works with you; his wisdom is your guide, his arm is your support; his Spirit is your strength; you lose your own insufficiency in the fulness of infinite perfection. In the third place, It will appear, that the Christian life is easy and pleasant, if we consider the encouragements the good man receives. • tranquillity. The air may be calm and tranquil, when the day is dark; the sea may be smooth, when there is mist upon the waves; the sky may be tranquil when it is overcast with clouds: but the pious and virtuous mind resembles a sky that is not only calm, but bright; resembles a sea that is not only smooth, but serene; The good man waits not for all his hap- resembles an unclouded sky, beautiful with piness till he come to heaven: he hath the rising sun. There are joys in the treasures in hand, as well as possessions in Christian life, unknown to transgressors: hope he hath a portion in the life that there is a spring shut up, and a fountain now is, as well as in that which is to come. sealed, that refreshes the city of God; There is a sense of moral good and evil there are secret consolations reserved for implanted in the mind; a principle of the just; there are silent pleasures that conscience which condemns us when we flow into the pious mind; there is a still do ill, and applauds us when we do well. small voice that comes to the pure in This principle is the chief foundation of heart, and bids them be of good cheer; our happiness, and gives rise to the greatest there is an inward peace of God that pleasures and the greatest pains in human passeth all understanding; there is a joy life. By means of this moral sense, there in the Holy Ghost, resulting from the is no peace to the wicked. Inward well-grounded hope of a happy immortastruggles, strong reluctance and aversion lity, that is unspeakable and glorious. of mind, precede the commission of sin. Sin, when committed, is followed by guilty blushes, alarming fears, terrible reviews, startling prospects, and remorse, with all its hideous train. Against the sinner, his own heart rises up in judgment to condemn him; the terrors of the Lord set themselves in array agsinst him; a fire not blown consumes him. "There is no peace to the wicked." The foundations of peace are subverted in his mind; he is at enmity with himself; he is at enmity with his fellow-creatures; he is at enmity with God. It is not so with those that take upon them the yoke of Christ. When pure religion forms the temper, and governs the life, all is peaceful and serene; the man is then in his proper element; the soul is in a state of health and vigor; there is a beautiful correspondence between the heart and the life; all is serene without, all is tranquil within. Delivered from the anxieties that perplex, and from the terrors that overwhelm the guilty man, the Christian resigns himself to peace and joy, conscious that he possesses a temper of mind which is acceptable to God, and leads a life which is useful to men. In the heart of such a man there is a blessed calmness and tranquillity, like that of the highest heavens. But there is more than a calmness and When the heart is thus pure, it becomes the temple of the Deity; and, as a temple is consecrated with the presence of God; "If a man love me, and keep my words, my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him." Who can describe the joy of those happy moments, when a present Deity is felt, when God manifests himself to his people, so as he does not to the world, when our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ? Then a foretaste of immortality is given, the joys of the blessed are let down, and heaven descends to men. In the fourth and last place, The ease and pleasure of the Christian life will appear, if we consider the joyful prospect that is set before us. The Christian has joys in this life; but he is not confined to these. His hopes do not terminate with life; they extend beyond the grave. Death puts a final period to the happiness of the wicked man; but it is then that the happiness of the righteous man begins. We are assured in Sacred Scripture, that there is a kingdom prepared for the righteous from the foundation of the world, when they shall enter into rest from all their labors, and sufferings, and sorrows of this mortal life; when they shall enter into a state where no ignorance shall cloud the understanding, and no vice pervert the will; where noth- | in the happiness of the good; the hills and ing but love shall possess the soul, and the mountains breaking forth into singing, nothing but gratitude employ the tongue; and all the trees of the wood shouting for where they shall be admitted to an innu- joy. All concurs to prove the truth in merable company of angels, and to the the text, "My yoke is easy, and my burgeneral assembly and church of the First- den is light." born; where they shall see Jesus at the right hand of the Father, and shall sit down with him upon his throne; where they shall be admitted into the presence of God, shall behold him face to face, and SERMON XXIX. ING IN A SUFFERING STATE. be changed into the same image, from THE EXPEDIENCY OF JESUS CHRIST APPEARglory to glory; that glory which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive. HEBREWS II. 10.