Biblical Illustrator Now this I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant. There is nothing final in the character of this world. But all betrays infancy. Everything is in a state of preparation. We move up and down amidst the reflections of the future. Certainly the material world has not reached its destination. The air we breathe — the sky we look on — the soil we tread — are only to go to make a "new heaven and a new earth." And the Divine government, which is now, is mainly to illustrate the government which is to come. We have churches now; but they are only to prepare us for a state where there shall be no church — because every spot shall be holy. This world, then, is one large training-school, where we are placed for a little while, to learn to fulfil the duties of that great service for which we were destined and created. Training consists of three things: instruction, which is the imparting knowledge, and giving new ideas; education, which is the drawing out, and directing, the powers of mind and heart; and moral discipline, which is the moulding character, and the formation of good habits. This is just what life is.I. We are here TO GET KNOWLEDGE, and new ideas about the things of God. How shall we enter heaven without some previous knowledge of it: its conditions — its employments? And if there is no greater pleasure on this earth than to get a new idea, what must it be when the new ideas are these: to inform the mind about God; to see every day some new, fresh beauty in Jesus; to impregnate the understanding with the Infinite? II. But let me speak to you, secondly, of your EDUCATION for another world — according to the strict meaning of the word education. You are probably aware that the word "education" means "to draw out," "to educe." So that when we educate a child, it is, literally and properly, that we draw out what is in the child. The gardener does not make the branches and the tendrils; but he lays them out, he guides them, he gives each its proper place and order. He lops what is redundant; he fastens and makes sure what is good. But, be sure of this, there is that in you which, if you will, and if you will only let it, can expand into all that is happy, and all that is holy, and all that is useful, and all that is Divine, here and for ever. III. Now, thirdly, the way in which this is to be done, we call DISCIPLINE, the third part of training. Selfdiscipline, and God's discipline. And yet they are not two, for God's discipline is to make and to take effect through self-discipline. Do not count discipline a hard word. In God's vocabulary, discipline is only another word for love. There cannot be discipline without friction — without struggle. But a victory over self is such a very pleasant thing. And the compensations are so accurate, and so great, that discipline itself soon loses to you its sterner sense, and becomes the element of all happiness. Discipline is to form habits. Do not forget that you are placed here mainly to form habits, to learn to do and be what you are to do and be eternally. To form a good habit must always involve the unforming a bad one. So you begin to hold yourself in hand, to exercise self-control, to cultivate pious thoughts — acts of devotion and religious communion, and a holy walk — which are the things you are to do for ever and ever. Meanwhile, all outward things are working for you, You will find yourselves in strange circumstances. But all to practise and increase some grace — and especially a lacking one. (J. Vaughan, M. A.) 1. The servant. 2. The child under tutors and governors. 3. The man come of age, liberated, and in possession of the inheritance. II. ECCLESIASTICALLY. 1. The condition of servitude was that of the Church under the law, in bondage to beggarly elements. 2. The condition of the child already adopted but waiting for the inheritance is that of the Church under the gospel. 3. The condition of the man, full grown and enjoying his inheritance is that of the Church in glory. III. SPIRITUALLY. 1. The state of servitude is that of the soul unconverted. "He that committeth sin is the slave of sin." Sin is "bondage of corruption." 2. The state of Sonship and liberty is that of the soul justified and sanctified (John 8:35; John 15:15). 3. The state of full manhood is where the glorifled saint enters the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and which fadeth not away. (E. Garbett, M. A.) I. The SCHOOL. 1. The period covered: from conversion to glorification — "the time appointed of the Father." 2. The necessity for the intermediate schooltime arises from the degree and effect of imperfect sanctification. 3. The school sphere, this world, is admirably adapted to the discipline of the soul. For moral lessons to be learned by heart and conscience differ from intellectual. Instruction may convey the latter, only practical experience the former. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) II. The SCHOOLING. 1. The knowledge conveyed: God Himself. (1) (2) 2. The books employed. (1) (2) (3) (4) 3. The teacher. (1) (2) (3) (4) III. The DISCIPLINE. 1. necessity for this arises from our corrupt nature and constant temptations. 2. In the sense of discipline we must interpret the afflictions of this transitory state (Romans 5:3-5). IV. IN VIEW OF THE ADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL LIFE AND THE PROSPECT OF HOME. 1. Be patient. 2. Teachable. 3. Earnest. 4. Obedient, as befits those who are "under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father." (E. Garbett, M. A.)
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
I. IN RESPECT OF THE FULLER AND COMPLETE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. II. Because JEWRY WAS A LITTLE SCHOOL set up in a corner of the world and THE LAW AN A.B.C. OR PRIMER in which Christ was revealed in an elementary and obscure manner. Thus we see — 1. That God's ancient people were heirs as well as we: the only difference is the manner which God used in dispensing His blessings. 2. That they were but children in respect of us; (1) (2) 3. That we should increase in the knowledge and grace of God so as to be answerable to our condition. How sad that a Christian who should be a teacher is often a babe (Hebrews 5:12). 4. That we should rejoice in and live conformably to our privilege as sons. (W. Perkins.)
(T. Binney, D. D.)
2. Because of their condition as under the laws of nature or of ceremonies, so that they were no better than servants under the control of a taskmaster.But to the Jews especially does this word "children" apply — 1. As being ordinarily busied about small things, minute observances — the occupation of children. 2. Because of the littleness of their knowledge of Divine things. 3. Because of their fear of correction, their timidity as children, going ever in the fear of death (W. Denton, M. A.)
II. His training — suitable (v. 3), wise, appointed and limited by the Father. III. His prospects — well grounded, magnificent, conditional. (J. Lyth.)Childhood is a period of — I. II. III. (J. Lyth.)
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
1. The first is that God has the supreme control of events — that He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." 2. The other principle is that the operations of Providence should be studied in connection with any other disclosures which we may have of the laws and plans of the Divine workings. This rule is necessary if we would distinguish between those evils in our world which have been permitted and overruled for beneficent and holy ends, and those events which have been brought about either because in themselves excellent or for the accomplishment of good results. Let us spread before us the map of the world's affairs as they stood in the days of our Lord's appearance among men, and let us see the mighty hand of God in the disposition of them all, First, if we regard that age in its secular aspect, we find two great preparations for the successful diffusion of the gospel. The one of these was a general union and tranquility of the world, under Roman law; and the other a wide-spread civilization, accompanied by a well-nigh universal language, resulting chiefly from Grecian influence That of the one, if we may so speak, was negative, and was chiefly occupied in removing obstructions, so that a free course might be given to the Word of God. That of the other was positive, and furnished great facilities for the presentation and dissemination of the truth. It fact it would have mattered but little that the nations were kept in quietness under the compelling power of Roman law, had not the spirit of Grecian civilization, pervading the organization of Rome, exerted everywhere a beneficial influence. Let us now turn from the secular to the spiritual aspect of the ancient world if we would discover yet more convincing evidence of the workings of Divine wisdom. Here, again, the attentive reader of history can perceive two great preparations for the introduction of the gospel. The one of these was a deep consciousness of moral debasement and of religious darkness pervading the Gentile nations; and the other was a very general diffusion of the knowledge of the Jewish faith throughout the Roman Empire, accompanied by a recognition of its truth and excellence. The condition of the heathen world at the time of our Saviour's advent was truly deplorable. That dreadful description which Paul gives in the first part of his Epistle to the Romans is fully verified by the accounts of contemporary historians. The heathen were not without a knowledge of God, a sense of moral obligation and a perception of the distinction between right and wrong. In the discussions of their philosophers we find not only some of the most eloquent praises of virtue that ever were written, but also the clearest directions regarding the various duties of life. The taw of God was plainly written on their hearts. In proof of this we may cite the remarkable fact that the treatise of Cicero, "Concerning Morals," was long used as a text-book in seminaries of the Christian Church. Indeed, this treatise must ever give delight to those who can appreciate the wisdom and purity of its instructions. But it was the wretchedness and the condemnation of the heathen world that they knew their duty and they did it not. Their philosophy was utterly powerless to resist the influences which destroyed them; and their religion was worse than powerless. None save the lowest class of the people retained any faith in the polytheistic creeds; a general feeling a want regarding both the knowledge and the efficacy of religion pervaded the nations of the world. But there was yet another method in which a Divine Providence was preparing the nations for our Saviour's advent. This was, the diffusion of the principles of the Jewish faith throughout every part of the Roman Empire. All classes in society had some followers of Moses; even kings and queens did not blush to own themselves believers in the God of Israel. Then also multitudes of thinking men who made no profession of Judaism were familiarized with the conceptions of the ever-living Jehovah and of His promised Christ. In this way the ancient form of religion went before Christianity, heralding its approach and predisposing men for its clearer and more powerful revelations. There was then an external fitness for the successful impartation of the truth. Under the security and tranquility of Rome's imperial sway the gospel was committed to the language of educated and thoughtful humanity, and was borne on the life-currents of Grecian civilization to the various populations of the earth. There was, also, a deeper and spiritual preparation. Bitter experience had proved the worthlessness of the ancient superstitions, and had shown that extremity of wickedness and misery to which our race is tending, and from which there can be no deliverance save through the power of a Heaven. sent faith. And, finally, the Jewish religion, containing in its bosom the essential truths of salvation, by its gradual diffusion, gave men a prophetic foretaste of Christianity, and a readiness to receive further; Divine instructions. From this whole subject we may derive two important lessons. First, let us learn to adore and love and trust that Almighty Being who rules, with purposes of mercy, over the children of men. That is an exalted conception of God which is presented to us in the Christian doctrine of providence. No evil genius presides over human destinies; nor a blind, unconscious fate; nor a stern God of justice who has forgotten to be gracious. It is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, from the beginning of the world till the present day, has been controlling the affairs of our globe to advance His compassionate designs. What a confidence have Christians here! In the midst of the revolutions, and disasters, and evils of earth, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us, also, be taught by this subject, the inestimable importance of the religion of Jesus Christ. When the Roman procurator of Judea carelessly questioned the Galilean who stood before him, accused by the malicious Jews, he little thought that the very empire, in which he himself was but an insignificant officer, was brought into existence and built up into power to advance the mission of that despised and persecuted Nazarene. And when the light-minded Athenians mocked the unpretending preacher of the Cross, they were far from conjecturing that the chief object for which the language and the civilization of Greece had been developing for centuries, was to diffuse the gospel which Paul proclaimed throughout all the habitable globe. Yet, in the mind of the Supreme Being, this was a worthy end of a providential control of human affairs during a period of thousands of years. See how differently God and man view the same things! But if Christianity has received such care from Almighty God, how important should this religion be in the eyes of those for whose welfare it is intended! (E. J. Hamilton, D. D.)
