Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

15-18, the apostle reasons on the principle, that a pro mise, or promises, and a covenant, are one and the same thing, it being understood that a sacrifice has been slain for the purpose of confirmation. Indeed, the word in the Old Testament used to signify a covenant, signifies a purifier, or purifying sacrifice; and the phrase, for making a covenant, signifies to cut a purifier, or to cut of a purifying victim. The reason of this is, that when God made the promise of salvation and eternal life to the guilty and the unworthy children of men, he confirmed it by sacrifice, in order to show that it was to be accomplished through an atonement, and that the atonement typified should insure its fulfilment. I need not enlarge on the necessity of confirming promises made to sinners by such means as shall effect reconciliation and purification. It was in consequence of this that promises were ratified by slaying a victim, cutting it asunder, and passing between the parts of it. It is not then a promise simply that is a covenant, but a promise to sinners confirmed by a sacrifice which is illustrative of the way in which the bestowing of the blessing promised becomes consistent with the Divine character and law. Gen. xv. 7, 8, 17, 18. To this there is a reference in Psalm 1. 5, where it is said, " Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made (or cut off, or solemnized) my covenant by sacrifice."

Men soon came to confirm their promises by a sacrifice; and as their engagements were generally mutual, the word came to be used to denote a mutual compact. But, when the term refers to the covenant of God, it denotes nothing of this kind, but his own free and gracious promises to the guilty and the unworthy, ratified by a sacrifice; or else an institution, or system of insti tutions, founded upon, and illustrative of, his promises: Thus the Sabbath was in this last sense called his cove nant, because it was a sign of the rest promised to his

people; and the whole system of the Mosaic institutions is called His covenant, because they were founded on his promises, and were signs of the blessings promised. Exod. xxxi. 16; Lev. xxvi. 15. His language accordingly is, not that of a proposal to enter into a mutual agreement with any individual whatever, but it is, "with thee will I establish my covenant;" and corresponding language is employed when a body is in question. A covenant among men, you know, is a mutual stipulation between two or more parties, for their mutual benefit. But as God can receive no addition to his blessedness from his creatures, it is evident that when he establishes a covenant with them it must be solely for their advantage. The covenant of peace, then, is just his promises of salvation and eternal life, as ratified by the death of Christ. When God is viewed as the King of Israel, and the people as his subjects in that character, the term covenant may be used with a greater latitude; but this, like the exception to a general rule, confirms, rather than invalidates what has been stated.

When his people offered the appointed sacrifices, they were simply celebrating the instituted representation of His covenant, in the faith of the fulfilment of its promises, with gratitude to him for his goodness, and an earnest desire of obtaining the blessings he had graciously promised them. In like manner, in the Lord's Supper, we drink of that cup which is a representation of the blood of Christ, which hath confirmed all the promises of the new covenant; for in him they

are

all yea and amen. 2 Cor. i. 20. By His blood, every obstacle in the way of their accomplishment is removed. Great, numerous, and precious as are the blessings they contain, they shall all be bestowed through this sacrifice. It is thus that our hope in the promises is confirmed by the death of Christ, and this we express in commemo,

rating it according to his will. Such is the value of his sacrifice, that God hath declared that he never will again remember sin, by requiring any more offering for it; and on this he rests the accomplishment of all the promises of the new and everlasting covenant, Jer. xxxi. 31-34.; Heb. viii. 10—12; x. 17, 18.

It follows, therefore, that there is nothing required like entering into a covenant, in the common sense of the term. The covenant of God, it is evident from the passages I have just referred to, consists of free promises, ratified by the work of the Redeemer. In this ordinance we are called to commemorate that glorious work with devout and thankful hearts, and in the sure and certain hope that not one good word of all that the Lord hath spoken shall fail to be fulfilled. Not the most distant hint of any thing like a vow or oath being of the nature of this observance, is given in the word of God. It is true that our religious services include the solemn dedication of ourselves, and of all that we have, to God, and in the observance of the Lord's supper, there is much that is fitted to cherish this spirit, but this is not the same thing as is meant by a vow in its common acceptation. In every act of worship, Christians express their resolution or purpose to be the devoted subjects of the Saviour, and not merely at the Lord's table. Here, no doubt, they ought, in a particular manner, to feel the power of those motives which urge believers to cleave with firm purpose of heart to the Lord; but different ways of expressing their fixed resolution in the strength of divine grace, to abide by him, are adapted to different persons, which, setting aside every other consideration, forbids us to insist on any one as particularly enjoined.

"

No doubt, too, the public confession of the truth which is there made, must aggravate our guilt, if we afterwards deny it, or cease to be influenced by it, so that it may

be said to lay us under great obligations. But so, in a measure, does our observance of every other divine appointment, all of which are connected with the death of Christ. There is much evidence to prove, that the confining a sense of obligation so much to one institution, has the effect of inducing comparative, and often great indifference as to others. The Gospel of Christ, and, in particular, his death, furnishes the most powerful motives to obedience, and in vain do we think of adding to them. It is not by formal engagements at the table of the Lord, that we can increase the importance of any duty, nor ought such things ever to give us peace under a sense of guilt, or cause confidence in our stedfastIf they do, we shall find, to our cost, that they

ness.

are a false foundation.

One view of Christ, in his transcendently glorious character, as the dear Redeemer of lost souls, hath more power and efficacy to break the bonds of sin, and urge to obedience, than all the vows, promises, and resolutions, wherewith we can bind our souls. (Haweis on the Lord's Supper, chap. vi.) "Think not," says a wellknown writer, "to bring yourself to good by vows and promises, as if the strength of your own law could do it when the strength of God's law doth it not. The devil will urge you to vow, and then to break, that he may perplex your conscience the more." (Marshall on Sanctification, Direct. xiii. p. 244.)

Instead of ensnaring and entangling ourselves with oaths or formal vows, let us contemplate the cross and character of Christ. Here there is all that is moving in love, affecting in condescension, and engaging in mercy,-united with all that can impress us with a sense of the baseness and desert of sin; and in contemplating and celebrating the love of God in the gift of his Son, the unutterable condescension of the Saviour, we shall be powerfully constrained by the innu

merable mercies of the everlasting covenant to present ourselves unto God as a living sacrifice, and to live to Him who for us groaned, and bled, and died. Never let us suppose that the remembering of the death of Christ can be of little use, or change the design of his Supper, and turn it into an oath of fidelity; as if thẹ duties of obedience were more likely to be discharged from a sense of the obligation of vows, than from the remembrance of the unutterable glories of the cross. Such ideas will tend to darken our views of the covenant of peace; and they invest the institution with a kind of mystery which perplexes the conscientious, and not seldom excites unfounded confidence in the ignorant and presumptuous. Very different is the scriptural view of it from this complicated service. Indeed, even in the services of prayer and praise, in the name of Christ, and in the rehearsal of the Gospel, there is a remembrance of his work. The difference in the Lord's Supper lies in the advantage of outward signs, and a more striking display of fellowship. Connected with the air of mystery which has been thrown around it is the fear which many have of frequently observing it. But is it not delightful frequently to express our love to the Redeemer, and to meet often with our best and our tried friend? We are indeed prone to be formal in this, as in other parts of worship, but it is not the way to cure this propensity, to abstain from the service of devotion. Is the man who prays but a few times in the year more devout than he who prays daily? The more frequently, indeed, that unbelievers observe the Lord's Supper, the more indifferent they will be about it; and the more seldom they do so, the more superstitious terror will they feel regarding it; but it never was intended for such at all, and therefore we are not left to choose between the evil of constant formality and coldness, and that of a periodical self-righteous and

« AnteriorContinuar »