the King of Israel." St. John i. 49. " The La7nb shall overcome them : for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings." Eev. xvii. 14. How entirely does His kingdom differ from the kingdoms of this worlds in its principles, and privileges, and purposes, and permanency ! Like the songs of the angels at the birth of its king, it proclaims glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men. The end for which it was established was the salvation of man, and the glory of God. Its reign is spiritual in its character, is destined to be universal in its power and blessing, and everlasting in its duration; immortality its day, and eternity its crown. Rev. H. Creswell. Christ is their king. Believers have this honour, that they are the subjects of Christ, and have Him for their king (Zech. ix. 9) . A good king is the glory of his people ; wicked kings are the shame and sorrow of their people, but good kings both their glory and their joy. Christ hath all qualifications of a glorious king. He is a wise king, a merciful king, a high-born king, a bountiful king, a holy king. It is an honour to the people of God that they have such a king. Rev. R. Robinson. The deep heart of the people was stirred, and the time was fully come when ancient prophecy was to receive its fulfilment, and the daughter of Zion was to welcome her king. Yea, and in kingly state shall He come. Begirt not only by the smaller band of His own disciples, but by the great and now hourly-increasing multitude, our Lord leaves the little wooded vale that had ministered to Him its Sabbath day of seclusion and repose, and directs His way onward to Jerusalem. As yet, however, in but humble guise, and as a pilgrim among pilgrims, He traverses the rough mountain-track — which the modern traveller can even now somewhat hopefully identify — every step bringing Him nearer to the ridge of Olivet. But the Son of KING. 89 David must not solemnly enter the city of David as a scarcely distin- guishable wayfarer amid a mixt and wayfarinf^ throng- ; prophecy must have its full and exact fulfilment. The King- must approach the city of the King with some meek symbols of kingly majesty. With haste, it would seem, two disciples are despatched to the village over against them, to bring to Him '^who had need of it" the colt "whereon yet never man sat;" with haste the zealous followers cast upon it their garments, and, all unconscious of the significant nature of this act, place thereon their Master, the coming King ! Strange it would have been if feelings such as now were eagerly stirring in every heart had not found vent in words. Strange, indeed, if with the hill of Ziou now breaking upon their view, the long prophetic past had not seemed to mingle with the present, and evoke those shouts of mysterious welcome and praise, which, first beginning with the disciples, and those immediately round our Lord, soon were heard from every mouth of that glorifying multitude ; and not from them alone ; numberless others there were fast streaming up Olivet, a palm-branch in every hand, to greet the raiser of Lazarus and the Conqueror of Death ; and now all join. One common feeling of holy enthusiasm now pervades that mighty multitude, and displays itself in befitting acts. Garments are torn off and cast down before the Holy One; green boughs bestrew the way; Zion^s King rides onward in meek majesty, a thousand voices before, and a thousand voices behind, rising up to heaven with hosannas and with mingled words of magnifying acclamation, some of which once had been sung to the psalmist^s harp, and some heard even from angelic tongues. But the hour of triumph was the horn- of deepest and most touching compassion. If, as we have ventured to believe, the suddenly-opening view of Zion may have caused the excited feelings of that thronging multitude to pour themselves forth in words of exalted and triumphant praise, fall surely we know from the inspired narrative that on our Redeemer's nearer approach to the city, as it rose up — perhaps suddenl}' — in all its extent and magnificence before Him who even now beheld the trenches cast about it, and Roman legions mustering round its fated walls, tears fell from those divine eyes ; yea, the Saviour of the World wept over the city wherein He had come to suffer and to die. The lengthening procession again 90 CHRISTUS RELEMPTOR. moves onward, slowly descending into the deep valley of the Cedron, and slowly winding up the opposite slope, until, at length, by one of the Eastern gates, it passes into one of the now crowded thoroughfares of the Holy City. Such was the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Bishop Ellicott. The forty-fifth Psalm is a picture of the peaceful and glorious union of the King Messiah with His mystical bride, the Church ot redeemed humanity. Messiah is introduced as a Divine King reigning among men. His form is of more than human beauty ; His lips overflow with grace ; God has blessed Him for ever, and has anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows. But Messiah is also directly addressed as God ; He is seated upon an everlasting throne. Neither the eighty-ninth, forty-fifth, or second Psalm can be adapted without exegetical violence to the circumstances of Solomon, or of any other king of ancient Israel ; and the New Testament interprets the picture of the royal epithalamium, no less than that of the royal triumph over the insurgent heathen, of the one true King Messiah. ^^But unto the Son he saith. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever : a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom,"" &c. &c. (See Heb. i. 8, &c. &c.) In the seventy-second Psalm, the character and extent of this Messianic sovereignty are more distinctly pictured. Solomon, when at the height of his power, sketches a superhuman king, ruling an empire which in its character and in its compass altogether transcends his own. The extremest boundaries of the kingdom of Israel melt away before the gaze of the Psalmist. The new kingdom reaches " from sea to sea, and from the flood unto the world's end'''' (Ps. Ixxii. 8). It reaches from each frontier of the Promised Land to the remotest regions of the known world, in tho opposite quarter. From the Mediterranean it extends to the ocean that washes the shores of Eastern Asia; from the Euphrates to the utmost west. At the feet of its mighty Monarch, all who are most inaccessible to the arms or to the influence of Israel hasten to tender their voluntary submission. The wild sons of the desert, the mer- chants of Tarshish in the then distant Spain (v. 10), the islanders of the Mediterranean, the Arab chiefs, the wealthy Nubians, are fore- most in proffering their homage and fenlty. But all kings are at last KING. 91 to fall down iu submission before the Ruler of the new kingdom ; all nations are to do Him service (v. 11); His empire is to be co- extensive with the world ; it is also to be co-enduring with time (v. 17). His empire is to be spiritual; it is to confer peace on the worldj but by righteousness. The King will Himself secure righteous judgment; salvation^ deliverance^ redemption_, to His subjects. The needy, the afflicted^ the friendless^ will be the especial objects of His tender care (v. 12, 13). His appearance in the world will be like the descent on the mown grass (v. 6, and 2 Sam. xxiii. 4) . The true life of man seems to have been killed out, but it is yet capable of being restored by Him. He, himself, it is hinted,, will be out of sight ; but His Name shall endure for ever; His Name will propagate {v. 17), and men shall be blessed in Him^ to the end of time. This King is immortal; He is also all-knowing and all-mighty. Om- niscience alone can hear the cry of every human heart ; Omnij)otence alone can bring deliverance to every human sufferer. Look at one more representation of this royalty, that to which our Lord Himself referred, in dealing with His Jewish adversaries (St. Matt. xxii. 41 — 45). David describes his great descendant^ Messiah, as his " Lord.""^ Messiah is sitting on the right hand of Jehovah, as the partner of His dignity. Messiah reigns upon a throne, wliich impiety alone could assign to any human monarch ; He is to reign until His enemies are made His footstool; He is Ruler now, even among His unsubdued opponents (Ps. ex. 2). In the day of His power. His people offer themselves willingly to His service ; they are clad, not in earthly armour, but in the beauties of holiness. Canon Liddon. We praise Thee^ we bless Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory, O Christ, the King of Israel, the Light of the Gentiles, the Prince of all the kings of the earth, the Lord of hosts, the power of God Almighty, the God of strength and perfect- ness ! St. Anselm. He on whose eyes sweet light revealed hath been ; He on whose ears the mysteries of sound ; The lame who now can walk ; He who hath seen The gate of death, and He whom death hath bound, 92 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. Rejoice aloud — a choral company ! And had they not, the stones from out the ground Witness of Him, whom patriarchs long-ed to see, Had borne : such was the aspiration then, The rapture and procession. And lo, He Went like a conqueror on His way, while men Cowered as before a God. J. A. Heraud. While we rest our hope upon the Rock of our Salvation, we see our way through the gloomy prospects of this world, and move within the view of a sure haven of rest and peace. If the wicked prosper, we know that the day of retribution is at hand ; if the righteous suffer, we know that his reward is not far off. If the elements of the world are shaken, we know whose word can bring order out of confusion. " The Lord is King, let the earth be never so unquiet.'''' Amidst the vexations and miseries of this our mortal condition, we possess our souls in patience, in confident assurance that all things are subject to Him, who is our Creator, our Redeemer, and our God and King. T. Rennell. The head that once was crowned with thorns Is crowned with glory now; A royal diadem adorns The mighty Victor's brow. The highest place that heaven affords Is His by sovereign right ; The King of kings, and Lord of lords, He reigns in glory bright. Rev. Thos. Kelly. LOFK 03 LOVE. " Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." St. John xiii. 1. " ^s the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you : if ye Tceep My comniand- ments, ye shall abide in My love. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." St. John xv. 9, 10, 13. " God is love." 1 John iv. 8. Oh, believer ! a period will arrive when you shall have been medi- tating on this love, and enjoying its brightest manifestations, for millions and millions of years, and for myriads and myriads of ages ; and yet, when that period shall arrive, you will feel that, compara- tively speaking, you know nothing of this love, and that you have not even come to the threshold of its glories. The love of Christ will shine brighter and brighter, for ever and ever. Rev. H. Creswell. If the hope of these joys be such, what must the substance be ? If the thought be so cheering, as it flashes across our dim eyes in this our night of heaviness, when our minds are so dulled by sin, what will it be to behold His unveiled face, shining in love and mercy upon us, for having loved those who were His ? What to find all the poor offerings of our weak love stored up with Him and accepted by Him, who gave us what we had to give, gave us the heart to give, gave Himself for us, with whom all things are given us, and to be repaid in His love, whereby He will fill those who love Him more and more with His own Divine essence, which is love ? If the thought of these things so raises the soul, what must the things themselves be, "which it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive, but which God hath prepared for them that love Him?'' God, of His infinite mercy, give us grace to be " mercifvil, that we may obtain mercy ; " that we may all hear the compassionate, pardoning words, "Forasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me/' Rev. Dr. Pusey. 94 CHRISTUS REBEjIPTOH. Man learns very mucli as the child does to say that he shall love God;, and says often '^ I love God/'' without really knowing- of whom he says it. God loves man when he has no other will but His will. God loves man when he is burdened with Christ-like poverty, sorrow, and humility, and is despised as He was despised. Aechbishop Fenelon. Is Christ, then, not related to His people by ties as close as the mother's to her child ? Or, look on a few years, to the time when two young hearts have learned to beat together in deep affection. What devoted love ! What blind admiration and absorbing interest ! The light of one dear countenance turns life into sunshine; in its absence all is dark and dull. May we speak so of the lover's passion, and be thought too bold when we describe the sweet satisfaction which humble souls have found in Christ? Eather it is true that those affections of earth were given us to prepare and train our dull hearts for worthier emotions and desires. Through the filial con- fidence of infancy, through motherly tenderness and honest attach- ment, we are led upwards to a higher, holier, stronger love. Those lower affections were meant to open, not to fill the heart. If rig^htly governed, they enlarge its capacity for loving Christ ; He alone is the portion that justifies the deep craving of a Christian soul for love. How, then, can we describe too strongly such merciful sympathy, such boundless grace ? Has He not said Himself, " Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother?'' Why should we hesitate to use His own language, and make good His affectionate words ? Bishop Mackarness. We continually declare that faith itself, even Christian faith, the faith of God's elect, the faith of the operation of God, still only is the handmaid of love. As glorious and honourable as it is, it is not the end of the commandment. God hath given this honour to love alone. Love is the end of all the commandments of God. Love is the end, the sole end, of every dispensation of God, from the begin- ning of the world to the consummation of all things ; and it will endure when heaven and earth flee away ; for " love " alone " never failoth." Rkv. J. Wksley. L(WE. 95 Did, then, the love of Christ break through so many impediments to come to this ? Did it make its way through the law, through the wrath of God, through the grave, through thine own unbelief and great unworthiness, to come to thee ? Oh, what a love was the love of Christ to thy soul ! And is not thy love strong enough to break through the vanities and trifles of this world, which entangle it, to go to Christ ? How poor, how low and weak, is thy love to Christ, then ! Rev. J. Flavel. Oh, that our souls would so fall at odds with the love of this world as to think of it as a traveller doth of a drink of water, which is not part of his treasure, but goeth away with the using ! for ten miles' journey maketh that drink to him nothing. Oh, that we had as soon done with this world, and could as quickly dispatch the love of it ! That as a child cannot hold two apples in its little hand, but the one putteth the other out of its room, so neither can we be masters and lords of two loves. Blessed were we if we could make ourselves masters of that invaluable treasure, the love of Christ; or rather suffer ovirselves to be mastered and subdued to Christ's love, so as Christ were our " all things,'-' and all other things our nothings, and the repose of our delights. Samuel Rutherfokd. Learn not to despise or refuse the love of Christ when it is offered to you and propounded to you in the Gospel. We can be content to want the love of some men, because we can live well enough without them and their love. Their love lost, hurts not us ; but if the loss of their love may be the loss of our goods and lives, then (if it may be had) men will seek for and long for it, though it should not be offered ; but, if offered, it is gladly accepted. So if you could live without the love of Christ, you might content yourselves ; but the loss of it is more bitter than ten thousand deaths; and, therefore, refuse it not when it is offered, but do as they did (to as many of whom as the Lord God should call, the promises had l:»een made) when they saw how they had imbrued their hands in the blood of Christ, and yet saw peace offered, it is said (Acts ii. 41) " they gladly received the word of the Lord.'' Rev. T. Shephatid. 96 CHEI8TUS EEDEMPTOR. Oh, the breadth, oh, the length, oh, the depth, oh, the height of this love of Christ, which passeth knowledge ! I may possibly feel it, but I cannot fathom it. The love of creatures is nothing to the love of Christ. It was great love that Jacob bore to Rachel, that he endured the heats of summer and the frosts of winter for her -, but all this was nothing to the winter storm which Christ suffered for us. It was extraordinary love that Jonathan had to David, that he should peril his life to avert his father's wrath from him ; but what was that to Christ's love, that took on His eternal Father's wrath, which was infinitely greater than Saul's, and actually laid down His life to avert that dreadful storm of wrath from us ! What love was it that made Him stand before the mouth of the hell-furnace, and suffer Himself to be scorched with it in the most terrible manner, that He might stop the flame from breaking out on us ! Behold Him receiving the sword of justice into His bowels, to prevent its being sheathed in our hearts. Behold, when the sea of God's wrath raged, and was tem- pestuous, threatening to swallow us all up, Christ came and said, like Jonah, Spare these poor sinners ; take Me up and cast Me into the sea. in their stead, that the storm may be appeased against them ! Christ was willing to be cast into the sea of wrath, to be a blessed plank of mercy to shipwrecked souls to cling to and be saved. J. Willison. The activity of Divine love is ceaseless ; it knows no rest, no Sabbath. Hence its right to intervene at all times for the good and salvation of men. E. De Pressense. " He loved me, and gave Himself for me." When this principle is once received into the heart, when the love of Christ is thus brought home to the individual soul, then there is no need to seek for any further principle of obedience, or holiness, or virtue. Here is the powerful motive which will do all that is needed, and which, under the mighty influence of the Spirit of God, will gradually reduce that soul to conformity with Christ's image, and so to obedience to God's law. Canon Miller. Our Saviour would love at no less rate than death ; and from the super-eminent height of glory, stooped and abased Himself to the LOVE. 97 sufferance of the extremest of indig-nitieS;, and sunk Himself to the bottom of abjectness^ to exalt' our condition to the contrary extreme. Hon. Robert Boyle. The love of Christ, in dying- for us, has three properties with it, which will have an influence on our souls if we are affected with it. It has a transforming- power, property, and efficacy with it. If we are rightly affected with it, I say, it will transform and change our whole souls in some measure into the likeness of Christ. And how so ? If you are affected with the love of Christ, it lays hold upon and possesses your affections. The affections being possessed, stir up many thoughts ; thoughts are the very image of the soul, represent it, to show you what the soul is ; and those things concerning which your thoughts do most abound, that carries the frame of the soul ; for whatever he may outwardly say, " as he thinks, so is he ;" there is the image and likeness of the soul. Dr. Owen. The New Testament speaks of the Spirit of Him who gave His Son for men. It sets forth the character of this Spirit by His life, in whom it is said to have dwelt without measure. If holiness was more characteristic of Him than power, the Spirit of holiness is the name by which we are taught to express it most uniformly and perfectly. If meekness, humility, gentleness, were the essential qualities of His life, the Spirit is known as the Spirit of meekness, humility, gentle- ness : these are declared to be the fruits of its operations. If His whole life was an act of self-sacrifice. His Spirit is set forth as the power whereby man is able to offer himself a sacrifice. If love was the spring and end of His sacrifice, it was the Spirit of love which He promises to those who obey Him. Not that these assertions in the least interfere with that other equally prominent one, which declares Him to be the Spirit of truth and knowledge ; which speaks of all powers and exercises of mind, and all the directions which are given to them as from Him. No one brings out that assertion more clearly and mightily than St. Paul ; but he winds up the enumeration of all gifts and powers in these words : — " And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as u sounding brass or a H 98 CHRISTUS BELEMPTOR. tinkling- cymbal/' Love is in His teachings as in His life : the highest manifestation of the presence of the Spirit^ because God^ from whom it proceeds, is Love. Rev. Peofessoe Maueice. Such and so great was the love of God the Father towards us^ that He spared not His own Son^ but delivered Him up for us all ; and so transcendent was the love of the Son of God towards the sons of men, that He desired not to be spared ; but rather than they should be under the power of death, was of Himself most willing to suffer death for them : which seeing, in that infinite nature which by eternal government He received from His Father, He could not do, He resolved in the appointed time to take unto Himself a mother, and out of her substance to have a body formed unto Himself, wherein " He might become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,^' for our redemption. And, therefore, when He cometh into the world. He saith unto His Father, " A body hast Thou fitted me : lo, I come to do Thy will, O God V By tlije which will, saith the Apostle, "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Archbishop Usher. Love strong as death, nay stronger. Love mightier than the grave ; Broad as the earth, and longer Than ocean^s wildest wave. This is the love that sought us ; This is the love that bought us ; This is the love that brought us To gladdest day from saddest night. From deepest shame to glory bright, From depths of death to life's fair height. From darkness to the joy of light. Rev. Dr. H. Bonar. What an unspeakable kindness is it for the King of Glory to die for a wretch — yea, for a worm, and that not a loving worm, but for His enemy ; for all men sufficiently, for every believer efficiently; who doth not only believe that Christ so loved us as that He gave Himself LOVE. 99 for us altog-etlier ; but more particularly with Paul^ " Wlio loved me, gave Himself for vie." Read with great vehemence these words again and again^ " Me" and "for me." Practice with thyself^ that thou mayst conceive and print this me in thine hearty and apply it to thyself ; not doubting but that thou art of the number of those to whom this me doth appertain. "When I feel myself a sinner^ through Adams's trans- gression^ why should I not say that I am made righteous through the righteousness of Christ ; especially when I hear that He " loved me, and. gave Himself for me," even for me, the greatest sinner and least saint? Dean Boys. Blessed is the man that understandeth what it is to love Jesus, and to despise himself for the sake of Jesus. Thou must quit what- ever thou lovest for this Beloved; because Jesus requires us to love Him above all things. The love of the creature is deceitful and unstable ; the love of Jesus is faithful and eternal. He that cleaveth to the creature shall fall with that which is subject to fall; he that embraceth Jesus shall stand fast for ever. Love Him, and keep Him thy friend, who, though all the world leave thee, will not forsake thee, nor suffer thee finally to perish. Thomas A''Kempis. Awake my soul, in joyful lays. And sing thy great Redeemer's praise ; He justly claims a song from me ; His loving-kindness, oh, how free ! He saw me ruined in the fall. Yet loved me, notwithstanding all ; He saved me from my lost estate ; His loving-kindness, oh, how great ! When trouble, like a gloomy cloud, Has gathered thick and thundered loud, He near my soul has always stood ; His loving-kindness, oh, how good ! Often I feel my sinful heart, Prone from my Jesus to depart ; 100 CHRISTUS RELEMPTOB. Yet tho* I have Him oft forgot, His loving-kindness changes not ! Tho^ numerous hosts of mighty foes, Tho^ earth and hell my way oppose, He safely leads my soul along ; His loving-kindness, oh, how strong ! Soon must I pass the gloomy vale; Soon all my mortal powers must fail ; Oh ! may my last expiring breath His loving-kindness sing in death ! Then shall I mount and soar away To the bright realms of endless day, And sing with rapture and surprise His loving-kindness in the skies ! Medley. The Logos is love. He reflects upon the Father the fulness of His love. He loves the Father, as the Father loves Himself. The Father's love sends Him into the world, and He obeys out of love. It is love which draws Him, together with the Father, to make His abode in the souls of the faithful. Canon Liddox. By various names we Thy perfections call. But pure, unfathom'd love exhausts them all : By love, all things were made and are sustained ; Love, all things to allure, man^s love ordained ; Love, vengeance from lapsed human race suspends ; Love, our salvation, when provoked, intends ; Love, Lord, Thy infinite perfections joined Into all forms of love, to save mankind ; Enlightening wisdom, and ^supporting might, Grace to forgive, compassion to invite. Thy bounty in rewards, which thought exceed ; Munificence to promise all we need ; Truth to perform paternal tender care; A patient mildness long to wait and spare ; LOVE. 101 A justice to chastise love's hateful foes ; With jealousy cursed rivals to oppose ; Benignity, to hear a sinner's cry ; Unbounded all-sufficience, to supply ; ^ They all are love — love only is their aim, My verse shall love, and hymn Thee by that name. Bishop Ken. No love is greater than this love of mine, except that under whose influence a man would lay down his life for his friends. But even this is most contrary to truth; for what love can be greater than the love of Christ? Christ, therefore, here places before us the very extremity of His own love— the love with which He has loved our- selves, and with which He desires that we in our turn shall love, as though He said, I have loved you perfectly; from you, therefore, I require a perfect love ; and by right I demand it of you, that you in yom- turn may also love perfectly. The greatest and most perfect love, therefore, is that with which one lays down for his friends not merely means and expectations, but his very soul, that is to say, life itself. Tliis I lay down for you ; do ye therefore in like manner spare for your friends' sake no labour, no danger, no death, no suffering ; but cheerfully for them embrace them all Cornelius a Lapide. 102 CIirJSTUS REBEMFTOR. GRACE. " Ye Tinow the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your salces He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. viii. 9. " The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. i. 14. There is one thing for wliicli we are more beholden to God than for all the rest, and that is, for His grace. Other things, though they come originally from God, yet they come mediately by the meanes of other instruments — by parents, or friends, or benefactors ; but grace is a thing that comes solely, and onely, and immediately from Christ. As there was no corne to bee had in Egypt but from the hand of Joseph, so no grace to bee had on earth but from the hand of Christ. " Hee is the God of all grace" (as Saint Peter truely stileth Him). There is no grace whatsoever that is wanting in man but there is a gracious supply to be had in God ; which made David, as it were in a rapture, to cry out, and say, " Oh, taste and see how gracious the Lord is." First taste, and then see; because as a man can never truely tell the sweetnesse of honey till hee have tasted it first, so can hee never truely see, perceive, nor understand how gracious our God is, till hee have first had a taste of, and experience of God's grace and favour in himselfe and for his ovme soule. Taste then, and see how o-racious Hee is. Gracious in His throne, for it is the throne of grace (Heb. iv. 16) ; gracious in His Spirit, for it is the Spirit of grace (Zech. xii. 10) ; gracious in His Word, for it is the word of grace (Acts xx. 30) ; and above all, gracious in Himselfe, for " Hee is the God of grace, yea, the God of all grace" (1 Peter v. 10). And, therefore, dost thou desire wisdome ? — Hee is the God of that grace. Dost thou want patience? — Hee is the God of that too. Dost thou stand in need of faith, or hope, or charitie ?— Hee is the God of all these. Oh, what a gracious God doe wee serve, and what graceless beastes wee are if wee serve Him not, seeing Hee hath grace sufficient for us all ! '^ Mi/ grace/' saith God, " is sufficient for thee J' Kev. J. Goiuc. GRACE. lOS Chosen from above By inspiration of celestial grace. Shakespeare. Never let it be supposed that Christians can serve God without the grace of Christ. The life of devotion is still His g-ift, and it must be insisted upon that there is not in man one good thought, one holy desire, but from the continual inspiration of the Divine Spirit of Christ, in all things directing and ruling our hearts. Without this doctrine we may be scholars and critics, and men of taste, and like- wise moralists of civil society ; but we are no longer to be considered as Christian divines, neither will our labours be attended with any saving effect. Bishop Horne. Nothing humbles the soul like a spiritual view of Him, "who, though rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rieh.-*' How the world lessens, and all its fading honours darken on the eye of Faith ! How is self annihilated ; how is pride hid from man, under the shiuings of the Mediator's majesty and meekness ? A believing sight of Him is the only source whence evangelic repentance can flow. True repentance (as one excellently observes) is the tear of faith ; and as the eye must exist previously to the tear it sheds, so must faith be wrought in the heart ere true repentance weeps. When God made a peculiar discovery of Himself to the soul of Job, what was the effect on that holy man ? " I abhor myself,'' said he, " in dust and ashes." " They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and mourn," says God. First look and then mourn; first believe and then repent. The rock is first smitten, and then the waters flow. The Almighty Sun of Righteous- ness must point the beams of His converting power upon the soul, and then a gracious melting ensues : the frost breaks, the ice dissolves, and the vanquished sinner, who was sometime afar off, is brought nigh by the blood of Christ. The devout Mr. Henry has a remark to this effect, " If Christ had not looked upon Peter, Peter had not wept : Peter's tears flowed first from the eyes of Christ." Grace alone can work repentance unto life. Only the sight of a broken, bleeding Saviour can give a broken, bleeding heart. When we bear of the death of a stranger we are seldom very deeply affected, but when we hear of the death of a beneficent friend, or of a loving and beloved 104 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. relation^ our relenting-s are kindled^ and our eyes overflow. So the death of Christ makes but a slight impression on the hearty considered merely as a historical event ; but when the Christian is made to see that it was his everlasting- friend who died^ and that He died, more- over, for his particular salvation, it is such looking that produces godly sorrow. Jesus need but show Himself to a sinner, and the sinner falls before Him. Toplady. Let not the sinner be discouraged by any enormities of his pre- ceding life. To become Christ^s disciple, every one who wishes is permitted ; every oner's past sins are forgiven from the moment that he resolves to conform to the precepts and example of his Saviour. He hath said, " Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out."' In no wise — in no resentment of any crimes, not even of blasphemy and infidelity, previous to his coming, will I exclude from the light of My doctrine, from the benefits of My atonement, from the glories of My kingdom. Bishop Horsi-ey. Raise up thy heart to an expectation of relief from Christ. This establishing the soul by faith, in expectation of relief from Jesus Christ (St. Matthew xi. 28), on the accoimt of His mercifulness as our High Priest, will be more available to the ruin of thy lust and dis- temper, and have a better and speedier issue, than all the rigidest means of self-maceration that ever any of the sons of men engaged themselves into. Yea, let me add, that never any soul did, or shall perish by the power of any lust, sin, or corruption, who could raise liis soul by faith to an expectation of relief from Jesus Christ. Rev. Dr. Owen. JIEST. 105 REST. « There the weary le at rest." Jo^- "^; 1'^- " Gome unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you j.gg^_» St. Matthew xi. 28. Art thou weary ^ art thou languid, Art thou sore distrest ? " Come to Me/' saith One, " and, coming. Be at rest!'' Hath He marks to lead me to Him, I£ He be my Guide ? " In His feet and hands are wound-prints, And His side!" Hath He diadem, as monarch, That His brow adorns ? " Yea, a crown, in very surety, But of thorns!'' If I find Him, if I follow. What His guerdon here ? " Many a sorrow, many a labour. Many a tear ! " If I still hold closely to Him, What hath He at last? " Sorrow vanquished, labour ended, Jordan past !" If I ask Him to receive me, Will He say me nay ? " Not till earth, and not till heaveu Pass away !" lOG CHBISTUS BEBEMPTOR. Finding, following, keeping, struggling, Is He sure to bless ? Angels, niart}Ts, prophets, pilgrims. Answer, " Yes ! " Rev. Dr. Neale. I must say the saints have a sweet life between them and Christ. There is much sweet solace of love between Him and them when He feedeth among the lilies, and cometh into His garden, and maketh a fare of honeycomb, and drinketh His wine and His milk, and crieth, " Eat, O friends; drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved." One hour of this labour is worth a shipful of the workVs drunken and muddy joy ; nay, even the gate of heaven is the sunny side of the brae, and the very garden of the world. S. Rutherfokd. Whatever the burden be with which we are " heavy laden," we can carry it to Him, and in Him find " rest." He is the great repre- sentative of the human race in regard to sorrow as well as in regard to sin. And the burden of our sorrow is very heavy and very varied. But if we really make acquaintance with Jesus Christ, we find relief under all burdens. There is one weight which presses very heavily and very constantly on the Christian soul. It is the thought of the sin in the world around us, which we feel that we cannot remove. Now here we find repose in the contemplation of the faultless character of Christ. When distressed and weary with what we hear and see in daily life, it is " rest " to gaze on Him and His perfect goodness. And the character of Christ is itself a promise. While it tells us that we ourselves shall not be neglected in any present sorrow, it assures us that there will be a better world hereafter, from which all things that do offend will be removed, and in which " there remaineth a rest for the people of God." Dean Howson. He is our Rest, the only One that can quench the fever of our desire. God in Christ is what we want. When men quit that, then they must perforce turn aside : the nobler heart to break with disap- pointment; the meaner heart to love the world instead, and sate and satisfy itself, as best it may, on things that perish in the using. Rev. F. W. Robertson. REST. 107 Lord, I have shut my door — Shut out lifers busy cares and fretting- noise ; Here in this silence they intrude no more. Speak Thou, and heavenly joys Shall fill my heart with music sweet and calm — A holy psalm. Yes, I have shut my door, Even on all the beauty of Thine earth — To its bliie ceiling* from its emerald floor. Filled with spring's bloom and mirth : From these Thy works I turn ; Thyself I seek ; To Thee I speak. And I have shut my door On earthly passion — all its yearning" love, Its tender friendships ; all the priceless store 0£ human ties. Above All these my heart aspires ; O Heart divine I Stoop Thou to mine. Lord, I have shut my door ! Come Thou and visit me ; I am alone ! Come, as when doors were shut Thou cam'st of yore. And visitedst Thine own. Jesus ! I kneel with reverent love and fear; For Thou art here ! Mary E. Atkinson. 108 CniilSTUS REDEMPTOR. POWER. " Jesus spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the nam^ of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost .- teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." St. Matt, xxviii. 18— 20. The work of Jesus Christ is not merely a fact of history ; it is a fact, blessed be God ! of individual experience. If the world is one scene of His conquests^ the soul of each true Christian is another. The soul is the microcosm within which, in all its streng-th, the kingdom of God is set up. Many of you know, from 'a witness that you can trust, Christy's power to restore to your inward life its orig-inal har- mony. You are conscious that He is the fertilizing and elevating principle of your thought, the purifying principle of your affections, the invigorating principle of your wills. You need not to ask the question, " Whence hath this Man this w4sdom, and these mighty works ?■''' Man, you are well assured, cannot thus, from age to age, enlarge the realm of moral light, and make all things newj man cannot thus endow frail natures with determination, and rough natures with tenderness, and sluggish natures with keen energy, and restless natures with true and lasting peace. These every-day tokens of Christ^s presence and power in His kingdom of themselves answer the question of the text. If He who could predict that by dying in shame He would secure the fulfilment of an extraordinary plan, and assure to Himself a world-wide empire, can be none other than the Lord of human history ; so certainly the Friend, the Teacher, the Master who has fathomed and controlled our deepest life of thought and passion, is welcomed by the Christian soul as something more than a student exploring its mysteries, or than a philanthropic ex- perimentalist alleviating- its sorrows. He is hailed. He is loved. He is worshipped, as One who possesses a knowledge and a strength which human study and human skill fail to compass ; it is felt that POWER. 109 He is so manifestly the true Saviour of the soul, because He is none other than the Being who made it. Canon Liddon. There is a moral passivity in all perfect character — a passivity of mercy or sacrifice. In this a good or perfect being not only feels toward good or evil according to what it is_, but willingly endures evil, or submits to its bad quality and action, to make it what it is not — to recover and heal it. No extraordinary purity is necessary to make anyone sensible of disaffection, or disgust, or pain, in the contem- plation of what is vile and wicked ; but to submit one's ease, and even one's personal comfort and pleasure to the endurance of wickedness, in order to recover and subdue it, requires what is far more difficult. I can be disgusted easily enough by the ingratitude, offended by the treachery, wounded by the wi'ongs of an enemy ; but to bear that enemy, and put myself in the way of receiving more injury, in order to regain his friendship, and restore him to a right feeling, is quite another matter. I am never perfect in my relation to him till I can. All perfect virtue will do this ; and none is perfect but this, whether in man, or in angel, or in God. Just here, then, we begin to open upon the true meaning of that text, " Christ the power of God."" There is no so great power even among men as this of which I now speak. It conquers evil by enduring evil. It takes the rage of its enemy, and lets him break his malignity across the enduring meek- ness of its violated love. Just here it is that evil becomes insupport- able to itself. It can argue against everything but suffering patience ; this disarms it. Looking in the face of suffering patience, it sinks exhausted. All its fire is spent. In this view it is that " Christ crucified is the power of God.-" It is because He shows God in self-sacrifice, because He brings out and makes historical in the world God's passive virtue, M^hich is, in fact, the culminating head of power in His character. By this it is, that He opens our human feeling, bad and blind as it is, pouring Himself into its deepest recesses, and bathing it with His cleansing, new-creating influence. There is even a kind of efficiency in it, and that the highest, viz., moral efficiency ; for it is moral power, not physical, not force. It is that kind of power which feehng has to impregnate feeling ; that which one person has in good, to melt himself into and 110 CHRIS TUS REBEMPTOR. assimilate another in evil. Hence it is that so much is said of Christ as a new-discovered power — "the power of God unto salvation/' "the Son of God with power ;" " the power of Christ /' " Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God/'' The power spoken of is conceived to ])e such that Christ is really our new Creator. " We are His work- manship, created unto good works;'' "new creatures/' therefore, in Him, transformed radically by our faith in Him, " passed from death unto life, born of God, renewed in the spirit of our mind, created after God in righteousness and true holiness." All the fig-ures of cleansing-, sprinkling-, washing, healing-, purging, terminate in the same thing, the new-creating efficacy of Christ, the power of God. It is the power of character, feeling, a right passivity, a culminating grace of sacrifice in God. Rev. Dr. H. Bushnell. For without Thy sacred powers, Nothing can we own of ours. Nothing undefiled. What is arid, fresh bedew ; What is sordid, cleanse anew ; Balm on the wounded pour. What is rigid, gently bend ; On what is cold. Thy fervour send ; What has stray'd, restore. Is Thine own in every place ? Give the sacred sevenfold ^' grace, Give Thy faithful this. Give to virtue its reward ; Safe and peaceful end afford j Give eternal bliss. King Robebt II. ok France. *^ The 80 von petitions in the Lord's I'raycr. STEENOTE. Ill STRENGTH. " My grace is sufficient for thee : for My strength is made perfect in loeaJcness ." 2 Cor. xii. 9. " Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress," Isaiah, xxv. 4. If Jesus has died, and risen, and ascended, all is plain. If He is at the right hand of God, which means, if He is invested with all the power of God, and if the world itself, all that happens in Providence, and all that happens in the soul, is under the real management of Jesus Christ in heaven, all is plain. No wonder, then, that they who do His work are strong. No wonder, then, that in their souls is a peace which passeth understanding, and in their lives a strength and an elevation altogether above man. Rev. Dii. C. J. Vaughajj. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah ! Pilgrim through this barren land ; I am weak, but Thou art mighty ; Hold me with Thy powerful hand : Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more. Open Thou the crystal Fountain, Whence the healing streams do flow : Let the fierj cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through: Strong Deliverer, Be Thou still my Strength and Shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid my anxious fears subside j Death of death, and helFs destruction, Land me safe on Canaan^s side : Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee. W. Williams. 112 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. Even when a life of sin has bound us with chains of iron, there still remains a faint whisper deep within, which declares tiiat these chains can and ought to be broken. This power of the human will to rise above all circumstances, all fetters of habit, all seductions of pleasure^ or association, or custom, is older even than the Gospel. It is the secret working of the power of the atonement of Christ, working" even in those who have never heard of that atonement. It is the mysterious grace of God, shed even on men who never heard His namcj just as He " causeth His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.^^ Bishop Temple. Christ^s strength is the Christianas strength. Rev. J. Mason. He who was too strong for Samson, too cunning for Solomon, will not be baffled by your wisdom, or subdued by your strength. " Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," is the declaration of God^s own word; but resist him in the power of your own might, and he will laugh you to scorn. It is from the armoury of heaven alone that weapons can be brought fitted for this spiritual warfare. Do you, then, seek them there? Does every day behold you earnestly imploring, through the merits of the Redeemer, arms from on high, to enable you to fight the good fight ? It is through the prayer of yom- ever-blessed Intercessor that you can alone find grace equal to your need ; that you will alone obtain strength equal to your day. Rev. H. Blunt. Whenever we find our abilities too weak for the performance, Christ assures us of the assistance of His Holy Spirit. R>:v. H. Rogers. iVISDOM 118 WISDOM. " Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, wTio of God-is made wnto us wisdom" 1 Cor. i. 30. What is all knowledge but painted folly in comparison o£ this ? Though thou had Solomon^s faculty to discourse of all plants, and have not the right knowledge of this Hooi of Jesse ; if thou wert singular in the knowledge of the stars and course of the heavens, and could walk through the sphere with a Jacob's staff, but ignorant of this Star of Jacob ; if thou knewest the histories of all time, and the life and death of all the most famous princes, and could rehearse them all, but doth not spiritually know and apply to thyself the death of Jesus as thy life ; thou art still a wretched fool for them, and all thy knowledge with thee shall quickly perish. On the other side, if thy capacity or breeding hath denied thee the knowledge of all these things, wherein men glory so much; yet do but learn Christ crucified, and what wouldst thou have more ? That shall make thee happy for ever ; for " this is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent/'' Aechbishop Letghton. By Christ we look up to the highest heavens, and behold, as in a glass. His spotless and most excellent visage. By Him are the eyes of our heart opened ; by Him our foolish and darkened understanding rejoiceth to behold the wonderful light. By Him would God have us to taste the knowledge of immortality. St. Clement. If Christ were not the wisdom of God, His very attempt to redeem man by means so contrary to every idea of worldly prudence must have defeated His own design, and would only have been crowning the summit of folly. But to cocniteract all the designs of earth and hell, and to turn their united force and malice into His own glory and His people's salvation, is surely that proof of the divinity of His wisdom, which the sophistry of earth and hell will never be able to refute. Ambrose Serle. 114 CHJIISTUS REDEMPTOR. WORD. ''In the hegin ning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, The same was in the beginning ivith God. And the Word was inade 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." St. John i. 1, 2, 14. In the four Gospels, or rather in the four books of the one Gospel, the Apostle St. John, deservedly compared to an eagle, by reason of his spiritual understanding, has lifted his enunciation of truth to a far higher and sublimer point than the other three, and by this elevation he would fain have our hearts lifted up likewise. For the other three Evangelists walked, so to speak, on earth with our Lord as man. Of His Godhead they said but a few things. But John, as if he found it oppressive to walk on earth, has opened his treatise as it were with a peal of thunder ; he has raised himself not merely above the earth, and the whole compass of the air and heaven, but even above every angel-host, and every order of the invisible powers, and has reached even to Him by whom all things were made, in that sentence, " Id the beginning was the Word.''^ St. Augustine. The Spirit breathes upon the word. And brings the truth to sight ; Precepts and promises afford A sanctifying light. A glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun ; It gives a light to every age ; It gives, but borrows none. The hand that gave it still supplies The gracious light and heat ; His truths upon the nations rise ; They rise, buL never set. fVORD. 11.) Let evevlastiny thanks be Thine, For such a bright display, As makes a world of darkness shino With beams of heavenly day. My soul rejoices to pursue The steps of Him I love, Till glory breaks upon my view In brighter worlds above. Cowper. Know that this Jesus, whom we believe to have been God, and the Son of God from the beginning", is no other than the Word itself. Truth itself, and Wisdom itself ; but we say further, that His mortal body, and the human soul that was therein, by means of their most intimate connection and union with the Word, received the greatest dignity imaginable, and participating* of His divinity, were taken into God. Origen. And so the Word had breath, and wrought With human hands the creed of creeds, In loveliness of perfect deeds, More strong than all poetic thought. Tennyson. 116 CHJilSTUS REBEMPTOR. THE HOLY ONE. " Tlxou will not suffer TJiine Holy One to see corruption." Ps. rvd.lO. Acts ii. 27. " The Holy One of Israel is ovr King. Then Thou spakest in vision to Thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help vpon One that is mighty ; I have exalted One chosen out of the people; with My holy oil have I anointed Eini." Ps. Ixxxix. 18—20. The purity of Christ was purity which had been subject to the storm, which had known evil and overcome it, which had passed through the dusky ways of men, and received no speck upon its white robes. A tempest o£ trial had only driven it, like the snow on Alpine summits, into more dazzling spotlessness. It was beautiful with its own beauty ; it was still more beautiful, in that it stirred in men the sensation of moral power, of sustained activity of soul. And from this purity, so tried and so victorious, arose two other elements of moral beauty, perfect justice and perfect mercy. Innocence cannot be just. It does not know good; it does not know evil : how can it judge with- out knowledge? It would fling reward or punishment to those brought before it, without knowing whether the reward would be reward, or the punishment punishment, to the persons on whom they were bestowed. It could never apportion mercy or justice to different degrees of penitence or sins. Recklessness is the characteristic of the judgments of innocence. Nor is the untempted saint fit to judge. He does not know the force of temptation. He is severe and cruel when he seeks to be just ; he can make no allowances ; his mercy he calls weakness; he insists on too much penitence, more than the sinner can bear ; he drives, by the very force of rigid goodness, men into despair. But Christ is able to be just and yet merciful, because He is entirely pure. Having known evil and subdued it, He judges from perfect knowledge. He suffered, lacing tempted, therefore He is merciful, knowing the force of temptation. He met and realised in battle the root principles of evil, therefore His justice is stern and tinrelenting when He sees these principles ruling the lives of men. So TSE EOLY ONE. 11 T it was that He had no words of pity for the hypocrite, the root of whose life was falsehood; the only thing which could save the Pharisee was unrelenting- condemnation. So it was that He had mercy on the puhlican, whose heart He saw to be broken with penitence; and on the woman who had been overtaken in a fault. In all the acts of the Saviour, there is no act and no words so beautiful — beautiful for their daring-, for their magnificent trust in human nature, for their magnificent independence of the opinion of men, for their perfect marriage of justice and mercy, as the act and words of Christ to the woman taken in adultery : ^^ Woman, hath no man condemned thee?''^ " No man, Lord.^"* "Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more." -It was the judgment of perfect purity. It was not, as some have put it, a Divine incapacity for seeing evil ; it was a Divine capacity for seeing good through evil. " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God'"' — not only God as He is in His perfect being ; not only God in nature, but also God in man. It was this power which Christ possessed as the result of purity. Wherever there was a shred of good, a spark of the Divine in the lost and sinful, Christ saw it by the instinct of His purity. He discovered it, and drew it forth,, as a magnet would draw from a heap of chaff one needle-point of steel. There is no loveliness in a character greater than this, and it stamps the whole of the Saviour^s life.'''' Eev. Stopford A. Brooke. The holiness of Christ differed from all earthly, common, vulgar holiness. Wherever it was, it elicited a sense of sinfulness and imperfection. Just as the purest cut crystal of the rock looks dim beside the diamond, so the best men felt a sense of guilt gi'owing distinct upon their souls. When the Anointed of God came near, " Depart from me," said the bravest and truest of them all, " for I am a sinful man, O Lord." But at the same time the holiness of Christ did not awe men away from Him, nor repel them. It inspired them with hope. It was not that vulgar, unapproachable sanctity which makes men awkward in its j)resence, and stands aloof. Its peculiar characteristic was that it made men enamoured of goodness. It " drew all men unto Him.'''' This is the difference between greatness that is first-rate and greatness which is second-rate — between heavenly and earthly goodness. The second-rate and earthly di-aws admiration on 118 CHE IS TVS RED EMPTOR itself. The first-rate and the heavenly imparts itself — inspires a spirit. You feel a kindred something in you that rises up to meet it, and draws you out of yourself, making you better than you were before, and opening out the infinite possibilities of your life and soul. And such pre-eminently was the holiness of Christ. Had some earthly great or good one come to Zacchseus' house, his feeling would have been, what condescension is there ! But when He came, whose ever}' word and act had in it life and power, no such barren reflection was the result; but instead, the beauty of holiness had become a power within Him, and a longing for self-consecration. " Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.''