Page images
PDF
EPUB

and was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. About this deep point of Christ's sympathy we may soberly conceive, 1. Our Lord's remembrance of his own infirmities, temptations, and afflictions, in the days of his flesh. This is plain and certain. 2. His sure and distinct particular knowledge and remembrance of his people, and of all that concerns them, within and without. 3. His interest in them, and care of them, and concern for them, as his members. 4. His power and wisdom as their head, to send down vital influences upon them, as their case requires: Eph. iv. 16. Col. ii. 19. 4thly, Lastly, Christ's intercession stands in presenting his people, and their desires and wants, to the Father, for acceptance, and answer of peace. Both our persons and our prayers must be presented by this great High Priest, set over the house of God: Heb. x. 21, or no welcome, no acceptance. An Israelite, though he brought, might not offer the sacrifice on the altar; only the priest; and the high priest only must offer the great sacrifice for all Israel in the day of atonement. Christians must bring themselves, Rom. xii. 1, and all their spiritual sacrifices; but Christ must present them, and we only by him, Heb. xiii. 15. What a mighty encouragement is there in this for faith? Our High Priest makes another thing of our sacrifices than we can. Believers often know not rightly their own case; Christ knows it exactly. Many of our prayers are mere mistakes. We complain, when we should praise; we ask what would do us hurt, and are unwilling to receive what would do us much good. Our Lord Jesus puts all to rights. He can say over our prayers rightly, he can make good sense of them, can purge them of their faults, can spy out any thing of his own Spirit in them, and lastly, adds his own incense to them: Rev. viii. 3. And

thus are they accepted. We may best understand Christ's heart and work in intercession, by John xvii, wherein we find three.

(1.) Christ conceals all the faults and weakness of his people. Not a word of these in all that prayer, and they were guilty of a great many. (2.) He tells all their good, and makes much of it; ver. 6, 7, 8. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me: and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. He knew, and reproved them for the weakness and staggering of their faith; he foretold an approaching trial, and their fainting in it, John xvi. 31, 32: yet he knew they were true believers; and he makes much of it in his prayer; as again, ver. 14. 25. (3.) Christ declares fully their necessity, and begs supply for them. No Christian needs any more than a full answer of this prayer of Christ; and it was put up for all his body, and will be answered as to every member of it. Whenever you are upon your knees at the footstool, remember who is at the throne above, and what his business is there. Footstool-supplications of believers would be all quite lost, if it were not for the Saviour's intercession at the throne: Heb. viii. 1. Our High Priest is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. And he ever liveth to make intercession for us: Heb. vii. 25. This is the end of his living in heaven, to make intercession for us. Take heed, and mind Christ much in your prayers; and never fear his forgetting you. Shall Christ live for ever to make intercession for you? and will you live all your days without making use of him as an intercessor? Alas! that Christ in heaven gets so little employment from believers on earth! He seeks your employment, he loves it, and loves them best that give him most of

it. He undertakes for every thing put in his hand, and in due time will give you a good account of all you entrust him with, and make you say, He hath done all things well, Mark vii. 37.

APPLICATION. Is all the ground of confidence at the throne of grace, laid in Jesus Christ our High Priest? Build then your confidence on this safe and sure ground. Not only may you lawfully make use of Christ's mediation, but you must do it. It is not only a privilege the Lord allows you to make use of, but it is his command, and your duty to use it. You are commanded to come to the throne of grace, and commanded also to come in Christ's name, and to come boldly in this name. The neglect of either of these is sin. Not to come to the throne of grace when he calls, is a great sin. To come to it (or rather to pretend to come) in any other name but Christ's, is a great sin too. And to come in this name diffidently, is to reflect unworthily on Jesus Christ, and the power and virtue of his mighty name: John xiv. 13, 14. Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing my name, I will do it. Can a man desire a larger promise than this? Can one desire a stronger plea than Christ's name, and a better hand than his to have our answers from? Be ye askers, and askers in my name, I will be the doer. The Father's glory in the Son, and the Son's glory, is concerned in giving good answers to all prayers put up in Christ's name. You cannot honour and please Christ more, than in using his name confidently. All bills with Christ's name at them will be accepted at the throne of grace, and will surely be answered. But coming to the throne of grace in Christ's name, is another thing than commonly people take it to be. Some think it enough, Ch. Adv.-VOL. X.

