181

And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." -MATT. xxi. 44.

WHAT fearful words to come from the lips of the meek and lowly Jesus! words, too, spoken in regard to himself; for that he is the stone here mentioned cannot admit of the slightest doubt. No one needs to be told how certainly if anything brittle, such as an earthen vessel, comes into violent collision with a huge and massy stone, it will be broken in pieces; or how if this stone were thrown down from a height on such a vessel, the latter would be not only broken in pieces, but absolutely ground to powder; yet such a stone is Christ, and such a vessel is the unbelieving, impenitent sinner. The image marks two different kinds of punishment, -not, as is is commonly supposed, two different degrees of the same punishment. In the one case, the person offending is active-he stumbles and is broken; in the other, passive-he is fallen upon and crushed. Whatever evil is experienced in the first case the sinner takes a part in. The person who endures it is at once the doer and the sufferer; and it must, therefore, be confined to this life, where alone sinners have the opportunity of doing anything against the Rock of Salvation. But the evil experienced in the second case comes entirely from without, rushes upon the sufferer with irrestible force from the Saviour no longer meekly bearing opposition and contempt, but rising out of his place to punish the transgressors. The two clauses, therefore, must be viewed separately, as the warning contained in the one is considerably different from that uttered in the other.

1. "Whosoever falleth upon this stone, shall be broken." As falling upon a stone implies a kind of violent contact or collision, it most naturally suggests to our minds those who, in some respects, directly resist the claims of Messiah, and place themselves in opposition to his authority. Among such, therefore, we must class in the foremost rank the avowed adversaries of the faith, whether Jew or Gentile, who disown Jesus as the true Messiah, and treat his pretensions with undisguised contempt; but not these alone those also who, while they admit Christ in some sense to be the Messiah, yet will not consent to the great truths unfolded in his work and Gospel, especially the truths of their own lost and ruined condition by nature, and the necessity of looking to the cross of Christ for pardon and acceptance with God; for these doctrines lie at the root of the whole Christian system, and practically to disbelieve or make light of them, is in effect to join issue with Christ, and strike at the very foundations of his blessed No. 16.

Gospel. And it were well if such plain and manifest adversaries of the truth were the only persons who could be said to stumble and fall upon Christ; but there are thousands more who substantially do this, though they never seem to take up the relation of enemies toward him. From the very nature of his claims, to neglect is to refuse; practically to disobey is, in the divine reckoning, to oppose; and from the very nature of the truth of his salvation, not to own, receive, and act on it, is to contradict and resist it. For his claims demand the homage of the heart and life; and his truth carries along with it, wherever it is truly received, a sanctifying as well as justifying power. Hence, the opposition to Messiah, which is here called falling, and elsewhere stumbling, upon the stone, is by Peter, in his address to the Jewish rulers, merely named "disallowing" it; and hence, also, in the parable of the pounds (Luke xix.), those who had simply declared, "We will not have this man to reign over us," are afterwards commanded to be brought forth as his enemies, and slain before him.

It is a hard saying to many who would fain divide themselves between God and the world, to be told that they are taking the part of enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ; but it is nevertheless true that there is no middle course between receiving and rejecting Christ-between embracing him as a whole Saviour, to be loved and delighted in, and acting toward him as an adversary, whose fellowship is shunned, and whose authority is disobeyed. Let men's speculative opinions about Christ be what they may, if they are not making him the confidence and rejoicing of their heart-if they are preferring any other object before an interest in his salvation-if they are living in any indulgence which he condemns as sinful--or pursuing any course which is contrary to the spirit and tenor of his Gospel-then Christ is not to them the sure foundation-stone of faith and hope, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. In their heart there is a rival to his supremacy, and an opposing interest to that of his salvation; and were he to declare the relation in which they stand to him, it would not be in such words as these: "Ye are my friends, because ye do whatsoever I command you;" but rather: "I know you not, ye workers of iniquity."

But what is meant by such persons who thus fall upon Christ, or strike against his will and authority, being broken? It is that they injure not Christ, but themselves-themselves, however, of necessity, as the earthen vessel falling on the flinty rock cannot but be broken. What a striking illustration was given. of this

June 13, 1845.

in the history of those Jews for whose timely warning and instruction it was first uttered! In disowning Jesus as the Messiah, how emphatically did they reject the counsel of God against themselves! Their striving against him was of no avail to defeat that counsel of God; the purpose of Heaven to exalt Jesus to be the head-stone of the corner stood unaltered; and though they did succeed with a temporary triumph to cast him out of his own vineyard, yet it was only that this, and all who belonged to it, might be made the objects of divine judgment and vengeance-their house was left unto them desolate, and their prosperity as a people dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel.