^ By Divine sympathy, and by the Divine image exhibited in the speaking act of Christ, the lost was sought and saved. He was saved, as alone all fallen men can be saved : " Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord He is clianged into the same image.^^ And this is the very essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rev. F. W. Robertson The life of Christ is the life of One who knew no sin, on whom the shadow of evil never passed; who went about doing good; who had not where to lay His head; whose condition was in all respects the reverse of earthly and human greatness; who also had a sort of infinite sympathy or communion Avith all men everywhere; whom, never- theless. His own nation betrayed to a shameful death. It is the life of One who came to bear witness of the truth ; who knew what was in man, and never spared to rebuke him, yet condemned him not ; Him- self without sin, yet One to whom all men would soonest have gone to confess and receive forgiveness of sin. It is the life of One who was in constant communion with God as well as man; who was the inhabitant of another world while outwardly in this. It is the life of One in whom we see balanced and united the separate gifts and graces of which we catch glimpses only in the lives of His followers. It is a life which is mysterious to us, which we forbear to praise, in the earthly sense, Ijceause it is above praise, being the most perfect imnge and embodiment that we can conceive of Divine goodness. Rev. Professor Jo\v1'Tt. TEE BOLY ONE. 119 No stern recluse^ As His forerunner ; but the guest and friend Of all who sought Him, mingling with all life To breathe His holiness on all. No film Obscured His spotless lustre. From His lips Truth, limpid without error, flowed. Disease Fled from His touch. Pain heard Him, and was not; Despair smiled in His presence. Devils knew And trembled. In the omnipotence of faith Unintermittent, indefectible. Leaning upon His Father^s might, He bent All nature to His will. The tempest sank, — He whispering into waveless calm. The bread, Given from His hand, fed thousands, and to spare. The stormy waters as the solid rock. Were pavement for His footstep. Death itself. With vain reluctancies, yielded his prey To the stern mandate of the Prince of Life. Rev. E. H. Bickersteth. We have in these times a very considerable and quite pretentious class, who have made the discovery that Christ actually eat with publicans and sinners! This fact, indeed, is their gospel. Christ, they say, was social — drew Himself to every human being, poured His heart into every human joy and woe, lived in no ascetic manner, as a being withdrawn from life. And so it becomes a principal matter of duty with us to meet all human conditions in a human way, and make our- selves acceptable to all. They do not observe that Jesus brought in something into every scene of society and hospitality which showed a mind set off from all conformities. When He eat with publicans and sinners. He declared expressly that He did it as a physician goes to the sick — did it that He might so call sinners to repentance. So, when He dined with Zaccheus, He there proclaimed Himself the Son of Man, who was come to save the lost. When He shared the assiduous hospitality of Martha, what did He but remind her of the " one thing needful ? " And when He dined with one of the great rich men of the Pharisees, what did He but strike at the very usurpation of all high. 120 CfflilSrVS REBEMFTOR. fashion^ by openly rebuking* those who seized on the highest phices of precedence ? and what did He propose to the host himself, but that true hospitality is that which is given with no hope of return ? — m which also He touched the very quick of all heartlessness and all real mockery in what is called society. Yes, it is true that Jesus eat with publicans and sinners. He never stood apart from any advance of men. But how visibly sej^arated was He there, and everywhere, from the shallow conventionalities of the world — how pure, majestic, free, and faithful to His great ministry of salvation ! The blessed Redeemer comes into this world in the full understanding that, in being identified with the world. He will become a great power only as He is also sejiarated from it. And in this lies the eflicacy of His mission : that He brings to men what is not in them — what is opposite to them — the separated glory, the holiness of God. Rev. Dr. Bushnell. Fix thy thoughts on what Christ did, what Christ suffered, what Christ is, as if thou wouldst fill the hollowness of thy soul with Christ ! If He emptied Himself of glory to become sin for thy salvation, must thou not be emptied of thy sinful self to become righteousness in and through His agony and the effective merits of His cross ? By what other means, in what other form, is it possible for thee to stand in the presence of the "Holy One?'''' With what mind wouldst thou come before God, if not with the mind of Him in whom alone God loveth the world ? S. T. Coleridge. About Him all the sanctities of heaven Stood thick as stars, and from His sight received Beatitude past utterance ; on His right, The radiant image of His glory, sat His only Son. Milton. The human nature of Christ, through the uniting of it to the God- head, did abound in all holiness and wisdom and graces, as to the honour- ing of God, and the best things ; to the enjoyment of the vision of God, and communion with Him ; to the being and persisting (continuing) absolutely without the least corruption ; to the entire performing of the whole law ; and to a non-possibility of committing sin ; all which capacities tended towards the satisfaction of God^s justice and man^s redemption. Rkv. J. Lightfoot. THE LAMB. 121 THE LAMB. '* Jolin seetli Jesus coming unto Mm, and saitli, Behold the Lamb of Ood, which talceth away the sin of the tvorld." St. John i. 29. " TJir Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth : He is hrought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.^' Isaiah liii. 6, 1, and Acts viii. 32. He is also the lamb, meek and innocent; the true Paschal Lamb who dehvers the spiritual Israel from the wrath of God, and from the sword of the destroying" angel ; and they are redeemed with His precious blood " as of a lamb without blemish and without spot/'' He is " the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. ■'■' Bishop Woedswoeth. He is called both a lion and a lamb : yea, you have both in one and the same chapter, and the one in the next verse immediately following the other (Rev. v. o, 6) . A lion is of all creatures the most fierce and furious, yet generous in his wrath ; and a lamb is of all the meekest : and He is set forth under both ; not in respect of those two several estates of His when on earth, and now in heaven — as of a lamb in respect of His courage here and sufferings here below, but a lion now possessed of His power and glory in heaven — no, but a lamb as now risen again, and as taking the book out of God's hand, and so to be God's commissioner to govern and judge the world. He, therefore, as He is now in heaven, shows Himself a lamb as well as a lion ; and a lion and a lamb are creatures of all others the most contrary. Yet Christ hath the heart of a lion and the heart of a lamb too, because He is and was appointed to be the j^erfect image of God, and the executioner of all God's decrees — both of justice and mercy — on the elect and repro- bate. The lamb can be angry — you read of " the wrath of the lamb" — and so the lion can be lamb-like and gracious. Poor souls in desertion look at Christ only as armed with His sword, and so tremble to come 122 CHBISTUS REBEMPTOR. at Him as that child in Homer did^ when his father, in complete armour, took him up in his arms. When Christ looks sternly on thee, yet He may have a father's heart to thee under that visor of terror. Rev. Dr. Goodwin. Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come ! Just as I am, and waiting- not To rid my soul of one dark blot. To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come ! Just as I am, thoug-h tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings within, and fears without, O Lamb of God, I come ! Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind, Sight, riches, healing of the mind. Yea, all I need, in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come ! Just as I am. Thou wilt receive. Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ; Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come ! Just as I am (Thy love unknown. Has broken every barrier down), Now, to be Thine, yea. Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come ! Charlotte Elliott. There are three qualities which entitle an object to our regard. The first is its own intrinsic greatness. On this account the sun, the moon, and the stars, those illustrious splendours of the firmament, TEE LAMB. 123 have attracted the attention of mankind in every age and nation. But the wonders of the maierial world are merely subordinate to those of the intelligent and moral universe; and here an object is exhibited, incomparably greater, in the scale of being-, than the celestial lumi- naries. Here we may behold Deity incarnate, God manifested in human nature ! Turn aside, and see this great sight ; contemplate this object with fixed attention, till your heart is suitably affected by the contemplation ; gaze with the eye of faith on this brighter '^ Morning Star,'''' gaze on this nobler " Sun of Righteousness,''^ till every sublunary object is eclipsed by its superior splendour. Never was Deity revealed in our nature but in the person of Jesus Christ. He alone could be truly called " Immanuel, God with us.^'' In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; a fulness that deserves the most earnest and persevering research, while it must for ever baffle finite comprehension. This is "the great mystery of Godliness j^^ the study of admiring angels ; the masterpiece of the manifold wisdom of God ; the wonder of the universe. A second quality in an object that excites our attention, and raises it to surprise and astonishment, is novelty. We esteem a thing the more for being new ; there is a vivifying influence in the freshest and rarest appearances of nature or of mind. But where will you find another object worthy to be compared in novelty, in entire originality , in singularity combined with greatness, with the object here presented — " the Lamb of God ? " Travel in idea through creation — climb the loftiest heights — descend to the lowest depths — take the wings of an angel, and fly to distant worlds : no such being will be found as He who once tabernacled in the flesh — the " Lamb that was slain, ''^ and that is now seated at the right hand of God, as " the Lamb in the midst of the throne.''^ Heaven and the heaven of heavens could not contain Him; yet He dwelt, to all apj^earance, in the body of an infant ; — the invisible Creator clothed in human form — the Ancient of Days cradled as an infant of days — " He who upholdeth all things sinking under a weight of suffering — the Lord of Hfe, the Lord of glory, expiring on a cross — the Light of the World sustaining an awful eclipse — tlie Smi of Righteousness imiiierged in the shadow of death ! " Never before was there such a spectacle in earth or heaven. Even inanimate nature seemed to sympathise with His last agonies ; 124 CHRISTUS RjiDEMPTOR. heaven itself descended to " behold the Lamb of God ; " and well it might ; for there was then a greater prodig-y on earth than any which heaven contained. Well might angels " desire to look into the mysteries o£ man's redemption ; ■'■' and nothing but the most astonish- ing infatuation can prevent iis from following such an example. Man- kind are accustomed to admire profound philosophers, victorious heroes, or celebrated poets ; but what are all such objects of admiration in comparison with this miparalleled phenomenon, which exhibits all the attributes of Deity adapted to human apprehensions ? Once more : objects arrest our attention^ that bear a relation to our interest. Men are interested in that which involves their security from evil, or promises their advancement in prosperity. Objects which are great command attention ; those which are new excite curiosity ; but if, in addition to its greatness and its noveltj/, an object bears a manifest relation to our most important interests, if it involves our defence and safety — if it forms the pillar of our support — if it supplies the shield of the soul, the only hope for the guilty, the only comfort for the dying, the only prospect of eternal happiness — surely, such an object is calculated to awaken in our hearts the most livel}^ affections and desires ; and such an object is " the Lamb of God.'''' Not only great and wonderful in Hitnself, he bears an essential relation to our most important — to our eternal interests. He comes to deliver us from misery and promote us to happiness. Jesus Christ came to save that which was lost ; He laid down His life to accomplish our salvation. Nor was there any waste of life in that sacrifice ; every portion of His infinite energy was requisite to the attainment of such an object ; nothing less than the power that upholds all things was adequate to sustain the weight of human sin. He whose almighty influence diffuses itself through the heavens and earth, and preserves all orders of being. He alone endured our punishment ; He " trod the wine-press alone;'''' He "looked, and there was none to deliver;" there existed no other way of salvation than that which He has oj)ened. The justice of the Deity, not to he propitiated by any other means, pursues the transgressor on earth and in hell ; riothing in the universe can arrest it in its awful career until it stops in reverence at the cross of Christ ! Never did " the mighty God ''■' more fully display the greatness of His power, than when He showed Himself " mighty to TEE LAMB 126 savo/' even to the uttermost. He fixed the foundation on which we may l)uild our hope of immortality, aiid find it to be "a hope that nuiketh not ashamed/'' founded on the Rock of Ag-es. TIetoeni into the. skadovi of fleatli, into "the lowest parts of the earth/'' that He might lay deep the basis of that edifice which was to rise as high as the throve of God ! Rev. Robert Hall. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. This title is twice ^ven to Him in John i. ^9, 36. He is often called so in Scripture; as in 1 Peter i. 19, and in the Book of the Revelation this name is g-iven to Christ almost thirty times (see chaps, v., vi., viii., &c.). Jesus Christ is compared to a lamb in these two respects — 1st. In respect of His expiatory sacrifice. He was the substance of all that was shadowed out by the lambs offered to God in the ceremonial law. Lambs were appointed for the daily sacrifice (Numb, xxviii. 3, 4) for the trespass and the peace offering-, for the free-will offering and first-fruits. Also the paschal lamb (Exod. xii.). All these lambs did typify Christ and His sacrifice which He should offer for the expiation of sin. 2nd. In respect of the resemblance that is between Christ and a lamb. The lamb is a patient and meek creature. It has grown into a proverb, "As meek as a lamb." Jesus Christ was a perfect pattern of meekness, though He suffered revilings, buffetings, yea, even death itself. The prophet foretold His incomparable meekness even in suffering a most bitter and cursed death (Isa. liii. 7). A lamb is a harmless creature ; it suffers wrong, but it doth none. Jesus Christ was both '^holy and harmless" (Heb. vii. 26). Nothing that Christ ever did or said but is of marvellous use to the sons of men. All His prayers, all His tears, all His counsel, whatever He did, wherever He suffered, doth some way or other redound to the benefit of the soul ; for " by His stripes we are healed." Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, that by the sacrifice of Himself, purges away sin, and procures our peace. Rev. R. Robinson. 126 CH JUSTUS REBEMPTOR. THE PASSOVER. " Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." 1 Corinthians v. 7 The second ordinary sacrifice of the JewSj lively representing Jesns Christ, was the passeover^ instituted to be a lively type of Christ. " Christ our passeover is sacrificed for us/'' The name of this sacrament hath in it the occasion, for it was (by God) therefore instituted, in memorial of their great deliverance in Egypt, when the destroying angel, who slew all the firstborne in one night, passed over all the Israelites^ houses whose doores and posts were striked with the blood of the paschal lamb slaine and eaten in that house. Wherein the godly Jews were not to fix their eyes in that externall signe, or the temporary deliverance signified, but to cast their eye of faith upon the Messiah and true Paschal Lambe, by means of whom the wi-ath and revenge of God passeth over all those whose souls are sprinkled with His blood, and who by true faith feed upon Him. And therefore, howsoever the word passeover hath in Scripture many significations, both proper and figurative, I understand by it the whole institutions of God concerning the lambe called paschall. In which we shall see Jesus Christ most lively pourtrayed before us, and that this one legal sacrament preached (not obscurely) to the ancient Jews, the whole doctrine of the Gospel and grace of salvation, by the onely suffering of Jesus Christ. This will appear in the choice of the sacrifice ; in the preparing of it ; in the effusion of blood, and actions about itj in the eating and con- ditions therein, and in the fruits and use. Rev. Dr. Tailor. And now the supper had commenced, and round the Saviour were gathered for the last time those whom He loved so well, and loved even unto the end. And yet the hand of the betrayer was on the table — a thought, we arc told, that so moved the very inward spirit of the Lord that He solemnly announced it, and ])r(>iight it liome, by a general indication, to that small and saddened company that sat around THE PASSOVER. 127 Him, and that now asked Him, each one of them, in the deep trouble of his heart, whether it were possible that it could be he. After a more special and private indication had been vouchsafed, and the self- convicted son of perdition had gone forth into the night, followed in due and solemn order the institution of the Eucharist, and with it those mysterious words, that seem to imply that that most Holy Sacrament was to have relation not only to the past, but to the future ; that it was not only to be commemorative of the sad but blessed hour that then was passing, but prophetic of that hour of holy joy when all should again be gathered together, and the Lord should drink with His chosen ones the new paschal wine in the kingdom of God. After a few melancholy words on the dispersion and failing faith of all those who were then around — yea, and even more particularly of him who said, in the warmth of his glowing heart, that he would lay down his life for his Master, and follow Him to prison and to death — our Lord appears to have uttered the longer and reassuring address which forms the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. John, and which ceased only — to be resumed again, perchance, while all were standing in attitude to depart — in the sublime chapters which follow. With the high-priestly prayer in the seventeenth chapter, in which, as it were, in rapt and holy retrospect, the Lord contemplates and dedicates to His heavenly Father His completed work, the solemn scene comes to its exalted close. Bishop Ellicott. We cannot trust our hearts and inward feelings ; but that bread, that wine, we can trust. Our inward feelings are a sign from man ; that bread and wine are a sign from God. Our inward feelings may tell us what we feel towards God ; that bread, that wine, tell us some- thing ten thousand times more important — they tell us what God feels towards us. God must love us before we can love Him; God must pardon us before we can have mercy on ourselves ; God must come to us, and take hold of us, before we can cling to Him ; God must change us before we can become right ; God must give us eternal life in our hearts before we can feel and enjoy that new life in us. Then that bread, that wine, say that God has done that for us already — they say God does love you ; God has pardoned you ; God has come to you; God is ready and willing to change and convert you; God has 128 CBRISTUS REDE3IPT0R. g'iven you eternal life ; and this love, this mercy, this coming" to find you out while you are wandering* in sin — this change, this eternal life — are all in His Son Jesus Christ, and that bread, that wine, are the signs of it. . . . It is simply because Jesus Christ was man, and you, too, are men and women — wearing* the flesh and blood which Christ wore, eating and drinking as Christ ate and drank — and not for any works or faith of your own, that God loves you, and has come to you, and called you into His famil}-. This is the Gospel, the good news of Christ's free grace and pardon and salvation ; and that bread and that wine, the common food of all men — not merely of the rich, or the wise, or the pious, but of saints and penitents, rich and poor. Christians and heathens, alike — that plain, common, everyday bread and wine, are the signs of it. . . . What better sign would you have? There is no mistaking their message ; they can tell you no lies, and they can, and will, bring your own Gospel-blessings to your mind, as nothing else can. They will make you feel, as nothing else can, that you are the beloved children of God — heirs of all that your King and God has bought for you, when He died and rose again. He gave you the Lord's Supper for a sign. Do you think that He did not know what the best sign would be ? He said, " Do this in remembrance of Me.'' Do you think that He did not know better than you and me, and all men, that if you did it, it would put you in remembrance of Him ? Canon Kingsley. Our blessed Lord was pleased to command the representation of His death and sacrifice on the cross should be made by breaking of bread and effusion of wine, to signify to us the nature and sacredness of the litui'gy we are about. Bishop Jeremy Taylok. THE RANSOM. 129 THE RANSOM. " The Son of Man came not to be 'ministered unto, hut to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." St. Matthew xx. 28. " Christ Jesiis gave Hiviself a ransom for all, to ie testified in due time." 1 Timot' y ii. 6. Oh^ Thou great power ! in whom I movej For whom I live, to whom I die. Behold me through Thy beams of love. Whilst on this couch of tears I lie ; And cleanse my sordid soul within By Thy Christ's blood, the bath of sin ! No hallowed oils, no grains, I need. No rags of saints, no purging fire : One rosy drop from David's seed Was worlds of seas to quench Thine ire. Oh, precious ransom, which once pai4, That " Consummatwm est!" was said ! — And said by Him that said no more, But sealed it with His sacred breath ; Thou, then, that hath discharged my score, And dying, wast the death of death. Be to me now — on Thee I call — My life, my strength, my joy, my all ! Sir Henry Wotton. He'll, dying, rise, and rising, with Him raise His brethren, ransom'd with His own dear life. Milton. To adore that great mystery of Divine love, God's sending His only Son into this world to save sinners, and to give His life a ransom for them, would be noble exercise for the pens of the greatest wits. Archbishop Tillotson. 180 CSRISTUS REBEMPTOR. Ere the third dawTiing light Return^ the stars of morn shall see Him rise, The ransom paid which man from death redeems — His death for man. Milton. The one Mediator between God and man, the INIan Christ Jesus ; thoug-h having " been in the beginning with God, and being God/' yet took on Him the form and nature of man, that He might fulfil the office of Mediator, and stand, as it were, between God and man- kind; taking upon Himself the punishment which the sin of .mankind had incurred — giving Himself a ransom for them — becoming their substitute, and " bearing their sins in His own body.'''' The idea is exemplified in the history of Jonah, when " the Lord sent out a great wind, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was likely to be sunk " in which Jonah was sailing. And he said to the mariners, " Take me up, and cast me into the sea ; so shall the sea be calm unto you. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from his raging. •"' Thus the prophet took death upon himself, and averted it from the mariners. And so Christ : " Deliver them from everlasting destruction, and let Me be their ransom ; let My life be for theirs. '^ Archbishop Sumnek. THE CHILD JESUS. 131 THE CHILD JESUS. " Unto us a rJiild is born." [saiah ix. 6. " Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviowr, which is Christ the Lord." St. Luke ii. 11. It came upon the midnight clear — That g-lorious song- of old, From angels bending- near the earth To touch their harps of gold : " Peace on the earth, good-will to men From heaven's all-gracious King ! " The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. Still through the cloven skies they come With peaceful wings unfurl'd ; And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world ; Above its sad and lowly plains They bend on heavenly wing, And ever o'er its Babel-sounds The blessed angels sing. Yet with the woes of sin and strife The world had suffered long ; Beneath the angel-strain have roll'd Two thousand years of wrong ; And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song which they bring* — O hush the noise, ye men of strife. And hear the angels sing ! And ye, beneath life's crushing load Whose forms are bending low — Who toil along the climbing way W'ith painful steps and slow — 132 CHRI8TUS EEBEMPTOB. Look now ! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing ; O rest beside the weary road^ And hear the angels sing ! For lo ! the days are hastening on By prophet bards foretold, When, with the ever-circling years^ Coraes round the age of gold ; When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendours fling, And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing. Rev. E. H. Sears. Thus, O mystery of mysteries, in that green basin in the hills of Galilee, amid simple circumstances, and perchance in the exercise of a humble calling, dwelt the everlasting Son of God. The varied features of that nature which He himself had made so fair, the jjermitted media of the impression of outward things ; His oratory, the solitary mountains ; His purpose, the salvation of our race ; His will, the will of God ; — thus silently and thus mysteriously pass away those eighteen years, until at length the hour is come, and the voice of the mystic Elias is now heard sounding in the deserts, and pre- paring the way for Him that was to come. Bishop Ellicott. To a meditative man it is curious to pause over any cradle where an infant sleeps, and, as we look on the face so calm, and the little arms gently folded on the placid breast, to think of the mighty powers and passions which are slumbering there ; to think that this feeble nursling has heaven and hell before it ; that this immortal in a mortal form is allied to angels ; that the life which it has begun shall last when the sun is quenched, enduring throughout all eternity. Much more wonderful the spectacle the manger offers, where shep- herds bend their knees, and angels bend their eyes ! Here is present not the immortal, but the eternal ; here is not one kind of matter united to another, or a spiritual to an earthly element, \mt the Creator to a creature ; Divine Omnipotence to human weakness ; the Ancient of Days to the infant of a day. What deep secrets of Divine wisdom, THE CHILD JESUS. I33 power, and love, lie here, wrapped up in these poor swaddling- clothes ! Mary holds in her arms, in this manger with its straw, what draws the wondering- eyes, and inspires the loftiest songs of angels. If that be not God^s greatest, and therefore most glorifying work, where are we to seek it ? In what else is it found ? " The depth saith, It is not in me ! and the sea saith, It is not in me ! " Were we to range the vast universe to find its rival, we should return — like the dove to its ark — to the stable-door and the swaddled babe, there to mingle human voices with the heavenly choir, singing, "Glory to God in the highest ! " Rev. Dr. Guthiiie. It fell not out amiss that shepherds they were ; the news fitted them well. It well agreed to tell shepherds of the yearning of a strange lamb; such a lamb as should take away the sins of the world ; such a lamb as they might send to the Ruler of the World for a present. " 3Iitte Agnicm DominatoH terrce." Or if ye will, to tell shepherds of the birth of a shepherd — (EzekieFs shepherd). '' Ecce suscitabo vohis pastor em'' — "Behold I will raise you a shepherd" — " The Chief Shepherd," " The Great Shepherd,^' and " The Good Shepherd that gave His life for His flock." Bishop Andrewes. Who can forget, never to be forgot, The time that all the world in slumber lies, When, like the stars, the singing angels shot To earth, and heaven awaked all his eyes To see another sun at midnight rise On earth ? Was ever sight of equal fame ? For God, before, man like Himself did frame. But God himself now like a mortal man became. The angels carolled loud their songs of peace. The cursed oracles were stricken dumb ; To see their Shepherd, the poor shepherds press, To see their King, the kingly sophies come ; And then^ to guide unto his Master^s home, A star comes dancing up the orient. That springs for joy over the strawy tent ; When gold, to make their Prince a crown, they all present. Giles Fletcher. 134 cnmsTus redemptor. Not only does He seek no human splendours, but to show how little He accounts of such^ He places Himself at the farthest extreme from them all. liardly can He find a spot lowly enoug'h to he His birthplace; He meets with a half-fallen stable^ and into this He descends. He accepts all that men shun, all that they fear, all that they despise, all which repels their senses, in order to show how vain and imaginary are to Him all the glories of the world. Bossuet. It was on Christmas Day that God appeared among men as a child upon a mother^s bosom : and why? Surely for this reason, among a thousand more — that He might teach men to feel for Him, and with Him, and to be sure that He felt for them, and with them ; to teach men to feel for Him, and with Him. He took the form of a little child to draw out all their love, all their tenderness, and if I may so say, all their pity. A God in need ! a God weak ! a God fed by mortal woman ! a God wrapt in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger ! If that sight will not touch our hearts, what will? And by that same sight He has taught men that He feels for them and with them. God has been through the pains of infancy; God has hungered; God has wept; God has grown, and increased in stature and wisdom and in favour both with God and man. And why? That He might take on Him our human nature — not merely the nature of a great man, of a wise man, of a grown-up man only — but all human nature, from the nature of a babe on its mother's bosom, to the nature of the full-growTi and full-souled man, fighting with all His powers against the evil of the world. All this is His, and He is all, that no human being, from the strongest to the weakest, from the eldest to the youngest, but may be able to say « What I am, Christ has been.'' Canon Kingsley. Crux in Cunabulis. Christ knoweth in His childhood The death that He must die — On Bethlehem are falling The shades of Calvary. THE CHILI) JESUS. 186 In Bethlehem prefigured The passion we may se;' ; The joyous Virgin-mother Is Mary at the tree. Soft on her bosom throned He loves her sweet caress; Yet feeleth scourge and buft'et And cross still closer press. She wateheth o^er His slumber, He feels her loving eye ; Yet knoweth scorn and hatred Shall watch to see Him die. With roses and with lilies She wreathes her infant now ; He feeleth, 'mid their petals^ The thorns around His brow. In manger soft she layeth The offspring of her womb ; He seeth ever yawning The new and stony tomb. With gold and myrrh and incense The Magi prostrate fall; He knoweth who will proffer The vinegar and gall. She clotheth Him in ephod Her loving toil hath made ; He seeth how all naked The cross hath Him displayed. To mother and to infant Gives Joseph all they crave ; Another happy Joseph Must lend to Him a g-rave. 136 GHRISTUS EEDEMFTOR. She teacheth little children Adoring" hymns to use ; He knoweth how^ in manhood, Barabbas they will choose. Christ knoweth in His childhood The death that He must die j On Bethlehem are falling The shades of Calvary. Rev. J. W. Horsley. Who ever saw the earliest rose First open her sweet breast ? Or, when the summer sun goes down. The first soft star in evening^s crown Light up her gleaming crest ? ^ -x- ^ -x- So still and secret is her growth. Even the truest heart, Where deepest strikes her kindly root. For hope or joy, for flowers or fruit. Least knows its happy part. God only and good angels look Behind the blissful screen, As when, triumphant o'er his woes. The Son of God by moonlight rose, By all but heaven luiseen. The gracious dove that brought fr* ni heaven The earnest of our bliss. Of many a chosen witness telling, On many a happy vision dwelling, Sings not a note of this. So, truest image of the Christ, Old Israel's long-lost son — What time, with sweet, forgiving cheer, He caird His conscious brethren near — Would weep with them alone. TEE CHILD JESUS. 137 He could not trust His melting soiil But in His Maker^'s sight; Then why should gentle hearts and true Bare to the rude world^s withering view Their treasure of delight ? So is it still : to holy tears, In lonely hours, Christ risen appears ; In social hours, who Christ woxild see Must turn all tasks to charity. Hev. J. Keble. For this end He lived out man's family life under its severest conditions, in the most trying of its forms. And, in steadfast main- tenance of His great purpose, He also came, through and by means of that life, into the next outlying sphere of our existence. Amongst His kinsfolk and acquaintance. He entered into His own neighbour- hood and tribe. Staying far away from the attractions and excite- ments of His age, He ever subdued the tendencies which would have carried Him into the midst of them, and abode amongst His people, sharing their humble joys and sorrows, and bearing His part in their engagements. There He refrained His human spirit, and kept it low. And He maintained its pure mastery over the " lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.''' " Mine hour is not yet come " was His answer to those who would have drawn Him out of that sequestered scene, and who so wondered at the constraint which He laid upon powers which they well knew would have won for Him high distinction among the g'reat movements that were then going forward in the world. Marvellous, indeed, is the spectacle on which we are looking, when we there behold His familiar, kindly intercourse with those nearest to Him — His brethren and sisters, "His kinsfolk and acquaintance " — and when we mark His sedulous diligence amidst the lowly occupations that devolved on one living in that secluded corner of the world ! And every one must have felt how nobly He then vindicated the wisdom of every lonely worker who in like manner, had before, or has since, " refrained his spirit,'' and kept it low. Yes, but we do not see the whole significance of the instructive spectacle, nor gather up the entire lesson in which it was intended to 138 CUllISTUS REDEMrrOR. instruct mankind, unless, again, looking- through the sensible enclosure which there hemmed Him in, we see how, in that time and place, He was working in Divine harmony with the strongest and most illus- trious worker for God, in the noblest sphere of service. Another law of the celestial order was thus disclosed by Him, and lived out beneath cur observation ! Emphatically did He thus testify that those who are nearest to every son of God have the first claims on his affections, and that it is in the place where he has been set, in fellow- ship with the companions amongst whom he has been brought, in the "works prepared for him to walk in,""^ that his true work is to be done. Rev. G. S. Drew. The true anointed King Messiah — at whose birth a star. Unseen before in heaven, proclaims Him come, And guides the eastern sages, who inquire His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold. His place of birth a solemn angel tells To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night ; They gladly thither haste, and by a quire Of squadroned angels hear His carol sung. Milton. Then shall the day-spring rise, before whose beams The darkness of the world is past : for hark ! Seraph and angel choirs, with symphonies, Acclaiming of ten thousand golden hai-ps; Amidst the bursting clouds of heaven reveal'd. At once, in glory jubilant, they sing. Rev. W. Lisle Bowles. In the dispensation of the Son, God manifested Himself to humanity through man; the eternal Word spoke, through the inspired and gifted of the human race, to those that were uninspired and ungifted. This was the dispensation of the prophets ; its climax was the advent of the Redeemer; it was completed when perfect humanity manifested God to man. The characteristic of this dispensation was, that God revealed Himself by an authoritative voice, speaking from without; and the highest manifestation of God whereof man was capable was a Divine humanity. Rev. F. W. Robekt.'on. THE CHI LB .TFJUrS. 139 Of the early history of Jesus we have only a sing-le incident ; but that incident strikingly illustrates the manner in which the conscious- ness of His Divine nature developed itself in the mind of the child. Jesus had attained His twelfth year, a period which was regarded among" the Jews as the dividing line between childhood and youth, and at which regular religious instruction and the study of the law were generally entered upon. For that reason His parents, who were accustomed to visit Jerusalem together annually at the time of the Passover, took Him with them for the first time. When the feast was over, and they were setting out on their return, they missed their son. This, however, does not seem to have alarmed them, and perhaps Pie was accustomed to remain with certain kindred families or friends ; indeed we are told (Luke xi. 14) that they expected to find Him '' in the company ^^ at the evening halt of the caravan. Disappointed in their expectation, they returned next morning to Jerusalem, and on the following day found Him in the Synagogue of the Temple among the priests, who had been led by His questions into a conversation on points of faith. His parents reproached Him for the uneasiness He had caused them, and He replied, " Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's bvisiness ? " Now, these words of Jesus contains no ex- planation, beyond His tender years, of the relations which He sustained towards the Father; they manifest simply the consciousness of a child ; a depth, to be sure, but yet only a depth, of presentiment. We can draw various important inferences from this incident in the early life of Christ. At a tender age He studied the Old Testament, and obtained a better knowledge of its religious value by the light that was within Him than any human instruction could have im- parted. Nor was this beaming forth of an immediate consciousness of divine things in the mind of the child in advance of the development of His power of discursive reason at all alien to the character and progress of human nature, but entirely in harmony with it. Nor need we wonder that the infinite riches of the hidden spiritual life of the child first manifested themselves to His consciousness as if siiggested by His conversation with the doctors, and that His direct intuitions of Divine truth, the flashes of spiritual light that emanated from Him, amazed the masters in Israel. It not unfrcquently happens in our human life that the questions of others are thi;s .suggestive to great 140 CHRIS TUS RF.DTJrrTOR. minds, and, like steel upon the flint, draw forth their inner light, at the same time revealing- to their own souls the unknown treasures that lay in their hidden depths. But they give more than they receive. The outward suggestion only excites to action their creative energy, and men of reflective and receptive rather than creative minds, by inciting the latter to know and develop their vast resources, may not only learn much from their utterance, but also diffuse the streams which gush with overflowing fulness from those abundant well-springs. And these remarks applying — in a sense which they apply to no other — to that mind lofty beyond all human comparison, whose creative thoughts are to fertalize the spiritual mind of man through all ages, and whose creative power sprang from its mysterious union with that Divine Word which gave birth to all things, show us that His consciousness developed itself gradually, and in perfect accordance with the laws of human life, from that mysterious union which formed its ground. J. A. W. Neander. Of the four Evangelists, St. John, the beloved disciple, and St. Mark, the friend and " son " of St. Peter, pass over these [first] thirty years [of our Lord^'s life] in absolute, unbroken silence. St. Matthew devotes one chapter to the visit of the Magi, and the flight into Egypt, and then proceeds to the preaching of John the Baptist. St. Luke alone, after describing the incidents which marked the presentation in the Temple, preserves for us one inestimable anecdote of the Saviour^s boyhood, and one inestimable verse descriptive of His growth till He was twelve years old. And that verse contains nothing for the gratification of our curiosity ; it furnishes us with no details of life, no incidents of adventure; it tells us only how, in a .sweet and holy childhood, " the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.^' To this period of His life, too, we may apply the subsequent verse, ''And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." His development was a strictly human development. He did not come into the world endowed with infinite knowledge, but, as St. Ijuke tells us, " He gradually advanced in wisdom.^' He was not clothed with infinite power, but experienced the weaknesses and imperfections of human infancy. He grew as other children erow, TEE CHILB JESUS. 141 only in a childhood of stainless and sinless beauty, " as the flower of roses in the spring- of the year, and as lilies by the waters." There is, then, for the most part a deep silence in the Evangelists respecting this period, but what eloquence in their silence ! May we not find in their very reticence a wisdom and an instruction more profound than if they had filled many volumes with minor details ? In the first place, we may see in this their silence a signal and striking confirmation of their faithfulness. We may learn from it that they desired to tell the simple truth, and not to construct an astonishing or plausible narrative. That Christ should have passed thirty years of His own brief life in the deep obscurity of a provincial village ; that He should have been brought up not only in a conquered land, but in its most despised province; not only in a despised province, but in its most disregarded valley ; and that during all those thirty years the ineffable brightness of His divine nature should have tabernacled amongst us, " in a tent like ours, and of the same material," unnoticed and unknown ; and during those long years there should have been no flash of splendid circumstance, no outburst of amazing miracle, no " sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs and harping symphonies " to announce and reveal and glorify the coming King — this is not what we should have expected — not what any one would have been likely to imagine or to invent. We should not have expected it, but it ivas so ; and therefore the Evangelists leave it so ; and the very fact of its contradicting all that we should have imagined is an additional proof that so it must have been. An additional proof, because the Evangelists must inevitably have been — as indeed we know that they were — actuated by the same a priori anticipations as ourselves ; and had there been any glorious circumstances attending the boyhood of our Lord, they, as honest witnesses, would certainly have told us of them ; and had they not been honest witnesses, they would — if none such occurred in reality — have most certainly have invented them. But man^s ways are not as God's ways ; and because the truth which, by their very silence, the Evangelists record, is a revelation to us of the ways of God and not of man, it disappoints what, without further enlightenment, we should have desired. But, on the other hand, it fulfils the ideal of ancient prophecy, " He shall g-row up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry 142 CERISTUS REBEMPTOR. ground ; " and it is in accordance with subsequent allusion^ " He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant/^ We have only to turn to the Apocryphal Gospels, and we shall find how widely different is the false human ideal from the divine fact. There we shall see how, following their natural imspiritual bent, the fabulists of Christendom, whether heretical or orthodox, surround Christ^s boyhood with a blaze of miracles, make it portentous, terror-striking, unnatural, and repulsive. It is surely an astonishing proof that the Evangelists were guided by the spirit of God in telling how Tie lived in whom God was revealed to man, when we gradually discover that no profane, no irrelevant, even no imagi- native hand can touch the sacred outlines of that divine and perfect picture without degrading and distorting it. Whether the AjDocry- phal writers meant their legends to be accepted as history or as fiction, it is at least certain that in most cases they meant to weave around the brows of Christ a garland of honour. Yet how do their stories dwarf and dishonour and misinterpret Him ! How infinitely superior is the noble simplicity of that evangelic silence to all the theatrical displays of childish and meaningless omnipotence with which the Protevangelium, and the Pseudo-Matthew, and the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy are full ! They meant to honour Christ ; but no invention can honour Him ; he who invents about Him degrades Him ; he mixes the weak, imperfect fancies of man with the un- approachable and awful purposes of God. The boy Christ of the Gospels is simple and sweet, obedient and humble. He is subject to His parents ; He is occupied solely with the quiet duties of His home and age; He loves all men, and all men love the pure, and gracious, and noble child. Already He knows God as His Father, and the favour of God falls on Him softly as the morning sunlight, or the dew of heaven, and plays like an invisible aureola round His infantine and saintly brow. Unseen, save in the beauty of heaven, but yet covered with silver wings, and with its feathers like gold, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested from infancy ipon the Holy Child. But how different is the boy Christ of the New Testament Apocrypha ! He is mischievous, petulant, forward, revengeful. Some of the marvels told of Him are simply aimless and puerile; but some are, on the contrary, simply distasteful and THE CHILD JESUS , 143 inconsiderate. In a careful search through all these heavy^ tasteless, and frequently pernicious fictions^ I can find but one anecdote in which there is a touch of feeling- or possibility of truth. Canon Farrar. Of the childhood of the Reg-enerator of the world we possess^ strange to say, scarcely any record. A few mysterious and tender pictures, coloured, with the grace of unconciousness, and touched in with the tenderness of a woman, meet us in the Gospels. Their most marked characteristic is their simplicity. The stories could not be told in shorter words. There is no parade of wonders. If they are here and there supernatural, it is the most natural supernaturalism in the world. There is no exaltation of one fact above another. The commonest occurrence is told with the same quietude as the most uncommon, as if in the presence of the Holy Child all things became equally wonderful. The adoration of the wise men is narrated with no more em2:)hasis than the circumcision of Christ. The revelation to the shepherds is told in the same unassuming strain as the speech of Simeon in the Temple. Rev. Stoppord A. Brooke. The words of that most marvellous, most holy childhood in which the Divinity, gradually beaming abeady through the veil of the purest, most lovely humanity, came forth from its profoundest mystery into manifestation, who could comprehend, and retain, and record ? Joseph stood at reverent distance. Mary felt and anticipated all that the purest, most simple faith was capable of — and yet but little. The angels more remotely learned the wisdom of God. Satan began to question whether he had nothing in this One too, and could not under- btand this new thing. The ]\Iighty One grew up secretly into the consciousness of His inherited dignity — secretly, even at first to Him- self. Just as Christ first fully understood the development of His youth when He looked back upon it from His manhood, after He had come to the full knowledge of Himself, in like manner will it be vouchsafed to His Church, arrived at maturity, to understand this first earthly history of her Lord, which is reserved for her heavenly study. For nothing befell Him which was not to b;^ fully and perfectly known. R. Si'iER. U4 CHRISTUS RELLMrTOR. THE EXAMPLE. ' Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps . who did no nin, neither toas guile found in His mouth." 1 Peter ii. 21, 22. Christ yielded a careful and diligent obedience to His Father^s will. He was not slothful in the business He was entrusted withj but was fervent in spirit serving His Father. After He entered on His public ministry, He did not neglect that extraordinary gift that was in Him, but still exercised Himself in the pursuit of that end for which He came into the world. The answer which He made to His mother in the Temj)le demonstrated His care and diligence in doing the will of His Father. How careful was He in redeeming the time ! He never squandered any of His precious moments idly or impertinently. Excessive sleej), impertinent visits^ immoderate recreations, which devoured so much of many people's time, devoured none of His. Oh, what a diligent redeemer of time was He, when He spent His days in the service of men, and His nights in acts of devotion to His Father ! Thus diligent and industrious was this blessed seed-sower : " In the morning He sowed His seed, and in the evening He did not withhold His hand/"" Rev. R. Murrey. From the very beginning of my conversion, my brethren, feeling my own deficiency in virtue, I appropriated to myself this nosegay of myrrh, composed of all the pains and sufferings of my Saviour : of the privations to which He submitted in His childhood, the labours that he endured in His preaching, the fatigue that He underwent in His jouvDeyings ; of His watchings in prayer, His temptations in fasting, His tears of compassion ; of the snares that were laid for Him in His words; of His perils among false brethren; of the outrages, the spitting, the smiting, the mocking, the insults, the nails — in a word, of all the grief of all kinds that He submitted to for the salvation of man. I have discovered that wisdom consists in THE EXAMPLE. 