this distant place and period, are witnesses for him that his cause has triumphed, and that it shall finally prevail throughout all the earth. God had set the world at defiance; and had pronounced obedience to the Gospel to be the true wisdom of every man, of kings and governors, as well as of the lowest classes of society: and, agreeably to his predictions, "the stone which the builders disallowed, is become the head of the corner." Let men then continue to oppose the Gospel as they will, it shall "run and be glorified, and fill the face of the whole earth with fruit:" it is a rock that defies all the power or policy of hell itself: and, as "all who fall upon it shall be broken, so, on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Happy would it be if the enemies of Christ would avail themselves of the space allowed them for reflection, and would consider what an unequal contest they are endeavouring_to maintain! They think that they are fighting against a few weak enthusiasts: but they are "fighting against God" himself, who, in the person of his Son, addresses them, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ME?" The Lord grant that the admonition given on that occasion to that bitter persecutor, may be remembered by us all; "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks!"] 3. That the proper effect of his death is to produce penitence and faith in all [We see the propriety of their conduct who smote their breasts, and publicly professed their faith in Christ: we even congratulate them in our minds on their speedy experience of such a blessed change. But was this conduct proper in them only? Is there no occasion for similar emotions amongst us? Perhaps, instead of opposing, we approve and profess the Gospel but who amongst us has not opposed the establishment of Christ's kingdom in his own heart? Though we did not unite with those who crucified him on Mount Calvary, have we not "crucified him afresh," by continuing in sin? Truly there is even more cause for us to "smite our breasts," than there was for that multitude to do so: for they sinned" through ignorance;"" they knew not what they did:" but we sin against light and knowledge, yea, against our own most solemn vows of allegiance to him. The smallest knowledge of our own hearts will furnish us with a catalogue of sins that we have committed against him, a catalogue that would reach up to heaven. This then I say; let us imitate the penitent multitude and the believing Centurion: and in this especially let us imitate them, in not moving from the place where we are, Ps. ii. 1-6, 9-12. with Acts iv. 25, 26. without first abasing ourselves before God for the guilt we have contracted, and looking unto Jesus for the expiation of it. Doubtless the change that took place in them, was wrought by the agency of the Holy Spirit, whose office is "to glorify Christ, and to take of the things that are his, and shew them unto us." That Spirit is promised " to us, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Let us then pray for the influences of that same Spirit upon our hearts; that, through his powerful operations, we may "look on him whom we have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born"."] d Zech. xii. 10. MDLXXXIX. THE NECESSITY OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS AND EXALTATION. Luke xxiv. 26. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? AN ignorance of the Scriptures is far more injurious to us than we are apt to imagine; for it lies at the root of all our errors both in faith and practice. The infidels of old denied the doctrine of the resurrection, "not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God." The Jewish rulers crucified their Messiah, because they were ignorant of the character in which, according to the Scriptures, he was to appear; and thus they unwittingly fulfilled the very Scriptures which they professed to reverence. The Disciples of our Lord himself were confounded at the death of their Master, and averse to credit the reports of his resurrection, because "they knew not the Scriptures that he must rise again." Our blessed Lord, after his resurrection, joined two of them in their way to Emmaus; and when he found how ignorant and incredulous they were, he reproved them; and, to convince them that "the Messiah ought to have suffered the very things which he had suffered, and in that way to enter into his glory," he expounded to them the principal prophecies relating to those events. His appeal to them on that occasion leads us to consider. I. The necessity of Christ's sufferings unto deathThere was no necessity for Christ to undertake the redemption of man; but, supposing him to have undertaken it, then there was a necessity for his sufferings unto death; 1. To fulfil the Scriptures [The death of Christ had been exhibited in types from the very beginning: all the sacrifices offered by Adam, Abel, Noah, and the Jews themselves, marked out a suffering Messiah. The same also was declared in many express prophecies. Not to mention the intimation of it given in the first prophecy, nothing could be more plain than the declarations of Isaiah on this subject: it seems perfectly astonishing to us, that people professing to regard his writings as prophecies of the Messiah, should ever make the crucifixion of Christ a stumblingblock, or account the doctrine of his cross foolishness. How decisive too is the testimony of Daniel; as is that also of Zechariah! But besides these general testimonies, there are particular intimations respecting all the most minute circumstances of his death; the collective view of which forms a body of evidence that is altogether irresistible. But how could these be fulfilled if Jesus should not suffer? they must all be rendered null and void, and the veracity of the inspired writers, yea, of Him also who inspired them, must be for ever impeached.] 