(FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT.)
EFORE thc I)assover thc Jcws mmbered fourteen days, and then the east came. It was to be the {burteenth lay of the month, at evcn; and ¢.o mark the bcginning of that period mre distinctly, it was ruade the bcginning of months, that is, thc tirst month of the vear. We then, if our Easter ar.swcrs to the Passover as substance answers to shadow, nmy well account tlmt from this day, which is fourtccn days belote Eastcr,, more sacred season begins. And so out Church seems to havc determined if, since from this day, the character of the Services changes. IIcnceforth they havc more immediatc reference to tlim, whose death and resurrection we are soon fo commemorate. The first weeks in Lent are spent in repentance, though with the thought of Him withal, xvho alonc tan give grace and
54 Christ, the Soz of Goct vzadc power to ont penitential exereises; the lnsf., withou preeludng repenanee, re more espeeinlly eonseemted the though oç those snfferings, whereby graee and power were purelmsed fi»r OEhe hisfory oç the destruction oç Sodom and morrah; of Dinah, Jaeob's daug'hter; and of Joseph in Potiphar's house; thc account of out Lord's temptation; and the 1)arable,»f the man out of whom the evil spirit went aud rcturncd scvenbld, which bave been read on Sundays at this seaon, may fit.ly be called penitential suljects;:md ot' thc saine character have been the Epstles. On the other h:md, to-day's Epstle fi'om which the text is taken, speaks of Christ's Inearnatio and Atonement; while the Gospel tells us of His Divinity, tle being that saine God who, as tlm first 5[orniu Lesson relates, ealled IIimself in the bush "I ara that I ara." And so aain, next Sunday's Epistle is also upon out Lord's Divinity and voluntary humiliation, and vue of thc Lesns and the Gospel eontain the sacred narrative of His passioa aud death. The other second Lesson is also on the subject of His humiliation, ri'oto St. Paul. And further: all four first Lessous of to-day and uext Sundav relate fo the deliverance of he Israelites ri'oto Egypt, which is the type.tf out redemption. Let us then to-day, in accordance with the apparent disposition of our Services, remind ourselves of one or two of the great truths which the Epistle contains;— of course we cannot do so with any great exactness or eompleness;—but still, sufficiently to serve, t'ough God's mercy, as a sort of preparation for the solemn days whieh lie belote us in the course of the nex çortnigh. I will be a fi{tin prepara{ion, please Ood, çor Good riday, {o bear in mind who out ord is, and wlm He lins donc ibr us. And, a presen, le us confine ourselves to this one subee, who out ord is, Goal and man in OllC erson. On this most saered and awthl subject, I shall spcak as simply and plainly as I ean; lnerelv stain what has to be sated, ater the pattern of thc Creeds, and lcaving thosc who hcar me, as the Creeds lcave them, to reeeivc it into lhcir hearts fl'uitflfily, and to improvc if, umler God's grace, for themselves. Let us, I say, consider who Christ is, as the Epis{lc for the day sers forth in the words of thc tcxt. 1. First, Christ is God: ff'oto eterni.y IIe was the Living and Truc Goal. This is not mentioned expressly in the Epistle for this day, though it is sig'nifieantly implied there in various ways; but if is all but expressly stated, and that by Himself, in thc Gospel. He says therc, "Betbrc Abraham was, I ami: '' by which words IIc deelares that IIc did not beg'in to exist ff'oto thc Yirgin's womb, but had been in existence before. And bv using the words I«», iIc seems to allude, as I have already said, to the Naine of God, which was revcalcd fo Moses i thc burning bush, when he was commanded to say to the children of Israel, "I a» hath sent me unto youe. '' Again: St. aul says ofChrîst, that I[e was " in thc form,,f God," and " thoug'ht it hot robbery to bc equal with God," yet "made Himsclf of no reputation." In like manner St. John says; "In thc ]»eginning was the Vord John viii. 58.
5 6 ChrisL thc Soz of God mdc and the Word was with God, and the Vord wzs God." And St. ïhmnas addressed Ilim as his Lord and hi God; and St,. Paul deelarcs thaC lle i " God over zll blessed tbr eel'j" and the prophet Isai:,h, that IIe is " the mighty God, the Everlasting Father;" and St. Paul ag'ain, that I[e is « out great God mad Saviour;" and St. Jude, that l[e is « ont only Sovereign God and Lord. '' Itis hot neeessary, surely, fo enlarge on this point, whieh is eonstantly broug'ht befi»re us in Seripture and in out Services. " Day by day we magniÇv IIim, and we worshil» Ilis Nan,e ever worhl withont end;" which would be idolatry were Ile not the Verv and Eternal (lod, out [aker and Lord. We know, indeed, that the l"ather is God also, and so is the Iloly Ghost; but still Christ is God and Lord, most Nlly, eompletely, and entirely, in all attributes as perfeet and as adorable, as if nothing had been told us of Father or of IIt,ly Ghost; as mneh fo be adored, as, belote IIe came in adored by the Jews, and is he flcsh, the lather was now fo be adm'ed by us "in spiri and in truth." For IIe tclls us expressly IIimselt; " IIe thag hath seen Ie, hath seen the Father;" and "all men" are to " honour the Son, evcn as they honour the Father;" and " He thag honourcth nog the Son, honoureth no the Father whieh hath sent IIime. '' . And here we are brough fo the second poin6 of doctrine whieh i is neeessm T fo insis6 upon, that while out Lord is God tic is also the Son of God, or rather, t Phil. il. 6, 7. John i. ii. 13. Jude 4. John xiv. 9; v. 23.
