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Title: Sermons for the Day

Author: Edward Hoare

Release date: April 17, 2018 [eBook #56993]

Language: English

Credits: Transcribed from the 1866 Hatchard and Co. edition by David Price

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS FOR THE DAY ***

Transcribed from the 1866 Hatchard and Co. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

SERMONS FOR THE DAY.

BY
REV. EDWARD HOARE,
INCUMBENT OF TRINITY CHURCH, TUNBRIDGE WELLS.

LONDON:
HATCHARD AND CO. 187 PICCADILLY,
Booksellers to H. R. H. the Princess of Wales
and the Royal Family.

1866.

LONDON:
Strangeways and Walden, Printers,
28 Castle St. Leicester Sq.

TRANSUBSTANTIATION.

Heb. x. 12.

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

We live in very anxious times.  Different phases of error are following each other with great rapidity, like waves before the gale on a stormy sea.  A very short time ago we were deeply distressed by the sceptical tendencies of certain able writers,—tendencies still in rapid progress, though public attention has been recently directed into another channel.  Now we are startled by the open declaration of Romish doctrine, and open practice of Romish ceremonial, by men who have accepted office in a church which declares these very doctrines to be “blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits.”  It has become, therefore, absolutely necessary that we should understand the reasons why the Church of England has separated from that of Rome, and why it is that we raise our voice against these innovations.  I am well aware that such a subject is distasteful to many minds.  Some shrink from the trouble of controversy, and would rather have their whole attention fixed on that which they find helpful to their own souls.  Others think it uncharitable; and maintain that, provided a person be conscientious in his practice, we need feel no anxiety about the truth or error of his creed.  But I am persuaded that it will not do so to deal with truth.  These are days in which we must know what we believe, and why we believe it.  If we desire to stand fast, we must know our standing-ground.  And if we desire to see our young people growing up as witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, we must not merely strive to call forth in them a religion of feeling, but must train them in sound Scriptural principles, that they may be able to give an answer to every one who asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.  The Romish question is forced upon us by the enormous efforts which the Church of Rome is making for the recovery of its ancient supremacy in England; and I must say, and say it with the deepest grief and humiliation, I fear we have been betrayed, in many cases, by men who, as clergymen of the Church of England, have pledged themselves to the very principles they are betraying.  It is high time, therefore, that we should understand the ground of our solemn protest against Rome, and that we should not merely study truth in its simplicity, but study it likewise in its opposition to Romish error.  I purpose, however, God helping me, to direct your thoughts this morning to one point of the controversy.  I cannot attempt the many points on which we are at issue.  I confine myself, therefore, to one; and that is, the teaching of the word of God with reference to our exalted Saviour, in opposition to the teaching of Rome in the doctrine of transubstantiation.  May the Lord direct our studies, and write His own truth most deeply on our hearts!

A glance at the text will show us that it refers to two subjects; the completeness of the sacrifice offered on the cross, as in the words, “after He had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever,” and the present session at the right hand of God; as in the words, “sat down at the right hand of God.”  It is the second of these that we shall study this morning.

The words teach us that at the present time our Blessed Lord and Saviour is at the right hand of God, and they suggest two subjects, His place, and His employment.

His place, then, is heaven itself; and His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Father.  In His real human body He has ever been like ourselves, in one place at one time.  When He was here he passed from place to place; from Galilee to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Galilee.  So when Lazarus died He was absent from Bethany, and after his death He went there.  Just so in His ascension He passed into the heavens, and, being there, He is as much absent from us in the body as He was absent from Martha and Mary in their deep anxiety about their brother.  When present here, in His human person, He was absent there.  Being present there, He is now absent here. [6]

Then, again, with the place there has been a complete change in His employment.  He was here to found His kingdom and to make atonement.  He is there to carry out the results of that atonement and to reign.  His office was represented by the high priest of old, who first in the outer court offered the sacrifice, and afterwards went in before the mercy-seat to sprinkle the blood.  So Christ Jesus here on earth offered Himself as the sacrifice, and now He is gone into the holy of holies there to present the blood before the mercy-seat of God.  Thus He is described by St. Peter (Acts, v. 31) as being exalted to be a “Prince and a Saviour;” a Prince, because He is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords; a Saviour, because as a living friend, He is saving those whom, when on earth, He redeemed by His blood.  Every passage, therefore, which describes Him in His present condition, represents Him as in the possession of living power.  Sometimes He is said to be reigning, as (1 Cor. xv. 25), “He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”  Sometimes we see Him as the Priest (Heb. iv. 14), “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.”  Sometimes He is the Advocate (1 John, ii. 1, 2), “If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” and sometimes He is the loving Friend, watching the struggles of His faithful disciples, and waiting to welcome His dying servant in the solemn moments of his rough and stormy martyrdom.  “Behold,” said Stephen, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God;” and so, having seen it, he followed up the vision by the dying prayer, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts, vii. 56.)

Here, then, is our delightful assurance.  We look back to the work of the cross, and there see the whole burden of all our sin borne by Him, and so put away for ever.  We ask no further sacrifice, for we know that He made there upon the cross “a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world;” and we now look to our Blessed Saviour as reigning and saving.  Because He reigns we know that all is rightly ordered, and because He saves we believe that we ourselves shall be safe for eternity.  We see many things in the world that are altogether opposed to what we think best; but we know that God has put all things under His feet, and given Him to be the Head over all things to His Church; and, therefore, that all is in His hand, and all will work together for good.  We find deep sin in ourselves, and we know how hard a thing it is really to walk with God.  We find defect in our prayers, defect in our faith, defect in our service, defect in our best efforts, defect everywhere; but we look up to yonder throne, and there we find a loving Saviour; one who knows our deep need,—one who has died for us,—one who loves us,—one who can feel with us, and who vouchsafes to act as our Priest and Advocate, so that in the midst of all our shortcomings and deficiencies we may, in His Name, and through His most precious blood, “come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Let any one search the Scriptures, and they must be convinced that this is the truth there plainly taught.  But what can be more palpably contradictory to it than to suppose that He is present, in body, soul, and divinity, in the form of the small piece of lifeless bread which we receive in the Lord’s Supper?  In other words, that there is not only the one Saviour in heaven at the right hand of God; but that there are two or three hundred living Saviours collected together on the table every time that the Lord’s Supper is administered.  I am not surprised if some of you feel shocked at such a statement, and I know that there is enough to shock any religious mind.  I am shocked at it myself, and am sorry to have to make it.  But this is the real teaching of the Church of Rome.  The decree of the Council of Trent is as follows:—“If any man shall say that the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, together with his soul and divinity, and, in short, that a whole Christ, is not contained, truly, really, and substantially, in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; but shall say that he is in it only in sign, or figure, or power, let him be anathema.” (Sess. xiii. Can. 1.)  Another decree goes on to declare, “If any man shall say that in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ the only begotten Son of God, is not to be adored, and that outwardly with the worship of latreia, and that he ought not to be carried solemnly about in processions, or that he ought not to be set before the people that he may be worshipped, and that the worshippers of him are idolaters, let him be anathema!” (Sess. xiii. Can. 6.) [10]

The wafer, therefore, or the piece of bread, is here said to be after consecration nothing less than a real, living Saviour, with body, soul, and divinity, to be worshipped with that holy, reverential worship which belongs exclusively to the God of heaven and earth, for that is the meaning of the word Latreia.  There is something very awful in such a statement.  It shows that there can be no peace with Rome—no compromise, no middle path.  If they are right, we are awfully wrong.  If we are right, they are guilty of idolatry.  If all these pieces of bread are living Saviours, we have been terribly guilty in never worshipping any one of them; but if, on the other hand, they have remained bread still—plain, simple, unchanged bread—then we have idolatry of the most unquestionable character when that bread is exalted by the priest for adoration, and men fall down and worship it as the living God.