145 meditating- on those thing's, and that in them alone is tlie perfection of rig-hteousness, the plenitude of knowledge, the riches of salvation, and the abundance of merit. In these contemplations I find relief from sadness, moderation in success, and safety in the royal highway of this life ; so that I march on between the good and evil, scattering on either side the perils by which I am menaced. This is the reason why I have always these things in my mouth, as you know, and always in my heart, as God knoweth ; they are habitually occurring in my writings, as every one may see; and my most sublime philosophy is to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified. St. Bernard. Those frequent abnegations of rest, and refreshment, and society ; those early preventings of the dawn to get away to some solitary plaee ; those night-long wrestlings with God on the bleak mountain- side, could not, if regarded as the true and proper acts of His per- sonality (and we have no right to regard them as anything else), have been other than the fruit of early and long-formed habits of devotion. We know how short we come ourselves of this Divine standard. Before we have watched with Christ one hour, we feel ourselves to be sore let and hindered by dull sloth, by cold uncharitableness, by worldly distractions, by wandering thoughts. But of Christ our Lord we read, " The grace of God was upon Him,'"' " the spirit of grace and supplication.''' Rev. D. Moore. Let us continually persevere in our hope and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, " who bore our sins in His own body on the tree,'' " who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth j" but endured all things for us that we might live in Him. Let us, then, be imitators of His patience ; and if we suffer for His name's sake, let us glorify Him. For He has set us this example in Himself, and we have believed that such is the case. St. Polycarp. Christ's Divinity does not destroy the reality of His manhood by overshadowing or absorbing it. Certainly the Divine attributes of Jesus are beyond our imitation. We can l)ut adore a boundless 146 CIIRISTUS REDEMPTOE. intelligence or a resistless will. Bxit the province of the imital)]e in the life of Jesus is not indistinctly traced : as the Friend of publicans and inners, as the Consoler of those wh'o suffer, and as the Helper of those who want, Jesus Christ is at home among us. We can copy Him, not merely in the outward activities of charity, but in its inward temper. We can copy the tenderness, the meekness, the patience, the courage, which shine forth from His perfect manhood. His human perfections constitute indeed a faultless ideal of beauty, which, as moral artists, we are bound to keep in view. What the true and highest model of a human life is, has been decided for us Christians by the appearance of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Others may endeavour to re-open that question ; for us it is settled, and settled irrevocably. Nor are Christ^s human perfections other than human. They are not, after the manner of Divine attributes, out of our reach; they are not designed only to remind us of what human nature should, but cannot be. We cannot approximate to them even indefinitely. That in our present state of imperfection we should reproduce them in their fulness is indeed impossible ; but it is certain that a close imitation of Jesus of Nazareth is at once our duty and our privilege. For God ''has predestinated us to be conformed" by that which we do, not less than that which we endure, to the human image of His Blessed Son, " that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Nor, on the other hand, may it be forgotten, that if we can thus copy our Lord, it is not in the strength of our fallen nature. Vain indeed would be the effort, if, in a spirit of Pelagian self-reliance, we should endeavour to reproduce in our own lives the likeness of Christ. Our nature left to itself, enfeebled and depraved, cannot realise the ideal of which it is a wreck, until a higher power has entered into it, aud made it what of itself it cannot be. Therefore, the power of imitating Jesus comes from Jesus, through His Spirit, His grace. His presence. Canon Liddon. The will of God is what Christ has done and taught. It is humility in conduct; it is stedfastness in faith, scrupulousness in our works, rectitude in our deeds, mercy in our works, governance in our habits; it is innocence of injuriousiiess and patience under it, preserving peace with the brethren; loving God with all our heart. TUE EXAMPLE. 147 loving" Him as our Father, and fearing- Him as our God ; accounting Christ before all things, because He accounteth nothing- before us, clinging' inseparably to His love, being stationed with fortitude and faith at His cross; and when the battle comes for His name and honour, maintaining" in words that constancy which makes confession, in fortune that confidence which joins battle, and in death that patience which receives the crown. This is to endeavour to be co- heirs with Christ ; this is to perform the commandment of God, and fulfil the will of the Father. St. Cyprian. Jesus Christ stood alone in the midst of the world, in a crooked and perverse generation, a beacon-light, shining- with clear, celestial radiani^e, amid the foaming billows of this workFs impiety; and yet He shone not for Himself. That light was kindled to guide poor wandering mariners into the haven of everlasting- rest. He was alone in His career of unblemished holiness, alone in His endurance of sorrow unexampled; and yet there dwelt in His breast such infinite compassion, that He invited every weary, heavy-laden sinner to repose on Him his burden of sin and sorrow, and stooped with tenderest com- passion to the relief of every form of human distress. And is not this the temper which ought to characterise His followers ? In the Redeemer's breast there dwelt compassion, co-extensive with the limits of human need and suffering* ; and in the disciple of Jesus there must be the same compassion, a fellow-feeling for the temporal distresses of others, an effort, according to the ability that God gives, to mitigate or assuage them, and an eager thirst for the Divine glory, as that glory may be advanced in the salvation of souls. Bishop Bickersteth. Our blessed Lord, we are sure, had very great business to transact with mankind, and a veiy short time in which to finish it; and yet, during His three years' conversation on earth, we find Him often exchanging the duties of the active and public state for those of the solitary and private ; " sending the multitudes away, and going up into the mountain apart to pray.'' And we are sure that in this, as well as in other respects, " He left us an example that we should follow His steps." Bishop Atterburx 148 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR If any man be m Christ Jesus he has the spirit and the mind of Christ Jesus ; he views things as Christ viewed them, he thinks and feels with Him. C. Buadley Is it grace we want? Let us beg of Him that of that fulness that is in Christ we may in our measure receive grace for grace. Is it patience, or joy in sufferings that we want ? Let us beg of Him that, as He has promised, He will send us the Comforter, that we may follow Christ cheerfully from His cross to His crown^ from earth to heaven. Let us frequently return to our " looking unto Jesus," to our believing in Him. There is something flowing into the soul while it is acting faith on the death of Christ, which, for the rise or manner of its working, is beyond what tongue can speak, or pen can write, or pencil can delineate. Rev. I. Ambrose. Our Lord is the Messiah — the Son of Man. He is a true member of our human race, and He is, moreover, its pattern and representative ; since He fulfils and exhausts that moral ideal to which man^s highest and best aspirations have ever pointed onward. Canon Liddon. What example is there so proper and encouraging as the Son of God in human flesh — the most perfect image of the invisible Deity — in whom the Divine perfections are brought nearer to our view, and such of them as can be imitated by feeble man are placed within the reach of our imitation? In Him we may behold the completest pattern of universal holiness and spotless purity ; of the most ardent love to God ; the most wonderful love to mankind ; the most perfect resignation and obedience to the Divine will ; the most exemplary patience under the greatest sufferings ; the most admirable humility, meekness, and condescension; and of every admirable virtue. And should we not be desirous to tread in His illustrious footsteps ? Rev. T. Haetwell Horne. There never appeared in the world so perfect and lovely an idea of the best life as was the life of Christ. There never shined in the world such a light. Nor was He in anything a more bright and shining example to us than in self-resignation : a famous instance THE EXAMPLE. 149 whereof we nave in that one speech of His in the agony ni the garden, " O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me : never- theless not as I will, but as Thou wilt/'' Rev. Dr. Wouthingtox. Our Fi-iend, our Brother, and our Lord, What may Thy service be ? Nor, name, nor form, nor ritual word. But simply following- Thee. Thy litanies, sweet offices Of love and g-ratitude; Thy sacramental liturg-ics. The joy of doing good. In vain shall waves of incense drift The vaulted nave around ; In vain the minster-turret lifts Its brazen weights of sound. The heart must ring Thy Christmas-bells, Thy inward altars raise ; Its faith and hope Thy canticles. And its obedience, praise. J. Gr. Whittier. He that knows the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, knows enough to oblige him to virtue, and to open the way to glory and everlasting life. He that knows nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, knows enough in order to peace, grace, and joy ; enough to promote holiness and hope — hojie that abounds in joy unspeakable and full of glory. Rev. Dr. Lucas. The example of the crucified Saviour is an emphatic appeal. The cross is commonly represented as humbling to the human heart. It is so to the worldly pride of the human heart; but it is also to that heart an animating, soul- thrilling, ennobling call. It speaks to all that is sacred, disinterested, self-sacrificing in humanity. I fear that we regard Christy's sacrifice for us so technically that we rob it of its vital import. It was a painful sacrifice for us, as truly as if our brother 150 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. had died for us ; it was a bitter and bloody propitiation to bring back offending man to his God ; it was a groan for human guilt and misery that rent the earth ; it was a death endured for us that we might live, and live for ever. I speak not one word of this technically; I speak vital truth. Even if Jesus had died as any other master dies ; if He had thought of nothing but Ilis own fidelity — had thought of nothing but bearing witness to the truth — still, the call would, bi/ inference, have come to us. But it is not left to inference. Jesus was com- missioned to bear this very relation to the world. He knew that if He were lifted up He should draw all men unto Him. And how draw all men to Him ? Plainly, in symj^athy, in imitation, in love. He designed to speak to all ages; to touch all the high and solemn aspirations of unnumbded millions of souls ; to win the world to the noble spirit of self-sacrifice; to disinterestedness, and fortitude, and patience; to meekness, and candour, and gentleness, and forgiveness of injuries. This is the heroism of Christianity. In these virtues centres all true glory. This did Jesus mean to illustrate. His purpose was to turn off the eyes of men from the power, pride, am- bition, and splendour of the world, to the true grandeur, dignity, and all-sufficing good of love, meekness, and disinterestedness. And how surely have His purposes and predictions been accomplished ! A renovating power has gone forth from Him ujion the face of the whole civilised world, and is fast spreading itself to the ends of the earth. And one emphatic proof of this is, that the cross — before, the stigma of the vilest crimes, has become the emblem of all spiritual greatness ! Rev. De. Dewey. Here is the beauty and glory of Christ as a Redeemer and Saviour of lost man, that He goes before — always before — and never behind His flock. He begins with infancy, that He may show a grace for childhood. He is made under the law, and carefully fulfils all righteous- ness there, that He may sanctify the law to us, and make it honour- able. He goes before us in the bearing of temptations, that we may bear them after Him, being tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He taught us forgiveness by forgiving Himself His enemies. He went before us in the loss of all things, that we might be able to follow, in the renouncing of the world and its dominion. THE EXAMPLE. 161 The works of love that He requires of us, in words, are preceded and illustrated by real deeds o£ love, to which He gave up all His mig-hty powers from day to day. He bore the cross Himself that He com- manded us to take up and bear after Him. Requiring us to hate even life for the GospeFs sake, He went before us in dying for the Gospel; suffering a death most bitter at the hands of enemies exasperated only by His goodness, and that when, at a word. He might have called to His aid whole legions of angels, and driven them out of the world. And then He went before us in the bursting of the grave and the resurrection from it; becoming, in His own person, the first- fruits of them that slept. And, finally, He ascended, and passed within the veil before us, as our forerunner, whom we are to follow even there. Rev. Dr. H. Bushnell. One end of the incarnation and life of Jesus in the flesh was to set us an exact and perfect pattern for our imitation, " Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps ^' (1 Peter ii. 21). And by the diligent viewing and studying of His example is our spiritual life carried on to perfection. Rev. R. Robinson. How great is the perfect harmony exhibited between our Saviour's character and His professions, more especially by His conduct. It was not only by word of mouth and the Spirit, but emphatically by personal example, that He strove to establish His empire in the hearts of men. He preached humility, and He was humble in all His actions susceptible of that quality ; He recommended prayer, and was frequent and earnest in the practice of that form of devotion ; He pressed upon His disciples the duty of forgiveness, even to the extent of returning good for evil, and to the last hour of Plis life He inculcated that difficult lesson by His own example. " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.^'^ He taught us to pray that we may not be led into temptation, and by undergoing the trial Himself he showed in what manner it was to be resisted and overcome. His doctrine involved the duty of an entire dependence upon God, and a total submission to His will. The possibility of Kving up to these exalted obligations He fully exemplified by His 152 CHRISTUS BEBEMPTOR. own conduct m the wilderness, on the lake, in the garden, and on the cross. . . . The Son of God took upon Him our nature, as it would seem, that He might be a pattern to mankind, as well as a teacher of Divine truth. Christ, by His human sympathies and manifest perfection in their exercise, completed that consistency which of right claims so large a share in our convictions. Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe. There is nothing of which a high example is now more needed than true moderation ; than a quiet, resolved, self-subsistent virtue ; than a virtue which is a principle, and not a paroxysm, a growth in a man, and not an excrescence upon him ; a virtue, whose greatness has the charm of humility, whose decision the beauty of gentleness, and whose courage the glory of meekness. . . That great Example itself is before us in all its splendour ; and most needful, indeed, is that Example. For such is the infirmity of men's minds, that if it were not for one perfect Example, we might almost have doubted the possibility of that complete harmony of opposite qualities in the character for which I contend. But in Him, who is set forth as Pattern, Prince, and Lord in the moral creation, there was nothing wantmg, and there was nothing in excess. There was no conflict, no clashing in the qualities of His perfect character. I say not that He was grave, but cheerful. I conceive of a more perfect union. He was grave and cheerful at the same moment, and in the same act. The thought, the affection, the act of the soul, that was serious, that very act was cheerful. This was the tenor, the habit, the harmony of His perfect mind. Perfect in Himself, patient with others ; sublime in purpose, simple in manners ; superior to all, the servant of all. He dwelt among His disciples as Master, Teacher, Counsellor, Companion, Friend. Courageous to meet opj)osition, meek to endure injury; immovable in His design, gentle in the fulfilment of it ; glorious, as the Son of God ; humble, as the Son of Man ; He walked among the degraded, the blaspheming, the captious, and the hostile, to blame, yet to pity them ; to resist, yet to raise them ; to sacrifice to them His life, to overcome them by His death. He was not courageous at one time and meek at another, but His very courage was meek ; His very inflexibility was gentle ; His very glory and loftiness was that of ?.n THE EXAMPLE. 153 humble and filial reverence to His Father. Wonderful Being ! Worthy to be the Saviour of men ! When shall the world understand Thee ? When shall it admire, love, follow Thee, as it ought ? Christian ! this is your perfection — far off from us as yet, but it is for this that you must strive. Christian ! if thou deservest the name, put away from thee all waywardness, all extravagance, all excess, all rashness, all uncontrollable passion. " Thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek- ness.^'' Rev. OiiviLLE Dewey. The Christian traveller hath a long and tedious journey still to finish. For he is in his way from a far remote region to his own country, even from earth to heaven. He has need, therefore, of a faithful and skilful guide to conduct him in the way. But, behold, there is here present not some son of Ananias the great, or the angel Raphael from heaven to go along with Tobias ; but the Lord of angels, the only begotten of the Eternal Father; Thou, I say, my dearest Jesus, who art the very Way, the Truth, and the Life, who camest down a Teacher from God, and teachest the way of God in truth. Yea, and by Thy own example leadest us to life. For verily Thy life is the pattern for us to live by ; and he that would be accounted a Christian must tread in Thy footsteps, according to the testimony of that disciple whom Thou lovest : " He that saith he abideth in Christ ought himself also so to walk even as He walked.^'' Why, therefore, should we delay to follow Thee, thoug*h not with equal paces, yet so far forth as our frailty will permit ? For it is a thing truly glorious to follow the Lord. Jacob Hoestius. 184 CIimSTUS REBEMFTOR. THE TEACHER. ""And Jesus, when He came out, saiv much people, and was moved icifh compassion oivard them, because they were as sheep not having a sheplierd : and He began to teach them many things^ Mark vi. 34. " And seeing the multitudes. He went up into a mountain: and when He was set. His disciples came unto Him. And He opened His mouth, and taught them." St. Matthew v. 1, 2. "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians ii. 3. His ministry bears the seal of unity. The simple statement of facts dispels, as a poetical illusion, the whole hypothesis which has been fancifully built up as to His first appearance in Galilee. No- where, in reality, do we find any trace of that pastoral (coarse, in spite of its poetic adorning) which is said to have been once enacted on the flowery shores of the sea of Tiberias. We shall see that He, over whose very cradle swooped a murderous sword, never ceased to awaken hatred. No doubt His day of labour had its dawn and its noon before it set in blood ; but even the morning- sky was red with the precursive signs of the storm. As soon as He opens His lips His words are by turns gentle and severe. The fire which He lights upon earth does not simply kindle adoration ; it is a consumer of evil. It was enough for it to appear in the midst of mankind to trouble it to its depths, and to give rise to the most absolute contradictions. This is the sign of His power, and of the solemn sublimity of His ministry. From the first day to the last, love and hate grow and strengthen side by side. In place of an unaccountable change in His character and modes of thought, transforming Him from a fair David into a fierce Goliath, we have a continuous progression ; the laws of spiritual sequence, without which the unity of His personality would be destroyed, are inviolably maintained. E. de Piiessense, Nothing is more remarkable in the teaching of Christ than the way in which it throws ofl:', like a serpent, one after another, the THE TEACHER 155 sloug'lis of system, and spreads undivided in the world, and operates unspent by its own divine vitality. Now, it is this extraordinary power of easy expansion, this power of adapting itself to the most diverse forms of thought, which is one strong proof of its eternal fitness for mankind. Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. No thoughtful Christian can fail to have been struck by the fact that, except those few words which our Master "with His finger wrote ujDon the ground/'' He wrote nothing. He did not bow down over a table furnished with manuscripts, and in houi's of meditative thought, during which He out-shone the stars, erect a monument which might be admired by a succession of sages and critics. He did not write out the complete text of an elaborate system of theology. He went out into the throng of men ; He spake by the highways and the lake-side, in words which, if they were as high as heaven and deep as the transparent lake, were in form broad and popular. When we consider the analogy of the " tables that were the work of God,^^ and the outlines of books in excluding error and securing per- manence — we ask, why did He not write? There is one reason derived from His nature. In great books, the truest element of greatness is the conviction that we can trace the pathway of a superior mind in pursuit of truth; when he seems to have found it the writer quivers with delight. With the Word made flesh, truth cannot be an effort and a conquest — the conclusion toilfully drawn, from premisses laboriously acquired; rather the truth dwells in Him. He does not say, after long communion with divinely-inspired books, after long self - questioning, prompted sometimes by voices tliat seemed to come from the ancient hills and the glory of the sunlit heaven, I gradually worked out my system. He does not say, I have found the truth ; He does say, " I am the truth.''^ We may answer the question why Jesus did not write with the philosophers of the middle ages. The thought of Jesus is preserved in a diviner way, according to the great promise, " I will put My law in their mind, and write it in their heart. ^■' That which was done by the members was virtually done by the Head. It will be seen that, in this sense, the Gospels themselves may be looked upon as part of His teaching. Bishop Alexander. 15G CBRISTUS REBEMPTOR. What an insig-ht does the account of this day (Luke iv.), so marked by deeds of love and mercy^ g-ive us into the nature of our Lord^s ministry ! What holy activities ! what ceaseless acts of mercies ! Such a picture does it give us of their actual nature and amount^ that we may well conceive that the single day, with all its quickly- succeeding events, has been thus minutely portrayed to show us what our Redeemer's ministerial life really was ; and to justify, if need be, the noble hyperbole of the beloved apostle, that if the things which Jesus did " should be written every one, the world itself could not con- tain the books that should be written/'' . . . What a day, too, this had been for Capernaum ! What manifestations of Divine power had been vouchsafed to them in their synagogue ! What mercies had been showered down upon them in their streets ! Could they, and did they remain insensible to such displays of Omnipotence ? It would indeed have been impossible ; and it is not with surprise that we find that in the da^;^^l of the following morning the multitudes, conducted as it would seem by Peter and the newly-called disciples, tracked out the Great Healer to the lonely j:)lace, whither He had withdrawn to com- mune with His Father ; broke in upon His very prayers, and strove to prevent Him leaving those whom He had now so pre-eminently blessed. But it might not be. That request could not be granted in the ex- clusive manner in which it had been urged. Though the faith of these men of Capernaum was subsequently rewarded by our Lord's vouchsafing soon to return again, and by His gracious choice of Capernaum as His principal place of abode, yet now, as He alike tells both them and His disciples. He must fulfil His heavenly mission by preaching to others as well as unto them. The blessings of the Gospel were to be extended to the other towns and villages by those peopled shores, and thither, with His small company of followers, the Lord departed, " healing,'''' as St. Matthew tells us, " all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.'" Bishop Ellicott. Jesus Christ is the only teacher who ever made a similarity of disj^osition to Himself a test and badge of discipleship, and He does. He is not only the teacher, but the pattern of His own religion. His example is an essential part of His sv.'item. A man might be a THE TEACHKR. 157 philosophei' of any school, if he only embrace the principles of his master, although in temper and spirit he be as opposite to his leader as the east is from the west ; but this is not enough to constitute a man a Christian, for he must not only receive the doctrines of our Lord, but must imbibe His very spirit. He must not only believe all He taught, but he must live as He lived, think as He thought, and feel as He felt. Christ^s mind must be in kis mind as far as he can contain it, and Christ's heart must be in his heart. Rev. J. Angell James. Immortal love, for ever full. For ever flowing free, For ever shared, for ever whole, A never-ebbing sea ! Our outward lips confess the name All other names above : Love only knoweth whence it came, And comprehendeth love. Blow, winds of God, awake, and blow The mists of earth away ; Shine out, O Light Divine ! and show How wide and far we stray. Hush every lip, close every book. The strife of tongues forbear : Why forward reach, or backward look. For love that clasps like air ? We may not climb the heavenly steeps To bring the Lord Christ down : In vain wc search the lowest deeps. For Him no depths can drown. Nor holy bread, nor blood of grape. The lineaments restore Of Him we know in outward shape, And in the flesh no more. ^ ^ * it -::- 158 CHRISTUS liEDF.UPTOR. And not for signs in heaven above Or earth below they look, We know with John His smile of lovo, With Peter His rebuke. In joy of inward peace, or sense Of sorrow over sin. He is His own best evidence : His witness is within. No fable old, nor mythic lore, Nor dream of bards and seers. No dead fact stranded on the shore Of the oblivious years ; But warm, sweet, tender, even yet A present help is He : And faith has still its Olivet, And love its Galilee. The healing of His seamless dress Is by our beds of pain ; We touch Him in life's throng and press. And we are whole again. Through Him the first fond prayers are said Our lips of childhood frame; The last low whispers of our dead Are burdened with His name. Oh, Lord and Master of us all ! Whatever our name or sign, We own Thy sway, we hear Thy call, We test our lives by Thine. Thou judgest us ; Thy purity Doth all our lusts condemn ; The love that draws us nearer Theo Is hot with wrath to them. THE TEACHER. 159 Cur thoiig-hts lie open to Thy sight ; And; naked to Thy glance, Our secret sins are in the light Of Thy pure countenance. Thy healing pains; a keen distress Thy tender light shines in ; Thy sweetness is the bitterness ; Thy grace, the pang of sin. J. G. Whittier. What we have said in regard to Christ's habit of taking up a concealed truth is especially applicable to His use of quotations from the Old Testament, which enveloped, as it were, and contained the germs of truth which He was fully to unfold and develop. In this point of view. He derived from the Old Testament truths which, though not contained in the letter of its words, were involved in its spirit and fundamental import. The higher spirit, which appeared in its unlimited fulness in Christ, was predominant in the Old Testa- ment. All the preparatory revelations of that spirit had Christ for their aim. The theocratic idea, which formed the central point both of the Scriptures and the Jewish nation, had found no fulfilment, but looked to the future for its realisation. Christ was perfectly justified, therefore, in so interpreting the old Scriptures, as to bring out clearly its hidden intimations and germs of truth, and to unfold from the covering of the letter the profounder sense of the spirit. J. A. W. Neander. The words, " When they therefore were come together," seem to imply that the apostles came together to Jesus, having agreed to ask Him a question of much interest to them. That question was, " Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? " They were even yet, notwithstanding all that had happened and all that Christ had taught them, clinging to some notion of an earthly kingdom in which they should have, as they hoped, high stations and authority. They seemed to have forgotten our Lord's answer to the mother of the sons of Zebedee when she came askinac that her sons 160 CHRISTUS EEBEMPTOR. might sit on His right hand and His left hand in His kingdom. They forgot what Jesus had said of a baptism of shame and suffering and hlood, which must be passed throug-h. They hoped that the time had come when their Master would proclaim Himself to be the Messiah^ and as such would set His country free from the Roman power^ and give His followers high places in His kingdom. The answer of our Lord to these inquiring disciples is very full of instruction. " He said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. ^^ The knowledge which they desired was not necessary for them ; if it had been it would have been given them. The Father had put and kept in His own hand. His own power, the appointment of times and seasons, and the knowledge of sncli appointment. The words of Christ to His disciples plainly rebukes those who venture to speak too confidently about the future, to fix the time of Christ^s second coming, to say exactly how and when events shall happen, which God has purposely and wisely kept hidden from us. Of course we viay and we ought to mark " the signs of the times,^^ and to study that '' testimony of Jesus " which the " spirit of prophecy '' gives. But to speak positively about things which God does not see fit to reveal, is rash and presumptuous. It is not for us to know exactly the time of Christy's coming; the great truth told us about it is, that '^ the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, ""^ and the great duty pressed upon us to watch, and be ready like the wise virgins with oil in our lamps to meet the bride- groom. Rev. C. H. Ramsden. Next to what our Saviour taught, may be considered the manner of His teaching, which was extremely peculiar, yet I think precisely adapted to the peculiarity of His character and situation. His lessons did not consist of disquisitions or anything like moral essays, or like some sermons, or like set treatises upon the several points which He mentioned. When He delivered a precept, it was seldom that He added any proof or argument ; still more seldom that He accompanied it with what all precepts required, limitations and distinctions. His instructions were conceived in short, emphatic, sententious rules, in occasional reflections, or in sound maxims. I do not think that this was a natural, or would have lieen a proper method for a philosopher THE TEACHER. 161 or moralist ; or that it is a method that can be successfully imitated by us. But I contend that it was suitable to the character which Christ assumed, and to the situation in which as a teacher He was placed. He produced Himself as a messenger from God. He put the truth of what He taught upon authority. In the choice, therefore, of His mode of teaching-, the purpose by Him to be consulted was impression j because conviction, which forms the principal end of our discourses, was to arise in the minds of His followers from a different source from their respect to His person and authority. Now, for the purpose of impression singly and exclusively (I repeat again that we are not here to consider the convincing- of the understanding-), I know nothing which would have so great force as strong-, ponderous maxims, frequently urged and frequently brought back to the thoughts of the hearers. I know nothing that could in this view be better said than " Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you.^^ The first and great commandment is, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,^' and the second is like unto it, ^' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.''^ It must also be remembered that our Lord's ministry upon the supposition either of one year or three, compared with His work, was of short duration. That within this time He had many places to visit, various audiences to address; that His person was generally beseiged by crowds of followers ; that He was sometimes driven away from the place where He was teaching by persecution, at other times thought fit to withdraw Himself from the commotions of the populace. Under these circumstances nothing appears to be so practicable or likely to be so efficacious, as leaving, wherever He came, concise lessons of duty. These circumstances at least show the necessity He was under of comprising what He delivered within a small compass. In particular His Sermon upon the Mount ought always to be con- sidered with a view to these observations. The question is not whether a fuller, a more accurate, a more systematic, or a more argumentative discourse upon morals might not have been pronounced, but whether more could have "been said in the same room better adapted to the exigencies of the hearers or better calculated for the purposes of im- pression ? Seen in this light, it has always appeared to me to be admirable. Dr. Lardner thought that this discourse was made up of what Christ had said at different times and on different occasions, L 162 CERISTUS EEBEMPTOR. several of which occasions are noticed in St. Luke*s narrative. I can perceive no reason for this opinion. I believe that our Lord delivered this discourse at one time and place in the manner related by St. INIatthew, and that He repeated the same rvdes and maxims at different times as opportunity or occasion suggested ; that they were often in His mouthy and were repeated to different audiences and in various conversations. It is incidental to this mode of moral instruction^ which proceeds not by proof but upon authority, not by disquisition but by precept, that the rules will be conceived in absolute terms, leaving the application and the distinctions that attend it to the reason of the hearer. It is likewise to be expected that they will be delivered in terms so much the more forcible and energetic, as they have to encounter natural or general propensities. It is further also to be remarked, that many of those strong instances which appear in our Lord's sermon^ such as " If any man will smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also ; " " If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also \" "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain /^ — though they appear in the form of specific precepts, are intended as descriptive of disposition and character. A specific compliance with the precepts would be of little value ; but the disposition which they inculcate is of the highest. He who should content himself with waiting for the occasion, and with literally observing the rule when the occasion offered, would do nothing, or worse than nothing ; but he who con- siders the disposition and character which is hereby inculcated, and places that disposition before him as the model to which he should bring his own, takes, perhaps, the best possible mode of improving the benevolence, and of calming and rectifying the vices of his temper. I think that these observations will assist us greatly in placing our Saviour's conduct, as a moral teacher, in a proper point of view, especially when it is considered that to deliver moral disquisitions was no part of His design. To teach morality at all was only a subordinate part of it. His great business being to supply what was much more wanting than lessons of morality — stronger moral sanctions and clearer assurances of a future judgment. The jiarahles of the New Testament are, many of them, such as would have done honour to any THE TEACHER. 163 book in the world. I do not mean in style and diction^ but in the choice of the subjects^ in the structure of the narratives^ in the aptness, propriety, and force of the circumstances woven into them, and in some, as that of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Pharisee and the Publican, in an union of pathos and simplicity which, in the best productions of human g-enius, is the fruit only of a much exercised and well cultivated judgment. The Lord's Prayer, for a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a few great points, for suitableness to every condition, for sufficiency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the weight and real importance of its petitions, is without an equal or a rival. From whence did these come ? Whence had this man His wisdom ? Was our Saviour, in fact, a well-instructed philosopher, Mdiilst He is represented to us as an illiterate peasant? Or shall we say that some early Christians of taste and education composed these pieces and ascribed them to Christ ? Beside all other incredibilities in this account, I answer, with Dr. Jortin, that they could not do it. No specimens of compositions which the Christians of the first century have left us authorise us to believe that they were equal to the task. And how little gratified the Jews — the countrymen and companions of Christ — were to assist Him in the undertaking, may be judged of from the traditions and writings of theirs which were the nearest to that age. The whole collection of the Talmud is one continued proof into what follies they fell whenever they left their Bibles, and how little capable they were of furnishing out such lessons as Christ delivered. Archdeacon Paley. We must mention Christ's adaptation of His instruction to the capacity of His hearers as one of the peculiar features of His mode of teaching. Without such accommodation, indeed, there can be no such thing as instruction. The teacher must begin upon a ground common to his pupils, with principles pre-supposed or known to them, in order to extend the sphere of their knowledge to further truths. He must lower himself to them in order to raise them to himself. As the true and false are commingled in their conceptions, he must seize upon the true as his point of departure, in order to disengage it from the encumbering false. So to the child the man becomes a child, and explains the truth in a form adapted to its age, by 164 CHRI8TUS REBEMPTOR making use of its childish conceptions as a veil for it. In ac- cordance with this principle every revelation of God having for its object the training of mankind for the Divine life (and we must never forget that this was the sole aim of Christianity, as well as the pre- paratory institutions which preceded it) has made use of this law of accommodation in order to present the Divine to the consciousness of men in forms adapted to their respective standpoints. And as Christ by no means intended, as we have before remarked, to impart a com- plete system of doctrine as a mere dead tradition, but rather to stimulate men^s minds to a living appropriation and development of the truth which He revealed, by means of the powers with which God has endowed them, it was the more necessary for Him to adapt His instructions to the capacities of those who heard Him. His teaching by parables, in which the familiar affairs of every-day life were made the veil and vehicle of unknown and higher truths, was an instance of such accommodation. To this principle, constantly employed by Christ in His teaching, we must ascribe the extraordinary influence of Christianity upon human culture from the very beginning. But just as the " form of a servant " hindered many eyes from seeing the Son of God in the Son of Man, so the divine, which adapted itself to human infirmities by veiling its heavenly grandeur, was often concealed by the very veil which it had assumed. We must never forget that His words, as He himself has told us, are " spirit and life,^'' and that no scribe of the old Rabbinical school, no slave to the letter, can rightly comprehend and apply them. J. A. W. Neander. His teaching was not, as some would insinuate, a mere eclectic system borrowed from the various sects and teachers of His times. It is certain that He was never enrolled among the scholars of those Scribes who made it their main business to teach the traditions of their fathers. Although schools in great towns had been founded eighty years before by Simon ben Shatuch, yet there could have been no Beth Midrash or Beth Rabban, no "vineyard^" or "array,'" at despised and simple Nazareth. And from whom could Jesus luive borrowed ? From Oriental gymnosophists or Greek philosophers ? No one, in these days, ventures to advance so wild a proposition. From the Pharisees ? The very foundations of their system, the very idea of THE TEACHER. 165 their religion^ was irreconcilably alien from all that He revealed. From the Sadducees ? Their epicurean insouciance, their " expe- diency " politics, their shallow rationalism, their polished sloth, were even more repugnant to true Christianity than they were to sincere Judaism. From the Essences ? They were an exclusive, ascetic, and isolated community, with whose discouragement of marriage, and withdrawal from action, the Gospels have no spnpathy, and to whom our Lord never alluded, unless it be in those passages where He reprobates those who abstain from anointing themselves when they fast, and who hide their candles under a bushel. From Philo, and the Alexandrian Jews? Philo was indeed a good man, and a great thinker, and a contemporary of Christ ; but (even if his name had never been heard — which is exceedingly doubtful — in so remote a region as Galilee) it would be impossible, among the world's phi- losophies, to choose any system less like the doctrines which Jesus taught, than the mystic theosophy and allegorising extravagances of that sea of abstractions which lies congealed in his ua-itings. From Hillel and Shammai ? We know but little of them ; but although, in one or two passages of the Gospels, there may be a conceivable allusion to the disputes which agitated their schools, or to one or two of the best and truest maxims which originated in them, such allusions, on the one hand, involve no more than belongs to the common stock of truth taught by the Spirit of God to men in every age ; and on the other hand, the system which Shammai and Hillel taught was that oral tradition, that dull, dead, Levitical ritualism at once arrogant and impotent, at once frivolous and unoriginal, which Jesus both denounced and overthrew. The schools in which Jesus learnt were not the schools of the Scribes, but the school of holy obedience, of sweet contentment, of unalloyed simplicity, of stainless purity, of cheerful toil. The lore in which He studied was not the lore of Rabbinism, in which to find one just or noble thought we must wade through masses of puerile fancy and cabalistic folly, but the Books of God without Him, in Scripture, in Nature, and in Life ; and the Book of God within Him, written on the fleshly tables of the heart. Canon Farrar. 166 CURISTUS REBEMPTOR THE HELPER " A very present help in time of trouble ." Ps. ilvi. 1. ^^ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may holdly say, Tlie Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Heb. liii. 5, 6. Abide with me ! fast falls the eventide ; The darkness deepens ; Lord, with me abide ! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee Help o£ the helpless. Oh, abide with me ! Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day ; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see ; Thou, who changest not, abide with me ! 1 need Thy presence every passing hour ; What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power ? Who like Thyself mv guide and stay can be ? Through cloud and sunshine. Lord, abide with me ! I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless ; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness ; Where is death's sting, where, grave, thy victory ? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me ! Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes ; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies ; Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee ; In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me ! Rev. H, E. Lyte. There is no affliction that falls upon us, but God Himselfe beares a part of it. As in all His commands. Quod jabet, jucat, what THE HELPER. 167 Hee bids us to doe, Hee lielpes us to doe; so in all His chastisements, what Plee makes us to beare, Hee helpes us to beare. " Hee succours them that are tempted and tvyed." Hence it is, " That His yoake is easie, and His burthen light" (Matt. xi. 30), whether it be meant of Fiiffum precepfi, the yoake of His commandments, or Fvgum crucis, the yoake of His chastisement. Both may be said to be easie and light, because wee beare but with one shoulder, and God beares with the other; for it is said (1 Chron. xv. 26), "God helpt the Levites to beare the arke." The arke of itselfe was no great burthen to beare, and yet as light as it was, God was faine to helpe them to beare it. Without the helpe of God, the lightest burthen is unsup- portable; for it is said of Judah (Deut. xxxiii. 7), " His owne hands shall be sufficient for him [Si t% Bominns), if Thou, Lord, do helpe him against his enemies.'" No man^s owne hands, no man's owne endeavours, can be sufficient for him, either for his defence or for his maintenance, unlesse the God of heaven put to His helping hand. We read (1 Sam. vii. 12), that Samuel pitched a stone, and called it '' Eben-ezer," the stone of helpe ; and his reason was, " Hitherto God hath helped us.'" Now, marke the posture and situation of this stone: '^ He pitched it betweene Mizpeh and Shen." " Mizpeh " signifieth light, or wisdome; '^Shen'"' signifieth a tooth, or strength. So the meaning is, that neither a man^s wisdome can helpe him on the one side, nor his strength helpe him on the other side, unlesse "Eben-ezer,"" the helpe of God, come in betweene them. It was onely God in the bush that kept the fire from burning ; so it is God in affliction that keepes the heart from despairing. Hence it is that the most precious blessing that Jacob could invent for his deare sonne Joseph was this, " That the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush might be upon him ''^ (Deut. xxxiii. 16), for then hee knew, though hee should meete with many thornes, and many piercing cares and crosses in the world, yet the good will of him that dwelt in the bush (see also Acts vii. 34, 35), would be a shelter and a shield against them all. Let no man, therefore, misinterpret God's corrections, nor mistake the meaning of His cliastisements, for there may be Bene- placitum in Bubo, as well as in Begno. Though a man bee, as it were, in a bush of thornes — that is, perplexed on eveiy side with cares and crosses — yet the good will of Go J may be no less upon him 168 CHRISTUS EEBEMFTOR. in this bush than if he were in a pleasant arbour, in the most delightfull condition that the earth can afford. I will say it once againe. If God beare a man good will, though hee should dwell in a very bush {i.) in the very midst among his enemies, yet may hee lay him downe in peace and take his rest ; for why ? There is One with him that will take his part against all his adversaries, and beare a part in all his adversities (Heb. ii. 18, and Heb. iv. 15, 16). And this is the privilege of all faithful soules. Rev. J. Gore. When the black mood comes upon me, when "the darkness wherein there is no light,'' compasses me about, I like to be left to it — to surrender myself utterly to its embraces — that I may not add 1/17/ restlessness to its miserableness. It is not good to be relieved in haste. If you bring patience and trust in God into your hell, it is not quite hell to you. The deadly nightshade, growing by the side of " the plant of renown,"" ceases to be poisonous. Rev. J. Pulsford. Oh, the wonderful condescensions of Christ ! What helps doth He continually afford to beget in us faith ! If we are ignorant. He instructs us ; if we err, He redeemeth us ; if we sin, He corrects us ; if we stand, He holds us up ; if we fall. He lifts us up again ; if we go. He leads us ; if we come to Him, He is ready to recei^'e us. There is not a passage of Christ between Him and His but is an argu- ment of love, and a means either of begetting or of increasing faith. Rev. I. Ambrose. Our heavenly Master is not as the slothful, unfaithful servant thought him, "a hard man," commanding and expecting impossi- bilities. Whatever God tells us to do, He also helps us to do. Our Saviour, who knows of what we are made, sends us on no vain errands, sets us on no unprofitable tasks. Whatever He makes an object of prayer, is also for that very reason an object of attainment ; and He it is who hath taught and commanded us when we pray to say, " Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.-" Dora Greenwell. " Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven." And as he gazes, lo ! the cloud over him melts away. THE HELPER. 169 and he sees tlie heavens opened, and ^^ Jesus standing" on the right hand of God/'' But twice, so far as we know, since His ascension, has the cloud which received Him out of the sigh't of those first loving" gazers, opened its blinding folds, and revealed to earth the glory which is evermore spread above it — once for the conversion of the persecuting Saul, once for the support of the suffering Stephen. Mark well the attitude, and its meaning. He was standing. Stand- ing, first, because it is the priestly attitude of the great Intercessor : because even there, within the veil, in the true holiest of holies, pleading His own wounds, making mention of His own death. He was offering up with that acceptable incense the obedience unto death, the anguish and the prayer of His faithful ones. And, next, He appeared standing, because the attitude of His intercession is the attitude of His help. And so He showed Himself, not seated as at other times upon the throne of His glory, but as ready to help ; as suffering with His sufferer, as reaching out from the eternal shore into the billows of this bitter storm the pierced hand to be the stay of His martyr. And that sight changed all things to Him. Bishop Wilberforce. In suffering and sorrow He will comfort and help us; we shall overcome through Him. If temptations await us. He will let nothing separate us from His love ; His strength will be " perfected in our weakness.'^ If the King of Terrors threatens us. He is our Life, and death will be gain. " The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid ? " His name alone lights up time and eternity ; therefore, in it we will be glad. F. Arndt. Oh ! let us remember, when we go to Jesus, that we go to a tried, long-proved, and faithful friend. Dependence upon Him is the only successful conflict. We are best able to resist our enemy upon our knees ; and such a prayer as this, " Help thou me,"*^ will bring down the strength of Omnipotence on our side. The experience of every trial realises more clearly the help of a faithful Saviour. He does indeed deliver gloriously ; and leaves us nothing but to stand still, wonder, and praise. Rev. C. Bridges. 170 CURISTUS REBEMPTOR. Keep close to Jesus, living and dying, and commit thyself to His faithfulness, who, when all fail, can alone help thee. Thomas A'Kempis. Christ does not meet you with formidable conditions; He does not daunt you TvHth impracticable requirements; He does not present to you at once in open vision the whole of life, with all its difficulties, disappointments, temptations, and folly, its sorrows and its sadnesses, its foiled efforts and frustrated hopes, and bid you take it all or none ; rather He says to each of us, even as He said to His first disciples, " I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now, and until you can bear them I will not tell you them ; and when you can bear them I will tell you them, not all at once, but one by one," making you feel, as you surmount one difiiculty, that you are ready for another, and that you can trust Him who has supported you through one to uphold you through another, and so on one by one, even to the very last of all. Rev. Dr. C. J. Vaughan. I have no help but Thine ; nor do I need Another arm save Thine to lean upon ; It is enough, my Lord, enough, indeed ; My strength is in Thy might. Thy might alone. I have no wisdom, save in Him who is My wisdom and my teacher, both in one ; No wisdom can I lack while Thou art wise. No teaching do I crave save Thine alone. Mine is the sin, but Thine the righteousness j Mine is the guilt, but Thine the cleansing blood ; Here is my robe, my refuge, and my peace. Thy blood. Thy righteousness, O Lord my God. I know that deadly evils compass me. Dark perils threaten, yet I wovild not fear, Nor poorly shrink, nor feebly turn to flee ; Thou, O my Christ, art buckler, sword, and spear. Rev. Dr. H. Boxar. THE FRIEND. 171 THE FRIEND. " There is a Friend that sticheth closer than a. brother." Proverbs xviii. 