Sermons of Christmas Evans

To conclude: – Is not the conversion of sinners an object dear to the hearts of the saints? God alone can do the work. He can say to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back. He can bring his sons from afar, and his daughters from the ends of the earth. Our Shiloh has an attractive power, and to him shall the gathering of the people be. Pray, my brethren, pray earnestly, that the God of all grace may find them out, and gather them from the forest, and fish them up from the sea, and bring them home as the shepherd brings the stray lambs to the fold. God alone can catch these “fowl of every wing.” They fly away from us. To our grief, they often fly far away, when we think them almost in our hands; and then the most talented and holy ministers cannot overtake them. But the Lord is swifter than they. His arrows will reach them and bring them from their lofty flight to the earth. Then he will heal their wounds, and tame their wild nature, and give them rest beneath the branches of the “Goodly Cedar.”

SERMON XI.

THE PRINCE OF SALVATION

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” – Heb. ii. 10.

“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” – Heb. v. 9.

I have put these passages together because of their similarity. In discussing the doctrine which they contain – the doctrine of salvation through the mediatorial work of Christ, I purpose to consider —First, His relation to believers, as the author, captain, or prince of their salvation; Secondly, His perfect qualification, through meritorious sufferings, to sustain that relation; and Thirdly, The character of those who are interested in him as a Saviour.

I. Christ is the prince of our salvation. He is the great ante-type of Moses, Joshua, Samson, and David. Their deeds of pious valor faintly foreshadowed the glorious achievements of the Captain of our salvation.

He is a prince in our nature. The Lord from heaven became the second Adam, the seed of the woman, the offspring of David. Divinity and humanity were mysteriously united in his person. The Word that was in the beginning was made flesh, and tabernacled among us. God is now nearer to his people than ever. The Lamb’s bride is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. As the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself took part of the same. By taking human nature into union with himself, he has imparted to believers a new and divine life.

Our Prince has conquered our adversaries. His name is Michael, the power of God. He is the mighty prince that stood up on behalf of his people, and bruised Satan under their feet. He has cast out the strong man, and his goods. He has demolished the kingdom of darkness, spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly. He has proved to earth and heaven that the devil is a usurper, and has no claim whatever to the title, “God of this world,” and “Prince of this world.” When Christ was crucified, hell quaked to its centre. Then he obtained liberty for the captives, and the opening of the prisons to them that are bound. His victory is our manumission from the slavery of sin and death; and if the Son make us free, we are free indeed.

Three offices meet in the Author of our salvation; the prophetic, the priestly, and the regal. He wears three crowns upon his head; a crown of gold, a crown of silver, and a crown of precious stones. He “shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and shall be a priest upon his throne, and the covenant of peace shall be between them both.” This prophecy is fulfilled in Messiah’s mediatorial relations. The house was purified, the altar was consecrated, on the morning of his resurrection. This is the Prince of life, who was dead, and is alive for evermore, and hath the keys of hell and of death. That he might sanctify the people with his own blood, he suffered without the gate; and by suffering, he opened a way for believers into the holiest of all; and lo! his people are standing before the mercy-seat within the vail, and worshipping in open sight of the glory of God that dwelleth between the cherubim. If God smelled “a savor of rest” in the sacrifice of Noah, much more in the sacrifice of his beloved Son, in whom he is ever well pleased. His sinless soul and body were offered once for all upon the cross. “He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” The Father proclaims the demands of his law fully answered, and invites sinners to come and rest in the Beloved. This is he of whom it was said – “A man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” This is the Author and Captain of our salvation.

II. Let us consider how he is qualified for that relation – made perfect through sufferings.

His sufferings were necessary to constitute him a complete Saviour. “Without the shedding of blood is no remission;” the blood of Jesus is “a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.” It was threatened – “In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die;” but Christ, by dying in our stead, delivered us from the sentence.

In order that he might bear our sins, it was necessary for him to assume our nature. The Priest must have somewhat to offer as a sacrifice. Divinity could not suffer and die. “A body hast thou prepared for me.” The Son of God took that body as his own, and offered it to the Father upon the cross. The blood which he shed was his own blood; the life which he laid down was his own life; the soul which he poured out unto death was his own soul. Moses saw an emblem of this mystery in Mount Horeb – a bush burning with fire, yet unconsumed. “Our God is a consuming fire,” dwelling in a tabernacle of clay. The human nature, though slain, is not consumed. On the third day the bush is found still flourishing and fruitful.

