Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Sermons I. THE RECONCILIATION. 1. We were enemies. God was opposed to us; we were opposed to God. Something terribly real in this twofold opposition. We know its reality on our side; conscience, nature, revelation testify to its reality on God's side. The wrath of God. 2. Christ died for us. Justifying us by his blood, reconciling us to God through his death. The great demonstration of righteousness; the Divine concession to its claims. Also a great demonstration of love; the Divine provision for its claims. Yes; God sacrificing himself for man. 3. We are reconciled. God's love has free course now through Christ; our love is won for God in Christ. So then peace, amity, mutual love; identification in Christ! "Behold, what manner of love," etc. (1 John 3:1). II. THE REJOICING. A reversion to argument with which chapter opened, and which is more or less maintained through all these verses. We look forward and fear. Nay, says the apostle, look to the past; think how great things God hath done for you; think of the conditions under which all that deliverance was wrought. And now contrast: see conditions of present salvation, and be glad as you look to the future, assured that your salvation shall be unto the uttermost. Follow the a fortiori. 1. Not enemies, but friends. What we were! But he loved us then, laid down his life for us then. What we are! how much more shall he save us now! "Thou art mine!" 2. Not his death, but his life. Two sides of Christ's saving work. Think of the suffering and death: that did so much! Think of the exaltation and life: how much shall not that do! 3. Not only reconciled, but rejoicing. The new-found love; the living Friend. Let us take this Divine "much more" into all our life. The dark background of rebellion and death; the present love and life: much more! The overcoming of the great evil once for all; the overcoming of our temptations now: much more! The gift of the Son; and now the gift of all grace through him: much more! And so, "saved from wrath through him." - T.F.L.
And not only so, but we Joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom we have received the atonement. I. JOY IN GOD IS THE CLIMAX OF CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGE.1. In the whole passage from ver. 1 we have an account of the new feelings that are introduced by faith into the heart of a believer.(1) Peace with God, of whom we could never think formerly, if we thought of Him aright, but with disquietude.(2) Exultation in the hope of glory.(3) Exultation, even in tribulations, the process which manifests a work of grace here, and so serves to confirm all our expectations of a harvest of glory and blessedness hereafter. 2. And indeed how can it be otherwise, the apostle reasons. He hath already given us His Son, will He not with Him freely give us all things? And now that He has done so much in circumstances so unlikely, will He not carry on the work of deliverance to its final accomplishment when circumstances have changed? It is thus that the believer persuades himself into a still more settled assurance of the love of God to him than before; and whereas (ver. 2) he only rejoiced in the hope, he now rejoices in possession. 3. To feel as if you were in the company of God — to have delight in this feeling and find that the minutes spent in communion are far the sweetest intervals of your earthly pilgrimage — to have a sense of God all the day long, and that sense of Him in every way so delicious as to make the creature seem vain and tasteless in the comparison is certainly not a common attainment; yet no true saint can be altogether a stranger to it. "Rejoice evermore," says the apostle, "the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice," says the patriarch. It is easy to walk in the rounds of a mechanical observation. It is easy to compel the head to obedience against the grain of the heart. It is very easy to bear towards God the homage of respect, or fearfulness, or solemn emotion. To serve Him as a master to whom you are bound in the way of obligation is more the tendency of nature than to serve Him as a friend to whom you are bound by the heart. But is not the latter the far more enviable habit? — to have the spirit of adoption and cry out Abba, Father, rather than to drivel before Him among the restraints and the reluctances of a slave? — to do His will, not as if by the force of a compulsory law, or as if under the stipulation to discharge the articles of a bond, or as if pursued by an unrelenting taskmaster? This is the way in which God's will is apt to be done on earth; but it is not the way in heaven — where the doing of His pleasure is not a drudgery for which they get their meat and drink, but where their meat and drink is to do the will of God, where the presence of God ever enlivens them, and their own pleasure is just His pleasure reflected back again. To carry onward the soul to this were to work upon it a greater transformation than to recall it from profligacy to mere external reformation. II. MANY ARE STRANGERS TO THIS JOY. 1. There are those who care little about the matters of the soul and eternity, who live as if the visible theatre which surrounds them