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God himself is invisible to the eye of sense": even Moses was permitted to see only his back parts. But Christ had a peculiar relation to the Father as "his only-begotten Son;" and a most intimate acquaintance with him, as being from all eternity, and at that very hour, " in his bosom." He has made known the Father to us, and declared,

1. His nature

[Mankind had gross conceptions of the Deity as a material Being: but Christ has assured us of his perfect Spirituality. Nor was the Unity of God clearly ascertained among the Gentiles: but Christ has left no room for doubt upon this subject. He has, moreover, revealed to us a Trinity of persons in the Godhead. He has affirmed in the plainest terms his own Oneness with the Father. He has spoken of the Holy Ghost as co-existing with himself and with the Father, and has joined the Three together as equal in authority and honours. Thus has he enabled us by faith to "see him who is invisible.”] 2. His perfections—

[God had long since proclaimed his own name to Moses"; but Christ has afforded us more abundant discoveries of all his attributes. He has clearly shewn us that his goodness is unbounded', his sovereignty uncontrolled, his power irresistible', his justice inflexiblem, his mercy infinite", and his truth inviolable". There is not any thing relating to his Father, the knowledge of which could be at all serviceable to us, that he has not revealed.]

He did not however merely utter these things like the prophets of old:

II. How he declared him

Christ had formerly spoken of God in and by the prophets; but now he declared the Father in a different manner:

1. By exhibiting a perfect pattern of him

[He was himself an exact resemblance of the Father", and in his conduct exhibited every perfection of the Deity".

a 1 Tim. vi. 16.
d Mark xii. 29.
g Matt. xxviii. 19.
k Matt. xi. 25, 26.
n John iii. 16, 17.
91 Pet. i. 11,

b Exod. xxxiii. 23.
e John x. 30.

h Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7.
1 Matt. xxvi. 53.
。 Luke xvi. 17.
r Heb. i. 3.

c John iv. 24.

f John xv. 26.

i Matt. v. 45.

m Matt. xxvi. 42. p John xv. 15.

• John viii. 29.

Hence a sight of him was, in fact, a sight of the Father himself'.]

2. By making known his counsels

[Much of the Father's counsels had lain hid from the foundation of the world, or had been very imperfectly revealed. Christ opened them to his hearers as they were able to bear them". He made known God's intention to admit the Gentiles into his Church, and assured us that the most abandoned of mankind should be cordially received the very instant he returned to God; but that none of whatever character could be saved, unless they sought acceptance with God through his mediation. Thus by these declarations he has enabled us to attain a more perfect knowledge of the Father's mind and will.]

3. By exerting a secret energy on the minds of

men

[No man could know the Father unless Christ revealed him inwardly by his Spirit, as well as outwardly by the word". His very Disciples understood not until he opened their eyes": nor can we attain to a true knowledge of God in any other way. The "word must come to us in power and in the Holy Ghost," or it will come in vain; but, when applied by his Spirit, it shall teach us plainly of the Father".]

INFER

1. How glorious a person must Christ be!

[The description given of him shews his superiority above every created being: He is not the Son of God by creation, as the angels are, nor by regeneration and adoption, as men; but by an inexplicable generation, his "Only-begotten;" and, as well in his incarnate as in his pre-existent state, was continually "in the bosom of the Father." Nor was any other worthy to reveal the Father to us. Let us then entertain just conceptions of his worth and dignity, and manifest our delight in him as the saints in heaven do'.]

2. How precious ought the Scriptures to be to us! [Job and David had but a small portion of the Scriptures in their hands: yet did they value them above every thing in the world. How much more should we, who possess the

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sacred oracles entire! In these is recorded every thing that Christ has declared; and by these we may be made wise unto salvation h Let us then search them with diligence, and treasure them up in our hearts; nor let a day pass without our digging into those invaluable mines.]

3. How inexcusable are they who are ignorant of God!

[It is to our shame that many of us are still ignorant of God: we have not that knowledge of him that produces correspondent affections towards him. But what excuse can we offer in extenuation of our guilt? Has not Christ declared the Father in order that we might know him? And is he not willing also to reveal him in us by his powerful energy on our souls? Some, doubtless, are more guilty than others in proportion as they have possessed means of instruction; but all will find the consequences of their ignorance most tremendous'. Let all begin then to inquire after God with their whole hearts, nor rest till they have attained that knowledge of him which is life eternal m.]