What took place in the history of these perverse and infatuated men, was but the beginning of judgment-which, from that day to this, has been continually overtaking those similarly situated, and manifesting itself more or less in their experience. It is the law of God, sure and stedfast as every ordinance of Heaven, that no man is the better, but infallibly the worse, for his disregard and rejection of Christ; all who kick against him, inevitably kick against the pricks. Though everything concerning them is allowed to take its natural course, and they are simply left to reap the fruit of their own doings, yet are there evident signs in their condition, which bespeak them to be suffering under the power of a holy retribution, and leave no room to doubt, that in refusing their obedience to the claims of Christ, they are forsaking their own mercy. Need we appeal for the truth of this to the history of the avowed enemies of the truth, the champions of Infidelity or Atheism, and point out how uniformly in their experience blindness and corruption of heart, insensibility to what is pure and good, vexing desires, vicious habits, a disorderly life, a disconsolate or wretched death, tread upon the heels of their rejection of the truth, and set, as it were, the manifest seal of Heaven's condemnation upon the error of their unbelief? Or need we appeal to the lives of those who profess, indeed, that they know Christ, but deny him in their works, pursuing a course of profligacy or crime, and call to witness their lost reputation, their miserable homes, their desolate hearts, often also their shattered constitution and untimely end, in attestation of the personal injury they have sustained by slighting the authority of the Son of God?

Ah! there is no need that we should wait till the final issue of things in the day of judgment-till we see the hopeless perdition of the wicked, and the everlasting glory of the redeemed to discover on which side truth and error, good and evil, really lie. The history of the world is ever furnishing witnesses, which give forth no uncertain sound upon the subject. And what is the testimony that is uttered? That the man who cherishes in his heart the profoundest regard to Christ, and has his walk most nearly conformed to the precepts of his

Gospel, is always in his condition the most ele vated and blessed; while the more, on the other hand, that any one departs from such a sincere and hearty obedience to the authority of Christ, he is always the more estranged from what is pure and good, the more shipwrecked as to his real wellbeing. But the truth, let it be remembered, is not confined to the two extremes of good and evil; it is only more distinctly marked and fully verified there. In whatever way, and to whatever extent men come into collision with Christ, they are sufferers in their condition on account of it. They are broken in their peace, which, apart from Christ, has no solid foundation to rest upon; broken in the frame and temper of their inner man, which, apart from his grace, there is nothing properly to refine and sanctify; broken at once in their present inheritance of good and in their hopes of a happy destiny hereafter; for "he that hath the Son hath life, but he that hath not the Son hath not seen life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

2. This is only the one-half, however, of the evil, and unspeakably the lighter half. In so far as it is experienced, it no doubt comes in the way of judgment, as a manifestation of the righteous displeasure of God for the dishonour done to his truth; but coming, as it does, in the ordinary course of Providence, and without any special or direct interference on the part of Christ, it is seldom represented as the execution of a judgment. The infliction of this in the full and proper sense, takes place hereafter, when Christ shall no longer remain as in a state of rest, but shall come forth to punish with destruction from his presence those who would not have him to reign over them. This is what we are told in the second part of the verse: On whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

66

This is language so express that we cannot doubt its meaning, and so appalling in its nature that the mind naturally shrinks from contemplating the awful depth of evil it discloses; for nothing short of complete and overwhelming ruin can here be understood. It may be possible to understand certain expressions that are elsewhere used, of the future condition of the wicked, as denoting something less than final and irrecoverable perdition; and there may be many reasons advanced, drawn chiefly from men's ignorance, and the short insight they necessarily have into the depths of God's universal government, with the view of making such perdition appear at variance with the ends of God's government, and unworthy of his character. But who can tell what other reasons there may be present to the infinite understanding of God, and connected with the highest interests of his glorious kingdom, to render the everlasting perdition of a portion of his creatures necessary, in the same sense in which anything is necessary that proceeds from the essential holiness of his nature!