It was necessary that the precept of the law should be obeyed, and the penalty of the law endured, in the very nature of its violater. Christ answered the demands of both tables on behalf of his people, in the purity of his life, and the merit of his obedience unto death. He displayed all the fruits of holiness. He loved righteousness and hated iniquity. He paid our debt, a debt which he never contracted; he endured our curse, a curse which he never deserved. He took the cup of the wine of wrath out of our hand, and drained its very dregs upon the cross. In hell, every one drinks his own cup, and can never exhaust its contents; but behold, on Calvary, one man drains the cup of millions, and cries – “It is finished!” Not a drop is left, not a particle of any of its ingredients, for his people. God hath condemned and punished sin in the human nature of Christ, and all who believe are justified freely by his blood.

But the author of our salvation is God as well as man. The Divinity often shone out through the humanity, controlling the elements, quickening the tenants of the tomb, and compelling the very devils to obey him. Had he been less than “God manifest in the flesh,” he must have been incompetent to the work of redemption. The Divine nature was necessary to sustain the human nature under its immense burden of sufferings, and render those sufferings sufficiently meritorious to atone for the transgressions of mankind. Christ endured more of the Divine displeasure “from the sixth to the ninth hour,” than all the vessels of wrath could endure to all eternity; 17 and but for the union of the two natures in his person, he could not have borne his unparalleled woes. But while the man suffered, the God sustained. While the God-man offered up his humanity, his Divinity was the altar that sanctified the gift, and rendered it a sacrifice of sweet smelling savor to the Father. It was man that died upon the cross, but it was man in mysterious union with God, so that the two natures constituted but one person, and the dignity of the Godhead gave infinite value to the tears and sweat and blood of the manhood. No wonder that the cross of Christ is the admiration of men and angels; and – “worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” the ultimate theme of earth and heaven!

“And being made perfect.” In the twentieth chapter of Exodus, we read of “the ram of consecration” – the ram of perfection in the original, or full ram, as the word full signifies complete, mature, perfect. The two rams mentioned in that chapter represent the atonement and intercession of Christ. He is our full, complete, or perfect sacrifice. “In him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead;” and he has the hand of a man to bestow blessings upon his brethren. “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace upon grace.” Our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are all in the Son of man. Aaron never entered the holy place with empty hands, and our great High-priest hath gone into the celestial sanctuary, bearing with him his own most precious blood, wherewith to sprinkle the mercy-seat, and make it approachable to man. Thus suffering on earth, and pleading the merit of his suffering in heaven, “he becomes the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him.”

III. This leads us to our third topic. The character of those who are interested in him as a Saviour – “all them that obey him.”

To obey is to submit to authority – to do what is commanded. What is the command of God the Father? That ye should believe on the name of his Son. What is the command of Christ, the Captain of our salvation? “Ye believe in God; believe also in me.” It is said that he is precious to them that believe, but unbelievers are disobedient. They are all a disaffected and rebellious army, who will not obey their Captain. They have made God a liar, and are condemned for their unbelief. The Father saith – “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry!” but they reply – “Away with him! away with him! we will not have him to reign over us!”

Is this your character? You are commanded to “behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” Have you obeyed? What are you doing? Are you determined to rebel? Will you risk the consequences of disobedience? O, you are reading the book of election, are you? You are looking for your names in the book of election; but lo! you find them written in the book of damnation, under the article – “He that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him!” What shall be done in such a case? Obey the Captain of your salvation. Do ye not hear him, as he rides along the ranks, proclaiming – “To-day, if ye will hear my voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation! Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live!” Obey, obey this gracious exhortation. Come, with your petitions for pardon. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Behold a door of hope opening for you in the blood of atonement. There is forgiveness and sanctification for all that believe. Does your sense of guilt overwhelm you with gloomy fears, and plunge you in despair? Do you tremble at the thought of the multitude and enormity of your crimes? Cry aloud, with all your hearts – “God be merciful to me a sinner!” Remember that your Prince “is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him.” Hear him calling you – “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest! Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light!” Who, then, would not obey thee, blessed Jesus?

“Had I, dear Lord, a thousand hearts,I’d give them all to thee;A thousand tongues, they all should joinThe grateful harmony!”

We have a remarkable instance of faith and obedience in Abraham. There was no natural probability, there was no apparent possibility of the fulfilment of the promise; but Abraham believed, rested on the naked word of God, and went to mount Moriah to offer up his only son. Here was the triumph of faith, and it is recorded for our encouragement. Did the patriarch firmly believe the promise – “In Isaac shall thy seed be called?” Yes verily, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Did the patriarch believe, on the strength of that promise, that God would not permit him to offer up his only son? No, verily; but he was determined to obey God, and leave the event with him, well assured that God would fulfil his word, though it should require the miracle of Isaac’s resurrection. Thus your faith must soar above nature, and lay hold on the righteousness of Christ, which justifieth the ungodly. When you believe with all your heart, God will smile upon you, and calm your troubled soul, and hush the raging storms of a guilty conscience, for the sake of the satisfaction which he received in the obedience of Christ, as the substitute and surety of his people. This is the Urim and Thummim – light and perfection – of the gospel, beaming upon us through the twelve stars – the apostles of the Lamb, pacifying the conscience, and answering the important question – “What shall I do to be saved?” I feel within me a sea of corruption, but I know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.