were their all; all they mind is earthly things, and of joy in God they have no comprehension. Give them a warm habitation, stock it well with this world's comforts, and surround them with a thriving circle of companionship, and they would have no objection to he done with God and eternity forever. When the preacher speaks of the woefulness of their spiritual condition, their response is, "We pay our debts; we can lift an unabashed visage in society; we compassionate the necessitous," etc., etc. We do not deny this, but we charge you with joying in the creature, and not at all in the Creator; and, to verify your woefulness, you have only to read the future history of this world. That scene, on which you have fastened your affections so closely that you cannot tear them away from it, will soon be torn away from you. It is then that God will step in. And had your joy been in Him, then heaven would have been your fit habitation. But as the tree falleth so it lies; and you rise from the grave with the taste, the character, the feelings which you had when you breathed your last; and so all that is in your heart, carrying upon it a recoil from Him, will meet with nothing but that which must give dread and disturbance to your carnal affections; and these affections will wander in vain for the objects which solaced them upon earth. It is thus that he who soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. 2. There are others who make the interest of their soul a topic of great care and thought; who have recourse to active measures in the prosecution of this great interest, and are all alive to the great object of being right with God. It is indeed a most natural forth-setting of the whole man on such an occasion, to proceed on the principle of "work and win," just as an ordinary workman does. It is not his work or his master that gives him pleasure, but only the receipt of his wages. There is many a seeker after life eternal, toiling with all his might, who has no joy in God — satisfied if he can escape hell and reach heaven; but who does not reflect that it is altogether essential to this blessedness to have such a taste for the Divine character as to be glad in the contemplation of it — to have such a liking for the Divine life as that the life itself shall be reward enough for him. Without this, all he can do is but the bodily exercise that profiteth little; and that, instead of heightening his affection for God, may only exasperate the impatience, and aggravate the weariness and distaste that he feels in His service. III. HOW IS THIS PRIVILEGE TO BE OBTAINED. There is a high ground of spiritual affection and of joy in God, to which you would like to be elevated. But you see nothing between you and that lofty region, saving a range of precipice that you cannot scale, and against which you vainly wreak all the native energies that belong to you. Let one door, hitherto unobserved, be pointed out, open to all who knock at it, and through which an easy and before unseen ascent conducts you to the light and purity and enjoyment of those upper regions after which you aspire; and what other practical effect should all the obstacles and impossibilities you have before encountered have upon you, than just to guide your footsteps to the alone way of access that is at all practicable? This is just the open door of Christ's mediatorship. 1. It has been objected to the gospel —(1) That it exacts an unnatural and unattainable elevation of character; and this is a most likely objection to proceed from him who looks at this economy with half an eye.(2) The very same people may also, on looking at another side of this dispensation, be heard to object to the freeness of the gospel. 2. Now these two parts are those which give support and stability to each other. It is just by faith that you enter upon peace and hope and love and joy; through Jesus Christ, not by working for the atonement, but simply by receiving the atonement, that you are translated into this desirable habit of the soul. (T. Chalmers, D. D.) There is a remarkable peculiarity in Paul's disposition. Thwarted in his movements, yet he is not despondent. Exposed to persecution, yet he is not embittered in his feelings, he ever rejoices in the hope of the glory of God; and not only so, but joy and triumph pervade the very heart of his trials. Singular, and aside from revelation, inexplicable circumstance, that a man so sorely tried, should have derived his only joy from an invisible, incomprehensible source! Not so does human nature joy in God. Yet it is strange that man should not seek his chief happiness in the Author of his being. If it were not now essentially deranged, the world of mankind would be advancing in its cycles of holy happiness around the throne of unsullied blessedness with the harmony and celerity with which the planets move on in their majestic orbits around the source of material light. Until man, then, shall be led to seek his happiness in God, not only must he be in pursuit of shadows, but be defeating the true and ultimate purpose of his being. But how shall he be brought to joy in God? I need not ask whether it would have been possible, had we been left to the dim light of nature, to look up to God