that He is God beeause He is the Son of God. We are apt, af first hearing, to say that tic is Goal thoug'h is the Son of God, marvellin af ihe mystery. But what to man is a. lnystery, to (lad is a cause. IIe i. God, not tlo»l, but beea«se I[e is the Son of God. "That whieh is born of the flesh is flesh, that whM, is born of the Spirit is spirit," and That whieh is beg'otten of Gçd is God. I do hot sar that we eouhl presume thus fo reason fi»r ourselves, but Seripture draws the conclusion for u.. Christ tells us IIimselt; "as the Father hath lift in Ilimself, so hath ]Ic g'iven to the Son fo havc lit in I[imself." And St. Paul says, that IIc is « the brightness of God's g'lory, md the express Ilna,ge of IIis Person. '' And thus, thoug'h we eould not presumc fo rcason of ourselvcs that IIc that is bcgotten of God is God, as it" it bceamc us t) r'tlSOll at all about such inettàblc thing., yet, by thc lig'ht of Seripture, we may. And aftcr all, if the truth must be said, lU is surely llot so marvcllous and mvsterious that the Son of God should be (lod, as that there should a Son of God af all. It is as little level fo natural reason that God should have a Son, as that, if there a Son, He must be God beeause IIe is the Son. ]3oth are mysteries; md if we adroit wlth Seripture that there be an Only-begotten Son, it is even less te) adroit, wlmt Seripture also teaehes, that that Only-beg'otten Son is Goal beeause IIe is Only-beg'otten. And this what makes the doctrine of out Lord s Lternal bonslnp of sueh supreme importance, riz. that IIe is God beeause tic is begotten of God; and they who give up the latter 1 John v. 23 Heb. i. 3.
truth, are iii the way fo give up, or will be found already to have given up, the tbrnler. The ga-eat safeguard to the doctrine of our Lord's Divinity is the doctrine of His Sonship; we realize that He is God only when we acknowledge IIim tobe by nature and from eternity Son. Nay, our Lord's Sonship is hot only the guarantee to us of tIis Godhcad, but also the antecedent of His incarnation. As the Son was God, so on he other hand was the Son suitably lnade nmn; if belong'ed to Itiln to have the Fathcr's perFcctions, it bccame IIim to assume a servant's fOl'III. We must beware of supposing that the Persons of thc Evcr-blcssed and All-holy Trinity ditihr from eaeh other only in this, that the Father is hot the Son, and thc Son is hot thc Father. They differ in this besicles, that the I ather is the Father, and the Son la the Son. Vhile They are one in substance, Eaeh has distinct characteristics which the Other has hot. Surelv those sacred Gaines havc a meaning" in thcm, and must. hot lig'htly be passed over. And they will be round, if we reverently study them, to supply a very mercifld use towards out mderstanding Seripture; for we shall see a titncss, I say, now that that saered truth is revealcd, in the Son of' God taking flesh, and we shall thereby understand botter what IIe says of Ilimself in the Gospels. The Son of God beeame the Son a second time, though not. a second Son, by beeoming" man. He was a SOli both belote Ilis in.carnation, and, by a second mystery, after it. From eternity He had been the Only-beg, otten in the bosom of the Father; and when He came on earth, this essential relation to file Father remained unaltered; still, He was a Son, when in the tbrm of a servant,still pertbrming" the will of the Father, a.s ]Ils FaLher's Vord and Wisdon, nauifestin' Ilis g'lory and accomplishing" His purposes. For in.stance, take thc following" 1)assag'cs of Seripture: " I do nothin of Myself;" " Ilc that sent Me is with Me;" "' the Father hath hot left Me Mone;" "'My Father worketh hithcrto, md I work;" "Vhatsocver I speak, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak;'" I ara in thc Fathcr, and the l: ather in ][e ." Now, it is true, thcse l»assages nmy be mderstood ol" our Lord's hunmn nature; but, surcly, il" wc coutinc Ihem fo this interpretation, wc run thc rlsk of viewing" Christ as two separate beings, hot as ont Person or, again, of gradu,qlly forgetting nnd explninlng" aw the doctrine of His Divinity altogether. Il" we speak as if our Lord had: human pcrsonality, thcn, if He has another personn.liy as God, H.e is hot one Pcrson; and if He has hot, He is not God. Such passag'es, then, as thc forcg'oing', wonld seem to spcak neithcr of Christ's humm nature, nor of His divine, solely, bue of both together; tlmt is, of I[im who being the Son of God is also man. Ho who spoke was one rcally existing" Person, and IIc, that onc Livingand Ahnighty Son, both God and nmn, was the brightness of God's glory and IIis Power, and wronght what His Father and Ho willed, and was in the Fathcr and the Father in Him, not only from cternity lmt in rime. From eternity Itc was this, and did this, as God; and in rime Ho was this, and did this, ia that manhood
