NO. 8.]

FOR AUGUST, 1825.

DIVINITY.

[VOL. 8.

THE RELATIONS AND INHERITANCE OF CHRIST'S PEOPLE.

A SERMON ON 1 CORINTHIANS iii, 21-23.

Delivered in the Methodist Chapel at Salem, N. J., on the 27th of February, 1825. BY THE REV. JACOB MOORE.

"Let no man glory in men, for all are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come: all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

THERE is a remarkable aptitude in mankind to run into extremes, as it respects their views and conduct towards the ministers of the gospel. Some they admire, extol, and even idolize; whereas, all who do not come up to their standard, suit their taste, and please their fancy, they depress, undervalue, and, in some instances, vilify. These two extremes almost universally involve each other. Those who are guilty of the former, are generally guilty of the latter and they are guilty at the expense of that piety and devotion which should ever characterize those who profess to be the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is natural, however, for us to feel stronger attachments to those who have been instrumental in our spiritual benefit. These sustain the character of spiritual fathers; and to entertain a higher esteem for such, is as innocent as to feel a stronger regard for our natural fathers. The evil does not consist in this; but rather in an excessive preference of some, to the exclusion of all the rest. For as it would be folly and weakness to suppose that men are unworthy to sustain the character of natural fathers because they are not related to us by paternal ties, so it would be folly and wickedness to imagine, that because some of the ministers of the gospel have not succeeded in pleasing our fancy, nor in promoting our spiritual benefit, that they are, therefore, unworthy to sustain the character of ministers.

Into these evils the church at Corinth had grossly fallen, at a very early period of their history. At the time when St. Paul addressed his first epistle to them, which was probably not more than six years after they had embraced the Christian faith, they had so far gone into the extremes of admiration and dislike, as to become factious and schismatic; some having declared for Paul, and some for Apollos, and some for Cephas, so as to reject all the rest of Christ's ministers, and make their favourite their party leader, calling themselves by his name, Paulites, Apollosites, or Cephasites, instead of Christians.

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It was with these errors in view, in common with others, and with a design to correct them, that the apostle wrote this epistle; in which he instructs the Corinthians that Christ's ministers, as the stewards of God's mysteries, are for the perfecting of the saints, and the edifying of the body of Christ, according to the measure and the description of the gifts bestowed upon them: and that their gifts are diversified for the sake of accommodating the different capacities and circumstances of those to whom they minister. They should therefore neither be idolized nor vilified; but as the servants of God, they should be treated with honour and respect in proportion to the importance of their work, and the zeal and diligence with which they discharge it. He enforces his reproofs and instructions by directing their attention to the relationships which subsist between Christ and God, and Christ and his people; and the portion which Christ's people inherit in virtue of these relationships. And from the whole he infers the folly and wickedness of glorying in men. His meaning is plainly this; because Christ is God's, ye are Christ's; and because ye are Christ's, all are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours. Therefore let no man glory in men.

These words were written for our benefit, as well as the benefit of the Corinthian church and for our edification and instruction in righteousness, we design, in the discussion of this subject, to adopt the apostle's plan, and contemplate,

I. The relationship that subsists between Christ and God. The title God, or rather that which answers to it in the Hebrew Scriptures, is usually given to the ever blessed trinity; and denotes personal and covenant relations. It is expressive of a triune personality in one essence; and of the covenant transactions in which the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost were engaged in reference to the creation and redemption of man. In the New Testament, the Greek word which answers to the term God is sometimes applied to the three persons separately. So it is applied in the text; and is to be understood of the Father. When therefore it is said that Christ is God's, it is the same as to say, Christ is the Father's.

1. Christ is the Father's Son. He is the Father's Son as it respects his divine and pre-existent nature; being divinely and eternally the brightness, effulgence, or outbeamings of his Father's glory, and the express character or image of his person. The term SoN, when applied to Jesus Christ, is a title whereby he is distinguished as the second person in the adorable Godhead. It is also relative in its signification as well as the title WORD; because as word implies a speaker, so son implies a father. The titles speaker and word are correlative, and necessarily call for

each other, and so are the titles father and son; for a speaker without a word is no speaker; and a father without a son is no father. If then the Speaker, as such,'be divine and eternal, the Word, as such, is divine and eternal: and if the Father, as such, be divine and eternal, the Son, as such, is divine and eternal. The thoughts and designs of God are coeval with God himself; for a God without thoughts and designs is no God. So the Son of God as such is coeval with the Father; for a Father without a Son, as it respects the divine persons, is not only no Father, but no God for to be without his Son is to be without his brightness and outbeamings; and to be without these, so far as we can conceive, is to be no God. It is worthy of remark that sonship implies no personal inferiority: therefore the Son of God is personally equal with the Father; his generation is not voluntary, but necessary: therefore he is eternally coeval with the Father; and he is of the same essence; and is therefore essentially equal with the Father. As the emitted splendour of the material sun is the same in glory, duration, and essence, with the inherent splendour; so the Son of God is the same in glory, duration, and essence, with the Father.