Now, on what does all this tremendous fabric rest?  What is there in the word of God to warrant it?  What is there in the Scriptures of truth to give a sanction to such a system?  So far as the word of God is concerned all hangs on the one text, “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.”  To these words Romanists appeal again and again, as if they taught the doctrine, whereas the most cursory study of the different passages in which they are contained is sufficient to show that they mean nothing of the kind.

Let me briefly give you four reasons.

1.  The words themselves prove that they are figurative.  Turn to 1 Cor. xi. 25, where we read: “This cup is the new testament in my blood.”  Is there any one blind enough to suppose that the cup was changed into the new testament?  The words must mean that the cup was an emblem of the covenant.  When our Lord said, “I am the vine,” “I am the door,” “I am the bread of life,” He did not mean that He was changed into a vine, into a door, or into bread, but that all these things were emblems of His work.  So He says of the cup, that it is an emblem of the covenant; and if we would be consistent interpreters, we must believe also of the bread that it was declared to be an emblem of the body.

2.  The bread is called bread, and the wine wine, after consecration, both by our Lord Himself and His Apostles.

In Matt. xxvi. 29, our Lord calls the wine the fruit of the vine after consecration.

In 1 Cor. x. 17; xi. 26, 27, 28, we are all said to partake of bread: “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

3.  Even if these words were taken literally, they would not teach the doctrine of Rome.

I have quoted the passage from Rome in which it says there is “body, soul, and divinity.”  But what does any one of those passages say about soul and divinity?  If He had meant to teach us that the bread was changed into His broken body, what one word is there about the soul, or the Godhead?  All that is added by Rome, and the whole fabric of superstition based upon it is without a shadow of foundation in the word of God.  It is a vast superstructure, but, as far as the teaching of Holy Scripture is concerned, utterly baseless.

4.  Nay more, it is contrary to the words of our Lord.  The words, as given by St. Matthew (xxvi. 26–28) were: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  Of the bread, therefore, He said, “This is my body;” and of the wine, “This is my blood.”  The bread did not represent the body and blood together, but the body only, and the wine the blood; or, if the doctrine of transubstantiation were taught, the passage would teach that the bread was changed into the body, and the wine into the blood.  But the teaching of Rome defies all such distinctions, though thus plainly laid down by no less an authority than our Lord Himself, and fearlessly hurls her anathemas against all who do not believe that the bread, and the bread alone, is changed into body, blood, soul, and divinity, and becomes, to use their own expression, “a whole Christ,” to be exalted, carried in processions, and adored as a living God.  The words themselves, taken literally, are dead against such a doctrine.  I am not surprised, therefore, when I read our 28th Article, which says: “Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture.”  But I am surprised that Christian people in the Church of England should sit so light as some seem to do to a heresy of so fearful a character, and that men should be so indifferent to truth as even to speak of the possibility of peace with Rome.

But now, believing that there is no change whatever in the bread and wine—that the bread remains bread, and the wine wine, what shall we say of the practice of adoring the bread as God Himself?  What can we say of it?  What is our duty to say of it?  I doubt not that some may think me very uncharitable and bigoted, but these are days in which the truth must be spoken, and that truth I firmly believe to be that such worship is idolatry.  I do not doubt that many are sincere and conscientious in adopting it.  But that does not touch the question.  Sincerity does not prove truth.  Are there none sincere when they sacrifice their lives under the car of Juggernaut?  Was not Saul of Tarsus sincere when he persecuted the Lord Jesus in the persons of His people?  I fully admit likewise that the worship may in some be based on a deep sense of love and reverence for our blessed Lord.  But, again, that does not touch the question.  If it is bread, it is idolatry to worship it as God.  If it be still a lifeless wafer, it is idolatry to adore it as a living Saviour.  God forbid that I should speak harshly of many who have set us an example of self-denial; and it is in no harsh spirit that I speak as I do.  We should rather feel the most tender compassion for conscientious persons, who have been thus misled.  But whatever we may think of motives, it is impossible to alter the facts, and I see not how we can avoid the conclusion that such worship is an awful sin in the sight of God.  It is almost impossible to turn aside the stern reproof of God by the ministry of His prophets, Isa. xliv. 16, 17: “He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.”

The sense of reverence may take a wrong as well as a right direction.  It led John himself to worship an angel, and to bring on himself the severe reproof which he has so faithfully recorded, and it may lead misguided men to give that which is not God the worship due to God alone.  But while we think this, let none fall short in the deepest reverence.  None can adore Him enough; none can be holy enough in His presence and at His feet.  But it is the living Saviour at the right hand of God whom we will adore.  It is the Prince on the throne, the Priest at the right hand of the Father.  It is the living, reigning, triumphant Saviour, “far above all principalities and powers, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come;” and not a small piece of lifeless bread, which is said to have been turned into God by the miraculous powers of a priest.

THE MASS.

Heb. x. 12.

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

When I drew your attention to this text on Sunday last, I pointed out the two great subjects contained in it, viz. the work of atonement completed by our blessed Lord on earth, and His present session at the right hand of God.  The latter of these we studied on Sunday last, but the former is of such vast importance to every one of us that it would be wrong to leave the passage without devoting this morning to the careful examination of it.

The text stands very near the conclusion of a most important argument, in which the Apostle has been drawing the contrast between the Jewish sacrifices under the ceremonial law and the one perfect sacrifice wrought out for us by the Son of God on the cross.  The contrast commences with the 25th verse of the 9th chapter, and extends to the 14th verse of the 10th; after which we are led to the practical application of the whole epistle.  Let us, then, first, carefully study the point of contrast, and then the reason of it.

I.  The contrast.

The one point brought out in these eighteen verses is, that in the case of the Jewish sacrifices there was unceasing repetition; and in the case of our blessed Lord, His one offering was once and for ever.

