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CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER

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CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER

14 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

(Continued from last issue)

HOW the manhood was taken into God, surpasses the investigation and capacity of created intellect. Nor is the explanation of this conjunction needful to his people; but only the assurance of the fact. In the one nature, he could suffer as man for men; in the other, he could merit as God to God. As Godman, he could reconcile the human nature as to the divine by purifying it in himself; and possesses, and will for ever possess, all power in heaven and earth, to conduct his people through every stage of time, to the rest which himself hath provided for them in his own eternity.

In this glorious view of our exalted Saviour, what a fund of comfort appears in all his undertakings, his offices, his nature, his work, for the children of God! Jesus, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood; and he is able also to save them to the uttermost (or for evermore) that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth (the very meaning of his name Jehovah) to make intercession for them. Jehovah descended to become Jesus for their sakes. And Jesus is Jehovah, or he could not be the same yesterday (i.e. from eternity,) today, (i.e. through all time), and for ever (i.e. to eternity:) all which the name Jehovah implies. No motive, but his own infinite grace and mercy, could have induced the Prince of Life to become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, in order to taste of death; no end, but to display his transcendent glory, in the everlasting happiness of his people. His own spontaneous love produced the original design; his unsearchable wisdom contrived the eternal plan; and his omnipotent power rendered the whole effect in their redemption as unfailing and sure, as it is perfect and ordered in all things. He is the life; from whom all creatures live, are moved, and have their being;” by whom his people recover from darkness and death; and in whom whosoever believeth shall never truly die.

This is gospel or good news, indeed, to those children of grace who are continually fearing lest they should perish by the hand of Saul, or fail at some time of those abundant blessings, which infinite bounty hath provided, and which infinite love hath promised them. Such should never forget, that Jesus is Jehovah; able to make good all his engagements, and willing as he is able. Let them cast their burden, therefore, upon him, and he shall sustain them. When they are oppressed, he will undertake for them. He will deliver their souls from death, their eyes from tears, and their feet from falling. Let them wait then still upon God; and, ere, long, they shall perceive what reason they have to praise their mighty Redeemer, who is the health of their countenance and their God.

Remember, O Christian! if thou hast any life, or hope, or desire in Jesus, that it is not thine own life, but the life of Christ in thee; and that, therefore, it can never perish, nor utterly fail. Thy sinful nature can afford no hope, nor the shadow of a hope; not a desire, nor even a wish to desire, the least good thing that relates to Jesus Christ. These are exotics on earth, and must be transplanted from heaven. No fruit or flower of grace can spring from thy carnal nature; nothing naturally flourishes there, but the baleful weeds of free will, or rather self-will, of unbelief and pride. Thy soul, by natural pollution, is become a dark, a waste and thorny wilderness; and none but Christ, the husbandman of the church, can convert it into a garden. But, when the divine Redeemer has once made this wilderness to blossom as a rose; will he not keep, as well as water it every moment; will not he reduce the beasts of the forest, with every noxious and creeping thing ? Can Jehovah bestow so much affection and care upon his people at one time, and then suffer an apostate spirit, one of his vilest creatures, to ravage and destroy them at another? Reason and Scripture, the perfection and mistress of the best reason, renounce the abhorred thought forever. Take courage, then, believing soul, and look out for thine inestimable privilege of a good hope through grace: and be assured, from the testimony of Jesus, that thou shalt never look in vain. Thy heavenly Father despiseth not the day of small things; and why shouldest thou? Thy faith, though now perhaps minute as the smallest of the seeds, is notwithstanding precious; and shall one day rise in such luxuriance, that all the fowls of the air shall lodge in the branches of it. The holiest graces and most happy desires shall wing their way to thine heart, and shall rest with delight in thy soul, through the everlasting salvation of Jesus. He lives, and because he lives, thou shalt live also. The life thou hast received from Him here, shall be improved and perfected, shall be increased and glorified, in him, and with him, for ever, hereafter.