-"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sous unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." WHEN Christianity was first published to the world, the earliest objection that was raised against it, arose from the low and suffering state in which its Author appeared. It was a stumbling-block to the Jews, and seemed foolishness to the Greeks, that a prophet sent from heaven to enlighten and reform the world, should lead a life of indigence and obscurity, and make his exit with ignominy and with pain. To conclude, It may be observed, that it hath been the fate of Christianity in all ages, to suffer more from its friends than from its enemies. Attacks from the enemies of our faith have generally proved subservient to its propagation and success; but the misrepresentations and injuries of its friends have often wounded it in a vital part. One of the greatest of these misrepresentations, and one of the most flagrant injuries that ever was done to religion, was to represent it as a burdensome service; as a grievous and a galling yoke, to which no man would submit, but from the terror of eternal punish- If we consider the character and prement. What adds to the injury, this has vailing opinions of the Jews and the sometimes been done by persons of real Greeks at the time when our Saviour apseriousness, who, unhappily possessed of peared, we shall see the reason of the una gloomy imagination, and who, proba- favorable reception which they gave to bly, in some period of their days, having his doctrines. The Jews had been the been guilty of crimes, have been so deeply favorite people of God. By signs and affected with remorse and contrition, that miracles, and mighty works, he had dethey have continued all their lifetime sub-livered them from a state of slavery in ject to bondage. But blessed be God, my friends, that such unfavorable and forbidding delineations of religion have no foundation in truth. In these volumes, Christians are called upon to rejoice ever-half, the sea was divided to make way for more. Religion promises happiness to us them, and the waters stood as a wall on in the life which now is, as well as in the their right hand and on their left. Durlife which is to come. The Wisdom that is ing their wanderings through the wilderfrom above, is represented as having length ness, a pillar of fire conducted them by of days in her right hand, and in her left night, and a pillar of cloud by day. hand riches and honor. The prophets and Manna descended to them from heaven, apostles ransack heaven and earth for and water sprung from the flinty rock. images to express the joys of the just. Accustomed to these great and marvelThey bring together the most beautiful lous exertions of the Divine power, in the and most delightful objects in the whole days of the Messiah they expected still compass of nature, and introduce the in-greater and more marvellous. If a God animate parts of the creation as joining was to descend, they looked for him in Egypt, had conducted them through the wilderness, and at last given them a settlement in the promised land. The arm of the Lord was made bare in their be doctrines of the cross. As they had been a stumbling-block to the Jews, to the Greeks they seemed foolishness. It is then a subject worthy of our contemplation, to inquire into the reasons that might move Almighty God, thus, in direct opposition to the prejudices and expectations of both Jews and Greeks, to appoint the Captain of our salvation to be made perfect by a state of sufferings. It is hence proposed to show the expe the whirlwind, they looked for him in the thunder, they looked for him in the earthquake, and when the still small voice came, it was neither heard nor regarded. Besides this, they had imbibed false notions concerning the Messiah, and the na. ture of his kingdom. They misinterpreted the ancient oracles, which foretold his coming; they took the magnificent style of prophecy for literal description, and, in place of a spiritual Saviour, expected a temporal prince. Accordingly, at the diency and propriety of appointing such a time when our Saviour appeared, the whole nation was intoxicated with the idea of a triumphant conqueror, who was to deliver them from the Roman yoke, to erect an universal monarchy on earth, and to make Zion the seat of empire, and capital of the world. To persons under the influence of these prejudices, a suffering Messiah was a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence. Captain of our salvation. This will appear, from considering our blessed Saviour in these four capital views of his character: as the founder of a new religion, as a pattern of all perfection, as a priest who was to make atonement, and a king who was to be crowned with glory. In the first place, If we consider our Saviour as the author of a new religion, his appearance in a suffering state frees his religion from an objection which applies with full force to every other religion in the world. The A different set of prejudices prevailed in Greece. The Greeks were an ingenious and an active people. Situated in a fortunate climate, and blessed with the Amongst all the nations whose history highest degree of liberty which mankind we have recorded, the laws gave birth to can enjoy, they bent their genius to the the religion. The public faith was modelcultivation of the arts. Smitten with the led by the sovereign authority, and eslove of wisdom, they gave up their pater-tablished