Sermons of Christmas Evans
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VII. Our text contains Job’s confession of faith. It is brief, but very comprehensive, and may be called an epitome of the gospel. Here we have the Divinity and the humanity of Christ, his work of redemption, his victory over death and hell, his second advent, and the resurrection of the dead.
The Athenians mocked when they heard of the resurrection of the dead; and the Sadducees greatly erred on this subject, “not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God,” and many of the Corinthians imbibed the same poison of unbelief. But the patriarch of Uz thought it not “a thing incredible that God should raise the dead.” He firmly believed the doctrine, and gave it a prominent place in his confession. He knew that God is able to watch and preserve the dust of his saints; has his eye upon every particle, throughout all the periods of time; and through the Divine Mediator, “will raise it up at the last day.” This doctrine was to him a great consolation in his unparalleled afflictions. “Though my skin,” says he, “is a tissue of disease and corruption – yea, though my body sink into the earth, and be eaten up of the worms, and my very reins be consumed within me – yet in my flesh, in this same body, reorganized, reanimated, and made immortal from the tomb, I shall see God – shall see him for myself, with these self-same eyes.”
Yes, brethren; the souls and bodies of all the human race shall be reunited; and with our own eyes, we shall see the judge of quick and dead, with his fan in his hand, thoroughly purging his floor, gathering the wheat into his garner, and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. In that day, the tares and the wheat shall be for ever separated, and there shall be no more foolish virgins among the wise. “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that we may receive the things done in the body, according to that we have done, whether it be good or evil.”
How vast the difference between Messiah’s first and second advents! When he “tabernacled and dwelt among us,” he appeared “in the form of a servant;” but when he shall come again, he shall come as a judge, and “sit upon the throne of his glory;” and “all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” “For the Son of man shall send forth his angels; and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall he weeping and gnashing of teeth; then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
VIII. I call your attention to one other topic suggested by the text – the confidence with which Job speaks of his interest in the living Redeemer. “For I know that my Redeemer liveth.” It was not a mere conjecture. There was no doubt in the case. The patriarch had reached the assurance of faith; and so perfectly satisfied was he of the fact, that he expressed an intense desire that his words might be recorded on the most durable materials, that they might be read by generations to come.
How may we acquire the same confidence? What is the evidence of our interest in Job’s living Redeemer? The nature and effects of the change which has taken place in our hearts. You that “were sometime darkness, are now light in the Lord;” have been “called out of darkness into his marvellous light;” and can say – “One thing I know, that whereas I was once blind, now I see.” “The carnal mind is enmity against God;” but those that are born of the Spirit love God; and love and hatred are not so much alike, that you cannot tell by which principle you are governed. While the strong man armed kept the palace, his goods were in peace; but when a stronger than he came and cast him out, there was a warfare commenced between the old man and the new. You were formerly dead in trespasses and sins; but are now alive to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. You were once destitute of faith in the Redeemer; but now you believe in him, and rely upon his righteousness alone, as the ground of your acceptance and salvation. How can you experience such a transformation, and know nothing of the matter? As well might the sick, when Christ healed them – as well might the blind, when Christ opened their eyes – as well might the dead, when Christ raised them to second life from the bed, the bier, or the grave – have been ignorant of the mighty change.
In the word of God, we have the testimony of many who had obtained the assurance of faith. “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand upon the earth at the latter day” – was the testimony of Job. “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, and the horn of my salvation, in whom I will trust” – was the testimony of David. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” – was the testimony of Isaiah. “I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” – was the testimony of the apostle Paul. “We know that we are of God; we know that we have passed from death unto life; we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” – was the testimony of John, “the beloved disciple.”
“These things,” saith the apostle, “have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye might know that ye have eternal life.” This is the design of God, in revealing his will to the church. We may – we should know that we have eternal life. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.” But this assurance of faith is not a mere imagination of the brain. It is not founded on a vague notion of your being one of the elect, without any other evidence. It is not founded on a voice from heaven, bidding you be of good cheer, and go in peace, because your sins are forgiven you. It is founded on the fruits of the Spirit, and the testimony of Divine Revelation. True believers are “created anew in Christ Jesus, unto good works;” evincing the reality of their love to God by keeping his commandments.