2. It was not only an integral, but also a necessary part, of His work of redemption. He came, as regarded this matter, not to stand beneath the law, but to stand above it; and this He could only do by fulfilling it, and carrying out its higher and more spiritual meaning, and causing God's truth and purity and holiness to shine through the outward veil of its commandments and ordinances. Moreover, He was the end of the law. It all pointed to Him. Its types and ceremonies all found their fulfilment in His person and work. All sacrifice was consummated by His suffering. And not less striking is the way in which the fact of Christ having been made under the law, unites and clears and justifies all God's dealings with man. God gave a law which was valid through whole generations of men; a law with various sanctions and ordinances and prohibitions. That law is done away. The Church of God seems to stand on other foundations; to have changed the ground of her obedience, and the warrant of her hope. But this is not so. Not a jot nor a tittle of that law has fallen away, or become void. All has been fulfilled. (Dean Alford.)
I. THE INCARNATION IMPLIES THE GREATNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. It is a fact, that God has been manifest in the flesh, in the person of His Son. God has expressed His attributes in many things. Men do the like in their works. In the Incarnation God did not embody mere qualities and perfections, but Himself. How closely must the nature of man be related to the nature of God; for God Himself became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth! It was through the points of similarity between the nature of God and the nature of man, involved in the Divine Fatherhood, that the Incarnation of Deity in humanity became possible. We revolt at the heathen idea, that a Divine being can be enshrined in an idol of wood or stone, because there are no godlike faculties through which the radiance of a Divine presence can stream forth on the kindred faculties of the worshippers who are to be illumined by the manifestation. If man be the offspring of God, the Incarnation becomes rational and credible. Of the grandeur of our nature, as set forth in this early announcement, the coming of the Son of God in the flesh is the demonstration. II. THE INCARNATION INDICATES THE HIGH DESTINY OF MAN. Christ Jesus was the sample of that moral perfection to which humanity may be raised by the power and grace of God. The nature of a thing discloses more or less distinctly its primary intention. In all departments of creation we argue from the adaptations of an organ to the uses for which it was designed. The eye is for light and for the objects of beauty and deformity which light unveils. The ear is for sounds — melodies, harmonies, and discords. Reason and conscience are faculties related to truth and duty. It is but an application of the same process to infer from the powers of man the purpose of his Maker. 1. Our souls were evidently intended for fellowship with God. That we have faculties resembling the Divine attributes, is an intimation of this purport of our being. 2. Men were plainly framed to work with God as well as to commune with Him. We have benevolent activities resembling the beneficent energies of the Almighty. From our humble level we can pity and succour. We were formed for God-like thoughts, God-like motives, and God-like deeds. 3. Human beings were distinctly marked out for dominion and glory. III. THE INCARNATION BRINGS OUT IN DEEPEST HUES AND DARKEST SHADES THE SINFULNESS OF OUR RACE. But of this be sure, that the greatness of man's sin is inseparable from the greatness of man's nature. IV. THE INCARNATION SHOULD INSPIRE MANKIND WITH BRIGHTEST HOPE. If our state had been without the prospect of deliverance, the Son of God would not have become flesh. He would not have appeared in our nature to mock our despair. The Incarnation is Divine testimony to our recoverability. V. THE INCARNATION SEEMS TO SUGGEST, THAT THE MORAL AND REGAL PERFECTION OF OUR HUMANITY IS UNATTAINABLE UNLESS GOD DWELL IN US. Life and beauty, stem and leaf, bloom and fruit, lie hidden in the seed. While there is nothing but the seed, the wonderful vegetable fabric, with its verdure, fragrance, and loveliness, is merely latent. So all the spiritual capabilities of our nature continue undeveloped while the soul subsists in vital and moral isolation from God. The Divine ideal of humanity cannot be fulfilled by humanity alone. There must be a Divine vivification of the dormant energies. The re-creating Spirit must brood over the chaos. VI. THE INCARNATION DEMONSTRATES THAT YOUR SOULS ARE VERY DEAR TO GOD. How vast is God's interest in us! He has sent His own Son to us in the nature of one of our race, one of our very selves. If a monarch waives the pomp of majesty, lays aside the burden of empire, and crosses the threshold of some humble cottage, to minister to a sufferer among the lowly poor, how obvious and how touching is his concern for his obscure and afflicted subject! (H. Batchelor.)
I. The world had to be prepared, in a certain sense, POLITICALLY for Christ's work. 1. A common language. This was partly provided by the conquests of Alexander. He spread the Greek language throughout Western Asia, throughout Egypt; and when Greece itself was conquered, the educated Romans learnt the language of their vanquished provincials. And thus, when our Lord came, the Greek language, in which the New Testament is written, was the common tongue of the civilized world, ready to St. Paul's hand for the missionary work of Christianity. 2. A common social system, laws, and government. During the half-century which preceded the birth of Christ, the Roman Empire was finally consolidated into a great political whole, so that Palestine and Spain — so that North Africa and Southern Germany — were administered by a single government. Christianity, indeed, did not need this, for it passed beyond the frontiers of the empire in the lifetime of the apostles; and the earliest translation of the New Testament — that into Syrian, in the first half of the second century — showed that it could dispense with Greek. But this preparation was, nevertheless, an important clement in the process by which preceding ages led up to the fulness of time. II. Then there was a preparation in the CONVICTIONS OF MANKIND. The heathen nations were not without some religion — a religion which contained within various degrees certain elements of truth, however mingled with, or overlaid by, extraordinary error. Had it not been for the element of truth which is to be found in all forms of heathenism, heathenism could not have lasted as it did. Had there not been much true religious feeling in the ancient world, although it was lavished often upon unworthy and miserable objects, the great characters with whom we meet in history could not have existed. But the ancient religions tended from the first to bury God, of whose existence the visible world assured them, in that visible world which witnessed to Him. Those powers of nature which are, as we know, but His modes of working — which are but the robe with which he covers Himself — become more and more, when man is without a revelation, objects of devout veneration. The principle is the same in the fetishism which finds a god in some single natural object, and in the pantheism which, like that of India, looks forward to the absorption of the individual soul into the universal life of nature. The Greeks never knew, at their best time, of a literally Almighty God; still less did they know anything of a God of love; but it was necessary that their incapacity to retain in their knowledge the little they did know about Him should be proved to them by experience. Certainly, their great men, such as Plato, tried to spiritualize, in a certain sense, the popular ideas about God, but the old religion would not bear his criticism. It went to pieces when it was discussed; and philosophy, which he wished to take its place, having no facts, that is, no religious facts, to appeal to, but consisting only of views, could never become a real religion, and so take its place. The consequence was the simultaneous growth of gross superstition and of blank unbelief — a growth which continued down to the very time of the Incarnation. Never before was the existence of any Supreme Being so widely denied in civilized human society, as in the age of the first Caesars. Never were there so many magicians, incantations, charms, rites of the most debased and most debasing kind, as in that age. The most gifted of races had done its best with heathenism, anal the result was that all the highest and purest minds loathed the present, and looked forward to the future. It was the fulness of the time. The epoch of religious experiments had been closed in an epoch of despair which was only not altogether hopeless. III. There was also a preparation in the MORAL EXPERIENCE OF MANKIND. There was, at times, much of what we call moral earnestness in the ancient world; but men were content, as a rule, with being good citizens, which is by no means necessarily the same thing as being good men. In the eyes of , for instance, all obligations were discharged if a man obeyed the laws of Athens. , St. said, approached Christianity more nearly than any other; and yet Plato tolerated popular vices of the gravest description, and he drew a picture of a model State in which there was to be a community of wives. And the moral teachers whom St. Paul afterwards found at Athens were and . They divided the ancient world between them, practically. The Stoic morality has often been compared with Christianity; it differed from it vitally. Every single virtue was dictated by pride, just as every Epicurean virtue was inspired by the wish to economize the sources of pleasure. "Nowadays," says a pagan writer, Quinctilian, "the greatest vices are concealed under the name of philosophy." And the morality of the masses of men whom the philosophers could not and did not dare to influence, was just what might be expected. The dreadful picture of the pagan world which St. Paul draws (Romans 1.), is not a darker picture than that of pagan writers — of moralists like Seneca, of satirists like Juvenal, of historians like Tacitus; and yet enough survived of moral truth in the human conscience to condemn average pagan practices. Man still had, however obscurely, some parts of the law of God written deep in his heart. Men saw and approved (they said it themselves) the better course, and they followed the worse; and the natural law was thus to them only a revelation of sin and of weakness. It led them to yearn for a deliverer, although their aspirations were indefinite enough. Still this widespread corruption, this longing for better things, marked the close of the epoch of moral experiments; it announced that the fulness of the time had come. (Canon Liddon.)
2. Their purely religious convictions pointed in the same direction. Prophecy had in the course of ages completed its picture of a coming deliverer. Beginning with the indefinite promise of a deliverance, it had gradually narrowed the fulfilment, first to a particular race, then to a particular nation, then to a particular tribe, and a particular family. And the birth, the work, the humiliations, the death, the triumph, of the deliverer had been described during the interval the nation had been particularly active in arranging, comparing, discussing the great treasures which it had received from the past; and there was consequently what the New Testament calls an "expectation of Israel," for which all good men in that age were waiting. 3. Above all, the Jews had a moral preparation to go through, too — the law, which they had not kept either in letter or spirit, and which was therefore to them nothing less than a constant revelation of their own weakness and sin. It showed them what in their natural strength they could not do; it showed them, like a lantern carried into a dark chamber of horrors which had never been lighted up before, what they had done. Thus the law was a confidential servant (which is the true meaning of pedagogue; not schoolmaster), to whom God had entrusted the education of Israel, to bring him to Christ. And this process of bringing him had just reached its completion; the fulness of the time had come. (Canon Liddon.)