2. To answer the ends of his mission [For what did Jesus come into the world? Was it not to bear the sins of men in his own body, and, by rendering satisfaction to God, to make the exercise of mercy compatible with the rights of truth and justice? But how were these ends to be attained? The obedience of Jesus, however perfect, could not answer these ends. The law denounced death against the transgressor: and death must be inflicted on him, or on his surety. If therefore Jesus was to be a surety for man, he must undergo death; he must bear that which man should have borne: nothing but this could satisfy the demands of the law and if man were saved without the death of his Surety, the whole authority of the law must be cancelled, and the Law-giver himself be dishonoured in the sight of all his creatures. We grant, for argument's sake, that the mercy of God would be magnified in such a way of pardoning transgression: but then what regard would he shew for the rights a Gen. iii. 15. b Isai. lii. 14. and liii. 3-5. d Zech. xiii. 7. of justice? What would become of his truth and faithfulness? How could "mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other?" The perfections of God would be set at variance, and some would triumph at the expense of others: but this would be directly contrary to the ends of Christ's mission: and therefore our Divine Surety must suffer death, in order to answer the ends for which he became incarnate.] With the death of Christ is connected II. The necessity of his exaltation to glory The two cannot be separated: there was a necessity that the latter should take place, 1. To complete his work [The work of the high-priest was not finished, when he had shed the blood of his sacrifice: he must carry that blood within the vail, and sprinkle it upon, and before, the mercyseat and he must then burn incense before the mercy-seat : nor, till this was accomplished, could he come out to bless the people. Thus must our great High-Priest not only offer himself a Sacrifice, but "enter into heaven with his own blood"," and, together with that, present also the incense of his own intercession. If he should not do this, he would leave his work unfinished, and consequently of no avail. But how should he do this, if he should not "enter into his glory?" Nor is it his priestly office only that would be made void; his prophetic and kingly offices also would be incomplete: he teaches men by his Spirit; but "the Holy Ghost would not have been given, if Jesus had not been glorified :" it was necessary that he should go into heaven, that he might send the Spirit down from thence. Nor could he exercise his kingly government unless he were enthroned on high, and invested with power to subdue all things unto himself. Hence, then, his exaltation was as necessary to the completion of his work, as his humiliation was to its commencement.] 2. To give to his people a solid ground of hope— [If our surety, who had been carried to prison for our debt, were kept immured in it, we should have reason to fear that he was unable to fulfil his engagements: but if we saw him liberated, we should conclude that he had fully discharged our debt. Thus if our blessed Lord had never been exalted to heaven to enjoy "his glory," which he possessed previous e Heb. ix. 12, 24. h Phil. ii. 9-11. bow," &c. f John vii. 39. g John xvi. 7. "God exalted Him, that every knee should to his incarnation, we should feel many misgiving thoughts respecting the acceptance of his sacrifice, and the efficacy of his mediation. But when he is restored to that glory which for our sakes he had laid aside, we cannot entertain a doubt respecting his sufficiency for our full and complete salvation. Though by dying on the cross he appeared unable to save himself, yet, by his ascending to heaven afterwards, we are assured of his power to save us: because he raised up himself, we know he can raise up us; and, "because he liveth, we trust assuredly that we shall live also." Nor are we left to conclude this from uncertain reasonings; for St. Peter expressly tells us, that "God raised him up, and gave him glory that our faith and hope might be in God."] To obtain a just view of our Lord's address, it will be proper to notice, III. The peculiar force of his appeal There is a very striking energy in the text, as connected with the preceding and following verses: it intimated, 1. That they ought to have been better acquainted with the Scriptures [The Jews had the sacred oracles read and expounded to them every Sabbath-day; and therefore they were inexcusable in not being well acquainted with their contents, especially with those great truths which related to their Messiah. And the Apostles, above all, were blame-worthy, because they had enjoyed the ministry of our Lord himself. How blameable then are we, if we are ignorant of that which relates to Christ; we, who have all the light of the New Testament as well as of the Old; we, who can compare the prophecies with the history of their accomplishment; we, to whom the Bible is accessible at all times; and who have its contents statedly and plainly opened to us! We are apt to think our ignorance of the Scriptures excusable, because we are not scholars, or because we must attend to our worldly callings: but the Disciples were poor fishermen, and therefore as excusable as any persons upon those grounds; yet our Lord justly and severely reproved their ignorance and most assuredly he will reprove us also in the day of judgment, for not using better the means of instruction which he has afforded us, unless we search the Scriptures, and labour diligently to acquaint ourselves with the things belonging to our peace.] 2. That the Scriptures, whether men be acquainted with them or not, shall surely be fulfilled |