It is scarcely needful to point out the unceasing repetition of the Jewish sacrifices.  Not only were they offered on the occasion of every special fault, but every period of time was marked by them.  The day, the week, the month, the year—each had its appointed sacrifice.  Not a day, nor even a night, passed without sin, and therefore there was a sacrifice each morning for the sins of the night, and another each evening for those of the day. (Exod. xxix. 38–40.)  Not a week passed without adding its quota to the accumulating guilt of the sinner, and, therefore, notwithstanding the daily sacrifices, there was another burnt-offering in the morning of every sabbath.  (Num. xxviii. 9, 10.)  But, notwithstanding all this, sin, and the guilt of it, still gathered around the people, so that at the beginning of each month there was, in addition, a monthly burnt-offering unto the Lord: “the burnt-offering of every month through the months of the year.”  (Ibid. 11, 14.)  But sin gathered still.  Lamb after lamb was brought to the altar, but it seemed as though nothing could satisfy: for every year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, there was the great day of atonement for sin; and of the solemn sacrifices of that great day it was said, “This shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a-year.”  (Lev. xvi. 34.)  Thus, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, there was an unceasing system of perpetual sacrifice.  There was no end to the unceasing shedding of blood.  Sometimes the victim was a bullock, sometimes a ram, sometimes a goat, sometimes a lamb, and sometimes a pair of turtle-doves.  But there was always a sacrifice.  There were two every day, and sometimes many more, besides those which were offered for special sins.

With all this the Apostle contrasts the one perfect sacrifice of our blessed Lord, made on the cross once and for ever.  There are no less than six places in which he brings out this one point, and brings it out with such clearness that it really seems as if the whole passage was written as a prophetic safeguard against the doctrine of the mass.  In Heb. ix. 25, 26, he says: “Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  So in vv. 27, 28, he draws a comparison between the death of the Lord Jesus and the natural death of man, and says: “As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”  So that it would be just as absurd to expect men to die twice, as to believe that there can be any second offering of the Lord Jesus Christ for sin.  The one death throughout mankind is the type or pattern of the one Sacrifice once made for sin.  So, again, in x. 10, we read,—“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”  And again, in vv, 11, 12, St. Paul returns to the contrast between our Lord and the Jewish priest, and says, “Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”  And once more, in ver. 14, he sums up all by saying, “By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”  It would be a matter of deep interest to study carefully the meaning of the word “perfected” in this most important text.  It does not mean perfect in personal holiness, i.e. in the inward work of the Spirit on the soul; but perfect in justification: perfect, because the curse was perfectly blotted out, the law being perfectly satisfied, and the sinner, after propitiation, perfectly free.  But we must not stop to dwell on that now, our one point at present is that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was once, and for ever; and this is most remarkably brought out in the words,—“By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

The point of contrast, therefore, is this, that in the ceremonial law there was a multitude of sacrifices day by day, and year by year, repeated; whereas in the new covenant there was but one, and that one effectual for ever.  In the one there was multiplicity, in the other oneness; in the one unceasing repetition, in the other one final act, which set the whole at rest for ever.  The contrast stands out so plainly that he may run that readeth it.  Nay, more, it is written with that perfect clearness, and often-repeated statement, that I confess myself perfectly unable to comprehend how any person, reading these two chapters, with a real desire to discover the mind of the Spirit, can arrive at the conclusion that there can be any repetition of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ under any form whatever, or any supplementary work of any kind whatever to complete or fill up His one perfect sacrifice for sin.

II.  Such, then, is the contrast; and now let us turn, in the second place, to the reason of it.  Why were those ancient sacrifices so often repeated? and why was ours once and for ever?  The same passage that brings out the contrast explains the reason of it; and the reason is that, in themselves, they have no saving power, and that ours has.  They were ineffectual for the blotting out of sin, but the one offering of our Blessed Lord was perfectly effectual in the very point where they failed.  There was as great a contrast in respect of efficiency as there was in respect of frequency; and, in fact, the repetition was the result of weakness, as the oneness was the result of complete sufficiency.  This insufficiency is placed in two points of view in the chapter, for we are there taught, first, that these sacrifices could not take away sin, and, secondly, that they could not satisfy the conscience.

In x. 3, 4, we are distinctly taught that the one reason why these sacrifices were repeated was, that it was impossible for them to be effectual in removing guilt.  “In those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”  The dark stain of sin is far too dreadful a thing to be blotted out by the blood of any animal.  Those sacrifices did very well as remembrancers.  They were daily reminders, and daily acknowledgments of guilt; but as for putting it away, they had no virtue in them, and they were powerless.  They were most important likewise as types; as helping believers, with the eye of faith, to look on and trust to the one sufficient sacrifice of the Lord; and so believers, looking to Christ as represented in the slain lamb, could, through faith in Him, find pardon and peace to their souls.  But in themselves they were utterly powerless, for nothing short of the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God could ever really take away sin.

They could never, therefore, satisfy the conscience; as you read, Heb; x. 1, 2:—“For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged shall have had no more conscience of sins.”

A man might bring any number of lambs, goats, and bullocks, and lay them all on the altar; but, unless by the eye of faith he looked to Christ, he would, after all, carry guilt with him in his conscience; and the still small voice within would bring him in guilty before God.  The sense of guilt demanded repetition; but unless the heart looked forward, through that sacrifice, to the coming Christ, no offering, however often repeated, was sufficient: the conscience remained uneasy still, and the sense of guilt clung to the soul.

How gloriously different is the one sacrifice of the Son of God!  It, and it alone, was sufficient for all the sins of the whole world.  The substitution of the Son of God for the sinner satisfied the whole law, and cleared away the whole curse.  It not only in God’s counsels removed the guilt, but it reaches the very depths of the human heart, and gives peace to the conscience wounded for sin.  Observe the words in ix. 13, 14, as contrasted with those in x. 2.  In x. 2 we are taught, that if those sacrifices could have purged the conscience, they would have ceased.  But in ix. 14 we read, that through the sacrifice of our blessed Lord, this very thing is done; for the Apostle says:—“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  The one sacrifice was effective to purge the conscience; while all the whole multitude of often-repeated offerings left the conscience just where it was; without rest, without peace, without any real satisfaction, under the painful pressure of a deeply-felt sin.  Let us never forget this great result; for it shows that we have that which the Jew, in his sacrifices taken alone, could never have—a conscience at rest, a conscience set free, because all sin is blotted out for ever; a conscience released from its burden, because the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was a divinely-appointed substitute for guilt.

Such, then, is the contrast, and such the reason for it.  What, then, are we to think of the teaching of the Church of Rome when it says,—“In this divine sacrifice which is performed in the Mass, that same Christ is contained, and sacrificed without blood, who once, with blood, offered Himself upon the altar of the Cross?” [27]  And again:—“If any man shall say that the sacrifice is not propitiatory, and profits the receiver only, and ought not to be offered for the living and the dead, for sins, punishments, satisfaction, and other necessities, let him be anathema?”  Now, what do these passages teach?

