By the late Rev. JOHN LOVE, D.D., dated Anderston, June 21, 1816.
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am Chief (I Timothy i. 15).”
WE have lately attempted, my brethren, to take a view of the commencement of sin in the universe, and have contemplated the character and doom of those angels who first rebelled against the Most High. Those, who have given earnest attention to that awful subject, may feel such uneasiness and alarm, as to require speedy endeavours to afford them support and consolation. For this purpose, let us turn our thoughts to the view of the Mighty Saviour, which is given us in this interesting declaration. That we may feel its weight, and enter into the sentiments of the Apostle, I will lay before you a short and plain series of truths, to which we are naturally led by this comprehensive sentence, and which, united together, give it full evidence and force.
I.
Let us consider the supposed condition of the inhabitants of this earth. This we will do, in the light of the subject which was lately before us. In the example of the first transgressors, “the angels who sinned,” we have seen the horrid visage and nature of sin, and its tremendous consequences. We have seen, what hideous, and wretched, and mischievous beings, these once fair angelic spirits became. Alarming is the thought of their approach to this earth; and heavy the tidings, that they have so prevailed over man that this whole world hath become the seat of their corrupting tyranny. Such is the condition of our fallen race, that the leader of iniquity is pronounced, in Scripture, “the prince,” yea, the “god of this world.” Instead of the beauty and sweetness of Paradise, this earth is become “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” The brooding mischief is not only near us, but has penetrated into every heart. The author of evil has impressed his vile image on every soul, and triumphantly leads captive every child of Adam at his will. Who can sufficiently realize the horror of this situation, or anticipate the result, in eternity, to which it opens? Intertwined with the embraces of such insidious and fierce adversaries, and partaking with them of the displeasure, condemnation, and curse of the Almighty, whither shall we look for help? whither shall we turn for deliverance? The text shews us where our help is found. Under just views of our lost, overwhelmed condition, how precious is the inspired testimony: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
II.
With eager eyes, therefore, let us look hither, and behold the Infinite grandeur and sufficiency of the Person of Christ Jesus, the revealed Saviour.
In cases of extremity, small alleviations are of no avail. The wife of Phinehas, under the shock of complicated calamity, paid no regard to the announced birth of a son. To them, who view the fearful calamities of a sinking, apostate world, it appears evident at once, that a little Saviour is nothing. Such would be the descent of all the armies of heaven, with a super-angelic spirit, or a little god at their head. In point of strength, an angel may conquer an angel; one holy angel, under Divine commission, may put to flight the thousand fallen spirits. But the matter of salvation is not to be decided by mere force of that kind. It is a matter of justice; it must be transacted at the awful, serene and pure tribunal of Jehovah. Such a ransom as the case of an apostate race require, ten thousand pure created worlds are too poor to furnish. For giving relief to an awakened conscience, the blood of angels, or super-angelic spirits, clothed with bodies, or of Bulls, goats or worms, are equally incompetent. There must be blood, in an incomprehensibly sublime sense, “God’s own blood” (Acts xx. 28). When, therefore, the great discovery dawns on the mind; of One who is truly the Supreme God, and yet, as man, allied to the guilty, and capable of suffering, then hope dawns,—confidence dawns,—triumph dawns. Then, as the apostle speaks soon after the text, “Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.”
A Divine Person, incarnate, is a deliverer equal to the astonishing magnitude of evil, overwhelming a world where Satan and his angels reign. Then,
III.
It becomes of unutterable importance, to mark the near approach of the Son, “the brightness of the Father’s glory;” to this guilty world, “Christ came into the world.”
This high Divine Person came down from Heaven, and came into this world, uniting to Himself a portion of our low nature, which was miraculously formed in the womb of one of the virgin daughters of Adam. He thus came into this low, polluted earth, and grew up in it, as one of its inhabitants. Here He constantly resided for a number of years.—here, He was visibly known as Jesus of Nazareth, though it was forgotten by a stupid generation of hypocrites, that He was born at Bethlehem, the city of David. In this earth, His human nature received its Divine, immeasurable anointing. The incarnate Word “dwell among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” He was designated Christ Jesus, the anointed Saviour; and He vindicated the name by His obvious, manifest employment, “going about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.”