Even now we see how often his footsteps are in the deep waters, and how many evils are permitted to exist, of the most excruciating kind-the ends of which are but very imperfectly known; and who, then, shall presume to say that the same may not be found, and in far higher degrees, in those regions where all is to be determined by the rules of absolute perfection? Then, if there be expressions used of the future condition of the lost, which might possibly be taken in a lower sense, than as affirming a complete and never-ending state of wretchedness, there are others which seem framed on purpose to prevent anything short of such a state being looked for. And the strongest of these, it is to be remarked, proceeded from the lips of Jesus himself; as if it became him, rather than any of his ambassadors, to utter words of such fearful import; and as if, coming directly from one so surpassingly tender in heart, and so peerless in majesty, it were thereby intended to put beyond all doubt the inevitable necessity, as well as indisputable rectitude and certainty of the judgment. Thus we find him saying of one, and of that one merely because he was a son of perdition, that it had been "good for him if he had not been born;" implying that in the long run of his existence the evil was sadly to outweigh the good, so that no being at all had been better than being in such a state as his. Then, again and again does he affirm of those generally, who resist and disobey his will, that "their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched" (literally, is not quenchable has in it the element of eternity); and in the passage before us he speaks of their destruction in language which can only be verified by their becoming perpetual monuments of misery and ruin.

"On whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder." And on whom shall it fall? On whom but those who have themselves fallen on it and been broken? It is the act of retribution for former injuries and affronts-the tribulation and wrath which must alight on all who have not received the truth of Christ in love, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. On all such it shall fall, and grind them to powder. How significant of utter destruction! If the vessel fall and be broken, even though it be shivered into a thousand pieces, yet these pieces may be gathered up again, and cemented together; but if fallen upon and ground to powder, then the damage is irreparable, and the ruin hopeless! So, if sinners should now, in the waywardness of their rebellious hearts, set themselves against Christ, and obtain the recompense of their sin in much bitterness and disquietude of spirit, in many troubles and disorders of a temporal kind, they may, possibly, after all, be recovered; they are still, even when farthest gone in the way of sin and wretchedness, within the reach of omnipotent grace, which is able to lift them up from the lowest depths, and set them on the Rock of Sal

183

vation. But when the arm of Omnipotence has exchanged the instruments of grace for the weapons of vengeance, and all that there is of power, and holiness, and truth, in the Saviour, comes down upon the sinner as its deserved victim, hope must inevitably perish the potsherd is ground even to powder. Oh! that sinners would but listen in time to the note of warning, and give diligence to have their calling and election made sure against the coming woe. It is love and pity to your souls that speaks through these words of Jesus, that, being moved with fear, you may flee now to the ark of safety provided for you in the riches of his grace. Let them sink deep into your hearts, and impress you, first of all, with a sense of the folly, the certain ruin, of slighting Christ and disobeying his blessed will. You cannot do so without doing ill to yourselves even here, and that as the sure sign and forerunner of far worse things hereafter. The counsel of Heaven concerning Christ is fixed-that he must be the head-stone of the corner-the glorious and mighty Lord, whom all nations shall reverence and obey; so that nothing devised or done against his authority can be allowed to prosper. Be assured, that every purpose or action that is contrary to his Word is a weapon forged against yourself; and, instead of contending with him, which is to wage a mad and disastrous war with Omnipotence, be ready rather to sacrifice everything that would stand between your souls and his salvation.

But rest not merely with this impressionbe not satisfied with simply shunning any course of opposition to his will and authority. Learn here the place which Christ holds in the kingdom of God, and the corresponding place he ought also to hold in your hearts. He must either be everything to you, or infinitely worse than nothing; either the elect and precious stone, on which you stand secure, and rise to the inheritance of endless glory, or else the stone of remediless destruction, grinding to powder. All that is essentially good or evil in your lot depends upon the nature of your relation to him. If you are safe and blessed, it is because Jesus has been made the joy and rejoicing of your heart; if lost and ruined, it is because he has become a stone of stumbling and rock of offence. Kiss, then, the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way. Seek him as the pearl of great price-cleave to him, as better than thousands of gold and silver. And as it is the sum of a preached Gospel, so let it be the main subject of your daily meditation and delight-" Christ, the wisdom of God, and the power of God unto salvation."

"I AM READY NOT ONLY TO BE BOUND BUT TO DIE."

COME Death, come bands, nor do you shrink, my ears,
Save those of fear, no other bands fear I;
At those hard words man's cowardice calls fears;
Nor other death than this-the fear to die.

CRASHAW.

Biographical Sketch.

THE REV. ROBERT BALMER, D.D.