24. •' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." St. John xv. 13. " A friend of publicans and sinners." St. Matthew li. 19. And we are told that He entered into yet closer intimacies, that even among those chosen disciples, whom He gathered round Himself and guarded from evil with watchful tenderness, there was yet one to whom He was attracted by a yet deeper feeling, and whom He loved with a human love. St. John was recognised among the apostles as the dearest friend of their common Master. He was next Him at the last supper, and leant upon His breast. St. Peter beckoned him to ask the Lord^'s meaning when He spoke ambiguously, as the disciple who had won His closest confidence, and had the best claim to know the secrets of His heart. This example, then, sanctifies, and, so to speak, idealises friendship. It shows us how noble and beautiful must be that feeling of which our blessed Lord Himself was so in- tensely conscious. It teaches us how great a blessing may be expected by those who cultivate friendship with His example before them according to the suggestions of His spirit, looking to Him in this and in every other point as the Author and Finisher of their faith. It warns us how grievous is their error who degrade friendship by caprice, by selfishness, by jealousy, by any other carnal and worldly feeling which is contrary to His character, and pollute a state of mind which He has sanctified. Nay, we are not only told that He recognised and hallowed the tie of friendship when He was on earth, the same word is used to express the feeling with which He regards us from the right hand of His Father in heaven. " Bishop Cotton. Men may cavil at revelation, fight over doctrine, ask all their 172 CERISTUS REDEMFTOR. days, " What is trntli ? " There is one thing- they dare not malig-n — and that is holiness. I£ Christ as "The Presence'^ were protective only — keeping alive in the earth " a sign spoken against/^ a spiritual religion, offering' happiness, offering heaven, on the condition of faith in a Saviour — it might attract the weary and sorrowful, it would not appeal, as now, to the conscience and heart of mankind. Truly has it been said, " Over and above the four written Gospels, there is a fifth " — written not with ink and pen — the Gospel, already eighteen chapters long, and each chapter is a century of Christian lives and Christian deaths. I believe that this is practically the evidence which weighs most with this age. You can explain away, by the help of a strong will and a powerful motive, the evidences of miracle and prophecy and Gospel success ; but there lies still, at the bottom of the heart, the sight of some life, the memory of some death, which was either a mere delusion — calm as it was, and grave, and strong, and consistent — or else caused, made what it was, changed perhaps into what it is, by the help, by the power, by the presence of Him who lived and died and revived, of Him who said, and who has fulfilled it, " I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.^'' The Presence is proved by its effect. It is a light, it is a power, it is a life, it is a love. Men do know for themselves what is the secret of their life, and other men take knowledge of it whether it is powerful and whether it is pure. If Christ can transform a life, if Christ can comfort a death, then I may doubt about many things, I may postpone many decisions, I may leave some matters for the light of " that world,^" I may sub- mit to the pain and the misery of some harassing suspenses — but one thing I can see, that this is indeed the Saviour I need ; one thing I can resolve, that through lifers ambiguous windings, through the valley of death^s dark shadow. He shall be with me — His rod and His staff shall comfort me — for He has said, " I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.''^ Rev. Dk. C. J. VAiGH-\i^. O Holy Saviour, Friend unseen. Since on Thine arm Thou bid^st me lean, Help me throughout life's changing sceue By faith to cling to Thee. THE FRIEND. 173 Blest with this fellowship divine, Take what Thou wilt, 1^11 ne^er repine ; E''en as the branches to the vine. My soul would cling to Thee. Far from her home, fatigued, opprest. Here she has found her place of rest ; An exile still, yet not unblest, While she can cling to Thee. Without a murmur I dismiss My former dreams of earthly bliss ; My joy, my consolation this — Each hour to cling to Thee. Then though the world unfaithful prove, And earthly friends and joys remove ; With sure and certain hope of love, Still would I cling to Thee. Oft when I seem to tread alone Some barren waste, with thorns overgrown. Thy voice of love, in gentlest tone. Whispers " Still cling to Me.'' Though faith and hope may oft be tried, I ask not, need not aught beside : So safe, so calm, and satisfied. The soul that clings to Thee 1 They fear not Satan, nor the grave, They feel Thee near and strong to save ; Nor dread to cross e'en Jordan's wave. Because they cling to Thee. Blest is my lot, whate'er befall ; What can disturb me ? what appall ? While, as my Strength, my Rock, my All, Saviour I cling to Thee ? Charlotte Elliott. 174 CERISTUS REDEMPTOE. God brings men to Himself in ways suited to their natural dis- position. The stubborn He tears like a lion ; the gentle He wins like a turtle^ by sweetness. He hath a hammer to break the stout^ and a cord of love to draw the more pliable tempers. He works upon the more rational in a way of Gospel reason ; upon the more ungenerous in a way of kindness, and draws them by the cords of love. The wise men were led to Christ by a star, and means suited to the knowledge and study of Eastern nations, which consisted much in astronomy. He worketh upon others by miracles accommodated to every one^s sense, and so proportions the means to the nature of those He works upon. Rev. S. Charnock. The New Testament teaches us to conceive of Christ, not as a generous Benefactor only, who, having performed some actions of heroic virtue and benevolence, is now retired from all intercourse with our world, so that we have no more to do with Him than to preserve a grateful remembrance of His character and favours, but, that He is to be considered an ever-living and ever-present Friend, with whom we are to maintain a daily commerce by faith and prayer, and from whom we are to derive those supplies of Divine grace, whereby we may be strengthened for the duties of life, and ripened for a state of perfect holiness and felicity. Dr. Doddridge. If doubters can be brought to appreciate Christ ; to meditate on His life ; to think of Him as one who tasted of human suffering, and knew the poignancy of human temptation ; and whose tender heart of pity was ever open to the petition of the needy ; they will first admire, then believe, then trust : and when they have learned to love Him as a man of pity, it is to be hoped that they may be brought, by the drawings of the Holy Spirit, to worship and adore Him as a God of love. Rev. Dr. A. S. Farrar. What joy, what peace, can be like this, to feel that we are not our own, but Christ^s ? that we are become members of His holy body, and that our life has been swallowed up in His ? that we can rest in His love with the same undoubting confidence with which a child rests in the arms of its mother? that, if we believe in Him, we have nothing to fear about the feebleness and falling short of our services ? for that He will work out our salvation for us; yea, that He has THE FRIEND. 175 wrought it out. Who then is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died for us, to take away our sins, and is risen again to clothe us in His righteousness, and sitteth at the right hand of God, ever making intercession for us, that we may be supported under every trial and danger, and strengthened against every temptation, and delivered from the sin of unbelief and all other sins, and guided with the righteousness of faith, and crowned with all the graces which spring from faith, and at length may be received into the presence of that Father, into which our Elder Brother has entered before us. Archdeacon Hare. We want a Christ entirely, one with all that is joyous, pure, healthy, sensitive, aspiring, and even what seems to us commonplace in daily life ; we desire Him, while He is still our King, to be also " not too bright and good for human nature^s daily f ood,^^ for business, and for home; we wish Him to share in our anxieties about our children j to come and hallow our early love, and bless with a further nobleness all its passion ; to move us to quietude and hope within the temple of the past where our old age wanders and meditates; to be with us when our heart swells with the beauty of the world, and to give His sympathy to us in that peculiar passion ; to whisper of aspiration in our depression, of calm in our excitement, to be, in fine, a universal friendly presence in the whole of our common life. I believe that out of that will spring no diminution of reverence to Him, no unhappy familiai'ity, but rather that deepening of awe, that solemnity of love whicb arises towards one whom we have lived with daily, and never known to fail in the power — sweetest of all, in a world where so much seems mean and commonplace — of lifting the prosaic into the poetic by the spirit of love, of giving us the sense of greatness in things which seem the smallest, of making life delightful with the feeling that we are being educated through its slightest details into children of the Divine Holiness. Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. Jesus is susceptible of the power of sympathy in its fulness. There is a vague way of speaking of the atonement which does not realise the tender, affectionate, personal love by which that daily, hourly reconciliation is effected. The sympathy of Christ was not 176 CIIltlSTUS REDEMrTOR. merely love of men in masses : He loved the masses, but He loved them because made up of individuals. He " had compassion on the multitude/' but He had also discriminating', special tenderness for erring Peter, and erring Thomas. He felt for the despised lonely Zaccheus in his sycamore-tree. He compassionated the discomforted of His disciples. He mixed His tears with the stifled sobs by the grave of Lazarus. He called the abashed children to His side. Amongst the numbers, as He walked, He detected the individual touch of faith. " Master, the multitude throng Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me?"** " Somebody hath touched Me." Observe, how He is touched by our infirmities, with a separate special discriminating- love. There is not a single throb in a single human bosom that does not thrill at once with more than electric speed up to the mighty heart of God. You have not shed a tear or sighed a sigh, that did not come back to you exalted and purified by having- passed through the eternal bosom. Rev. R W. Robertson. In Christ was that intense sensibility to human feeling which made Him by instinct know, without the necessity of speech, the feelings of those He met. This is the highest touch of beauty in a character. What is it that most charms us in a friend ? It is that he can read the transient expression on our face, and modify himself to suit the feelings we are ourselves but half conscious of possessing; it is that he knows when to be silent, and when to speak; it is that he never mistakes, but sees us true when all the world is wrong about us ; it is that he can distinguish the cynicism of tender- ness from that of malice, and believe our love, though we choose to mask our heart. Such a friend has not only power of character, but beauty of character, who, from sensibility to the feeling of others, knows how to develop in the noblest way each personality, whose mediating charity and sympathy bring into musical accord the several characters of their society. The root of this beauty of His character is sensibility, which worketli by love^ and deliglits in its own power. He saw Nathanael in the early days coming to Him from the garden and the fig-tree. He k)oked upon the simple and earnest face, and recognised the long effort of the man to be true. In a moment He frankly g-ranted the meed of praise : " Behold an Israelite indeed in THE FRIEND. 177 whom there is no guile/^ A few words more^ in which Christ went home to the secret trials of the man^ and Nathanael was His for ever. He met Peter in the morning light, and seeing through all the surface the impetuosity of His character, deep into the strength of His nature, called him " Cephas,^'' the man of rock. And Peter, catching inspiration from the word, saw a new life opening before him, and began to believe in his own power ; too much at first and for some years, till, in the hour of bitter failure, the transient force of self- confidence melted away before the last look of his Master, and the diviner strength which flows from penitence fulfilled the prediction of Christ. When the woman who was a sinner knelt at His sacred feet and wept, Christ felt the thrill of contempt which ran from guest to guest, and felt how bitterly it smote upon the woman^s soul. He turned, and in an exquisite reproof rebuked the scorn, shamed the scorners, and redeemed the woman by recognition of her tenderness. Fallen, shamed, the exile of the world, she was born into a noble life \7hen those words fell upon her ear, " Her sins which are many are forgiven her, for she loved much."^ When the malefactor on the cross appealed to Him, Christ saw at once that the fountain of a noble life had begun to flow. Without an instant^s hesitation, He claimed its waters for Paradise. When the persistency of Thomas refused to believe without a sign, another teacher might have been angry. Christ penetrated to the inner honesty which prompted the scepticism, and vouchsafed a reply of love. It struck home, and the Apostle^s heart was broken into adoration. It was the same with bodies of men as with men. How did He hold together those vast multitudes day by day ? By feeling their hearts within His own. How did He shame and confute His enemies ? By an instinct of their objections and their whispers, so that He replied to their thoughts before they were spoken. All who were natural, unconventional, simple in love, and powerful in faith, ran to Him as a child to its mother. They felt the beauty of character which was born of sensibility to human feeling and spiritual wants, and they were bound to Him for ever. Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. 178 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR THE CONSOLER. " Lei not your heart be troubled .* ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." St. John xiv. 1 — ^3. " I will not leave you comfortless : I will come to you." St. John xiv. 18. "He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Isaiah liii. 4. Let us observe His infinite tenderness. It was always expressed in His actions. Let us now see how it was expressed in His words. '' To preach good tidings to the poor ; " " to heal the broken heart ; " " to give sight to the blindj and liberty to the captive ; " " to pro- claim the acceptable year ; " the jubilee of all mankind. The very music of the words expresses to us the sweet consolations which He came to bring. We can almost imagine how Luke^ the beloved physician, would dwell with delight on the thought that for that great lazar-house of human misery and infirmity, which every physician knew so well, he had here found the remedy — cheering news for the oppressed, healing to the heart-broken by anxious sorrow, air and liberty in exchange for the dark narrow dungeon, light to the restored eyes, freedom to the limbs cramped and bruised by the long bondage of sin, suffering, or ignorance. Dean Stanley. Broken-hearted, weep no more ! Hear what comfort He hath spoken, Smoking flax who ne^er hath quenched, Bruised reed who ne'er hath broken — Ye who wander here below, Heavy laden as you go, Come, with grief, with sin, oppress 'd, Come to Me and be at rest ! THE CONSOLEn. 179 Lamb of Jesus' blood-boug'ht flock, Brought again from sin and straying. Hear the Shepherd's gentle voice, 'Tis a true and faithful saying — Greater love how can there be Than to yield up life for Thee ? Bought with pang, and tear, and sigh. Turn and live ! — why will ye die ? Broken-hearted, weep no more, Far from consolation flying : He who calls hath felt thy wound. Seen thy weeping, heard thy sighing ; Bring thy broken heart to Me, Welcome offering it shall be — Streaming tears, and bursting sighs. Mine accepted sacrifice ! Bishop Doane We are not left comfortless, for prayer brings the Saviour to our side. Then life is hallowed, wakeful, and calm. In the hour of our grief we hear the voice of Christ coming down the ages to our soul, tender as the morning light on flowers. " Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden ; I will give you rest.'' We hear Him as we sit at business, speaking as He spoke to Matthew at the receipt of custom^ " Follow Me," and though we know we cannot rise as did the publicans, for our work is where He has placed us, yet we know its meaning, We seem to feel His hand in ours in the passion of our endeavour to do right when duty and interest clash, and His grasp gives firmness to our faltering resolution. And when the petty troubles of life, the small difficulties which sting like gnats, the intrusions, the quarrels, the slight derangements of health, have disturbed our temper, and we are in danger of being false to that divine charity which is the dew of life, one prayer will sweep us back to Palestine, and, standing among the circles of the Apostles, we shall listen to His voice, " Love one another as I have loved you ;" — " Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you." Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. 180 CSRISTUS BEBEMPTOR. When JesiTS is present, all is well, and nothing' seems difRcnlt ; but when Jesns is not present, everything is hard. When Jesus speaketh not inwardly, poor and miserable is our comfort : but let Jesus speak one word only, and a marvellous consolation presently springeth up and diffuseth itself throughout the heart. Did not Mary immediately arise from the place where she wept, when Martha said unto her, "The Master is come and calleth for thee?^' Happy the hour when Jesus calleth from tears to the joy of the spirit ! How dry and barren art thou without Jesus ! How unwise and vain if thou seek anything out of Jesus ! Is not this a greater loss than if thou shouldest lose the whole world? Thomas A'Kempis. Sad, sad thoughts and weary Had preyed upon my mind ; A darkness deep and dreary Had made me sick and blind. But now upon the ocean Of troubled thought I see, My Saviour^s graceful motion — He Cometh unto Me. The winds and waves He stilleth. And all is calm again ; My soul with light He filleth, Like sunshine after rain. The eye of faith is beaming With joy sent from above ; The rainbow cloud is streaming, The pledge of constant lovj. My loosened tongue adoreth The greatness of His might; His smile alone restoreth The darkened soul to light. Rev. a. Wat jack TEE CONSOLER. 181 What becomes o£ all dismay and confusion ot spirit when we look upon the Father^ and know Him only through the Son ? Where is our dread, and where our failure of heart, when we behold, in the form of a brother. Him who was the only -begotten of the Father, the express image of the invisible God ? Yes : the fulness of the Divine grace and truth hath shone upon us ; but it hath shone upon us in the mild aspect of a human countenance ; it hath spoken to us with a human voice; it hath even wept human tears; and hath felt and suffered, if we may so speak, with a human heart. All the tenderest emotions of earth, and all the most exalted attributes of heaven, seem to have made a blessed league for our consolation. Le Bas. The deep humanity of the soul of Christ was gifted with those finer susceptibilities of affectionate nature which stand in need of sympathy. He not only gave sympathy, but wanted it, too, from others. He who selected the gentle John to be His friend; who found solace in female sympathy, attended by the women who ministered to Him out of their substance ; who in the trial hour could not bear even to pray without the human presence, had nothing in Him of the hard, merely self-dependent character. A stern spirit never could have said, " I am not alone : the Father is with Me ; " never could have felt the loneliness which needed the balancing truth. These words tell of a struggle, an inward reasoning, a difficulty, and a reply ; a sense of solitude, " I shall be alone ; " and an immediate correction of that, " not alone, the Father is with Me." Rev. F. W. Robertson Now God be praised ! that to believing souls Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair ! ShAKESPEx'^^RE. The sufficiency of God^s grace doth belong-, ad consoland n u/ , to comfort those sad and heavy hearts that can no other way bee comforted. "I should have fainted," saith David (Ps. xxvii. 13), " for all my worldly comforts, but that I stedfastly believed to see the Lord^s good grace in the land of the living," that is, to see it before he dyed; therefore we reade (1 Sam. xxx. 6) ^vhen hee was in great 182 CHRISTUS RED EMPTOR. distresse, had neither house nor home to shelter him^ neither wife,, nor child^ nor friend to be any comfort to him, but his owne very soldiers began to talke of stoning- him, " Then David comforted himselfe in the Lord his God/'' Heare this, thou poore disconsolate man, that art (as thy Saviour was said to be) " sad round about ; " thou that lookest into thy purse, and there is noe comforte, money is gone ; that lookest into thy cubbord, and there is no comforte, provision is gone ; that lookest into thy barne and storehouse, and there's no comfort, come and wares are gone ; that lookest into thy hearte, and there's no com- fort, cheerfulnesse and joy is gone. Then looke up to God, and there is comfort to bee had ; if there bee any water, it is in the sea ; if there bee any light, it is in the sunne ; if there bee any comfort, it is in God. Therefore the Apostle justly calleth Him "the God of all con- solation^^ (2 Cor. i.), because, when all other comforts faile, there's comfort to bee found in God. For believe this for a truth, there is no man's ease, no man^s estate, no man's soule is desperate to God ,* but when they are at the lowest ebbe, at the poorest stay, at the most forlorne hope, then doth God speak peace unto their soules, then doth Hee draw out those same ubera consolatlo)iis those breasts of consolation which the prophet speaks of (Isaiah Ixvi. 11), and drops dowme that sincere milke of heavenly comfort to revive the spirit of the humble, and to give life to them that are of a contrite heart. " I w^ll not leave you comfortless ■" — so our Saviour tells us — also that the Holy Ghost, whom Hee calls the Comforter, when Hee cometh, the first thing Hee will doe is to convince the world of sinne, that is, first put men quite out of comfort in themselves, then put them into comfort by their Saviour. Rev. John Gore. In every distressful situation of life, what floods, what torrents of consolation are poured in by this one assurance — that our Lord is Christ, the first-fruits of them that slept ! When sin has brought on its worldly punishment — shame; when the sincere penitent yet meets coldness and distrust on every countenance, and finds himself a lonely wanderer in the world, what is there, then, but heaven, to restore the props of a fallen spirit ? When old age with its attendants — infirmity and disease — draws on ; when early compa- nions have passed away ; when the horizon is narrowed, and the TEE CONSOLER. 183 prospect shut in, and all around is darkness; when the blossoms of life have faded, and the leaves have dropped off, and the fruit itself, long tried, has become tasteless, what is there to turn to, but the hope of an imperishable spring ? When the child of fair promise, reared with many anxieties, and regarded with strong affec- tion, has been suddenly snatched away from your sight, and you have left him in his narrow grave ; when those whom you were accustomed to venerate and esteem are gone to their long homes, then_, indeed, is opened a fountain of consolation which changes the aspect of the scene. Faith converts all the pictures of imagination into truth. It beholds a blooming spirit beckoning across the great gulf, or walking in bliss, or swelling the songs of the happy, or dressing the bowers of expectation with those who have gone before. How does all repining now melt into confidence ! With what gratitude do you lift the brow to a Being whom you believe to have had some wise end to answer, and to have saved the object of your mourning from the evil to come ! Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, from their doubts, from their dangers, from their sorrows. And they rest from all these in the sure hope of a life to come, of a glorious immortality through Jesus Christ. Rev. Johnson Grant. Gospel comfort springs from a Gospel root, which is Christ. TlIOAIAS GURXALL. 184 CERISTUS REDEMFTUll. THE PHYSICIAN. " With His stripes we are healed." Isaiah liii, 5. "Jesus said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sich." St. Matthew ix. 12. The Lord Jesus, who had all power in heaven and earth, who might have called leg-ions of angels to the rescue, stoops to ask a boon of His assailants. What does He ask ? He asks for liberty — but only for liberty to do one of them a service. With courteous assent and pleading significant gestures. He says to those who bind Him, " Suffer ye thus far. Permit Me to lift My hand to yonder stricken ear, to heal that, and then do with Me as you will.'''' He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. He thinks of others, even of His enemies, before Himself : and, to do them good, will ask a favour He would not have asked even for His own relief. When we were yet enemies. He loved us, and gave Himself for us. And if He loved us when we were enemies and far off from Him, may we not rely on His love if now we are reconciled and brought nigh ? If on His way to the cross, with the world for His burden. He could tarry to heal one of the basest and wickedest of those who brought Him to the cross, may we not confidently expect His healing power now that He has passed through death into life, through shame into glory ? Eev. Samuel Cox. If thou art willing, thou mayest be healed. Yield thyself to the Physician, and He will couch the eyes of thy soul and thy heart. "Who is this Physician ? God, in Christ, who heals and gives life by His word and His wisdom. Tiieophilus. Sin is the sickness of the soul, and Christ the only Physician that can cui'e it of the leprosy of profaneness, the fever of concupiscence, THE PHYSICIAN. 186 the dropsy of covetousness^ the tympany of pride, the lethargy of lukewaruiness, the frenzy of passion, and the palsy of unbelief. Rev. J. Mason. Oh, how plentiful is Thy goodness, O Lord ! Our accumulated sins surpass not the multitude of the mercies of God ; our wounds baffle not the skill of the great Physician. St. Cyril. All our Saviour^s miracles have a symbolical character. The bodily cures which, in the course of His personal ministry the Son of man wrought, are intended to lead up our minds to those higher restorations, which, by the agency of His Holy Spirit, He still effects in the world, and the scene and sphere of which is the human heart. Indeed, all corporeal malady is the correct expression, as it is the just consequence and result of spiritual disorder. Corporeal malady is merely the outward manifestation, in the matter of which man is compounded, of that disease whose seat and well-spring is the spirit. It is the flowing out of a sympathy from the higher part of man^s nature into the lower. Most appropriate, then, was it, that He who came to be the healer of man^s spirit — to cast in the salt of divine grace at the spring of the waters — should testify to His power of doing this by working abundant bodily cures, the only species of testimony which carnal and worldly persons could appreciate and accept. Dean Goulburn. Our heavenly Physician is possessed of infinite skill. An earthly physician must not only be provided with proper remedies, but know also how to render them effectual. In this end, it is necessary that he should understand the anatomy of the human body, and the nature of the various diseases to which it is liable. He should be acquainted with the constitution of the patient, and the peculiar habits which he has contracted. He should also possess an accurate knowledge of the powers and virtues of medicines, and be skilful in dispensing and applying them. The Physician of souls possesses all these qualifications in an infinite degree. " His understanding is infinite." He perfectly "knoweth our frame." He needed not that any man should testify to Him ; for He knoweth what is in man. 186 CEBI8TU8 BEDEMPTOB. He knows all the distempers o£ our minds; with all their diversified forms and symptoms. He is intimately acquainted with our mental and moral constitution, and clearly discerns what are the most proper remedies to be employed for our recovery, and at what precise time, and in what quantity, they should be administered. The skill of our Physician being thus unquestionable, it follows that we may with perfect confidence commit the care of our souls into His hands. He has resources adequate to every emergency, and is able to heal those in whom the disease of sin has assumed its most inveterate form. And His compassion is equal to His power. " He will have mercy on His afflicted. ■'' '' Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." Those that are broken in their hearts, and grieved in their minds, He healeth, and their painful wounds He tenderly upbinds. As He has the compassion of a God, so has He also the bowels of a man, which endows Him with a pecuhar tenderness of heart towards us. " In all our afflictions, He is afflicted.'" From experience of our trials and temptations. He has collected an unbounded store of sympathy for those whom He is not ashamed to call His brethren. " He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." If with one hand He extends to us a bitter potion, with the other He upholds, strengthens, and comforts us. He " lifts up the weak hands and supports the feeble knees." '^ He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till He bring forth judgment unto victory." Rev. P. Grant. If a man obtain heaven at all it is by being saved. He is in a diseased state, and it is by the healing application of the blood of the Son of God that he is restored from that state. The very title applied to Him proves the same thing. He is called our Physician and our Saviour. The deliverance which He effects is called our salvation. The men whom He doth deliver are called the saved. Dr. Chalmers. Oh, that each of us really felt his disease ! How ready then should we be to submit to the Divine Physician, and lay our sinful corrupted souls at His feet ! Happy the man that thus comes to Him THE PHT8I0IAN. 187 in all his native wretchedness. He never sent one such poor sinner empty away. He healeth all our infirmities,, and delivereth the souls appointed unto death. Rev. H. R. Haweis. Whatsover is requisite for the healing of soules is to be found in Jesus Christ. This the prophet expressly affirms (Mai. iv. 2), "The Sunne of Rig-hteousnesse shall arise with healing in His wings." Healing is a large word; the Geneva translation reades it^ ''health shall be under His wings." Now there could not be health or healing under Christ^s wings^ if there were not in Him whatsoever is necessary to health or spiritual healing. The Apostle saith that " it hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulnesse dwell" {Col. i. 19). Christ is a garden so well furnished, that there is in Him every root and plant that is requisite to make a spiritual medicine. He hath a purging vertue, a strengthening vertue, a comforting vertue, a chearing, a quickening vertue ; there is that in Him which is proper for all diseases. The Evangelist tells us, that when sick persons resorted to Christ in the days of His flesh, there went vertue out of Him, and healed them all (Luke vi. 19). No vertue could have gone out of Him, if all vertue had not been treasured up in Him. Christ hath eye-salve for blinde eyes, mollifying grace for hard hearts, enlivening grace for dead soules, humbling grace for proud mindes. God hath given Him fulness of all things necessary for sick soules, and wisdom to apply the same for the benefit of those that repair to Him. Rev. R. Robinson. When a lone woman came up in a crowd to steal something, as it were, some healing power out of His person, or out of the hem of His garment. He would not let her off in that impersonal way. He compelled her to show herself, and to confess her name, and sent her away with His personal blessing. He pours out everywhere a par- ticular sympathy on every particular child of sorrow. We have seen that He can love as a man loves another, and that such is the way of His love. He has tasted death, we say, not for all men only, but for every man. We even dare to say for me; who "loved me, and gave Himself for me." Nay, He goes even further than this Himself, calling us friends, and claiming that dear relationship with us. " The 188 CIIRISTUS REBEMPTOB. servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth ; but I have called you friends." He even g-oes beyond this, promising a friendship so par- ticular and personal that it shall be a kind of secret or cipher of mutual understanding open to no other — a new white stone given by his King, " and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it/^ Rev. Dr. H. Busiinell. Our Lord was to the soul what the physician is to the body. Is it not to be expected that a physician should attend to those most who most need his assistance ? Or to those who, because they are most sensible of their danger, most earnestly, seek his aid ? " I am not come," are His words, "to call the righteous to repentance." Then there are some so righteous as to need no repentance. This would be an error; for "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." The Pharisees " esteemed them righteous and despised others ; " He did not call them to repentance. This also would be an error : for our Lord said to the Scribes and Pharisees, as clearly as He said to all others, " Repent ye, and believe the Gospel." Again, " I am not come to call i/ie righteous, hut sinners to repeiita^ice." Therefore, God regards the sinner above the righteous. This, too, would be an error : for " the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour;" and " in every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him." The sentence which our Lord has selected from the Scriptures to show the character of the Almighty, is not a sentence of condemnation, but of " good-will towards men." " 1 will have mercy and not sacrifice" And the purpose of His own incarnation is declared to be the bringing the exhortation of the prophet to effect : " Return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon you ; and unto our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Archbishop Sumxer. PEACE 189 PEACE " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." St. Luke ii. 14. " Feace I leave v;ith yon. My peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart he trouUed, neither let it be afraid." St. John xiv. 27. " The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. iv. 7. All noble moral energy roots itself in moral calm. All restlessness — a very different thing- from vital energy — is ugly, having no goal, being full of vain effort. Activity in repose, calm in the heart of passion, these things are of the essence of beauty; and in Him, in whom we have found the "King in His beauty,^' this peacefulness was profound. His activity grew out of His deep quietude of trust in His Father's will. It mattered little to Him that the turbulence of parties surrounded Him, and the wild mob of Jerusalem cried for His death. He passed on in the calm of One to whom duty was all, to finish the work given Him to do ; content quietly to live or quietly to die, unalarmed and unimpatient, for His Father's law was His law, and His life and death were hidden in the stillness of God's will ; consistent in self-rule, because He had escaped from self into union with the perfect good; satisfied to suffer, for He reposed upon the promise and believed in the love of His Father. This is the final touch of beauty which gathers into itself, and harmonises, all the others ; and hence no words are so beautiful as those in which, having perfect rest Himself, He bestows it as His dying legacy on men: " Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you ; " and repeats it as His resurrection gift — " Peace be unto you." All moral loveliness, and all spiritual, lies in knowing what He meant when He said, " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. 196 CERISTUS REBEMPTOR. Would^st thou be blest ? He^ll cleanse thy spotted soul. Would'st thou find rest ? Around thy cares and toils He^ll breathe a calm. And to thy wounded spirit lay a balm ; From fear draw love and teach thee where to seek Lost strength and grandeur, with the loved and meek. RlCHAUD H. Daxa. If there are those as to whom we must take good heed, that they say not, " Peace, peace \" we trust there are more, yea many, of a wholly different stamp. These are they — may God increase the number — who have come weary and heavy laden to the cross of Christ ; who have sorrowed with a godly sorrow for sin, and who now believe, with a living, active faith, in that Redeemer who was " delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.'" To such we will indeed say, *' Peace, peace \" for to such there is peace. " Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.-'-' "Peace I leave with you,^^ was Christ^s parting legacy; " My peace I give unto you.-*' " O Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world, grant us Thy peace.-" True Christians have only to depend on the promises of the Gospel, and to plead them in prayer; and in all time of their tribulation, in all time of their wealth, in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, they will be kejjt by that " peace of God which passeth all understanding.-" Rev. H. Melvill. Holiness of heart is the best preparation for a bed of sickness, and Christ alone and His atoning blood can make the dying bed a bed of peace. Then, when the veil of mortality grows thinner and thinner, and eternity steals a step on time, the crown of glory glitters through the veil, and death is to the saint the gate of life, for Jesus has said " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.'"' Green. Leaning on Thee, my Guide and Friend, My gracious Saviour ! I am blest : Though weary. Thou dost condescend To be my Rest. PEACE. 191 Leaning on Thee; with childlike faith. To Thee the future I confide ; Each step of life's untrodden path Thy love will guide. Leaning on Thee, I breathe no moan, Though faint with languor, parched with heat ; Thy will has now become my own — That will is sweet. Lenning on Thee, ^midst torturing pain, With patience Thou my soul doth fill ; Thou whispereth, " What did I sustain ?" Then I am still. Leaning on Thee, though faint and weak. Too weak another voice to hear, Thy heavenly accents comfort speak, " Be of good cheer.''^ Ryle's Collection. Trial is indeed a painful and desolating invader of every Christian soul ! But Christ is our peace even then. He is indeed the believer^s peace amid the storms and tempests, the fluctuations and afflictions of life, whispering in accents of deepest tenderness and assurance, "All things shall work together for good to them that love Me.'''' He is the peace of the Christian when storms arise, and the angry waters threaten to engulph his soul, making His still small voice of love to be heard above the din and whirl of the tempest : " The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory of those mansions which I have come to prepare.'' Aye, and when con- tending passions and sore temptations raise a tumult in the soul, and seem to shake to the centre the foundation of his hopes, how often does Christ say, as of old He did to the ocean waves and winds, "Peace!" " When they journey o'er the desert plain, Strength and guidance they from Thee obtain ; And if sudden storms arise, Tempest's darken earth and skies, Thou commandeBt, all is calm again." 192 CHBISTUS REBEMPTOR. But why single out corruption and affliction^ when Christ is our peace always. As the Apostle says, " Now the Lord of Peace give you peace always by all means. Not only always, but also by all means, even the most unlikely." Thus with Christ as his peace, the child o£ God regards death as the gate of life, enters the grave as a quiet anchorage from seas and storms, and looks forward to the scene of final judgment with joy and rejoicing as a prince to his coronation, or a happy bride to her nuptial morning. With Christ as his peace, the believer can lay his sick head on a pillow softer than down ; finds that the heaviest burdens of his sorrows are lightened, knows that death is deprived of its sting, and realises that his soul is lifted above all earth^'s trials and troubles, so that he is like some lofty mountain, at whose foot the lake may be lashed into foaming billows, and down whose seamed and rugged sides clouds may fall in gloomy folds, but whose heads, shooting up into the calm blue heavens, seem to repose in unbroken peace and quietude. So that when death comes after long and anxious expectancy, he can take up the strains of old Simeon, and, in calm and blessed repose in Christ as his eternal peace, say, '' Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.'''' " Oh, when I trembling wait for death's release, Then, through my soul The full tide roll Of Thy true peace ! " Rev. W. Adamson. THE FOVNTAIN. 193 THE FOUNTAIN. *' For with Thee is the fountain of life." Ps. xxxvi. 9. •' In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." Zech. xiii. 1. Happiness and joy flow in a golden current from this precious fountain of man^s salvation. Whatever comfort His people need, to Him they must look alone, and in Him alone shall they find it. Peace and pardon spring from Him, and all the " pleasures that are at God^s right hand for evermore." From Him proceedeth "the river whose streams make glad the city of God ; " in Him is the " fulness of joy •/' and to Him do the happy hosts of heaven attune their songs of gratitude for all the blessedness of His favour, and for the eternal continuance of His love. Rev. Ambrose Serle. Oh, trust in him for happiness as well as for helj)! All the springs of happiness are in Him. Trust " in Him who giveth us all things richly to enjoy;" who, of His own rich and free merc}^, holds them out to us, as in His own hand, that, receiving them as His gifts, and as pledges of His love, we may enjoy all that we possess. It is His love gives a relish to all we taste, puts life and sweetness into all ; while every creature leads us up to the great Creator, and all earth is a scale to heaven. He transfuses the joys that are at His own right hand into all that He bestows on His thankful children, who, having fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, enjoy Him in all, and above all. Rev. J. Wesley. There is a fountain filFd with blood. Drawn from ImmanueFs veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. 194 CERISTUS REBEMPTOR. The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day; And there may I, thoiio'h vile as he, Wash all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power, Till the whole ransomed Church of God Be saved; to sin no more. E^er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme. And shall be till I die. Then in a nobler, sweeter song, 1^11 sing Thy power to save ; "When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave. Cowper. Christ's blood is compared to a fountaine to shew the fulnesse of His merit. Fountains are full of water; there is an abundance, a redundancy of merit in Jesus Christ. The Scripture doth mention the merit of Christ sometimes by fulnesse, as John i. 14, sometimes by the terme of abundance, as Rom. v. 17. The grace of Christ is everv way proportionable to the necessity of the soul. 2nd. To shew the lastingnesse of His grace. Streams dry up, vessels may be emptied, but fountaines have a spring in themselves, and can never be emptied. The blood of Christ doth indure for ever; it's an ever- flowing fountain. 3rd. To shew the purity of it. Streames are some- times muddy and dirty, but the fountaine is clear. It's comj)ared to chrystal for the clearnesse of it (Rev. xxii. 1). The blood of Christ washes away defilement, but itselfe is not capable of contracting any defilement. 4th. To shew the freshnesse and lively efficacy of it. Sometimes water that is sweet in the fountaine, is bitter in the streames, especially if those streames be any great distance from the fountaine. The nearer the streames to the fountaine, th© more vertue tlicy have in thcra, and the fountaine itselfe hath most vertue of all. THE FOUNTAIN. 19.^ Christ's blood is full of efficacy and spiritual vigour. It hatli not lost — it cannot lose — that livelinesse and operativenesse which it once had. 5th. To shew the freenesse of it. This fountaine doth heal all manner of distempers. Chi'ist's blood is the true pool of Bethesda. One drop of this fountaine is as efficacious as the whole fountaine. In other fountaines, though every drop be of the same nature^ yet it is not of the same vertue ; but one drop of Christ's blood, applyed by faith, will purge away simie and uncleannesse. The same infinite merit that is in all, is in every part. This fountaine purgeth the soule in a moment of whatsoever filthiness is upon it, and that soul that is made clean in this fountaine is never filthy againe. Not as if a soul should never defile itself e at all after its cleansing ; for we do gather new filth every day, and have need of new washings, but as to the principal cleansing, the soul is made clean, and cannot return to the old blackness of unregeneracy. He is as well the meritorious cause of our sanctification as of our justification. We owe our holiness to Christ as well as our righteousness. Rev. R. Robinson. Jesus Christ is not a sealed fountaine, but a fountaine opened. He is marvellous ready and desirous that polluted soules would make use of His blood. All the invitations which He uses in the Gospel, shew His readinesse. He hath for this purpose appointed the ministery of the Gospel, that solemn invitations might therein be made to defiled soules that they might wash and be cleane. Christ is called a fountaine opened to shew the clearnesse of the Gospel revelation above the legal. Then He was a sealed — a typified Fountaine, shadowed out under the blood of bulls and goats, and other legal purifications ; but now He is clearly and fully discovered without shadows, or types, or any such thing. All the straits and hindrances are in your own hearts; do but conquer your own unwillingnesse, and the passage is easie, the Fountaine is not sealed, but open. Rev. R. Robinson. 196 CESISTUS REDEMPTOR. THE SUN. " Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." MalacM iv. 2. " The sun when he goeth forth in his might." Judges v. 31. " The Lord God is a sun and shield." Ps. xxxiv. 11. Jesus Christ is represented as the Sun of Rig-hteousness. He com- municates light — intellectual Kght, rational light, spiritual light, eternal light — the light of saving conversion, sanctifying influence, Gospel consolation, heavenly prospect. The Sun of Righteousness is the Sun of Salvation ; and every ray of His light is a ray of salvation, shining in His inspired word, preached gospel, and appointed ordi- nances. He is a great and a glorious light. When He rises and shines, how rapidly do the shadows of spiritual darkness flee away! And what a day, refulgent with light, does He kindle in the soul ! Rev. H. CiiESWELL Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, It is not night if Thou he near ; Oh, may no earth-horn cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes ! When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep. Be my last thought, how sweet to rest For ever on my Saviour's breast ! Abide with me from morn till eve, For without Thee I cannot live ; Abide with me when night is nigh, For without Thee I dare not die ! Rev. J. Keble. THE SUN. 197 Wo often see men, wliose blindness is sucli that ttey cannot behold the bright orb of day in the heavens. But because they are blind, do we doubt the existence of a sun, or do we quarrel with his beams ? The fault, indeed, is not in the sun, but in the eyes of suclj persons which will not permit them to admire his radiance. Thua blinded are the eyes of the soul, and our sins are those shadows which hide from us the glorious light of heaven, and of celestial beauty. Oh, man, how art thou fallen by nature ! how miserably abject thy condition ! But if thou wilt, thou canst be healed. Go to the true Physician of thy soul. To Him belongs a light which can dissipate the darkest shadows. Beseech Him to open thine eyes, that thou mayest see. Then unto you shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. Theophilus. He who stands under the sun will be enlightened and warmed ; and he who approaches Christ Jesus will receive of His goodness, His light to enlighten. His strength to strengthen, and His consolation to quicken. F. Arndt. As all natural light is collected into the vessel of the sunne, and by it dispensed to the world, so all spiritual light is gathered together, and placed in Christ, the Sunne of Eighteousnesse, and by Him com- municated unto all those whom God hath given Him. . . . The resemblance between Christ and hght stands in seven things. 1st. Light hath a manifestative quality. It doth discover and cause to appear things that do in darkness lie unseen. Darkness is a thick veile and shadow, under which things and persons are concealed, but light removes that shadow, and shews both itself and every other thing in its own nature. Whatsoever doth make manifest, the same is light {Eph. V. 13). Jesus Christ in this respect is well compared to light. He discovers and makes manifest to men that which they never saw before. How many rare mysteries hath Christ discovered to the sonnes of men! (Eph iii. 2 — 9). When Christ comes to a soul, what discoveries doth He make there ! 2nd. Light hath a directive vertue. It guides men in their way. The traveller, by the benefit of the light, sees what path to keep, which way to turne to his in- tended journey (John xi. 9, 10). NoWj Christ doth direct the sonnes 198 CERISTUS REDEMPTOR. of men in the way to life. And therefore He is called, not onely the Lig-ht by which we see, but the Guide that leads us (Luke i. 79). Yea, He is called not onely the Light and the Guide, but the Way in which we walk (John xiv. 6) . He is the great Pilot of His Church that doth steer it through the tempestuous seas of this world to the haven of glory. 3rd. Light hath a penetrating vertue. Light is of all creatures that are material the most immaterial ; it is of so subtile a nature, that it conveys itselfe into the least crevise. You can hardly make any fence so close as wholly to keep out the light. Jesus Christ hath a penetrating and searching power. No heart so close, but His eye is in it ; no conscience so dark, but He sees to the bottome of it (Heb. iv. 13). "All things are naked and open to His eyes, and every creature is manifest in His sight.^^ 4th. Light hath a cheering and warming vertue. Light is that instrument whereby all the influences of heaven are communicated and dispensed to the world. The motions of Nature are both quickened and comforted by the light, and by it all the births of Nature are cheared and comforted. ^Tis by influences from Christ that spiritual life and comfort are obtained and preserved. The prophet speaks of this vertue of Christ under this very metaphor of light (Mai. iv. 2). All that spiritual livelinesse and brisknesse that beleevers have at any time in their hearts is from the beaming wings of Christ, the Sunne of Righteousnesse. He is a heart-chearing, a heart- warming, a heart-quickening Saviour. 5th. Lio-ht hath a purifying vertue. Fogs and mists that are gathered in darknesse are dispersed and scattered when the light comes. Light is the fining-pot of Nature. Jesus Christ hath a purifying and cleansing vertue. By vertue from Him it is that those nasty filthinesses of sinne which are in the soul are purged away (Heb. viii. 14). The prophet compares Him to a refiner and purifier of silver (Mai. iii. 3). By His blood He purifies ihe soul from the guilt o£ sinne. By His o-race He cleanseth the soul from the filth of sinne. The prophet compares Him to a fountaine set open for purification (Zech. xiii. 1). All that ever were, all that ever shall be cleansed from the filthinesse of sinne, are all cleansed by Jesus Christ. Gth. Light is of an undefilable nature. Though it passe through sinks, and the most polluted places, yet it contracts no delUement. It cleanseth all things, l)ut is defiled by nothing. It is a quality so spiritual, that nothing can fasten THE SUN. 199 upon it to pnllnto it. Jesns Christ is fitly rcscmblofl to li<>ht in this respect. lie is not capable of any defilement. He assumed sinful nature without the least sinne. He had the likenesse of sinful flesh (Rom. viii. 3), but not the least sinne in His flesh. In the dayes of His flesh, He did as a spiritual physician, repaire to all sortes of sinners, but He carried away from them no pollution at all. He was born, He lived and died in a corrupt generation, in a very pest-house of sinne, without the least tincture of sinne. He lived and died holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, as the Apostle saith (Heb. vii. 26). 7th. The nature of the light is hard to be known. The philosophers are much troubled about the defining and describing of it. ■'Tis not a substantial forme, because it is perceived by the sight, which no substantial forme is. •'Tis not a body, because then, when the light passeth through a perspicuous body, two bodies would be in one place, which is against all philosophy and reason. Nor is it an efflux from a luminous body, for then the sunne, by his continual shining, would be deprived of light ; but it is an accidental forme, or a patible quality, and so, very hard to be described. The Scripture speaks of the difl[iculty of searching out the nature of the light perfectly by any mortal man (Job xxxviii. 19, 20, 21, 24). Onely He who is the Father of Light doth perfectly understand it. Jesus Christ is not perfectly to be understood by any living man. '' Who can declare His generation, as He is the Sonne of God ? " (Isa. liii. 8). "Who can declare His conception exactly, as He is the Sonne of Man? The Holy Ghost hath overshadowed it (Luke i. 35). He that created the flesh of Christ is onely able perfectly to under- stand the manner of it. Who is able to declare the mysteries of the hypostatical union of the two natures in one person exactly? We believe these things, comprehend them perfectly we are not able. " His name is wonderful " (Isa. ix. 6). There are such wonderful mysteries in the nature of this light, as no man, no creature, can fully and perfectly comprehend. Rev. R. Robinson. 