1.  That the sacramental bread is changed into the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Saviour, God and man.

2.  That whenever the Mass is administered, He, the living Saviour, is again sacrificed and put to death.

3.  That this sacrifice is a sacrifice of propitiation for sin.  There is a sacrifice of self-dedication, which every loving heart is required to offer: as in the words after the Lord’s Supper,—“Here we offer and present unto Thee ourselves, out souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto Thee.”  But in that case the offering is ourselves, and the motive is not propitiation, but dedication.  According to the teaching of Rome the offering is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the object is to make a propitiation for sin.

Now, this is the doctrine that persons are striving to reintroduce into our land and church.  The real object of this modern movement is to re-establish the belief in transubstantiation and propitiatory sacrifice.  Those vestments of which we have heard so much are not introduced simply from a love of ornament and decoration, but they are folds in which to wrap the doctrine of the Mass; and that doctrine, as I have just stated it, is, that the bread is first changed into a living Saviour, and then the living Saviour offered afresh as a propitiation for sin. [29]

Now, such a doctrine seems to me so utterly contrary to all that we are taught in the Scriptures respecting the perfection and consequent oneness of the one offering of our Blessed Lord upon the Cross, that I am utterly unable to comprehend how any person who takes the Scriptures as their authority can, by any process of mind, be brought to believe it.  As I have already said, these chapters seem to have been written with a prophetic reference to it; and I do not hesitate to express my firm and fixed conviction, that if we mean to abide by God’s word as our guide, we must protest against the whole movement.  Nor must we allow ourselves to be led away by the religious feelings of pious and earnest men; or permit the holy reverence with which, as believing communicants, we regard the holy communion of the body and blood of Christ, to induce us to think lightly of a deadly error, even though men make use of it in order, apparently, to exalt the peculiar sanctity of the sacrament.  We must stand firm to the great principle of Scripture; the principle for which our martyred Reformers did not hesitate to shed their life-blood, that the bread is bread, and the wine wine, after consecration, just as they were before it; that neither the one nor the other is changed into the Lord Jesus Christ; that the Lord Jesus Christ is not sacrificed in the sacrament; and that there never can be, so long as the world lasts, any further sacrifice for sin.  When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, to use the language of our Church, He “made there (by His one oblation of Himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world:” and, unless we are prepared to deny the sufficiency of the one complete atonement, we must set our face with a holy determination against all ideas of repetition, or perpetuation, of any propitiatory sacrifice for sin.

But we must not leave the matter there, for it is not enough for us to be deeply convinced that the doctrine of the Mass is opposed to the whole truth of God, for such a conviction, though it may keep us clear of Rome, will not, if it be all, bring us to God.  What we want is not merely a conviction of the truth, but a personal appropriation of it in our own hearts.  It is a blessed thing to know that a perfect sacrifice has been offered, and that no further sacrifice is either necessary or possible; but that knowledge, blessed as it is, may leave the heart dissatisfied, and the conscience ill at ease.  When that is the case, we cannot be surprised at persons restlessly feeling after anything that promises peace; and I believe there is no state of mind in which persons are so liable to be led away by Rome, as when the conscience is awakened, but the heart not at rest in Christ the Saviour.  It is when we can look to that cross of Christ, assured that the atonement there made was sufficient even for us, and when we can rest in the conviction that, because the atonement was sufficient, we, even we, are free; and when we learn to rest, not on feelings, not on sacraments, not on our doings of any kind whatever, but simply on the great, grand, glorious fact, that a full propitiation has been made even for the chief of sinners, so that we, though the chief of sinners, are no longer under the guilt of sin; then it is that we discover the strength of the rock under our feet, and, resting on it, we need no other stay.  It is enough, for Christ hath died, and through Him God is reconciled.  Blessed! oh, blessed that Christian believer, who can thus rest in a perfect Saviour; and be kept in perfect peace through the Saviour’s perfect work!

SELF-SACRIFICE.

Rom. xii. 1.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

We studied last Sunday the one perfect and final sacrifice made for the sins of the whole world, when our Lord Jesus Christ completed our propitiation on the cross.  We found that that sacrifice differed from those of the ceremonial law, in the great fact that it was once and for ever; that it was so perfect, so complete, so fully sufficient to satisfy the whole claim of the law, that when it was once offered there was no place left for repetition, perpetuation, or addition.  The veil of the temple was then rent from the top to the bottom, and there was no space left for any further rending.  The Lord himself said, “It is finished;” so the whole was done, and done for ever.

But still we read in Scripture of another sacrifice—a sacrifice which Christian people are called to offer.  Thus in this text St. Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  To this appeal the words in our Communion Service are the Christian’s reply:—“And here we offer and present unto thee ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee.”  It clearly remains, therefore, for us to examine the character of this second sacrifice, and also its relationship to the great and perfect sacrifice completed on the cross for sin.  This, then, if God permit, shall be our subject this morning.  May the Lord dispose our hearts to bring to Him this holy sacrifice, that we, if we live, may live not unto ourselves, but unto Him “that died for us, and rose again!”

I.  What, then, is the nature of the sacrifice? or, What is it we are to offer?  It is not a lamb, or a goat, or a bullock, but, according to the language of our Communion Service, the offering which we are to render is ourselves.  “Here we offer and present unto thee ourselves, our souls and bodies.”  Just so we read of the churches of Macedonia, “that they first gave their own selves unto the Lord.”  A moment’s thought will suffice to show that such a sacrifice as this is much more costly than any other.  It would be a light matter to sacrifice a bullock, but it is a very costly one to sacrifice Self—an easy thing for the wealthy prince to bring a thousand lambs to the altar, but a hard thing for either rich or poor to bring his own will to be crucified with Christ.

But here a question will arise in the minds of all those who really desire to make this sacrifice to the Lord, viz. What does it practically involve?  What is the real meaning of it?  What will be the practical result of such a sacrifice in our own life and character?  Some will tell us that it involves the necessity of conventual life, a separation from common duties, and the seclusion of a nunnery, or the vows of a sisterhood.  Let any one read this chapter through, and he will see at a glance that this is not the meaning of the Apostle.  There are no rules there for a monastic order, but there are very full directions for common business, and common life.  All such ideas, therefore, may be dismissed at once.  That is not the meaning of the sacrifice.  Then, what is?  What is the sacrifice which we, living at home, are to offer to God?