Let us, therefore, give all diligence to make our calling and election sure. Let us examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith. Let us compare our religion with the precepts of the Bible, and the example of ancient saints. But as our hearts are so wicked and deceitful, let us not trust them, but pray to God for the aid of his Holy Spirit, in this important work of self-examination. Behold “the Sweet Singer of Israel,” praying – “Search me, O God, and try me; prove me, and know my heart.” The Holy Spirit has given you a rule by which you are to examine yourselves; and he works in you a conformity to that rule, and bears witness with your spirits that you are the children of God. In proportion to his operation upon the heart, will be the assurance of faith; and in proportion to the assurance of faith, will be your spiritual comfort and joy. The Lord grant us that “faith which worketh by love, and purifieth the heart!”
Are you stript of property, bereft of children, afflicted in body, forsaken of friends, persecuted and insulted by relatives? Think of Job, and of Job’s living Redeemer! Imitate the patriarch’s patience and confidence amid all the troubles and conflicts of life! Go your way until the end; for ye shall rest, and stand in your several lots at last!
SERMON VII.
MESSIAH’S KINGDOM
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” – Dan. ii. 44, 45.
In these words we have a prophetic description of the kingdom of Christ, as the fifth empire that should arise after the date of this prophecy. The wonderful image which so troubled the king of Babylon in his dream, and occasioned him so much solicitude when he awoke, denoted four of the great empires of the world. The head of gold represented the Babylonian empire; the breasts and arms of silver, the Medo-Persian empire; the belly and thighs of brass, the Grecian empire, under Alexander the Great; the legs and feet of iron, the Roman empire in its strength and glory; and the ten toes of mingled iron and clay, the same empire in its divided and enfeebled state. The last circumstance was intended to denote the same thing as the ten horns on the head of the Beast in the book of Revelation. As iron is firm and strong, and able to bruise and break all materials of a softer quality; so the Roman empire once crushed beneath its power all other kingdoms, and dictated laws to the world. As the beast with iron teeth trampled and rent to pieces all that came in its way; so the Roman tyrant, like a lion among the lambs of the flock, tore and devoured the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus.
The kingdom of Christ is represented under the figure of “a stone cut out of the mountain without hands:” that is, without human agency – without any wisdom or power of man, but by the Spirit of God; smiting the feet of the image, and shattering it into fragments; then becoming a great mountain, and filling the whole earth. In the history of Christianity we have the counterpart of the emblem. Messiah appeared in the form of a servant; born of a poor virgin, in the despised town of Bethlehem; lived a life of poverty, persecution, and various sorrow, from the manger to the tree; died the most painful and ignominious of deaths, even the accursed death of the cross; but rose from the dead on the predicted morning, the morning of the third day; commissioned his apostles, the fishermen of Galilee, to “go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;” ascended on high, and sent down the Holy Spirit, the promised Comforter, to give energy and efficacy to the word, to prove its divinity, and convince and save mankind. The apostles immediately commenced their work; persevered in the divine employment; were prospered by the power of God; and the stone, rolling forth from Mount Zion, and raising a dust which darkened the very heavens, smote the feet and legs of the image, until it shook, and the earth trembled around it; and that stone is still rolling on, and shall crush and demolish the image, and grind it to powder, and scatter it to the winds of heaven; and shall increase, till it becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth for ever.
In speaking of the accomplishment of this prophecy, we will notice – its certainty, its attendant glory, and the nearness of its approach.
I. The certainty of the accomplishment of this prophecy is founded, first, on the Father’s promise to the Son, made on the express condition of his pouring out his soul unto death. “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring forth the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.” Christ’s universal dominion is the promised reward of his sufferings, and the Father speaks as if he intended to raise his wages. “Thus saith the Lord; It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light of the gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.” “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Such is the promise. All nations shall come and worship before him. All that the Father hath given shall come unto him, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
The certainty of Messiah’s universal dominion is founded, secondly, on his perfect qualification to accomplish the work which the Father hath given him to do. “No one knoweth the Father,” in all the perfection of his nature, all the wisdom of his counsels, and all the immutability of his purposes, “but the Son; and no one knoweth the Son, but the Father,” as he alone is of the same essence, and exhibits the same attributes. Christ is “God manifest in the flesh;” “the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.” None but a divine person could give, and none but a divine person could receive, such a privilege as is here promised. None but a divine person could be competent to the eternal redemption of countless millions of the human race. Christ “is the true God, and Eternal Life” – “the Faithful Witness, the First Begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth” – “the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last” – “the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star” – “Over all, God, blessed for ever.” These are Messiah’s titles, which evince his equality to the work which he has undertaken – the salvation of the world, and the subjugation of all things unto himself. He is able, not only to set up his kingdom, but also to establish it for ever. It shall never be destroyed, nor left to other people; but shall break in pieces and destroy all other kingdoms, and the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ.