On this subject the Father himself speaks; (Psa. xlv, 6, 7 ;) "And unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, oh God, is for ever and ever." This passage is quoted, Heb. i, 8, to prove the divinity of the Son of God. And in this place the nouns Son and God are in apposition, and imply the same thing. If then they imply the same thing, and God be divine and eternal, the Son is also divine and eternal. Here we might multiply quotations to prove the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ; but as our text furnishes us with so large a range of discussion, we shall only observe upon this point, that the terms Father and Son were probably the fittest in the language of mortals, to point out the personal relations which subsist in the Godhead; and that the union of the divine and human natures of the Son of God should not be reduced to the level of what takes place among the creatures, but should be regarded as infinitely transcending our most exalted conceptions.

2. Christ is God's Son as it respects his human nature. By the agency of the Holy Ghost a virgin conceived and brought forth a son; and to her it was announced that the holy thing that should be born of her should be called the Son of God. Christ's human nature is the Son of God, because like Adam and the angels, it was produced by the immediate agency of the Holy Ghost, without the intervention of the ordinary means of generation; and because it was brought into the world without any moral taint. For he was not only made higher than the heavens, but was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. But Christ's human nature is still more eminently the Son of

God, because it is the shrine or tabernacle of him who was divinely and essentially the Son of God. The Son of God was manifested in this shrine or tabernacle, to destroy the works of the devil; and in virtue of the union subsisting between the divine and human natures.

3. Christ is God's Mediator. A mediator is one who interposes between two parties, either to obtain a favour from the one to the other, or to settle some difference, and make a reconciliation between them. Christ was appointed Mediator between God and man, that he might negociate the concerns of both, and interpose with plans and designs of mercy and reconciliation. And in order that he might be qualified to fulfil suitably and effectually the ends and purposes of the covenant which God proposed to enter into with man, it was necessary that be, as the intervening party, should entertain the same regard for the eternal well being of man, as for the honour of the divine character, and the claims of the divine law; that he should have equal power and interest with both parties; be of sufficient dignity to approach his Father; of sufficient humility to give man access to God; and possess such an ascendancy over both as to obtain whatever he should think proper to ask for. That he might be thus qualified it was necessary that he should be as nearly allied to the one as the other: and that he might be equally allied to both, HE, who was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, emptied himself of his personal dignity, and veiled his essential glory; took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man.

In the character of God manifest in the flesh, he was capable of appreciating the divine holiness; and qualified to satisfy the claims of the broken law, and give infinite efficacy to the mediatorial transactions, upon a plan which contained pardon and salvation for offending man. Notwithstanding the vast disproportion which subsisted between the parties, in consequence of man's aversion to good, and God's displeasure of sin, in laying his hands upon both he removed the obstructions, and by holy and sacramental obligations, brought both into a state of union and peace. Thus Christ is not only God's mediator, but man's mediator; for he was appointed to negociate with God for the people, as well as with the people for God. In negociating with us for God, he entreats us to be reconciled with him; and to secure our obedience he has entered into solemn engagements with us, and has laid important injunctions upon us; and these he has strengthened by every motive and consideration calculated to affect our hopes and fears. He calls us to a knowledge of God's will by his word and gospel; he blesses us with his grace, sanctifies us by his blood, strengthens us by his Spirit,

comforts us by his mercy, protects us by his power, conducts us by his counsel through life, and finally raises us from the dead, and exalts us to heaven. In negociating with God for us, he atones for our sins by his blood, and imparts the merits of his death to us; he entreats his Father to be reconciled with us, and in case of failure in the fulfilment of our obligations, he pleads his merits and makes intercession for us; that we, being renewed in the spirit of our minds, may have our fruit unto holiness, and in the end everlasting life. But we shall more clearly perceive the import of his character, if we consider the various offices which he sustains as mediator. In doing this we are to contemplate him,

4. As God's anointed. This is what his name imports and as anointing with oil was anciently the visible sign by which the regal, priestly, and prophetic offices were conferred, so God hath anointed his Son with the unction of the Holy One; and thereby hath set him apart and appointed him to sustain the offices of prophet, priest, and king.

1. In transacting the affairs of heaven and earth, he, as a prophet, or ambassador, sent from the celestial court, instructs mankind in the things which relate to God's designs of mercy, and concerning the terms upon which he will be reconciled. This he did personally in the days of his incarnation; and since his ascension to the Father he has done it by the agency of his Spirit, the preaching of his gospel, the dispensations of his providence, &c. And because he instructs us in the mind and will of his Father, and concerning our duty and obligations to God, he is our prophet ordinary. But over and above the ordinary instructions which he imparts, he has personally, and by the agency of the Holy Ghost inspiring the hearts of his prophets and apostles, foretold future events, to confirm the divinity of his mission, to comfort the hearts of his people, and to confound the impenitent; and on this account he is our prophet extraordinary. He is eminently qualified to expound and make known the will of God to men, seeing that in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. By his law he gives a knowledge of sin; by his Spirit he imparts assurances of pardon; and by his gospel he instructs concerning the good will of God towards us, and our duty and obligations to him.

2. He is a priest; and as such offers gifts and sacrifices to God for sins. He atones for us by his blood, and becomes our advocate with his Father. He did not, like the priests of the Levitical order, "enter into the holy place once a year, with the blood of others, to make atonement for himself and the errors of the people; but, by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." He not only officiates as a sacrificing highpriest, but offers himself