himself here the Christ, or the Son of God-"I am Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus was the proper name of our Lord, a common appellation among the Jews, and the addition of Nazareth had usually been made as expressive of contempt. In contempt, He was usually styled "the Nazarene." Our Lord was determined to confound Paul by the meanest of his appellations, and resolved to efface the ignominy attached to this appellation, and to cause himself to be adored by Saul under the very names by which he had been most vilified and contemned. "It is hard," he adds, "for thee to kick against the pricks." He compares Paul to the bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, who, in order to free himself, wounds himself by kicking against the goads. Thus fruitless is all opposition to the cause of Christ. It will be injurious, it will be destructive to ourselves if not desisted from, but can. never eventually injure the cause against which it is directed. The heathen may rage, and yet "the Lord hath set his King upon his holy hill of Zion," and there he will for ever continue to sit. To all who oppose him he will prove a burdensome stone, of stumbling and a rock of offence."t "Whosoever shall fall upon it shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."‡ 66 a stone To those who judge by the eyes of flesh, persecuting the servants of Christ may possibly appear a very easy task; but to those who remember who is engaged to be their Protector it will appear in a very different light-it will appear the most dangerous employment in which they can be engaged. The time will come, my brethren, when we shall perceive we might as safely have insulted the prince upon his throne as persecuted Christ in the person of the meanest of his members. "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." How many Pontius Pilates and Herods, in different ages, has this crime doomed to destruction! We may trace the effects of it in the astonishing scenes that are now passing in the world. We may behold it in the subversion of thrones, and the misery and desolation of kingdoms. For though the immediate instrument employed in inflicting these calamities is the insatiable ambition of an individual, they must in general be traced to higher sources-the unrepented crime of persecution. Who that reads the prophecies but sees that it is the weight of Christian blood-the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, that now presses and weighs down the nations of the continent, and makes them reel and stagger like a drunken man: "They have shed the blood of saints and of prophets, and the Lord has given them blood to drink, for they are worthy."S Let us guard against whatever approaches to this crime. If you will not walk in the ways of religion yourself-if you will not take the yoke of Christ upon you, at least be careful to abstain from vilifying and reproaching his servants. Respect the piety you are not disposed to imitate. "What wilt thou have me to do?" He makes no stipulation; his surrender of himself is absolute; the words he utters are expressive * Psalm ii. 6. † Isaiah viii. 14. Luke xx. 18. Rev. xvi. 6. of absolute submission. Such a surrender of ourselves into the hands of Christ, such a submission from us [also] is absolutely necessary. He is directed what to do, and he complies punctually with the direction. "He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision."* For a further account of our Saviour's address, see Acts xxvi. 16-18. He was blinded by the light. (Acts xxii. 11.) He gave himself up to solitude and prayer. He would doubtless reflect on the following things: 1. On what he had seen. 2. On what he had done. 3. On what lay before him. XV. THE LAMB SLAIN THE OBJECT OF RAPTURE TO THE REV. v. 6.—And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain. In the preceding chapter John is presented with a magnificent vision: a door is opened in heaven, through which he passes, and beholds the throne of God, and the Almighty sitting upon it. The several orders of creatures which make their appearance there celebrate a solemn act of worship to him "which was, and which is, and which is to come, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."t As the holy apostle was now on the point of being instructed in those mysteries of Providence whose accomplishment was to reach from the time of this vision to the consummation of all things, involving the remotest destinies of the church and of the world, so the manner in which it is imparted is such as must give us the highest idea of its importance. It formed the contents of a roll of a book in the hand of him that sat on the throne, "written within and on the backside, and sealed with seven seals." The whole universe is challenged to furnish one who is capable of loosing these seals and exploring its contents. "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon."§ The apostle, whose mind was inflamed with solicitude to be made acquainted with these mysteries, wept much at finding there was none * Acts xxvi. 19. † Rev. iv. 8, 10, 11. Rev. v. 1. » Rev. v. 2, 3 worthy to loose the seals and to open the book. And one of the elders said unto him, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." Under this emblem Jesus Christ is represented, alluding to the prophetic benediction of the patriarch Jacob—“Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre," he adds, "shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come."* Judah was the regal tribe, and famous for its warlike exploits; distinguished by a succession of illustrious princes and conquerors, the descendants of David, who were at most but the forerunners and representatives of an incomparably greater personage, the Son of God, who, after he had vanquished the powers of darkness, was to be invested with an everlasting dominion, that all nations, tongues, and people should serve him. While John was expecting to see some majestic appearance, he beheld, and lo, a Lamb with the marks of recent slaughter presented himself before the throne, and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on it: upon which the several orders of creatures "fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth."† Emblems of weakness, of innocence, and of suffering made part in a scene where [we might] suppose nothing to enter but unmingled grandeur. Nor are the sufferings of Jesus Christ in our nature merely indistinctly introduced; they are the principal objects presented to the view; they are made the basis of that wonderful act of adoration in which every creature in the universe unites. The portion of Scripture which I have selected for our present improvement, thus introduced, suggests the two following important observations. I. That the distinguishing merit of Christ arises from his having redeemed us to God by his blood. II. That this part of his character engages the attention and the adoration of the heavenly world. I. That which distinguishes the character of Christ from all other beings is his condescension for the salvation of men. Con 1. The Scriptures uniformly teach us to look upon the death of Christ in a light totally distinct from that of any other person. sidered in itself it is not at all extraordinary, for in every age we find examples of those who have sealed the divine truth with their blood. We learn from the New Testament that such was the end of Stephen, of James, of Paul, and of Peter. It is one of those trials which Jesus warned his disciples to expect, insomuch, that to be prepared at his call to surrender their lives was an inseparable condition of becoming his followers. But to none of their sufferings were such purposes assigned, such effects ascribed, as are uniformly ascribed to the sufferings of the Saviour. 66 Precious," indeed, "in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints," but it is never represented as having the remotest connexion with the remission of sins. They are never represented as set forth for a propitiation. Where is the death of Peter or of Paul spoken of in such language as this:-"He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God through him :"*, "He laid on him the iniquity of us all; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we were healed;"-" He was delivered for our offences, and rose again for our justification;"-not to mention innumerable other passages equally clear and decisive? What language that bears the least resemblance to this is applied to any other subject? The great apostle speaks of Christ's dying behaviour as a part of his character which was altogether inimitable : Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" 66 66 2. Accordingly, the inspired writers never mention the death of Christ without emotions of devout rapture. The prayer of Paul for his Christian converts was, that they might "know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." It is the grand argument which they employ to enforce the obligation of Christians to love each other, even as Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour."P "Herein is love," John exclaims, "not that we loved him, but that he loved us, and gave himself for us.”** This love was the motive which, with a sweet but irresistible violence, impelled them to devote themselves entirely to his service. "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if Christ died for all, then were all dead: and he died, that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him who died for them." As the morality of the gospel is distinguished from that of the world by being founded in love; so the devout contemplation of the love of Christ is the grand principle which kindles and inflames it. 3. When the great Ruler of the world was pleased to accomplish his secret purpose of reconciling the sinful race of man to himself, by the pardon of their sins and the renewal of their natures, he saw fit to appoint his Son to be their surety, to assume their nature, and to die in their stead: "Great is the mystery of godliness; God manifest in the flesh." Instead of endeavouring to explore all the secret reasons of this wonderful economy, it rather becomes us thankfully to accept, and devoutly to adore it. It is sufficient for us to perceive, that no method within our comprehension could have equally provided for the display, at once, of his justice and of his mercy; his spotless purity, and his infinite compassion. In making his Son the sacrifice, justice * 2 Cor. v. 21. §1 Cor. i. 13. 1 John iv, 10. Isaiah liii. 5, 6. tt 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 1 Rom. iv. 25. appears in its utmost splendour; while, in freely "giving him up for us all," mercy appears in its most attractive form. The highest lessons of purity and holiness are learned at the foot of the cross; and if we are desirous of discovering an effectual antidote to the love of sin, it must be the serious and steady contemplation, by faith, of Christ crucified. 4. Salvation through the blood of the Redeemer, though it forms the distinguishing feature of the Christian system, was not peculiar to it. It entered into every dispensation of religion communicated by God. A multitude of types and figures were employed, to shadow forth the great expiatory sacrifice, previous to his manifestation in the flesh. He was the Paschal Lamb whose "blood, sprinkled on the posts and lintels of the doors,"* secured the families of Israel from the destroying angel, in the night when God slew the first-born of Egypt: "Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us." He was prefigured by all those burnt-offerings which were daily offered in the temple, and especially on the day of annual atonement, when the blood of the victim was carried by the high-priest into the holy of holies. The goat that was slain on that occasion, and whose blood was presented before the mercy-seat, prefigured the vicarious death of Christ, and his entrance into heaven; the other, called the scape-goat, which, after having the sins of the congregation II. This part of our Saviour's character engages the attention and adoration of the heavenly world. 1. They adore this matchless display of love in his condescending to become man, to endure reproaches and sufferings, and at length to expire on the cross, to rescue the guilty from ruin. These benevolent spirits are not unaccustomed to perform kind offices for men: they often appeared under the ancient economy in visible form, to warn, to instruct, and to comfort; so they are still "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." But nothing which they ever performed bore any resemblance to the incarnation and sufferings of Jesus Christ. On no other occasion did love ever stoop so low, endure so much, or operate in so free and spontaneous a manner. He who assumed nothing in making himself equal with God "took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross." In his mysterious descent, he passed by superior orders of being, to invest himself with human flesh. He who was the "Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father," condescended to become the "Son given," and the "child born." And never was humiliation so deep, never was there reproach and infamy so extreme as that which he endured. Loaded with the most shameful appellations, and persecuted throughout the whole of his life, in its last scenes he was arraigned before Pontius Pilate, smitten on * Exod. xii. 7, 13. † 1 Cor. v. 7. Lev. xvi. 2, 20-34. Heb. ix. 7-15, Phil. ii. 7, 8. |