6o Christ, thc 5"oz of God »cade whieh He nssnmed. If. was therefore truc of Him «/oye/her, when IIe spoke, that tic was n« alone, nor spoke or wroug'ht, of IIimsclt; bu where Ile was, there was the Father, mM whoso lmd seen Him had seen the l,'ather, whether we think of Ilim as God or as man. Agi, i,,, we rend in Scril,tnre of lI{s l)ein sent by the,, l"ather, «,dd,'essing" the Ialht.r, intercedinff to Ilim for fils disciples,:md decl«,rinff o il,cm tlu, t llis là, ther g'reater than i[e; in wha sense says and does this? Smne will be npt to sav that IIe speMs only in llis hmnan nature; which words are perplexin to the mind that tries m,llv fo eontempl:,te llim as Seripture deseribes Ilim, as if l[e were speaking" only under a ehnracter, and not in IIis Person. No; i is truer to sav thnt IIe, that One Ail-gracions Son of God, who had 1,eên with the Father frmn the bexinnin, equal in all divine perfeetions and one in substm, ee, but. sul»ordinate ns being t.he Son,as IIe had ever been His 'ord, and Visdom, and Counscl, and Yill, and Power in IIeaven, so aIter Ilis incarnation,:md upon the earth, still spoke:nul aeted al'ter, yet with, the lather as belote, though in n new m,t,,re, whieh IIe had put on, and in humiliation. This, il, en, is the second point of doctrine whieh I to mention, that out Lord was hot only God, but the Son ot" God. We know more than that Goal took on Him out flesh; thoug'h all is mysterious, we have a point of knowledge further and more distinct, riz. that it was neither the }'athcr n,»r the IIoly Ghost, but the Son of the Father, God the Son, God from God, and Light from Light, who came down upon earth, and who thus,
Chri«L the çoz of God mari« hu. 6 thoug'h graeiously taking" on IIim new nature, remained as Hehad been ri-oto everlastin, the 8oï of the Father, and spoke and aeted towards the Father as a Son. 8. Now, thirdly, let us proeeed to eonsider Ilis merey in taking on Ilim out nature, and whaç that net of merey implies. The text speaks of " a greater and more pertbeç tabernacle," that is, g'reater thnn any thlnR" earthly. This lneans tIis pure and sinless flesh, which was miraeulously formed of the substance oFthe Bles.d Virg'in, and therefbre ealled " hOt or" this buihling'," or more literally, " hOt oF this ereation," fi»r if was a new ereation hy whieh I[e was fonned, even by the deseent of the IIoly Ghost. This was çhe new and perfeet tabernacle illfO whieh I[e entmd; entered, buç hot to be eonfined, hot fo be eiremnscribed by it. ïhe Most High dwelleth noç iii telnples ruade with lmnds; thongh Ilis own hands " made if and shioned it," still IIe did hot eease to be what He was, because tic becmne man, but was still thc Infinite God, manifested in, hot altcrcd by the flesh. He took npon Ililn our nature, as an instrument of His purposcs, hot as an agent in thc worl« What is one thing cmmot become another; IIis lnanhood rcmained hmnan, and llis Godhcad remained divine. God became man, yet was still God, havin" I[is manhood ns an adjunct, pcrfect in its kind, but dcpcndent upon His (}odhead. So much so, that unless Scripture had expressly callcd I[iln man, wc might well have scruplcd to do so. Left to ourselves, we might havc tblt it more reverential fo have spoken of Him, as incarnate indeed, corne in human flesh, human and the like, but not simply
6" Chri«l, 1/c Soz of God »eadc as nmn. But St. Pzul speaks in plain terres of out Mediator as "the man Chris 3esus,'" uot fo speak of out Lord's own words on the subject. Still, we must ever 'cmember, that though lle w:s in nature perfect nmn, I[e was ot man iu cxactlv the samc sense in which one of us is a man. Though man, IIc was hot, st6etly speaking, in the Eng'lish sense of the word, et man; Ite was hot such as one of us, and one out of a number. He was man l»ecause Ile lmd our bureau nature whollv and pcrfectl3-, but I Iis Pcrson is hot human like ours, but diviuc, lit. wlao was from etcrnit/, continued one and the saine, hut with an addition, llis incarnation was "t:kiug ai' the mauhood into God." As He had no earthlv tdlacr, so lins Ile no human personality. e ma.y hot, speak of ]lira zs we speak of any individnal man, acting ri'oto and g'ovcrncd by a human inteigence within Him, but tle.was God, acting hot only as God, but now through thc flesh also, when He would. Ho was hot tt mau ruade God, but God ruade man. (1.) Thus, when IIe prayed to IIis Father, it was hot the q)rayer of a ma supplicatiug God, but of the Ernal S«m of God who had ever shared the glory of the Father, addressin" Him, as belote, but under far other eiremaastanees, and in a new way, not aeeordin fo those most iutimate and ineffable relations which longed fo Him wh«, was in the bosom of the Fnthe,5 but in the economy of redemption, and in a lower wor]d, z. through the feelings and thouffhts of human nature. ]Vben He wept at the grave of Lazarus, or sighed af the Jews' hardness of heart, or looked round about iu auget, or had compassion on the multitudes, He manFested
Christ, thc S'o of God vzade 3Jan. 6 3 the ender merey, tire compassion, tire lon-sufferinK, (lxe fearful wrafi of Almihy God, ye no in tIimselt as fl'om eternity, but as if indireeflv throuh the outlcts of that manhood with which lle had clothed lIimselE (2.) SVhcn " Hc spat on the g'round, and luade elay of the spittle, and tic anointed the cyes of the blind man wifl the claya, '' lit exerted the virtuc of llis. Divine Essence throug'h the properties and circumstanees of thc flesh. SVhen IIe breathcd on lIis disciples and said, " Reeeive ye the [l,,ly (lhost, '' l[e vouchsatbd to give llis ][,,]y Spirit lhroug'h the breath of IIis humal nature. Vhen virtue went ont of llim, so tlmt whoso touched Him was made whole, here too, in like lnanlmr, He shows us that }Ie was hot an individual man, like anv of us, but (od aeting" through human nature as ]Iis assumed instrument. (3.) When ]Ic poured out ]Iis preeious blood upon the Cross, if was hot a man's b]ood, thouq if belonged fo Ilis manhood, but blood full of" power and virtue, instinct with litb and graee, as issuin" most lnVSterious]v from Him who was the Creator of the world. And the case is the saine in everv successive Columunieation of Himsclf to individual Christians. As I[e beealue tire Atoning Sacrifice by lucans of I[is human nature, so is He our tIih Priest in heaven by means of the same. ]le is now in heaven, entered into the Holv place, intercedingfi»r us, and dispensing blcssings fo us. tic gives us abundantly of His Spirit; but still