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John i. 29. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

IN the general estimation of the world, they are reputed great who bear sway over their fellow-creatures, and are surrounded with pomp and splendour. But, with God, men are accounted great according as they possess a knowledge of his ways, and advance the ends of his government. Hence we are told by our Lord himself that John the Baptist, a plain rustic man, clothed with coarse raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle, and subsisting on the spontaneous produce of the wilderness, was the greatest of all men that had ever been born. And what was it that so exalted him, not only above all the monarchs of the mightiest empires, but above Abraham, or Moses, or David, or any other of the prophets? It was this:

they had seen Christ only at a distance, and spoken of him only in dark prophecies; but he beheld him personally; and, having discovered him by an infallible sign from heaven, pointed him out to others as that very Lamb of God, who should take away the sin of the world. Through the goodness of God, we may be as much exalted above him, as he was above others, if we behold Jesus in the character which is here assigned him; because the completion of his sacrificial work, together with the more perfect revelation of it, which we have in the New Testament, enables us to enter far more deeply into the mystery of redemption, and more fully to comply with the ends and designs of God in it. To forward therefore your truest advancement, we shall,

I. Illustrate the character of our Lord as it is here described

:

[Under the law there were lambs offered every morning and evening in sacrifice to God; and it is to these, and not to the Paschal Lamb, that St. John refers. They were to be of the first year, and without blemish: and by the continual offering up of them God was pacified, as it were, so that his wrath did not break forth to destroy his people on account of their daily transgressions. Such a lamb was Christ he was the Lamb, whom all the others typified. He was truly without spot or blemish; and was offered on the altar of his cross, not merely for the good, but in the stead, of sinners. He was really a propitiatory sacrifice, inasmuch as he bore in his own body the curse due to sin, and expiated all its guilt. As there was no variation of the daily sacrifices, but only a repetition of the same, so his one offering of himself is the sole cause of our acceptance with God: nor need that to be repeated, because the virtue of it extends from the beginning to the end of time; "he is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Nor is it the sin of one nation only that he takes away, but the sin of the whole worlds. He was eminently the Lamb of God, having been chosen to that office by God, and being accepted by him on our behalf in the discharge of it: He was 66 an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour1."]

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II. Call more particularly your attention to him1. Let the careless sinner "behold" him—

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[It is but too evident that they, who live in the neglect of God and their own souls, know little of the evil and malignity of sin. But let such persons view the Son of God leaving the bosom of his Father, and assuming our nature to atone for sin: let them go to Gethsemane and behold him bathed in a bloody sweat through the agonies of his soul: let them follow him to Calvary, and hear him crying in the depths of dereliction, My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" Let them view him expiring under the curse and condemnation of the law; and then let them judge, whether sin be so light and venial an evil as they imagine? Let them bethink themselves, "if such things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Let them behold him whom they have pierced, yea, whom they are daily crucifying afresh, and mourn. Let them know that what he suffered was for them; and that, if they be only willing to humble themselves for their iniquities, the benefits of his death shall extend to them. O that we might all so behold him, as to experience the efficacy of his blood in the removal of our sins!]

2. Let the self-righteous moralist "behold" him

[How strange is it that any one, who bears the name of Christ, should expect salvation by the works of the law! Why should that Lamb of God have come down from heaven to expiate our guilt, if sin could have been taken away by means of any repentance or righteousness of ours? What truth could there be in the Baptist's assertion, if pardon were to be obtained in any other way than through the sacrifice of Christ? Yea, for what end could so many thousands of lambs have bled upon the altar, but to shew, that "without shedding of blood there could be no remission1;" and consequently, to lead the attention of all to that Lamb of God, that should in due time be offered on the cross? Let such indignity then be no longer shewn to the Saviour of the world: but, as it is his office to take away our sin, let us renounce all self-righteous hopes, and trust entirely in his all-atoning sacrifice.]

3. Let the mourning penitent "behold" him

[No sight under heaven can be so welcome to a contrite soul as a sight of Jesus dying in the place of sinners: for, can we suppose, that he was appointed of God to make atonement for us, and that he executed his commission by dying on the cross, and that, after all, he is unable or unwilling to take away our sin? Was he designed to be a "propitiation for the sins 1 Heb. ix. 22.

i Luke xxiii. 31. k Zech. xii. 10.

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