(Canon Liddon.)
I. By means of the Roman Empire He had reduced all the world under one government, so that there was free intercourse between all parts of the known world, and there was no political obstacle to the spread of the faith from one nation to another. II. By means of the Greek language, the most perfect instrument of thought ever known, He had made the earth to be (in a very great degree) of one tongue, and thus He had prepared the way for the apostles and evangelists of Christ. III. By means of the chosen people of the Jews — having still their religious centre at Jerusalem, yet scattered throughout the world — He had provided a nursery for the tender plant of the gospel, where it should be sheltered and fostered under the protection of an elder but kindred religion, until it was strong enough to be planted out in the world. IV. By reason of the general confluence and mutual competition of all kinds of heathen idolatries, He had caused heathenism to lose all its old repute and power over souls. (R. Winterbotham, M. A.)
I. IN REFERENCE TO THE GIVER. The moment had arrived which God had ordained from the beginning, and foretold by His prophets, for Messiah's coming. II. IN REFERENCE TO THE RECIPIENT. The gospel was withheld until the world had arrived at mature age; law had worked out its educational purpose and now was susperseded. This educational work had been twofold: 1. Negative. It was the purpose of all law, but especially of the Mosaic law, to deepen the conviction of sin and thus to show the inability of all existing systems to bring men near to God. 2. Positive. The comparison of the child implies more than a negative effect. A moral and spiritual expansion, which rendered the world more capable of apprehending the gospel than it would have been at an earlier age, must be assumed, corresponding to the growth of the individual; since otherwise the metaphor would be robbed of more than half its meaning. The primary reference in all this is plainly to the Mosaic law; but the whole context shows that the Gentile converts of Galatia are also included, and that they, too, are regarded as having undergone an elementary discipline, up to a certain point analogous to that of the Jews. (Bishop Lightfoot.)
(B. Jowett, M. A.)
(Canon Liddon.)
(Canon Liddon.)
(Canon Liddon.)
(Canon Liddon.)
II. HERE IS A DESCRIPTION OF THIS DIVINE PERSON'S CONDITION, AND HIS MANNER OF CONVERSATION IN THE WORLD — "He was made of a woman, made under the law." He was made of a woman, i.e., He became truly and really a man; not taking upon Him only the similitude of our nature, but being really and truly such; subjected to all the infirmities of human nature, and tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15; see also Hebrews 2:17). III. HERE IS THE END AND DESIGN OF HIS COMING THUS INTO THE WORLD; set forth in the last part of the words — "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." The same phrase the apostle again makes use of in the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 8:15). God deals not with us as a master with his servants, but as a father with his sons, requiring of us not any hard and burdensome service, but only a rational and sincere obedience. Our Lord came "to redeem them that were under the law;" i.e., to abrogate the burden. some ceremonies of the Jewish institutions; "That we might receive the adoption of sons"; i.e., that He might establish with men a new covenant, which should be most easy to observe, and most sufficient to justify those that should observe it. Most easy to observe, is this covenant of the gospel; because its precepts are not positive and carnal ordinances, but the great duties of the moral and eternal law of God. Christ has suffered for us, that we might receive the adoption of sons; but if we continue not to live virtuously as becomes the children of God, it will nothing profit us to have received this adoption. "They only who are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). (S. Clarke, D. D.)
2. Though it be evident that our Saviour came into the world in the fulness of time, viz., at the time foretold by the prophets; yet the question may still return, Why was that time determined rather than any other, and accordingly foretold by the prophets; for, without doubt, it was in itself absolutely the fittest and the properest season. Now two reasons there seem to have been more especially, of our Saviour's appearing at that time: the first is, because the insufficiency of the Jewish dispensation, as well as of natural religion, was then, after a long trial, become sufficiently apparent: apparent; not to God, who knows all things at once, and makes accordingly provision for all things from the beginning; but to men, to whom the counsel of God is opened by degrees. The second reason, why we may suppose our Savior appeared just at the time He did, was because the world was at that time by many extraordinary circumstances, peculiarly prepared for his reception. Now, about the time of our Saviour's birth, it is observable that there was a concurrence of many things in the world, to promote and further the propagation of such a religion. The Romans had then conquered almost all the known parts of the world; they had spread and settled their language among all the nations of their conquests, and had made the communication easy from one part to another. They had, moreover, improved moral philosophy to its greatest height. Further; the great improvement and increase of learning in the world about this time (according to that prophecy of Daniel, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased") gave occasion to the Jewish books to be dispersed through the world: and particularly the translating of the Bible some few ages before the birth of Christ into one of the then most known and universal languages upon earth, which had before been confined in a peculiar language to the Jews only, was a singular preparative to the reception of that great Prophet and Saviour of mankind, whose coming was in that book so plainly and so often foretold. Indeed this seems to have been the first step of God's discovering Himself further than by the light of nature to other nations as well as to the Jews, and of His giving the heathen also the knowledge of His revealed laws, and remarkably instrumental it afterwards appeared to be, in the propagating the Christian religion through the Gentile world. (S. Clarke, D. D.)
I. CONSIDER THE WISDOM AND PROPRIETY OF DELAYING THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE UNTIL WHAT PAUL HERE CALLS "THE FULNESS OF THE TIME." St. Paul asserts that at any earlier period it would have been as unwise to have sent His Son into the world, as to make any young man master of his own property till he came of age. 1. At no period before "the fulness of time" would the Incarnation of Christ have been so proper, all things considered. Redemption was equally needed at all times, but taking into account Christ's doctrines, life, miracles, etc., it would have been untimely earlier. During the antediluvian age, there was no man living who could have written such an account of it as to interest future generations, and at the same time benefit those of his own time. From the Flood to the time of Moses the world's population was comparatively small and uncivilized. From the time of Moses to the prophets, the Jews required fuller instruction and discipline to fit them for Christ's teaching. During the four monarchies war was so rife that the religion of Christ would not have gained public attention; or, if it had, men would afterwards have asserted that Christianity was the invention of some political tyrant of that age. 2. In the Augustan age, when Christ did come, the world was prepared thoroughly to examine His claims, was able to appreciate His doctrines by comparison and contrast, and was in such a state as to afford facilities for the extension and propagation of Christianity. II. CONSIDER THE MANNER OF HIS INCARNATION. 1. Christ came as a child. Fit emblem of the mission of mercy which brought Him. 2. He was born in a lowly station. No fear, then, but that the poorest and humblest are welcome to Him and to all His benefits. 3. Obedient to the law, and under its curse. III. CONSIDER THE GREAT DESIGN OF HIS INCARNATION. 1. To redeem from the curse, not the obligation, of the law. You cannot obey the law too much, but you must look for justification to Christ alone. 2. To confer on all men the adoption of sons. We must believe this before we can feel it. (R. Philip.)
I. THE TIMELINESS OF THE ADVENT. Every event in the unfolding of the Divine plan has its proper place. Evidence of this is not wanting in regard to the advent. 1. The proof of the world's need was complete. Philosophy and religion had been tried, and failed. Nothing remained but disappointment and despair. 2. The Jewish nation was prepared. Prophecy fulfilled. People expectant. The old system worn out. 3. The circumstances of the age were favourable. Peace. Civilization. One language. II. THE SUBJECTION TO HUMAN CONDITIONS WHICH CHRIST'S ADVENT INVOLVED. 1. His true humanity. (1) (2) (3) (4) 2. His legal obedience. He submits to the yoke under which all are bound. (Homiletic Magazine.)
I. Some one from the shore must undertake to save him. II. The Helper must leave the shore and come to him so that he can grasp Him. Not enough to see in the distance One who has pity; must be actual contact. III. In order to reach him the Deliverer must come within the sweep of the law. No other way of reaching him, but through the current. IV. The Rescuer must bear the drowning man's share of the curse of the law if He would save him. Powerless to bear the strain himself. V. The Rescuer must have strength enough to get safely back. VI. The Saviour and the saved must be firmly bound together. Otherwise the; strain will fall on both, and the latter will inevitably be drowned. Hence the need of faith, which is the grasp of the soul. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
1. The world's coming of age. All pre-Christian history anticipative and preparatory. 2. The character of the new relationship opened up to men. (1) (2) 3. The means whereby the spiritual maturity of men is brought about. (1) (2) (3) (A. F. Muir, M. A.)
I. THE IMPORTANT EVENT STATED. 1. The illustrious Person spoken of. 2. This illustrious Person was divinely commissioned. 3. The nature which He assumed. 4. The obligations to Which He was liable.(1) He was subject to the ceremonial law. He was circumcised, and presented in the temple; He worshipped in the synagogues, went up to the feasts, etc.(2) He was under the moral law. He lived it; and in all He spake, and did, and thought, He honoured it. He kept it, in all its extent, perfectly. He also taught it, spiritualized and vindicated it.(3) He was under both the ceremonial and moral law in His mediatorial capacity. He was both the Victim for sin and the High Priest of our profession. 5. The peculiar period of His manifestation.(1) The time referred to by the prophets.(2) After the world had been sufficiently informed as to the event, in various ways and forms, from the first promise to the last prophecy given.(3) When all means for man's restoration had proved totally inadequate.(4) When the world was in a state of profound peace.(5) When there was a general expectation of Him, especially among the Jews.(6) At that particular time, fixed upon as the best, by the infinite wisdom of God. II. THE GRAND ENDS CONTEMPLATED IN THESE EVENTS. 1. That we might obtain redemption. 2. That we might receive adoption. 3. That believers might thus enjoy redemption and the adoption of sons.Learn: 1. The way in which redemption has been effected. 2. The invaluable blessings it presents before us. 3. The importance of a saving, personal interest in them. 4. Exhort the guilty and perishing to believe and have life. (J. Burns, D. D.)