as the source of joy. The great spirit of natural religion comes not within the definite purview of a finite mind. He is too retired and silent to influence our habitual emotions. Let us think of God as the omnipotent Creator, the beneficent Father of the universe. Man may not fail to be wrapt in admiration as he casts his eye over the beauty and brightness of creation; but when the thunders utter their voices, and the cloud surcharged with the element of death approaches nearer and yet nearer, shall not fear and trembling take hold on him? The wiser heathen thought that God was good; but "how can man be just with God?" was their natural inquiry. What is the Divine goodness but that all-pervading feeling of God's mighty heart, which leads Him to promote the highest happiness of His moral universe by at once rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked? It is in vain to say that your conviction of God's goodness fortifies your heart against all prognostications of evil. If you feel that you have sinned, you must know that you enjoy no harmonious alliance with your Maker and Judge. Have you no fear of Him when you think that He may be strict to mark iniquity? Can you commit yourself with conscious and joyous safety to His supreme disposal. I contend that it is impossible to joy in God, unless He be revealed to man's distinct and intimate knowledge; unless we have been made to feel that He takes a deep and deathless interest in our welfare; has no pleasure in our death; yea, that He may glorify His own name, and illustrate the stability of His throne, in our salvation. Now, where can be gathered any satisfactory knowledge of God, except from the Word of God Himself? As the sun reveals to us the beauties and sublimities of God's works, so does Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, unveil the glories of the eternal throne. Through Him all the attributes of Deity shine forth with vindicated and resplendent lustre, yet sweetly attempered to human vision. God, the great, the unsearchable One: is brought down to us in such an attitude that we cannot fail to comprehend. God, the infinite Spirit, is brought near to our hearts. Let us appeal to the true Christian, and I ask him whether it be not solely through Christ that he is enabled to joy in God as the Ruler of the universe, and to rejoice in the contemplation of His perfections? Whether a sense of God's favour in Christ be not more to him than the riches and honours and pleasures of the world. "The joy of the Lord is their strength." Or let us summon in testimony the newborn soul. "You were transfixed with the arrows of remorse and dread. You wandered about vainly seeking peace for your soul. God shined into your mind to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Himself in the face of Jesus Christ"; and then it was that the tear was wiped away and that your heart leaped for joy. Or, we might transport you to the bed of death. See there the dying Christian! Why does he not flinch from the king of terrors? Oh, it is the remembrance that God is in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; it is the deathless conviction of his soul that God, even his own God in Christ, will never leave, and never forsake him.(R. W. Dickenson, D. D.) "And not only so." It is the second time in which these words occur, and a similar expression is used (ver. 2). The apostle had been mentioning great privileges, and had gone to yet greater; from silver to gold, and from gold to the priceless crystal; and when he had reached conceivably the highest point, he adds, "And not only so." There is always in Christian privilege a yet beyond. The ancient mariners spoke of Ultima Thule, the end of the universe; but more venturous prows forced their way to a new world, so we concluded in the early days of Christian experience that we never could enjoy greater privileges, but we have pushed far beyond, and at the end of all there will be written, "And not only so." The text seems to me to describe the progress of a soul towards God.I. THE FIRST STEP is rather implied than expressed. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN WE HAD NOT RECEIVED THE RECONCILIATION AND WERE MADE SENSIBLE THAT WE NEEDED IT. 1. We were led to see that from necessity of His nature God must be angry with us. A being who has no anger against evil has no love towards goodness. This is a painful discovery, but a very simple one. One would think that every man ought to see this, but no man does see it till the Spirit of God convinces him of sin, and even then the natural heart endeavours to shut its eyes to it. 2. Another degree of this same step is a consciousness that we are at enmity with God. "Why," says one, "I pay respect to God, and go to a place of worship, and therefore I am not at enmity with Him." Yet listen; I am certain that if I could assure you that there was no God, and consequently no need of repentance, and no fear of punishment, and consequently no need of pardon, it would be a relief to many. 3. A further portion of this step is the perception that, in order to perfect reconciliation with God, there must be something done Godward, by which the insult and injury done to His law shall be recompensed; and, next, a thorough change in us before we can walk with God in perfect communion. In order to reconciliation it is not enough that one party should be forgiving, the other must yield too. 5. The last degree of this step is the desire to be reconciled to God. This is the dawn of grace, and a blessed dawn it is. II. THE NEXT STEP IS RECEIVING THE RECONCILIATION. Observe how we are reconciled. 