200 CBBISTUS REDEMPTOR. THE JUDGE. " Be was ordained of God to he the Judge of quich and dead." Acts i. 42. "For the Father judgeth no man,hut hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." St. John V. 22, 23. Judgment is committed to Christ, and is peculiarly His, " because He is the Son of Man." Cherish the sweet, the soul-transporting", the soul-supporting truth. Thy Jesus, who is now thy surety, is then to be thy Judge. He that hath died for thy sins is then to be thy Advocate. And He that hath paid the ransom with His blood in this life is then to see the reward of it in another. Humbly, my soul, but with the boldness of faith through His blood, draw near to His gracious seat, and against all Istw charges and the divine demands of justice, hold up the blessed Testament of Jesus^ blood. Here, Lord, I would say, is the New Testament in Thy blood, which Thou hast given for sinners. Thou blessed Lord, wilt know Thine hand, and own Thy word. Thou, therefore, shalt answer for me, O Lord my God ! Rev. Dr. Hawker. If you believe in Christ, look up with joy and confidence. The clouds that envelop the throne of God, however dense and dark, contain no element of vengeance, send forth no thunders of wrath, and flash no lightnings of destruction, but are full of mercy, and shall break in blessings upon your souls. If you are justified by faith, you are at peace with God. In such a state you may meet affliction with comfort, encounter death without alarm, and go on to the day of judgment without dismay. He that justifies now will not revive the sentence then, but will make your justification terminate in your heavenly and eternal glorification. Rev. J. Angell James. THE SUN. 201 It is true that you have to pass a spiritual ordeal^ searching and terrible as the consuming fire of a sevenfold- heated furnace. But yovi may pass it unscathed, if in the midst of it the Son of God be your companion. It is time that the law of God requires absolute and perfect holiness, such as you could never attain to ; but Christ has fully satisfied that law, and in the robe of His imputed righteousness you may appear blameless and sinless even as He is. Come, then, to Him, come in the consciousness of your sinfulness, and yet in assured reliance on His all-sufficient righteousness. Ask of Him to give you that which He was exalted as a Prince and a Saviour to bestow, ''repentance and remission of sins.^^ Pray of Him to create in you a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within you : that, in that day, when God the Righteous Judge shall weigh the spirits of all flesh, you may be found blameless ; delivered from the guilt, and freed from the defilements of sin, admitted, with the spirits of all just men made perfect, to dwell with Him for ever. Bishop Magee. They who have not seen a pierced Christ in the sorrows of repentance shall hereafter see Him in the sorrows of despair. BUEKITT. Saviour of mankind, Man, Immanuel ! Who sinless, died for sin ; who vanquished hell ; The first-fruits of the grave ; whose life did give Light to our darkness : in whose death we live :— Oh ! strengthen Thou my faith, convert my will. That mine may Thine obey. Protect me still, So that the latter death may not devour My soul, seaPd with the seal. So in the hour When Thou (whose body sanctified Thy tomb. Unjustly judged) a glorious Judge shall come To judge the world with justice ; by that sign I may be known, and entertained for Thine. G. Sandys. It is the human sympathy of Christ which qualifies Him for judgment. It is written that the Father hath committed all judgment to Him, because He is the Son of Man. The sympathy of Christ 202 CHRISTUS REJDEMPTOR. extends to tlie frailties of human nature, not to its hardened G^iiilt. He is " touched with tlie feeling' of our ivfirmilie!^.'' There is nothing in His bosom which can harmonise with malice, He cannot feel for envy ; He has no fellow-feeling" for cruelty^ oppression, hypocrisy, bitter censorious judg-ments. Remember, He could look round about Him with anger. The sympathy of Christ is a comforting subject; it is, besides, a tremendous subject; for on sympathy the awards of heaven and hell are built. '' Except a man be born again " — not, he shall not, but — '' he cannot enter into heaven.'''' There is nothing in him which has affinity to anything in the Judge^s bosom. A sympathy for that which is pure implies a repulsion of that which is impure. Hatred of evil is in proportion to the strength of love for God. To love good intensely is to hate evil intensely. It was in strict accord- ance with the laws of sympathy that He blighted Pharisaism in such words as these : " Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers ! how can ye escape the damnation of hell ? " Win the mind of Christ now, or else His sympathy for human nature will not save you from, but only ensure, the recoil of abhorrence at the last. " Depart from me ! I never knew you.'^ Rev. F. W. Robertson. Then Jesus passed to the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars, and the shaking of the powers of heaven — signs which may have a meaning both literal and metaphorical — which should precede the appearing of the Son of Man in heaven, and the gathering of the elect from the four winds by the trumpet-blast of the angels. The day of the Lord should have its signs no less than the other, and He bade His disciples in all ages to mark those signs and interpret them aright, even as they interpreted the signs of the coming summer in the fig-tree's budding leaves. But that day should come to the world suddenly, unexpectedly, overwhelmingly ; and as it should be a day of reward to all faithful servants, so should it be a day of vengeance to the glutton and the drunkard, to the h)q)ocrite and the oppressor. Therefore, to impress yet more indelibly upon their minds the lessons of watchfulness and faithfulness, and to warn them yet more emphatically against the peril of the drowsy life and the smouldering lamp. He told them the exquisite parables — so beautiful, 80 simple, yet so rich in instruction — of the Ten Virgins and of the THE SUN. 203 Talents, and drew for them a picture of that Great Day of Judo'ment, on which the King- should separate all nations from one another as the shepherd dividcth his sheep from the goats. On that day those who had shown the least kindness to the least of these His brethren should be accounted to have done it unto Him. Canon Farrar. How I tremble, how I fear thee, day that bringeth near the tomb ; Heart it sinketh, reins they loosen, earthly joy can find no room ; Nearer still thy ghostly terrors cloud-enveloped larger loom. Who can fathom all the secrets which thy gloomy heralds bring, When the spirit disentangles from the flesh its new-born wing. Oh, so slowly ! while reluctant still earth''s trammels round it cling. Fade the senses, fail the accents, fixed in fearful gaze the eye. Heaves the breast with throbs of anguish as the voice grates harsh and dry. Limbs are stiffened, cheeks gi'ow waxen, manhood''s beauty needs must fly. Every thought before me riseth, eveiy word, each deed of will j How they gather close around me, haunting me like spectres chill ; Turn me hither, turn me thither, yet they stare upon me still. And my conscience how it gnaweth, can this be my childhood^s friend ? '' Now bethink thee how in folly thou salvation^s day did^st spend. Fondly deeming God^s upbraiding patience could not tire nor end.'"'' How the sweets our body loveth turn to bitter as they wane. On the heels of fleeting pleasure treadeth everlasting pain ; What was precious, what was lovely, now we know them foul and vain. Oh Lord Jesu, DeatVs Destroyer, help thy suppliant in his woe ; At Death^s summons all resistless, trembling, ''wildered, forth I go : May HelFs monarch, though he rageth, in my heart no portion know. E/Out the murky hosts of darkness ; to Thy pierced bosom pressed, O good Shepherd, bear Thy strayed one home to pastures ever blest. Where for aye Thy face beholding-, I may know, and love, and rest. Rev. J. W. HoRSLEY. 204 CHEISTUS REDEMPTOE. SANCTIFICATION. " But of Sim, are ye in Christ Jesus, who of Oocl is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemiption." 1 Cor. i. 30. " He rose again for our sanctification.'''' So the Apostle. He hath quickened us together with Christ. If you would know — you that were blind in heart, uncircumcised in spirit, utterly unacquainted with the life of God ; are now light in the Lord, affecting heavenly things, walking in righteousness — it comes from this blessed resujrection in Christ. It is Christ's resurrection that raised our souls. Whence reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the end of Christ^s resurrection : that we should be new creatures, of new lives, new princijiles, new conver- sations. He rose again for our sanctification. Rev. L Ambrose. It^s the great privilege of the people of God that they are renewed and sanctified with grace. The king's daughter is all glorious within (Ps. xlv. 13). This glory no wicked man enjoys. Now, this is the procurement of Jesus Christ : ye are washed, ye are sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God (1 Cor. vi. 11) The communication of the grace of Christ is the solder's holinesse. Rev. R. Robinson. By Christ, we have both an imputation or communication of the merits of His death, and likewise a purity and holiness of nature conveyed to us by His doctrine and spirit. Bishop Burnett. Garments to the body are as rich hangings or costly varnish over a wall of clay ; they make it look better than it would do. Garments do mend the crookednesse of bodies that are bowed, and they do set out the perfections of beautiful bodies. Jesus Christ may well be compared to a garment in this respect. He puts a beauty upon the 8ANCTIFICATI0N. 205 soule, a rich, lasting-, perfect beauty. Therefore it is that He is comj^ared to the wedding garment (Matt. xxii. 12), and to the high priest^s garments (Exod. xxviii. 2), which were made for beauty and glory. Hence it is that beleevers that are loathsome and crooked in themselves are made so excellently beautiful in Christ. You read much in Solomon^s Song of a beleever's comelinesse (vide. chap. iv. 1, 2, 3, &c., and againe, chap. vii. 1 — 4, &c.). ""Tis because of the beautiful dresse in which he is attired. The comely garment puts comelinesse on him that wears it. You read of the orient beauty and rich attire of the king's daughter (Ps. xlv. 13, 14). The king's daughter is the real saint, the cloathing of wrought gold, and the rayment of needlework, is nothing but Christ, and the graces He brings with Him in which the soule is invested. Christ is the onely ornament indeed. He is a crown and diadem ; He is a jewel in the bosome ; He is a ring upon the finger. No soule hath any true beauty (though outwardly cloathed in scarlet) that hath not on it this garment. Christ is the soule's ornament, as He is a justifier, and as He is a sanctifier (1 Cor. i. 30) , He adornes us as He is our justifi- cation, putting us into a state of righteousnesse. And He adornes us as He is by communicating unto us His own comelinesse in the seeds of holinesse. Rev. E,. Robinson. Even the good which we possess is granted by God, for it is by and through Him that Jesus Christ comes (and all the blessings of the Gospel dispensation), who of God is made unto us sanctification, as jDrocuring for and working in us, not only an external and relative holiness, as was that of the Jews, but true and eternal holiness, wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. Rev. Dk, A. Clakke. 206 CERISTUS REBEMFTOE. RIGHTEOUSNESS. '• This is His name whereby He shall he called, the Lord our Righteousness. " Jer. xxiii. 6. The conviction of Christ^s righteousness must, indeed, be wrought in us by the spirit of God. We mvist be thoroughly convinced that He is our righteousness — our only righteousness. It is not enough to believe that He was a very good and holy man. We believe that many men have been good and holy — that Noah was so, that Abraham was so, that Joseph was so, that St. John was so, that St. Paul was so. But their righteousness is of no avail to us : it cannot help us out of our sins. Therefore our conviction of Christ's righteousness must be of a wholly different kind from our belief in the righteousness of any other man. And how are we to become partakers of that righteousness ? Christ is ready, is desirous, to bestow it ujion all ; but how are we to receive it ? Even as we receive every other heavenly gift — by faith. Through faith we are lifted out of ourselves. Through faith we cease to be specks of foam, dasht along the furrows of the homeless wave; through faith we become members of the everlasting body of Christ. The spirit of Christ passes into us ; and thus, in fulness of time, we too shall go with Him to His Father. Aechdeacon Hare. Though greatly from myself conceaFd, Thou seest my inward frame ; To Thee I always stand reveaFd Exactly as I am. Since, therefore, I can hardly bear What in myself I see, Oh ! how impure must I appear. Most holy God, to Thee ! RIGHTEOUSNESS. 207 But since my Saviour stands between. In garments dy^d in bloodj 'Tis He^ instead of me, is seen, When I approach to God. Thus, though a sinner, I am safe ; He pleads before the throne His life and death in my behalf, And calls my sins His own. "What wondrous love, what mysteries, In this appointment shine ! My breaches of the law are His, And His obedience mine ! Rev. J. Newton. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not die because He was a sinner, but a substitute ; because He was a debtor, but a sm'ety — all the sufferings Dorne by Him from His cradle to the grave being ours — the payment of debts incurred by us and undertaken by Him. Fulfilling all the precepts they enjoined, and paying all the penalties it required. He rendered a perfect obedience to the Divine law. This constitutes His righteousness or merits; and since God is pleased to accept that in lack and place of ours, there can be no condemnation for those who, rejecting all confidence in their own righteousness to trust in His, are in Jesus Christ, and prove themselves to be so by walking not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Rev. Dr. Gutheie. From the intimate conjunction that is between Christ and the Church, it is just and equal in the sight of God, according to the rules of His eternal righteousness, that what He did and suffered in the discharge of His office should be esteemed, reckoned, and imputed to us, as unto all the fruits and benefits of it, as if we had done and suffered the same things ourselves. Rev. J. Owen. It^s the glorious privilege of God's people that they have obtained this grace not to have their sins imputed, but to have all their guilt 208 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. done away^ and themselves made righteous in the sig-ht of God. This is an unspeakable glory. Sin and guilt are the only shame of the soul. The removall of guilt, and the application of righteousness, make the soul very glorious ; the Church triumphs in this — " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness,'''' Now, this glory is the sole procurement of Christ. God justifies His people in and through Christ. He is therefore called by the Church " the Lord our Righteousnesse.'^ Rev. R. Robinson. It is impossible to find acceptance with God for justification and salvation unless, by faith in Christ, we be presented as living sacrifices upon Him, the altar. And it is impossible to be fit sacrifices for that altar unless, by keeping the commandments of God, we be purified and fitted by the spirit of God. J. Lightfoot. Christ is '^the propitiation for our sins.^^ He offered this ex- piatory sacrifice not that man might be made righteous by the righteousness of His life, but that sinners might be justified by His blood shed for the remission of sins, and reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Rev. Dk,. Whitby. The righteousness of Christ is two-fold — either His divine or His human righteousness. His divine righteousness belongs to His divine nature, as He is " Jehovah, I Am " — He that existeth " over all, God blessed for ever " — the Supreme, the Eternal — " equal with the Father as touching His Godhead, though inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.'''' Now, this is His eternal, essential, immutable holiness : His infinite justice, mercy, and truth, in all which He and the Father are one. The human righteousness of Christ belongs to Him in His human nature, as He is the " Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. ''^ This is either internal or external. His internal righteousness is the image of God stamped on every power and faculty of His soul. It is a copy of His divine righteousness, so far as it can be imparted to a human sjiirit. It is a transcript of the divine purity the divine justice, mercy, and truth. It includes love, reverence. RIGHTEOUSNESS. 209 resignation to His Father, humility, meehnesSj gentleness, love to lost mankind, and every other holy and heavenly temper ; and all these in the highest degree, without any defect, or mixture of unholi- ness. It was the least part of His external righteousness that He did nothing amiss — that He knew no outward sin of any kind, "neither was guile found in His mouth ; " that He never spoke one improper word, nor did one improj^er action. Thus far, it is only a negative righteous- ness, though such a one as never did, nor ever can, belong- to any one that is born of a woman, save Himself alone. But even His outward righteousness was positive, too : " He did all things well." In every word of His tongue, in every work of His hands. He did precisely " the will of Him that sent Him." In the whole course of His life. He did the will of God on earth as the angels do it in heaven. All He acted and spoke was exactly right in every circumstance; the whole and every part of His obedience was complete : " He fulfilled all righteousness." But His obedience implied more than all this : it implied not only doing, but suffering — suffering the whole will of God, from the time He came into the world till " He bore our sins in His own body on the tree.''^ Yea, till, having made a full atonement for them, " He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.^^ This is usually termed the "passive" righteousness of Christ; the former. His " active '^ righteousness. But as the active and passive righteous- ness of Christ were never, in fact, separated from each other, so we never need separate them at all, either in speaking or even in thinking. And it is with regard to both these, conjointly, that Jesus is called " the Lord our Righteousness.^' Rev. John Wesley. He came, and then those who had looked for the advent of the true King found tJmi which they had been looking for had been given to them, though not as they looked for it. There was one who left on menu's minds the impressions of a faultless righteousness — whom His disciples learnt to speak of as being pre-eminently the " just," the " righteous " one. They were led to see in Him, though He had died a malefactor^s death, instead of sitting on the throne of Judah, the true " branch " of the house of David — the " rod out of the stem of Jesse." Those who believed in Him and loved Him were taught by a living personal experience that their inmost highest life was transmuted o •210 CnRlSTUS REBEMrTOE. and transfigured into the likeness of His life. Christ Jesus was " made unto them wisdom^ and righteousness, and salvation/'' They were taug-ht how they mig-ht become " the righteousness of God in him/^ The words of the seer of Anathoth^ like those of Jacob and of Isaiah, were raised as to a higher rog'iou, and shone as with a new brightness. It was true at once of the Divine King and of the new Jerusalem, the city of the living God, that the one should be called by the name of the Lord our Righteousness, and the other accept it as the law of its existence. Rev. Professor Plumptre. Upon the whole, we must consider that, though the propitiation made on the cross of Christ be the meritorious cause of our justifi- cation, yet the intercession upon the throne, made by the same blood of Christ, as a speaking blood, is the immediate moving cause of our justification. The propitiation Christ made on the cross made God capable of justifying us in an honourable way ; but the inter- cession and death of Christ, as pleading that propitiation for us, procures our actual justification. The death of Christ accepted made justification possible, and the death of Christ pleaded by Him makes justification actual. Righteousness to justify was brought in by Him on the cross, and righteousness justifying is applied by Him on His throne. Our justification was merited of God by His death, the merit of it acknowledged by God at His resurrection, and is conferred on us, when we believe, by His intercession. When a soul believes, Christ recommends him to God as a performer of the condition of the new covenant, and thereupon pleads His death for him, and demands his actual admission into that favour which was purchased ; and thus by Him, as our living advocate, exercising His priesthood in heaven. Rev. S. Charnock. He who believes is justified to God, and he is justified to man ; he is justified to God by faith; he is justified to man by the working of faith, which is love. His sins, which have been many, are forgiven because Christ has died. His infirmities and imperfections, which are still many, are removed or remedied because Christ lives. While the blood of Christ cleanseth him from all sin, the grace of Christ quickens and impels him to all holiness. Canon Dale. RlGTl TEO USNESS. 211 Thoug-li llic rig'litoousness of Christ be imputed to us, yet it renders not a g-ood life on our part needless, since this is made the very condition of that imputation. That is, if we fill the measures of sincerity, Christ^s righteousness shall Ije imputed to us for justification, notwithstanding our failings in many things which, by reason of the infirmities of our nature, we have not done. Thus, therefore, the imputation of Christ^s righteousness is suspended upon a mane's own personal righteousness, as its necessary antecedent condition. Rev. Dr. South. We see Christ containing in Himself all perfection for each and for all ; Christ Himself having ready, having accomplished, having entire, for me and for all men, the sum of all that perfection in which all may stand faultless and blameless before the throne and before the tribunal. " Ye,'"' St. Paul says, " are complete " — it is the same word, perfect — "in Him; " and when he speaks of his own aim, and of his own hope, it is that he " may be found in Him " — within, inside, covered over and hidden and lost in the folds of that white robe, and in the recesses of that spotless righteousness. . . . The man complete in Christ can view without dismay his personal incompleteness ; he can throw off all from himself, and rest his every hope and his every trust upon the exhaustive perfection which wi'aj^s him round. But this protective, enveloping, vicarious perfection, though it is delightful as a trust, would be unsatisfactory — would be even injurious, — being alone. The soul born of God aspires after His likeness. The soul taken into Christ would be like Christ. The soul rescued from death would also live — live, not only in the sense of freedom from condemnation, but in the strength also of a new vitality, in virtue of which it shall find itself able to withstand, able to work, able to love. Rev. Dr. C. J. Vaughan. Jesus Christ defends His people from the fiery assaults and onsets of the devil. " Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to sift thee as wheat is sifted ; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith may not faile^^ (St. Luke xxii. 32) , This roaring lion would tear them into pieces, if this impenetrable garment of Christ's righteousness were not betwixt his teeth and their soules. These fiery darts would strike to their very 212 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. hearts, did not this gavment dead them, and beat them hack againe. That the devil hy his malice and power doth not destroy you, it is because you are cloathed with this garment. Could Satan either break through or pluck off this garment, he would as soone prevaile over you as he doth over others. Rev. R. Robinson. He hath not the right fiiith in his heart that hath not a good heart and will to do his duty. But no man doth do all his duty, for then he needeth not to have any faith for the remission of his sins. . . . The right faith requireth good-living; but yet our triumph and victory over the devil, hell, and death, standeth not in well-living, but in Jesus Christ. Those who will not acknowledge the justness or righteousness which cometh by God, but go about to advance their own righteousness, shall never come to that righteousness which we have by God, which is the righteousness of Christ. They that think they may come to justification by performance of the law, by their own deeds and merits, or by any other means (than as they proceed from a heart endued with pure faith and love to God) , they go from Christ ; they renounce His grace. Archbishop Cranmer. Shall a man be admitted indeed to walk with God? Shall a sinner be admitted into friendship with God ? Can the pure and holy one look upon sin ? No, most assuredly, God cannot look upon sin except with abhorrence and indignation. But in those who are in Christ Jesus God will not see sin. Their sins were imputed to Christ — " laid upon Him ;" He was punished for them, He obtained forgiveness for them. " He hath made Him to be sin for us,^^ saith the Apostle, " who knew no sin.^'' The believer in Jesus is thence- forward no more looked upon as a sinner. Cornelius Neale. Sin being taken away, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. No man is blessed, but in the righteousness of God; every man whose sin is taken away is blessed. Therefore every man whose sin is covered, is made the righteousness of God in Christ. Rev. R. Hooker. RIGETEOUSNESS. 213 Jesus, Thy robe of righteousness. My beauty is — my glorious dress ; Midst flaming worlds, in this arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head. When from the dust of death I rise. To take my mansion in the skies — Even then shall this be all my plea : Jesus hath lived and died for me. Bold shall I stand in that great day ; For who aught to my charge shall lay ? Fully by Thee absolved I am. From sin and fear, from guilt and shame. This spotless robe the same appears When ruined nature sinks in years ; No age can change its glorious hue — The robe of Christ is ever new. O let the dead now hear Thy voice. Now bid Thy banished ones rejoice ; Their beauty this — their glorious dress — Jesus the Lord our Righteousness. ZiNZENDORF. 21t CHRISTUS EELE^^rTOR. ATONEMENT. " We joy in God through our Lord Jef^us Christ, by lohom we have now received the atonement." Eomans v. 11. "Blotting out the handivriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Colossians ii. 14. Let us look steclfastly to the blood of Christy and see how precious Plis blood is in the sight of God ; which, being shed for our salvation, has obtained the grace of repentance for all who believe. St. Clem;e:nt. Christ suffers, and in this His tears begin ; Suffers for us, and joy on us bestows : Suffers to death — here is His manhood seen : Suffers to rise — and hence His Godhead shows. For man, that could not by himself have rose. Out of the grave doth by the Godhead rise ; That we in both might live, by that sweet sacrifice. Giles Fletcher. Have respect to what Thy Son hath done for me, and forget what my sins have done against Thee ; my flesh hath provoked Thee to vengeance ; let the flesh of Christ move Thee to mercy. It is much that my rebellions have deserved ; but it is more that my Redeemer hath merited. St. Anselm. That blood which, as it were, we have beheld falling drop by drop on Golgotha, fell not thus fruitlessly to the earth. Those curtains of darkness shrouded something more than the manifestation of a moral sublimity. That cry of agony and desolation told of something more than a sense of merely personal suffering, or the closing exhaustions ATONEMENT. 215 of a distressed humanity. The very outward circumstances of the harrowing history raise their voices against such a bleak and cheerless theosophy. The very details of the varied scenes of agony and woe plead meekly^ yet persuasively, against such an estimate of the suffer- ings of an Incarnate God. May deeper meditations on these things bring conviction. May those who yet believe in the perfections of their humanity, and doubt the efficacy of their Redeemer's blood, unlearn that joyless creed. May the speculator here cease to speculate. May the casuist learn to adore. Yea, to us all, may fuller measures of faith and of loving assurance yet be ministered, that, with heart and mind and soul and spirit we may verily and indeed believe that Christ was once offered, to bear the sins of many, and that, even as the beloved Apostle has said, " He is the propitiation for our sins /'' and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Bishop Ellicott. Look humbly upward, see His will disclose The forfeit first, and then the fine impose — A mulct thy poverty could never pay, Had not Eternal Wisdom found the way. And with celestial wealth supplied thy store ; His justice makes the fine. His mercy quits the score. See God descending in the human frame — The offended suffering in the offender's name ; All thy misdeeds to Him imputed see, And all His righteousness devolved on thee. Drydbn. Mere " theories of the Atonement,'^ as they are called, have very little teaching in them, and still less comfort. Wise and good men have tried their minds upon them in all ages ; they have done their best to explain Christ's sacrifice, and the atonement which He worked out on the cross ; but it does not seem to me that they have succeeded. T never yet read an explanation which I could fully understand, which fully satisfied my conscience, or my reason either, or which seemed to me fully to agree with and explain all the texts of Scripture bearing on this great subject. But is it possible to explain the matter ? Is it not too deep for mortal man ? Is it not one of the deep things of 216 CHBISTUS EEDEMPTOR. God, and of God alone, before which we must worship and believe ? As for explaining or understanding it, must not that be impossible, from its very nature ? For consider the first root and beginning of the whole question; put it in the simplest shape, to which all Christians agree:— The Father sent the Son to die for the world. Most true ; but who can explain those words ? We are stopped, at the very first step, by an abyss. Who can tell us what is meant by the Father sending the Son? What is the relation— the coimection between the Father and the Son ? If we do not know that, we can know nothing about the matter— about the very root and ground thereof. And we do know little or nothing. The Bible only gives us scattered hints here and there. It is one of the things of which we may say, with St. Paul, that we know in part, and see through a glass darkly. How, then, dare we talk as if we knew all— as if we saw clearly ? The Atonement is a blessed and a^^ul mystery, hidden in God, ordained by and between God the Father and God the Son. And who can search out that? Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been the counsellor? Did we sit by, and were we taken into His counsel when He made the world ? Not we. Neither were we when He redeemed the world. He did it; let that be enough for us. And He did it in love. Let that be enough for us. Canon Kingsley. What can more clearly prove to us the odious nature of sin, and inspire us with a greater horror and detestation of it, than the con- sideration that nothing less than the blood of the Son of God Himself could wash away the stains of it; and that, without this, not even the sincerest repentance and completest reformation that we are capable of would be a sufficient satisfaction to the violated laws and offended majesty of Heaven ? What an awful idea does this give us both of the severity and goodness of God !— of that severity to guilt which becomes the righteous Governor of the universe; of that goodness to the criminal which so well suits and so plainly speaks the gracious Father of mankind? What infinite cause have we to be careful of offending so kind, yet so exact, a judge, and to tremble at His iustice, even whilst we are within the arms of His mercy ! Bishop Pouteus. ATONEMENT. 217 Let not any one be deceived. All, whether the beings which are above the heavens, or the glorious order of angels — whether the invisible or visible powers — all, unless they believe in the alone efficacy of the blood of Christ, are obnoxious to judgment. St. Ignatius. The blood of Christ, upon the beart, is the greatest blessing ; upon the head, is the greatest cui'se. Rev. J. Mason. From what would you wish to be saved, if not from death and condemnation ? Go, thou who art tempted to reject or neglect the satisfaction of Christ — go to tlie bed of sickness, and undraw the curtains of affliction; ask him who lies racked with pain, and trembling at the thought of the wrath to come, what his opinion is concerning the doctrine of atonement, and observe how the name of a Saviour and Intercessor puts comfort and gladness into his sorrowful and affrighted soul, at a time when the treasures and the crowns of Eastern kings would be utterly contemned, as equally vain, worthless, and unprofitable, with the dust of the earth. Then reflect that such, one day, must be thy state, and in that state, such infallibly will be thy thoughts and sensations. Bishop Horne. Christ, in His life, was an offering ; in His death, a sacrifice. Dean Boys. They who pertake of the merite of Christ^s sacrifice to haue their sinnes pardoned, pertake also of the efficacy thereof, to haue the power of sinne subdued. God^s grace giueth liberty to no sinne. Rev. William Gouge. Pardon and peace await thee beneath the banner of the cross. O that thy heart felt thy sin, and ruin inevitable, and sought, whilst yet He might be found, that Jesus who can alone deliver from the wrath to come ! Under His shadow thou mayest be safe. He will interpose His own body between thee and the curse of God. And there thou mayest yet be hid in the day of God^s fierce anger. His deep wounds afford a safe retreat. His heart is opened for thee, that there thou mayest be covered from the descending storm. O that 218 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. under His wings thou mayest be gathered before the trump of judg- ment awakeS; and time is no longer ! Rev. H. R. Haweis. He gave His own Son^ a ransom for us — the holy for the A^aeked, Him that was free from sin for the sinful, the righteous for the unrighteous, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal ; for what and who else could have blotted out our sins, but His righteousness ? Wherein is it possible that we, wicked and ungodly creatures, should be justified, save in the only Son of God ? O sweet reconciliation ! O unfathomable ministration ! O blessing beyond price ! that the wickedness of many should be covered by the righteousness of one, and the righteousness of one should justify the wickedness of many. Justin Maiityr, The death of Christ was to procure our pardon, and to redeem us from the curse of the law ; the coming of the Holy Ghost is to make us new creatures, by giving us the strength to become so. . . .If Christ's death proves that without a spotless sacrifice there could be no forgiveness for us, the pouring out of the Holy Ghost proves that unless we become new creatures, we cannot be received into heaven. . . . Would the Son of God have humbled Himself, and become obedient unto death, if we could have been redeemed without a price ? Would the Spirit of God vouchsafe to come and dwell in the polluted chambers of our hearts, if we could possibly be saved without holiness ? No, my brethren, God never worketh in vain. Rev. a. W. Hare. It is not Christ's preaching, miracles, goodness, obedience, or righteousness, but His blood is that which constitutes the Atone- ment. " We have redemption through His blood." It is real human blood. It is not the blood of bulls or goats — as in the old dispensation — but it is the blood of the Man Christ Jesus. The suiferino-s due to iruiltv man were laid on the identical nature that sinned — that nature being pure and holy in Christ. It is divine blood — the blood of a divine person; but not the blood of a divine nature. For the Incarnation, the divine personality of our Lord did not cease to be what it was from eternity ; that personality only ATONEMEN-T. 219 altered its mode of subsistence. The human nature sheds bleed, the divine nature imbues and dignifies it ; and the absolutely independent, eternal, and perfect personality of the Divine Word, or Son of God, presents it in our stead. ... As the blood was certainly human, so are we fully justified in calling it divine. The dignity of the Sufferer, the intensity of His sorrow, and the perpetuity of His merit, have a height and depth, a length and breadth, which, if we may so express ourselves, not only equals but stretches beyond the demerits of sin. His holiness of nature and innocence of character qualified Him for sacrifice and atonement. It rendered His merit incorruptible, ever fresh, ever new ; hence He is able to save to the uttermost and for evermore. His blood sprinkled upon the conscience cleanseth from all sin ; and thus are we encouraged to trust in its virtue to make us holy. It was consecrated blood. Christ was consecrated as a prophet at His baptism, and as a king when, having by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of God. But where shall we find His consecration as a priest? We see Jesus made a little lower than the angels, " made flesh,^'' that He might suffer ; He was crowned with glory and honour to this end, that He might taste death for every man. When and where did this take place ? Let St. Peter answer. Our Lord Jesus Christ " received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The crowning with glory and honour was His consecration for atonement and sacrifice. In the Incarnation the divine and human natures were united in His person ; in the Transfiguration the divine glory imbued every particle and pore of His body for the consecration of His offering. Precious is the blood that was thus consecrated. It was sacrificial and atoning blood, shed voluntarily, and as it is the only blood offered m our stead, it excludes every other atonement. God will accept of nothing else, and hence nothing else can be put in its place. The atonement made by Jesus Christ acknowledges the awful nature of sin, exhibits the relation of man to an infinite God, recog- nises the claims of absolute justice, points to the perpetuity of future punishment ; it offers pardon, holiness, and heaven on the simple condition of believing in Him, " Who His own self bare our sins in His body on the tree.^'' Its vii'tue stretches backward to the first 220 CHRISTUS REI)E2IPT0R. offence; it claims to be the substance and fulfilment of ancient sacrifice and prophecy^ and in token of its efficacy it points to " a great multitude^, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people and tongues, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb/'' To Slim up the benefits of this g-racious and comprehensive atone- ment of Jesus Christ is a task that lies beyond the united intelligence of angels and men. In the cross we find the love of God concentrated. Infinite compassion and boundless grace here find a focus. Love rushes from the bosom of God in eternity, gathers up all its mani- festations in time, and embodies them at the Crucifixion. It rises in rays of brilliancy and glory. It displays light springing out of dense darkness, life out of death, j)eace out of trouble, joy out of sorrow, and glory out of disgrace. " Here the whole Deity is known, nor dares a creature guess Which of the glories brighter shone, the justice or the grace." Here " mercy and truth meet together, rightousness and peace kiss each other.'''' In a word, God's perfections harmonise in the salvation of man. In the Atonement we see justice propitiated, punishment suspended, the human race subsisting, the mediatorial throne esta- blished; we see suitable conditions laid down, repentance made practicable, faith rendered operative. We see dispensations of mercy given, heaven opened, Jacob's ladder a reality, angels ascending and descending, mount Zion made visible to the eye of faith; we see Satan foiled and overcome, the universe restored, earth made a place of probation, a favourable state of trial introduced, abundance of grace afforded, a glorious resurrection waiting. We see a city of jasper and gold prepared, mansions of bliss in readiness, infinite variety of divine and social happiness to be enjoyed, eternal freedom found, and a country where there shall be no more sin, death, sorrow, or crying ; and we see already a countless multitude before the Lamb, crying with a loud voice, " Salvation to our God which sitteth u^^on the throne, and unto the Lamb.''' Amen and Amen. Kev. Daniel Macafee. There are many ways of knowing and perceiving the truth of the ATOXEMENT. 221 Atonement of Christ that are shorter, and, in many things, wiser thai, the J) recesses of the head. In this passion of Jesus it must he enough that I look on the travail of a Divine feeling, and behold the spectacle of God in sacrifice. This I see, and nothing less. He is visibly not a man. His character is not of this world. I feel a Divinity in Him. He floods me with a sense of God such as I receive not from all God's works and worlds beside. And when I stand by His cross, when I look on that strong passion, and shudder with the shuddering earth and darken with the darkening sun, enough that I can say, " My Lord and my God ! " I ask no sanction of the head ; I want no logical endorsement ; enough that I can see the heart of God, and in all this wondrous passion know Him as enduring the contradiction of sinners. No matter if I cannot reason the mystery ; no matter if the whole transaction is a doing of the impossible, when so plainly the impossible is done ; when I have the irresistible verdict in me self-pronounced ! Why should I debate the matter in my head when I have the God of sacrifice in my heart ? I will give up my sins. He that endures me so, subdues me, and I yield. O thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world ! What Thou didst bear in Thy blessed hands and feet I cannot bear. Take it all away. Hide me in the depths of Thy suffering love ; mould me to the image of Thy Divine passion ! Sev. De. H. Bushnell. Nature with open volume stands To spread her Maker's praise abroad ; And every labour of His hands Shows something worthy of a God. But in the grace that rescued man His brightest form of glory shines ; Here, on the cross, 'tis fairest drawn. In precious blood and crimson lines. Here His whole name appears complete. Nor wit can guess, nor reason prove Which of the letters best is writ, The power, the wisdom, or the love. 222 CTIRTSTUS J^FDSMFTOli. Here I behold His inmost heart Where grace and veng-eance strangely join. Piercing His Son with sharpest smart^ To make the purchased pleasures mine. Oh ! the sweet wonders of that cross, Where God the Saviour loved and died ; Her noblest lite my spirit draws From His dear wounds and bleeding side. I would for ever speak His name Tn sounds to mortal cars vmknown; With angels join to praise the Lamb, And worship at His Father's thi'one. De. Watts. In entering upon this subject, I feel one serious difficulty. It has taken such hold of the superstition of mankind^ that it is difficult to present it in its true, simple, natural, and affecting aspects. For this reason I shall not attempt to engage your minds in the ordinary course of a doctrinal discussion. I cannot discuss this solemn theme in a merely metaphysical manner. I cannot contemplate a death, and least of all, the death of the Saviour, only as a doctrine. It is to me, I must confess, altogether another kind of influence. It is to me, if it is anything, power and grandeur ; it is something that rivets my eye and heart ; it is a theme of admiration and spiritual sympathy ; it leads me to meditation, not to metaphysics ; it is as a majestic example, a moving testimony, a dread sacrifice, that I must contem- plate it. I see in it a death-blow to sin ; I hear the pleading of the crucified One for truth and salvation, beneath the darkened heavens and amidst the shuddering earth ! I mean to say that all this is spiritual and practical. It amazes me that this great event, which is filling all lands and all ages, yea, and is to fill eternity with its presence, should be resolved altogether — all gathered and stamped into a formula of faith. It is every way astonishing to me, that such a speculative use should have been made of it; that suffering should have been seized upon as a subject for meta])hysi("al analysis; that the agony of the Son of God should have been wrested into a thesis for ATONEMENT. 223 the theologian ; that a death should have been made a dogma ; that blood should have been taken to write a creed; that Calvary should have been made the arena of controversy; that the cross, whereon Jesus, with holy candour and meekness, prayed for His enemies, saying, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do ! " — that the cross should have been made a rack of moral torture for His friends, whereon, in all the valleys and upon all the hills of Christendom, they have been crucified by unkindness and exclusion. Is there another such contradiction — is there another such phenomenon to be found — in all the strange history of the world ? There have been martyi'doms recorded in the world^'s great story; but when before wei'e martyrdoms wrought into sharp and reproachful metaphysics ? There have been fields drenched with righteous blood ; there have been lowly and lonely valleys, like those of Piedmont and Switzerland, where the sighs and groans of the crushed and bleeding have risen and echoed among the dark crags that surrounded them ; but who ever thought of building up those dark crags that surrounded them ; but who ever thought of building up these dread testimonies of human suffering and fortitude into systems of doctrinal speculation ? Let me not be misunderstood. In the train of the world^'s history, as I follow it, I meet at length with a Being, marked and singled out from all others. I read in the Gospel the wonderful account of the most wonderful personage that ever appeared on earth. Nothing in the great procession of ages ever bore any comparison with the majestic stoiy. I draw near and listen to this Being, and He speaks as never man spake. By some strange power, which I never so felt before, He seems as no other master ever did — He seems to speak to 7n,e. I follow Him, as the course of His life leads me on. I become deeply interested, more than as for a friend, in everything He says, and does, and suffers. I feel the natural amazement at the resistance and hatred He meets with. I feel a rising glow in my cheek at the indignities that are heaped upon Him. I say with myself, " Surely God will interpose for Him ! " I hear Him speak obscurely of a death by violence ; but, like the disciples, I cannot receive it. I look rather that some horses and chariots of fire shall come and bear Him up to heaven. But the scene darkens around Him ; more and more frequently fall from His Ups the sad monitions of coming sorrow. He 224 CERISTUS REDEMPTOR. prepares a feast of friendship with His disciples, but He tells them that it is the last. He retires thence to the shades of Gethsemane ; and lo ! through those silent shades comes the armed band ; He is taken with wicked hands ; He is borne to the judgment-hall ; He is invested with a bloody crown of thorns, and made to bear His cross amidst a jeering and insulting multitude ; He is stretched upon that accursed tree ; He expires in agony. Oh ! where are now the hopes that He would do some great thing for the world ? He seemed as one who would save the world, and lo ! He is crucified and slain ! He seemed to hold in His bosom the great regenerative principle ; He knew what was in man, and what man wanted; He appeared as the hope of the world; and where now is that hope? Buried, intombed, quenched in the dark and silent sepulchre. All is over — all, to my worldly view, is ended. I wander away from the scene in hopeless despair. I fall in company, as the narrative leads me on, with two of the scattered disciples going to Emmaus. And as we talk of these things. One joins us in our walk, and asks us what are these sad communings of oiirs ? And we say, " Art Thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days '^" And He says, " What things ? " And we answer, " Concerning Jesus of Nazareth.'''' Then expounds He to us the Scriptures, and says, " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory ?^^ In fine. He reveals Himself unto us, and then vanishes away. And we say, " Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scrip- tures ? " In short, it is at this point that a new view enters my mind of the sufferings of Jesus. The worldly views all pass away — the worldly views of death and defeat, of ignominy and ruin ; and I see that through death it was that Jesus conquered. I see that His dying, even more than His living, is a ministration of power, and light, and salvation to the world. I see that that ignominy is glory ; that those wounds are fountains of healing ; that the cross, hitherto branded as the accursed tree, fit only for the execution of the vilest culprits, has become the emblem of everlasting honour. Now, there- fore, the death of Jesus becomes to me the one great revelation. I determine to know nothing else — nothing in comparison with it; nothing is of equal interest. All the glory of Christ's example, all ATONEMENT. 225 the graciotisness of His iDurposes_, shines most brightly on the cross. It is the consummation of all^ the finishing of all. The epitaph of Jesus is the epitome of Christianity. The death of Jesus is the life of the world. Rev. Orville Dewey. "THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVETH HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP." Oh^ what a nig-ht was this to Thee, Thou mourner in Gethsemane ! When own^d Thy soul that flood of woe From which our richest blessings flow ! Oh, what a night ! when o'er Thy soul The powers of darkness held control, And all was starless night to Thee, Thou mourner in Gethsemane ! Oh, what a night ! when forced to pray The bitter cup might pass away, As though too deep a draught was there — The last distilment of despair ! Yet didst Thou drink it, blessed Lord ! The thing Thy spotless soul abhorred. The potion due for sins not Thine, Compounded of the wrath divine. Ah, blessed mourner ! may we share The gifts Thy conflict purchased there ! Then shall we know, Gethsemane, The priceless boon we owe to Thee. Mrs. N. B. Lash. " Can two walk together except they be agreed ? " As darkness cannot have fellowship with light, till it be changed into some conformity to the light, even so there can neither be any fellowship in walking, nor conformity in nature, between God and us, unless there be some reconciliation of the difl^erence. Now, here is that which maketh the Atonement. " The blood of Jesus Christ His Son 226 CHBISTUS REDEMPTOB. cleanseth us from all sin/^ This is that takes away the difference between God and men, and makes reconciliation for us ; this blood hath quenched the flame of indignation and wrath kindled in heaven ag-ainst us. And this alone can quench and extinguish the flames of a tormented soul that is burnt up with the apprehension of His anger. All other things thou canst apply, or cast upon them, will be as oil to increase them. Therefore, my beloved, let me above all things recommend this unto you, as the foundation of all religion, upon which all our peace with God, and pardon of sin, and fellowship with God must be built, that the blood of Jesus Christ be applied unto your consciences by believing ; and that first of all, upon the discovery of your enmity with God, and infinite distance from Him, you apply your hearts unto this blood, which is the Atonement, to the recon- ciling sacrifice, which alone hath power with God. Do not imagine that any peace can be without this. AVould ye walk with God, which is a bridge of agreement ? Would ye have fellowship with God, which is a fruit of reconciliation? Would ye have pardon of sins, and the particular knowledge of it ? and all this, without and before application of Christ who is our peace, in whom the Father only is well pleased? If you desire to *^^walk in the light, as He is in the light,^" why weary ye yourselves in by-ways ? Why take ye such a compass of endless and fruitless perplexity ? and will not rather come straightway at it, by the door of Jesus Christ, for He is the " new and living way,^^ into which you must enter, if ye would w^alk in the light ; and the wounds of His side, out of which this blood gushed, these open you a way of access to Him, because He was pierced for us ! That stream of blood, if ye come to it, and follow it all along, will certainly carry you to the sea of light and love, where you may have fellowship with God. And O, how much comfort is in it, that there is such a stream running all the way of our walking with God ! all the way of our fellowship ! That fountain of Christ^s blood runs along with the believer, for the cleansing of his after pollutions, of his defilements, even in the very light itself. It is then, as it is the first foundation of peace and communion with God, so it is the perpetual confirmation of it, that which first gives boldness, and that which still continues boldness in it. It is the first ground, and the constant security of it, without which it would be as soon dissolved ATONEMENT. 