1. It was the time appointed of the Father — the time fixed for His coming in the mind and counsel of God. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world, and even from all eternity. Nothing happens to Him by chance, 2. It was the time foretold by the prophets — those holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 3. It was a time peculiarly suitable for His coming, and is, therefore, called the fulness of the time. It was a time when events seemed to have gradually ripened for this glorious consummation. It was a time, lastly, when His forerunner appeared to prepare His way before Him, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and thus making ready a people prepared for the Lord. Such was the time of the Redeemer's advent. II. CONSIDER THE MANNER OF HIS COMING. "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." There are here three particulars for our consideration. 1. God sent forth His Son. This expression evidently implies that the Son of God existed before He was sent forth. And does not the Scripture everywhere corroborate the truth thus implied? But where did He exist before His Divine mission? He existed with God in heaven. He was in the bosom of the Father. "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." Consequently, we are not to suppose, when God is here said to have sent Him forth, that it implies any inferiority of nature on the part of the Son; for "such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such, too, is the Holy Ghost." 2. The Son of God was made of a woman; and He was so made in accordance with the prophecies respecting Him. 3. He was made under the law. As a Divine person, a partaker with the Father in the Godhead, He was not subject to any law; nor as a perfectly holy man was he bound to submit to the ceremonial law, which in everything implied the sinfulness of man. Yet, for us men, and for our salvation, He humbled Himself to be made under the law. He was born of a Jewess, and was circumcised the eighth day, and thus was placed under the law as a covenant of works; that, as the surety of His people, He might in every way answer its full demands. III. CONSIDER THE OBJECT OF HIS COMING. This was to "redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." By the law, we may here understand both the ceremonial and the moral law. And what is the adoption here spoken of? It is a blessing of which by nature we are utterly destitute; for by nature we are without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But when does God thus adopt us? It is when we truly repent us of our past sins, and embrace by faith the method of salvation revealed in the gospel. And what are the privileges to which as adopted children we become entitled? They are numerous and important, too numerous indeed, to be here all specified. 1. The spirit of adoption, which enables us to approach God with filial confidence, and to open our whole heart before Him. 2. Heirship. (D. Rees.)
1. Time hath a fulness, because it has a capacity (Ephesians 4:13). 2. That fulness comes by degrees. As with life so with time. 3. There is a time when time cometh to its fulness (John 7:8. cf. 12:23). In the day at the meridian; in man at full age. 4. When that "when" is. When God sends it. That which fills time is some memorable thing of God's pouring into it. Moses and the prophets filled it to a certain degree; Christ filled it to the brim. Well might it be called the fulness, for (1) (2) (3) II. THE FILLING OF TIME. 1. From the fulness of His compassion God "sent." 2. From the fulness of His love He "sent His Son." 3. In the fulness of humility He sent Him. (1) (2) III. THE FULNESS OF THE BENEFIT TO US. 1. Redemption. Consider (1) (2) (3) 2. Adoption. (1) (2) IV. THE FULNESS OF DUTY BY US. Christmas should be — 1. A time of fulness of joy; but not that only; also a time of — 2. Thankfulness to God. 3. Piety. 4. Beneficence. (Bp. Andrewes.) I. CHRIST CAME IN THE FULNESS OF TIME. 1. What is this? (1) (2) 2. How doth it appear? (1) (2) (3) II. CHRIST WAS SENT, THEREFORE HE HAD A BEING BEFORE. This appears from (1) (2) (3) III. CHRIST WAS GOD'S SON. 1. He was God (Romans 9:5; 1 John 5:20). 2. This Godhead He received of the Father (John 5:26). 3. This communication was properly a generation. IV. CHRIST WAS MADE OF A WOMAN. 1. He received His human body substantially from a woman. 2. Made, i.e., without the help of man (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23, 24; Luke 1:34, 35).Uses. 1. Information. (1) (2) 2. Exhortation. Be thankful for this inestimable mercy. (1) (2) (Bp. Beveridge.) I. There was A THREEFOLD WORK OF PREPARATION, each portion of which demanded the lapse of a certain period. 1. The Gentile world had to he prepared.(1) Politically. A common language and social system with laws and Government were required and provided in the Greek language and the Roman Empire:(2) In religious conviction. The old religions went to pieces, and an age of vice, superstition, and unbelief supervened. The epoch of religious experiments closed in an epoch of despair.(3) In moral experience. Men saw and approved the better course and followed the worse. Consciousness of sin and weakness led them to yearn for a deliverer. 2. The Jewish world —(1) Politically was expecting change, and that Shiloh would appear.(2) Their religious convictions pointed to Him.(3) Their law was a moral preparation, "a schoolmaster to lead them to Christ." II. WHEN THE TIME WAS FULL CHRIST CAME. 1. If we had seen Jesus in His earthly life what impression would He have produced on our unprejudiced souls?(1) We should have observed in Him a totally different relation to truth from that of every other man. (a) (b) 2. His nature was at harmony with itself. No one excellence is out of proportion. Contemplation and action; the desire for the public and the individual good; all that was most manly and most womanly; the Jewish, Greek, Roman types, all harmonized. The first Adam contained the whole race of his descendents; so Christ became the Head of a new race. 3. As we looked steadily we should have seen that He was God's Son, made of a woman. III. FROM WHAT DID CHRIST COME TO DELIVER US. 1. From false views of the world and life. 2. From base and desponding views of human nature. 3. From bondage. (Canon Liddon.)
II. WHEN CIVILIZATION HAD ATTAINED HER UTMOST DEVELOPMENT. 1. Politically the world was one as it had never been before and has never been since. 2. Intellectually. Except, perhaps, the golden age of Greece, without a parallel. Cicero, Lucretius, Caesar, Pliny, Juvenal. Philosophy now in her prime. 3. Materially: every source open from which pleasure could be derived. 4. Artistically. III. WHEN MEN HAD FATHOMED THE LOWEST DEPTHS OF DEGRADATION. The fulness of time was marked by — 1. Disgusting licentiousness. 2. Inhuman cruelty. 3. Widespread practice of suicide. 4. Blank atheism. 5. Utter despair. (J. Macgregor, D. D.)
1. After the Flood a new term of probation was granted; but Babel became the monument of man's pride and self-will. 2. After the call of Abraham God's administration took a two-fold form: (a) (b) II. A PERIOD OF SPECIAL, SUPERNATURAL, AND DIVINE INTERVENTION AS MANIFESTED IN THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST, AND THE SPIRITUAL FREEDOM AND MORAL ELEVATION OF MEN. 1. The person of Christ. (1) (2) (3) 2. The work of Christ — "to redeem, etc." 3. The kindred and representatives of Christ — "sons," whose distinctive marks are: (1) (2) (3) (4) (Giles Hester.)
II. THE STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE PERIOD. 1. The Jews. (1) (2) 2. The Roman empire. (1) (2) 3. Its hopelessness. Polytheism and philosophy had failed, and had given place to atheism and sorcery. III. THE RESULTS THAT FLOWED FROM THE ADVENT. 1. The abolition of Judaism. 2. The extirpation of every preexisting religion and philosophy. 3. The ultimate triumph of Christianity in its effects — (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (G. Sexton, LL. D.)
1. The proof of the world's need was complete. 2. God's preparation as regards the Jews had fulfilled its course. 3. The circumstances of the age were favourable. II. CHRIST'S SUBJECTION TO HUMAN CONDITIONS WHICH IT INVOLVED. 1. His true humanity (Hebrews 2:17). 2. His legal obedience. (J. Waite.)
1. The secret of His influence over us. Attraction is in proportion to nearness. Christ stooped that He might lift (Hebrews 4:15). 2. The source of His power to conquer our foes (Hebrews if. 14). 3. The ground of His atonement unto God (Hebrews 2:17). II. CHRIST WAS MADE SUBJECT TO LAW THAT HE MIGHT FREE US FROM BONDAGE OF LAW. 1. He was born subject — (1) (2) (3) (4) 2. He was subject to the penalties of the law, although Himself sinless. (1) (2) 3. This leads to our liberation. (1) (2) (3) (W. J. Adeney, M. A.)
1. The dignity of His person — God's Son. 2. The manner Of His manifestation.(1) Born of a woman; conceived by the Holy Ghost, Frequently noticed in Old and New Testaments (Genesis 3:18; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; 1 Timothy 2:14, 15).(2) Made under the law; plainly implying that He was put into a situation different from that which was originally His (cf. Philippians 2:7, 8). The necessary condition of every creature is that of submission to the law of God. Christ was born of a woman that He might be made subject to that law.He was made under — 1. The ceremonial law. 2. The moral law. 3. The mediatorial law; and fulfilled all perfectly. II. THE DESIGN OF HIS MISSION. 1. He came to accomplish that which could not be accomplished by other means or an inferior agency. 2. He came not merely to exemplify a rule of life but to satisfy its violation; not to explain the law but to bear its curse. 3. The character in which He appeared was that of a Substitute and Daysman. 4. In this character He magnified the law and procured justification for us. 5. And further, secured to us the adoption of sons. III. THE FITNESS OF THE SEASON which God in His infinite wisdom appointed for the purpose. It was a period — 1. Foretold in prophecy, Jacob, Haggai, Daniel. 2. Of general expectation. 3. Of profoundest peace. 4. Of advanced learning and scepticism; so a time most favourable to detect imposture and to test the merits of true religion. 5. Of toleration.In conclusion: 1. The advent was the most important event in the history of the world. 2. You are all interested in it. Those who neglect it will be eternally deprived of its provisions. (Robert Hall.)
1. War had left its sores and scars behind. 2. Popular religion was worn out and dying. 3. The faith of Moses and Isaiah had degenerated into a discussion of dress and posture, and into a fierce fanaticism. It was the darkest period before the dawn. Men were dreaming — (1) (2) (3) II. WHEREIN CONSISTED THE PECULIARITY OF THE COMING OF CHRIST WHICH MADE IT THE GERM OF WHAT THERE WAS TO BE IN THE AGES FOLLOWING? 1. The evils of the world, however glittering, found their level in Christ's presence. 2. Christ revealed to man a new image of the Divine nature and a new idea of human destiny, and made both realizable. 3. All that was good in the world took courage, and was revived and assimilated and strengthened by Christ; what was true in thought, beautiful in art, just in law, were incorporated, and the organic unity of the world gave a framework into which the gospel could fit and spread without hindrance and violence. III. WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS AND WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY ON ITS NINETEENTH-CENTURY BIRTHDAYS? 1. As regards our manners and customs.(1) We have left behind gladiatorial games; have we learned that mercy which the humane spirit of jesus should teach us?(2) We have left behind the luxury and selfishness of Rome; but is not our extravagance in dress and living contrary to the simplicity, the plain living, and high thinking of Jesus?(3) We have left behind the foul sins of ancient heathenism; but is our conversation and our literature free from a frivolity and coarseness alien to Him who blessed the pure in heart?(4) We have left behind divisions between Pharisee and Sadducee, Greek and Barbarian; but have we not so multiplied sects and churches as to break the unity which should be in Christ? 2. As regards our outlook. Just as the advances of Roman civilization were preparations for the gospel, so the advances of modern science, etc. so far from being contrary to the gospel are means of its wider spread. 3. As regards us individually. When the fulness of time is come in joy or sorrow the one redeeming thought is that Christ has redeemed us that we might receive, etc. (Dean Stanley.)