IIe glves It not af (race ff'oto IIis Divine nature, though ff'oto eternity the tIoly Ghost proeeeds fl-om the Son as well as fl'Olll the ] ather, but ly means of that ineorrup- il»le flesh whi«h lle lins taken on Ilim. For Christ is eome a Iligh Priest through the perShet tabernacle which He assumed, a tabernacle hot of this ereation, or in the ordhmry course of nature, buL fl'amed miraeulous]y of the sui)stance of the Yirin 1)y thc lIoly Ghost; and therefore the streams of litb flow to us ff'on» llim, as (aod indeed, but still as God il»earnate. (luiekeneth us is the 8pirit of the and llis tlesh is that wherewith IIe menti.n a tbm'th and last point in this I have said that out IIigh Priest and Savlour, the Son of God, when IIe took Otll" nature upon Ilim, acted through it, witlmut eeasin fo be what He was belote, making if but the instrument of IIis graeious purposes. But if must llot be supposed, becanse if was an insLrumenf, or l)eeause in the text iL is ealled a fabernaele, that *heretbre it was hot in*imatelv one wifl Itim, or that if was merely like what is eommonlv meant 1)y a tabernacle, whieh a man dwells in, and mav eome in and out of; or like an instrument, which a man takcs up and lays down. Far ff'oto it Divine Nature was sovereign and supreme when IIe became incarnate, yet the manhood which I Ie assumed was hot kept at a distance ff'oto IIim (if I mav so speak) as a mere instrument, or put on as a merc garment, or entered as a more tabernacle, but it was really taken into the closcst and most ineffable union with Him. tic received i into IIis Divine Essence (if we lnay dare so fo speak) alln»st as a new attribute of J[is Person; of course I speak ly w:lv of analogy, l»ut I mean as simply and ildissoluhl3". Let us consider whala is lneant by God's justiêe, or mel'cy, or wisdom, and we shall perhaps have some glimpse of thc meaning of the inspired writers, wl:cn they speak of the S,n's incarnation. It" we said that. the Son of (Jod isjust or mercithl, we should mean that thcse:tre attrihutes which attach to all IIe is or was. Whatevcr ]le says, whatever I[e designs, whntever 1le works, 1le is just and hwing" whcn ]le lhus says, desig'ns, or works. Ïhere never was a. moment, thcre never was an act or providence, in whieh Goal wroug'ht, without IIis being jus and loving, even though both attributes may no be exercised a once in the saine act. In solnewliat tlle saine way the 8on of God is nmn; all thal is nceessal T fo constitute a perfect manhootl is attaehed fo IIis eternal Person absolutely and entirely, belonging" fo IIim as rcally and fully as tIis justice, truth, or power; so that ila would be as unmcaning fo speak of dividing" one of His attribntes ri'oto Him as fo scparate from Ilim His manhood. This throws ligh upon the Catholie tenet, that tlie Godhead and Ianhood were "joined togethcr in One 19erson, never fo be divided;" words which also serve too often to bring home to us how faintly we toaster the trne doctrine: tbr we are someIimcs tempted fo ask, where is il said in Seripturc that the manhood shall never be divided ri-oto the Godhead? which is as ineongruous a question as if we were fo ask whether God's justice, mer«y, or holiness em be divided ff'oto lIim; or whetber Seril,ture ever de«lares fiat this or tlat attl'ilmte nmv no disalpear: tlw as these have no real existence exeept as i. (lod, neither has out Lord's manhood exeept as in IIis l)ivine nature; it never subsisted exeept as belongin t, Il is divinitv; if has no subsistenee in itselt'. Ïhus all th:t l[e did and said on eartb was but the immediate deed «md word of God thc Soli actin bv means of Ilis human tabernat'le. IIe sm'i'ounded Himself with it; l[e h,dg'ed it withiu IIim; and theneeforth the l'Atrnal XV«wd, the on of Ge»d, the Second Person in the blessed q3rinitv, had two natures, ihe one His own as roallv as the other, I)ivine and human; and He aeted throug'h l»oth of thcm, sometimes throuh both aL once, sometimes through One and n»t through the other, as _klmi'hty God aets sometimes bv the attribute of justice, SOlnetimes bv that of love, sometimes through both together. I[e vas as entirelv man as if He had ceased to l»e God, as fldlv God as if He ]md never beeome man, as flllv both aL once as He was in being af all. he Athannsian Creed expresoes all this as follows: "The ri'ht faith is, that we be]ieve and conz%ss that ouf Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is God and Man; God of the substance of His Father, begotten belote the worlds; and [an of the substance of His Mother, born in fle world. Perfec God; and perfeet Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting": who, althoug'h He be God and Ian, yet is hot two but one Christ; one, hot bv conversion of the Godhead into flesh," as if He eould cease fo be God, "but br takin of thc Manhood into God," taking if into I[is Divini Pcrson as ITis own: "one alLogeOmr, hot l,v eon[lsiOl of substance," hot by the Divine Nature and the hmnan beeomin some one new nature, as if fie ceased fo le God, and did hot become a. man, " but 1 3- mfitv oi' Persot." This is what ]Ils unitv eonsists in,not unity of nature, but in this, tlmt fie who came on earth, was lhc ve o" Smnc who had bcen from everlastin.