in

that they conclude their prayers with the words Christ taught, Matth. vi. 9, but never for that use is it oft formally and superstitiously put to. Some think, that it is only to say in their prayers, for Christ's sake. To ask in his name, is a higher business, than to be reached by unbelievers, and men void of the Spirit of God. If no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. xii. 3: if praying be required to be in the Holy Ghost, Jude, ver. 20; if praying always with all prayer and supplication, should be in the Spirit, Ephes. vi. 18: how shall men call on him in whom they have not believed? Rom. x. 14. But can you take the Searcher of hearts to witness, that you build all your hopes of acceptance at the throne of grace, in this name and mediation of Jesus? that you durst no more rush into God's awful presence, without the protection of this great name, than you durst leap into a devouring flame? Can ye say, "I have no name to come to God in, but Christ's. My own name is abominable to myself, and deservedly hateful in heaven. No other name

is given under heaven, but that of Jesus Christ, in which a sinner may safely approach to God. Since the Father is well pleased in this name, and the Son commands me to use it, and the Holy Ghost hath broke this name to me, and made it as an ointment poured forth, Song i. 3, and since its savour hath reached my soul, I will try to lift it up as incense to perfume the altar and throne above. Since all that ever came in this name were made welcome, I will come also; having no plea but Christ's name, no covering but his borrowed and gifted robe of righteousness. I need nothing, I will ask nothing, but what his blood hath bought, (and all that I will ask); I will expect answers of peace, and acceptance, only in that blessed Beloved; beloved of the Father, both as his

3 C

Son and our Saviour; and beloved of all that ever saw but a little of his saving grace and glory?" Let such go and prosper. The Lord is with you the Lord is before you. He will welcome the Mediator in his bringing you to him: 1 Peter, iii. 18, and welcome you with salvation, who come in his name for it. The prodigal's welcome, Luke xv. is but a shadow of what ye shall meet with. Christ welcomes dearly all that come to him; and the Father welcomes the believer that cometh in Christ's name, and is brought in Christ's hand, to this throne.

MORNING.

His compassions fail not; they are new every morning.

Lamentations, iii. 22, 23.

Hues of the rich unfolding morn,
That, ere the glorious sun be born,
By some soft touch invisible
Around his path are taught to swell;-
Thou rustling breeze so fresh and gay,
That dancest forth at opening day,
And brushing by with joyous wing,
Wakenest each little leaf to sing;-
Ye fragrant clouds of dewy steam,
By which deep grove and tangled stream
Pay, for soft rains in season given,
Their tribute to the genial heaven;-
Why waste your treasures of delight
Upon our thankless, joyless sight;
Who day by day to sin awake,
Seldom of heaven and you partake?

Oh timely happy, timely wise,
Hearts that with rising morn arise !
Eyes that the beam celestial view
Which evermore makes all things new.
New every morning is the love
Our wakening and uprising prove;
Thro' sleep and darkness safely brought,
Restored to life, and power, and thought.
New mercies each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray;
New perils past, new sins forgiven,
New thoughts of God, new hopes of Hea-

ven.

Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be,
As more of heaven in each we see;
Some softening gleam of love and prayer
Shall dawn on every cross and care.

As for some clear familiar strain
Untired we ask and ask again,
Ever in its melodious store,
Finding a spell unheard before:-

[blocks in formation]

Written for the occasion, and sung at a Wedding Party in Stockbridge, Mass., given to Mr. Abner Webb and Miss Catharine S. Watson, Missionaries to Burmah, Wednesday Evening, August 15, 1832.

Come! round the bridal altar throng,
And twine the sacred light;
Bring friendly greeting, love and song,
To grace the holy rite;

And if there here should fall a tear,
Smiles, too, should play their part,
Like beams of light, thro' waters bright,
A rainbow of the heart.

Men part, full oft, for sordid ends,
Dissolving tenderest ties,

And shall we not leave earthly friends,
For wealth beyond the skies?
That brighter sphere where never tear,
Nor grief, nor pain, shall come,
Where those that part with breaking heart,
Shall find their common home.

In farthest India notes shall swell,
To hail this nuptial hour:
And Irawaddy's shores shall tell
Of Christian love the power;
Near Ava's wall the truth shall fall
Like dew on thirsty lands;
O'er wood and vale, o'er hill and dale,
By streams of golden sands.

See! prostrate lies Gaudama's head,
His temples silent stand:
And man thus long by error led,
Returns at God's command;
See science press the land to bless,
And each domestic tie,

Now better worth, shall shed on earth,
A glory from on high.

Then speed ye, speed ye, parting ones,
We may not stay your flight,
To Burmah's dark and wandering sons
To bear the guiding light;
Should nature frail, in conflict fail,
And sigh for western bowers,
Yet hope divine a wreath shall twine,
And bind the cross with flowers.

Miscellaneous.

THE CONDITION OF MAN IN EDEN.

"A garden eastward in Eden."

ESSAY IV.

We have arrived, in the progress of this work, on ground peculiarly sacred. Were there nothing else to give it sanctity, the genius of Milton alone is sufficient. The bard of immortal themes has been here, and who would not feel dismay in passing any spot consecrated by his presence? Primeval innocence is our theme, and the wooded temple in which it worshipped.

