Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

language of his disciples on their way to Emmaus: "We thought it had been he that should have redeemed Israel; and, besides all this, it is the third day since these things were done." The hopes of the church were sunk to the lowest point of depression: it seemed as if the name of Jesus and his cause were for ever entombed in his grave. But how gloriously was the scene reversed by his resurrection! The person of the Saviour was for ever removed beyond the reach of further assault, and his cause was more than ever triumphant: "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all."* Greater miracles were wrought by the apostles in his name than any which he wrought himself. From thence we must date the extensive and successful propagation of the gospel. The Spirit descended, and the eleven apostles were sent forth into all the world. He then began to assume the sceptre of universal dominion, to sit upon the throne of David, to rule and to establish it for ever and ever. "All power was given unto him in heaven and in earth."

IV. On this day our Lord gained an everlasting victory over the last enemy, and triumphed over death in that nature which had always been subject to its dominion before. Death had reigned, not only from Adam to Moses, but through all subsequent generations, subjecting the whole race, and trampling them with indignity in the dust. Millions and millions had descended into his dreary prison, of which none had ever been able to break the bars, and escape from the confinement. The king of terrors maintained an undisputed dominion, a despotic sway, over all the past generations of mankind. Some were indulged with a larger respite than others. Some descended into his mansions with more funereal pomp and pageantry; but when arrived there, they all met with the same reception: the same darkness enveloped them; and they equally said "to corruption, Thou art my sister; to the worm, Thou art my mother." But on this day a new order of things commenced. Death for the first time encountered an enemy more powerful than himself; and though he seemed to prevail for a moment, he was for ever foiled in the conflict. He received into his territory, in the guise of a captive, Him whom he found a conqueror. [Christ] exhibited the first specimen of immortal man: not that shadow of immortality consisting in being remembered and celebrated for ages by creatures who are hastening to the tomb; but an immortality consisting in a form which is imperishable, a glorious being, over which death hath no more power, which will subsist in undecaying youth and splendour when the heavens are no more. This is the pattern and example to which the children of the resurrection will be conformed. V. On this day we are called to rejoice in that sure and certain prospect which the resurrection of Christ affords to all true believers, of ascending with him to heaven, and of there partaking with him of his glory. As he was the substituted representative of true believers, what was accomplished in him at his resurrection will ere long be accomplished in them: the victory over death which he acquired he

*Acts iv. 33.

will impart to them; the glory which he has received he will give to them; the eternal rest into which he has entered at his ascension he hath prepared for them :-"Every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; then they that are Christ's at his coming." In nothing that our Saviour suffered or obtained is he to be considered in the light of a private character. Nothing was suffered on his own account, or effected merely with a view to his own benefit. "As he bore our sins in his own body on the tree," and "died, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God," the rewards which he merited, the dignity to which he was exalted, are not confined to his own person, but accrue to every part of his mystical body.

XL.

CHRIST'S CARE OVER CHURCHES AND MINISTERS.

REV. ii. 1.-These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

As Jesus Christ is the "true light" of the world, so a principal means by which he dispenses his illumination is by the appointment of a stated ministry, and the formation of Christian churches. By concentrating and uniting their efforts,-by collecting their information, their zeal, and piety into a [point,] they dispel much of the darkness of the present state. This state is frequently in Scripture compared Scripture_compared to night: "The night is far spent; the day is at hand." During the prevalence of this darkness, previous to the rising of the "Sun of righteousness," he has placed his ministers as stars in the firmament, and appointed his churches to be as lamps or candlesticks.

By the representation of the text, we are strongly reminded of the sole end and design for which ministers are constituted and churches formed: it is to dispense spiritual illumination to a benighted world; it is that they may shine with knowledge and holiness. As far as they answer this purpose they are useful and important; in proportion as they lose sight of it they forfeit every just claim to esteem, and sink into insignificance and contempt. It is their duty to "hold forth the word of life." The light they are appointed to dispense is the pure doctrine of Christ, exhibited by an open profession, and sustained and recommended by the virtues of a holy life. When churches depart from the essential truths of Christianity, they become incapable of answering the end of their institution. They are no longer useful lights, but delusive meteors; which, instead of guiding souls to heaven, mislead and betray them to destruction.

False teachers are compared by Jude to "wandering stars," in

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

opposition to those mentioned in the text, who are supposed to continue in their station, and afford a regular and steady light. In representing Christ's ministers under the metaphor of stars, it is not improbable there may be an allusion to Daniel: "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."*

The appellation of "the bright and morning star" is assumed by our Saviour himself; and as ministers, though at an immeasurable distance, are yet nearest him in the official rank in the church, so ought they most to resemble him in the distinguishing features in the Christian character. The church is represented as having on her head "a crown of twelve stars," which denote the twelve apostles. John saw seven of these stars and lamps: which may either refer to the precise number of the churches to whom Christ sends distinct epistles; or, as seems more likely, the number is adopted as a mystical number, agreeable to the arrangement of this book, which consists of seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, and contains a distinct [intimation] of the seven spirits that are before the throne. There is contained an allusion to the golden candlestick in the temple, which consisted of seven branches. "The eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth."