Take courage, ye fearful saints! Your king is the Almighty God. He shall conquer all your enemies. The victory of Calvary is the pledge and earnest of his universal dominion. You shall soon be more than conquerors, through him that hath loved you, and given himself for you. He is able to protect you against the combined powers of earth and hell. Omniscient, he is well acquainted with all the plots of his enemies; Almighty, he can at any moment frustrate them. The prince of darkness, with all his hosts, cannot impede the progress of his kingdom. In all their councils, he is present, hearing their deliberations and discovering their malice. He overturns their schemes, or employs them for the accomplishment of his own gracious purposes. “His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure.” Too wise to err, and too powerful to be overcome, he marches in the van of battle, and will never forsake his soldiers. The very sight of his helmet and his plume is victory to his followers, and death to his foes.
Courage, ye friends of Zion! “Lift up your hearts and rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.” Take the whole armor of God; quit you like men; be strong; for the decisive conflict is at hand. Behold your General, clothed with a garment white as snow, girt about the loins with a golden girdle, his feet as fine brass burning in a furnace, his countenance as the sun shining in his strength, his eyes as a flame of fire, his voice as the sound of many waters, a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth, seven stars in his right hand, and at his girdle the keys of death and hell. This is the Captain of your salvation, of whom the Evangelical Prophet inquires – “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?” This is Emmanuel; mighty to conquer, and mighty to save. Who can stand before the glory of his power? Who can hinder the universal triumph of his cause? The government shall be upon his shoulder, and he shall reign for ever and ever.
What has been said is deemed sufficient to show the certainty of Messiah’s universal empire. The promises of the Father to the Son are so many drafts of immense amount, upon the bank of heaven, which will be paid without discount at the appointed time; and the character of Christ is a sufficient guarantee that he will carry forward to its completion the work which he has begun. Having secured a title to the kingdom by his sufferings, he shall certainly come, and take possession, and reign for ever. The gospel is a lever, whose fulcrum is the Rock of Ages, and it shall yet lift our fallen world to heaven. Balaam knew that his curses could not injure Israel, whom Jehovah had blessed. The kingdom of Messiah is mightier than Moab. The people beloved of the Lord shall prosper in spite of their enemies – as gardens by the rivers, and willows by the water-courses. “There shall be a handful of corn,” not a sackful, only so much as the sower may hold in his hand – not on the bank of the Nile, nor in the valley of the Jordan, but “on the top of the mountain” – the wild, high, rocky, uncultivated mountain; “the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon,” and the wind shall carry the seed to the uttermost parts of the earth, and young Lebanons shall grow up everywhere, and even the barren rocks and sands of Arabia shall become as the garden of God. It was but a handful of the seed of the kingdom, which Peter cast abroad on the day of Pentecost; it was but a handful he sowed in the house of Cornelius, the captain of the Italian band; but it soon spread throughout Judea, and even to the isles of the sea, so that nothing was more manifest or more abundant than its fruit. But the prevalence of Christ’s millennial kingdom shall be still more rapid and glorious; and “from the rising to the setting of the sun, his name shall be great among the Gentiles.”
Already the church is singing – “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou Most Mighty; and in thy majesty, ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness. Thine arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king’s enemies, whereby the people fall under thee.” The song has reached the ear of the Prince of Darkness, and he “hath come in great wrath” to the battle, “for he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” He knows that “the Desire of nations” is come; and that his kingdom, already begun, shall be established for ever, and extend from sea to sea, till the knowledge of his glory and the victories of his grace shall cover the earth. He sees the Stone rolling against the idols of India, and Africa, and the islands of the sea, and feels his kingdom shake beneath its progress. He sees the Bramins, the Karens, the worshippers of Juggernaut and the Ganges, plucked as brands out of the burning. He trembles to anticipate the announcement – “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ!” He beholds the mighty angel, with the keys of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, descending from heaven, to bind him in his prison. He hates the church, with her various benevolent enterprises; for he sees in them the artillery of Heaven, playing upon his fortresses of infidelity, and idolatry, and vice – the enginery of God, setting up a kingdom which shall consume all others, and stand for ever. “The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure.”
II. We call your attention to the glory of Messiah’s universal reign. It includes three things; the victory obtained, the blessings bestowed, and the duration of the kingdom. Let us consider them distinctly.
