Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

guifed veneration to his Lord; he had a companion. And whom? Nicodemus! Nicodemus had refembled Jofeph in timidity; and now partook of his boldnefs. Difregarding all furmifes, armed against all confequences; he came and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jefus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the fpices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury e). Whence was this fortitude? Did it belong to Jofeph and Nicodemus by nature? Their antecedent condu& has anfwered the queftion. It was the work of the Spirit of God; the fruit of ftrengthening grace. The Spirit of grace, which strengthened Jofeph and Nicodemus, is ready to ftrengthen you.

Do you defire another example? Look to the apoftle Peter. You know his fhameful fall. You know his denial of his Lord: à denial deliberate, thrice repeated, confirmed by oaths and execrations. When restored by his forgiving mafter to the rank of an apostle; he was forewarned of the death by which he fhould glorify God (f.) Did he now difplay dread of danger? Did he now fhrink from fuffering? Did the full profpect of death now move him? The prayer which his Lord had (e) John, xix. 39, 40. (f) John, xxi. 18, 19..

offered

offered for him had prevailed. His faith failed not. Converted himself, he ftrengthened his brethren (g). He became the rock on which Chrift laid the foundation of his church, both among the Jews and among the Gentiles. He was entrusted with the keys of the fheepfold of Chrift; and opened the door of admiffion to both divifions of the flock (b). And though, on one subsequent occafion, he was enfnared by some flight remains of natural timidity into an undue compliance with the prejudices of the Jews; and received on that account the merited rebuke from St. Paul (i), whom he afterwards names with a warmth of affection probably encreased by the recollection of this very event (k): he perfevered with holy fortitude in his Christian course, until it conducted him to that cross, on which his mafter had foretold that he fhould feal his teftimony with his blood. Thus effectual was the interceffion of Chrift. Thus all-fufficient was his grace. Chrift now intercedes before the throne of God for you. Το he offers the all-fufficient influence of his Spirit. Having therefore an high priest, which can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;

you

(g) Luke, xxii. 32. (b) Compare Matt. xvi. 18, 19. with Acts, ii. 14-41. and x. 1-48. (i) Gal. ii. 11-14. (k) 2 Pet. iii. 15.

an

an high Priest who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without fin: let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (1).

But these, you remark, are primeval examples, exhibited in the days of the apostles. You would derive greater comfort from inftances drawn from modern times and ordinary men. Take an inftance then from the annals of your own country. Look to the character and conduct of Cranmer. In the general current of his proceedings, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, you behold a ftruggle between a mind intent on a conscientious adherence to duty, and a disposition naturally characterised by timidity. You behold him at one time ftrengthening himfelf with fuccour fought from above; and fteadily pursuing his Chriftian purposes, regardless of the refentment of a furious, and ungovernable monarch: at another, the victim of inherent weakness, tamely fubfervient to his master's will, overawed into culpable compliances. When danger, after the acceffion of Mary, muftered its terrors; Cranmer funk in the conflict. Lefs fervent in seeking fuccour from above, in the hour of tempta(1) Heb. iv. 15, 16.

tion he fell away. He renounced his faith! Again he looked to the grace of Christ, and he found it all-fufficient. Behold him chained to the stake, as the wind difperfes at intervals the volumes of fire and smoke in which he is enveloped. Behold his undaunted demeanour: his face full of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, as it were the face of an angel. Behold him ftretching forth into the flames the hand which had figned the recantation; and furveying with a ftedfaft eye the flesh wasting from the finews, bone dropping away from bone. Hear him exclaiming with exulting fervor; "This hand offended: "this hand fhall fuffer, this unworthy hand." Contemplate this fpectacle; this infenfibility to pain, this facred fortitude, this fubftantial repentance, this complete fubjugation of nature and its befetting fin: and fay whether this is not the triumph of grace, whether this is not the finger of God.

2. The grace of Chrift is fufficient to enable his fervants to perform efficaciously unto his glory the undertakings, with which he entrufts them.

This is the word of the Lord: Not by might nor by power; but by My Spirit, faith the Lord of bofts. Without me, faith our Saviour, ye can do nothing. Herein is my Father glorified,

that

that ye bear much fruit (m). Look to the difplay which the Scriptures spread before you of the perfections of God; and you will immediately be convinced, that fuch a Being will in no inftance require from his creatures any one act of obedience, which they are not thoroughly enabled to perform: and that no inftance of fervice, however difficult, can be required from the weakest of his creatures, to which he cannot render that weakest of his creatures equal. Look to the examples which the facred writings exhibit of the efficacy of divine grace, in ftrengthening holy men of old to execute every undertaking, to which God, for the manifestation of his glory, was pleased to call them: and your confcience will proclaim to you that if, at any hour, and under any circumftances, you fail to discharge the duties, trying as they may be, of the fituation in which the Lord who appointeth your lot fhall have placed you; it is not because the grace of Chrift is not all-fufficient: it is because you afk it not, or afk it amifs, or refufe to employ it when bestowed. When Mofes was commanded to return after an abfence of forty years into Egypt, and to declare his commiffion to the king and to the Ifraelites; his feeble(m) Zech. iv. 6. John, xv. 5. 8. nefs

« AnteriorContinuar »