Faith and obedience are inseparable, and the former is dead without the latter. They wrought together in Abel, and therefore he offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. They wrought together in Noah, and led him to prepare an ark to the saving of his house. Abraham not only believed that God would give him and his seed the land of Canaan; but he set forth at the Divine command, not knowing whither he went. Moses not only believed that God would deliver Israel out of Egypt; but, in obedience to his command, he “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” Thus, true faith always leads to obedience. It is a living principle, by which the soul is quickened from the death of sin to a new life of holiness. It is the means through which, by the Holy Ghost, we are created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. It works by love, and love is always the great motive to obedience. It gives us large and clear views of the love of God in Christ; then “we love him because he first loved us;” and “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” Thus, by faith, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts,” leading us to a holy life. Such is the connection between faith and obedience, and the necessity of one to the other.

And now, brethren, let us trust in the Captain of our salvation. In the ages before his advent, many sons were brought to glory through faith in his future sufferings. In the fulness of time, he visited our world; assumed our nature; atoned for our transgressions; and, ascending to the right hand of the Father, as our representative and intercessor, “became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him.”

“O Captain of salvation! makeThy power and glory known,Till clouds of willing captives come,And worship at thy throne!”

SERMON XII.

FINISHED REDEMPTION

“It is finished.” – John xix. 30.

This exclamation derives all its importance from the magnitude of the work alluded to, and the glorious character of the agent. The work is the redemption of the world; the agent is God manifest in the flesh. He who finished the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days, is laying the foundation of a new creation on Calvary. Four thousand years he has been giving notice of his intention to mankind; more than thirty years he has been personally upon earth, preparing the material; and now he lays the chief corner stone in Zion, exclaiming – “It is finished.”

We will first consider the special import of the exclamation, and then offer a few remarks of a more general character.

I. “It is finished.” This saying of the Son of God is a very striking one; and, uttered, as it was, while he hung in dying agonies upon the cross, cannot fail to make a strong impression upon the mind. It is natural for us to inquire – “What does it mean? To what does the glorious victim refer?” A complete answer to the question would develope the whole scheme of redemption. We can only glance at a few leading ideas.

The sufferings of Christ are ended. Never again shall he be persecuted from city to city, as an impostor and servant of Satan. Never again shall he say – “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Never again shall he agonize in Gethsemane, and sweat great drops of blood. Never again shall he be derided by the rabble, and insulted by men in power. Never again shall he be crowned with thorns, lacerated by the scourge, and nailed to the accursed tree. Never again shall he cry out, in the anguish of his soul, and the baptism of blood – “My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me!”

The predictions of his death are fulfilled. The prophets had spoken of his crucifixion many hundred years before his birth. They foresaw the Governor who was to come forth from Bethlehem. They knew the babe in the manger, as he whose goings forth are of old, even from everlasting. They drew an accurate chart of his travels, from the manger to the cross, and from the cross to the throne. All these things must be fulfilled. Jesus knew the necessity, and seemed anxious that every jot and tittle should receive an exact accomplishment. His whole life was a fulfilment of prophecy. On every path he walked, on every house he entered, on every city he visited, and especially on the mysterious phenomena which accompanied his crucifixion, it was written – “that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.”

The great sacrifice for sin is accomplished. For this purpose Christ came into the world. He is our appointed high-priest, the elect of the Father, and the desire of nations. He alone who was in the bosom of the Father, could offer a sacrifice of sufficient merit to atone for human transgression. But it was necessary also that he should have somewhat to offer. Therefore a body was prepared for him. He assumed the seed of Abraham, and suffered in the flesh. This was a sacrifice of infinite value, being sanctified by the altar of Divinity on which it was offered. All the ceremonial sacrifices could not obtain the bond from the hand of the creditor. They were only acknowledgments of the debt. But Jesus, by one offering, paid the whole, took up the bond – the handwriting that was against us, and nailed it to his cross; and when driving the last nail, he cried – “It is finished!”