In conclusion, let me observe, tlml we ou.a'ht hOt. fo speak, we oug'ht n,t to hear, sueh hi.a'h truths, without ffrcat reverenec and awe, and preparation of mind. And this is a reason, perhaps, whv this is a proper season for dwellin. on them; when we have been eng'a'ed, hot in nirth and festivily, but in elmstening" and sobering" ourselves. Thc Psahnist says, « Lord, I mn hot hig'h minded; I havc no proud looks. I do not exereise myself in g'reat matters whieh are too hi'h fi»r me. ]3ut I refi'ain my soul.'md keep it low, like as, ehild that is weaned fi'om lais mother." Vhen we arc engag'ed in weaning oursclves from this world, when we are denying" ourselves even l«wful things, when we have a subdued tone of thought and fecling, theu is an allowable rime surely to speak of the high mysteries of the faith. And then, too, are they espeeially a comfort fo us; but those who neleet fitstinz, make lig'ht of orthodoxy too. 13ut fo those who throuh God's g'raee are otherwisc minded, the Creed of the Chureh brings relief; when, amid the gloom of their own hearts, Christ rises like the Sun of righteousness, g'iving" them peaee for disquiet, "beauty tbr ashes, fle oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of hea.viness, that they may be called trees of rig'hteousness, the planting of thc Lord, that He may be glorified."
E xvho thus humbled Himself—heing first ronde man, thcu dyin, and that upon the shanmful and agonizing Cross—was thc same xvho fi'om eternity had been "in thc form of God," and was "equal with God," as the Apostle declares in a preceding" verse. "In the beginning was the Vord, and thc Word was with God; and theVord was God; the samc was in the beginning" with God;" thus speals St. John, a second witness fo the samc great and nwful truth. And he, too, ocs on to say, " And the Vord was ruade flesh, and dwclt amon us." And at the close of his Gospcl, as we know, he gives an account of our Lord's death upon the Cross. We are now approaehing that most sacred day when we commemorate Christ's passion and death. Let us try to fix our minds upon this great thought. Let us try, what is so very difiîeult, to put off other thoughts, to clear out minds of things transitory, temporal, and earthly, and fo oeeupy them with the eontemplation of the Eternal Priest and IIis ont ever-endurinz Sacrifice; that Sacrifice whieh, thougql eompleted once for ail on Calvary, yet ever abideth, and, in ifs power and ifs gaee, is ever present among us, and is af ai1 rimes 'ratefiflly and awflflly fo })e commemorated, but now espeially, when fhe rime of vear is eome n whieh i was ruade. Le us h)ok nl)(m tlim who was lifted u 1) tha l[e might draw us fo IIim; and, by being drawn one and ail t, lIim, let us be drawn fo eaeh other, so tha we nmy understand and feel that lle has redeemed us oue and ail, and that, unless we love one another, we eamot rcally have love to llim who laid down His litb tbr us. Vith he hope, flaen, of sug'g'csting o you some serious çhoughs for lc weck whieh begins with this da5 I will make a few rcmarks, such as the text suggests, Ulmn that drcadful yet most joyful even, the passion and death of our Lord. And, firsL it ougM hot fo be necessaa T o say, flaoug'h i may be necessary cvcn bccause it is so obvious,(for, what is very 1)lain is somctinaes {aken for granted by thosc who know it, and hence is never hcard by others af all,)flfis, I say, in the first place, must be evcr rcmembcred, that Christ.'s death was m)t a mere martyrdom. A martyr is onc who dies fi)r the Church, who is put o death tbr preaching and mainaining le {nth. Chris{, indeed, was put {o death for preaching the Gospel; yct I[c was hot Martyr, but tte was much more {han a)[ar{yr. Ilad He been a mere nmn, He would bave been rightly called a Martyr, but as He was hOt a mere man, se» lit was hot a meve Martyr. [an dies as a Iartyr, but the Son of God dies as an.ktonin Siterifice. I[eve then, as you sec, we are af once int, rodueed int, i very nystel'Jous subjeet, thong'h one whieh eoneerns most nearlv. Ïhere was a virtne in I[is death, whieh there eouhl he in no ther, for IIe was God. 0', indeed, eouhl hot have told beforehand what w.uld fi,llow so high an event, as (hd bee,ming ine:u'nate and dyingt,n the Cr,ss; 1,ut that something" extra,rdim,'y and hich wouhl issue ri'oto it, ve mi'ht have been quine sure, thoug'h uothin had been told us. lle would hot have so humbled llimself t," noug'ht; l[e eould m,t so humble IIimself (if I may use the expressitn) without momentous eonsequenees. If would he well if' we Ol»ened our minds fo what. is meant by the &etrine ,t" the Son of (od dying,,n the Cross tbv as. I do hot sav ve shall ever be able fo solve the mysfevy of if, but we lnay understand in what the Iystery eonsMs; and that is what many men are defieient in. ]h.v have n» elear views what the truth o[" the marrer is; if thev had, if would make them more serious than they are. Let it be understod, then, that the Almig'hty Son of God, who had been in the bosom of the l"athev ri'oto everlasting, beeame man; beeame man as trulvas IIe was always God. IIe was God ri'oto God, as the Creed says; that is, as being the Son of the Father, He had all those infinite perfeetions ri'oto the "ather whieh the t ather had. IIe was of one substance with the Father, and was God, beeause fle Father was God. He was truly God, bu He beeame as hafly man.