1.  There must be the sacrifice of our sins.

In this present world we are in a mixed condition, and however truly we may be walking with God, there is the old man and the old nature left.  It is just the same with us as it was of old with Canaan.  Israel had taken possession, but the Canaanites were still in the land.  So, even when the Lord Jesus has taken possession of the heart, there are sins still abiding there—tempers, lusts, covetousness, selfishness, pride, and a thousand others—some prevailing in one character and some in another.  Now of all these the Christian man must be prepared to make a sacrifice—his temper, his pride, his ambition, his covetousness, his self-love; he must be prepared to bring all to the altar, without mercy and without reserve.  Thus, in Col. iii. 5, St. Paul addresses those who are risen with Christ, and says, “Mortify therefore,” or put to death, or sacrifice, “your members which are of the flesh: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”  There is no occasion to be shut up within the walls of a nunnery for this; nor will the walls of a nunnery in the least help us to it, for they are just as effectual in shutting sin in as in shutting it out.  Here is work for home life, and for all classes in home life—for husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants: we all have our great temptations, so we all have to throw ourselves heart and soul into the great struggle, and with an unsparing hand deal resolutely with besetting sin.

2.  But the sacrifice goes farther, and involves the dedication of our powers to the Lord’s most sacred service.  The text implies this when it says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  There is clearly, therefore, to be service,—a service involving the active use of human powers.  In some cases the body has been actually surrendered to bleed, or burn, in martyrdom.  Many a noble man of God has given his body to be burnt rather than acknowledge the doctrine of the Mass.  To this, however, we are not called.  But still there may be sacrifice without martyrdom, dedication without death, and such a surrender of the living powers as may correspond to the description, “That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him that died for them, and rose again.”  This is the secret of the missionary spirit; this it is which has led some of the noblest young men in our Universities to abandon all home prospects, and to devote their whole lives to the great work of proclaiming Christ in distant lands.  This, again, is the spirit that at this present time is stirring thousands of our own people at home, devoted men and devoted women, to spend their lives labouring for God, helping the poor, comforting the afflicted, nursing the sick, and striving in every possible way to make known the sweetness of the sacred Name which has brought life and peace to their own souls.

3.  Once more: the sacrifice involves the free gift of money.  Money with most men lies very near the heart.  Open the heart, and you open the purse.  Let the heart become dull, lifeless, cold, and unfeeling, and the purse soon closes.  Thus the sacrifice of Self is almost sure to lead to the offering of money.  Cold hearts give little; but when the heart is full the offerings flow freely.  The men of Macedonia were poor people, but no sooner had they given their own selves to the Lord than “the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their liberality.”  Now these offerings are described in the Scriptures as a sacrifice to God.  St. Paul alludes to them, in Philip, iv. 18.  It is not perfectly clear whether he alludes to a contribution towards his own maintenance, or to the collection in which he took so deep an interest for the poor saints in Jerusalem; but, either way, he describes the offerings as an odour of a sweet smell, a “sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.”  This gives a delightful view of contributions in a right spirit for the service of the Lord.  It shows that the free and generous giver thereby offers a sacrifice well pleasing to God.  It rebukes at the same time the niggardly and parsimonious spirit, the spirit that gives reluctantly, and complains of many calls.  Yet I verily believe that to give freely can scarcely be called a sacrifice, for no money gives so much pleasure as that freely offered to the Lord’s service; and no people enjoy property so much as they do who are free and open-hearted givers.  I have not the slightest hesitation, therefore, in appealing to you for free and generous offerings, for I can say as St. Paul said (Philip, iv. 17), “I desire fruit that may abound to your account;” and I am thoroughly persuaded, that no person who is induced to give freely will ever repent of “a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God.”

II.  We may turn, then, to our second subject, the relationship of this sacrifice to the great and perfect sacrifice offered once and for ever on the cross.

One thing is perfectly clear, that these sacrifices are not a supplement to the one great sacrifice for sin.  They are not intended to supply any deficiency in the great work of our Blessed Lord.  There is no deficiency there; and if there were, nothing that we could do would supply it.  There is no deficiency, for by the “one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”  And if there were deficiency, how could man supply it?  Is there not something dreadful in the thought of a patchwork atonement, partly by the Son of God and partly by man; partly perfect, and partly imperfect; partly pure in all the infinite purity of God, and partly defiled with all the defilements of a fallen and sinful manhood?  No! the propitiation is perfect, unmixed, and undefiled for ever.  It is the sacrifice of the Son of God, and it stands alone for all eternity.

Nor, again, is this sacrifice the means whereby the great sacrifice is applied to the soul.  This is a more common idea than the other, and one prevailing among many who are thoroughly opposed to Popery.  It is in harmony with human nature to suppose that we must make our sacrifice in order to gain a share of the blessings of His.  Thus people will sometimes give up, first one thing, and then another, hoping by these sacrifices to find peace through the blood of atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They have no idea of being saved through anything but the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ; but they consider that they must make their sacrifice in order to secure the application of his work to themselves.  This is the principle of almost all self-imposed mortifications.  People hope through them to be partakers of reconciliation through the great atonement.  Yet none of these things satisfy the soul.  I have myself known persons who have resolutely made the effort, but utterly failed.  They have become anxious about their soul, and set to work to reach the cross of Christ by personal self-denial.  They have given up their different pursuits one by one; but at length they have found that nothing has done them any good.  They have been just as far from the peace of reconciliation as they were the day they began.  None of these sacrifices had helped them in the least.  No, and none could help them.  Nothing could help them but a free justification through faith, and faith alone; and that, thank God! at last they have found sufficient.  And so will every other guilty sinner who throws himself in utter helplessness, to be freely forgiven, and freely saved, by the great grace of God in Christ Jesus.  Let none suppose, then, that any sacrifice which we can render can ever make us partakers of the great salvation once purchased by the one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This salvation is given on altogether different terms.  It is given as a free gift to those who can produce nothing; a gift bestowed in unfettered mercy on those who can only say, in the language of the hymn:—

“Nothing in my hand I bring:
Simply to Thy cross I cling.”

What, then, is the relationship between our sacrifice and His? and how are they connected?  There can be no doubt on this subject if we turn to the text, where we read, “I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.”  It is, therefore, the deep sense of unmerited mercy that is to call out the willing sacrifice from a saved and thankful people.  This is just how it stands in our Communion Service.  We first come with the confession of sin; we then partake of the sacred feast; and seek, by God’s grace, to realise in living faith the body broken and the blood shed for our sins; after which, but not before, we “offer and present to Him ourselves, our souls and our bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto Him.”  Our sacrifice, therefore, is the result of our deep sense of unmerited mercy shown in His perfect sacrifice on the cross.  It is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.  It is the willing offering of those who have found mercy, and are most deeply and humbly thankful for it.