ROBERT BALMER was born in the parish of Eckford, Roxburghshire, on the 22d November 1787. His parents were worthy, God-fearing people, his mother being the grand-daughter of James Biggar, an elder in the congregation of Etterick in the time of Boston, and mentioned by him as one who, with his family, had been most comfortable to him as a minister of the Gospel. "May the blessing of God," wrote Boston, "whose I am, and whom I serve, rest on them from generation to generation! May the glorious Gospel of his Son, whose I am, and whom I serve, catch them early, and maintain its glorious ground in them to the end!" Robert was, from the first, trained by his parents in the way that he should go; and their care and attention were richly rewarded; for, from his youth upwards, he seems to have known the truth of God, and to have believed to the salvation of his soul. It is related of him, that even as a child he was punctual in his morning and evening devotions; unequalled in getting hymns and passages of Scripture by heart; and restless till he knew where to find the narrative

or text he was anxious to peruse or to commit

to memory.

The following remarkably pleasing incident is narrated as having occurred when he was about nine years of age :

An old man, a neighbour, came frequently at leisure hours to converse with his parents. This person was harassed by doubts and fears about his interest in the Saviour. One day Robert listened while his mother argued with the poor man, and endeavoured to persuade him to dismiss his fears, and to commit himself trustingly to Christ. It was in vain. He still reiterated: "Christ will have nothing to do with me." Robert perceiving, it would seem, that the man was speaking under the influence of morbid feeling, and wilfully putting away consolation, at last put in his word. Then what is the use of your aye talk talking about him to my mother? If he'll have nothing to do with you, can't you let him alone?" "Let him alone, hinney," the man replied, "I would not let him alone for a thousand worlds." "O then," said the boy," I am thinking you'll do well

enough."

When Robert was about ten years old, his father died, "rejoicing in the hope of the Gospel." Sometime before, he had resolved to dedicate his son to the work of the ministry; judging, both from the graces and the talents of his childhood, that it was his duty to do so. "Shortly before he expired, he called his family around him, and solemnly blessed them, repeating a promise from Scripture, as he laid his hand on the head of each in turn, and then bade them all farewell. Mrs Balmer at this time consulted her dying husband about the propriety of Robert's going on with his learning. He said: "Just be guided by your means,

and by your own judgment. See that the rest be not injured by what you do for him; but if you can, let him go on." The widow was not left altogether unprovided for; yet many would have sunk where she bore up nobly. Her husband, though not a man of wealth, had been in easy circumstances for his station, and had saved a little money. With the interest received for this, and the profits of a small shop which she opened at Eckford-moss-to which place she removed her family soon after his death-she was enabled to maintain herself and her children-three sons and a daughter— · respectably, and without injuring the others to let Robert go on with his education; until, by engaging in teaching during the intervals of his attendance at college, he relieved her from further expense on his account. She gave way to an irrepressible burst of sorrow on the evening of the day of her husban'ds funeral, when Robert brought the books for family worship,

as he had been used to do when his father was

alive, and quietly placed them before her. On seeing her so much overcome, he reminded her that God who had taken away his father would be a father to them, and had promised to hear their prayers; "and," said he, "we must not go to bed to-night without worshipping him." His

mother then took the books, and conducted the

Worship of the family, and from that time continued to do so till Robert, a few years afterwards, took her place in this exercise.

After leaving Crailing and Eckford schools, where he learned English, he was sent to a school at Morebattle, where he began the study of Latin; and, when about fourteen, went to the grammar school of Kelso, then under the charge of Dr Dymock, afterwards of Glasgow High School, where he finished his preparations for the university, and distinguished himself above all his class-fellows.

He entered the University of Edinburgh in the year 1802, and went through the ordinary curriculum in literature and philosophy; attending, besides, some of the medical classes, also the classes of chemistry and botany. While in Edinburgh, he attached himself to the ministry of Dr Peddie, whose expositions of Christian truth, we are told," had a considerable influence in forming his theological taste; and who, with characteristic sagacity, at an early period discovered his superior talents, and anticipated his future eminence."

After passing an examination by the Associate Presbytery of Selkirk, Mr Balmer was admitted to the study of divinity under the Rev. Dr Lawson of Selkirk, the well-known professor in connection with that body.