(G. Hester.)
(Thomas Jones.)
(Doune.)
1. If we are impenitent and unpardoned men, let us at least consider seriously our true estate of dark and unsheltered condemnation. "You are under the law!" and as the most necessary and certain of all things, that law must be vindicated. If you will not accept of redemption as offered in Christ, yours is no part in salvation. Law — law. What a fearful thing it is in its aspects towards transgression! Even human law, weak, uncertain, mutable, imperfect — yet how its violator recoils, if it hem him in to destruction! See yonder! through the dark night hurries a trembling fugitive! That man's hands are stained with blood. In silence and solitude, with no human eye to see, he struck the fatal blow, and now on swift foot turns from the face of the dead man! But, alas for him, the avenger of blood is on his track! Law! Law! that inexorable power of retribution — with an eye that gathers evidence from a footprint in earth, or a stain in water, or a whisper in air — is following his footsteps, and will find him and lay a mighty hand on him, and bind him in iron fetters which no power can break, and consign him to dungeons whence no skill can deliver. And if human law is terrible. what think ye of Divine law? God's natural laws are fearful! You see a fair child gathering flowers on the brink of a precipice; singing its glad songs and weaving its dewy garlands, it approaches the dizzy verge! Far out, in a cleft of a rock, grows a tempting violet; the child sees it, longs for it — reaches for it — reaches too far! See, its little feet slip! and you shudder, recoil, cry out with terror! Why? Is not God merciful? Are not God's providences gracious? Yes, indeed; but even God's merciful providences are according to immutable ordinances. That child is under law. The law, that holds the universe together, and is as inexorable as its Maker, hems it in, and presses on it, and will dash it to destruction. And do you think God's moral laws are narrower in their play, or weaker in their pressure? O, ungodly man! be alarmed for yourself! You are pursuing your chosen courses under law — "under law!" You are gathering flowers of sin upon precipices, and below are unfathomed depths of indignation and anguish; and the moral law that binds into one rejoicing universe all sinless ranks of life, is over you, and around you, and pressing you down to destruction, and at the next footstep your feet may slide, and there be none to deliver! Oh, the overwhelming thought! Beings passing to immortality under law — "under law." 2. Meantime, unto the believing and penitent soul the text is full of consolation. We were under the law, but Christ hath redeemed us! Redeemed! Redeemed! Oh, what a word it is! Saved! Saved! How the very thought thrills us! A child saved from a burning house! From foundation to roof swept the red surges, hemming him in unto destruction! But right through the encircling fire rushed a strong deliverer, reckless of danger, to restore it in joyous life to the mother's loving heart! Saved! Saved! A man overboard, in a night of storm, lifting one despairing cry upon the rushing wind, and sinking, in despairing anguish, in the devouring sea! But, behold! a life-boat lowered, manned, darting like a sea-bird through the blinding spray, and strong arms outstretched to snatch the victim from the very jaws of death! Saved! saved! saved! Oh, what a word it is! And yet thus, O children of God, are you saved from the unfathomed ocean and the unquenchable fire! Saved, saved for ever! Oh, what gratitude becomes us! What consecration! What deep, adoring love! (C. Wadsworth.).
2. We have the means of this deliverance, namely, Christ's incarnation and manifestation in the flesh; "God sent forth His own Son, made of a woman." 3. We have the condition in which Christ came; "made under the law." Being made flesh, He subjected himself both to the precepts and to the curse of the law. 4. The freedom and deliverance itself: "God sent forth His Son," thus qualified, "to redeem them that were under the law"; that is, to free all the elect from the curse and punishment that was due to them for the transgression of it (Galatians 3:13). And hereby also was procured to believers the adoption of sons: by which we are to understand, not only the benefit of adoption itself, which was the privilege of believers under the Old Testament as well as now under the New, but also and chiefly a clearer manifestation of that privilege, and a more free use and fruition of it. They have now a more full and plentiful measure of the Spirit. than believers had under the Old Testament dispensation. I. THE ONLY REDEEMER OF GOD'S ELECT IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. 1. Consider the titles and names of our Redeemer.(1) Lord — absolute and Universal sovereign over all creatures. The government belongs to Him originally as God, and derivatively as God-Man, Mediator.(2) Jesus. No salvation but through Him.(3) Christ. Anointed to His office by the Father. Three sorts of persons were commonly anointed among the Jews — kings, priests, prophets. As oil strengthened and suppled the joints, and made them agile and fit for exercise, so it denoted a designation and fitness in a person for the function to which he was appointed.(a) It implies the Father's fitting and furnishing Him with all things necessary, that He might be a complete Redeemer to His people.(b) It implies the Father's giving Him a commission to redeem poor sinners from hell and wrath. He was invested with a fulness of authority and power for this very end. And therefore in Scripture He is said to be sealed, as having His commission under the great seal of Heaven. 2. Consider His office and work in general. He is called the Mediator, which properly signifies a midsman, that travels betwixt two persons who are at variance to reconcile them. Now, Christ is Mediator,(1) In respect of His person, being a middle person betwixt God and man, participating of both natures.(2) In respect of His office; being a middle person dealing betwixt God and man, in the offices of a Prophet, Priest, and King. II. Our next business is to illustrate this grand truth, THAT JESUS CHRIST BEING THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD, BECAME MAN. 1. Christ is the eternal Son of God. As to the nature of this generation our Lord Himself in some measure explains it to us, so far as we are capable of apprehending the great mystery, when He tells us (John 5:26), "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." 2. The Son of God became man. It was not the Father, nor the Holy Ghost, that was incarnate, but the Son (John 1:14 "The Word was made flesh "). He was "God manifested in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). 3. Why did it behove Christ, in order to be our Redeemer, to be God and man? He could not be our Redeemer, if He had not been both.(1) He behoved to be God, (a) That He might be able to bear the weight of the infinite wrath of God due to the elect's sins, and come out from under that heavy load (Acts 2:24).(2) That His temporary sufferings might be of infinite value, and afford full satisfaction to the law and justice of God (Hebrews 9:14). In these respects none other but one who was God could redeem us.(2) He behoved to be man, (a) (b) III. I come now to prove, THAT CHRIST IS GOD AND MAN, IN TWO DISTINCT NATURES, AND ONE PERSON. Christ is God and man by a personal union of two natures. The two natures in Christ remain distinct: the Godhead was not changed into the manhood, nor the manhood into the Godhead; for the Scripture speaks of these as distinct (Romans 1:3; 1 Peter 3:18 Hebrews 9:14), and of two wills in Christ, a human and a Divine (Luke 22:42). These natures remain still with their distinct properties, that as the Divine nature is not made finite, so neither is the human nature adorned with the Divine attributes. It is not omnipotent (2 Corinthians 13:4), nor omnipresent (John 11:15); nor omniscient (Mark 13:22, etc.) Yet are they not divided: nor is Christ two persons, but one; even as our soul and body, though distinct things, make but one person. This is clear from the text, which shows that the Son of God was made of a woman; which seeing it cannot be understood of His Divine nature, but of the human, it is plain that both natures make but one person. And elsewhere He is described as one person consisting of two natures (Romans 1:3 and Romans 9:5). And it was necessary that the natures should be distinct; because otherwise, either the Divinity would have advanced His humanity above the capacity of suffering, or His humanity depressed His Divinity below the capacity of meriting. And it was necessary that He should be one person; because otherwise His blood had not been the blood of God (Acts 20:28), nor of the Son of God (1 John 1:7), and so not of infinite value. Wherefore Christ took on Him the human nature, but not a human person. Concluding inferences: 1. The redemption of the soul is precious. Saving sinners was a greater work than making the world. 2. See here the wonderful love and grace of God, in sending His own Son to be the Redeemer of sinful men. 3. See the matchless love of the Son of God to poor sinners. 4. All who live and die out of Christ must perish. No other Mediator. 5. How highly is our nature exalted and dignified in the person of the Lord Jesus. 6. It is impious and absurd to ascribe any part of man's redemption to any other. It is dishonourable to Christ, and dangerous for men, to join anything of their own to His righteousness, in point of justification before God. The blessed Redeemer will never endure it. It reflects upon His Mediatory undertaking. If He be the only Redeemer of God's elect, then certainly there can be no other. If He hath finished that work, then there is no need of our additions. And if that work be not finished by Him, how can it be finished by men? It is simply impossible for any creature to finish that which Christ Himself could not. But men would fain be sharing with Him in this honour, which He will never endure. He is the only Saviour of sinners: and He will never divide the glory of it with us. (T. Boston, D. D.)
