that eclipsed the beams of a meridian sun. It was the light of [divine] glory which Saul beheld on this occasion; that light unapproachable in which Jesus Christ continually dwells. It was of the same nature as that which St. John describes in his vision, when he says, "His countenance was as the sun shining in his strength." It was that light in which he will appear when he comes to judge the world, “and every eye shall see him." Much as the prophets and apostles have said of the glory of Christ, it is impossible for us to form an adequate conception of it: the full revelation of it is reserved for a future state, when, if we are true Christians, "we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."* How short is the transition between this and the unseen world!— How soon, when God pleases, can he transport his creatures into higher scenes of existence! It is but for him to draw aside the veil, and objects are presented to the view, compared to which whatever is most admired on earth is mean and contemptible. Every moment we stand upon the confines of an eternal state, and, without dissolving the connexion between soul and body, God can open a passage into the "heaven of heavens." Why should we doubt of good men's being admitted into the more immediate presence of Christ at death, when we consider what Saul was permitted to see and hear before he was finally removed from this world? St. Stephen beheld the heavens open, and the Son of man standing at the right-hand of God; and Saul, in the transaction before us, was permitted to see that Just One, and to hear the words of his mouth. Along with the light a voice was heard, saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." This solemn question is replete with instruction. He does not condescend to reason with Saul; he enters into no vindication of his cause: with the dignity suited to his character, he expostulates and warns. It deserves our attention, that he identifies himself with his disciples; he makes their cause entirely his own, and considers what is done against them as against himself: "Why persecutest thou me?" Christ and believers, notwithstanding the immense disparity of their circumstances, are one. He is touched with a feeling of their sufferings; and whatever insults or reproaches are offered to them for his name's sake, he feels and resents as done to himself. Let those who are tempted to insult and despise the followers of Christ on account of their conscientious adherence to him, remember that their scoffs and insults reach higher than they may apprehend; they will be considered as falling on their Sovereign and their Judge. Personal injuries it is impossible now to offer to the Saviour; but the state of our hearts towards him will be judged by our treatment of his followers: and he has warned us, that it were better a "millstone were hanged round our neck, and we buried in the depths of the sea, than that we should injure one of these little ones who believe on him."† In answer to the inquiry, "Who art thou, Lord?" he replies, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." You will observe, he does not style 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, "a 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."‡ 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."§ -- 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 HEAVENLY HOSTS. 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."† 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. 1. The Scriptures uniformly teach us to look upon the death of Christ in a light totally distinct from that of any other person. Considered 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?" 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. † Isaiah liii. 5, 6. †† 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. Rom. iv. 25. |