And when he came among us, says his biographer, he was welcomed as no ordinary acquisition to our society. Memory recalls him as he was then, unaffected, and unpresuming in his manner, rather of a of his young associates. Without his having much more serious and thoughtful turn of mind than others of that exuberant mirthfulness, or of that caressing address which might at once have captivated, we

oon discovered the real kindliness of his heart, and is readiness to enter with us into any innocent enjoyment. He took an easy and active part in the business of the class, and of the various societies which the students had formed among themselves, but did not seek to make himself a leader; much oftener he was found a peace-maker in the little contentions which sprung up about matters then thought of deep interest, now altogether forgotten. The superiority of his talents and acquirements was willingly allowed by his fellow-students. They were, I think, generally proud of him.

Having finished the session at Selkirk, Mr Balmer returned to Edinburgh, and, during the winter, attended the theological classes in the university, obtaining a prize, at the close, for the best essay "On the Character of Moses as a Legislator." Every year he followed the same course, till he ended his theological curriculum. During the whole course of his studies, and for some time after he had finished them, he supported himself by teaching; for, owing to certain conscientious scruples which he entertained on various points, he did not for some time take license. "There were not wanting some to ascribe this hesitation to unworthy motives; to suspect him of a hankering after the larger emoluments, or the more promising field for literary ambition, which he would find if an opening presented itself for him in the Established Church. It was whispered that he looked with contempt on the low state of learning in the Secession Church, and thought himself greatly superior in talents and attainments to those with whom he would have to associate and to act, if he should become a minister in it." Such suspicions grieved not his friends so much as himself; for his conscience told him that they were altogether unfounded. An humble competency as a Burgher minister was, he himself declared, the highest object of his ambition; and so far from despising, he held in the greatest esteem, the literary and theological attainments of the ministers of his Church. The true reason of his hesitancy is stated by himself as follows:

It was not till a year and a-half after I had finished my theological course that I could make up my mind to assent to the Formula; and, even after that long and anxious delay, I would probably have chosen some secular employment, had I not been allowed to give my assent with the following explanations. I stated that the question respecting covenanting and the covenants, though I could assent to it as explained, did not seem to me entitled to the place which it occupied. I expressed my approbation of the Presbyterian form of church government, as consonant to Scripture in its general principles; but I did not wish to be understood as concurring in the strong terms in which all other forms are condemned. On the question demanding an assent to the Confession and Catechisms, I stated that to me these documents appeared so extensive and multifarious as to be disproportioned to the narrow limits of the human mind; that I at least had not studied every expression in them so carefully as to be prepared to assent to it with the solemnity of an oath; that I approved of them, however, so far as I had studied them; and that the presbytery might ascertain, by strict exa

185

miñation, the amount of my attaininents, and treat me accordingly; which of course they did."

These exceptions and explanations, however, were allowed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, by whom he was licensed on the 4th of August 1812. In a few months afterwards he received calls from no fewer than four congregationsthose of Lochwinnoch, Leslie, Ecclefechan, and Berwick. He preferred the last of these; and was accordingly ordained to the pastoral office, and the charge of the Associate Congregation of Berwick, in March 1814.

THE DOCTRINES OF MAYNOOTH.

PART V.

HOW THE CHURCH OF ROME TREATS THE WORD OF GOD. concluded.

WE have already shown how Rome dishonours the Bible, by denying its sufficiency as a rule of faith and practice, by adding to it human traditions, by taking from it divine commandments, and by denying its sole authority. We proceed to show that,

IV. She dishonours the Word of God by forbidding its general perusal. The command of God is: "Search the Scriptures "a command frequently repeated in various places and connections, as if with the very view of nullifying the prohibitions of Rome. "Lay up these my words in your hearts, and rinds, and hang them for a sign on your hands, and place them between your eyes. Teach your children, that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou liest down and risest up."-Deut. xi. 18, 19. "And take unto you the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."-Eph. vi. 17. "Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."-Ps. i. 2. "Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have life."-Rom. xv. 4. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy." Many of the epistles are addressed to the members of Churches, whose duty, of course, it was to make themselves acquainted with the message addressed to them. "TO ALL that are at Rolle, called to be saints."-Rom. i, 7. "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." "I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.”

Rome, however, has another command. She will not trust her votaries with the Bible. Blinded as they are, she knows that many of them could not avoid seeing how opposed are the commands of God in the Bible and the doctrines therein contained, to the commands issued and the doctrines taught by her. Mere natural reason and common sense would make them see that. And therefore she takes the

Bible from them altogether, and declares it to be a book not for the people, but for the priests. We are aware that Papists in this country would fain deny that such is the case-would fain have Protestants believe that by the Church of Rome the circulation