227 as made. If that blood did not run along all this way, to wash all his steps ; if the way of light and fellowship with God were not watered and refreshed with the continual current of this blood, certainly none could walk in it without being consumed ; therefore it is that the mercy of God, and riches of grace in Christ, hath provided this blood for us, both to cleanse the sins of ignorance before believing, and the sins of light after believing, that a poor sinner may constantly go on his way, and not be broken off from God. You see, then, the Gospel runs in these two golden streams, pardon of sin, and purity of walking ; and these streams that glad the city of God never part from one another. Rev. Hugh Binning. There is no accumulation of guilt for the atonement of which the blood of Christ is not all-sufficient ; there is no wickedness too great to be compassed by the mercy and loving-kindness of God. Bishop Mant. We are our own greatest enemies, if, together with the full comprehension of sin, we do not look steadily unto Christ, and see it taken away by the blood of the Lamb. Adam op St. Victor. Let us joy in Jesus, as carrying on the great work of salvation, in His suffering and death. What ! Hath Christ suffered for us ? Hath He drunk off all the cup of God^'s wrath, and left none for us ? How should He be but cheered? Precious souls, why are you afi'aid? There is no death, no hell, no condemnation to them who are in, Christ Jesus. There is no Divine justice for them to undergo that have their share in this death of Christ. Oh, the grace and mercy that is purchased by this means of Christ ! Oh, the waters of comfort that flow from the sufferings and obedience of Christ ! Christ was amazed, that we might be cheered; Christ was imprisoned, that we might be delivered; Christ was accused, that we might be acquitted; Christ was condemned, that we might be redeemed; Christ suffered His Father's wrath, that the victory might be ours, and that in the end we might see Him face to face in glory. Is not here matter of joy ? It may be sin, and justice, and conscience, and death, and hell may appear as enemies, but is there not enough in the blood of Christ to chase them away ? Rev. I. Ambeose. 228 CHRISTUS BEDEMPTOR. Hov.' necessary^ original, and powerful is the God of Sacrifice — He that endures evil and takes it as a burden to bear — when we see Him strugg-ling under the load ! And if still we do not believe, if we reduce our God in siDCCulation still to a dry, unmoving, negative perfection, which escaped suffering by feeling nothing as it is, only the more wonderful is the power so great upon us when obstructed by such unbelief. Still the fact is fact ; the Christ has lived. His great and mighty passion has entered into the world, and we do get impressions from it, even when we are shutting its most central truth away. Somewhere still there is (how often do we say it?) a wondrous power hid in the cross. It penetrates our deepest nature, and when our notional wisdoms are, at some time, left behind — when we are merely holding the historic fact in practical trust unexplained — nothing meets our feeling so well as to call it the "great mystery of Godliness.''^ We do it because we feel a somewhat in it more than we can reason out of it ; because it penetrates and works in our deepest nature with a wondrous incomprehensible efficacy. He is the Incarnate Word of God's eternity — " God manifest in the flesh.-'"' Ah ! that is a difficulty! I confess in all humility that I cannot reason it. I can only so far answer as to make out a case for faith, unobstructed by the veto of reason. Rev. Dh. H. Bushnell. What laws, my blessed Saviour, hast Thou broken, That so severe a sentence should be spoken ? How hast Thou 'gainst Thy Father's will contended, In what offended ? With scourges, blows, and si:»itting, they reviled Thee ; They crowned Thy brow with thorns, while King they styled Thee ; When, faint with pains. Thy tortured body suffered, Then gall they offered. Say ! wherefore, thus by woes wast Thou surrounded ? Ah ! Lord, for my transgressions Thou wast wounded : God took the guilt from me who should have paid it ; Od Thee He laid it. ATONEMENT. 229 How strange and marvellous was this correction ! Falls the Good Shepherd in His sheep's protection ; The servants' debt behold the Master paying. For them obeying. The Righteous dies, who walked with God true-hearted : The sinner lives, who has from God departed ; By man came death, yet man its fetters breaketh ; God it o'ertaketh. Shame and iniquity had 'whelmed me over. From head to foot no good couldst Thou discover ; For this in hell should I, with deep lamenting, Be aye repenting. But oh ! the depth of love beyond comparing. That brought Thee down from heaven, our burden bearing ! I taste all peace and joy that life can offer. Whilst Thou must suffer. Eternal King ! in power and love excelling. Fain would my heart and mouth Thy praise be telling ; But how can man's weak powers at all come nigh Thee, How magnify Thee ? Such wondrous love would baffle my endeavour To find its equal, should I strive for ever : How should my works, could I in all obey Tliee, Ever repay Thee ? Yet this shall please Thee, if devoutly trying To keep Thy laws, mine own wrong will denying, I watch my heart, lest sin again ensnare it. And from Thee tear it. J. Heermann. God assumed flesh that He might abolish the curse of sinful flesh ; and was made a curse for us, that the blessing might swallow up the curse, and that righteousness, pardon, and life might swallow up ovu' sin, our condemnation, and our death. St. Ajibrose. 230 CERISTUS REDEMPTOR. Look up to Him that hangs upon the cross ; contemplate the death of Jesus Christ; consider seriously His hitter^ shameful, painful sufferings. Here draw it into some epitome. As 1st. Consider who He was. 2nd. What He suffered. 3rd. Why He suffered. 4th. For whom He suffered. 5th. For what end He suffered. 6th. With what mind He suffered. Every one of these will make some dis- coveries either of His graces^ or of His gracious actings in our behalf; and who can tell how far this very " look '' may work on us to change us, and transform us into the image of Jesus Christ. Rev. I. Ambrose. Two leading views of the sacrifice of Christ divide the Christian world. The one regards it as an expedient; the other^ as a mani- festation. According to the first view, the sacrifice of Christ is usually represented either as the suffering of a penalty, or as the payment of a debt, or as the satisfaction of a law. It is something that either turns God^s favour towards us, or makes it proper for Him to show favour. It is some new element, or some new expedient introduced into the Divine government, without which it is impossible to obtain forgiveness. The other view regards the sufferings of Christ as simply a manifestation. It is not a purchase or procurement, but a manifestation of God^s love and pity, and willingness to forgive. It is not the enfranchisement from some legal bond of God's mercy, but the expression, the outflowing of that mercy which was for ever free. It was a satisfaction, not to the heart of reluctant jiistice, but of abounding grace. The Divine displeasure against sin, indeed, was manifested ; for how costly was the sacrifice for its removal ! but not a displeasure that must burn against the sinner till some expedient was found to avert it. Rev. Oeville Dewey. INCARNATE. 231 INCARNATE. " TJie Word vms God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among ?(,?, {and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." St John i. 1 and 14. That single event in the history of our race that bridges over the stupendous chasm between God and man — that first event — is the miraculous conception of our Redeemer. It is related to us both by the first and third Evangelists^ and by the latter with such an accuracy of detail that we may bless God for having vouchsafed to us a record which^ if reverently and attentively considered, will be found to suggest an answer to every question that might present itself to an honest though amazed spirit ; yea, and it is a subject for amazement. Bull hearts there may be that have never cared to meditate deeply on these mysteries of our salvation, and to which the wonder and even perplexity of nobler spirits may have seemed unreasonable or inex- plicable ; such there may be. But who of higher strain, as he sees and feels the infirmities with which he is encompassed — the weakness and frailty of that flesh with which he is clothed — the sinfulness that seems wound round every fibre and knit up with every joint of his perishing body — who has truly felt all this and not found himself at times overwhelmed with the contemplation of the mystery of Immanuel, the everlasting God, manifested in — yea, tabernacling in — this very mortal flesh ? Wild heathenism, we say, may have dreamed such dreams ; the pagan of the West may have vaunted of his deified mortality, and his brother men ascending to the gods ; the pagan of the East may have fabled of his incarnalized divinities, and of his gods descending to men ; but this mystery of mysteries, that the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father — He whose outgoings had been from ever- lasting, whose hands had laid the bases of the hills and spread out the floods — that He should become incarnate, should take upon Him our 232 CHRISTUS EEDEMPTOR. nature and onr infirmities — can it be ? Can such a tlioug-ht have found an expression in prophesy ? Can it have become realised in history ? Say, can it be ? Can the world produce a narrative that can make such a conception imaginable ? Is there a record that can make such an event seem credible, seem possible — we will not say to a doubting-, but even to a receptive and to a trustful, spirit? Yea, verily, blessed be God, we have that narrative ; and on that narrative, not only in its general outlines, but its most special details, we may rely with a confidence which every meditative reading will be found to enhance and corroborate. Bishop Ellicott. And I, Joseph, was walking, and yet was not walking, and I looked up into the sky, and I saw the sky in amazement ; and I looked up to the pole of heaven, and I saw it standing still, and the birds of the air in tranquil calm. And I directed my gaze on the earth, and I saw a bowl-like table, and labouring men around it, and their hands were in the bowl ; and they who had meat in their mouths were not eating, and they that were taking up food raised it not up, and they that were bringing it up to their mouths were not bringing it up, but the countenances of all were directed upwards. And I saw sheep in the act of being driven, and they were standing still ; and the shepherd was raising his hand to smite them, and his arm remained aloft. And I gazed on the torrent course of a river, and I beheld the kids lowering their heads towards it and not drinking, and all things in their courses for the moment suspended, Protevangelium Jacobi. If thus we conceive the manifestation of Christ to have been a supernatural communication of the Divine nature for the moral renewal of man — a new beginning in the chain of human progress ; in one word, if we conceive it as a miracle, this conception itself, apart from any historical accounts, would lead us to form some notion of the beginning of His human life that would harmonise with it. It is true, this human life of Christ took its appointed j^lace in the course of historical events — nay, all history was arranged with reference to its incorporation ; yet it entered into history, not as a part of its offspring, but as a higher element. AVhatevcr has its origin in the natural course of humanity must bear the stamp of humanity — must share'in INCARNATE. 233 tlie siufuliicss which stains it, and take part in the strifes which distract it. It was impossible^ therefore, that the second Adam — the Divine progenitor of a new and heavenly race — could derive His origin from the first Adam in the ordinary course of nature, or could represent the type of the species, the people, or the family from which He sprung, as do the common children of men. We must conceive Him, not as an individual representative of the type which descended from our first parents, but as the creative origin of a new tjipe. And so our own idea of Christ compels us to admit that two factors — the one natiu-al, the other supernatural — were co-eflScient in His entrance into human life, and this, too, although we may be unable, a priori, to state how that entrance was accomiDlished. But at this point the historical accounts come to our aid, by testifying that what our theory of the case requires did in fact occur. The essential part of the history is found precisely in those features in which the idea and the reality harmonise. And we must not only hold fast these essential facts, which are so important to the interests of religion, but carefully distinguish them from unimportant and accidental parts, which might, perhaps, be involved in obscurity or contradiction. J. A. W. Neander. Undoubtedly, even the nature of God itself, in the person of the Son, is Incarnate, and hath taken to itself flesh. Rev. R. Hooker. The God of the universe became man for this cause, that by suffering in passible flesh He might redeem our whole race, which was sold unto death ; and by working miracles through the flesh by His Divine nature, which was impassible. He might bring us to His own unmixed and blessed life. St. Hipj-olytus. The Incarnation bridges over the abyss which opens in our thought between earth and heaven ; it brings the Almiglity, the all-wise, illimitable being, down to the minds and hearts of His reasonable creatures. The Word made flesh is God condescending to our finite capacities ; and this condescension has issued, in a clear strong sense, of the being and attributes of God, such as is not found beyond the bounds of Christendom. The last prayer of Jesus, that 231 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. His redeemed might know the only trne God, has heen ans^Ye^ed in history. . . . How profound, how varied, how fertile, is the idea of God — of His nature and of His attributes — in St. John, in St. Paul, in St. Gregory Nazianzen, in St. Augustine ! How energetic is this idea — how totally is it removed from the character of an impotent speculation ! How does this keen^ strong sense of God^s present and majestic life leave its mark upon manners, literatures, codes of law, national institutions, national characters ! How utterly does its range of energy transcend any mere employment of the intellect ! How does it, again and again, bend wills, and soften hearts, and change the current and drift of lives, and transfigure the souls of men ! And why is this? It is because the Incarnation rivets the apprehension of God on the thoughts and hearts of the Church, so that within the Church theistic truth bids defiance to those influences which tend perpetually to sap or to volatilize it elsewhere. Instead of presenting us with some fugitive abstraction inaccessible to the intellect and disappointing to the heart, the Incarnation points to Jesus. Jesus is the Almighty, restraining His illimitable powers ; Jesus is the Incom- prehensible, voluntarily submitting to bonds; Jesus is Providence, clothed in our own flesh and blood; Jesus is the Infinite Christ, tending us with the kindly looks and tender handling of a human love; Jesus is the Eternal Wisdom, speaking out of the depths of infinite thought in a human language ; Jesus is God making Himself, if I may dare so to speak, our tangible possession ; He is God brought ^'' very nigh to us, in our mouth, and in our heart;" we behold Him, we touch Him, we cling to Him, and, lo ! we are partakers of the nature of Deity (2. Peter i. 4) through our actual membership in His body, in His flesh, and in his bones (Eph. v. 30) ; we dwell, if we will, evermore in Him, and He in us. Canon Liddon. He descended as a Saviour to recover and redeem lost mankind, and to effect this, assumed the nature of man. Then, having triumphed in that nature, by His cross, over death and him that had the power of death — that is, the devil — He proved Himself God, and reascended, with this redeemed nature of ours, into heaven, and in this sense also He may be said to have led " captivity captive." His incarnation, therefore, wrought no change in His person, nor impaired His INCARNATE. 235 divinity. As God He is the " same yesterday^ to-day^ and for ever/^ By becoming- a man, He ceased not to be God. The change was not in Him, but in us ; yet not in our essence or primitive nature, but in our state. He descended so very low that He might raise us from our fall ; He assumed our nature into His own that we might not fall again — that none might pluck us out of His hand. Thus hath He fitted all things — our hearts with His spirit, the Church with His gifts, the earth with the greatness of His name, hell with His power, and heaven with His glory. W. Wogan. A most wise, sufficient means of redemption and salvation, by the satisfactory death and obedience of the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, God blessed for ever. Bishop Sajstderson. The Son of God, by His incarnation, hath changed the manner of that personal subsistence ; no alteration accruing thereby to the nature of God. Rev. R. Hooker. This great event — the most momentous in the history of the world — since it divides it into its two great parts, and is the hidden pole towards which gravitate all human destinies, took place as unheeded as the most obscure. No one marked it except the angels in heaven, and some shepherds who were keeping their flocks on one of the hills which surround Bethlehem. It was at a season of year when the softened temperature sometimes made it needless to lead the sheep into the city at evening time. It was, doubtless, one of those beautiful Oriental nights when the heavens proclaim nothing but mercy. These simple men were chosen as the first to receive the good tidings of great joy, because they were waiting for it. Every- thing in those fields, where the young David, like themselves, had fed his flock, reminded them of the promise made to his race, and they had doubtless read the mysterious oracle, which declared that the very ground they were treading should be the cradle of the Messiah. Suddenly the startled air resounds with a mysterious choir; they hear angelic voices, and Divine words proclaiming in their ears : " Glory to God in the highesb, Peace on earth, good will towards men." 236 CERISTUS BEDEMPTOB. Tlie shepherds believed the things which were spoken. Simple, artless men they were^ who had not learnt in the schools at Jerusalem only to admit as possible such forms and measm-es of mercy as a Pharisee conld comprehend. They deemed it not strange — and we are at one with them — that angels, men^s elder brothers, dwellers in a purer region where evil had not come, should celebrate vsdth their sweetest songs such an event as the birth of the Redeemer. They set out in haste to the town, and find the Holy Child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. They know His glory, and they see His humiliation. In lowly adoration they fall at His feet. These poor men, rich in faith and love, are the first retinue of the King of Saints, as the cradle is His first throne. Nothing could better show over what kingdom He came to reign. " Oh ! '' exclaims Pascal, "with what majesty does He appeal to the spirit !" E. De Pressense. Cold and obscure, in vain the king and sage Gave law and learning to the darkened age ; There was no present faith, no future hope. Earth bounded then the earth-drawn horoscope : Till to the east there rose the promis'd star. Till rose the Sun of Righteousness afar ; Till on a world redeemed the Saviour shone. Earth for His footstool, heaven for His throne. L. E. Landon. And now the mysterious hour was nigh at hand. Very soon after the arrival at Bethlehem — perchance on the selfsame night — in one of the limestone caverns, for I see no reason for rejecting the state- ment of one who was born little more than a century afterwards, and not forty miles from the same spot (Justin Martyr), in one of the caverns in that narrow ridge of long grey hills on which stands the city of David, was the Redeemer born into a world that rejected Him even in His mother's womb. How brief and how simple are the words that relate these homely circumstances of the Lord's Nativity ! How surely does the mother's recital and the mother's stored-up memories come forth in the artless touches- of detail. And INCARNATE. 237 yet with how much of holy and solemn reserve is that first hour of a world''s salvation passed over by the Evangelist. We would, indeed, fain inquire more into the wonders of that mysterious nig-ht, and they are not wholly withheld from us. The same Evangelist that tells us that the mid-day sun was darkened during the last hours of the Redeemer's earthly life, tells us also that in His first hours the night was turned into more than day, and that heavenly glories shone forth not unwitnessed, while angels announce to shepherd-watchers, on the grassy slopes of Bethlehem, the tidings of great joy, and proclaim the new-born Saviour. How mysterious are the ways of Code's dealings with men ! The Desire of all nations at length come. The Saviour born into an expectant world, and announced to village shepherds. What a bathos, what a hojDeless bathos to the unbelieving or medita- tive spirit ! How noticeable that the Apocryphal writers, who spin out with the most dreary prolixity every other hint supplied by the sacred writers, pass over this in the fewest possible words, and as something which they could neither appreciate nor understand. And yet what a divine significance is there in the fact, that to the siwritual descendants of the first type of the Messiah, Abel, the keeper of sheep, the announcement is made that the Great Shepherd of the lost sheep of humanity is born into the world. What a mysterious fitness that that Gospel, of which the characteristic was that it was preached unto the poor, was first proclaimed neither to the ceremonial Pharisee, who would have questioned it, nor to the worldly Sadducee, who would have despised it, nor to the separatist Essene, who would have given it a mere sectarian significance, but to men whose simple and suscep- tible hearts made them come with haste, and see, and believe, and spread abroad the wonders they had been permitted to behold. Shep- herds were the first earthly preachers of the Gospel of Christ. Bishop Ellicott. Peaceful was the night Wherein the prince of light His reign of peace upon the earth began ! The winds with wonder whist. Smoothly the waters kissed. Whispering new joys to the mild ocean. 238 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. Who now had quite forgot to rave, While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave. The stars with deep amaze Stand fixed in stedfast gaze. Bending one way their precious influence ; And will not take their flight. For all the morning light, Or Lucifer that often warned them thence ; But in their glimmering orbs did glow Until their Lord Himself bespoke and bid them go. MlLTOK. Now Thou by whom the world was made, Art in Thy manger-cradle laid ; Maker of all things great, art small, Naked Thyself, though clothing all. Thou, whom both heaven and earth doth sway, In stranger's inn art fain to stay ; And though Thy power makes angels blest, Dost seek Thy food from human breast. Paul Gerhardt. The Heavenly Child in stature grows. And growing, learns to die ; And still His early training shows His coming agony. He whom the choirs of angels praise. Bearing each dread decree. His earthly parents now obeys. In deep humility. For this Thy lowliness revealed, Jesu, we Thee adore ; And praise to God the Father yield And Spirit evermore. Rev. J. Chandler. BAPTISED. 239 BAPTISED. *' And John hare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode ^ipon Him. And I Jcneio Him not : but He that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and hare record that this is the Son of God." John i. 32—34. Why did our Lord receive baptism at His servant^s hands ? His own words tell us : it was to fulfil every requirement to which God^s will might seem to point (Ps. xl. 7, 8). He did not accept it as subsequent to a confession, for He was sinless ; and in this respect, even before he recognised Him as the Christ, the Baptist clearly implied that the rite would be in His case exceptional. But He received it as ratifying the mission of His great forerunner — the last and greatest child of the old dispensation, the earliest herald of the new ; and He also received it as the beautiful symbol of moral purification, and the humble inauguration of a ministry which came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil. His own words obviate all possibility of misconception. He does not say "I must,"' but "Thus it becometh us.'' He does not say, " I /iave need to be baptised," nor does He say, " T/iou hast 7io need to be baptised of Me ; " but He says, " Suffer it to be so now." This is, indeed, but the baptism of repentance ; yet it may serve to prefigure the " laver of regeneration." So Jesus descended into the waters of Jordan, and then the awful sign was given that this was indeed " He that should come." From the cloven heaven streamed the Spirit of God in a dove-like radiance that seemed to hover over His head in lambent flame, and the Bathkol, which to the dull unpurged ear was but an inarticulate thunder, and spake in the voice of God to the ears of John — " This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Canon Farrar. The baptism of Christ was the proclamation of His human relation- 240 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. shij:) to man, and o£ His human relationship to God. His development had reached its height. He was clearly conscious of His Divine nature; He was clearly conscious of His complete union with our nature. But His Divine nature, so far as its omnipotence, omni- presence, and omniscience, so far as all that could separate Him from sharing perfectly in oiu- humanity was concerned, was to remain uncommunicated as yet to His natural growing- humanity ; while the perfect holiness, the perfect spiritual character of God, were to be exhibited, unmarred, through the medium of His humanity. Hence His baptism was the formalised proclamation of His sinless human nature. First, He declared by that act that as Man He submitted Himself to the will of His Father, as shown in the mission of the Baptist. He put Himself, that is, into communication with God's existing plan for the spiritual education of the race. He connected Himself with the whole of the Old Testament history by connecting Himself with John, the last of the Old Testament prophets, and after this momentary contact with the old He passed on to found the new. By this act He bound together, in submission to His Father's will, the old and the new dispensations, and recognised Himself as the central point of history ; the Man to whom all the past history of the race had tended, the Man from whom all the future history of the race was to flow. He declared Himself not only to be a Man, but t/ie archetypal Man. But there was more in it than this. How could He more plainly declare to men, at the very entrance on His work, that He was at one with their nature; a sharer in all its sorrows and joys, its infirmities and its duties, not removed by any unhuman powers from its sphere? How could He best throw into form this cardinal idea of His manifestation ? By undergoing the ceremony to which all men who were devoting themselves to a new life in Judea were now submitting. We find this idea in His own words. John objecting to baptise Him, Christ replied, " Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness " (St. Matt. iii. 15). Observe the word used : not it is necessary, that would imi:)ly that He needed a rite of purification, which would infer that He was sinful ; '' it is fitting — there is a propriety in what I do. I do it to declare my submission to the laws of my human nature. I do it to show that while I am on earth mv manifestation will be strictly BAPTISED. 241 Jewish, worked out in accordance witli the Jewish law/' He was entering" on a new sphere of action ; and submitted for the sake of fitness, and not to disturb the harmony of life, to the initiation which then was reckoned as the best ; and such a submission no more implies, as some have said, a consciousness of sin in Christ, than the taking of the oath of allegiance on entering- upon an official post implies in an Englishman's heart disloyalty to his sovereign. John's baptism prepared those who underwent it for admission into the kingdom which was at hand ; it consecrated them to the new work of the new kingdom. In their case two conditions had to be fulfilled — repentance and a sense of sin. But these conditions were impossible to Christ. He had no sense of sin, and needed no repentance. The import of the rite was different in His case. It consecrated Him King of the theocratic kingdom, and proclaimed to all men that His organisation of that kingdom had begun. Thus there was an element of prepa- ration in it common to both. It marked for both the commencement of a new course of life, in which the subjects of the kingdom were to receive pardon and life ; in which the King was to accomplish the work of salvation, and to bestow life upon His followers. The witness for truth — the self-sacrificing Love to the goal of death. Rev. Stopford A. Brooke. The baptism of Jesus marks a great epoch in His life. It cannot be justly brought forward as arguing anything against His perfect holiness. It is evident from the Gospel narrative that this ceremony assumed in His case an exceptional character. John shows clearly by his hesitation that he knows he is baptising a perfectly holy being. Why, then, did Jesus submit to be baptised ? The Baptist himself answers the question by this significant saying, '^ That He should be made manifest to Israel ; therefore, am I come baptising with water'" (St. John i. 31). Thus the baptism of Christ was first of all designed solemnly to inaugurate His ministry. It was on this account it was attended with the extraordinary circu.mstances which mark its importance. To see in it only that in which it resembles an ordinary baptism, and to pass by those points in which it differs, is to ignore its distinctive features, and to be untrue to historical facts. John, the representative of the old covenant, is commissioned to 242 , CHRISTU8 REDEMPTOR. proclaim, in the name of the prophets and holy men, whose legitimate successor he is, that the new covenant has begun, and the promised Messiah is come. But this kingdom of heaven, which is ahout to be set up on the earth, will have for its subjects humble and sorrowful souls and contrite hearts. The baptism of repentance is the affecting symbol of this whole dispensation. Is it not fit that the King of a repentant people should Himself prepare their way? Is He not identified with the race that He comes to represent ? He who is to die for it, may He not for it repent, and bear on His heart the burden of its moral miseries? In the Mosaic institutions, defilement was not confined to the defiled person ; contact with such an one rendered purification necessary. Here we have not simple contact with a fallen race ; there is the most absolute union with it. This mystery is the very basis of redemption, and it is not more difficult to admit it on the banks of the Jordan, than in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. E. De Peessense. Our Lord's words, " Suffer it to be so now,'' at once intimated, I know what I now do ; I am taught from above to submit to baptism, as thou art taught to baptise. Noiv for a time thou seemest to be the greater, who consecrates the less ; soon, as it is fit, will our relative positions be reversed ! Wow, it is only a transitional relation. JVow, My hour is come, is the Lord's thought for Himself ; perform thy function upon Me, thou shalt afterwards learn what I do, is His meaning with regard to John. This promise, indeed, is already and instantaneously fulfilled, when, in order to remove all the scruples of this upright man, and to terminate this holy conflict of humility in him by the sublimest and most commanding humility in Himself, He proceeds to testify — For thus it hecometh us toj'aljil all rigJiteousness. E. Stier. TEMPTED. 243 TEMPTED. " Tlien ivas Jesus led up of the spirit into the ivilderness, to he tempted of the devil." St. Matthew iv. 1. " He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews iv. 15. BouNE away^ as it would seem at once, by the motions of the Spirit, either to that lonely and unexplored chain of desert mountains of which Nebo has been thought to form a part, or to that steep rock on this side of the Jordan which tradition still points out — there, amid the wild beasts of the thickets and the caverns, in hunger and loneli- ness, the now inaugurated Messiah confronts in spiritual conflict the fearful adversary of His kingdom, and of that race which He came to save. . . . On the deep secrets of those mysterious forty days it is not meet that speculation should dwell. If we had only the narra- tive of St. Matthew, we might think that satanic temptation only presumed to assail the Holy One when hunger had weakened the energies of the now exhausted body. If, again, we had only the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke, we might be led to conclude that the struggle with the powers of darkness extended over the whole period of that lengthened fast. From both, however, combined, we may perhaps venture to conclude that those three concentrated forms of satanic daring which two Evangelists have been moved to record, presented themselves only at the close of that season of mysterious trial. Upon the three forms of temptation, and their attendant circum- stances, my limits will not permit me to enlarge. These three remarks only will I presume to make : — First, I will venture to avow my most solemn conviction that the events here related belong to no trance or dreamland to which, alas ! even some better forms of both ancient and modern speculation have presumed to refer them, but are to be accepted as real and literal occurrences — yea, as real and as literal as that final overthrow of Satan's power on Calvary, when the 244 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. Lord reft away from Him all the tbrongiDg- hosts of darkness, and triumphed over them on His very cross of suffering. Secondly, I could as soon doubt my own existence, as doubt the completely outward nature of these forms of temptation, and their immediate connection with the personal agency of the personal Prince of Darkness. I could as soon accept the worse statements of the most degraded form of Arian creed, as believe that this temptation arose from any internal stragglings or solicitations. I could as soon admit the most repulsive tenet of a dreary Socinianism, as deem that it was enhanced by any self-engendered enticements, or hold that it was aught else than the assault of a desperate and demoniacal malice from without, that recognised in the nature of man a possibility of falling, and that thus far, consistently though impiously, dared, even in the person of the Son of Man, to make proof of its hitherto resistless energies. Thirdly, I cannot think it an idle speculation that connects the three forms of temptation with those that brought sin into the world — the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life ; nor can I deem it unnatural to see in them three spiritual assaults directed against the three portions of our composite nature. . . To the borl^ is presented the temptation of satisfying its wants by a display of power which would have tacitly abjured its dependence on the Father, and its perfect submission to His heavenly will. To the so7il — the longing, appetitive soul (for I follow the order of St. Luke) — was addressed the temptation of Messianic dominion (mere material dominion would seem by no means so probable) over all the kingdoms of the world, and of accomplishing in a moment of time all for which the incense of the one sacrifice on Golgotha is still rising up on the altar of God. To the spirit of our Redeemer, with even more frightful presumption, was addressed the temptation of using that power which belonged to Him as God to vindicate His own eternal nature, and to display, by one dazzling miracle, the true relation in which Jesus of Nazareth stood to men and to angels and to God. Bisnop Ellicott. The real temptation of a sinless Christ is not less precious to us than the temptation of a Christ who could have sinned would be. It forms a much truer and more perfect contrast to the failure of oiir first parents. It occupies a chief place in that long series of acts of TEMTTED. 245 condescension which hegins with the Nativity, and which ends on the cross. It is a lesson for all times as to the true method of resisting- the tempter. Finally, it is the source of that strength wherehy all later victories over Satan have been won. Christ, the sinless One, has conquered the enemy in his sin-stained members. " By Thy tempta- tion, good Lord, deliver us.-" Canon Liddon. And now came on temptation^s demon hour To crush the Saviour ! By the Holy Ghost Constrained, within a desert''s trackless wild Alone He wandered, unperceived by eyes Of mortal ; there to fathom time and truth. Redemption and the vast design of Love. ■X- * -x- ^ Then forty days of dire temptation leagued Their might, hell-born, with hunger, thirst, and pain. Meanwhile in thankless calm the world reposed ; Life went her rounds, and busy hearts maintained Their wonted purpose ; still uprose the parent orb, And all the dewy ravishment of flowers Enkindled ; day and ocean mingled smiles. And then meek night with starred enchantment rose. While moonlight wandered o'er the palmy hills Of green-hair'd Palestine ; and thus unmarked By aught portentous, save demonian wiles, His fasting period in the desert gloom Messiah braved. Rev. R. Montgomery. The temptation was designed to exhibit the relation subsisting between the fall of the first Adam and redemption by the last. The same tempter and the same kind of t^^mptations assail each. " The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.''' All that is in the world is " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.'' Jesus resisted all these forms of temptation, and demonstrated that the first man might have done so too ; and that simple purity and holiness are capable of overcoming any tcmi)tation whatsoever. Thus 246 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. sill entered by yielding to temptation; and redemption begins by overcoming" it. Our Lord, by passing through this temptation, gained, as man, an experimental knowledge of our trials as pro- bationers. The result is, "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infii-mities,''' &c. He is thus able to succour them that are tempted. He was tempted that He might set us an example both to resist and to endure, and to honour the Divine word ; to put unquestioning* confidence in its declarations, and appeal to it as the standard of the will of God. He was tempted that He might exhibit Satan as a conquered enemy, judge him as the great adversary, commence the destruction of his kingdom, and assure hi.s followers of final victory. The Lord Jesus submitted to be tempted that He might inure His owti will to obedience in all things, and thus prepare Himself for the final act of submission. " Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.^"" Thus, in the wilderness, on the pinnacle of the Temple, and on the movmtain, He had an eye to Calvary ; and bound on His armour for the final battle — for the final triumph over the powers of darkness as the Captain of our Salvation. We are not to consider that Satan was ignorant of His being the Son of God. The song of the angels at His birth ; the murder of the young children by Herod; devils crying out, "We know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God;'' the Father's testimony at His baptism, "This is My beloved Son." These prove that Satan could not be ignorant as to who He was. The first promise of the seed of the woman to Adam, its renewal to Abraham, the promises of the Mes- siah by the prophets, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and the ninth of Daniel, these could not be unknown to the artful serpent, who quoted part of the ninety-first Psalm, leaving out a clause of the text that did not suit his purpose. The design of Satan in all probability was, that knowing Jesus was a real man, endued with a real human will, to avail himself of every circumstance to entice the human from its conjunction with the divine nature and will, and thereby prevent the redemption of the world. He was tempted — First, as a real man, subject to all the infirmities and necessities of human life. Second, TEMPTED. 247 as a member of the visible Clim*ch and a teacher of religion. Third, as a citizen of the world. The temptations of the devil are adapted to the Incarnate Saviour, and the whole mass of mankind. The first temptation relates to God^s goodness, the second to His power, the third to His honour and glory. The first involves distrust; the second, presumption ; the third, love of the world, and idolatry. When yielded to, the first makes an infidel ; the second, a reckless fool; and the third, a miser and a worshipper of idols. The first rejects the Bible, and takes to philosophy ; the second makes a stalk- ing horse of religion ; and the third sets God aside, and devotes man to the worship of anything within reach of his senses. Our Lord^s temptation assumes three aspects at different times and in different places. The mode is different, but the end is the same in all. As Jesus was truly man. He was endued with human will in all its pristine purity and vigom", and in all its essential freedom. The divine and human natures were united in His person. An association subsisted between them at all times ; but in all acts of redemption there was a co-operation, so that the divine and human wills resolved themselves into the one action. We see this junction displayed in Jesus saying, " Lazarus, come forth.''^ The divine power goes along with the human voice. In some cases the divine nature is quiescent, while the human acts. We see this illustrated in Jesus sleeping, eating, fasting, praying, journeying. The divine nature was quies- cent, but approving, in every state, action, and circumstance of this kind. It must have been so in th'/ temptation, else our Lord was not tempted in all points like as we are. Rev. D. Macafee. 248 CHRISTUS BEDEMPTOR. TRANSFIGURED. "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them." St. Matthew xvii. 1, 2. "As He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering." St. Luke ix. 29. Six days after the conversation in which Christ first unfolded to the Apostles the sufferings and the fate that awaited Him^ " He took Peter, James, and John up into a mountain apart, and was transfigured before them/"* The Transfiguration may be considered either as an objective fact — a real communication with the world of spirits — or as a subjective psychological phenomenon. The account of Luke bears indubitably marks of originality and historical truth. The attemj^ts that have been made to resolve it into a mythical record are absurd ; but it certainly appears to favour the second view above stated rather than the first. If we adopt the first view, and assume that the narrative is intended to relate an objective fact, it affords us a partial exhibition of the intercourse of Christ himself with the world of spirits. It could not have been intended merely for the Apostles to witness, for during its progress they were " heavy with sleep,^'' and therefore unfit to apprehend it, or to transmit an account of it as a matter of fact. We cannot, however, deny the possibility of such an occurrence, and of some unknown object for it, in the connection of a history which is entirely out of the ordinary course of events. Once admitting the event as such, all that we should have to do would be to confess our ignorance, instead of losing ourselves in arbitrary hypo- theses and speculative dreams. But, on the other hand, by following the indications given in Luke, we may arrive at the following view of the narrative : — Jesus retired in the evening, with three of His dearest disciples, apart into a mountain, to pray in their presence. We may readily iniagiue that liis prayer referred to the subjects on which He had spoken so largely with the disciples on the preceding TRANSFIGURED. 249 days, viz., the coming development o£ His kingdom, and the conflicts He was to enter into at Jerusalem in its behalf. They were deeply impressed by His prayer; His countenance beamed with radiance, and He appeared to them glorified and transfigured with celestial light. At last, worn out with fatigue, they fell asleep ; and the impressions of the Saviour^s prayer, and of their conversation with Him, were reflected in a vision thus : — Beside Him, who was the end of the law and the prophets, appeared Moses and Elias in celestial splendour; for the glory that streamed forth from Him was reflected back upon the law, and the prophets foretold the fate that awaited Him at Jerusalem. In the meantime they awoke, and in a half-waking condition saw and heard what followed. Viewed in this light, the most striking feature of the event is the deep impression which Christ's words had made upon them, and the con- flict hetween the views thus received and their old ideas, showing itself thus while they were in a state of unconsciousness. J. A. W. Neander. The last point to be considered is the temporary and transient character of those glimpses of Christ and foretastes of glory which the people of God experience here below. " Master,^'' cried the enraptured Apostle, "it is good for us to be here; and if Thou wilf — let us prolong our stay — " let us make here three tabernacles.'''' But no, it must not be : the request cannot be granted. Peter, in making it, "knew not what he said.'"" He considered not that the Lord had yet the end of His course to run : His decease — His all-important decease — to accomplish at Jerusalem. In fact, the mingled awe and sweetness of the vision so entranced him, that thought and reflection found no place in his breast, and he inconsiderately expressed a petition that the glorious scene might be prolonged — might melt, if possible, with the bright dawn of eternity. But no ! old Time has not sped his com*se yet — the sands of his hour-glass are not yet run out. So the Lord and His chosen three, the vision being past, descend to grapple once more with the rugged difiiculties and trials of time. Dea:n Goulbukn. The glorified aspect of Him, whose very garments shone bri^-ht as 250 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. the snow of the mountains on which He was standing- ; the personal presence of Moses and Elias ; the Divine voice^ not only of paternal love^ but of exhortation and command — "^ Hear ye Him;'''' and the injunction of the Saviour to seal all in silence till the Son of Man be risen from the dead — on all this our present limits will not permit me to enlarge. Let me only remark^ first, as to locality — that there seems every reason for fixing the scene of the Transfiguration, not on the more southern Tabor, but on one of the lofty spires of the snow- capt Hermon. Secondly, as to its meaning and significance — that we may not, without reason, regard the whole as in mysterious connection both with St. Peter^s confession of faith, and with that saddening prediction which followed it, and which, it has been specially re- vealed, formed the subject of the mystic converse between the Lord and His two attendant saints. That the Transfiguration appears generally to have had what may be termed a theological aspect, and was designed to show that the law and the prophets had now become part of the Gospel, cannot reasonably be doubted ; but that it was also designed to confirm the faith of the Apostles who witnessed it, and to supply them with spiritual strength against those hours of suffering and trial which our Lord had recently predicted, seems pressed upon us by the position it occupies in the sacred narrative. Bishop Ellicott. It was the evening hour when He ascended (as is evident from Luke ix. 32 — 37, especially when compared with Luke vi. 12), and as He climbed the hill-slope with those three chosen witnesses — " the sons of Thunder and the Man of Rock '''' — doubtless a solemn gladness dilated His whole soul, a sense not only of the heavenly calm which that solitary communion with His heavenly Father would breathe upon the spirit, but still more than this, a sense that He would be sujjported for the coming hour by ministrations, not of earth, and illuminated with a light which needed no aid from sun, or moon, or stars. He went up to be prepared for death, and He took His three Apostles with Him that, haply, having seen His glory — the glory of '' the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth ^^ — their hearts might be fortified, their faith strengthened, to gaze unshaken on the shameful insults and unspeakable humiliation of the Cross. TRANSFIGURED. 251 There, then, He knelt and prayed, and as He prayed He was elevated far above the toil and misery of the world which had rejected Him. He was transfigured before them, and His comitenance shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the dazzling snow- fields above them. He was enwrapped in such an aureole of glistering brilliance, His whole presence breathed so divine a radiance, that the light, the snowj the lightning are the only things to which the Evangelist can compare the celestial lustre. And, lo ! two figures were by His side. "When, in the desert. He was girding Himself for the work of life, angels of life came and ministered unto Him ; now, in the fair world, when He is girding Himself for the work of death, the ministrants come to Him from the grave — but from the graves conquered — one from that tomb under Abarim, which His own hand had sealed long ago j the other from the rest into which He had entered without seeing corruption. There stood by Him Moses and Elias, and spake of His decease. And when the prayer is ended, the task accepted, then first since the star passed over Him at Beth- lehem, the full glory falls upon Him from heaven, and the testimony is borne to His everlasting Sonship and power — ' Hear ye Him.^ '''' "^ It is clear, from the fuller narrative of St. Luke, that the three Apostles did not witness the beginning of this marvellous transfigu- ration. An Oriental, when his prayers are over, wraps himself in his abda, and lying down on the grass in the open air, sinks in a moment into profound sleep. And the Apostles, as afterwards they slept at Gethsemaue, now they slept on Hermon.f They were heavy, " weighed down^^ with sleep, when suddenly starting into full wakefulness of spirit, they saw and heard. In the darkness of the night, shedding an intense gleam over the mountain herbage, shone the glorified form of their Lord. Beside Him, in the same flood of golden glory, were two awful shaj^es, which they knew or heard to be Moses and Elijah. And the three spake together in that stillness, of the coming decease at Jerusalem, about which they had just been forewarned by Christ. * Ruskin's Modern Painters, iii., 392. t It may be observed, from the quotation from Bishop Ellicott on the preceding page, that he, like Dr. Farrar, defends Mount Hermou and not Mount I'abor as the scene of our Lord's Transfiorm-ation. — Ed. 252 CURISTUS REDEMFTOR. And as the splendid vision began to fade, as the majestic visitants were about to be separated from their Lord, as their Lord Himself passed with them into the overshadowing brightness, Peter, anxious to delay their presence, amazed, startled, transported, not knowing what he said (a touch which in all probability comes to us from St. Peter himself — Mark ix. 6) — not knowing that Calvary would be a spectacle infinitely more transcendent than Hermon — not knowing that the Law and the Prophets were now fulfilled, not fully knowing that his Lord was unspeakably greater than the Prophet of Sinai and the Avenger of Caniiel — exclaimed, " Habbi, it is best for us to be here " (koXov, in the New Testament seeming sometimes to have a superlative sense), "and let us make thi-ee tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias/-' Jesus might have smiled at the naive suggestion of the eager Apostle, that they six should dwell for ever in little succoth of wattled boughs on the slopes of Hermon. But it was not for Peter to construct the universe for his personal satisfaction ; he had to learn the meaning of Calvary no less than of Hermon. Not in cloud of glory or chariot of fire was Jesus to pass away from them, but with arms outstretched in agony upon the accui'sed tree ; not between Moses and Elias, but between two thieves, who " were crucified with him, on either side one.'''' No answer was vouchsafed to his wild and dreamy words ; but even as he spoke, a cloud — not a cloud of thick darkness as at Sinai, but a cloud of light, a Shechinah of radiance — overshadowed them, and a voice from out of it uttered, " This is My beloved Son ; hear Him.'''' They fell prostrate, and hid their faces on the grass. And as — awaking from the overwhelming shock of that awful voice, of that enfolding light — they raised their eyes and gazed suddenly all around them, they found that all was over. The bright cloud had vanished ; the lightning-like gleams of shining countenances and dazzling robes had passed away. They were alone with Jesus, and only the stars rained their quiet lustre on the mountain slopes. At first they were afraid to rise or stir, but Jesus, their Master — as they had seen Him before He knelt in prayer, came to them and touched them — saying, " Arise, and be not afraid.''^ And so the day dawned on Hermon, and they descended the hill ; and as they descended. He bade them tell no man until lie had risen TRANSFIGURED. 