497 THE FORERUNNER: A SERMON PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF THE LATE PRESIDENT: BY THE REV. GEORGE OSBORN, D.D.* ON Thursday, March 30th, the official sermon on the occasion of the death of the late PRESIDENT OF THE CONFERENCE, the REV. W. L. THORNTON, M.A., was preached in the City-road chapel. The service commenced at eleven o'clock, A.M.; Morning Prayers being read by the Rev. Dr. Jobson. The Lessons were 2 Kings ii., containing the history of the translation of Elijah, and the most appropriate second Lesson for the day, which was John xvii. The liturgical portion of the service having been concluded, a hymn was sung, the one commencing with the verse, "Come, let us join our friends above That have obtain❜d the prize, The discourse was founded upon Hebrews vi. 20:— "Whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." To make a complete sense, we must read the verse, or, perhaps, the three verses, preceding: "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." It would seem that, in this passage, the word "hope" is used in two senses; first, for the object of our hope, and then, the second time, for the grace of hope itself. Of that grace of hope, it is affirmed that "it enters within the veil." A great variety of opinions exists as to what is to be understood by the "veil" in the passage before us. Any critical discussion of this * We borrow from "The Watchman" newspaper the following report of the sermon; and, in compliance with the wish of the preacher, add to it a paper which it was his intention to read had time permitted, as a very accurate and striking delineation of the character of the departed, and worthy of a more permanent form than it could take in the columns of a newspaper. VOL. II.-FIFTH SERIES. 2 K subject would be wholly out of place on the present occasion; and Í content myself, therefore, with stating the result of my own investigation; that the allusion is to the veil which hung down in the Tabernacle first, and afterwards in the Temple; by which the holy place was divided from the most holy. Of this St. Paul speaks at length in two passages in this Epistle; and in each of those passages he is careful to affirm the typical character of this part of the furniture of the Temple. He calls these "holy places" the figures of the true holy places which are on high. He says that the priests ministered "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things;" and he says that by the transactions that there took place the Holy Ghost "signified" certain truths which it was important for us to understand; and so he establishes beyond a doubt the typical character of these places, and of much of their furniture. In the outer place three things are spoken of as the objects of par ticular regard: the altar, upon which the incense was to be daily burned; the lamp-stand, which was to be fed day by day, or night by: night; and the table, which week by week was to be replenished with bread. These things appear to constitute this outer court, or, rather, the first sanctuary, a fit and proper type of the church here, with its ceaseless worship, with its appointed provision for the supply of spiritual want, with its divinely-instituted means of dispelling the darkness of mankind. No But there was an inner sanctuary; and of that inner sanctuary the contents were only known by faith. They were visible things indeed, but they were not readily seen. common Israelite could see them, but at the cost of his life. The high-priest himself could not see them, except once a year, unless some special emergency called for his presence there at another time. There was the symbol of the Divine presence, the cloud. There was the symbol of those mysterious beings of which it is probable that another world is full, and whose nature we may not be able to apprehend even when we see them, any more than we can now decipher the hieroglyphic of the cherubim. There was the throne of the Most High,-the mercy-seat. There, beneath the mercy-seat, were the tables of the law; the standing tokens that through the whole of God's dominion law exists, and that His rights will not be changed even by the exercise of mercy to His creatures; that all are subject to law through the whole realm over which He presides; and that even where He exercises mercy, He will not exercise it at the expense of law. But these things were not seen: visible, yet unseen, they remained, as far as appears, from age to age; and, in the nature of the case, must remain unseen to the great bulk of worshippers, and to the people whose glory it was that they were placed amongst them. That which prevented them from being seen was the veil which hung down, and which might not be lifted except at the cost which we have now specified. That seems to denote to us in the clearest manner the mystery which hangs over a future state, and which must hang over it during the continuance of the present state of things. Where are the dead? Where is paradise? Is it the same with the third heaven, or is it another part of the creation of God? Where is the future state to be realized? Will heaven literally come down to earth after the resurrection and the general judgment, and will the dust which has been taken up into the Godhead prove a pledge of the translation of the court of the Divine Majesty hereafter? What is a disembodied spirit? Are spirits disembodied altogether, or does some vehicle still remain, or is some vehicle supplied to them upon their entrance into the unseen state? Are the angels pure spirits, or are they mixed beings? and if so, of what is their mixed nature compounded? So we inquire; so we question. How do departed spirits feel and think, and interchange their feelings and thoughts? There is intercourse between them; how is it kept up? There is worship paid by them; how is it paid, and how is the acceptance of it signified? You ask, and ask, and ask; but no answer comes, and no answer can come. The veil is there, and it is death to lift it. You will know one day, but You will know one day, but then you will be no longer among men. you will not be permitted to come back from that world and divulge the knowledge which you have acquired. It is, to us at least, most strictly described in the language of the poet : "A land of deepest shade, Unpierced by human thought." But here comes in the Gospel. Does God leave us comfortless and unprovided for? In this extremity has He done nothing for our relief? I bring you "glad tidings of great joy." "The Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus." to "Forerunner!" that is a servant sent arrange for the