The satisfaction of Divine justice is completed. The violated law must be vindicated; the deserved penalty must be endured; if not by the sinner himself, yet by the sinner’s substitute. This was the great undertaking of the Son of God. He “bore our sins” – that is, the punishment of our sins – “in his own body on the tree.” He was “made a curse for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” There was no other way by which the honor of God and the dignity of his law could be sustained, and therefore “the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all.” He “died unto sin once;” not merely for sin, enduring its punishment in our stead; but also “unto sin,” abolishing its power, and putting it away. Therefore it is said, he “made an end of sin” – destroyed its condemning and tormenting power on behalf of all them that believe. His sufferings were equal to the claims of justice; and his dying cry was the voice of Justice himself proclaiming the satisfaction. Here, then, may the dying thief, and the persecutor of the holy, lay down their load of guilt and wo at the foot of the cross.

The new and living way to God is consecrated. A vail has hitherto concealed the holy of holies. None but the high-priest has seen the ark of the covenant, and the glory of God resting upon the mercy-seat between the cherubim. He alone might enter, and he but once a year, and then with fear and trembling, and the sprinkling of atoning blood, after the most careful purification, and sacrifice for himself and the people. But our great High-priest has made an end of sacrifice by the one offering of himself. He has filled his hands with his own blood, and entered into heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us. The sweet incense which he offers fills the temple, and the merit of his sacrifice remains the same through all time, superseding all other offering for ever. Therefore we are exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace. The tunnel under the Thames could not be completed on account of an accident which greatly damaged the work, without a new subscription for raising money; but Jesus found infinite riches in himself, sufficient for the completion of a new way to the Father – a living way through the valley of the shadow of death to “the city of the Great King.”

The conquest of the powers of darkness is achieved. When their hour was come, the Prince and his hosts were on the alert to accomplish the destruction of the Son of God. They assailed him with peculiar temptations, and leveled against him their heaviest artillery. They instigated one disciple to betray him and another to deny him. They fired the rage of the multitude against him, so that the same tongues that lately sung – “Hosanna to the Son of David!” now shouted – “Crucify him! Crucify him!” They filled the priests and scribes with envy, that they might accuse him without a cause; and inspired Pilate with an accursed ambition, that he might condemn him without a fault. They seared the conscience of the false witnesses, that they might charge the Just One with the most flagrant crimes; and cauterized the hearts of the Roman soldiers, that they might mock him in his sufferings, and nail him to the cross. Having succeeded so far in their hellish plot, they doubtless deemed their victory certain. I see them crowding around the cross, waiting impatiently to witness his last breath, ready to shout with infernal triumph to the depths of hell, till the brazen walls should send back their echoes to the gates of the heavenly city. But hark! the dying Saviour exclaims – “It is finished!” and the great dragon and his host retreat, howling, from the cross. The Prince of our salvation turned back all their artillery upon themselves, and their own stratagems become their ruin. The old serpent seized Messiah’s heel, but Messiah stamped upon the serpent’s head. The dying cry of Jesus shook the dominions of death, so that the bodies of many that slept arose; and rang through all the depths of hell, the knell of its departed power. Thus the Prince of this world was foiled in his schemes, and disappointed in his hopes; like the men of Gaza, when they locked up Samson at night, thinking to kill him in the morning; but awoke to find that he was gone, with the gates of the city upon his shoulders. When the Philistines caught Samson, and brought him to their temple, to make sport for them, they never dreamed of the disaster in which it would result – never dreamed that their triumph over the poor blind captive would be the occasion of their destruction. Suffer me, said he, to lean on the two pillars. Then he bowed himself, and died with his enemies. So Christ on Calvary, while the powers of darkness exulted over their victim, seized the main pillars of sin and death, and brought down the temple of Satan upon its occupants; but on the morning of the third day, he left them all in the ruins, where they shall remain for ever, and commenced his journey home to his Father’s house.

II. So much concerning the import of our Saviour’s exclamation. Such was the work which he finished upon the cross. We add a few remarks of a more general character.

The sufferings of Christ were vicarious. He died, not for his own sins, but for ours. He humbled himself, that we might be exalted. He became poor, that we might be made rich. He was wounded, that we might be healed. He drained the cup of wrath, that we might drink the waters of salvation. He died the shameful and excruciating death of the cross, that we might live and reign with him for ever.

“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to have entered into his glory?” This “ought” is the ought of mercy and of covenant engagement. He must discharge the obligation which he had voluntarily assumed. He must finish the work which he had graciously begun. There was no other Saviour – no other being in the universe willing to undertake the work; or, if any willing to undertake, none able to accomplish it. The salvation of one human soul would have been too mighty an achievement for Gabriel – for all the angels in heaven. Had not “the Only Begotten of the Father” become our surety, we must have lain for ever under the wrath of God, amid “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” None but the Lion of the tribe of Judah could break the seals of that mysterious book. None but “God manifest in the flesh” could deliver us from the second death.