such was the heart of Christ. Though he was tempted in all points, tempted even to idolatry and selfmurder, yet was he totally without sin*. He came forth brighter, but not purer, from the furnace; brighter, because his graces were rendered more conspicuous by the fiery trial; but not purer, because he had no moral dross to lose. When satan tempted Christ, it was like striking fire upon ice, or upon a wave of the sea: there was nothing in his sinless nature for the sparks to lay hold on; but every thing that could resist and quench them. All the adversary's efforts on the Messiah's integrity, were like arrows shot at the firmament: or, as an excellent person t expresses it, resembled "The motions of a serpent on a rock; where they can make no impression, nor leave the least dent or trace behind them.-But on us, they are as the trailings of a serpent on sand or dust: they make a print, and leave some stain on the imagination at least, if not on the heart." In every assault therefore, which we are called to sustain, may we look for safety and for strength, to the Captain of our salvation, who, in his own person, bruised the serpent's head, and is able to succour them that are tempted. And remember, O assaulted Christian, to thy unspeakable comfort, that thou shalt in the end, be more than conqueror through him that hath loved thee. As thy Saviour was seen of angels, when he quenched the fiery darts of the wicked one; so art thou seen of thy Saviour, under all thy conflicts and distresses: nor seen only, but supported and embraced; and because he overcame, thou shalt overcome also.-A famous Dutch admiral‡, in the morning of that day on which he fell, is reported to have said, "This day, I shall be crowned either with laurels, or with cypress:" intimating, his determined resolution, either to gain the victory, or to *Matth. iv. 6. 9. Heb. iv. 15. Armor, vol. i. p. 98. Gurnall's Christian A lose his life. And his life he accordingly lost. musket ball, from the English fleet, crowned with cypress one of the ablest sea-officers that ever fought. But it is the peculiar happiness of the Christian warrior, to know assuredly, from God's inviolable promise, that no weapon formed against the heirs of salvation, shall finally prosper or prevail. Whoever is, by saving grace, enlisted under the banner of the cross, may be certain before he fights, that he shall be crowned, not with cypress, but with laurels. Prior to his striking a single blow, he is insured, both as to safety and conquest, by that Omnipotent Being, whose never failing providence, as our church admirably expresses it, orders all things both in heaven and earth *. When the Son of God commenced a minister of the gospel, and delivered to high and low, in season and out of season, the message of salvation, he was seen and heard of angels. On some occasions, they saw the heavenly preacher weep over his unfeeling auditories; and, on all occasions, heard him declare the counsel of God, as never man spake until then. Those mysteries of grace, which, at this very day, angels desire to look deeper into, they learned from his blessed lips: and bending seraphs derived sublime instruction from those matchless discourses which obdurate men despised. How beautiful, upon the mountains were the feet, i. e. the zeal * If so, an Arminian may object, if we are certain, beforehand, of overcoming, farewell to all diligence of our own: we may unbuckle our armour, and sit down without fighting at all. This cavil refutes itself. How can the assurance of final victory, supersede the neces‐ sity of contending, when fighting is the only possible means by which victory can be gained? History, both sacred and profane, affords almost innumerable instances, that even a strong probability of conquest inspires an army with impetus and vigour, next to invincible. Much more would an infallible certainty of success, embolden even the diffident, stimulate the indolent, and animate the courageous with redoubled ardour.- -How then, is it possible, that, in the spiritual warfare, certainty of conquest should either depress the timid, or emasculate the strong? * and the labours of him who brought good tidings, and published peace between God and sinners! Himself the peace-maker and the peace-revealer! how often did he, who came to seek and to save that which was lost, consecrate the mountains of Judea, by his own personal ministrations; and cause the hills of the earthly Canaan to echo with the sweetest notes of salvation by grace; while streams and rocks, responsive, reverberated the joyful sound! Elect angels, hovering in mid air, were his invisible disciples; and elect sinners, converted by his efficacious call, were the visible seals of his ministry.