by the sovereign power. nal estates to attend the school of philo- prince was also the prophet. The relisophy. They journeyed from region to gion which he established, was such as region, and traversed the world, to bring suited the genius of the people, the nature home fresh accessions of knowledge, and of the climate, or the views of the sovnew improvements in the arts. Under ereign; and, in short, was nothing more these favorable circumstances, Greece than a mere engine of civil government. arose to fame, and beheld an age of glory, When we take a view of Christianity, a which is unrivalled in the records of his- different scene presents itself. Here we tory. The ideas of virtue and of merit see a religion published by a person, obamongst any nation are founded upon the scure and unknown, amongst a nation splendid examples with which their histo- hated and despised to a proverb, one day ry abounds, and upon a perfection in to become the religion of the world, and those arts which they cultivate, and in to be propagated by the efforts of a few which they excel. The Greeks excelled illiterate fishermen, who had to combat in the arts to which the imagination gives against the prejudices of the Jews, the birth, as well as in the sciences, which superstition of the Gentiles, the wisdom reason brings to maturity, and their his- of the philosophers, the power of armies tory abounded with the most splendid in- and of kings, the ancient systems of relistances of public spirit, of heroic friend-gion established over the whole world, ship, and of intrepid valor. Dazzled with and the combined wit and genius and the lustre of these arts, and with the malice of all mankind. glory of these virtues, they fixed the Had our Saviour appeared in the pomp standard of excellence by them, and had of a temporal prince, as the Jews expectno admiration to bestow upon the humble ed him; had he appeared in the characProphet of Nazareth, and the mortifying ter of a great philosopher, as the Greeks would have wished him, often had we heard of his power and of his policy, and been told, that our religion was more nearly allied to this world than to the other. But when we hear the Author of our faith declaring from the beginning, that he must suffer many things in his life, and be put to an ignominious and tormenting death; when we hear him forewarning his disciples, that they were to meet with the same fate, these suspicions must for ever vanish from our mind. Thus our religion stands clear of an objection, from which nothing, perhaps, could have purged it, but the blood of its divine Author. In the second place, If we consider our Saviour as a pattern of virtue and all perfection, the expediency of his appearing in a suffering state will further be evident. + One great end of our Saviour's coming into the world was to set us an example, that we might follow his steps. But, unless his life had been diversified with sufferings, the utility of his example had been in a great measure defeated. What we generally call a perfect character, is a cold insipid object, that does not interest mankind. Were it possible for nature to realize the man of virtue, as drawn by those who misrepresent the Stoic philosophy; a man without the feelings of nature, and the weaknesses of humanity, proof against the influence of passion, and the attacks of pain; we would turn aside from such a caricature of humanity, and exclude the faultless monster from the number of our species. No example can make any impression upon the minds of man, but the example of men of like passions with themselves. Let us suppose, that the life of an angel were exhibited to the world, it might afford a pleasant sub ject of contemplation. But the question would naturally arise, What is this to me? This does not belong to my nature; I discover here no traces of my own character, no features of humanity. On the other hand, to set up an imperfect example for our imitation, would be attended with still worse consequences. We know, from the instances of the saints recorded in Scripture, how apt men are to quote their imperfections as an excuse for them selves, and by copying after these, come short of that perfection to which they might have arrived. Both these defects are remedied in the example of Jesus of Nazareth. His example is perfect, and, at the same time, has all that effect upon us which the example of one of our brethren would have had. When we behold the man Christ Jesus involved in distresses similar to our own, clothed with all the innocent infirmities of our nature, and groaning like ourselves under the sinless miseries of life, we are touched with the feelings of his infirmities and his pains; our passions take part with the illustrious sufferer, and we behold him in some brought down to our own level. It is from these shades that this picture derives its beauty, derives its effect upon the world, and that, notwithstanding the glory that surrounds it, we recognize our own image, we trace the features and the lineaments of humanity, and by these, are drawn to copy after such an illustrious pattern of excellence and perfection. measure The suffering state in which our Lord appeared, not only conduced to the efficacy of his example, but also to its more extensive utility, by presenting an ample theatre for the sublimest virtues to appear. It is observed by an