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it follows that Christ is God. Reject the deity of the one, and you must reject the inspiration of the other.

Let me ask you, in conclusion, are you trusting in Jesus? Are you leaning on him? Are you saying at this very moment, from the depths of your heart, My Lord and my God, I lean on thee, I look to thee, I have no help, no hope, no refuge, in the universe but in thee, my Lord, my Saviour, my all; and when heart and flesh shall faint and fail, oh be thou, Lamb of God, the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever! Amen.

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LECTURE XXV.

THE BLESSED ONES.

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."-Revelation xxii. 14.

IN the edition or translation of the New Testament adopted by the Church of Rome these words are not given as I have read them in our authorized translation. In what is called the Rhenish New Testament, that is, a translation from a translation, which is the standard of faith and authority and practice, as far as it goes, in the Church of Rome, the 14th verse reads, unexpectedly in such a quarter, thus, "Blessed are they that have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." And in looking at some various readings of the New Testament text, I find that in one or two ancient MSS. this very reading which the Church of Rome has adopted occurs; and Jerome, a Latin father, a very bitter and acrimonious writer, but a very learned and accomplished scholar, translated the Greek New Testament into Latin, or rather corrected the old Italic version that existed before his time, and he has rendered the text from the MS. he used, just as I have now read it in your hearing, and very beautiful it is, if it be right reading: "Blessed are they that have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, for they shall have right to the tree of life, and shall enter in through the gates into the city." We cannot fail to see that this very text, in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Bible, condemns the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church! How little does she rest upon the blood of the Lamb! how much upon the intercession of Mary, the absolution of the church, and the merits, the excellences, and the virtues of pseudo-saints! But, beautiful as this reading is, I do not think it is the true one; and we must not hesitate to say so: we must not bend texts to our theology, but we must bend

our theology to texts.

We must not read God's word in the light of our creed, but we must read our creed in the light of God's word. And what is plainly the word of God, and demonstrated by unequivocal evidence to be so, that we must receive, whether we can make it dovetail with our notions or not: whether we receive it as a harmonizing element into our creed or not, is of no consequence, if it is truth: because it is from the Fountain of Truth, it is in harmony with all other truth; and, if it do not sound to us as if it were so, it is from the deafness of our ear, and not from the dissonance of God's truths. I prefer, therefore, the reading of our authorized version, because it occurs in every ancient MS. of any weight or authority whatever; and, moreover, I believe as it stands in our Bible it is in perfect harmony with the rest of the word of God.

The word "right" may startle some: it is the translation of the Greek word tovoia, which means, liberty, authority. It is the very same word that occurs in that beautiful passage, “To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." It does not mean "merit," it means liberty or authority. Here it does not imply that they have a right to the tree of life because they do the commandments of Jesus; but it teaches that their doing the commandments is the evidence of their belonging to Jesus, and therefore, as the result of this characteristic, they are made fit for, and have an entrance abundantly administered into the gates of the city of our God. You must often have noticed, in reading God's word, how completely precept and privilege, doctrine and duty, are interwoven like woof and warp into one glorious texture. God's word is not written as if it were composed by men who had a scheme to support; the very fact that you find startling texts that seem to fly in the face of your creed, is just presumptive evidence that holy men wrote as they were inspired by God, not in order to keep all continuously in harmony with a prearranged and preconceived creed, which they had constructed in their own minds.

You will find then, I say, this-that the promise and the precept are continually interchanged, and occasionally change places. Is there a promise of a crown? it is added, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Have we free justifi

cation through the blood of Jesus? it is added, "Shall we go on in sin that grace may abound? God forbid." Are we saved by grace? it is the reward of the inheritance: it is given for faithful continuance in well-doing. The reward that crowns the duty is constantly associated with the privilege which sustains and animates us in the discharge of that duty. In Christ is the Christian's title; like Christ is the Christian's character; resting on the sacrifice of Christ is our position, doing Christ's commandments is our constant duty; and character is inseparable from the state; holiness is inseparable from forgiveness; sanctification is inseparable from justification: wherever there are forgiven men, there there are holy men: wherever there are accepted men, there there are those who do God's commandments and have a right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city.

Now, who are those that do God's commandments?-for the whole meaning and application of the text lies in answer to this question. They are exclusively forgiven, justified, and accepted men. "By nature there is none that doeth good; all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." They are ignorant of the purity of God's law, and we are by nature disinclined to the duty prescribed by God's law; and therefore they who do this law, who obey His commandments, are first sons, then they are servants; their persons are accepted first, their offerings are welcome next. They are delivered first from the curse of a law that condemns them, and then they accept the guidance of a law that acquits and welcomes and directs them. They are emancipated from the curse of the law, in order to be introduced into a nearer, clearer, and more growing obedience to the duties of the law. And obedience to the commandments of God is the evidence and action of all the people of God. They see God's law in a new light, they do it with a new delight; and the new obedience, and the new heart, and the justified person, are all one and the same in Jesus Christ.

Now it may be asked, in the next place, If they are Christians who do God's commandments, and none else, what are the commandments of Christ? When we read the word commandments, we are apt to leap to the conclusion that this means the Ten Commandments, or the two epitomes of the commandments which I

read this morning, and which are perfect exhibitions of all the commandments of God. But these commandments specified here are not specially the commandments of God the Father, or of the Triune Jehovah, but they are especially and distinctively the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. He introduces himself in verse 13, saying, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Then John, listening to the music of these accents pealed from the upper sanctuary, adds, "Blessed are they that do His commandments"-the commandments of the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

"Look And how

What, then, are his commandments? I will give you the very first; and how full of all that can touch and attract the human heart is that commandment of his ! "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved." precious is this fact, that He makes our safety to be our duty, our salvation to be our instant obligation; and that he makes our disregard of salvation not merely the rejection of our own mercy, but also disobedience to his own royal and conclusive command! It is thus that the cross is inseparable from the sceptre; and he that refuses to be saved, not merely rejects the mercy that can forgive him, but disobeys the royal command of him who would redeem him. "For this is his commandment, that ye believe on Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." And, my dear friends, is not that the character of all the commandments of God? God never commands his creatures as an arbitrary tyrant, to gratify himself. Whatever he commands them to do is necessary to their own happiness and holiness, and progress to heaven. Never forget, then, that when God commands you to be holy, it is really his commanding you to be happy. When God bids you accept grace, that is offered in his Son, he commands you to accept that salvation which will make you happy and blessed for ever.

But there are other commandments of the Alpha and Omega: here, for instance, is a very precious one: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all else shall be added." Seek this first in your heart; seek it first in your

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