He beeame man,)'et so as hot fo eease in any respect bcing what IIe was befi»re, tic added a new nature fo Himself, yet so intimately, that if was a.ç /" IIe had aetuallv ]eft Ilis fi»rmer selt; whi«h IIc did hot. "The 'ol'd became tlcsh:" even this wouhl scen lnyste 3" and marvcl eu(mgh, but cven this was hot all; hot onlv was IIe "ma(le re:m," but,:s the Creed g.)es on fo state, tic "ws erueitcd also for us mder Pontius Pilate, sutlk.rcd and ws buried." Now here, I say, is a fi-esh mvsterv in the history of tIis humiliation, and the hou'ht «»f if will east a.new and solemn lig'ht on the chapters we shall read during the weck. 1 have said that, after IIis incarnation, man's nature was as much and as truly Christ's as His Divine attrihutes; St. Paul even speaks of God "purchasing us with Ilis own l»lood," and of the «Lord of g'lory" being '" killed,"expressions whieh, more than anv other, show how absolutelv and simply Ite had pu on IIim the nature of man. As the soul aets throuh the body as ifs instrument,—in a more perfeet way, bu as intimatcly, did the Eternnl Word of God aet through the manhood which IIe had taken. When He spoke, if was literally Goal speakin; when IIe suffered, i was God sn/[çrln. Not that the ])ivine Nature itself eould surfer, any more than our soul can see or hear; but, as the soul secs and hears throug'h the organs of the body, so God the Son suffered i that hmnan natm'e whieh He had taken fo Ilimself and ruade His own. And in that natm'e IIe did truly surfer; as truly as IIe framed the worlds through Itis Almighty power, so through His human nature did He surfer; for when He came on a Sffcrcr ara4 Scrifice. 73 eaah, His manhood beeame s truly and personally His, as His Almighty power lmd been fl'om everlastin'. Think of this, all ye lig'ht-hearted, and consider whether with this thoug'ht you ean read the last ehapters of the four Gospels without fear and trembling. For instance; " Vhen IIe had thns sp,,ken, one of the o[eers whieh stood by sruek Jesus with the pahn of his hand, saying, Answerest Ïhou the high priest so?" The words must be said, thoug'h I hardly date say them,that oflleer liffed up his hand aainst God the Son. This is hot a tlgurative vay ot' speaking', or a rhetorieal fi»rln of words, or a harsh, extreme, and unadvisable stqtement; it is a. literal and simple truth, if is a great. Catholie doctrine. Again: " Thelt they did spit in IIis çaee, and buffeted IIim, and others Slnote tlin with the pahns of their hands." "The men that held Jesus moeked Ililn, and smote Him, and when they had blindt>lded ttim, they struek Hiln on the face, and asked lliln, saying, Prophesy, who is i that smote Thee? and manv other thing's blasphemonsly spake they ag'ainst Him." " And Herod with his men of war sc Ilim af. nong'ht, and mocked Him, and arraved Him in: gorg'eous robe, and seng Him again fo Pilate." " Pilate therefore took 3esus and scourged Ilim; and the soldiers platted a erown of thorns, and put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand, and they pu on Him purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the 3ews and they smote Him on the head with a reed, and did
74- Tc Incammt«.pit. upou Him, and, bowin flteir knees, worhipped llim. Then came,Jesus tbrth, wearing the erown of thorns and l.he lmrple robe." Lastl": " When thev were eolne fo the place whit.h is called Calvary, there they crucified t[im "between two lnalefietors, and eveu there thc" did I« eease insultiug, and Inockin llim; but all of them, chier priests:md peolde, s/ood bt, h«dding', aud bidding ][im eome dowu ff'oto the Cross. Now I bid you consider thaL that. Face, so ruthlessly smitten, was the Face of (hd ] limself; the Brows bloodv with the th-rns, the sacred Bodv exposed fo view and ]aeerated with the s«ourge, le lIands nailed fo the Cross, aud, aterwa.rds, the Side pierced with tle spear; if was the Blood, aud the saered Flesh, aud /he Hands, and the Temples, and the Side, and the Ftt of God l limself, whieh the fl'enzied multitude theu gazed upon. This is so fearflfl a flought, that when the mind first masters if, surelv it. will be difllcult to thinl of anv thiug" else; so that, whi]e we thiuk of if, we must pray God fo temper if to us, and fo g'ive us streugth fo think of it rightly, lest it be too mueh tbr us. Taling into aecount, then, that A]migqty God tIimself) (h»d the Sou, was the Suflbrer, we shall understand ]e/ter /ban we have hitherto the description g'iven of llim by the Evaugelits; we shall sec the meaning-of His enernl demeauour, His silence, and the words He used when He spoke, and Pilate's awe at tlim. "And the high pries arose and said uuto Ilhn, t John xviii. 22. Mat[. xxvi. 67. Luke xxii. 6365; xxiii. 11. John xix. 1, 2. Matt. xxvii. 29..Mark xv. 19. Luke xxiii.
a Stjf«rcr azd Sacrifcc. 7 5 Answerest Thou nothing? Vfhat is if which these witncss against Thee? But Jesus held His pcace. '' "When Hc was accuscd oI the t.hicf pricsts and chlcrs, tic answercd u,thin'. Thcu said Pilate unto Ilim, llearest Thou u,,t how nmny lhings they witness against Thee? and tic answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marvclled g'reaflyL" " The Jcws auswered l lira, We h:tve:t law, and by our law Ho oug'ht fo dic, bec:rose lit ruade I limsclf the Son of God. Whcn Pilate thercfi.re heard that saving, ha was the more afi'aid, and wcnt a'ain into thc judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art Thou? But Jesus gave him no:mswcr:'." " And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: fir he was desirous to sec Ilim of a long seasou, because ho had heard mauv things .{" Ilim; ami he hoped to have seen somc miracle doue l»y Ilim. Then he questioned with Ilim in many words, but tic answercd him nothing'." Lastly, Ilis words fo thc women who followcd Ilim, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not tbr Me, but wccp for yourselves and for vour chihh-eu. For behold the days are comiu, in thc whieh thev shall say,.Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that nevcr bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they beg'in to say fo the mounfains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover After these passages, consider the words of the beloved disciple, in anticipation of His eoming af the end of the 3lai.t. xxvi. 62, 63. 2 Matt. xxvil. 12—14. z John xix. 79. Luke xxiii. 8, 9. Luke xxiii. 2830.