2. God sent forth His Son, "made of a woman." The term "made of a woman" intends, as I suppose, to assert that the Son appeared on earth a human being; that He took upon Himself a human, in opposition to an angelic or any other nature. If this be true, then the Messiah possessed a perfect human constitution, endowed with all the powers and faculties belonging to such a constitution, just like any one of us. He possessed an understanding, a taste, a conscience, a will, appetites, passions, senses, just like our own, save only that they were not defiled with the stain of sin. "Wherefore He is not ashamed to call us brethren." 3. "God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." What is the meaning of this last phrase — "made under the law"? The law spoken of here must be either the ceremonial or the moral law. The word "law" is used twice in the sentence which forms the text. In both cases it must have the same signification. It is said, in the latter clause, Christ came to redeem those who were under the law. The word here cannot mean the ceremonial law, since this exposition would restrict the blessings flowing from the atonement of Christ to the Jews, who were the only people under this law; and would also make the salvation of the gospel nothing more than a deliverance from ceremonial observances. When we say, therefore, that Christ was made under the law, we mean the moral law, that under which the human race was created, which they are bound to obey, and by which they will all be judged in the day of final account. What, then, does the apostle mean, when he declares that Christ was under the moral law? You observe that Christ was made under the law "to redeem those that are under the law." It is evident that the expression in these two places has the same signification. We cannot, then, escape the conclusion that Christ was made under the law in the same sense that we are under the law. He placed Himself under the same moral constitution as that under which the race of man was placed; or, in other words, the same as that under which Adam was originally placed in the garden of Eden. When, however, I assert this, it is proper to remark that the Messiah voluntarily placed Himself under this constitution. He was, in His Divine nature, infinitely removed from the moral law proper for human nature. The Creator cannot, from His nature, be subject to the law of the creature. He, of His own incomprehensible benevolence, placed Himself under the law which He had appointed for the creature in order to work out our redemption. After, however, the Son of God had placed Himself under the law of human nature, He became subject to it, in the same manner as that nature; that is, specially as Adam was subject to it, when he commenced his probation. He was exposed to all the consequences of disobedience, and entitled to all the rewards of obedience, just as we suppose our first parent to have been before his fall. This, however, includes several particulars, which may properly be stated somewhat more explicitly. On this part of our subject I would remark, first, He took upon himself a nature liable to sin. Were it otherwise, it would not have been a human nature, and He would neither have been under the law, nor would He have been of the seed of Abraham. Secondly. It follows, that if the Messiah had sinned, the consequences to Himself would have been the same as to any one of us. Nay, more: the plan of redemption, on which the wisdom of Omniscience had been exhausted, would have proved abortive. On this conflict, then, we may well suppose that the destinies of the universe were suspended. By the obedience of the Messiah was it to be determined whether sin or holiness should be henceforth in the ascendant. II. Let us now survey this transaction from another point of view, and endeavour to form a conception of the life of Christ under the conditions which we have endeavoured thus imperfectly to explain. 1. Every one of us may possibly know from experience how oppressive is the weight of solemn and important responsibility. There are critical moments in the life of almost every man, when the whole colour of his destiny has been determined by a single decision. He who remembers these eras in his history needs not to be reminded of the fear and trembling with which he approached them. In the case of the Messiah, however, not temporal but eternal interests were suspended upon His decisions. It was not merely the result of His actions upon His own happiness or misery, but their result upon the happiness or misery of innumerable millions, that pressed with overwhelming anxiety upon His holy soul. It was not merely the happiness or misery of created beings, be they ever so numerous, or how largely soever susceptible of pleasure or pain; it was the honour of that holy law which, in the presence of the universe, He had undertaken to magnify, which was perilled upon the condition of His sinless obedience. And yet more: these stupendous consequences were not suspended upon a single hour, or day, or year of the Messiah's life, but upon every action, every word, every thought, every motive, throughout his whole probationary existence. Every moral bias, during His continuance under the law, was put forth under the pressure of this infinite responsibility. Again: when men are placed in circumstances of peculiar trial, they are of necessity intimately associated together. The chief actor in a momentous enterprise unites with himself others who sympathize in his motives, comprehend his plans, carry forward his designs, and who would cheerfully sacrifice their lives in behalf of the cause in which all are equally engaged. How much this tends to alleviate anxiety, and soften the pressure of otherwise intolerable care, I surely need not remind you. None of these ameliorating circumstances, however, relieved the anxieties of Jesus of Nazareth. Of all the beings who have dwelt upon our earth, none was ever so emphatically a lone man as the Messiah. (F. Wayland, D. D.)
1. It delivers us from false views of the world and of life. It divides all history into two portions for the Christian — that which precedes and that which follows it. It divides the human race into two portions — that which is within the kingdom of the Incarnate Son, and that which is without it. It divides the interests of life, of thought, of work, for a downright, genuine Christian into two portions — that which bears upon and advances God's work of love in the Incarnation of His Son, and that which does not do so. When a man has once learnt really what it means — this stupendous event, the Incarnation of the Eternal Son, up to which all history leads, down from which all true human interests worthy of the name will ultimately be found to radiate — then life, work, the world, death, the future, all wear another aspect. 2. It delivers us from base and desponding views of this our human nature. Often enough we are weighed down to the very dust by a sense of weakness, of defilement, of distance from the source of sanctity and peace; and yet what must be the worth, the capacities, of these poor human powers, when retouched, when regenerated by God — this nature upon which the Eternal Son has put such high honour that He has robed Himself in it that it might become to us a channel of sanctification and grace. 3. And the Incarnation delivers us from bondage. In every Christian in whom the life of Christ really exists — in whose heart it beats, however intermittently — there is a knowledge that by union with Christ he is free. He knows he is not a slave, but a son. He knows that this filial freedom is a possession of which nothing without him can deprive him, although he may forfeit it himself — a possession of which every prayer, every act of sacrifice, every true conquest of self, enhances the value. (Canon Liddon.)
II. ADOPTION. 1. He that adopted another must be a man who had no children of his own. We were children of wrath, not God's children. 2. He must be a man who had had children, or naturally might have had; for a man under years or naturally disabled could not adopt. This was God's case, for by our creation we were His sons, till we died, and lost all right and means of regaining our privilege but by the way of adoption in Jesus. 3. No man might adopt an elder man than himself. God is from the beginning. 4. No man might adopt a man of better quality than himself, and here we are so far from comparing, that we cannot comprehend God's greatness and goodness. 5. No man might be adopted into any other degree of kindred, but into the name and right of a son: he could not be an adopted brother, cousin, or nephew, and this is especially our dignity. We have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (J. Donne.)
(Bishop Andrewes.)
(Dr. Guthrie.)
(Bishop Andrewes, D. D.)
1. This sonship is a gift of grace received by faith. (1) (2) (3) 2. Adoption comes to us by redemption. 3. We now enjoy the privilege of sonship. Not only sons, but full-grown sons. II. THE CONSEQUENT INDWELLING OF THE HOLY GHOST IN BELIEVERS. 1. Here is a Divine act of the Father. 2. He comes as the Spirit of Jesus. 3. He takes up His residence in the believer's heart. Coming into the central fortress and universal citadel of our nature, He takes possession of the whole. 4. This wonderful blessing is fraught with marvellous results. Sonship sealed by the indwelling Spirit brings us peace and joy; it leads to nearness to God and fellowship with Him; it excites trust, love, and vehement desire; and creates in us reverence, obedience, and actual likeness to GOD. III. THE FILIAL CRY. 1. It is the Spirit of God that cries. 2. It is literally the cry of the Son. 3. This cry in our hearts is exceedingly near and familiar. A cry is a sound which we are not anxious that every passer-by should hear; yet what child minds his father hearing him cry? 4. How earnest a thing is a cry. 5. The most of this crying is kept within the heart, and does not come out at the lips. At all times and in all places we can lift up our hearts and cry to God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (John Bate.)
2. Being born again in the image of God, bearing His likeness (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:10; 2 Peter 1:4). 3. Bearing His name (1 John 3:1; Revelation 2:17; Revelation 3:12). 4. Being the objects of His peculiar love (John 17:23; Romans 5:5-8; Titus 3:4; 1 John 4:7-11). 5. The indwelling of the Spirit of His Son; who gives an obedient spirit (1 Peter 1:14; 2 John 6), a spirit free from sense of guilt, legal bondage, fear of death (Romans 8:15, 21; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1; Hebrews 2:15; 1 John 5:14), a spirit elevated with a holy boldness and royal dignity (Hebrews 10:19, 22; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Peter 4:14). 6. Present protection, consolations, and abundant provisions (Psalm 125:2; Isaiah 66:13; Luke 12:27-32; John 14:18; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; 2 Corinthians 1:4). 7. Present fatherly chastisements for our good, including both temporal and spiritual afflictions (Psalm 51:11, 12; Hebrews 12:5-11). 8. The certain inheritance of the riches of our Father's glory, as heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17; James 2:5; 1 Peter 1:4; 1 Peter 3:7), including the exaltation of our bodies to fellowship with Him (Romans 8:28; Philippians 3:21). (A. A. Hodge.)
2. Men generally adopt such as they think deserving; God adopts criminals, traitors, enemies. 3. Men adopt living children; God, those who are by nature spiritually dead. 4. Man generally adopts one only: God, many. (G. S. Bowes.)
1. God the Father is made our Father. 2. The incarnate God.Man is made our elder Brother, and we are made (1) (2) (3) 3. The Holy Ghost is our indweller, teacher, guide, advocate, comforter, sanctifier. 4. All believers, being subjects of the same adoption, are brethren (Ephesians 3:6; 1 John 3:14; 1 John 5:1). (A. A. Hodge.)
(Krummacher.) I. THE SPIRIT SENT. 1. There are Three Persons in the Godhead who are often mentioned together as here (Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 5:7). 2. The Spirit is the third Person because He proceeds from the Father and the Son (John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:15, and here). II. WHO SENT HIM? 1. God sent His Son (ver. 4). 2. By the mediation of His Son. He sent the Spirit too (John 16:6, 7; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; Acts 2:1). III. WHY?, Because ye are sons. 1. All believers are God's sons (John 1:12). 2. There fore, because they believe, and so are His Sons, God gives them His Spirit. IV. WHITHER? Into your hearts. 1. Because the heart is the fountain of life (Proverbs 4:23). 2. The seat of true grace. V. WHAT TO DO? 1. To be a pledge of Christ's presence (John 14:16-18; Matthew 28:20). 2. To teach us all things needful (John 14:26). 3. To guide us into all truth. 4. To comfort us (John 15:26; John 16:7). 5. To seal our redemption (Ephesians 1:13, 14; Ephesians 4:30). 6. To uphold us under all afflictions (Psalm 51:12). 7. To witness our adoption (Romans 8:15, 16). VI. USES. 1. Examine yourselves whether you have this Spirit.(1) He is a convincing Spirit (John 16:9-11) (a) (b) (c) (3) (4) (5) 2. Use all the means to get the Spirit in your hearts. VII. MOTIVES. Consider — 1. Till then you are not Christ's (Romans 8:9). 2. Can do no good thing (John 15:5; Romans 8:26). 3. Are exposed to all sin. 4. In continual danger of hell. 5. Can have no true comfort. VIII. MEANS. 1. Pray to God for it (Luke 11:13). 2. Frequent all public ordinances (Acts 2:1). (Bishop Beveridge.)