This, then, being the case, we see at once why there is not more self-sacrifice for God.  The reason clearly is, that there is a want of the deep sense of mercy.  The sacrifice of Christ is not sufficiently realised, and the result is that the self-sacrifice is withheld.  I fear there is a great want of self-sacrifice even among those who hold the truth.  Surely there are many whose religion never costs them any real personal self-denial.  They pass through life easily and respectably, but refer matters more to their own inclination than to the call of God.  They are more ready to pay others to work than to work themselves, and are prone to stand aloof from distasteful service, if, as they say, it does not suit them; or, as they might say, they do not like it.  So, again, but few deny themselves in giving, and though many are liberal, there are few whose personal comforts are really diminished by their liberality.  Now, why is this? and how is it that the great salvation has not more power over us?  Is it not that the salvation itself is not enough felt and appreciated?  It is true of us, as it was of the Corinthians, that “we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich.”  But though we know it, we do not deeply feel it.  It is like paint lying on the surface, but it is not burnt into us, so as to become part and parcel of ourselves.  Everything may be correct; our doctrine scriptural, and our principles sound: but neither one nor the other has gone home to the inmost soul with such power that we have learned to “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.”  What is it, then, that we want?  What must lie at the root of all?  A more powerful sense of mercy, a deeper conviction of need, a clearer perception of what Christ has done for us, a more thorough appreciation of His perfect sacrifice; and when that is given, we shall be better able to understand the appeal,—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION.

2 Cor. v. 18, 19.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

In every work carried on by man we are perfectly certain to meet with human infirmity, and human error; and the work of the ministry forms no exception to the rule.  It is carried on by common men, with common flesh and blood, exposed to the common temptations of common life, so that we are sure to find in it the common failures of our common humanity.  Yet, with all this, it fills a most important place in the life of all of us.  It not only imparts a distinctive character to our public worship, but it reaches our home life; so that there is not a family in a parish that is not, in some way or other, more or less affected by the ministry in the Church.  The influence may not always be for good, but it always exists.  In some cases it may be simply negative, and actually do harm by not doing good.  In some cases it may be positively mischievous, as when it is made the means for the dissemination of deadly error.  While in many it is made God’s means for conferring incalculable blessings; so that through it the young are instructed, the careless awakened, inquirers directed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the children of God confirmed in faith and aroused to holy energy for their Lord.  The position of a clergyman is such that the influence of his ministry is sure to be felt throughout his parish.  He has the sacred privilege of leading the worship of the religious portion of his people.  They are all brought into contact with his office, and all are, some way or other, affected by the manner in which that office is fulfilled.

It follows, therefore, that the subject of the ministry is one respecting which it is of great importance that our views should be scriptural.  And yet, for obvious reasons, it is one seldom preached upon.  The great object of the servant of the Lord is to throw Self out of sight; and it is so hard to disconnect the office from the office bearer, that too little is often said about the office from the fear that too much attention should be drawn to the man.  It will be well, therefore, for us to take the subject of the ministry for our careful study this morning.  And may God enable me so to speak, and you so to hear, that we may all receive God’s word in faith, and may, together, be compacted as a holy people in the Lord!

It is, of course, impossible to attempt a discussion of the whole subject, so that we must confine our thoughts to the lessons from this one passage,—“He hath committed to us the ministry of reconciliation;” and there will be in it quite sufficient important matter, as the words will suggest three most important points,—the authority of the ministry, the object of the ministry, and the means by which that object is accomplished.

I.  On the authority of the ministry this text is perfectly clear; for the Apostle traces it to no human source when he says, “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”  The ministry, therefore, is a gift from God, and not a plan of human contrivance.  It is not an arrangement adopted by the great Christian society as a means for its own improvement, but it is an institution by the authority of the Founder of that society, God Himself.  Both the office and the men are gifts from God.  In this passage he speaks of the office, and says, “God hath given us the ministry of reconciliation;” and in v. 19, “hath committed to us the word of reconciliation.”  The men, therefore, received their office from their God.  Just so he said to Archippus (Col. iv. 17), “Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.”  But perhaps the most striking passage on this subject is St. Paul’s address to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, in Acts, xx. 28; for he there teaches not merely that the ministry in general was given to these elders, but that they had been made by the Holy Ghost overseers of that particular people amongst whom they were called to labour.  “Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood.”  Now, bear in mind that these persons were not apostles, nor persons holding any extraordinary office, as some did in those early days, but ordinary clergymen; some, probably, ordained by St. Paul himself, and some by Timothy, appointed to labour together amongst the rapidly increasing church in the large heathen town; and mark well the fact, that the Apostle does not say, “To which I appointed you,” or “to which Timothy appointed you,” but he regards the appointment as from God Himself, and says, “Whereof the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.”

I verily believe that the fact of this Divine appointment of the ministry is too often forgotten; and that thereby God’s people—and more particularly God’s faithful ministers—often miss the great encouragement to be derived from it.  There is a tendency in some minds to suppose that God gives a special blessing on irregular efforts, and that the stated ministry of God’s word in church is not accompanied by the same blessing as the preaching of laymen in town-halls, iron-rooms, and theatres.  God forbid that I should speak with the smallest disrespect of these irregular efforts, for I rejoice in the zeal of those who make them, and I firmly believe that in many cases God has greatly blessed them; so that, if only these gentlemen would but be content to act with God’s appointed ministry, instead of taking their own course entirely independent of it, I believe we might, with great advantage to ourselves and our people, avail ourselves of their devotedness and power.  But it would be a sin to believe that God’s blessing is limited in any way to that which is irregular; that the only fleece on which the dew fails to distil is that which He Himself has placed to catch it.  If He Himself has given us our ministry, if He has made us overseers of the flock, it would be doubting the fundamental principles of Divine fidelity to believe that having called us, having placed us, and having Himself given us our great commission, He would leave us to struggle on alone, untaught, unaided, and unblessed by the presence and power of the Holy Ghost.  We may apply to the ministry what St. Paul says to the Christian,—“Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it;” and all of us, whether ministers or people, while we look for great gifts, great blessings, and great results, may rest assured that God is faithful, and will never leave those whom He Himself has appointed for His work.

II.  This then being, I trust, clear, our next subject will be the object of the ministry; and this is taught very clearly in the words,—“The ministry of reconciliation.”  The reconciliation of the sinner to God is the great result, to attain which God founded the ministry.  The question has been raised whether, by the reconciliation here mentioned, is meant the reconciliation of God to the sinner, or the reconciliation of the sinner to God.  Surely both are included.  In our guilty and ruined condition there is a double enmity.  Man, through his corruption, is at enmity with God; and God, through His righteousness, is at enmity with rebellious man.  And as there is a double enmity through sin, so, likewise, is there a double reconciliation through Christ.  God, His law being satisfied, is reconciled to the sinner; and the sinner, his heart being changed, is reconciled unto God.