historian, in relating the life of Cyrus the Great, that there was one circumstance wanting to the glory of that illustrious prince; and that was, the having his virtue tried by some sudden reverse of fortune, and strug gling for a time under some grievous calamity. The observation is just. Men are made for suffering as well as for action. Many faculties of our frame; the most respectable attributes of the mind, as well as the most amiable qualities of the heart; carry a manifest reference to the state of adversity, to the dangers which we are destined to combat, and the distresses we are appointed to bear. Had the Greeks consulted their own writers, they would have given them proper information on this head. To approve a man thoroughly virtuous, said one of the sages, he must be tortured, he must be bound, he must be scourged, and having suffered all evils, must be impaled or crucified. Who are the personages in history that we admire the most? Those who have suffered some signal distress, and from a host of evils have come forth conquerors. If we look into civil history, need I call up to your remembrance the patriots of Greece, the heroes of Rome; the wise, the great, and the good, of every age, who grew illustrious as they grew distressed, and in the darkest hour of adversity shone out with unwonted and meridian splendor. If we look into sacred history, we shall find that the good and holy men, who are there pointed out as patterns to the world, like the Captain of their salvation, were made perfect through suffering. The most illustrious names that are recorded in the book of life, the patriarchs of the ancient world, the prophets of the Jewish state, the martyrs of the Christian church are witnesses on récord of this important truth, that the most honorable laurels are gathered in the vale of tears, and that the crown of glory sits brightest on the brows of those who have gained it with their blood. Jesus of Nazareth, too, was appointed to learn obedience by the things that he suffered. All the virtues of adversity shone forth in his life. The patience that acquiesces with cheerfulness, in all the appointments of Providence, the magnanimity which triumphs over an enemy by forgiveness, the charity which prays for its persecutors, are striking and conspicuous parts of his character. But we injure his merit as a sufferer, if we consider it only as breaking out in single and occasional acts of virtue. His sufferings themselves, his condescending to become a victim for the sins of men, and to die for the happiness of the world, is an infinite exertion of benevolence that admits of no comparison, that is transcendent and meritorious. The consideration of this, more than the circumstances of his departure, more than the rocks which were rent, than the sun which was darkened, than the dead which arose, had we been present at the scene, should have made us cry out with the centurion, Surely this man was the Son of God." 66 In the third place, If we consider our Saviour as a priest, who was to make an atonement for the sins of men, the expediency of his making this atonement by his sufferings and death, will be manifest. It is one of the doctrines revealed in the New Testament, that the Son of God was the Creator of the world. As therefore he was our immediate Creator, and as his design in our creation was defeated by sin, there was an evident propriety that he himself should interpose in our behalf, and retrieve the affairs of a world, which he had created with his own hands. But it is evident, at first sight, that redemption is a greater work than creation; that it requires a more powerful exertion to recover a world lying in wickedness, to happiness and virtue, than to create it at first in a state of innocence. In the work of redemption, therefore, it was expedient that there should be a brighter display of the divine perfections, and a greater exertion of benevolence than was exhibited in the work of creation. Now, if God, without a satisfaction by sufferings, and by a mere act of indemnity, had blotted out the sins of the world, such a display of the divine attributes would not have been given. But by the Son of God's appearing in our nature, and suffering the punishment which was due to our sins, a scene is presented, on which the angels desire to look. This, in the language of Scripture, was the glory that excelleth; here the Almighty made bare his holy arm, and gave testimony to the nations. what was in the power of a God to effectuate. Hereby all the perfections of the divine nature were glorified. That immaculate purity, which cannot look upon sin, and that astonishing love, which could not behold the ruin of a sinner, were awfully displayed. The majesty of the divine government was sustained, and the rigor of the law was fulfilled, justice was satisfied, mercy without restraint, and without measure, flowed upon the children of men. In short, more glory redounded to God, and greater benevolence was made manifest to men, than when the morning stars sung together at the birth of nature, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. In the last place, If we consider our Saviour in that state of glory to which he is now ascended, the propriety of his being made perfect by sufferings will more fully appear. Because he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, therefore |