1. It is not by working out a reconciliation; although this is the first instinct of a man who finds himself at enmity with God. The heart suggests a multitude of expedients — ceremonialism, amendment, future carefulness, etc., etc. But the text does not say that we have made any atonement. We do not make it, or buy it, or complete it, we receive it. It is a free gift. We receive it perfect. 2. The process of receiving reconciliation.(1) The man being already on the first step, knowing that he wants reconciliation, believes the truth about the gospel. Now, the gospel is that reconciliation, which is made for every soul that believes in Jesus. God is not reconciled to anybody who will not believe in Christ, but He is reconciled to every soul that does.(2) The next step is to become a believer, because reconciled.(3) Then peace flows into the soul as the result of the reconciliation.(4) Then the heart drops her former enmity to God. III. THE THIRD STEP IS JOY IN GOD. 1. No man ever rejoices in God except he who receives the atonement. Suppose a man should say, "I do not want an atonement; I am a goodman, and always have been; I have not broken the law." Well, he will rejoice in himself, but if we have nothing of our own, and have simply to receive salvation as a matter of the free grace, then we joy in God. 2. The moment a man is reconciled to God his view of God alters entirely. A neighbour has done you a displeasure, perhaps he is a very excellent man, but you read everything he does in the evil light of suspicion. If, however, by a discovery of his kindness you escape from prejudice, his whole conduct wears another aspect. So the soul when reconciled to God from that moment reads Him aright. 3. He delights in God.(1) In His very existence and person. That there is a God is to the Christian supreme bliss. The infidel may say there is no God, but if that were true I should have lost my father, my friend, my all. The Christian feels that his hope of prevailing over injustice and wrong lies in the fact that there is a reigning God who will set all things right at last. And since we believe there is to be a fuller revelation of Himself in heaven, is not that our main reason for longing to be there? As loyal subjects rejoice that they have a king, as affectionate children rejoice that they have a father, as a loving spouse rejoiceth that she hath a husband; so do we, but infinitely beyond all this, rejoice that we have a God.(2) In His character. All the attributes of God are themes of joy: His power; His mercy; His immutability; His faithfulness to His promises, etc., etc.(3) In His sovereignty. Before our reconciliation we cavil at the Divine will, and set up our own. But, the moment we are reconciled we consent that Jehovah should do as He wills. What better rule could be than the absolute empire of love? What can be better as a government for mankind than the absolute authority of one so good, so true, so holy, and so just?(4) Under all His dispensations. Of course we joy in God under comfortable dispensations. Query, whether we do not then very much divide our joy between the comforts and the God; but in dark times, when the comforts all go, we can joy in God if reconciled. 4. Joy in God is —(1) The happiest of all joys.(2) The most elevating. Those who joy in wealth grow avaricious; in their friends, too often lose nobility of spirit; but he who boasts in God grows like God.(3) Solid; there are good reasons for it.(4) Abiding. If I rejoice in the sun, it sets; if in the earth, it shall be burnt up; if in myself, I shall die; but to triumph in One who never fails or changes, this is lasting joy. Conclusion: The only sad reflection is, that there are so many who know nothing about joy in God. (C. H. Spurgeon.) There are various kinds of joy —1. Maternal: such as was expressed by Eve at the birth of Cain, or Hannah at the birth of Samuel. 2. The mariner's: when, after a long and dreary absence, he again beholds his native land. 3. The warrior's: such as David experienced when the women went out to greet their youthful champion with their songs. 4. That of the emancipated: such as that of the slaves on that memorable morning when their liberty was proclaimed. 