7 6 Thc.[zcarJzatc Son, wodd. "Beold tic cometh with clouds, and every eye shall sec Him, they also whieh pierced Him: and all the kindreds of the carth slmll wnil because of Itim. Evcn Ycs, we shall ail of us, for weal or for woe, one day sec tha.t holy Countcnance which wicked men struck and dishonourcd; we shall sec those Ilands that were nailcd to thc cross; that Side which was pierced. We shall sec all this; and it will bc thc sight of the Livin$ God. q'lis bciuz the grcat mystery of Christ's Cross a.nd Passim, we miffht with reason suppose, as I have said, that somc ffreat thin would result fi'om if. q'he surfering and death of the AVord Incarnate could hot pass awav like a dream; thev eould hot be a mere martyrdom, or a mere display or figure of somethin¢ else, ther must have a virtue in them. This we mig'ht be sure of, though nothing lmd been told us about the result. But that result is also revealed: itis this—our reconeilation to God, the expiation of our sins, and out new ereation in h,liness. We had need of a reconciliation, for by nature we are outcast, s. From the rime that Adam fell, 1l his ehildren have been under a eurse. " In Adam ail die', '' as St. Paul says. So that everv one of us is born into this world in a state of dea/h,; such is out natural lif ri'oto out vei T first breath; we are ehildreI of wrath; coneeived in sin; shapen in iniquity. We are under the bondage of an inborn element of evil, whieh thwarts and stifles whatever principles remain of truth and goodness in us, directly we attcmpt fo act according fo them. This is that " body of death" under which St. Iaul describcs thc natnral man as groaning, and saying, "0 wretchcd man, who shall dcliver me?" Now for onrselves, my brethrcn, we know (praised bc God) tlmt all of us have from out infimey bccn taken out of this miserable heathen statc by lmly baltism, which is God's appointcd means of reg'eneration. Still it is m»t less our natural statc; it is thc statc in which cvc T one of us was 1,orn; it is thc statc in whieh evcry little child is, when brought to.thc ri,nf. Dear as ho is to those who bring him thither, and innocent as lac may look, there is, till he is baptized, an evil spirit in lais heart, a spirit of evil lying hid, seen of God, unsecn by man (as thc serpent among the trees t,f Eden), an evil spirit which ri'oto the first is hateflfl to God, and at len-¢th will be lais eternal ruin. That evil spirit is cast out hy Holy Baptism, without thc privilege of which lais birth would but be a misery fo him. But whenee did Baptism gain its power? From that great event we arc so soon to commemorate; the death of the Son of God incarnate. Ahnost all religions bave their outward cleansings; they feel the need of man, though they cannot supply it. Evefi the Jewish system, though Divine, effected nothing here; ifs washings were but carnal; the blood of bulls and goats was but earthly and unprofitable. Even St. ohn's baptism, our Lord's forcrunner, had no inward propitiatory power. Christ was hot yet crucified. But when that long-expected season came, when the Son of God had solemnly set. Himself apart as a.
7 8 Thc I«ca'«ct« Sa«, Victim in the presence of His twelvc Apostlcs, and had g',me info fhe garden, and belote fhree of fhem had undergone I[is agony and bloody sweat, and then had been letraycd, lmffeted, spit upon, scourged, and nailed to the cross, till IIe died, then He with Itis last breath said, "It is finished;" and ri'oto that rime {he virtue of the llighest went fiwth {hrotlh llis wounds and with Ilis blood, for the pardon and regeneration of man; and henee itis that baptism has its power. This is why I[e "humbled Ilimself and beeame o]»edicnt unto death, even the denth of the cross." "Christ ]mth redeemetl us," says the AposIle e]sewhere, " ri'oto the eurse of the Lnw, being ruade a eurse tbr us." Again, he says that Christ has "made peaee hy the blood »f His cross." tic bas "reeoneiled" us " in the bodv of Ilis flesh through death, fo presen us holy nnd unblameable, nnd mareproveable in His sig'ht." Or, as St. John says, the saints "bave wnshed their robes, and ruade them white in the blood of the Lamb." And no one speaks more explieitly on this great mystery than the prophet Isaiah, many hundred years before it was neeomplished. "Sureh- Hehath borne out griet and earried out sorrows. IIe was wounded for out tl'ansgressions, 1te was bruised for out iniquities; the chastisement of our peaee was Upall Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Ail we like sheep bave gone astray, we bave turned every one fo his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniqnity of us all'."