First. The victory obtained. Here we behold the “stone cut out of the mountain,” rolling down the steep, rushing and leaping toward the great image, and smiting and breaking its feet of iron and clay, so that it falls like Dagon before the ark. And still the Stone, instinct with the power of God, and increasing in size and velocity, keeps rolling to and fro, bounding and rebounding, till it grinds the fallen image to powder, and scatters it as the dust of the summer thrashing-floor. It is endued with perpetual motion; keeping up a constant action and reaction, crushing whatever opposes its progress, and growing to such a magnitude as shall shortly fill the whole earth. This is the salt of Galilee, seasoning the nations – the leaven of Jerusalem, spreading through the world. This is the victorious reign of Christ, from the Tiber to the Thames, from the Euphrates to the Ganges, from Britain to Japan, from sea to sea, and from pole to pole. This glorious conquest is to be obtained by “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” in connection with the vast machinery of Divine Providence, all the wheels of which are under the direction of Jesus the Christ. It is a victory over Satan, by bruising his head; a victory over sin, by destroying its power; a victory over death, by swallowing it up for ever. Emmanuel has already successfully engaged all these foes; and having routed them on Calvary eighteen hundred years ago, he still pursues their flight; and shall not turn again, till he has trampled “the last enemy” under his feet.
Satan is the prince and the god of this world. In the management of his affairs, he employs a policy similar to that of the Sultan of Constantinople, who sets up many pashas or governors under him, as the Pasha of Egypt, the Pasha of Aleppo, the Pasha of Damascus, all possessing the same despotic spirit, and carrying out the same tyrannical measures. The devil has established a great number of pashas throughout his dominion. Three of them are described by the Revelator, as unclean spirits, like frogs; one of them issuing from the mouth of Satan himself, representing undisguised Paganism; another from the mouth of the Beast, representing a persecuting civil power; the third from the mouth of the False Prophet, representing abominable and damnable heresies. But these shall all be conquered; these, and every other enemy of Messiah upon earth. Jewish impenitence and unbelief, which, for a period of eighteen centuries, has ruled with an absolute sceptre the lineal descendants of Abraham, shall be overcome. Mohammedism, the “king of fierce countenance, understanding dark sentences,” that has reigned over so large a portion of the world, practicing and prospering, deceiving millions of souls, and destroying the holy people, shall be broken without hand, and his kingdom shall come to naught. The drunken harlot of Rome, riding on her scarlet beast, that is, a cruel and persecuting civil government, and making all nations drink of the wine of her fornication, shall be obliged to drink the wine of the wrath of Almighty God; and all the saints shall clap their hands at her overthrow, and shout hallelujah to the Captain of their salvation. And all those Protestant pashas of Satan, who would undermine the gospel by denying its peculiar and fundamental doctrines – such as the Divinity of Christ, the merit of his sacrifice, the excellency of his offices, the personality and work of the Holy Spirit – and even the existence of his own infernal majesty, shall be destroyed by the brightness of Emmanuel’s coming, when he shall appear in the glory of his millennial kingdom. Then shall the song of the heavenly host break once more upon the ear of Zion – “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee!” And “the Gentiles shall come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising.” “Her sons shall come from far, and her daughters shall be nursed at her side.” “The glory of the Lord shall be displayed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
Secondly. The blessings bestowed. Christ “hath ascended on high, and received gifts for men; yea for the rebellious also, that God may dwell among them.” The celestial reservoir is full; and the golden pipes are laid, for conveying the waters of life to every soul of man; and the time shall yet come, when all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. The gospel salvation shall be an ocean, spreading over the whole earth; and there shall be no more ebbing and flowing of the waters, but a continual full tide from shore to shore. The Chinese, the Hottentot, and the American Indian, shall be as thoroughly instructed in Divine things as the Welshman; and the Welshman shall be seven times more intelligent than now. And this universally prevalent knowledge of Christ shall be, not merely nominal and theoretical, but experimental and practical. It shall be a “faith unfeigned,” “of the operation of God,” “working by love, and purifying the heart.” The light of the gospel shall be “as the sun shining in his strength,” scattering all clouds from the face of the world, and the moon and the stars shall be lost in its effulgence. Living waters shall flow out from the spiritual Jerusalem in summer and winter; neither frozen by the cold, nor evaporated by the heat. Like the deluge of Noah, they shall cover the mountains; but they shall save, and not destroy, all whom they shall overwhelm. “In that day, there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one;” and he “shall be king over all the earth.” The cause of Christ shall be pre-eminent in the estimation of mankind. The duties and interests of Christianity shall constitute no secondary concern. “The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.”