253 from the dead. The vision was for them ; it was to be pondered over by them in the depths of their own hearts in self-denying reticence ; to announce it to their fellow-disciples might only awaken t/ieir jealousy and their own self-satisfaction. Until the resurrection it would add nothing to the faith of others, and might only confuse their conceptions of what was to be His work on earth. They kept Christ's command, but they could not attach any meaning to this allusion. They could only ask each other or muse in silence what this resurrection from the dead could mean. And another serious question weighed upon their spirits. They had seen Elias. They now knew more fully than ever that their Lord was indeed the Christ. Yet, " how say the Scribes/' and had not the Scribes the prophecy of Malachi — yet in their favour — '^^that Elias must first come and restore all things?" And then our Lord gently led them to see that Elias indeed had come, and had not been recognised, and had received at the hands of his nation the same fate which was soon to happen to Him whom he announced. Then understood they that He spoke unto them of John the Baptist. Canon Earrar. In the Transfiguration we behold a demonstration of His divinity. The apostles had previously been convinced of it by the wisdom of His discourses, the simple and sublime manner of His teaching, and the power displayed in His miracles. Now they beheld it in His person. It bursts on their view with overwhelming evidence. A heathen once said " If God came to dwell on earth He would take light for His body and truth for His soul.'" How accurately was this realised in the transfiguration of Jesus ! for here is an overflowing of this fulness and splendour, carrying its own evidence of supreme divinity. To this the Father bears testimony from the bright cloud of His presence, " This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." This declaration asserts identity of nature, equality of person, and mutual participation of every possible perfection. Again, in this glorious mirror, we behold the incorruptible holiness and purity of the humanity of Jesus. Our great Higli Priest is not about to enter as yet into the " holiest of all." He must first suffer and die ; and now He appears for a few moments at the door of the tabernacle, in the splendid vestments of His order, to exhibit His anointing and preparation for sacrifice, as a priest for 254 CHRISTUS REDEiTPTOB. ever. Moses appears, not to anoint Him, but as a heavenly witness of a better consecration. " Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, glorious in hoUness ?" The glory without declares the holiness within. Holiness is covered glory, and glory is vmcovered holiness. Again we behold an exhibition of His ancient glory. All personal manifestations of Jehovah from the beginning were those of the second person in the Godhead. Behold in this divine glass of the Transfiguration that same voice or word of the Lord God which Adam heard in the garden, and see in Him the author of the first promise of redemption. See here that very " God of glory " who appeared unto Abraham — that same Angel Jehovah who said " By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord " (Gen. xxii. 16), that glorious messenger of the covenant who appeared to Isaac and Jacob, and later on to the wife of Manoah (Judges xiii. 6). In this we discover the same Jehovah who appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush, '•' and behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed" (Exod. iii. 2). The sight is the same as that recorded in Exod. xxiv. 9 — 11, when they saw the God of Israel, '' and there was imder His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness.'' He appeared to Isaiah, when he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, kc. " Above it stood the seraphim, and they said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is fuU of His glory.'' The testimony of one present on the latter occasion is decisive on this point. St. John says, "These things said Esaias when he saw His glory and spake of Him " (John xii. 41) . StiU more definite and beautiful is the vision of Ezekiel (i. 56 — 28). It is remarkable that the manifestations became more definite as the period of His incarna- tion approached. The representation of His glory, however, in the appearance of fire, light, the variegated beauties of the rainbow, and the glowing and briUiant colours of precious stones, more than finds a reality in His transfiguration on the mount. Well might the Apostle Paul declare Him to be "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-dav, and for ever." "Well might He himself say, " Before Abraham was, I am," and after His ascension to glory declare " Behold I am alive for evermore." For His permanent, immutable, and eternal being fills immensity from everlasting to everlasting, " He is before all things, and by Him p.ll things consist." He was the one Mediator, TRANSFIGURED. 266 the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When by His incarnation He divested Himself of the form of God and dwelt in the tabernacle of our fleshy He on the " holy mount '' g-ave evidence of His identity as the immortal King of Glory, and showed to His disciples that while He was on His way to Gethsemane, and Calvary, and the tomb, He was carrying- forward His own eternal weight of glory into the sacrifice of the cross. Again, in this heavenly mirror we may perceive a temporary but splendid view of His future glory. For this " joy that was set before Him, Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame. ^^ He had a foretaste of it in His transfiguration. It linked the visible Mount Tabor and the invisible Mount Zion together. But will He not resume His ancient glory and again sway His immortal sceptre ? Undoubtedly. It was not possible for Him to be holden of death. And here on the mount we behold a Divine pledge, pattern, and specimen of the great glory which He obtained on His entrance into the heavenly place. Thus Stephen looked up and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God (Acts vii. 55) ; also John, in the Isle of Patmos (Acts xxvi. 13). We here also behold an illustrious model of the future resurrection. While Jesus prayed. His body was changed ; and when His prayer of intercession shall end, our bodies shall be changed likewise. In the Transfiguration, His body in a moment seemed to pass from weakness to power, and from the appearance of a natural into that of a spiritual body. Having clothed Himself with incorruption and immortality. He exhibited those splendid robes of state as the pattern of those which He has in reserve for all them that love His appearing. When He had thus beamed forth before the eye as " the resurrection and the life,^'' He laid aside these robes until His grand entrance into heaven, but in these He shall come again to raise the dead and judge the world. His body retained its identity, being the same before, in, and after every change. So it shall be with ours. " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Different degrees of holiness will manifest themselves in different degrees of glory. " Star differeth from star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.''"' Here we may see Jesus as the promised Messiah or Christ, the sum, substance, and completion of all former dispensations. Our Lord opened His mission in the synagogue by quoting the words 256 . CHBISTUS REDEMPTOB. which He had spoken by the lips o£ Isaiah^ " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," &c. (Isa. Ixi. 1). His office of a prophet is to instruct; of a priest, to bind up and heal by applying His precious blood ; and of a king, to proclaim terms of pardon, remit sin, and save and defend His people. The same anointing to the threefold office is often alluded to in the Divine word. On Mount Tabor He appeared as the holy and anointed One. Why did Moses and Elias appear on the mount ? The one introduced the Jewish dispensation ; the other, in His successor, John the Baptist, completed it, and linked it to Christianity. Moses was the giver of the law ; Elias its great restorer in the days of Ahab. The former represented the system of law, the latter that of the prophets. Moses lays the whole code, ceremonial and judicial, at the feet of Jesus. Elias, on the part of the prophets, presents unto Jesus their divine predictions, lofty discourses, plain declarations, obscure intimations and allegories, splendid visions, varied revelations, diversified glory, and unfulfilled promises, confessing Him as the great subject and centre of the whole. The glory of the whole is now swallowed up in the superior glory of Mount Tabor. We here behold Jesus, even in the midst of His humiliation, as Lord of both worlds, and head of His Church, visible and invisible. On becoming flesh He ceased not to be what He was before. While dwelling in the cloud He was lord and head of the Jewish Church, and when He comes to dwell among men in our nature, angels sang at His birth, " Unto you is born in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.'''' Devils recognised Him, and confessed Him to be the Holy One of God. The Baptist testifies, " He that cometh from above, is above all.''^ It is no wonder that His disciples confess His dominion, and that He should say, " Ye call Me Lord and Master, and ye say well, for so I am.''^ Having created all things visible and invisible. He remained Lord of His own workmanship. No circumstances, however humble, into which He entered for the purpose of our redemption, could possibly affect His Divine personality or claims. Thus, when He stoops from heaven to earth and assumes our nature. He travels in concealment to His destination on Calvary ; but when He arrives at Mount Tabor, He deems it fit to display His majesty, uncover His unspotted purity, manifest His ancient and future glory, exhibit the beauty and splendour of glorified humanity, demonstrate His Messiahship; and while He IRAIHSFIGURED. 257 decks Himself in His royal robes of lig-ht and immortality, He calls, as miiversal Lord, on both worlds, visible and invisible, to supply attendants who may bear witness in their respective regions to the glory and majesty of His kingdom. A junction was thereby esta- blished between the Church visible and invisible, mortality and immortality, earth and heaven. The kingdom of Jesus includes all in itself, because He is universal Lord. . . . Up to the period of His transfiguration, Jesus was truly the Lord of Glory in His divine nature ; but was He so in His human, now joined to His personality ? He was so by right of union, but not by reality of participation. This wondrous change now makes Him so, and enables the Apostles afterwards to assert that the Jews " crucified the Lord of Glory.'^ The human nature could not be literally thus denominated till thus anointed, crowned, and imbued with that glory and honour to which it stood entitled by the union with Godhead. As Moses anointed Aaron to the priesthood, so the Father now anoints His well-beloved Son. To make Him a complete atoning sacrifice, the essential glory of heaven is poured into His humanity until it overflows. The whole manhood was taken into the divine personality in the Incarnation, and it was taken into the divine glory in the Transfiguration. If the former gives atonement the dignity of personality, the latter invests it with the virtue of glory. If the hypostatical union of natures in the Incarnation gave Him infinite self-sufficiency to bear the weight of divine wrath in our stead, the concentration in and diffusion of the infinite and essential glory of Godhead throughout His person when transfigured, imbued His blood with all the loveliness, beauty, virtue, incorruptibility, and immortal life which the Father Himself could pour into the humanity of the Son in the act of consecration to His priesthood. Rev. D. Macafee. 268 CHRISTUS REDEMFTOB. CRUCIFIED. " And they crucified Rim." St. Matthew ixvii. 35. "Ami when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him." St. Luke xxiii. 33. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross." Galatians vi. 14 Why is the death of Jesus the highest subject in Christianity ? Why is the cross the chief est emblem of Christianity ? Why has something- like Paul's determination always been realised in the Christian Church — to know nothing else ? Why has it been celebrated as nothino- else has been celebrated ? Why has a holy rite been espe- cially ordained to show forth the death of Christ through all time ? The brief answer to these questions is, that the substance, the subject- matter of Christianity, is the character of Christ, as the Saviour of men, and that the grandest revelation of His character and purpose was made on the cross. Rev. Orville Dewey. Jesus' holy cross and dying Oh, remember ! ever eying Endless pleasure's pathway here ; At the cross thy mindful station Keep, and still in meditation All unsated persevere. When thou toilest, when thou sleepest, When thou smilest, when thou weepest, Or in mirth or woe hast part ; AVhen thou comest, when thou goest, Grief or consolation showest, Hold the cross within thy heart. 'Tis the cross, when comforts languish, In the heaviest hour of anguish, Makes the broken spirit whole ; When the pains are most tormenting, Sweetly here the heart relenting Finds the refuge of the soul. CRUCIFIED. 269 Christ^s cross is the gate o£ heaven, Trust to all disciples given, Who have conquered all their foes ; Christ^s cross is the people's healing- ; Heavenly goodness o'er it stealing, In a stream o£ wonders flows. 'Tis the cure of soul diseases, Truth that guides, and light that pleases. Sweetness in the heart's distress ; Life of souls in heavenly pleasure. And of raptured saints the treasure, Ornament, and blissfulness. Jesus' cross is virtue's mirror, Guide to safety out of error. True believer's single rest ; Crown of pilgrims into heaven, Solace to the weary given. Longed for by the humble breast. Crucified ! Thy strength supplymg. Let me, till my day of dying. Gaze upon Thy dying face ! Yea, Thy deepest wounds desiring, Thee, though on the cross expiring. Ever pant I to embrace. John Bonaventura. In the cross is found health, in the cross life, in the cross a pro- tection from our enemies, in the cross an infusion of the sweets of heaven, in the cross strength of soul, in the cross the joy of the spirit, in the cross the sum of virtue, in the cross the perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of the soul, nor hope of eternal life, but in the cross. . . . Go where thou wilt, search where thou wilt, and thou wilt not find a sublimer way above, nor a securer way below, than that of the holy cross. Thomas A'Kempis. 260 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. Christ's cross is the Christ-cross of all our happiness ; it delivers us from all blindness of error, and enriches our darkness with light ; it restoreth the troubled soul to rest, it bringeth strangers to God^s acquaintance, it maketh remote foreigners near neighbours, it cutteth off discord, concludeth a league of everlasting peace, and is the bounteous author of all good. St. Augustine. I followed rest ; rest fled and soon forsook me ; I ran from grief ; grief ran and overtook me. What shall I do, lest I be too much tost ? On worldly crosses. Lord, let me be crost. F. Quarles. We find glory in the cross ; to us that are saved it is the power of God and the fulness of all virtues. St. Bernard. Oh, close the book, and seal the seal, And let the veil drop over all. Would that oblivion could conceal What memory shudders to recall. ■'Twas here, on this accursed hill '' Without the gate,'' the deed was done. Which made the vexed earth's heart to thrill. And darkened the indignant sun. Here rose the taunts of cruel scorn. Here hung the felons by His side — Less vile than they who wove the thorn, And reared the cross on which He died. Well might the night o'erspread the day, As darkness ruled ere time began. When He, whom heavenly hosts obey, " Was made a curse " for sinful man. " Was made a curse ; " but never yet Did curse such fruit of blessing bear, For all our sins and doom and debt By costliest price were cancelled there. CRUCIFIED. 261 Hence, more tlvin others, Calvary's slopes Invite the pilgrim feet to stray, As some fair shrine, where buried hopes Love has embalmed to cheat decay. The full heart here, all shrines above. Its wealthier adoration pours ; In sight of that all-suffering' love. Though eyes may weep, the faith adores. 'Tis not the life, divinely pure. And even more divinely kind ; 'Tis not the power all ills to cure, Nor flash earth's beauty on the blind ! 'Tis not that loaves to banquets grew Whene'er He willed the thousands fed. Nor, at His word, that life anew Quickened the swathed or buried dead. 'Tis not His teaching, though He spake The wisest words to human thought — Words which the proud ones oft mistake. But sweetly to the child-heart taug-ht. Life, healing, teaching ! in all these Some purpose and some lesson lie; That faith the deeper mystery sees — " That it behoved" the " Christ to die." To die, not in oblation vain. The seal to all His words to give — Not in the martyr^s scorn of pain — ' To die that all the world might live Oh, for the heart this truth to learn, Erewhile too darkly understood ! We for the living Saviour yearn — Our trust is in the sprinkled blood. 262 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. And while by faith we humbly cling- To Christ the crucified alone, Each to His cross our sins would bring Eag-er to crucify our own. Rev. De. Morley Punshon. At the foot of the cross, in all humility and in all adoration, we have learned at once the depth and the heig-ht of human nature ; we have learned to think all wisdom but foolishness, for the knowledge of Christ ; all purity but sin, unwashed by His atonement ; all hope in earth, of all hopes the most miserable, but in the faith of His blessed resurrection ; content to bear the strug-g-les of life at His command ; and submitting to the grave with a consciousness that it can sting no more ; " Sown in corruption, to be raised in incorruption ; sown in dishonour, to be raised in glory ; sown in weakness, to be raised in power."' Rev. Db. Ckoly. Turn now to the cross of Calvary — ^to that august and awful spectacle on which angels, suspending their songs, are gazing in silent wonder. By that bloody tree, under that frowning sky, the earth trembling beneath our feet, and the sun darkened above our heads, does sin seem a light and a little thing ? In God's words to Ezekiel, while I point to that cross I ask, " Hast thou seen this, O son of man ? Is it a little thing to the house of Judah that they commit here ?" A little thing ? Sin a little thing ? You think so : and you are right, if, as my breath blows out a candle, or a drop of water quenches it, a prayer, a penitent sigh, or a few dropping tears, can extinguish the wrath of God. It is so, if the mere expression of our sorrow — a slight repentance — can pay our debts to God; though, as you know well, they would be accepted as payment of them by no one else. It is so, if that blinded Papist who embraces a life of poverty, who leaves a pillow of down for a bed on the cold ground, who wears a shirt of sackcloth, who, summoned by the convent bell, rises at midnight to prayer, or, fleeing the haunts of men, seeks the desert and the society of beasts, can, by such self-denial, make atonement to God for the sins of the soul. Great as His sufferings may be, an eternity of happiness is cheaply purchased by a whole lifetime of pain. But if. CRUCIFIED. 268 ere one sin could be pardoned, or one sinner saved, Heaven mnst give up the Lord of Glory, and the Son of God must die ; if justice accept no cheaper sacrifice ; if " there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,^-" but the name, nor other blood whereby we can be washed but the blood, of Jesus, sin is no light and little thing. Rev. Dr. Guthrie. Rise, O my soul, with thy desires, to heaven, And with divinest contemplation use Thy time, where timers eternity is given, And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse, But down in darkness let them lie ; So live thy better — let thy worse thoughts die. And thou, my soul, inspired with holy flame, View and review with most regardful eye That holy cross, whence thy salvation came. On which thy Saviour and thy sin did die. For in that sacred object is much pleasure, And in that Saviour is my life, my treasure. To Thee, O Jesus, I direct my eyes, To Thee my hands, to Thee my humble knees To Thee my heart shall offer sacrifice. To Thee my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees. To Thee myself, myself and all I give. To Thee I die — to Thee I only live. Sir W. Raleigh. It is the cross that intensifies, that glorifies life, that opens up depth after depth in the human and in the divine natures, and bridges over the depths it has disclosed. Here only, at the foot of the cross, can man really die ; here only, with his loving, his suffering Lord, can he lay down his life that he may receive it again in Him. And while the precepts of Christ are reformative, the death of Christ is regenerative ; it has cast a seed into the bosom of humanity — the germ of a new, ever progressive life — a seed over which Christ Himself watches, and whose expansion in the heart, the bursting of a heavenly midnight-blooming flower, is conversion. Faith in this great miracle makes all other miracles possible. " Show Thy servants Thy work," and 264 CHRJSTUS REDEMPTOB. their own vnll he indeed easy, for " in the blood is the life/' We ^^n on asking — What shall we do that we may inherit eternal life ? until^ throug-h the sudden shining of a light from heaven^ or the gradual dawning of a day-star within our hearts^ we learn that our part is to live, to die, in the strength of that which has been already done. " Let him lay hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me ; and he shall make peace with Me/' And it is remarkable that, until, through the Spirit, we feel Christ within us, as One that is alive from the dead, the fact of His death seems to affect us but little. Though no sorrow was ever like unto His sorrow, it is nothing to those that pass by — a story often told — an accepted history. Only to those who believe is Christ precious, for they only know their Lord in the fellowship of His sufferings, in the power of His resurrection. They have looked upon Him whom they beforetime pierced, and He has looked upon them — a mutual recognition has been exchanged. When Joseph makes himself known unto his brethren, their hard hearts are smitten. . . . No sight, short of that great one of sacrifice and love, can turn the heart from its own works, to fix it upon the one work through which the spiritual man is aware that his very imperfection is accepted. Then, being made partaker of n life in which Christ is his own, it becomes natural, and, as it were, ;in instinct, to love and cleave to Him. It is the soul's natural life. Dora Gheenwell. When with deep agony His heart was racked, Not for Himself the tear-drop dewed His cheek. For them He wept, for them to heaven He prayed. His persecutors, " Father, pardon them ; They know not what they do.'" Charles Lamb. The mysteries of those hours of darkness, when, with the sufferings of the agonised body mingled the sufferings of the sacred soul, the struggles with sinking nature, the accumulating pressure of the burden of the world's sin, the momently more and more embittered fore- tastings of that which was its wages and its penalty, the clinging desperation of the last assaults of Satan and his mustered hosts, the witlidrawal and darkening of the Paternal presence — mysteries such as these, so deep and so dread, it was not meet that even the tongues CRUCIFIED. 2C5 of Apostles should be moved to speak o£, or the pens of Evangelists to record. Nay^ the very outward eye of man might now gaze no further. All man might know was by the hearing of the ear. One loud cry revealed all, and more than all than it is possible for our nature to conceive — one loud cry of unfathomable woe and uttermost desolation, and yet even as its very accents imply, of achieved and consummated victory. Even from the lowest depths of a tortured, tempted, sin-burthened, and now forsaken humanity, even from the remotest bound, as it were, of a nature thus traversed to its extremest limits, and thus feelingly realised in all the measures of its infirmity for man''s salvation, the Saviour cried unto God as His God; the Son called unto Him with whom — even in this hour of dereliction and abandonment — He felt and knew that He was eternally one ; yea, and as the language of inspiration has declared, ^^He was heard in that He feared.''^ With the utterance of that loud cry, or, perhaps, more probably, not till the Lord had resigned His spirit, the clouds of darkness gradually rolled away, and the light broke forth. However this may be, these awful moments were profaned by a mockery and malignity on which it is fearful to dwell. We shudder as we read that the words of that harrowing exclamation, words first spoken by the prophetic psalmist, and the outward meaning of which no Jew could possibly have misunderstood, were studiously perverted by a satanic malice, and that the most holy name of the Eternal Father was used by the Jewish reprobates that stood around as that wherewith they now dared to make a mock at the Eternal Son. But the end had now come. One solitary act of instinctive compassion was yet to be performed ; the sponge of vinegar was pressed to the parching lips ; the dying Lord received it, and with a loud cry of consciously com- pleted victory for man, and of most loving resignation unto God, bowed meekly His Divine head and gave up the ghost. Jesus was dead. Bishop Ellicott. Hail, Thou Head ! so bruised and wounded. With the crown of thorns surrounded, Smitten with the mocking reed. Wounds which may not cease to bleed. Trickling faint and slow. 266 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. Hail ! from whose most blessed brow None can wipe the blood-drops now ; All the flower of life has fled. Mortal paleness there instead ; Thou, before whose presence dread Angels trembling bow. All Thy vigour and Thy life Fading in this bitter strife; Death his stamp on Thee has set. Hollow and emaciate. Faint and drooping there. Thou this agony and scorn Hast for me, a sinner, borne. Me, unworthy, all for me ! With those signs of love on Thee, Glorious face, appear ! Yet, in this Thine agony. Faithful Shepherd, think of me ; From whose lips of love divine Sweetest draughts of life are mine. Purest honey flows. All unworthy of Thy thought. Guilty, yet reject me not. Unto me Thy head incline, Let that dying head of Thine In mine arms repose ! Let me true communion know With Thee in Thy sacred woe, Counting all beside but dross. Dying with Thee on Thy cross ; 'Neath it will I die ! Thanks to Thee with every breath, Jesus, for Thy bitter death ; CRUCIFIED. 267 Grant thy guilty one this prayer, "When my dying- hour is near, Gracious God, be nigh ! "When my dying hour must be, Be not absent then from me ; In that dreadful hour, I pray, Jesus come without delay, See and set me free ! "When Thou biddest me depart, "Whom I cleave to with my heart. Lover of my soul be near, "With Thy saving cross appear. Show Thyself to me ! St. Bernaed. Look upon Him ! He hangs on the cross all naked, torn, and bloody, betwixt heaven and earth. He hath a crown, indeed, but such a one as few men will touch, none will take from Him. His hair is all clodded with blood. His face all clouded with black and blue. He is all over pitifully rent, outwards, inwards, body and soul. I will think the rest. Alas, had I the tongues of men and angels, I could not express it ! O love more deep than hell ! O love more high than heaven ! The brightest seraphims that burn in love are but as sparkles to that mighty flame of love in the heart of Jesus. Rev. Isaac Ambrose. As Christ Jesus is the most worthy subject of all knowledge, so Christ Jesus as crucified is that which is the fullest of wonder, admi- ration, love. . . . Christ above all other knowledge ; and Christ crucified above all other knowledge of Christ. Sir Matthew Hale. Can nothing settle my uncertain breast. And fix my rambling love ? Can my affections find out nothing best, But still and still remove? Has earth no mercy ? "Will no ark of rest Receive my restless dove ? 268 CHEISTUS EEBEMPTOIt. Is tliere no good, than which there's nothing hio-her To bless my full desire With joys that never change, with joys that ne'er expire ? The world's an ocean, hurried to and fro With ev'ry blast of passion ; Her lustful streams, when either ebb or flow, Are tides of man's vexation. They alter daily, and they daily grow The worse by alteration. The earth's a cask full tunn'd, yet wanting measure, Her precious wine is pleasure. Her yeast is honour's puff, her lees are worldly treasure. My trust is in the cross, let beauty flag. Her loose, her wanton sail ; Let count'nance-gilding honour cease to brag In courtly terms, and vail. Let ditch-bred wealth henceforth forg-et to wao- Her base, though golden, tail ; False beauty's conquest is but real loss. And wealth but golden dross ; Best honour but a blast : my trust is in the cross. My trust is in the cross : there lies my rest : My fast, my soul delight; Let cold-mouth'd Boreas, or the hot-mouth'd East, Blow till they burst with spite. Let earth and hell conspire their worst, their best. And join their twisted might. Let show'rs of thunderbolts dart down and wound me. And troops of fiends surround me. All this may well confront, all this shall ne'er confound me. F. QUARLES. What is the breadth of Christ's cross ? It is as broad as tlie whole world ; fbr He died for the whole world, as it is written, " He is a propitiation, not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world." And that is the breadth of Christ's cross. And what is the CRUCIFIED. 269 length of Chnst's cross? The length thereof, says an old Father, signifies the time during which its virtue will last. How long, then, is the cross oi Christ ? Long enough to last through all time. As long as there is a sinner to be saved — as long as there is ignorance, sorrow, pain, death, or anything else which is contrary to God and hurtful to man in the universe of God — so long will Christ's cross last. And that is the length of the cross of Christ. And how high is Christ's cross ? As high as the highest heaven, and the throne of God, and the bosom of the Father — that bosom out of which, too, can proceed all created things. Ay, as high as the highest heaven; for if you will receive it, when Christ hung upon the cross, heaven came down on earth, and earth ascended into heaven. Christ never showed forth His Father's glory so perfectly as when, hanging upon the cross. He cried in His death-agony, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These words showed the true height of the cross ; and caused St. John to know that his vision was true and no dream, when he saw afterwards, in the midst of the throne of God, a Lamb' as it had been slain. And that is the height of the cross of Christ. And how deep is the cross of Christ ? This is a great mystery, and one which people in these days are afraid to look at, and darken it of their own will, because they will neither believe their Bibles nor the voice of their own hearts. But if the cross of Christ be as high as heaven, then it seems to me it must be also as deep as hell — deep enough to reach the deepest sinner, in the deepest pit to which he may fall. I believe that we shall find St. Paul's words true, when he says that Christ's love passes knowledge ; and, therefore, that we shall find this also, that however broad we may think Christ's cross, it is broader still ; however high it is, higher still ; however long it is, longer still ; however deep it is, deeper still. Canon Kingsley. In the presence of tkat cross, with its divine mercy, despondency or despair is clearly inadmissible. Rev. J. Logan Aikman. I asked the heavens : — " What foe to God hath done This unexampled deed?" The heavens exclaim, " 'Twas man ; and we in horror snatched the sun From such a spectacle of guilt and shame." 270 CHRISTUS REBEMPTOR. I asked the sea. The sea in fuiy boiled. And answered with his voice of storms — " 'Twas man ; My waves in panic at his crime recoiled. Disclosed the abyss, and from the centre ran/' I asked the earth. The earth replied aghast, " 'Twas man ; and such strange pangs my bosom rent, That still I groan and shudder at the past.'' To man, gay-smiling, thoughtless man, I went. And asked him next. He turned a scornful eye, Shook his proud head, and deigned me no reply. Rev. R. Montgomery. The cross is a language to all lonely and neglected, or slighted and persecuted virtue. Often do we stand in situations where that cross is our dearest example and friend. It is, perhaps, beneath the humble roof, where the great world passes us by, and neither sees nor knows us ; where no one blazons our patience, our hiunility, cheerful- ness, and disinterestedness to the multitude that is ever dazzled with outward splendour. There must we learn of Him, who for us was a neglected wanderer, and had not even "where to lay His head.-" There must we learn of Him who was meek and lowly in heart, and find rest unto our souls. There must we learn of Him, who bowed that meek and lowly head upon the cross, dishonoured before a passing multitude, honoured before all ages. Or we stand, perhaps, beneath the perilous eye of observation, of an obsei-vation not friendly, but hostile and scornful. We stand up for our integrity ; we stand for some despised and persecuted principle in religion, or morals, or science. And it is hard to bear opprobrium and injury for this ; hard, for the noblest testimony of our conscience, to bear the worst infliction of human displeasure. The dissenting physician, the dissenting philanthropist, the dissenting Christian, knows full well how hard it is. And there— keeping there our firm stand— must we look upon that cross, whereon hung One who was despised and rejected of men, the scorned of earth, the favoured and beloved of heaven. That stand for onscieuce, kept firmly, humbly, meekly, we must learn, is not mean and low ; it is the very grandeur of life ; it is the magnificence of the world. It is a world of misconstruction, of injury, of persecution. CRUCIFIED. 271 That cross is lifted up to stay our fainting courage, to fix our wavering fidelity, to inspire us with meekness, patience, forgiveness of enemies, and trust in God. Rev. Orville Dewey. In the cross of Christ I glory. Towering o^er the wrecks of time, All the light of sacred story Gathers round its head sublime. "When the woes of life overtake me, Hopes deceive, and fears annoy. Never shall the cross forsake me ; Lo ! it glows with peace and joy. When the sun of bliss is beaming Light and love upon my way ; From the cross the radiance streaming Adds more lustre to the day. Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, By the cross are sanctified ; Peace is there that knows no measure, Joys that through all time abide. Sir John Bowrino. Bound upon the accursed tree. Faint and bleeding, who is He ? By the eyes so pale and dim. Streaming blood, and writhing limlj, By the flesh with scourges torn. By the crown of twisted thorn, By the side so deeply pierced. By the baffled burning thirst, By the drooping death-dew^d brow, Son of Man ! 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! Bound upon the accursed tree. Dread and awful, who is He ? 272 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. By the sun at noon-day pale, Shivering rocks, and rending veil, By earth that trembles at His doom. By yonder saints who burst their tomb. By Eden, promised ere He died To the felon at His side, Lord ! our suppliant knees we bow. Son of God ! 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou I Bound upon the accursed tree, Sad and dying, who is He ? By the last and bitter cry. The ghost given up in agony ; By the lifeless body laid In the chamber of the deadj By the mourners come to weep "V\Tiere the bones of Jesus sleep ; Crucified ! we know Thee now. Son of Man ! 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! Bound upon the accursed tree. Dread and awful, who is He ? By the prayer for them that slew, " Lord, they know not what they do ! " By the spoiled and empty grave. By the souls He died to save. By the conquest He hath won. By the saints before His throne. By the rainbow round His brow. Son of God ! 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! Dean Milman. The cross of Christ is a subject of rich variety. It is one of the great lineaments in the plan of salvation. The invincible sanctuary of the humble; the dejection of the proud; the victory of Christ; the destruction of the devil ; the confirmation of the faithful ; the death of the unbeliever ; and the life of the just. It is the king of Paradise; the weak man's stafE; the convert's convoy; the upright CRUCIFIED. 273 man's perfection ; the soul and body^'s health ; the prevention of all evil; and the procurer of all good. It is a subject worthy of all contemplation^ for all are interested in it. With St. Paul it was a favourite topic — the chosen subject of his sermons^ and the grand theme of his writings. At all times, and in every capacity, he professed, he avowed, he gloried in the cross. Nor would he glory in any other object. He speaks of such a subject in the language of detestation and abhorrence, accounting it a high degree both of folly and wickedness. " God forbid,'^ said he, "that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Chi-ist.^" Rev. Johnson Grant. Utterly brutal and revolting as was the punishment of crucifixion, which has now for fifteen hundred years been abolished by the common pity and abhorrence of mankind, there was one custom in Judea, and one occasionally practised by the Romans, which reveal some touch of passing humanity. The latter consisted in giving to the sufferer a blow under the arm-pit, which, without causing death, yet hastened its approach. Of this I need not speak, because, for whatever reason, it was not practised on this occasion. The former, which seems to have been due to the milder nature of Judaism, and which was derived from a happy piece of Rabbinic exegesis in Pro v. xxxi. 6, consisted in giving to the condemned, immediately before his execution, a draught of wine medicated with some powerful opiate. It had been the custom of wealthy ladies in Jerusalem to provide this stupefying potion at their own expense, and they did so quite irrespectively of their sym- pathy for any individual criminal. It was probably taken freely by the two malefactors, but when they offered it to Jesus He would not take it. The refusal was an act of sublimest heroism. The effect of the draught was to dull the nerves, to cloud the intellect, to provide an anaesthetic against some part, at least, of the lingering agonies of that dreadful death. But He, whom some modern sceptics have been base enough to accuse of feminine feebleness and cowardly despair, preferred rather " to look death in the face/' to meet the King of Terrors without striving to deaden the force of one agonising antici- pation, or to still the throbbing of one lacerated nerve. * -x- -x- -x- -x- ^ It was probably at this moment of inconceivable horror that the 274 CSMISTUS REDEMPTOR. voice of the Son of Man was heard uplifted^ not in a scream of natural agony at that fearful torture, hut calmly praying in Divine compassion for His brutal and pitiless murderers — aye, and for all who in their sinful ignorance crucify Him afresh for ever — "Father, fokgive them, for they know not what they t>0." Canon Farrar. O sacred head, surrounded By crown of piercing thorn ! bleeding head, so wounded. Reviled, and put to scorn ! Deaths pallid hue comes o^'er Thee, The glow of life decays. Yet angel-hosts adore Thee, And tremble as they gaze. 1 see Thy strength and vigour All fading in the strife. And death with cruel rigour Bereaving Thee of life ; O agony and dying ! O love to sinners free ! Jesu, all grace supplying, O turn Thy face on me. In this Thy bitter passion Good Shepherd, think of me, With Thy most sweet compassion. Unworthy though I be ; Beneath Thy cross abiding, For ever would I rest. In Thy dear love confiding, And with Thy presence blest. Gerhardt. When the cross was uplifted, the leading Jews for the first timo prominently noticed the deadly insult in which Pilate had vented his indignation. Before, in their blind anger, they but imagined that the manner of His crucifixion was an insult aimed at Jesus ; but now. CRUCIFIED. 275 when tliey saw Him hanging between the two robbers^ and on a cross yet loftieVj it suddenly flashed upon them that it was a public scorn inflicted upon them. For on the white wooden tablet smeared with g-ypsumj which was to be seen so conspicuously over the head of Jesus /)n the cross^ ran, in black letters, an inscription in the three civilised languages of the ancient world — the three languages of which one at least was certain to be known to every single man in that assembled multitude — in the ofiicial Latin, in the current Greek, in the vernacular Aramaic, informing all that this Man who was thus enduring a shameful, servile death — this Man thus crucified between two sicarii in the sight of the world — was " The King op the Jews/' To Him who was crucified the poor malice seemed to have in it nothing of derision. Even on His cross He reigned ; even there He seemed divinely elevated above the priests who had brought about His death, and the coarse, idle, vulgar multitude who had flocked to feed their greedy eyes upon His sufferings. The malice was quite impotent against One whose spiritual and moral nobleness struck awe into dying malefactors and heathen executioners, even in the lowest abyss of His physical degradation. With the passionate ill-humour of the Roman governor there probably blended a vein of seriousness. While he was delighted to revenge himself on his detested subjects by an act of public insolence, he probably meant, or half meant, to imply that this was, in one sense, the King of the Jews — the greatest, the noblest, the truest of His race, whom, therefore. His race had crucified. The King was not unworthy of His kingdom, but the kingdom of the King. There was something loftier even than royalty in the glazing eyes which never ceased to look with sorrow on the City of Righteousness, which had now become a city of murderers. The Jews felt the inten- sity of the scorn with which Pilate had treated them. It so completely poisoned their hour of triumph that they sent their chief priests in deputation, begging the governor to alter the obnoxious title. " Write not/'' they said, '' ' The King of the Jews,"" but that ' He said, I am the King of the Jews.^ " But Pilate^s courage, which had oozed away so rapidly at the name of Cfesar, had now revived. He was glad in any and every way to browbeat and thwart the men whose seditious 276 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. clamour had forced him in the morning' to act against his will. Few men had the power of giving expression to a sovereign contempt more effectually than the Romans. Without deigning any justification of what he had done, Pilate summarily dismissed these solemn hierarchs with the curt and contemptuous reply, " What I have written, I have wi-itten.^^ Canon Farrar. The death of Jesus is the greatest ministration ever known on earth to human virtue. It was intended not to be a relief to the conscience, but an incentive, a goad, to the negligent conscience. It was not meant, because Christ has died, that men should roll the burden of their sin on Him and be at ease ; but that more than ever they should struggle with it themselves. It was designed that the cross should lay a stronger bond upon the conscience even than the law. When I look upon the cross, I cannot indulge in sen- timental or theologic strains of rapture over reliefs , and escapes ; over the broken bonds of legal obligation ; over a salvation wrought out for me, and not in me ; over a purchased and claimed pardon, as if now all were easy, as if a commutation were made with justice, the debt paid, the debtor free, and there were nothing to do but to rejoice and triumph. No, I should feel it to be base and ungenerous in me thus to contemplate sufferings and agonies endured for my salvation. Tlie cross is a most majestic and touching revelation of solemn and bounden duty. It makes the bond stronger, not weaker. It reveals a harder, not an easier way to be saved. That is to say, it sets up a stricter, not a looser, law for the conscience. Every particle of evil in the heart is now a more lamentable and gloomy burden than it ever was before. The cross sets a darker stamp upon the malignity of sin than the table of the commandments, and it demands of us — in accents louder than Sinai^s thunder — sympathetic agonies to be freed from sin. Thus the cross^ I repeat, is the grand ministration to human virtue. Rkv. Orville Dewey. DESCENDED INTO HELL. 277 DESCENDED INTO HELL. ■• Thov. wilt not leave viy soul in hell ; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Psalms xvi. 10. " Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ?" Ephesians iv. 9. It is sufficiently evident that the descent into hell, as it now stands in the creed, signifieth something commenced after His death, contradistinguished to His burial ; and, as it is considered in the Apostles^ explication, is clearly to be understood of that which imme- diately preceded His resurrection, and that also grounded upon a confidence totally repugnant to infernal pains. For it is thus particularly expressed : — " I foresaw the Lord always before my face ; for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad ; moreover, also, my Mesh shall rest in hope, because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell." Where the faith, hope, confidence, and assurance of Christ is shov^ni, and His " flesh," though laid in the grave, the place of corruption, is said to " rest in hope," for this very reason — because God would not " leave His soul in hell." I conclude, therefore, that the descent into hell is not the enduring the torments of hell, because, if strictly taken, it is not true ; if metaphorically taken, though it be true, yet it is not pertinent. Bishop Pearson. (From the Latin of the Rev. Gerard Moultrie). Girt with shadows, girt with terror. Came the King to lowest hell. Round about His mighty footsteps Horror of great darkness fell ; Calvary^s descending shadows Spread below their mystic spell. 278 CERISTUS REBEMPTUR. God's own suiij God's blood beholding, Veiled in fear his blushing* head ; Earthy distraught, from inmost caverns Quaked with conscious awe and dread. From her teeming womb restoring Bodies of the sainted dead. King, about His brow He weareth Noble coronal of scorn; Are they gems, or are they blood-drops, That His regal brow adorn — Priceless rubies of the Passion, Sparkling on the ensanguined thorn ? Royal vesture, kingly purple. Will beseem the Monarch well ; Lo ! the sceptre-reed is planted Where the iron portals fell ; Lo ! the brazen doors are shattered Which had barred the citadel. Dark and wrathful Hell upriseth, With his thousand tongues he cries : " He in triumph mounts the ramparts. He their virgin strength defies ; In His might He spoils the spoiler, Lord of Satan's ancient prize." Fades and falls Death's chaplet withered. Smitten by the righteous Sun ; For the brazen gates are ravished. And captivity is done ; Death at last by death is vanquished, Lo ! the victory is won ! Rev. J. W. HoiisLEY. EIS^N. 28i moment when Thy mig-hty voice shall command our dust to rise and join itself to the immortal^ to praise and bless Thee through all eternity. St. Ephraem Syrus. God the Redeemer liveth ! He who took Man^s nature on Him, and in human shroud VeiFd His immortal glory ! He is risen — God the Redeemer liveth ! and, behold, The gates of life and immortality Opened to all that breathe. Rev. W. L. Bowles. All will be rectified hereafter, in the new heaven and the new earth ! " There shall be no more pain." The body will no longer experience fatigue in labour, or be subject to hurtful influences from the elements ; and never grow old ; but be glorious and beautiful as the risen body of Jesus Christ! I wonder not that Paul should exclaim, along with those who had the firstf ruits of the Spirit, " Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of the hodi/." With these bright hopes let us who are now alive seek to glorify God in the body which is to be gloritied together with Christ. Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod. The resurrection of Christ is the great public manifestation of His authority over the power of physical decay and death. In all other instances death had but touched the verge of God^s real empire, and been at His pleasure repelled : here the rebel had stormed the citadel, and planted his dark standard on its inmost hold. That which is the very principle of vitahty to the whole world had seemed to wither in his grasp upon the cross, when majestically rose the unvanquished Lord of Life, and hunted him back for ever into darkness. The resurrection of the dead of a thousand ages to the judgment, wondrous as it shall be, cannot approach unto this. The dead, who then shall live, shall live by a power exerted in all the fulness of a visible and irresistible authority; it will but be the act of a known and recognised Creator, not, perhaps, as truly wonderful as a thousand natural processes that surround us every hour; but the dead Chi-ist, who 282 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. lived again, was prostrate under His enemy the hour He overwhelmed him; the conqueror was chained and bleeding beneath the foe He destroyed. As a man truly dead, yet He was inextinguishably alive as God. Rev. Archer Butler. Consider the reason why Christ arose. Was it not to confoimd the Jews ? They could not endure to hear of Christ^s resurrection, and therefore when Peter and the other Apostles preached that point, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. Again, was it not to confirm the faith of Christ's followers ? Till He was risen, their faith was weak, and after He had showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs, they could then cry out "My Lord!'' and "My God!" Again, was it not evidence that He had satisfied all our debts? The Apostle tells us that Christ was our surety. At His death He was arrested, and cast into prison, whence He could not come till all was paid ; and therefore to hear that Christ is risen is a clear evidence that God is satisfied. Again, was it not to conquer sin, death, and the devil ? Now He took from Death his sting, and from hell its standard. Now He seized upon the handwriting that was against us, and nailed it to His cross; now He spoiled principalities and powers, and carried away the keys of death and hell ; now He came out of the grave as a mighty conqueror, saying, as Deborah did in her song, " O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength, thou hast marched valiantly." Again, was it not to become the firstf ruits of them that sleep ? Christ was the first that rose again to die no more, and by virtue of His resur- rection (as being the firstf ruits), we must rise again. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive — eveiy man in His own order. Christ the fii'stfruits, and afterwards they that are Chrit's at His coming. Again, was it not that He might be declared to be the Son of God ? Was it not that He might be exalted and glorified? This is the main reason of all. See thou to this I O give Him the glory of His resurrection. So meditate on this transaction, as to ascribe to His name all honour and glory. What I is He risen from the dead ? Hath God highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name? Oh, then, let every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father ! Eev. I. Ambrose. EISHK , 283 Yes, the Redeemer rose; The Saviour left the dead. And o'er our hellish foes High raised His conquering head. In wild dismay The guards around Fell to the ground, And sank away. Lo ! the angelic bands In full assembly meet, To wait His high commands. And worship at His feet ; Joj'iul they come, And wing their way From realms of day To such a tomb. Then back to heaven they fly And the glad tidings bear. Hark ! as they soar on high, What music fills the air ! " Their anthems say : — Jesus who bled, Hath left the dead — He rose to-day/' Ye mortals, catch the sound, Redeemed by Him from hell ; And send the echo round The globe on which you dwell. Transported, cry : — " Jesus, who bled, Hath left the dead, No more to die/' All hail, triumphant Lord, Who saVst us with Thy blood j 284 ^ CHBISTUS REDEMPTOB. Wide be Thy name adored, Thou rising-, reigning God ! With thee to rise, With Thee to reig-n. And empires gain, Beyond the skies. Dr. Doddridge. May, then, the belief in the Resurrection, and in all its attendant mysteries, become in the heart of every one ever truer and ever fresher. May it call up our thoughts and affections to His throne, ever teaching us to ascend heavenward in soul and spirit now — to learn the path, and to know the way : that so we may ascend in body, soul, and spirit hereafter — yea, and not ascend only, but abide there with Him for evermore— redeemed, justified, sanctified, glorified — the bidden and welcome guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the admitted inheritors of the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world. Bishop Ellicott. Before the sun of this lower world had risen upon the third day the Sun of Righteousness had already risen, the Bridegroom had gone forth from His chamber. And how did it take place? By the Divine power of the Father in the Son. That might indeed have passed throitgli the stone, as afterwards through the doors, yea, through all the heavens. But the stone rolled away was to be the first sign — explaining all — for the children of men, whether enemies or friends ; and here was something for the ministry of the ever-ready angels too. They speak first to the troubled ones, and at once announce, by shining manifestation and by their words yet brighter, what had taken place. But the Lord himself rejoices in silence before His Father and His God; solemnising His great victory in the human foretaste of His full joy. His spirit comes back from the lower world to His body, leaving His commencing conquests there. There is no awaking in His case, as those imagine who wholly mis- understand the descensus ad inferos; and yet is His resurrection the consummation of His great victory, and He celebrates it as such. And although the impulse of His love urged Him at onct to the company of His own upon earth, who are still in the sorrow RISEN. 