The reconciliation of God to the sinner has been wrought out for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is the great work of God incarnate, and He wrought it alone, in His great sacrifice of propitiation.  Of this part of the work, therefore, the Apostle says,—“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”

This, then, is the mighty work of God in Christ: and this passage proves its nature; and shows that it consists, not in the change of disposition in man, but in the non-imputation of sin on the part of God,—“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”  You observe that the words teach that there were trespasses and real guilt: such trespasses that, if they were imputed, or allowed to stand for the condemnation of the sinner, there could be no reconciliation, and the sinner must die.  But God in Christ does not impute our trespasses unto us: and, therefore, the barrier is removed; and in Him there is complete reconciliation.  But we have not yet done with the subject; for the question arises, How is it consistent with the righteousness of God, that He should thus not impute trespasses to those who are really guilty?  What has become of His government, if real guilt is not reckoned to the real sinner?  The question is answered in v. 21: for we are there taught that guilt is not imputed to us, because, in the marvellous counsel of God, it has been imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ in our stead: for look at his words,—“For He hath made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  There is no explanation of this passage, except that He who knew no sin was reckoned sinful, in order that we, who are deeply sunk in sin, might be reckoned righteous.  Sin is not imputed to man; because the Lord Jesus Christ became our substitute; and it has been imputed to Him in our stead.

Now all this is complete—it is finished; it was a Divine act, and man can add nothing to it.  But, notwithstanding all this boundless mercy, man remains unchanged—a sinner still, and an alien from God.  Though by atonement God is legally reconciled to him, he remains, through ignorance and hardness of heart, unreconciled to God; as far from life, therefore, as if nothing had ever been done for his salvation.  And now you see at once the office of the ministry.  The minister of reconciliation is to be the bearer to his fellow-sinners of the great reconciliation wrought out for us in Christ Jesus.  He is employed by the Holy Ghost as a human instrument for bringing those who are still unreconciled into the sacred privilege of reconciliation with God.  Sinners reconciled to God, therefore, are the great result of the ministry.  It is very delightful to see a full church and attentive congregation; very encouraging to see large schools well taught and well filled—a very great cause of thankfulness to see kindness and good feeling prevailing in a parish.  But all these things fall short of the great result.  The real result is the reconciliation of precious souls to the Lord Jesus Christ by the blood of atonement shed for their sins on the cross.  The real result is conversion to God, a new birth by the power of the Holy Ghost; and if that be wanting, though all beside seem prosperous, the minister of reconciliation should be brought on his knees with great searching of heart, and never rest till he can look on precious souls reconciled to God, to whom he may say, as St. Paul did to the Corinthians, “Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

III.  But our third question still remains,—“In what way, or by what means, is this great object to be attained?”  I am, of course, speaking of the human instruments, and not of the sovereign power of God the Holy Ghost, without whom nothing is strong, and nothing holy.

One thing is perfectly clear.  It is not done by the offering of any fresh sacrifice.  This was the chief duty of the Jewish priests, but it forms no part of that of the Christian minister.  From one end of the New Testament to the other you can find no allusion to any such thing as a Christian sacrifice for sin.  The one sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was once and for ever, final, complete, and sufficient for all the sins of the whole world.  The work of sacrifice is finished, as we are taught in the words, “To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself;” and if there can be no sacrifice, it is perfectly plain that there can be no sacrificing priest.  Nor can the idea be gathered from the Prayer-book any more than it can from the New Testament.  There is not an allusion there, either to a sacrifice or a sacrificing priest, except where it says, in Art. xxxi., “The sacrifices of masses, in the which it was commonly said that the priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits.”  There is no Christian sacrifice recognised by the Church of England but the thankful dedication of heart and life on the part of those who have been saved by the sacrifice of the Lord.  But this sacrifice requires no priest to offer it.  It may rise at any moment, and from any place, from the depths of any thankful heart.  Thus, according to our Communion Service, all offer it together, and the whole congregation having together met around their Father’s table, and together tasted the joys of their Father’s love, together bring their sacrifice, and say, “Here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee.”

Again: it is not the office of the minister to forgive sins.  If our Lord, in His words of John xx. 23, had really connected such a power with the ministry of reconciliation, it is most extraordinary that in all the many portions of the New Testament which relate to the ministry there is no allusion to it.  There are three whole Epistles directed exclusively to the chief pastors of the Church, besides several addresses to presbyters both in the Acts and Epistles; and is it not a most remarkable fact, that there is not a single allusion in any one of these passages or epistles to the forgiveness of sins, as forming a portion of the ministry of reconciliation?  There are full directions respecting preaching, praying, reproving, instructing, and behaviour to all the different classes of the flock, but of forgiveness of sin by the minister, not one word can you find anywhere; and yet forgiveness itself is the great subject of the whole New Testament.  But it is always traced at once, without any intermediate mediation, to the Lord Himself.  It is always ascribed to His blood, His redemption, and His grace, and is never once connected in any way with any power of forgiveness bestowed by a priest.  I am not now dwelling on any one particular passage, but rather on the omission of the whole subject from the word of God; and I cannot but think that that omission is a proof, beyond contradiction, that the Apostles, writing by inspiration, did not understand our Lord as teaching in these words that the forgiveness of sin by a priest formed any part of the ministry of reconciliation.

But I do not deny that the text is one of considerable difficulty.  The first great difficulty is to ascertain to whom the words were spoken.  From Luke, xxiv. 33, we find that the persons present were “the eleven, and them that were with them;” and there is nothing in the record to decide whether the words were addressed to the eleven Apostles separately, or to the whole company—including, of course, laymen and women.  My own belief is, that they were addressed to the eleven separately, and conveyed a special judicial power to these inspired men.  That they possessed such a power is clear from history; for when Peter retained the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, God ratified his decision by their death; and when St. Paul passed sentence on the incestuous person at Corinth, he clearly claimed a supernatural power of judgment when he said (1 Cor. v. 3–5), “For I verily, as absent in body but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed.  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”  So when he remitted the same sentence he clearly claimed special right to do so; as he said, “If I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it, in the person of Christ.”  But if this were the case, and if the power was given to the Apostles as a part of their apostolic office, it follows that with the Apostles it must have ceased for ever.  Accordingly, in our Lord’s words there is not the smallest hint at transmission; and as for the idea that the Apostles could transmit it to the Bishops, and the Bishops to the Presbyters, it is altogether without foundation in the word of God.  In fact, the case of the Corinthians proves clearly that it was not so transmitted.  There cannot be a doubt, that when the epistle was written there were Presbyters in the Church of Corinth; and it is clear that Titus had just been there on a special mission, for he it was who brought to St. Paul the tidings of the repentance of the Corinthians (2 Cor. vii. 6, 7, and xii. 17, 18).  But yet none of these persons appear to have had a transmitted power.  It was necessary to refer the case to St. Paul himself.  He retained and he remitted; and he did both “in the person of Christ.”