5. The nation's: at the coronation of a king. These are instances of legitimate joy; but what are these when compared with the "joy of salvation"? I. IN THE NATURE OF SALVATION ARE CONTAINED ALL THE ELEMENTS OF THE HIGHEST JOY. Suppose yourself to be a prisoner driven away to an inhospitable clime — as the Poles were — there to toil in gloomy mines; and suppose yourself suddenly restored to liberty and home. Suppose you were sick, nigh unto death, and a skilful hand should restore you. Or suppose yourself condemned to die as a criminal, and the royal clemency should send you a full and free pardon, when you had mounted the scaffold and were expecting death. Salvation is all this, and more (Isaiah 61:3) II. MANY MISTAKES HAVE BEEN MADE ON THIS SUBJECT. The joy we contend for arises out of a sense of pardon, peace, reconciliation with God. (Psalm 32:2; Isaiah 52:7, 9; Romans 8:1, 3.) This reconciliation is complete (Romans 8:33, 39), honourable and abiding; we therefore assert every Christian has reason for being joyful. To prevent mistake — note — 1. That we do not assert this joy to be perfect. Some imagine there can be no joy if it be not of the highest kind, without alloy or interruption. Persons entertaining such extravagant notions are sure to be disappointed. We are imperfect creatures in an enemy's country, and surrounded by temptations. Is it always midday? Is there no dawn, and no evening? Is it always midsummer? Is there no spring, and no autumn? And why, then, expect joy in perfection, or not at all? 2. We must not, therefore, be surprised if the Christian is sometimes depressed. 3. There is often more joy experienced than we are inclined to believe, and than others give us credit for. Suppose you were to be deprived of your Christian privileges, then you would value your present enjoyments. We only know the real value of our mercies when we have lost them. III. LET US VIEW THIS AS A MATTER OF FACT. 1. Christians might, and ought to be happy, for there is every provision and reason for it (James 1:5; Luke 11:13). Perhaps some Christian will reply, "I am not as happy as I expected, or as I was wont to be." Very possibly. But perhaps — 1. You have grieved, quenched, and so expelled the Holy Spirit. Business may have been encroaching more than is legitimate.(2) You have given way to a petulant and angry spirit.(3) You have been regarding religion as a privilege, and not as a duty. Idle Christians never can, and never ought to be happy. If, then, the Christian is not joyful in God, it is his own fault. There is guilt as well as folly in such a state of mind. 2. Now let us look at those who have illustrated the joy of salvation. See it exemplified —(1) In the conduct of Christians during the time of trial (Habakkuk 3:17; Acts 20:24; 2 Corinthians 7:4). Think of the apostles and martyrs.(2) In the peace which pervades the various holy communities of Christians (Isaiah 26:1, 4).(3) In the peace which has always been the result of real religious revivals.(4) But the fullest examples of it yet remain to be seen. This is clear from the prophecies. The golden age of the Church and the world is yet future. IV. Let us now inquire WHETHER SALVATION WILL WARRANT SUCH FEELINGS OF DELIGHT. 1. What is the object in which the Christian rejoices? Certainly not himself, his attainments, or his merits (Galatians 6:12). But — (1) (2) (3) (4) 2. Do not these objects then justify us in cultivating the highest joy? At present, however, the Christian's joy is only in the bud, "it doth not yet appear what it shall be." 3. If you submit to this salvation, you will fill all heaven with joy; for "there is joy in heaven among the angels of God," etc. 4. Compare the Christian's with the worldling's joy (Proverbs 14:13; Ecclesiastes 2:2; Ecclesiastes 7:3, 6). (C. Dukes, M. A.) 2. This desire is lawful and beneficial; it corresponds with the design of man's creation, and is in harmony with the will of his Creator. The glory of God is connected with the happiness of His creatures. To promote these, the commands and promises were given, and the plan of redemption executed. 3. Why, then, is there so much misery in the world? The cause is the influence of sin in the heart and on the conduct. Sin is the greatest enemy to the welfare of man. Consider: — I. THE SOURCE FROM WHICH THE JOY OF THE CHRISTIAN IS DERIVED. It does not proceed from himself, or the objects around him — it is not the false joy produced by self-complacency, or by the possessions and amusements of the world. The believer rejoices in God — in Him who is perfectly blessed in Himself, and who is the only source of real happiness to His creatures. The Christian's joy arises from — 1. Reconciliation with God (Isaiah 61:10). He views God, not as an enemy, but as a friend. 2. Communion with God. Reconciliation will promote confidence, and this will lead to intercourse. The Christian "dwells in the secret place of the Most High," holds delightful fellowship with the Father of spirits, and gets nearer heaven in devout meditation, ardent desire, and warm affections. 3. A participation in the blessedness of God. The Lord is his portion: all the perfections of Jehovah are engaged for his welfare, and all the promises of His Word are designed for his comfort and encouragement. He enjoys God in everything; in the bounties of Providence, as well as in the ordinances of religion. He has many blessings now in possession — peace of mind, etc., but he has the fulness of joy reserved for him, of which he has now the foretaste. II. THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH THIS JOY IS COMMUNICATED. Christ is the medium of — 1. Reconciliation with God. This arises from that satisfaction which He made to Divine Justice by His voluntary death on the Cross. Those "who were enemies, are reconciled to God by the death of His Son." 2. Communion with God. "No man cometh