What precious salvation is this! What a hope of security is here, in our almighty Jesus! How inestimably essential to the very being of all our comforts, and to the very end of all our desires, is the supreme divinity of Jehovah the Saviour! This is the basis of religion itself—Take it away, and O what a dismal view! The mind can conceive nothing but an empty void, to which all mortal things and mortal creatures are hastening; and hastening only to be extinguished as nothing. But let this sun of righteousness, in the exalted lustre of his eternal perfections, dispel the gloom of nature; let him shine forth to the soul, with the spiritual glories of his everlasting gospel; the believer’s heart will begin to glow with the cheering ray, his eyes will meet with rapture the opening scenes of immortality, and his ready feet will press on with energy to possess them. It was this glorious prospect which induced the seraphic psalmist, and shall also induce each happy believer, to exclaim, My soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Happy for them all; they go from strength to strength, and every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.

“Messiah, Christ, or Anointed”

It will scarce be disputed, but by Jews, that this title, in the emphatical sense, pertains to Jesus of Nazareth, who, with respect to his human nature, was anointed and consecrated by Jehovah to be the Saviour and deliverer of his people; and, therefore, took upon him this name of unction, as a person authorized and qualified fully for that design. Whatever gracious offices Jesus assumed in their behalf, he was anointed and delegated to them by Jehovah. And being in his divine nature a person in Jehovah arrayed in the flesh of man, he was able to perform every office and every covenant-engagement, with perfection and certainty. Thus he, who ever was God, became now the God-man in one Christ. The weakness of the human nature was made equal to every undertaking, through its conjunction with the divine; for his essential divinity strengthened the humanity. As the holy oil, under the law, consecrated certain persons to particular offices, so the holy unction of Christ’s divinity communicated to his humanity all those glories and perfections, which exalted the name of Jesus above every name, and qualified him to be a fit mediator between God and man.

The consecration of Christ, for the work of redemption, is beautifully conveyed to us under this image of pouring forth oil upon his human nature; for as oil insinuates itself into the minutest pores of the substances which it touches, till it has entirely diffused itself through them; so the divine nature wholly possessed the human form, called Jesus, and induced a most perfect union of both; which union, or consummation, became that wonderful Person called Christ. In this view, he is prophesied of, and addressed as God; like as, in other cases, He is called, and spoken to, as man. Thus, “though he be God and man; yet he is not two, but one Christ: one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by taking the manhood into God: one altogether; not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.” What a prophetic address is made to him in the 55th Psalm? Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore,O God! (for so it might have stood,) thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

The mediatorial office of the Lord Jesus Christ was typified, and foretold in being typified, by many ceremonies under the Jewish economy, and particularly by the consecration of the high priest, of kings, of prophets, and of the tabernacle; all which were designed eminently to prefigure one or other of the important purposes of his mission. Rightly understood, they all concentered in Christ; and were specially designed to convey the history and mystery of his grace to his chosen people.

The high priest was consecrated to his mystical office by an unction with the most holy oil, which was poured upon his head in so copious a manner, as to run down upon the beard, and even to the skirts of his garments. It was like the dew of Hermon (says the Psalmist,) descending upon the mountains of Zion. Inferior priests were only sprinkled with this oil, mixed with the blood of the sacrifice, intimating, that the Spirit was poured out without measure (because of his infinitude,) upon Jesus; but in measure (because they are vessels of small capacity,) upon his people. Blood for atonement was also necessary for them, as well as oil for consecration. Thus was Christ anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows; i.e. above those who possessed with him a fellowship or similarity of office, as types of himself. Aaron was anointed high priest; Saul was anointed king; Elisha was anointed prophet; Melchisedec, king and priest; Moses, priest and prophet; David, king and prophet: yet none was ever anointed to the union and comprehension of all these offices together, but the Christ of God.