1. Of His eternal procession from the Son. 2. He was given to the Son as Head of the Church for the unction, consecration, and sanctification of His human nature. 3. He is communicated through the Son to all believers. (1) (2) II. THE WORK. He enables God's adopted children to behave themselves suitably to their state and condition. 1. Not as strangers, foreigners, or even servants, but 2. as children and heirs by becoming in them the Spirit of power, love, and sobriety (2 Timothy 1:7). III. THE EFFECTS OF THE WORKING. 1. Freedom of access to the "Father" is secured. 2. He becomes to us the Spirit of grace and of supplications,(1) by exerting graces and gracious affections in our souls in the duty of prayer: especially those of faith, love, and delight;(2) by enabling us to exercise those graces and express those affections in vocal prayer. (J. Owen, D. D.)
II. The word "Abba" is retained because it is full of affection; but "Father" is added not only to expound the same, but the better to express THE EAGER MOVING, the earnest and vehement desires and singular affections of believers in their crying unto God. (Brooks.)You are to look unto your experience, and try and find out whether there there be not working with your soul, working through it, working beneath it, distinct from it, but not distinguishable from it by anything but its consequences and fruitfulness — a deeper voice than yours — a "still, small voice." No whirlwind, nor fire, nor earthquake, but the voice of God speaking in secret, taking the voice and tones of your own heart and your own consciousness, and saying to you: Thou art My child, inasmuch as, operated by My grace, and Mine inspiration alone, there rises tremlingly, but truly, in thine own soul the cry Abba, Father." (A. Maclaren, D. D.)It involves that the Father and the child shall have kindred life — the Father bestowing, and the child possessing, a life which is derived; and because derived, kindred; and because kindred, unfolding itself in likeness to the Father that gave it. And it requires that between the Father's heart and the child's heart there shall pass in blessed interchange and quick correspondence, answering love, flashing backwards and forwards, like the lightning that touches the earth, and rises from it again. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
1. A spirit of filial confidence, as opposed to servile fear. 2. A spirit of holy love, as opposed to the bondage of sin. 3. A spirit of ready obedience, as opposed to the gloomy spirit of servitude. As love is the most powerful and self-devoted passion of our nature, it explains the character as well as the principle of Christian obedience. It is self-denying; for we no longer live to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and rose again (2 Corinthians 5:15). It is soul-absorbing; for it is not so much we that now live, as Christ that liveth in us (Galatians 2:20). It is devoted, for our will is swallowed up in His, and the cry of the heart is, "Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do?" Hence the bold assertion of St. Paul, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:3, 4). II. WE NOW PROCEED TO CONSIDER SOME OF THE DISTINGUISHING PRIVILEGES OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. It will be at once acknowledged that the characteristics which we have mentioned are also exalted privileges. To have a satisfactory sense of sin being pardoned; to walk in the light of God's countenance, with a secret assurance of His love and favour; to be freed from the degrading bondage of Sin, and the servile fear of a holy law; to possess the moral power of holy obedience, and to have this heavenly principle pervading the soul; these are distinguishing gifts of Divine mercy. Whilst the "spirit of a son" has its characteristic endowments, the condition of a child has its peculiar prerogatives. The one is the family genius, the other the family privileges. 1. The child of God has a part in the Father's love and care. 2. The child of God has a filial resemblance to his heavenly Father. In the households of earth there is what is termed a family likeness. Some distinguishing trait of feature often marks the countenances of all the offspring. However varied may be the form and hue of their faces, there is some identity of expression which makes them like their parent, and like to one another. So it is with the family of God, Being born from above, they possess the characteristics of a heavenly nature. They differ in the proportion and intensity of their spiritual graces, but they are all marked with the lineaments of virtue. One is more eminent for faith, another for zeal, another for wisdom; some excel in patience, or meekness, or fervid hope, or gentle love; but all have the fundamentals of these holy principles. They all bear the marks of a noble lineage. You might see in each of their hearts the peculiar traits of royalty. You might readily perceive that each inherits his Father's holiness. He is the child of a King, a prince of God (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). 3. Children of God have the privileges of family communion and fellowship. It is not now granted to man to hold conversational intercourse with angelic or sainted members of the heavenly family. He must be satisfied with knowing that they have some communion with his spirit. This is often alleged in the Scriptures, And who can tell what benefits we receive from holy thoughts, counsels, and promptings, whispered to the soul by hovering spirits of an ethereal nature? But we are privileged with the "communion of saints." We may associate with the wise and good, the saints that are in the earth, and the excellent (Psalm 16:3). Above all, the Christian has access to the throne of grace, and holds communion with the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. 4. Children of God have a share in the family provisions. There is a common stock of mercies, of which all the children have a right to partake. A certain property in blessings belongs to the household of faith. Exceeding great and precious promises have been provided by their heavenly Father. There is a fulness in Christ out of which His Church are permitted to receive. Every one is exhorted to take largely of these Divine gifts. Unlike property of an earthly nature, these riches never diminish by using. There could, therefore, be no reason for withholding them from any seeking soul. All are at liberty to "ask and receive, that their joy may be full." 5. Children have a title to the future inheritance. "If a son, then an heir of God through Christ;" or, as the apostle writes in another place, "If children then heirs," etc. "Heirs of God" — it is a strange expression! What does it mean? (R. M. Macbraire, M. A.)
1. Points of similarity between natural and spiritual adoption.(1) In adoption we cease to have our former name, and are designated after the name of God, who adopted us; then sinners, now saints; then enemies, now reconciled; then aliens and rebels, now brought nigh and the friends of God.(2) In adoption we change our abode. Once in the world, in the kingdom of darkness, in a far country; now in the Church, in the kingdom of God's dear Son, in the household of faith, and family of heaven.(3) We change our costume. Conform to the family dress. 2. Points of difference between natural and spiritual adoption.(1) Natural adoption was to supply a family defect. Because there was no son. God had hosts of sons — the angels, etc.(2) Natural adoption was only of sons. God makes no distinction as to sex, race, etc.(3) In natural adoption there was only a change of condition; the child never became really the son of the adopter. But God makes His children partakers of His own nature, and imprints on them His own image.(4) In natural adoption only one was adopted; but God adopts multitudes.(5) In natural adoption only temporal advantages were derived; but in spiritual, the blessings are eternal. II. THE SIGNS OF ADOPTION. 1. Internal (see Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:14-16). The Spirit will produce within us (1) (2) (3) 2. External.(1) Language. Conversation such as becometh the gospel of Christ.(2) Profession. We shall appear as the sons of the family of God; have the family badge, be enrolled in the family book, be found in the family circle, and sit at the family table.(3) Obedience. God's family has its laws, its specific rules for the government of itself, and for the direction of its conduct towards those who are without, III. ITS PRIVILEGES. 1. Deliverance from all the miseries of our pristine state. Poverty, rags, misery, ruin. 2. Investiture into all the benefits of Christ's family on earth. 3. A title to the celestial inheritance which Christ has bought and prepared for all who love Him.Application: 1. Learn the essential importance of this blessing. What would pardon and regeneration be without it? Let us seek the good of God's family. We are in it to labour as well as enjoy. 2. Invite strangers to become the sons and heirs of God. (J. Burns, D. D.)
(R. W. Evans, M. A.)
(T. Adams.)
1. Because of privileges, of which we shall speak soon. 2. Because it is a necessity of life. Many fail in efforts. They "try to be good," and fail. Because they begin wrongly. Must be so. Ostrich cannot soar as eagle. Nature is fitted to habits. So in grace. God requires great things. A new life begins. How? Not by laws or precepts — it is a new gift. Adoption transfers from Satan's family to God's, and then a new nature is given. II. THE POWER BY WHOM THIS ADOPTION IS WROUGHT. By "God's Spirit." In every aspect — redemption, sanctification, preservation, fruitfulness — the believer is a Divine work. Often forgotten. We are surrounded by human instruments, and the agent is not seen. Insufficient. Only the statue, not the man. Form without life. Both solemn and assuring. III. THE NECESSARY RESULTS OF THIS INDWELLING. "Whereby," etc. Immediate connection between life and action. The means may lie dormant, but the grace never. What results? 1. God is known. In daily life such knowledge must be imparted. Very true of spiritual things. This knowledge surpasses that imparted by Scripture or human teachers. Examples: 1 Samuel 3:7; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 3:16, 17. Samuel and Paul both taught by man, and yet they were spiritually ignorant. So, however much we may study, prize, increasingly value the Bible, each must go beyond it. 2. Confidence is enjoyed. Point of argument lies in "son" and "slave." The difference, the unwavering confidence of "son." So boldness in prayer, conflict, work, is believer's privilege. The Father never deserts His child. 3. Consistent life. A great name should never be disgraced. What so noble as this? where else is such honour entrusted? "Be imitators of God." (H. T. Cavell.)
1. It is a change from ignorance to knowledge. 2. A change from bondage to self-control. 3. A change from a temporal relationship to an eternal one. II. THIS SONSHIP IS THE GIFT OF GOD. 1. God intervenes with the offer of sonship at the fitting time. 2. God sends the only Being who can win us to sonship. 3. God accompanies the gift of sonship with the only infallible witness — the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. III. THIS GIFT OF SONSHIP MAKES US HEIRS OF GOD. (S. Pearson, M. A.)
(S. Pearson, M. A.)
(Luther.)