a S'«rcr a;«c[ 6;crij;cc. 7 9 We belicve, then, that whcn Christ suercd on cross, onr nature suflbl'ed in Itim. tluman nature, fallen and corrupt, was undcr lhc wrath o{" (lt,d, if was impossible that. it. should bc restol-ed to llis favour till it had expJated its sin b-sullbring. Wllxthis was neeessar3", we know hot; but we are told expressl3", lhat we are "all 1 3- nature children ot" wrath," that " by the deeds of the law lhere slmll flesh be justified," and that. « the wiekcd shall le turned into hell, and all the pc, q»le that fbrget. G,d." Son of God the{ took out nature on Ilim, lhat in I[im i miR'ht do and snttbr what. in itself was impossible if. Whht if cotdd hot eect of itself, i eould eflbct i IIim. He carried it. about Ilim th'oug'h a. lifk" ofpenauee. IIe carried if fi)rward to agony and dcath. In t[im out sinfid nature died aud rose ngain. AVhen it died in Ilim on the cross, that death was its new creation. In Him it sa.tisfied its old and heav" debt; for thc presence of His Divinity gave lu transeendent merit. His presenee had kept it pure ti'om siu from the first. IIis Hand had carefllly seleeted the choicest speeimeu of our nature from the Virgin's substance; separating from it all defilement, IIis personal indwelliu hallowed if and gave if power. And thus, when if had been offered up upon the Cross, and was ruade perfect by suffering, it became the first-fi'uits or" a new naau; le became a Diviae leaven of holiness for the new birth and spiritual lit of as many as should receive if. And thus, as the Apostlê says, "If one died for all, then did al1 die;" « our old man is crucified 1tire, that the bocl of sin might be destroy«l;" a.nd
"together" with Chris "when we were dead in sins, hath He quiekened us, and raised us up together, and ruade us sit. together in heavenly places in Chris aesus." Ïhus "we are members of llis body, fl'om His flesh, and ff'oto His bones: for whosoever eateth 1Ils tlesh and drinketh His blood, hath eernal lire," for Ilis flesh is meat. indeed, and IIis blood is drink indecd; and "'he that eateth 1ils tlesh and drinketh Ilis blood dwelleth in film, nud Ile in him. '' $Vha a very different, x'imv of liI do these doetrines presen t.o us ff'oto that. whieh the world takes. Only think of this one thing—of the eagerness of the great. mass of men after matters of rime, after engagement of this worhl, after gain, afer national aggrandizement, after speeulations which promise publie or prix-aie advantnge; and having thought, of this, tttl'll back fo the eontemplation of Christ.'s Cross, ana then say, as eandid men, whether the world, and all tha is in the world, is no as unbelieving now as when Christ came. Does there no seem too gren cause fo fear tlm this nation, in spire of its having been 1,aptized into the Cross of Christ, is in so unholy a state, that, did Christ eome among us as He came amoug the ae.-s, we should, exeept a small remirent, reject Ilim as well as they? Mav we mt be sure that men now-a-days, had they been alive when IIe carne, would bave disbelieved and derided the holy and mysterious doctrines whieh He brought? Alas is there any doubt a ail, tha they would have fulfilled St,. John's words,—" the darkness comprehended if not?" Their hearts are set on sehemes of this world: there would have been no sy»pathy between them and the cahn and heaveuly mind of the Lord desus Christ. They would ].are said that Ilis Gospel was strange, extrtv,qgant, ineredible. The on]v reason ther do hot say so now is, that they are used to it, and do not really dwell on what they profess to believe. AVlmL! (it wouhl Imve been said,) the Son of God taking human flesh, impossible! the Son of God, separate from God yet ouc with Him! " how ean these thinffs be?" God llimself suffering" on the Cross, the Ahnighty Everlastinff God the form of servant, with human flesh and hlood, wounded, insulted, dyiug'? and all this as an Expiation for human sin? Why (they would ask) was an Expiation necessary? why could hot the All-mercifid Father pardon without one? why is lmman sin to be accouuted so g'reat an evil? We see no necessity for so marvellous a remedy; we refuse to adroit a course of doctrine utterly unlike any thing" which the face of this world tells us o£. These are events without parallcls; thev belong to a new and distinct order of things; and, while our heart has no sympathy with thcm, out reason utterly rejects them.And as for Christ's miracles, if they had hot seen them, they would hot have believed the report; if they had, they would have been readv enoug'h to refer them to juggling craft,—if hot, as the Jews did, fo Beelzebub. Such will the holy truths of the Gospel ever appear to those who lire fo this world, whcthcr they love its pleasures, its comforts, ifs prizes, er its strugglcs; their e'es are waxe.,t gross, they cannot see Christ spiritually.
When they see IIim, there is 11o beauty in Ilim that they should desire I[im. Tlms they become unbelieving. In our Lord's vords, "No servant (.an serve two mas¢ers: for eilher he will hate lhe one and love the other, or else he wi]l hold to t.he one and despise lhe other. catto[ «erre God altd iII(tlll#loltl." When l[e said flais, the Plmrisees &'rid«d l[im. And lIe said unto them, " Ye .re they whit'h justi" yourselves befiwe lnen; but God knoweth your hearts, ibr that which is hihly esteemed among men is al»omimttion in thc sight of (od." God grant that we may hot be of those who "justit)- themselvcs befiwe mon," and " deride" flmse who preaeh the severe doctrine of the Cross God grant that, if we have any misgivings about the corrupt.ions and defects of the religion now so popular;maon" us, we may have the 'race tbrthwith fo desire honestly fo know God's will God g'rant that we lamV no attempt to deceive out consciences, and fo reconcile together, bv some artifice or other, the service of this world and of God God grant tiret we may hot pervert and dilute IIis holy XVord, put Ul,,,n iL the fidse interpretations of men, reason ourselves out of its strietness, and aduee religion to an ordinarv eommon-place matter—instead of thinking it what if mysterious and supernatural subjeet, as distinct ff'oto any thing that ries on the surface of this wor]d, is froln night and heaven ff'oto earth