Kings were anointed, or consecrated, to their office by the command of God. This exhibits a lesson of that peculiar care of public piety and their own private holiness, which persons, so eminently advanced by the great King of kings, ought ever to have, both in their personal conduct, and in the administration of their great affairs. They should exceed others as much in honor and sanctity of character, as in dignity and rank of office. In this line of duty, they bid the fairest to secure their own happiness, and the general welfare of their subjects. Thus Christ, who is the only potentate in the spiritual world, was consecrated to be the king of his people, and was anointed king in Zion; and has proved, still proves, and will for ever prove, that he has not been anointed to a title without power, but to a dominion, founded in victory over his enemies, and in the salvation and blessedness of his redeemed. He reigns a king upon his throne, far above all the molestation of evil.

Prophets also were consecrated by the holy oil to speak in the name of the Lord to his people Israel. This outward sign taught them, and may teach us that no man can speak from the Lord, but he who is anointed with his Holy Spirit, or say that Jesus is (his) Lord (knowing him to be his) but by the Holy Ghost. Christ, in like manner, was well appointed to this office of the everlasting covenant; for the Spirit Jehovah was upon him, and anointed him to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth (says the apostle,) with the Holy Ghost and with power, for the execution of this gracious office. And he prophesied faithfully, was believed on in the world, and is received up into glory.

The tabernacle, and all things therein, were anointed and consecrated with the holy oil: they were thereby sanctified and made most holy; and so holy, that whatever touched them was holy. This is a beautiful emblem of that true tabernacle which God pitched among men, even Jesus; who is not only anointed with the plentitude of the spirit of grace in himself, but communicates the sacred unction to all that are in him, and even to those who, by the weakest hand of faith, do (as it were) but touch him. The very hem of his garment cured a disease of the body; and there is a saving virtue, continually issuing from him, to sanctify and heal his people’s soul. There is a holiness also in all the concerns of the children of God, which they undertake in faith; and the meanest things in life, when appropriated to them, or used graciously by . them, are made holy mercies and covenant blessings. O how should this urge them to lean faithfully in all things upon their God; to exercise their several vocations with an eye to his glory; and to make all their profits, honors, and advantages rely, in the fullest submission, on his holy will! We should not hear murmurings among Christians themselves, nor such complainings against them by others. All things would make them in some measure, happy; because obtained in faith: and the crossest providences would be the means of rendering them holy, because endured with resignation. There would be nothing common or unclean to them, if it was sanctified by the word of God and prayer, and received with thanksgiving; but, on the other hand, every thing must be offensive and impure, even the most religious duties of the strictest Pharisaic sect; if they pass untouched by the purifying finger of the great high-priest of God.

Jesus, our hope, is Jehovah’s Messiah. He became Jesus, assuming human flesh, for the sake of his people; and as Jesus, or the Saviour, was anointed or became Christ to complete their salvation. What wonderful love is implied under this term to poor sinners! He was, and is, and ever will be, the anointed one for their sakes. The holy Son Jesus was anointed by Jehovah, to comfort those that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified. With what joy and celerity did Andrew run to meet his brother Peter, and with what a beautiful abruptness did he tell him: We have found the Messiah! The message was too welcome to be locked up; and doubtless Andrew, like most other young converts, would have been glad to communicate what he knew, and impart what he felt, to all the world. The gospel of Jesus opens the heart, and, in proportion to its influence, banishes the sordid love of self from every believing soul.

As Christ, respecting his person of Man-mediator, received the unction of Jehovah, typified by the use of the anointing oil; so he communicates that unction to his people. He is their head of influence, of grace, and of glory in all respects. By his divine nature, he has a right to bestow his mercies on whom he pleases; and through his human nature he does convey them to his chosen. Hence he is their Lord and their God. The apostle John says to the church, That the anointing which they received, they received of Christ, who promised them eternal life. But the apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, That they, as Christians, were anointed of God. Consequently then, Christ, the anointing and the anointed One, is God. He is God, in union with man, to impart his unction to man: and he is man, in union with God, to lead up man to communion with him.

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van vrijdag 1 september 1944

The Banner of Truth | 16 Pagina's

CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER

Bekijk de hele uitgave van vrijdag 1 september 1944

The Banner of Truth | 16 Pagina's