to the Father but by Him." 3. All spiritual blessings. In Him there is treasured up a fulness of grace, to pardon, to sanctify, to comfort, to direct, to support under all the trials and duties of life, and to prepare for eternal glory; and of His fulness all true believers have "received grace for grace." III. THE PROPERTIES BY WHICH THE CHRISTIAN'S JOY IS DISTINGUISHED. "The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment"; "the pleasures of sin are but for a season"; "the triumphing of the wicked is short." This joy is distinguished from these, as it is — 1. Spiritual in its nature. It is not that which depends on external circumstances. It is deeply rooted in the heart, the proper seat of happiness. It is there that the desire of happiness dwells; and till the heart is filled the desire will not be gratified. 2. Holy in its influence. Carnal mirth has a tendency to dissipate the mind and to corrupt the heart; for its source is polluted. But Christian joy purifies the mind, by bringing it into close contact with all that is worthy of its noblest powers. 3. Permanent. The fountain from which it flows is inexhaustible; and as the Christian pilgrim advances in his journey heavenward he arrives nearer its source.Conclusion: 1. Learn the value of true religion. It is friendly to the best interests of man. 2. Let those who are destitute of this joy seek it by immediate application to the Saviour of sinners. 3. Let the Christian seek an increase of spiritual joy. II. WHAT IS ITS NATURE — we joy in God as. 1. The God of all grace. 2. Our covenant God and Father. 3. Our everlasting portion. III. HOW IT IS DERIVED — through Christ, etc. (J. Lyth, D. D.) 1. Supposes that there must have been some disagreement; not so now. Mark the aggravating circumstances with which man's rebellion is characterised. It is —(1) Most unnatural rebellion; it is the rebellion of children against the parent of their existence.(2) Most ungrateful; it is the rebellion of children that have been nourished and have been brought up.(3) Most hopeless. Rebel man could not reconcile himself; he could furnish no consideration sufficiently valuable; his fellow man could not help him; an angel's arm could not rescue him from impending ruin. 2. Divine in its appointment.(1) To the Divine Father it belonged to say what should be done on this awful emergency. It was His sovereign will and pleasure that Jehovah Jesus should assume our nature, and that in our nature He should live, and die, and that His death should be a proper atonement for the sins of our guilty race. "It became Him, for whom are all things," etc. Did it so? Why, there are many so-called Christians who will not hesitate to affirm that it became the Divine Being to do no such thing. But "let God be true, though every man be a liar." Jehovah alone was competent to say what it became Him to do. And He who alone was competent to say what ought to be done, and what became Him to do, had alone the right. What! had man at the bar the right? Would this be allowed in any well-regulated government? 3. Complete in its nature.(1) Those typical atonements, which shadowed forth this great sacrifice, were imperfect —(a) In their nature, because in the mere blood of an animal there was no real intrinsic worth.(b) In their very design. They were only intended to be shadows of better things to come.(c) In the fact of their repetition; because if one had been complete why then repeat the sacrifice?(2) But we are told that Christ was offered "once for all," and once offered, it was complete; eternal redemption was procured. The sufferings of our Saviour were intense; but yet without the dignity of Christ as a Divine person, they could have been of no avail. That is the point that stamped His sufferings with infinite value. Hereby justice receives its demands; the holiness of God is preserved untarnished; the wisdom of God is testified in devising such an expedient; the inviolable truth of God is preserved; the Divine penalty of the law is inflicted; sin becomes remissible; the greatest hatred to sin is expressed, while the greatest compassion to the sinner is manifested. 4. Unchanging in its efficacy. There are some remedies that are efficacious for a time only; but this sovereign remedy has not lost its power through the revolution of years. II. WHAT IS IT TO RECEIVE THE ATONEMENT? 1. It must be received by an act of the mind, on conviction that it is the truth. 2. But it may be admitted by the understanding, where it is not cordially and experimentally received. And no man will ever experimentally receive the atonement till he has received another great truth antecedent to this — the universal depravity and guilt of man. These two things are connected together. If I am not a sinner, or if sin be a very trivial thing, where is the necessity of atonement? But if I am a sinner, and if the demerit of sin be beyond all that I can conceive, why, then, there must be an atonement, or I am undone. 3. It must be practically received. That man does not truly and really glory in the Cross of Christ who is not, by the Cross of Christ, crucified to the world, and the world crucified unto Him. III. WHERE THE ATONEMENT IS THUS RECEIVED, GREAT WILL BE THE JOY. 1. We have joy. Before you received the atonement you had sorrow. At last you were directed to the atonement, and you ventured on it; you received the reconciliation, sorrow fled away, and joy sprung up in your heart. 