1. The lower orders of creatures are shut out from gifts which belong to the higher forms of life because they are so organized that these cannot enter into their nature. 2. So the soul must be adapted to the enjoyment of spiritual salvation. 3. The final inheritance depends on character. To possess God for ever we must love Him for ever. II. NO SONSHIP WITHOUT A SPIRITUAL BIRTH. 1. We are sons in some sense by nature. 2. But we become spiritual sons by grace. III. NO SPIRITUAL BIRTH WITHOUT CHRIST. 1. The very figure shows us that the process of becoming sons does not; lie within our own power. 2. Christ has come to give the spirit of adoption and regeneration. IV. NO CHRIST WITHOUT FAITH. 1. Ceremonies are nothing. 2. Trust in Christ is everything. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
1. Like Him. 2. Intimately associated with Him in community of life, standing, relations, and privileges. 3. Joint-heirs with Him of His glory. The Holy Ghost is our Indweller, Guide, Advocate, Comforter, and Sanctifier. All believers being subjects of the same adoption are brethren. (A. A. Hodge.)
1. That true believers are the sons of God by a new creation. By nature they are the children of wrath even as others. They are the offspring of degenerate, fallen man, the posterity of Adam, the sinful representative of mankind. The temper of the mind is renewed, and the outward conduct is reformed. A spiritual and vital influence is felt, and a spiritual and vital principle is imparted. 2. Believers are the sons of God, by their union with Christ. "Wherefore, my brethren," says the apostle to the Romans, "ye are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him that is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto God." 3. Believers are the sons of God by adoption. Adoption was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. II. THE HAPPY CONSEQUENCE WHICH RESULTS FROM THE PRIVILEGE OF OUR BEING THE SONS OF GOD. If a son, then an heir of God, through Christ. They are heirs of all that God possesses. The treasures to which they are entitled are vast and immeasurable. Believers, too, are heirs of all that God has promised. Christians are said to be heirs of the promise. If they have but little in possession, they have much in prospect; if not rich in enjoyment, they are rich in faith and hope. Believers, too, are heirs of the righteousness of Christ. Believers, too, are heirs of salvation, and angels are their ministering spirits. Those happy beings have charge over the people of God, and minister to them in their path to glory. They are called, too, heirs of the grace of life. Salvation is all of grace. Believers, too, are heirs of the kingdom. God has provided a kingdom for them that love Him, and of this kingdom they are heirs. They are also heirs of the world. This promise primarily refers to the land of Canaan, which Abraham and his seed were to possess; but here heaven is typically promised and represented. III. NOTICE THE MEANS BY WHICH THIS PRIVILEGE IS OBTAINED. If a son, then an heir of God, through Christ. Now we are heirs of God through Christ, because he has purchased this privilege for us. Christ, too, can only give this glorious privilege. He is the Head and Representative of His Church. Believers are the members of His body, and receive their spiritual nourishment from Him. It is through Christ we obtain this privilege as joint-heirs with Him. To Him the birthright blessing properly belongs. The Father loved the Son, and hath given all things into His hands. In conclusion, let me inquire — If not heirs of God, what are we? We are heirs of Satan — that prince of darkness, who now employs us in the drudgery of sin in order that he may reward us with the damnation of hell. (Isaac Clarkson.)
1. A servant to sin (Romans 6:16). Unconverted man's virtues are splendid sins. Servants in a large house have different work, but if well done, master is satisfied. 2. Slave to the world — its fashions, opinions, pleasures. 3. In bondage to the law. He cannot see the freeness of the gospel (Romans 3:28; Romans 5:1). But there is a change (ver. 6; Romans 8:15). There is now an interest in God; filial affection to Him; freedom of access (Ephesians 2:18; Proverbs 15:8); an abode in the Father's house (John 8:34-5; Ephesians 2:19-22). II. THE BELIEVER'S HOPE. An inheritance is not purchased by ourselves — it descends. It implies — 1. Full forgiveness. One unpardoned sin is certain hell (Ezekiel 18:4; 1 John 1:7). 2. Inward righteousness — imperfect, but improving (Luke 23:41; Hebrews 12:14). 3. That God Himself will be the portion of His believing people (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). Whatever Christ has, we have.In conclusion — 1. Is it not a wonder that privileges such as these should be so much overlooked, undervalued? Can every one here say; "I was a servant of sin, but I am now a son of God?" (Romans 10:10). 2. If not a son of God, what is the alternative? (Galatians 6:7, 8). An heir of the one or of the other is every one present at this moment. We must expect opposition, but we are well led, supported (2 Corinthians 12:9; Revelation 21:7). (H. M. Villiers.)
I. Every believer will find it to his advantage occasionally to recall his former condition under the Divine law, previous to the glad day in which grace came to him with full redemption. They say it is the custom in the city of Munich to arrest every mendicant child that is caught begging in the street, and put him immediately at school under some proper supervision until he is able to obtain a moderate support. As he enters the institution, his portrait is taken by an artist precisely as he appears in his uncleanliness and rags. This picture is always carefully preserved, so that when he is educated and matured enough to appreciate his position it may be shown to him. Then he will know how much has been done for his good, even while he was thinking unkindly of the restraint he resisted. Furthermore: he is made then to promise that he will keep She likeness ever afterwards, in order not only that it may remind him of his abject career as a beggar, and so keep him humble, but also make him think of others as companions in misfortune, and so render him charitable to the poor. And it is said in the reports that some of these castaways thus saved to usefulness, make the strongest and the most hopeful friends for the recovery and rescue of any young lad, however unpromising he may at first sight appear, a mere waif and wanderer in the world. Here in our lesson the apostle seems to have a very similar purpose in mind. For he begins with the description of men in a state of nature (vers. 1-3), and having shown how deeply in "bondage" they are, he proceeds to set forth the glorious interposition of grace in the gospel (vers. 4-6), by which they might receive the "adoption of sons." It is as if we all looked steadily back for a moment to see what we were once, and in the height of our gratitude looked around to see what we now have become, and to inquire how best we could glorify our Saviour. II. In the next place, the apostle dwells upon the lofty position of those who are the children of God. They are not any more bound by the drudgeries of service; they are not under "tutors and governors" any longer; they are "sons." It remains for us only to understand what adoption implies, and then this liberty will be defined, and this relationship established. 1. A son by adoption takes the name of his new father for all the future. No matter how honourable that may be; no matter how clear the aristocratic blood may have run in the ancestral veins; no matter what the world's heraldry has to say of ancient prowess or feudal right; any one who is legally adopted bears the same proud designation. Although the forefathers never knew him, the Children of this generation must hereafter call him a brother, the mother must consider him the same as her son. The analogy holds perfectly here. To be sons of God means to bear His name. Christians are called such after Christ; it is said that the Germans often call a true believer a "Christ." 2. An adopted child receives the care of his father. The privileges bestowed upon the other children are exactly the privileges bestowed upon him. Indeed, a son by adoption is often more likely to want peculiar help, simply because on entering an entirely fresh line of relations and duties he has everything to learn and much to unlearn. He hardly knows the first rules of the house, and he does not at all understand the dispositions of those within the family circle. He cannot be expected to arrive at once, as if by a flash of intuition, at a full apprehension of even his father's will; he will need time to be instructed in the delicate solicitudes of watchful obedience. Hence, he must have more forbearance, more patient instruction, more provident guardianship, perhaps than all the rest together. To be the adopted sons of God means just in this way to share His peculiar parental care. Jesus our Lord left on record an engagement of it for His brethren (John 16:27). Even the Father Himself has made a covenant promise for help (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18). 3. An adopted child takes the honours of his father. The child goes away from the old condition wholly into the new. A prince might bring a peasant's son into a royal household; then he will be a peasant-boy no longer; he is a king's son. That sets him on a level with the nobles of the realm; for he takes the condition of his parent as if he had been born under the same roof. 4. A child by adoption receives an appropriate share in the wealth of his father. Numbered in the household, bearing the common name, he can also draw on the joint resources. Former poverty is forgotten. Avenues of influence are suddenly thrown open to him. 5. An adopted child receives at last the inheritance of his father. "What God has laid out for His people is much, what He has laid up for them is more. "The Saints' Inventory" contains a list of spiritual possessions, most rare and valuable (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). III. It would seem now as if there could be no need for the apostle to press his closing consideration. How could any one wish to go back into service after he had experienced these advantages of sonship? How could he "desire again to be in bondage"? We are told that the Israelites, even when they had manna, wished for onions and leeks of Egypt; and, even when God was feeding them, sighed for garlic. But what is this beside the folly of those who accept times and seasons in the place of the " blessedness" of a sonship of God with Christ! (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
1. Its entire sway over ourselves. The language of Scripture is decisive on this matter. Sin has not only affected a part of human nature, but the whole. 2. Its power to exclude every good influence. The slave has no intercourse with the outside world. Others must not speak to him, or offer him any counsel. His master will not allow any foreign influence. Sin keeps out the light; the sinner does neither see himself nor his surroundings. II. WHAT WE ARE — SONS, Adoption is the term used by the apostle to designate the change. No comparison, however, will exactly represent the altered state. 1. As sons we are partakers of the Divine nature. The Spirit of God has imparted a heavenly disposition to our hearts. 2. As sons we are partakers of God's care and government. Correction is a necessary part of the relationship. III. WHAT WE SHALL BE — HEIRS. There is a present right, but minority excludes full possession for want of fitness. 1. Maturity There is a stage in our experience when restrictions and limitations will be removed. We now only know in part. 2. Indebtedness — "through Christ." He is the!ink between us and the inheritance. (The Weekly Pulpit.)
1. Ignorance of God. There is a twofold knowledge of God.(1) Natural (Acts 14:17; Romans 1:20), but this is (a) (b) 2. Idolatry.(1) False gods are set up in two ways, (a) (b) (a) (b) II. IN THEIR CONVERSION. 1. They knew God.(1) The foundation of this knowledge: the revelation of God in Christ (Hebrews 1:2; 2 Corinthians 4:6).(2) Its properties (a) (b) (c) 2. God knew them. 1. This knowledge is the root of ours. We know Him because He first knew us. 2. The ground of all our hope and comfort (Isaiah 49:15). III. IN THEIR APOSTASY, which was — 1. An intolerable sin. 2. A voluntary sin. 3. A senseless sin. 4. A common sin. (W. Perkins.)
(Archdeacon Hare.)
(T. T. Lynch.)
(J. B. Walker, M. A.)
(D. Thomas, D.D)
(Biblical Treasury.)
(John Smith.)
1. His omniscience. 2. His intimate connection with us through all the st.ages of our life. (1) (2) |