But our Lord’s words may have been addressed to the whole company; and if so, the laity, and even the women, had as great a share in them as any others.  Now, no one supposes that every Christian has the power of forgiving sin; and the only way of understanding our Lord’s language is to regard His words as conveying to His Church the power of Christian discipline.  It is clear that such a power is essential to the well-being of the body; for the Church would cease to be a Church if its most sacred privileges were open indiscriminately to all kinds of characters.  There must be the right of excluding the wicked, of admitting converts, of excommunicating those who disgrace their profession, and of restoring such persons when the Church is satisfied respecting their repentance.  But this authority, if it is not given here, is given nowhere.  When our Lord said, as we read in Matt. xviii. 18, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven;” He gave His disciples the power of regulating Church order; and it is reasonable to suppose that in these words He gives a similar authority with reference to persons, for in the one passage it says “whatsoever,” and in the other “whomsoever.”

In support of this view of the passage it should be observed, that He does not say that the sins are remitted in heaven, or by God, or by Himself; but simply says they are remitted, as though He had said, “I give you full authority to decide; and when you do so, the decision is final.”  If this be the true view of the passage, we can perfectly understand the use of it in the Ordination Service.  The whole Church cannot exercise this power, and must depute it to executive officers.  These officers are the elders, or presbyters, or priests; and, therefore, when they are ordained, the Bishop first asks them, “Will you give your faithful diligence always so to administer the doctrine, and sacraments, and discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this Church and nation hath received the same?”  And after the commission has been given he adds, “And be thou a faithful Dispenser of the Word of God, and of His holy Sacraments.”

We see, then, that the ministry of reconciliation is neither by sacrifice, nor by priestly forgiveness; but we have still to consider by what means the great work is carried on.

For the decision of this point, let us compare the 18th and 19th verses.  In v. 18 we read,—“God hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”  But in v. 19 there is a slight variation; but one of great importance in the exposition of the passage; for we there find—“Hath committed to us the word of reconciliation.”  The word of reconciliation, therefore, is the substance of the ministry: the grand work is to make known the perfect reconciliation wrought out for us in Christ Jesus, to act on the example set us by St. Paul himself, when he burst out in the grand appeal which follows, and said,—“Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ.  As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled unto God.”

But this ministry of the word of reconciliation will vary according to circumstances.

Sometimes it will be necessary to apply it to individuals, when the conscience is troubled by the conviction of sin.  Our Church alludes to this in two passages often referred to.  The first is from the close of the invitation to the Lord’s Supper,—“And because it is requisite that no man should come to the Holy Communion but with a full trust in God’s mercy, and with a quiet conscience; therefore, if there be any of you, who by this means cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further counsel or comfort, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned minister of God’s word, and open his grief: that by the ministry of God’s holy word he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness.”

The second is from the rubric in the service for the Visitation of the Sick, where we read—“Here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter.”

It is clear at a glance, that there is no allusion in either of these passages to general or habitual confession; and that the case contemplated is that of a person troubled by some particular sin weighing on the conscience, and keeping the soul from peace.  It is just in such a case that the ministry of the word is required for the help of the individual; and that something more is wanted than the general preaching of the truth.  Such a person requires the Gospel to be applied to his own particular anxiety, in order that he may be assured of God’s forgiveness of that particular sin which keeps his soul in trouble.  It is this assurance which is called in the Prayer-book “absolution.”  There is a vast difference between a judicial act of forgiveness, and a declaration or assurance of the forgiveness by God.  Thus, to “absolve” is not to “forgive,” but to assure the troubled heart of the full forgiveness, freely granted, by the Lord Himself. [64]  Nothing can be clearer than this distinction in the absolution in the service for the Visitation of the Sick.  “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to His Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His great mercy forgive thee thine offences: and by His authority, committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.”

In that passage it is perfectly clear that our Lord Jesus Christ is said to forgive, and the Church to absolve.  The change of words is most remarkable, and clearly proves the doctrine.  The Church is said to have power to absolve; and the Lord Jesus Christ is entreated to forgive.  The minister, therefore, absolves, and at the same time prays that the Lord may forgive: and who can doubt that, when the troubled heart truly repents and believes in Him, the prayer is answered, the forgiveness granted, and the absolution, or declaration, ratified in heaven?

And let me add, that I believe there are many troubled consciences who would find great assistance in their difficulties if they acted more on the advice of the Communion Service.  It is a hard thing to bear a burden alone, and I am thoroughly persuaded there are many who might find great help under serious and painful difficulties from the confidential opening of the heart’s wound to a clergyman or Christian friend.  I have known many such cases, and I believe that our just dread of the Romish confessional—and no one can dread it more than I do—combined with our national shyness of character, cuts off many from that which might be an important help to them in their anxious struggle for the peace of God.

But the ministry of the word must also have its public character, and the glad tidings of reconciliation must be publicly preached to a ruined world.  It was this that appeared to be the prominent idea in the Apostle’s mind when he spoke of the ministry of reconciliation; for he at once proceeded to give a specimen of it in the great appeal which immediately follows:—“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. v. 20, 21.)

There are many points of deep instruction in this passage, but we have not time to dwell on them.  Here is the foundation of the whole message, viz. a double imputation—the imputation of sin to the Lord Jesus, and the imputation of righteousness to all that are in Him.  There is the tender earnestness of entreaty, which does not merely lay the message before the sinner and leave it there, but with a compassionate urgency in the Lord’s name beseeches and entreats.  And there is the most remarkable fact, that these words are not addressed to the heathen, or to those who had never heard of Christ; but to a Church of professing believers, all baptized into the name of Jesus: so that we are brought to the conclusion, that amongst the baptized Christians in the Church of Corinth there were those to whom it was still needful to make the appeal—“We beseech you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”  Does not that fact teach us, that amongst ourselves the same message may be equally necessary, and that, although we are all baptized, and all professing Christians, there are yet those amongst us who must be brought back to the great elementary question of their reconciliation to God; for they are not yet reconciled, and not yet accepted through His grace?  To all such persons, then, must we speak as St. Paul did; and if any present are not yet reconciled, not yet forgiven, not yet justified before God, look, we beseech you, at the cross of Christ; look at His substitution of Himself for sinners; look at the hope of full forgiveness set before you through His blood; and listen, I implore you, to the words spoken by His own authority,—“As though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

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FOOTNOTES.

[6]  See Hooker, Book v. Secs. 50–56.

[10]  Many passages might be quoted from the writings and sermons of the modern ritualistic school which are identical in doctrine with these decrees; as, for example, the following passage from the Directorium Anglicanum, where the contrast is drawn between our Lord’s spiritual presence with us in prayer, and Divine and human presence on the altar:—“Our Blessed Lord, still present in His Divine and human nature in the Holy Eucharist on the altars of His Church, still spiritually present at the common prayers.”—Pref. p. 8.

[27]  Council of Trent, sess. xxii. 2.

[29]  In the preface to the Directorium Anglicanum it is said,—“And if in the sacrament of the altar some things strike the eye as graceful and beautiful, it is well; but this is not their object.  The one aim is to offer the Holy Sacrifice in a worthy manner to Almighty God.”—P. x.

[64]  Johnson’s definition of the words “To absolve” is, “To pronounce sin remitted in the ecclesiastical sense.”

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