-O might the present preachers of the word catch a ray of his celestial ardour, adopt his indefatigable zeal, and imbibe the spirit of his love! Happy they, who are enabled to imitate the great shepherd and bishop of souls! and oh, that more of these were sent forth into the harvest! Yet why do I wish for more? The sovereign master of the vineyard best knows what he has to do. God hath, in every age, raised up a number of evangelical ministers, sufficient to answer his purposes of grace. Divine wisdom, no doubt proportions the number of gospel-labourers, to the extent of the spiritual harvest he means to gather in. God's elect people may be more, or fewer, in one generation than another: and hence at different periods, Christian preachers multiply or decrease † : just as a skilful husbandman lessens or enlarges the number of his reapers, according to the quantity of corn he has to cut. If twenty are sufficient for the harvest, he will not employ fifty; if an hundred be requisite, an hundred will be sent forth. In his secret approaches to God, was Jesus seen of angels. They beheld, they more than beheld,they felt, when, with strong cries and tears, he poured out his soul in private prayer. Unem bodied spirits, with admiring sympathy, thronged his devout retirements: and though they ever burned with zeal for God, yet they caught additional fervour from the agonizing petitions of their Incarnate Creator. They lighted their taper at his hallowed fire. Listening angels grew more angelic; and seraphs flew back to heaven more seraphic than they came. When every eye, except his own, was closed in sleep, oft would he withdraw to some desolate mountain, or unfrequented field, and spend whole nights in communion with God. Like the solitary, but melodious nightingale, he retreated from the scenes of hurry and observation, to send up the heavenly breathings of his inmost soul, in undiverted supplications and unmolested praise. At these seasons it was, that, as Dr. Watts finely sings, Cold mountains and the midnight air But, though unseen of men, the praying Messiah was seen of angels, and seen of God. Not a sigh that heaved the Mediator's breast, nor a groan he uttered, nor a petition he advanced, but was noticed, accepted, and recorded in heaven: and shall have its full effect, in the glory of his Father, and the salvation of all his people. Oh, how unlike the prayers of Christ are the frozen, careless, languid, wandering, unfelt devotions of those on earth, who call themselves his disciples! May he pour down upon us the spirit of grace and of supplication. Then shall we feel the importance of divine things, as he felt them. We shall walk, in some measure, as Jesus walked; and pray, as Jesus prayed. On the mount of transfiguration, prior to his last sufferings, was he likewise seen of angels. At humble distance they heard him speak with the glorified soul of Moses and the glorified person of Elijah, con cerning his own decease which he was shortly to accomplish at Jerusalem *. As in the sinless obedience of his life, he had perfectly fulfilled the law, for the justification of his mystic body, the church; so by his propitiatory death, he was to fulfil the prophecies of old, and make atonement for the sins of the people before the Lord. Moses, therefore, by whom the law had been given; and Elijah, as representative of the prophets; left for a while, their thrones in glory, to bear witness once more, to the Messiahship of Jesus. On this occasion, angels saw his human nature brighten into glory superior to theirs. An earnest and a foretaste of the majesty with which he should be invested, when his sufferings (then just at hand) should be accomplished: and of the glory which the bodies of his saints shall wear, when the trump of God shall sound, and the resurrection of the just take place. Let not believers, like the mistaken disciples who accompanied their Lord at the time of his transfiguration, think to set up tabernacles of abode on the mount of divine communion. Jesus himself came down from the mount; and was soon after, seen of angels in the valley of Gethsemane. On that sad, that solemn night, when he was sold and delivered into the hands of sinful men, he retired, for the last time before he suffered, into the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. That garden, to which he had oft times resorted, both alone, and with his disciples, for the purposes of secret prayer, and religious conversation. That garden, in which he had enjoyed so many delightful seasons of fellowship with God. That garden, every spot, perhaps, of whose distinguished ground had been consecrated by the footsteps of a meditating, and the knees of an adoring Saviour. Yet here, alas, were his dying sorrows to begin. Angels, who * Luke ix. 31. |