This do in remembrance of me. Luke xxii. 19. COME, my soul, obey thy dying Lord's command; let it be thy delight, as it is thy privilege, to attend thy Master at table, to take a near review of his bleeding love, and, by a renewed act of faith, obtain a fresh taste and renewed pledge of the precious benefits contained therein. Stagger not through unbelief; it is a blessed truth, Jesus died for sinners; this is the foundation of a sinner's hope: let this encourage thee, O my soul; thou art a sinner, guilty and defiled! Jesus' blood cleanses from all sin; he is the fountain opened for thy uncleanness: thou art by nature a child of wrath, condemned by the Law, exposed to the curse; but Jesus was made a curse for thee: thou art unrighteous, unholy; but Jesus is made of God unto thee righteousness and sanctification: thou art weak, beset with enemies; his strength shall be perfected in thy weakness, and thou, by faith, shall be more than conqueror through him that loved thee. Thou art afraid of perishing at the last look to Jesus; he purchased thee with his blood; he will not give thee up; none can pluck thee out of his hand. Rise then, O my soul, and come to the banquet of love, and partake of the blessings of the everlasting covenant; beseech the Lord to manifest his love and seal thy pardon, renew thy strength, and enable thee to travel the remaining part of thy pilgrimage till thou come to Mount Zion, and be admitted a welcome guest at the marriage-supper in heaven. I thank thee, O my dying Lord, I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake; to you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning; to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. 1 John ii. 12, 13. 66 GOD has more communion with some of his saints than others. Out of the multitude he chose twelve, out of the twelve he chose three, and out of the three he chose John to be his peculiar darling and bosom favourite, of whom it is said five times in St. John's gospel, that "he was the disciple whom Jesus loved." So now at this day, God hath his babes who live upon milk, and nothing else; he "has children also," who know their Father and are assured of his love; moreover, he " has his young men, who go out to war and fight the Lord's battles victoriously;" and he has "fathers in Israel," who abound in gray-headed experience and wisdom; for they knew him from the beginning, and they remembered his words. It is a great mercy to be one of God's "little ones," yea the least of all; to be a star, though not of the first magnitude; to be a disciple, though not one of the three, nor one of the twelve, nor one of the seventy but to be a John, a darling, and to lean on his breast, to lie in his bosom, O how great a mercy! It is a mercy to be new-born, to be taken into the family of God and household of faith; but to grow up to a perfect stature, to be a man in Christ Jesus, O how great a mercy! Lord, thou knowest my desire, perfect that which concerns thy servant. It doth not yet appear how great we must be made; Take thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering. Gen. xxii. 2. ABRAHAM desired earnestly to see into the mystery of redemption, and God let Abraham feel, by experience, something of the depth of that mystery. "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, the staff of thine age, the hope of thy family, and offer him up for a burnt-offering; and in this transaction see my love to sinners, in giving up my only Son Jesus a sacrifice for them." Abraham obeyed; he virtually sacrificed his son; a ram was substituted in his place, and blessings were poured upon the faithful patriarch. In the whole story we have a lively type of greater things. We have seen the day when God spared not his own Son, when he was bound with cords, when he bore his cross, and on this mountain, probably on this very spot, was offered up an offering for sin; when he, triumphant over the grave, rose again to live for evermore, and saw his seed, even his redeemed people, whom no man can number, and whose possessions are the glories of eternity. My soul, think on these things. Art thou a son of Abraham ? Is there in thine heart a darling_sin? Draw forth the knife and smite it away. Hath God not spared his Son for me, and shall I spare what he commands me to sacrifice? No, gracious Saviour, no. Help me to keep back nothing from thee. Search my heart, and when thou hast tried me, crown the faith thou hast bestowed, and the obedience thou hast wrought, with that unfading glory thou hast promised to the faithful. I thank thee, Father, for the gift Of thy beloved Son; Now bid me give myself to thee, God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Eph. ii. 4-6. CHRIST being the head of the body, his Church, all who are his real members, are, together with him, dead, buried, raised up, and seated in heavenly places; for he is the new Adam, and has done all these things as our representative, in our stead, and for our good. Therefore, a true believer may rejoice and say, "I have suffered in thee, O my glorious head, for all my sins already. I am discharged. I have no punishment to fear any more respecting the guilt and curse of sin. Thou hast fully answered the charge against me, satisfied the infinite justice of God for me, and it is impossible, with its equity and love, to require a double payment of my debts: consequently, I die no more; nay, I live already, and have my place with thee eternally in heaven, since the head cannot, nor will ever part even with the weakest of his members, but influence and draw them after him wherever he goes." O Lord, we praise thee for thy Son, By the rebellion of one man, Where sin did reign and death abound, I God has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Cor. v. 21. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Rom. iv. 5. See also Gen. xv. 6. THESE are very sweet and precicus words to those who look upon their own best virtues and performances by nature as sinful, and upon their best condition by grace as extremely weak and imperfect. How comfortable a How comfortable a thing is the justification of the penitent by faith, when the soul is first stript quite naked before God, and thoroughly convinced of its wickedness and weakness. A mere moral man does not meddle with this. He pretends to make amends for his former sins, by altering his course, and doing better works ; but this is not making amends at all, since we are but unprofitable servants, and want continually forgiveness of sin, even when we have done all. There is but one way to be justified, and to obtain and preserve the blessing of a good conscience, which is by humbling and confessing ourselves guilty, and looking only for forgiveness and righteousness in CHRIST. Thus we are made by him the righteousness of God itself. May the Lord put us all in this way! No more, my God, I boast no more Of all the duties I have done; And of his righteousness partake! Dares not appear before thy throne; By pleading what my Lord has done. |