accommodation and comfort of his master. In ancient times, in other countries, and in an earlier stage of this country, when conveniences for travellers, and facilities of transit, did not abound as they do now, the employment of persons in this capacity was very common; and in proportion to the dignity of those who were to follow, was the distinction of those who went before. The last public instance of it that I remember was on the visit of the allied Sovereigns to this country in 1814, when persons of great disappointed to go before them, in the stages of their journey, to see that due provision was made for their necessities at the several places where they required to stay. tinction were It is in this character that our Lord Jesus presents Himself to us here. He is the "Harbinger of human race," and more especially of believers. Under this character, He presents Himself to us to relieve the anxieties of which every thoughtful man is the subject, when the solemn truths to which we have now directed attention come under his view. No man can be indifferent to them. No man can do otherwise than feel, in proportion as he is thoughtful on the subject, that one of the deepest wants of his nature is hereby met and provided for. "Let not your heart be troubled." How precious are those words! When you have gone into the solitude of your closet, and pondered your future circumstances; when you have stood by the bed, whence those whom you loved best were about shortly to depart and leave you for a length of time; when you have "Seen the dark grave receive its awful trust, And heard the impressive sentence, Dust to dust!'” O! what music is there in those words, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.......I go to prepare a place for you." And how does He do this? In this Epistle St. Paul tells us that He "purified the heavenly places ;" as though the very idea of bringing men into them would create defilement in them, as unquestionably the presence of sinful men would be held to create defilement there. But He went there and sprinkled them with His blood. He went there and purified them; as the high-priest purified the "patterns of things" in the heavens, He purified the great realities. He made them fit for the reception of sinful men, by presenting there the memorials of that sacrifice in virtue of which a holy God might look well pleased on sinful mortals. So He is said to purify the heavenly places themselves. He went there as our Vicar, as our Proxy, as our Representative. He went there, as He did all else that He did, in His mediatorial character-on our account. If He was born, it was for our sakes that He became poor. If He was tempted, it was that He might sympathize with us. If He endured the cross, He "gave Himself the just for the unjust," He "was delivered for our offences." If He rose again, He "rose again for our justification." If He came back to the world a second time, it was that He might more fully accomplish that which He had in hand, and impart instruction which He would not give until after His decease. And if He went away a second time,as, blessed be His name, He did,-He said, "I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself." He took possession of heaven as our Repre sentative; and in Him, St. Paul says, "we sit together in heavenly places." We make sure of it. We have secured a place. O, if we knew our privilege! You know, sometimes, at least some of you, when accommodation is very scarce at a particular place, and very much wanted, you pride yourselves upon having secured it. Well, we have secured our place, if we know our privilege, and live up to it. We have taken possession of it, by our Proxy and Representative. Our Master prepares it for us; our Master assures it to us. "We sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Therefore, do we say, as St. Paul said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." It is the triumph of faith; and this is the ground of it,-that the Forerunner is entered for us into the most holy place. is Then, in the second place, how does He secure this place to us? We secure our places by keeping others out; but it is not so with Christ. He secures our places by enabling us to enter in. The Forerunner is a " High Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." What does that include? Both the reality of His priestly office, and the dignity of His person: His kingdom as well as His priesthood, are contained in this representation. And it is of high moment to us to bear in mind that our Priest is a King: King in a higher sense than Melchisedec could be, a righteous King, a King of peace, and so fulfilling the type to the letter; but in a far higher and more glorious sense than Melchisedec was called "king of righteousness" and "king of peace;" controlling a realm which it beggars all our conceptions to define;-King of all worlds, King of all creatures, sitting in our nature on the throne of the universe. To this end did He die and rise, that He might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living. Therefore, in the world to which He has gone to prepare for us, He is Sovereign, and His supremacy is undisputed. Here, alas! His supremacy is disputed, and His servants have to fight for it; but there His supremacy undisputed. He is King without a rival, King without contradiction, King without rebellion, holding His restless foes in chains, and only permitting them to clank those chains according to His pleasure. He is absolute, everlasting Lord. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore; and have the keys of Hades and of death." And, when the apostle saw Him, the tokens of majesty were full upon Him. His countenance was like the sun, shining in His strength; His voice, as the sound of many waters; a two-edged sword issues from His mouth, and a brilliant girdle surrounds His person. In all the fulness of majesty and royal state he saw Him, and heard Him say, "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore; and have the keys of Hades and of death." O, joy! to think our Forerunner is Master of the world to which He goes! Master of all worlds! Lord of the dead! Did you ever think how much that implies? The living are a mere handful. Say the population of this world is a thousand millions: that is a mere handful to the dead; those who have been living for so many ages in long succession, and every one of whose spirits has passed into this mysterious world of which we speak. Every one of these spirits is subject to the absolute control of Jesus. Lord of the dead! King of Hades! O, what a territory! "I have the keys of death and |