285 of deaths yet He does not overwhelm them with sudden surprise at His glorious reappearance, but restrains Himself, yields Himself to their view by degrees regulated in the highest wisdom of love. R. Stier. At the moment when Christ died nothing could have seemed more abjectly weak, more pitifully hopeless, more absolutely doomed to scorn, and extinction, and despair, than the Church which He had founded. It numbered but a handful of weak followers, of which the boldest had denied his Lord with blasphemy, and the most devoted had forsaken Him and fled. They were poor, they were ignorant, they were hopeless. They could not claim a single synagogue or a single sword. If they spoke tl:ieir own language, it bewrayed them by its mongrel dialect; if they spoke the current Greek, it was despised as a miserable patois. So feeble were they and insignificant, that it would have looked like foolish partiality to prophesy for them the limited existence of a Galilean sect. How was it that these dull and ignorant men, with their cross of wood, triumphed over the deadly fascinations of sensual mythologies, conquered kings and their armies, and overcame the world ? What was it that thus caused strength to be made perfect out of abject weakness ? There is one, and one only, possible answer — the resurrection from the dead. All this oust revelation was due to the power of Christ's resurrection. " If,'' writes Dr. Westcott, in his " Gospel of the Resurrection," "if we measure what seemed to be the hopeless ignominy of the catastrophe by which His work was ended, and the divine prerogatives which are claimed for Him, not in spite of, but in consequence of that suffering and shame, we shall feel the utter hopelessness of reconciling the fact, and that triumphant deduction from it, without some inter- vening fact as certain as Christ's passion, and glorious enough to transfigure its sorrow. Canon Farrar. 286 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOB. ASCENDED. "Re led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." St. Luke xxiv. 50 51 "Jesus saith unto her, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and' to my God, and your God." St. John xx. 17. Then, rising from His grave, SpoiPd principalities and powers, triumphed In open show ; and with ascension bright. Captivity led captive through the air. Milton. After forty days, the Lord once more assembled the eleven disciples around Him. He gave them His parting instructions and advice, His charge and promise ; and then led them from the city to the Mount of Olives. The mountain of His love and of His soitow was also to be that of His glory. Oh, heavenly truth! after that night of faith's conflict, there came a day full of victory and of joy. The Lord once more blessed His disciples, and then ascended to heaven. That was a separation which cannot be described ; but it was not one by death : Jesus could not die a second time. He who had on the Resurrection morning risen victorious over death and the grave, was not to be a second time their conquered prey. Had there not been an Ascension, but another dying day for the disciples, and Jesus had passed away, like all others pass away, a Church would not have been founded, nor would the disciples have received courage to witness for Christ in the world. But now they returned to Jerusalem with great joy ; for although Jesus bodily had departed from them, yet spiritually He was with th'^em; the outward communion was lost, but the inner was closer and more loving, freer and more powerful. And, for our happiness, the Lord is with us now, every day, even unto the end of the world ; for ever and ever He is our Saviour and Redeemer, our friend, brother, guide, and ASCENDED. 287 instructor. His presence is with us in His word, in the sacraments, and in prayer. Every knee shall bow before Him, and every tongue shall confess that He is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In spirit He comes to us daily ; but one day (for '' this same Jesus, who was taken up into heaven, shall so come in like manner as they saw Him go into heaven;''^ — Acts i. 11) He will come in person to judg- ment, with the choir of the angels ; redemption will be completed ; and where He is, there His saints will be with Him, to behold His glory. F. Arndt. Jesus lives ! no longer now Can thy terrors, death, appal us ; Jesus lives ! and this we know. Thou, O grave, canst not enthral us. Jesus lives ! henceforth is death But the gate of life immortal ; This shall calm our trembling breath. When we pass its gloomy portal. Jesus lives ! for us He died ; Then, alone to Jesus living, Pure in heart may we abide. Glory to our Saviour giving. Jesus lives ! our hearts know well Nought from us His love shall sever ; Life, nor death, nor powers of hell. Tear us from His keeping ever. Jesus lives ! to Him the throne Far above all power is given ; We shall go where He has gone. Rest and reign with Him in heaven. C. F. Gellert. If you be loving justice and mercy, and walking humbly with your God; if you be striving, however faintl)', to be true and pure aud good. 288 CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR then the lesson of the Ascension is a lesson of hope. It is a pledge to us of the forgiveness which Christ died to win. You may have fallen very low ; the white robes of your baptismal innocence may have con- tracted many and many a stain ; yet you may be full of hope— '^ Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove that is covered with silver wings, and her feathers like gold.'' Canon Farrar. Forty days after His resurrection, the Master took leave of His disciples at Bethany, near Jerusalem. It is easy to perceive, from His last words, that the faith He left with them was not a somewhat spiritualised Judaism, but in truth the religion of mankind, with no other limits than the ends of the world. There was no reference in His mind to that Kingdom of Israel which was still the cherished dream of His disciples, but to that kingdom of truth which, through the inspired word of His witnesses, should be established among tu nations. '' Ye shall receive power from on high, and shall be wit- nesses unto me to the uttermost parts of the earth'' (Acts i. 8). As He spoke these words He was withdrawn from their sight, to enter into the conditions of a higher life, free from all the limitations of human existence— a life truly divine, at the right hand of the Father, in the abode of glory, where He is preparing a place for us. The Ascension, recorded by Luke only, is implied by all the sacred writers, for none of them gives place to the idea that the risen Saviour might die a second time, which is the only alternative possible, apart from the mysterious fact authenticated by Gospel tradition. The glorifi- cation of Jesus commenced from the day when He rose from the o-rave • His body was no phantom ; it retained its reality, since it could be handled and felt, could eat and drink ; but it was nevertheless invested with new properties which distinguished it from its former condition. Jesus was not at once recognised by His disciples ; He seemed able to transport Himself with strange rapidity from place to place. In the Ascension He resumed all the glory which belonged to Him, and in that glory those divine attributes by virtue of which He governs His Church and gives Himself, by His spirit, to be the life of each believing soul. The Ascension was the crown of His work ; His final elevation was as needful as His first abasement. E. De Pressense. ASCENDED. M9 Lift up your heads^ ye everlasting gates, The King of Glory comes ! He comes to clothe This mortal in the imperishable garb Of immortality. Hear it^ ye dead — Hear the glad tidings ! and with trembling hope Expect that day when, at the archangels trump, From the long sleep of many thousand years,, Ye shall awake — awake to sleep no more. Hear it, O living man, ere greedy death Consigns thee to the prison of the tomb. Hear and be wise ; seek thy Redeemer's throne — On bended knees implore His healing grace — Chant forth His praise^ and venerate His name. William Bolland. The time had now come when His earthly presence should be taken away from them for ever, until He returned in glory to judge the world. He met them in Jerusalem, and as He led them with Him towards Bethany, He bade them wait in the Holy City until they had received the promise of the Spirit. He checked their eager inquiry about the times and the seasons, and bade them be His witnesses in all the world. These last farewells must have been uttered in some of the wild secluded upland country that surrounds the little village ; and when they were over. He lifted up His hands, and blessed them, and, even as He blessed them, was parted from them, and as He passed from before their yearning eyes, " a cloud received Him out of their sight.''"' Between us and His visible presence — between us and that glori- fied Redeemer who now sitteth at the right hand of God — that cloud still rolls. But the eye of faith can pierce it; the incense of true prayer can rise above it ; through it the dew of blessing- can descend. And if He is gone away, yet He has given us in His Holy Spirit a nearer sense of His presence, a closer infolding in the arms of His tenderness than we could have enjoyed even if we had lived with Him of old in the home of Nazareth, or sailed with Him in the little boat over the crystal waters of Gennesareth. We may be as near to Him at all times — and more than all when we kneel down to pray — as O.90 CHRISTVS BEBEMPTOB the beloved disciple was when he laid his head upon His breast. The word of God is very nig-h us^ even in our mouths and in our hearts. To ears that have been closed, His voice may seem, indeed, to sound no longer. The loud noises of war may shake the world, the eag-er calls of avarice and of pleasure may drown the gentle utterance which bids us, " Follow Me.^' After two thousand years of Christianity, the incredulous murmurs of an impatient scepticism may make it scarcely possible for faith to repeat, without insult, the creed which has been the regeneration of the world. Aye, and sadder even than this, every now and then may be heard, even in Christian England, the insolence of some blaspheming tongue which still scoffs at the Son of God as He lies in the agony of the garden, or breathes His last sigh upon the bitter tree. But the '^secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,^' and He will show them His covenant. To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty -three short years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth ; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the kingdom ; but for ever, even until all the vEons have been closed, and the earth itself, with the heavens that now are, have passed away, shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace, and hope, and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Immanuel, which is, being interpreted, " God WITH vs>" Canon Fabeau. ALL, AND IN ALL. »1 ALL, AND IN ALL. " Christ is all, and in all." Colossians iii. 11. The witness which Christ offers of Himself either proves everything-, or it proves nothing. No man has a right to say, " I will accept Christ as I like, and reject Him as I like ; I will follow the holy example, I will turn away from the atoning sacrifices ; I will listen to His teaching, I will have nothing to do with His mediation ; I will believe Him when He tells me that He came from the Father, because I feel that His doctrine has a divine beauty and fitness, but I will not believe Him when He tells me that He is one with the Father, because I cannot tell how this unity is possible/^ This is not philo- sophy, which thus mutilates man ; this is not Christianity, which thus divides Christ. If Christ is no more than one of us, let us honestly renounce the shadow of allegiance to an usurped authority, and boldly proclaim that every man is his own redeemer. If Christ is God no less than man, let us beware lest haply we be found even to fight against God. Dean Mansel. And then, last of all, add unto all that we have, over and above what He had, a new edition of God, and all His attributes and all His mind bound up in one volume in Christ, and the revelation of His Gospel — the mystery of His will — the least tittle whereof Adam should never have known. Faith brings us into another world, and the things of it infinitely transcending Adams's, and revealing more of God in the least creature of it than is in all his dominion, and is as much vaster than his as heaven is above earth ; as much exceeds it as the second Adam — Christ — doth him who was the epitome of the world, as Christ is of ours. We have the addition of new objects — and those glorious, heavenly, wholly supernatural. In Christ a new Indies is discovered, a new treasure broken up, which Adam should never have heard of. Rev. Dr. Goodwin. 29S CHRISTUS REDEMPTOR. Chvist is all things that are necessary to salvation, and that in all persons who do beleeve in Him, who are renued and regenerated by His grace. The truth of this proposition is from the power of the divine nature in Christ — that He is All in All to His people ; because the fulnesse of the Godhead dwells bodily in the humane nature as a part of the person. Jesus Christ is All in All by way of merit — His passion, death, obedience, and righteousnesse. The patriarchs in the Old Testament, Christians in the New, have pleaded -vvith God for all blessings only upon the account of Christ. " O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy servant, for the Lord's sake" (Dan. ix. 17). Of this the Apostle speaks, when he saith that "Chi-ist is made unto us of God wisdome, righteousnesse, sanctification, and redemption " (1 Cor. i. 30) . Christ is All in All to them by way of conveyance. As He hath merited all for them, so ^tis from Him, and through Him, that all good things are communicated to them (John xiv. 6) ; He is not only the fountaine, but the medium and conduit through whom all a beleever hath is conveyed to him ; Jesus Christ is a beleeve r^s rest (John xv. 5). Now, as all the sap which is in the branches is communicated through the root, so all the good which a beleever hath is derived through Christ. God hath put all that good He intends to bestow into Christ^s hands. Of this the Apostle speaks in Col. ii. 19 : — ''^From Christ the Head, the whole body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.'''' Jesus Christ is, as it were, the hand of God, through which all good things are sent in to us. He is the door " by which, if we enter in, we shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. ^^ . . . Christ is All in All by way of efficiency and causality. He it is that works all in all in His saints (1 Cor. xii. 6). This our Saviour bears witnesse unto when He saith, " Without Me ye can do nothing.''^ The soule is the principle of all action in man. Jesus Christ is the principle of all motion and spiritual action in His saints, for He is the soule of their soule. The Apostle doth freely acknowledge this: — "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, ka." (Gal. ii. 20). "Work out your own salvation, &c., for it is God which worketh in you,^^ &c. (Phil. ii. 12, 13). Jesus Christ is All in All to them virtually ; He makes up all things that are wanting. Hence He is in Scripture compared to all ALL, ANB IN ALL. 293 tilings — to food^ cloathing, physick, health, gold, &c. Jesus Christ is for all uses and purposes — He is circunicision to the Gentile, wisdome to the barbarian, &c. (Col. iii.). Hence is that promise in Eev. xxi. 7 : "He that overcometh shall inherit all things/'' Christ is All in All by way of benediction and sanctification. It is from Him that any good they enjoy becomes a blessing to them. He makes everything effectual for those ends for which they are appointed ; yea, were it not for His blessing, every good thing would prove a snare, a crosse, and a curse to us. This is that which Solomon saith (Prov. x. 22) : — " The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich.-'^ Thy health would be thy greatest sicknesse, thy wealth would be thy ruine, thy parts and abilities would be a snare to thee, did not Jesus Christ sanctifie them by His blessing. All the good the saints enjoy depends uj)ou Christ^s blessing to make them good to them. If thou canst not make up all things in Christ, thou makest Him but a poore Christ. If thou canst not make Him a friend in the want of a friend ; an habitation in the want of an habitation ; if thou canst not make Him riches in poverty ; if there be any condition in which Christ will not suffice thee ; if Christ be too little to satisfie thee, thou dost but under- value Him. He is never truly accounted anything till He be accounted all things. Rev. R. Robinson. This is to be ignorant, to know many things without Christ. If thou knowest Christ well, thou knowest enough, though thou know no more. St. Chrysostom. I will call upon Christ, the light of the world, the fountain of life, the relief of all careful consciences, the peacemaker between God and man, and the only health and comfort of all true repentant sinners. ... I have no hope or confidence in any creature, neither in heaven nor earth, but in Christ, my whole and only Saviour. Queen Catheeine Paer. In Christ there is all that you can want treasured up for you ; for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell. There is a fulness of wisdom to teach you the true nature of the promises, and a fulness of salvation to deliver you from everything that hindered your 294 CHBISTUS REDEMPTOR. relying" upon them, and a fulness of power to put you into tlie eternal possession of them all. Happy, then, are they who have the Lord for their God — a faithful, promise-keeping God, who will be their God for ever and ever. ' Rev. W. Romaine. " What think ye of Christ ? " Christ is the very soul and essence of all religion. As a man thinks in his heart, so is hej correct thoughts of Christ will involve correct conduct. This question, " What think ye of Christ ? '^ implies that God takes cognizance of thoughts. " Thou understandest my thought afar oif : '^ just those thoughts we have not adequately grasped — shadowy spectres. God sees what they are afar off, and condemns or applauds them. In the sight of men, a man stands according to what he does ; in the sight of God, according to what he thinks. The question also implies, what esteem do you hold for HimP If I ask the patriarch Job, though in the dim shadow, he will say, " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, whom I shall see for myself/^ If I ask Isaiah, he responds, in the presence of heaven and earth, in impressive tones, " He is the wonderful, the counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace.''^ The sweet singer of Israel answers, in tones of beauty, '^^ Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside (or in comparison with) Thee.^^ Solomon exclaims, " He is the chief est among ten thousand; He is altogether lovely.^^ He is JeremiaVs " hope of Israel,^'' " his Saviour in the time of trouble.^'' He is EzekieFs " plant of renown.""^ Hosea says, " He is as the dew unto Israel/'' Micah, exclaims, " He is a God that pardoneth iniquity. He delighteth in mercy.^'' Nahum, " The Lord is good, a strong- hold in the day of trouble,''^ &c. ; Jonah, " Salvation is of the Lord,"*^ " Thou hast brought up my life from corruption.^'' Habakkuk exclaims, " I will joy in the God of my salvation ; the Lord God is my strength." Zephaniah, " He is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in His love." Haggai calls Him *^The desire of all nations, and that lie is the Lord of hosts, and will fill His house with glory." He is Zechariah's " branch," and if I ask the prophet Malachi, he tells me He is " the Sun of Righteous- uois." John the Baptist tells us that even His shoe-latchet he is not ALL, ANB IN ALL. 295 worthy to unloose, and calls upon all to " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world/" Peter says, "To whom can we go but unto Thee ? Thou hast the words of eternal life/' Simeon exclaims, " Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation/'' John, in the fervour of devotion, says, " God is love/"" Paul, " I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord/' If I ask the Church militant on earth, they sing with one accord, " Whom, having not seen, we love ; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory/' He is the Lord our Righteousness, "He is all our salvation and all our desire ; " and behold the glorified Church taking up their crowns, and triumphantly exclaiming, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing/' Martyrs, in the midst of their sufferings, have said, " None but Christ, none but Christ ! " Is there anything beautiful in heaven above, on the earth beneath — anything exquisite in the exalted Christian ? All are scintillations from Jesus. "What think ye of Christ?" Can you rejoice in Him, through whom you have received the atonement ? Can you say " I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able to keep what I have committed to Him till that day?" "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ/' He is my life. He is my prophet to instruct me, my priest to atone, my king to rule over me and subdue my foes, my intercessor before the throne. He is all in all to me — all my salvation, all my desire. In prosperity. He maketh my cup to run over; in adversity. His consolations much more abound; in life, my friend, my guide, my portion; in death, my conqueror ; at the judgment-seat my righteousness, my advocate, and my Redeemer ; and, through eternity, my exceeding great reward, my foimtain of unfailing joy, my ocean ever flowing with happiness and glory. With Paul he exclaims, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift," and with Thomas, "My Lord and my God." Rev. Dii. Gumming. Here is the Church's happiness : that Christ is her friend, her greatest friend, her dearest friend, her loving friend, her best friend, her constant friend, her sympathising friend, her mighty friend. By 296 CERISTUS BEDEMPTOR. His blood she overcomes the devil, by His grace she resists the devil, by His might she treads him under her feet, and by faith in His word she quenches all the fiery darts of the devil. Oh ! though Satan hate us, Christ loves us; though Satan condemn us, Christ justifies us; though Satan accuse us, Christ clears us; though Satan seeks to destroy us, Christ preserves us; though Satan buffets us, Christ assists us — by His spirit, by His promises, by His graces, by His presence, by His word, by His intercession, by His power, by His ministers, by His example, by His prayer. Rev. W. Dyeii. Christ is not like light, life, or like food; but light, life, and food all have their blessed qualities and their genial powers because Ihey are nice ILim. He is the true light. He is the true life. He is the bread of life, and the only real sustenance. Nature is but a stray spark struck out from under the chariot-wheels of His path of glory. Nature is but a shell cast up by the ocean of His infinite love, in which the child-like listener may hear faintly and afar-off the ever- lasting melodies of its unfathomable waters. The sun shines because there is an eternal Sun of Righteousness; the morning star burns on the kindling forehead of this earth, because there is a blessed day-star on high ; " The wind bloweth where it listeth,^' because there is a Divine Spirit moving our confusion and death, and calling forth life ; the tree puts forth her leaves and buds and blossoms and fruits, because there is a true vine, with a multitude of fruit-bearing branches, which no man can number. The wheat is laid in the ground as seed, and puts forth first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, and is reaped and gathered into barns, and threshed, and winnowed, and made into bread for man, not because of the necessities of nature, nor of man's fleshly body, but because there is a holy seed — even the Word of God — caj)able of begetting man to a new life : because there is a growth in grace for the plants of our Heavenly Father's planting, in which they ripen for His harvest, and shall be winnowed by His judgment, and laid up in His garner ; because there is a blessed Bread of Life which whoso eateth of shall live for ever. And so of a thousand processes of nature about us : they are because of, and owe their creation to, eternal spiritual virtues, of which the believer in Christ knows ever more and more, but of which he that believeth not, and the ALL, AND IN ALL. 297 man of this world, knowetli nothing. . . . Yes, this is the use of Nature — this is the end and aim of the creation — to set forth God, to glorify Christ, to shadow forth the truth, as it is in the spirit of man, and as it is in God. Nature is not a ladder whereby to mount to Him, not a building of matter on which we may climb up to heaven. But Nature is a ladder let down from God, a ladder at the top of which He stands as He has revealed Himself in Christ, and by the power of His blessed spirit. Revelation is the only key to creation — the only solution of the enigma of its use, as well as of its purjoose and destiny. The Christian believer only can be the true naturalist, for he alone enters on the study of Nature aright : he alone feels the ineffable majesty of that august temple of the Creator, and treads its aisles with the humility which leads to wisdom, and kneels at its altars with becoming devotion. Dean Alfohd. We cannot, surely, meditate on those gracious offices which are borne for us by the Messiah without perceiving how truly He is spoken of as the " Saviour of the world.^"" As our prophet and teacher He saves us from the perils of ignorance ; as our high priest. He saves us from condemnation, by offering on our behalf an inestimable sacrifice ; as our king He saves us from the tyranny of sin, by shedding upon us the gifts of the Holy Spirit, whereby our spirits are comforted and sanctified. He saves those who seek the truth from the misery of walking in darkness ; He saves those who penitently seek for pardon from the wrath to come ; He saves those who seek after holiness from the plague of their indwelling corruption. And thus it is that He does for us what no other Saviour could do — lie takes out the sting of death, and robs the grave of its victory. Le Bas. Jesus Christ is the chief good, the knowledge of Him the chief wisdom, and the enjoyment of Him the chief hap2^iness. De Couucy. Jesus is the centre of our faith — the first and last of our thoughts. He is the Bible, for it testifies of Him; He is thu world, for through Him and for Him it was made ; He is time, the Alj)ha and Omega, the beginning and the end ; He is the new heart, for true life begins 298 CHRISTUS liEDEMFTOR. with the baptism of the new birth^ and is complete in the stature of the perfect man. " There is no other name whereby we can be saved." He alone gives our years their true sig-nification ; our new years with the right consecration (after Jesus we call each year the year of our Lord)^ om- endeavours the right aim^ our destiny the right light, and our obligations the right fervour. " His name is as ointment poured forth; His name is a strong tower the righteous runneth in and is safe." Through His name the devil is driven out, the serpent wounded, the sick healed. . . . The name of Jesus is God's Amen. F. Aendt. He is a path, if any be misled ; He is a robe, if any naked be ; If any chance to hunger. He is bread ; If any be a bondman. He is free ; If any be but weak, how strong is He ! To dead men life He is; to sick men health ; To blind men sight ; and to the needy wealth ; A pleasure without loss, a treasure without stealth. Giles Fletcher. There is no fulness like Christy's fulness ; it is fulness provided by the Father Himself ; it is the infinite fulness of the Eternal Son — the God-man. It is all fulness; it is fulness of the very kind that sinners need. Here is fulness of pardon, fulness of life, fulness of grace, fulness of righteousness, fulness of strength, fulness of wisdom. For " He is of God made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." Is there, then, any reason for our remaining empty ? That fulness is at our side, and ready to flow into us. How unreasonable, then, our desponding complaints of emptiness and leanness ! What can despondency mean, when God has provided such a fulness of every blessing ? and in what light does God view such despondency but as our refusal to be blessed ? . . . It is of this fulness that the Holy Spirit takes and pours into us ; it is His part first to make us willing to receive it, and then to pour it in. How willing is the whole Godhead — Father, Son, and Spirit — that we should be made partakers of this fulness ! " Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." We need not, then, be poor, so long- as Christ is ALL, AND IN ALL. 299 ricli ; nor need we be weak, so long as He is strong. God^'s desire is that we should partake of His fulness, and His delight is in seeing us filled. Rev. Dr. Bonar. There was a time when the Apostles themselves imagined that Chi-ist died chieily for the Jewish nation ; now they all knew that He had " died for all/^ and that " He should gather together in one all the children of God that were scattered abroad." At one time they had dwelt on the prior claims of Judaism ; now they knew that in Christ Jesus " there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor un- circumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ all and in all.'''' At one time those original witnesses had doubtless prided them- selves on their acquaintance with the human person of the Saviour, and on being His brethren after the flesh, through their common descent from Abraham. Now they had learnt that faith had the promises of a higher privilege than sight, and that the very mother and brethren of their Master " are those which have the word of God and do it.'"'' Rev. Dr. Hannah. Nor exile I nor prison fear ; love makes my courage great ; I find a Saviour everywhere. His grace in every state. Nor castle-walls, nor dungeons deep, exclude His quickening beams ; There I can sit, and sing, and weep, and dwell on heavenly themes ! Madame Guyon. How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of Christ ! Life in immortality ! Brightness in righteousness ! Truth in full assurance ! Faith in confidence ! Temperance in holiness ! And all these things He hath subjected to our understanding. Let us, there- fore, strive with all eari?egtness that we may be found in the number of those that wait for Him, that so we may share the promised rewards. Clemens Rom anus. That man trades in the world without money, and goes out of the world without recommendation, that leaves out Christ Jesus. To be a good moral man, and refer all to the law of nature in our hearts, is but the " dawning of the day ; " to be a godly man, and refer to 800 CERISTUS REBEJIPTOR. God^ is but a " twilight ; " but the meridional brightness — the glorious " noon and height " — is to be a Christian ; to pretend to no spiritual^ no temporal^ blessing, but for, and by, and through, and in, our only Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. Dean Donne. " None but Christ, none but Christ ! '' Come/ then, my soul — come thou and all thy concerns into this ark, and there thou shalt be Bafe when the deluge comes. Hie to this city of refuge, and in it thou shalt be secured from the avenger of blood. Quit all other shelters, for everything but Christ is a refuge of lies, which the hail shall sweep away. Matthew Heney. Through Christ believers are to expect everything, from the least drop of water to the immense riches of glory. Haliburton. In His death He is a sacrifice, satistymg for our sins ; in the Resurrection, a conqueror; in the Ascension, a king; in the Intercession, a high priest. Martin Luther. Lord of mercy and of might. Of mankind the life and light. Maker, Teacher infinite, Jesus, hear and save ! Strong Creator, Saviour mild ! Humbled to a mortal child. Captive, beaten, bound, reviled, Jesus, hear and save ! Throned above celestial things, Borne aloft on angels^ wings. Lord of loids and King of kings, Jesus, hear and save ! Soon to come to earth again. Judge of angels and of men. Hear us now, and hear us then, Jesus, hear and save ! Bishop Heber. ALL, AND IX ALL. 301 The name of Jesus to a believer is as honey in the mouth, music in the ears^ or a jubilee in the heart. St. Bernard. All the glory and beauty of Christ are manifested within, and there He delig-hts to dwell. His visits there are frequent. His condescension amazing, His conversation sweet. His comforts re- freshing ; and the peace that He brings passeth all understanding. Thomas A^Kempis. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.''' Here is the way to escape ; here is the Physician that can heal, the Redeemer that can save. There is none other name but His which can crown hope with His own everlasting joy. Receive it, therefore, I entreat you, with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and strength ; pray by it, walk by it, trust ye ever in it ; and may He who hath bestowed upon you this great, this precious name, ever fill you (not with the spirit of bondage again to fear, but) with the spirit of adoption, whereby ye cry, " Abba, Father.^' R. Aa^derson. Oh ! did we but know ourselves, and our Saviour ! We are poor, but He is rich ; we are dead, but He is life ; we are sin, but He is righteousness ; we are guiltiness, but He is grace ; we are misery, but He is mercy; we are lost, but He is salvation. If we are willing, He never was otherwise. He ever lives, ever loves, ever pities, ever pleads. He loves to the end, and saves to the uttermost, all that come unto Him. Rev. J. Mason. Without Christ — so far as our spiritual existence is concerned — we are not; for, as alive unto God, He is our life. If, then, we love Christ in any measure, is it any singular indication of our love to desire to be with Him ? If we know what the enjoyment of His presence is by His spirit, is it marvellous we should wish to be where He is in person ? that though the one seem to follow tlie other, this present realisation of Christ kindling, keeping alive, our love to Him for what He is in Himself, for what He is to us, for what He is to the disembodied just, is not common. A present Christ is not the Christ of the majority of Christians, but a far-off Christ. Yet, when this 302 CETITSTUS; ItEBEMPTOB. realisation is — when Christ is so seen to he with ns always, as though He had never gone away — then will be the desire to be with Him. The world, with its charms, will be held loosely ; we shall long for a re-union with those gone before ; our thoughts will be with the future, the unseen, the spirit world. " The day of our death will be to us better than the day of our birth.''^ Rev. Dr. A. B. Evans. O holy Jesus, who for our sakes didst suffer incomparable anguish and pain, commensurate to Thy love and our miseries, which were infinite, that Thou mightest purchase for us blessings upon earth, and an inheritance in heaven, dispose us by love, thankfulness, humility, and obedience, to receive all the benefit of Thy Passion, granting unto us and Thy whole Church remission of all oxir sins, integrity of mind, health of body, competent maintenance, peace in our days, a temperate air, fruitfulness of the earth, unity and integrity of faith, extirpation of heresies, reconcilement of schisms, and destruction of all wicked counsels intended against us. Multiply Thy blessings upon us, holy Jesus ; increase in us true religion, sincere and actual devotion in our prayers, patience in trouble, and whatsoever is necessary to our souPs health or conducing to Thy glory. Amen. Bishop Ellicott. It is a great art to know how to converse with Jesus, and great wisdom to know how to keep Jesus. Be humble and peaceable, and Jesus will be with thee; be devout and quiet, and Jesus mil stay with thee. Thou mayest soon drive away Jesus, and lose His favour, if thou turn aside to outward things. And if thou hast once chased away and lost Him, unto whom wilt thou fly, and what friend wilt thou then seek ? Without a friend thou canst not live comfortably, and if Jesus be not thine especial friend, above all others, thou wilt be exceeding sad and desolate. Therefore thou dost foolishly if thou place thy confidence or joy in any other. It is more eligible to have the enmity of the whole world than the displeasure of Jesus. Of all, therefore, that may be dear unto thee, let Jesus alone be thy poouliar and chiefest beloved. It is Jesus Christ alone that ought to be loved without reserve, and without measure, because He alone infinitely surpasses in goodness and faithfulness all others that you can possibly love. Thomas A^Kempis. ALL, AND IN ALL. 303 Jesus, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast ; But sweeter far Thy face to see, And in Thy presence rest. No voice can sing-, no heart can frame, Nor can the memory find A sweeter sound than Thy blest name, O Saviour of mankind. O hope of every contrite heart, O joy of all the meek, To those who fall how kind Thou art. How good to those who seek ! But what to those who find ? Ah ! this Nor tongue nor pen shall show ; The love of Jesus, what it is None but His loved ones know. Jesus, our only joy be Thou, As Thou our crown wilt be ; Jesus, be Thou our glory now. And through eternity. St. Bernard. Christ alone is He that adds value and virtue to our weake faith , beautie to our stained obedience, being the very foundation of our faith, and the fountaine of om- obedience. Rev. John Stoughton. If we would stand, Christ must be our foundation ; if we would be safe, Christ must be our sanctuary. E-EV. John Mason. The Son of God never goes off from His watch-tower, never is parted, never is separated, never moves from place to place; but is always everywhere, and contained nowhere ; all mind, all light, all eye of His Father, beholding all things, hearing all things, knowing all things. Clemens Alexandrinus. 304 CBRISTUS EEBEMPTOR. O let all our spirits be taken up with Christ ! If I had but one word more to speak in the world_, it should be this, for surely " Christ ■'"' is enough to fill all our thoughts, desires, hoj^es, loves, joys, or whatever is within us or without us. Christ alone comprehends all the circumference of all our happiness. Oh, the worth of Christ ! Compare we other things with Him, and they will bear no weight at all. Cast into the balances with Him, angels, they are wise, but He is wisdom ; cast into the balances with Him, men, they are liars, lighter than vanity, but Christ is " the Amen, the faithful witness." Cast into the scales kings, and all kings, and all their glory ; cast in two worlds, and add to the weight millions of heavens, and the balance cannot divide, the scales are unequal, Christ outweighs all. Shall I yet come nearer home ? What is heaven but to be with Christ ; what is " life eternal,'''' but to believe in God, and in His Son Jesus Christ ? Where may we find peace with God, and reconciliation with God, but only in Christ ? It is true, those essential attributes of love, grace, mercy, and goodness are only in God, and they abide in God, yet the mediatory manifestation of love, grace, mercy, and goodness is only in Christ. Christ alone is the treasury, storehouse, magazine of the free goodness and mercy of the Godhead. In Him we are justified, sanctified, saved. " He is the way, the truth, and the life." He is honour, riches, beauty, health, peace, and salvation; all the spiritual blessings wherewith we are enriched are in and by Christ. God hears our prayers by Christ; God forgives our ini- quities through Christ ; all we have, and all we expect to have, hangs only on Christ. He is the golden hinge upon which all our salvation turns. Rev. Isaac Ambrose. What can the world profit thee without Jesus ? To be without Jesus is an insupportable hell; and to be with Jesus a ravishing- paradise. If Jesus be with thee no enemy will be able to hurt thee. He that findeth Jesus findeth a good treasure; yea, a good that surpasseth all goods. And he that loseth Jesus, loseth exceeding much, even more than the whole world. He is the poorest man in the world that livcth without Jesus, and he the richest that standcth well with Jesus. Thomas A'Kempis. INDEX " Abide with me," 1G6 Abraham, Christ was before, 45 Advocate, 20, 87 Agony at Gethsemane, 51 All and in All, 291 Angels no advocates, 21 Ascended, 286 Ascension, 49 Atonement, 4, 214 Baptism of Christ, 239 " Baptism, to be Baptised with," IGO Beacon, Christ a, 147 Beauty of Christ, 150 Belief, 34, 301 ,, of Disciples in Christ's Di\inity, 4G „ Object of, 15 Benignity of God, 76 Bu-th of Christ, 28, 131, 232 Bhndness, 197 Blood of Christ, 128, 194, 214, 21G— 219 Bounty of God, 76 Bread of Life, 82 Bread and Wine, 127 Burden, 106 Calvary, Moral results of, 42, 43 „ Sacrifice of, 8 Capernaum, Christ at, 156 Centre of Faith, 298 Character of Christ, 36, 37, 39—41, 151 Child Jesus, 131, 137, 139—143 Comforter, 148, 178 Coming to Christ, 7, 8 Compassion of Christ, 186 Comprehension, Limits of, 16, 17 V Concealed truths, Christ dealing with, 159 Consoler, 178 Corner-Stone, 54 Covenant of Love, 3 Cross, 259, 260, 262, 263, 268, 270—274 Crucified, 230, 258 " Crux in Cunabulis," 134 Cure for Sin, 6 Curse of Law removed, 16 Day of Judgment, 200—203 Day and man, 19 Death, Shadow of, 123 Defence, Christ oirr, 211 Dehverance, 186 Descended into Hell, 277 Desires of Soul, 7 Die, Learn to, 67 Difficulty, ISO Disappointment, and of Chi-ist, 49 Disciples, Faith of, 38 Disciples, Chi'ist parting with Ilis, 288 Discouragements, Eemcdy for, 104 Divine and Human, 27 Divinity of Christ not destraction of the reaUty of His manhood, 145 Door, 48 Doubters, 174 Doubts, Eemedy for, 9 East, Star in the, 77 Effects of Grace, 20 Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, 38 — 90 Eternal Life, Tree of, 33 Eterj^al Light, 74 Evidences of Christ's Messiahship, 24, 25 306 INDEX. Examples, 144 Expectation of the Messiah, 21 Faith, 16, 212, 301 „ Centre of, 298 ,, Handmaid of Love, 94 „ In example of, 86 ,, of Disciples, 38 ,, Triumph of, 86 Flesh and Blood of Clirist, 123 Following Christ, 59 „ the Son of Man, 43 Food, 296 Forgiveness, 2 Foundation, 54, 56, 303 Fountain, 193 Friend, 20, 171 Friendship, Christ's, 17I Fulness, 298 Gethsemane, Christ's Agony at, 51 Gifts of God to His Son, 37 Glory of Christ, 150 Grace, 102, 148 „ and Truth, 181 „ Effects of, 20 „ Sufficiency of, 181 Greatness of Christ, 38, 39 God bringing men to Himself, 174 „ Made Man, 31 „ Man's conception of, 27 „ represented in Christ, 34 „ the Son of, 36 Godhead and Manhood of Christ, 27, 30, 31 Godliness, The Mystery of, 228 God-Man, The, 17 Good Shepherd, The, 71, 225 Good\vill, God's, to man, 4 Gospel, The ; what it docs, 7 ,, ,, what it is, 38 Guide, 60 Happiness, 193 Healing, 187 Heaven, 43 — 45 Helper, 166 Hermon, Scene of Transfiguration, 251 High Priest, 59, 60, 85, 104 Holiness of Christ, 117 Holy One, 116 Hope, 57, 92, 93, 183 Human and Divine, 27 Humanity of Christ, 120, 138, 146, 181 HumbUng of Soul, 103 Humility, The way to, 103 Hymns on Christ, as— Advocate and Intercessor, The, 20 All and in All, 300, 303 Ascended, The, 287 Atonement, 221, 225, 228 ChUd Jesus, The, 131 Consoler, The, 178, 180 Crucified, 258, 260, 263, 271, 272, 274 Descended into Hell, 277 Example, The, 149 Fountain, The, 193 Friend, The, 172 Helper, The, 166, 170 Immanuel, 28 Lamb, The, 122 Light, The, 74 Love, 99 Man of Sorrrows, The, 52 Peace, 190 Eansom, The, 129 Kedeemer, The, 5 Rest, 105 Eighteousness, 213 Risen, 279, 283 Rock, The, 57 Strength, 111 Sun, 196 Teacher, The, 157 Way, The, 61 Word, The, 114 I am, 45 Ignorance, 293 Immanuel, 27 Incarnate, 231 Incarnation, Object of Clirist' s, 151 Individuals, Chiist's Love for, 96, 99 Inllucnce of Chiist, 1 INDEX. S07 Innocence of Chi-ist, 11 Intercessor, 20 Jerusalem, Christ's Entry into, 88, 00 Joy, 22, 30, 174, 193, 227 Judge, 200 Judgment, G, 201 „ Committed to the Son of Man, 200 Day of, 203 Justitication, 2, 36, 200, 210 King, 88 Kingdom of Clirist, 90 KnoM'ledge, 113 „ of Christ, 3 „ of self and of Chi-ist, 301 Lamb, 121 Last Day, 203 Last Supper, 126 Law, Curse of removed, 1 6 Learn to die, 67 Life, 66, 296 „ Bread of, 82 „ Object of Cluist's on earth, 151 ,, of Christ, Significance of, 29, 30 „ Tree of Eternal, 33 „ Where to seek, 67 „ Words of, 60 Life-Giver, 66 Light, 74, 147, 197, 199, 296 „ of Hope, 30 Likeness to Christ : It's force, oO Lion, 121 -Logos, Life, 67 „ Light, 75 Love, 93 „ Activity of, 96 „ Covenant of, 3 „ Due to Jesus, 32 „ Even to Death, 90, 97 Man, his nature restored, 3j „ of Sorrows, The, 51 „ The Son of, 47 j Manhood and Godho-id of Cliiiit, 27,30, 31 ! Manhood of Christ, 146 j Manifestation of Christ, 13 I Manner of Ckrist's teaching, IGO — 163 I Master, The, 22 : Mediator, 16, 21 I Mercy, 45, 104 ' Merits of Christ, 3-t Messiah, 24, 25, 297 ]Ministry, Unity of Christ's, 154 Sliracles, S}-mbolism of Chi-ist's, 185 Jlission of Christ, 50 Moderation, 152 Morning Star, 75 Mystery of Chi'ist's nature, 34 „ Godliness, 228 Xame of Christ, 13, 14 Nathanael, 176 Nativity of Christ, 28, 131, 232 Nature, Man's restored, 33 Obedience of Chi-ist, 207 Object of BeHef, 15 „ „ Preaching, 73 Objects of Christ's Incarnation, 13, 15, 48 ), „ Sufferings, 14, 15 Oneness of Mediator, 18 Pardon, 2, 6, 7 Parting of our Lord and His Disciples, 288 Passover, 126 Pattern, 144, 148 Peace, 174, 189, 217 Perfection, 2 „ of Christ, 211 I Peter and Chi-ist, 177 ! Physician, 184 i Poetry on — I Advocate and Intercessor, The, 20 j All and in All, 297, 299, 300, 303 I Ascended, 286, 287, 289 ; Atonement, The, 214, 215, 221, j 225, 228 Child Jesus, The, 131, 133, 134 I 13G, 138 CoasDlcr, The, 178, 180, 181 308 INDEX. Poetry on— Crucified, 258, 260, 263, 2G4, 265, 267, 269, 271, 272, 274 Descended into Hell, 277 Example, The, 149 Fountain, The, 193 Friend, The, 172 Good Shepherd, The, 72 Grace, 103 Helper, The, 166, 170 Holy One, The, 119, 120 Immanuel, 28, 31, 32, 33 Incarnate, The, 236, 237, 238 Judge, The, 201 King, The, 91, 92 Lamb, The, 122 Light, The, 74, 76, 77— SD, 81 Love, 98, 99, 100 Man of Sorrows, The, 52 Messiah, The, 25, 26 Peace, 190 Power, 110 Ransom, The, 129, 130 Redeemer, The, 5, 6 Rest, 105, 107 Righteousness, 206, 213 Risen, 279, 281, 283 Rock, The, 57 Saviour, The, 13, 15 Strength, 111 Sun, The, 196 Teacher, The, 157 Tempted, 244, 245 Vine, The, 73 Way, The, 61 Word, The, 114, 115 Power, 108 Praise, 5 Prayer of Ckrist, 147 Preaching, Object of, 73 Present Christ, A, 301 Price with which we are bought, 4 Priest, 59, 60, 85, 104 Professors of Christ, 151 Prophet, 84 Propitiation for sin, 9, 11, 200, 210 Punisliuicnt of sin, 10 Puiity of Christ, 116 Ransom, 129, 218 Reconciliation, 35, 86, 226 Redeemer, 1 Redemption, 218 Reign of Christ, 90 Relationship of Christ to Man, 9 1 Remedy for discouragements, 104 ■ ,, „ doubts, 9 ,, „ sin, 6 Remembrance of Christ, 23 Rest, 105, 179 Restoration, 12 Restraint from sin, 21 Resurrection of Christ, 204, 279 Reverence due to Jesus, 32 Righteousness, 206 ,, Sun of, 76 Risen, 204, 279 Rock, 57 Sacrifice, 11 „ of Christ, 8, 217 Sacrifices, 86 Saints, no reconciliation, 21 Salvation, 9 Sanctification, 204 Savioiu', 7, 224, 297 Seeking Life, 67 Self-denial of Christ, 145 Sense of sin, 8 Separation of our Lord and His Disciples, 288 Shadow of Death, 123 Shame, 182 Shepherd, Good, 71, 225 Shepherds of Bethlehem, 133 Significance of Christ's Life, 29, 30 Similarity to Christ, 156 Sin destroyed, 7 ,, Propitiation for, 9 „ Punishment of, 10 „ Remedy for, 6 „ Sense of, 8 „ Tj-ranny of, 112 Sinner and Ch-'st, 177 IXDEX. 309 Son of God, 3G Son of Man, 47 Son'ows, Man of, 51 Soul, Desire of, 7 „ Humbling of, 103 Spirit of Clirist: its Power, IS Siiiritual body, 66 Star in the East, 77 „ Morning, 75 Stone, Corner, 54, Strength, 111 Sufferings, Ckrist's, 14, 15, 52, 120, 144 SuiSciency of Grace, 181 Sun, 196 „ of Righteousness, 187 Supper, Last, 126 Symbolism of Chiist's miracles, 185 S>Tnpathy, 175, 187, 202 Teacher, 154 Teaching, Manner of Chi-ist's, 160—163 „ Vitality of Christ's, 155 Tempest stilled, 32 Tempted, 243 Tenderness of Christ, 178 Thomas and Christ, 177 Throne of Christ, 90 Transfigured, 66, 248 Treasure in Christ, 291 „ Heaven, 293 Tree of Eternal Life, 33 Trial, 191 Trouble, 58 Truth, 62, 181 Truths, Chi'ist sealing with concealed, 159 Unit}^ of Chi-ist's ministry, 154 ,, Mediator, 18 "Verily, verily," 63 Vine, 73 Vitality of Christ's Teaching, 155 Voice from Heaven, 43 — 45 Watch-Tower, 303 Way, 59 Will of God, 1 16 Wine and Bread, 128 Wisdom, 113 Witness of Christ to Himself, 291 to the Truth, 62 Woes of Chi-ist, 52, 53 Wonder at the mystery of Immanuel, 32 Word, 114 Work of Christ, 12, 64, 65 Works, 69 of Christ, 120 Writing, None of Chiist's existing, 155 INDEX TO FIRST LINES OP HYMNS AND OTHER POETICAL EXTRACTS. Abide ^\■ith me ! fast falls the eventide . . . About Him all the sanctities of heaven All the souls that were, were forfeit once And now came on temptation's demon hour And so the Word had breath, and wrought Art thou weaiy, art thou languid ? A star that seemed to pant with life Awake, my soul, in joyful lays ... Bound upon the accursed tree Broken-hearted, weep no more ... But, oh ! the mellow light that p: 'UV.5 ... By various names we Thy perfections call Can nothing settle my uncertain breast . . . Chosen from above .. . Christ knoweth in His childhood... Christ, my Lord, I come to bless Thee . . . Christ suffers, and in this His tears begin Cold and obscure, in vain the king and sage Come, lovely name ! life of our hope ! ... Deep strike thy roots, O Heavenly Vine 1 Eternal Light ! Eternal Light ! ... For without Thy sacred powers ... Girt with shadows, girt with terror God the Redeemer hveth ! He who took Guide me, Thou great Jehovah ! Hail, thou Head I so bruised and wounded He is a path, if any bo misled PAOB Lyte 166 Jfilton 120 Shahespeare 6 R. Montgomery 245 Tennyson ... 115 Neale 105 Manson 77 Medley 99 Milman 271 Boane 178 McUcn ... ... 76 Ken... 100 Quarles 267 Shakespeare 103 Horsley 134 St. Gregory Xuzhmzcn . 81 Fletcher 214 London 236 Crashatv 13 Whittier ... 73 Binney 74 Robert II. of France 110 Moultrie... • ]277 Horsley . i Bowles 281 Williams ... 111 St. Bernard 265 Fletcher 297 INDEX TO FIRST IIKES OF HYMKS. 311 He'll, dying, rise, and rising mth Hini raise ... Milton He on whose eyes sweet light revealed hath been Herand How I tremble, how I fear thee... ... ... Uorsley I asked the heavens : — " WHiat foe to God hath done R. Montgomery I followed rest ; rest fled and soon forsook me I have no help but Thine ; nor do I need I know that my Eedeemer lives Immortal love, for ever fidl In the cross of Christ I glory It came upon the midnight clear Jesus' holy cross and dying Jesus lives, no longer now Jesus, still lead on ... Jesus, the very thought of Thee Jesus, Thy robe of righteousness Just as I am, without one plea Kindle Thou thyself in us Leaning on Thee, my Guide and Friend Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates Look humbly upward, see His will disclose Lord, I have shut my door Lord of mercy and of might Love strong as death, nay stronger Messiah comes ! Ye rugged paths, be plain Nature with open volume stands ... No stern recluse Nor exile I nor prison fear Now God be praised I that to believing souls for a thousand tongues to sing God ! my heart is fixed on Thee holy Sa\'iour, Friend unseen ... sacred head, surrounded Thou, the contrite sinners' Friend Oh, close the book, and seal the seal Oh, Thou great power ! in whom I move Oh, what a night was this to Thee Our Friend, our Brother, and our Lord ... Quarks Bonar Medley Whittier ... Boivring ... Sears Bonaventtira Gellert Zinzendorf . . . St. Bernard Zinzendorf... Elliott Adam of St. Victor Ryle's Collection Bolland Dry den Atkinson . . . Seller Bonar Johnson Watts Bickersfcth Guy on Shakespeare C. Wesley... Xavier Elliott Gcrhardt . . . Elliott Punshon Wotton Lash Wh ittier . . . Peaceful was the night Milton 237 312 INDEX TO FIBST LIXES OF HTMXS. Eise crowned -with light, imperial Salem, rise . . . liise, my soul, from slumljer now Eise, my soul, with thy desires, to heaven . . . Eock of Ages, cleft for me Sad, sad thoughts, and weary Savioui- of mankind, Man, Immanuel ! . . . Sun of my soul, Thou Savioui- dear Survey the wondi'ous cure The Lord of hosts hath walked ... The roaring tumult of the hillowed sea ... The scene aroimd me disappears ... The Spirit breathes upon the word The true anointed 'King Messiah, at whose bii'th a star Then rising from liis grave Then shall the day-S2)ring rise, before whose beams There is a fountain fill'd with blood Though greatly from myself conceal' d ... Tree of Eternal Life, Thee all alone A^Tiat laws, my blessed SaAdour, hast Thou broken ^Tien with deep agony His heart was racked . . . ^l^'^loever saw the earliest rose yfho can forget, never to be forgot Would' st thou be blest ... PAGB Pope 25 St. Ansel m of Lnccn 53 Raleigh •263 Toplachj 57 Wallace 180 Sandys 201 Kchle 193 Young 6 Milman 31 Grahame ... 32 J. MonUj timer 11 28 Cowper 114 Milton 138 Hilton 286 Bowles 138 Cowper 193 Ncivtou 206 Bailey 33 Meermann ... 228 Lamb 264 Keble 136 Fletcher 133 I)ana 190 Yes, the Eedeemer rose Doddridge 283 THE END. CAB.SELL, PETTrR, GAI.riN & CO., BELIE SAUVAGE WORKS, lONDON, E,C. SELECTIONS FROM Messrs. Cassell, Fetter, Galpin & Co.'s Publications. The Life and Work of St. Paul. By the Rev. F. W. Farrar, D.D., F R.S., Canon of Westminster, and Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. Two Volumes, demy 8vo, cloth, 24.S. ; morocco, £2 2s. " Regarding the work as a whole, it is difficult to exaggerate the completeness with which the author has accomplished his difficult tRsk."— S/ant//irsis of their numerous l!.\.vs- trated Serial Fuhlicat ions, sent post free oh application to Cassell, Tetiek, Gali-in & Co., Ludgatc Hilt, London. Cassell, Fetter, Gal pin A'- Co.: J.ndi^ate Hill, London ; Paris ; and New York. Date Due -^fr-" , J ^ 1:0 ^i ,7<, '- ^ BS2421.S724 ^ ^^ . Christ our Redeemer : being thoughts and Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00057 2653