Other poets, beside Milton, have

hovered round the tents of antedi

luvian patriarchs. Gessner, Byron, and Montgomery, has each taken for the basis of a work the morning scenes of our world.* To the one from the pen of Byron we take exception, but to the others we award the praise of piety and genius. Their writers have imprinted their footsteps on the dews that early fell in Eden, a district of early fell in Eden, a district of simple manners, of lowly tents, and grassy altars.

De Foe, a writer in the reign of William the third, succeeded in enlisting the sympathies of the reading community in behalf of a man cast away on an island. This man sustained no public relations. The birds whose home was in the

island, were his companions, and by winning arts he tamed the kids of the rocks. But here is a man, whose origin was manifestly divine-who sustained important relations to his descendants, and who, for a time, dwelt alone in this

world. But where was his dwelling place? Great changes must have taken place in the earth in the course of six thousand years,

To these may be added, "Moore's Loves of the Angels."

but he lived in Eden, and in a garden eastward in Eden. This spot is supposed to have been near the junction of the Euphrates and Tiand then parted itself into four gris; a river went out of Eden, streams, one of which, in encompassing the land of Havilah, found shores of bdellium, onyx banks, and channels of gold. This garden was planted by our Creatorangels were glad when it took its place in the wide variety of their prospects, but their hands did not fashion it. They chanted interludes as each object rose in it, but who set all its hedges, and sent it was in praise of the Creator, the stately river to lave its green glossed banks. Angels looked on in wonder, as man rose out of the ground with his azure eye turned upward, and his hands lifted high to bless his Maker. And now the Creator led man through the rural district of Eden, amid the interchange of light and shade-the way skirted by flock and fold, field and lawn, and put him into the garden saying-keep its gates, and

dress its bowers.

We are told of the dominion which man exercised. His soft sceptre touched on all around. He was the shepherd of all the flocks, To him the lion came. and the keeper of all the herds. He stood king plaited his shaggy mane, and at the gates of Paradise till his set round his temples in garden his nightly lodge; or if at noon he roses, and then despatched him to chose to call the eagle, the eagle instantly dropped down from his sunlight throne. We read of an ornithologist in our own country, who traversed all its length and breadth. He visited all our forests, searching for birds of every pinion. He stood by the cataracts

* See Jamieson on the Pentateuch.

of Niagara, and among the prairies of the west, by the lakes of the north, and the rivers of the south. He looked into the history and into the habits of birds. But the man who dwelt in Eden came forth an hour, and the birds of every wing flocked round their sovereign. They came in pairsthey came in choirs-they came in myriads. He gave them names, and dismissed them from his regal presence.

It is impossible but that a creature of such privileges, must have felt a sense of dependence. The solitary pair must have often asked after the source of so much felicity They must have hourly applied their fingers to the chain thus connecting heaven and earth. That chain was woven all over and through their abode. It went through its hedges, it girdled the fountains, it shone on their sandals, and scattered itself over the lawn. It streaked the necks of the feathered tribes, and then rose upward till its silver links swept round the golden planets, whence by it choirs of cherubim tracked their way around the viewless throne.

Man bore the image of his Maker. His wisdom was a reflection of the divine wisdom. His sanctity was in its measure like the holiness of his Creator. His holiness did not spring from his happiness, but his happiness arose from his holiness. With an unblemished conscience, and a mind replete with the light of heaven, he drank copiously at the fountain of felicity. He was honoured by the association of angels. They often surprised him by their visits, and in his green saloons they strung their harps, warbling psalms and hymns, like to those they had sung in heaven.

But man was on trial. The span of his trial is not defined, and we know not the number of days that were to pass, before he

would have been confirmed in goodness. He was not on trial simply for himself, but for his posterity. He was a representative, and held in his hand the destinies of all his race. But we decline all controversial themes.

He

The description here given, seems to lend an air of inactivity to man. But his duty is defined. Being placed in the garden, he was to dress and keep it. His hand was to open and shut its leafy gates. He gave ingress to the car of each celestial visitant. cropped its flowery dales, and dressed its luxuriant vines. His hatchet and his pruning-hook culled its boughs, and all its trees distilled their balmy fruits into his basket. He had his lodge in Paradise, and over it was stretched the pavilion of innocence, filled with lunar beams and guarded by celestial warriors. Had man stood in this condition, we can form no distinct impression of what the nature of his pursuits would have been, any more than we can of our own pursuits, provided the sentiment be true, that this world is not to be finally struck out of the roll of the divine works, but reconstructed into an abode for redeemed saints.

If there be any thing then that commends itself to our understanding, it is this-that man is not now in the condition in which he was originally created. All our moral powers and intellectual faculties rise in opposition to such a senti ment. To wave all proof drawn from the Scriptures, our daily observation, connected with the narratives of voyagers and travellers, ought to produce conviction, that some catastrophe has taken place in the moral condition of the world. This catastrophe, is the fall of man.

The primeval condition of man, justifies the divine government. Our Creator has used no coercive measures. He put man on a mo

« PreviousContinue »