2. We "joy in God." We do not merely joy in justification, nor in this reconciliation, nor in introduction to the throne, nor in the prospect of glory that awaits us yonder, nor tribulation, and (vers. 1-4) although there may be grounds of joy. No; if any man joy or glory let him "glory in the Lord."(1) "We joy in God Himself." He that has received the atonement "dwells in God, and God in him." And where he dwells he joys. "He joys in God," in all He has — in His wisdom to guide and direct, in His power to guide and defend, in His grace to renew and save.(2) But how can we thus joy in God? "Through our Lord Jesus Christ." Fallen man, even from the first moment of his apostacy to this hour, has never approached his Creator with success, but through the intervention of blood. "I am the way," etc. 3. How rational is this joy. Not like the joy of the wicked, for which no reason can be given. 4. How pure. Those who dwell here dwell in a sacred and holy atmosphere; there is nothing to defile. Not like the polluting joys of sin. 5. How lasting. Not like the short-lived joys of the wicked, which are "like the crackling of thorns under a pot."Conclusion: Learn — 1. How vital to evangelical, saving religion, is this great doctrine of the atonement. 2. That this life-giving religion is a joy-producing religion. Religion is the life of all our delights, and the soul of all our joys. 3. That this life-giving, joy-producing religion may be ours even now. "We have now received the atonement." 4. That we who have realised this religion will not wish to monopolise it ourselves. Monopoly in religion is the worst monopoly of all. (R. Newton, D. D.) I. A CONSCIOUS POSSESSION OF THE SOUL. "We have now received." He does not speak of it as a fact accomplished years ago, nor as a speculative doctrine, but as something of which he and his readers were at that moment conscious. It is one thing for man to have an atonement in his theology, discuss it with ability and defend it with enthusiasm, and another thing for him to have it as a blessed experience. As a mere doctrine — 1. It often makes a man an arrogant bigot; but as a feeling always an humble saint. 2. It may light men to hell, and may there aggravate their misery. As a feeling it will conduct them to heaven, and encircle them with the light of immortality. II. A conscious possession of the soul IMPARTED BY CHRIST. "By whom." Christ is the Great, the only, Reconciler of the soul to God. "God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." How? In the only way in which reconciliation could be affected. By affording the strongest possible demonstration of Divine love. "God so loved the world," etc. Legislation, philosophy, ethics, religion, civilisation, poetry — none, nor all of these, can bring this at-one-ment into the soul. This is the exclusive work of Christ. III. A conscious possession of the soul, INSPIRING IT WITH JOY IN THE ETERNAL. "We joy in God." The joy springs from the assurance that the Almighty is once more our friend. This joy may include — 1. Thanksgiving, which inspires the songs of immortality; the reconciled soul traces its atonement to the free, tender, boundless love of God through Jesus Christ. 2. Security. If God is our friend, His love is unchangeable, His power almighty, His resources illimitable. And what a sense of security must His friendship inspire! 3. Adoration. Had we a friend that bestowed upon us the highest favours, inspiring our gratitude, and whose promises and capacities assured us of our security, if he were imperfect in moral character, we could not heartily rejoice in his friendship. Moral admiration is the highest element of joy: and this requires moral excellence in the object. God has this in an infinite degree. Thus, if He is our friend, we may well rejoice in Him, with the most ecstatic rapture and triumphant delight.Conclusion: Learn — 1. The paramount necessity of human nature — atonement with God. 2. To appreciate the intervention of Christ, by whom alone it can be affected. No system of belief, no code of morality can accomplish it. To the gospel men must look. 3. The test of genuine religion — joy "in God." The world has joy in creatures and in worthless things — the joy of the truly good is joy in God Himself. (D. Thomas, D. D.) (Wilson's Dissertation on the Reasonableness of Christianity.) 2224 Christ, the Lord 2421 gospel, historical foundation 6028 sin, deliverance from Death by Adam, Life by Christ Let us have Peace Access into Grace The Warring Queens A Threefold Cord What Proves God's Love The Sources of Hope God's Love Magnified in Christ's Death. Law and Grace Love's Commendation For whom did Christ Die? Sin and Grace Justification by Faith The Old, Old Story Good Friday. "Now the End of the Commandment," &C. Wesley -- God's Love to Fallen Man Evans -- the Fall and Recovery of Man Whyte -- Experience "And the Life. " How Christ is the Life. Prayer and Trouble (Continued) Our Guilt. The Work of Grace a Unit. |
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