His work was to save sinners. The nature and extent of this work requires our most profound consideration.
IV.
To save sinners, is a work great and comprehensive indeed. That we may take more correct views of it, let us consider, (1) The things essentially necessary to it; (2) Those things which belong to what we may call the redundancy, the elegance, and sweetness of this work.
(1) It is of importance, my brethren, to fix exactly on the essential ingredients of the Saviour’s work.
These were things, which it was impossible for any other to do, and without which, salvation could not be consistent with the perfections and government of the unchangeable God.
And they were chiefly the following:—
That He should, in human nature, fulfil the whole righteousness of the moral law, and exhibit an obedience transcendently pure and perfect, and at the same time stamped with Divine dignity, value and merit. It was essential, for this purpose, that, in the sight of God, angels, and men, the fire of heavenly love to God, and benevolence to man, should perpetually burn in his heart, and break forth in all becoming and required expressions, without any deviation, taint, or languor.
It was equally necessary, that the Saviour of sinners should, in His own Person, meet the demands of the curse of the law, as to all the essential ingredients of the denounced punishment of transgression. For this end, it appears indispensable, that He should suffer poverty and want of an outward kind, attended with the forfeiture of inward comfort to a great extent; that He should bear the shock of reproach, malignity, and contradiction, from the multitude of human beings. It was farther requisite, that He should encounter diabolical malice, craft, and fury. It was principally necessary, that the frown, displeasure, and wrath of the God-head should be powerfully, though mysteriously, impressed on Him who knew no sin.
Salvation required, that these things should be partly transacted in a wearisome, lingering manner, through the course of His humiliation, and that at last they should be brought to a fearful—an overwhelming crisis, in connection with severe bodily sufferings, terminating in death.
With all this suffering, it behoved the Saviour to mingle the sweet odours and incense of His human purity, and love to God and to man; and to overshadow, and enrich, and brighten the whole, with the Infinite majesty and glory of Deity, shining forth from on high in His Divine Person.
This is the sum of the entire ransom-price, which, looking at large into the whole case, we may pronounce, according to the Scriptures, to have been essentially requisite for procuring the salvation of the guilty, with eternal glory, and all grace introductory thereto.
This, my brethren, was the work which He, who came into the world to save sinners, never lost sight of, wherein day and night He was occupied, and which He never failed to carry forward, until, with the warrant of stern Justice itself, He proclaimed from the cross, “It is finished!”
(2) There were, however, many things, intertwined with this great work
which, though not essentially necessary were yet highly becoming such a Saviour, congenial with His redeeming achievements, and which manifested the redundancy, elegance, and sweetness of His saving character.
Being God in human nature, He could purchase the salvation of sinners, and at the same time perform a variety of services, to the glory of God and to the comfort of man. Of this kind, were His freely mingling with human society,—His admitting some to His intimate friendship,—His instructing, warning, and comforting by public teaching,—His conveying spiritual life to a number of dead sinners immediately by His own ministry,—His mingling His tears with those of dejected sufferers,—His doing good to enemies, performing miraculous cures, crushing the power of devils, releasing the prisoners of the king of terrors. These, and similar works, which render the history of His life and death resplendent, and His “Name as ointment poured forth,” were highly becoming the character of a Saviour,—highly conducive to the comfort of them who seek salvation in Him; though it cannot be said, that they were absolutely essential to the main work which He came to perform.
V.
The declaration concerning the character and work of this mighty Saviour is justly denominated, in the text, “a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance.”
Besides an abundance of diversified evidence from long-suspended and tried prediction, and from miracles the most glorious and incontestable; the intrinsic, inimitable evidence of this saying is laid up in itself, and beams forth by the simple declaration of it. In the contrivance of this plan of salvation, the astonishing reach of an Infinite understanding is at once manifest. The glories of immense purity, righteousness, love, and power, break in on the serious, enlightened observer of this work, with an evidence which compels belief, not in the way of cold calculation, but of delighted, transported acceptance and complacency, productive at once of peace, purity, and joy ineffable, and full of glory. Of such acceptance, this saying is worthy, from all human beings,—from sinners of every description,—and with all the force and tenderness of which the human faculties are susceptible. “Blessed are the people who know this joyful sound; they shall walk, O Jehovah, in the light of Thy countenance!”