Let us proceed to consider,

I. What is meant by our Lord's holding the stars, his ministers, in his hand.

His holding the stars in his hand implies the appointing them to the work of the ministry. His qualifying them for the successful discharge of it, and his absolute [disposal and direction] of them and all their

concerns.

1. It implies that it is he who appoints them to their office. From him, as the sole Head of the church, they derive their commissions. They are his servants and messengers. He sometimes describes them by appellations peculiar to the Jewish church; as when he tells the Jews, "Behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes :"-but more frequently by titles peculiar to the New Testament. "When he ascended up on high, he gave some, apostles; some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." Hence St. Paul gives thanks to Jesus Christ, who had enabled him, "for that he counted him faithful, putting him into the ministry."P

2. It is he who imparts the qualifications which are necessary for the effectual discharge of their office: "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."** All that love to souls, and that regard to the advancement of the Divine honour, which are so essential to a Christian minister, proceed from him. Ministerial talents are his gift. The continual supplies of grace which are requisite in the whole course of the Christian ministry proceed from him: "The supply of the Spirit of Christ

* Dan. xii. 3.
Ephes. iv. 8, 11.

Rev. xii. 1.
1 Tim. i. 12.

↑ Zech. iv. 10.
**1 Tim. i. 14.

Matt. xxiii. 34

Jesus:"*"There are diversities of administrations, but the same

Lord."

3. They are, with all their concerns, at his absolute disposal. He, by the secret arrangements of his providence, appoints "the bound of their habitation," and allots their respective fields of labour, not unfrequently in a manner entirely foreign from their expectation; so he assigns them the measure of their success, setting before them on various occasions "an open door, which no man can shut." (Speak of the angel of the church of Philadelphia.)

II. The import of his walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks. 1. It imports an accurate inspection of the state [of every church,] both as a society and as individuals. "I know thy works," is a declaration with which he frequently prefaces his admonitory epistles. Nothing in the behaviour of Christian churches escapes his notice, whose "eyes are as a flame of fire." He remarks the attention, or inattention, with which his messages are received; he observes who are formal and lukewarm, and who fervent and sincere in their worship; who are diligent in their attendance on the means of grace, and who are glad to avail themselves of trivial excuses for neglecting them. He notices all the different degrees of seriousness which professing Christians bring into the divine service. There is not a sigh from the contrite, not a tear of penitential sorrow, or of tender joy, that escapes his notice. "He looks not at outward appearances, but at the heart." He perceives the difference between those churches which have left their "first love," and those who are diligently pressing on to perfection; between those that are indifferent to the extension of his kingdom, and those who are incessantly labouring and praying for its enlargement; those who decline to the paths of error, and "hold the doctrine which he hates," and those who "hold fast the form of sound words."

66

2. His walking among them implies that his business, so to speak, lies in the management of his churches. It is his "building," his husbandry." The interest of his church is peculiarly his interest,, in the maintenance of which his presence and grace are especially exerted. He walks among the churches as a proprietor in his field.

He superintends the affairs of the world, but always with a view to the enlargement and prosperity of his church. The church is his mystical body, with which he is most intimately and inseparably united. He rules the world by his sceptre, but he gladdens the church by his presence. The former consists only of his subjects, this of his brethren and sisters.

3. His walking among them denotes the complacency he takes in them. Something of complacency seems to be, implied in this expression, "I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people."

(Apply the whole.)

⚫ Philip. I. 19.

↑ Rev. iii. 8.

+ 1 Cor. iii. 9.

Lev. xxvi. 11, 12.

XLI.

NO TEMPLE IN HEAVEN.

Rev. xxi. 22.—And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

THIS book contains a prophecy of the state of the church from the time in which it was communicated to the consummation of all things. It includes the principal revolutions to which it was to be subject, and the assaults it was to sustain, during a series of ages, from the time of John to the end of the world. The chapter out of which my text is taken is, with great probability, considered as a description of the heavenly world. In the chapter preceding, we have a striking description of the day of judgment. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." After this, a new heaven and a new earth are described, very similar to the language of Peter: "For we look for a new heaven and a new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness." The perfection of the state represented here is such as can agree only with the heavenly world. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Among the other privileges, access to the tree of life is specified, evidently denoting a state of immortality. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

Considering this as a description of the heavenly state, we shall first endeavour to point out the meaning and import of this declaration, and next attempt some practical improvement.

I. Let us endeavour to point out the meaning and import of this declaration," I saw no temple therein," &c.

1. It cannot be intended to insinuate that heaven will not be a state of devotion. It is in every part of the word of God, and in this book in particular, represented as a state of the highest and most exalted devotion. Devotion will then be carried to its highest perfection. The absence of the temple does not denote the absence of devotion: as it is the noblest employment of creatures here, it is impossible to suppose it will be neglected in the heavenly world.

2. Nor is it intended to intimate that there will not be most glorious and supernatural manifestations of God in that state. Having the

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »