PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Horae Homileticae — Volume 1 of 21
Simeon, Charles, 1759-1836 · 313,334 words · 642 reading sections
516 Exodus, Xxxiii. 5,0. [108.
glorified saints and angels could not unite with those who had no one sentiment or feeling in unison with their own d : nor would they who hate the exercises of prayer and praise in this world, find any satisfaction in such exercises in the world above. I say therefore again, that to an impenitent sinner heaven wo…
435 wordsSECTION 482108.] Repentance Of The Israelites. 517
how to do it consistently with his own honour f. Let us not then he misunderstood, as though, in accommodating ourselves to the language of our text, we deviated at all from that reverence which is due to the Supreme Being. It is here intimated then, that, whilst impenitence continues, he knows not how to exercise…
485 wordsSECTION 483518 Exodus, Xxxiii. 5,6. [108.
1. Consider what obstructions you have laid in the way of your own happiness — [Had )rou not sinned, or, after your sins, continued impe- nitent, you would have been happy long since in the enjoyment of your God. He has been long "waiting to be gracious" unto you, but you would not suffer him to be so. He has been…
497 wordsSECTION 484Past Mercies Pleaded Before God.
Israelites : let it also be peculiarly dreaded by you : and never cease to humble yourselves before God, till you have attained a sweet assurance of his guidance through this wilderness, and of his blessing in Canaan at the termination of your way.] Exod. xxxiii. 12, 13. Thou hast said, I knoio thee by name, and t…
358 wordsSECTION 485520 Exodus, Xxxiii. 12, 13. [109.
my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight." Let us notice here, I. The fact pleaded — God had given him the assurances here spoken of — [We are not told exactly either when, or how, God had declared to hi…
450 wordsSECTION 486109.] Past Mercies Pleaded Before God. 521
whence those blessings flow : as the Apostle says, " God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (not because he foresaw that we should be holy, but in order that we might be holy) and without blame before him in loved." And it is on this electing love of his, and not on …
463 wordsSECTION 487522 Exodus, Xxxiii. 12, 13. [109.
Manoah's wife for the pacifying of her husband's mind : " If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering or a meat-offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have told us such tilings as these h." Past mercies are rather ur…
465 wordsSECTION 488109.1 Past Mercies Pleaded Before God. 523
And when did he ever refuse to hear a petition so enforced? [God loves to be addressed with confidence, provided the confidence be grounded on his power and grace. He bids us to come to him " with a full assurance of faith ;" to " ask what we will :" and he gives us reason to hope, that, if we come in faith, he w…
476 wordsSECTION 489524 Exodus, Xxxiii. 14. [Ho.
[In this Moses greatly excelled: he was willing and desirous even to " be blotted out of God's book " himself, if that, by means of it, he might obtain mercy for his offending nation. See to it, Brethren, that your religion operate thus on you. Behold the state of those around you; how many thousands there are dyi…
358 wordsSECTION 4901 10.] God'S Presence With His Church. 525
Scripture warrants, it will also fully satisfy, our in- quiries on this head. The promise has relation to us, as well as to the Israelites ; and teaches us to expect, 1. God's presence in our way — [God had refused to proceed any further with the Israelites, on account of their worshipping the golden calf. In answ…
456 wordsSECTION 491528 Exodus, Xxxiii. 14. [Ho.
[Christ, like Moses, has immediate access to that Divine Being who is wholly inaccessible to use; and it is owing to his entrance within the tabernacle to " appear in the presence of God for us," that the wrath of the Almighty has not burst forth upon us on numberless occasions, and consumed us utterly f. It is no…
473 wordsSECTION 492111."] God'S Goodness His Glory. 527
[In the history before us we behold one man interceding for a whole nation, and that too under circumstances where there could be scarcely any hope to prevail : yet he not only obtains a revocation of the sentence which God had passed, but a renewal and continuance of his wonted favours towards them. Shall we then…
305 wordsSECTION 493Cxi.
god's goodness his glory. Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee. NO man can have ever contemplated the interces- sion of Abraham in behalf of Sodom and Gomorrha, without being astonished at the condescension of God, who wou…
826 wordsSECTION 494M M
This vision God accompanied with a distinct and audible annunciation of his own attributes, as a God of infinite majesty, of almighty power, of unbounded mercy, and of immaculate and inexorable justice ; all of which perfections were illustrative of his goodness d. Here it is of importance to observe, that God's j…
649 wordsSECTION 495111.1 God'S Goodness His Glory. 531
of his personk;" insomuch, that "whoso hatli seen him, hath seen the Father1." In truth, this was the mystery, which Moses probably did not understand at the time ; the mystery, I mean, of his being put into the clift of the rock. For, " that rock was Christ"1:" and it is in Christ only that God's perfections can …
513 wordsSECTION 496M M 2
532 EXODUS, XXXIII. 18, 19. [ill. but " faithful also, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness V The world at large, indeed, and multitudes even of the Christian world, have no experimental sense of these things : and the reason of their blindness is, they have not faith (for " …
537 wordsSECTION 497The Perfections Of God. 533
112.] are speaking to himr." O that we would plead with him as he has commanded us to dos, and "give him no rest1," till he answer us in the desire of our hearts ! And let us not imagine, that he will be offended at the largeness of our petitions : for he is as willing, as he is " able, to do exceeding abundantly …
385 wordsSECTION 498534 Exodus, Xxxiv. 5—7. [112.
Exod. xxxiv. 5 — 7. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniqui…
481 wordsSECTION 499112.] The Perfections Of God. 535
teaches us to look deeper into that miracle, and to find in it the great mysteries of redemption. He tells us that " that rock was Christ ;" and, that the water which they drank of was " spiritual drink ;" or, in other words, that the miracle denoted, that Christ, being struck with the rod of the law, becomes unto …
496 wordsSECTION 500536 Exodus, Xxxiv. 5—7. [112.
are used as nearly, or altogether, synonymous ; because the same transactions are represented indifferently as having taken place on the one, or on the other. Now it has already appeared that the rock in Horeb is de- clared by God himself to have been a lively representation of Christ : and therefore we may well s…
426 wordsSECTION 501H2.1 The Perfections Of God. 537
because mercy is the attribute in which God peculiarly de- lights ; and because he desires to impress our minds with right apprehensions of it. God first, in general terms, declares himself to be " merciful and gracious ;" by which we are to understand, that he is ever ready to pity the miserable, and relieve the …
501 wordsSECTION 502538 Exodus, Xxxiv. 5—7. [112.
conversion! what sins after conversion! and you will find, that there is no species or degree of sin which he has not pardoned, even though it have been often repeated, and long continued in. Let any one attempt to enumerate his own transgressions, and he will find them more in number than the sands upon the sea-s…
833 wordsSECTION 503Jehovah A Jealous God.
2. Of what importance is it to obtain an interest in Christ — [All, except the true Christian, have erroneous views of God: some are led by his majesty or justice to give way to desponding fears : others from a sight of his grace and mercy are induced to cherish presumptuous hopes. It is the Christian alone that …
510 wordsSECTION 504113.] Jehovah A Jealous God. 541
it shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the moun- tains. I will heap mischiefs upon them, and will spend mine arrows upon themV To the same effect the Prophet Nahum also speaks : " God is jealous ; and the Lord revengeth : the Lord reven…
473 wordsSECTION 505542 Exodus, Xxxiv. 14. [113.
[God speaks of our espousals to him as a season of pecu- liar love1. And at that season we are, for the most part, delighted with every thing that may bring us into nearer communion with him, and express the feelings of our heart towards him. Then the reading of his word, and secret prayer, and an attendance on th…
465 wordsSECTION 506114.1 The Three Yearly Feasts At Jerusalem. 543
her natural affections is on the side of duty, it is not so easy to execute all that our God requires : for there we stem the current of nature, instead of being carried forward by it. Hence, when the whole people of Israel were so ready to bind themselves to serve their God, Joshua warned them, that they could no…
350 wordsSECTION 507544 Exodus, Xxxiv. 23, 24. [114.
Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24. Thrice in the year shall all your men- children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders : neither shall any man desire thy land, ivhen thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God, thrice in the year. BESIDES th…
481 wordsSECTION 508114.] The Three Yearly Feasts At Jerusalem. 545
summer, and of autumn, they were required to commemorate the mercies which had been vouchsafed to their nation, and with joy and gratitude to acknowledge their obligations to Jehovah b What a blessed tendency had such seasons to keep alive in their minds a sense of their high privileges, and to spread a savour of …
437 wordsSECTION 509546 Exodus, Xxxiv. 23, 24. [114.
one single instance wherein this promise failed. We might speak also respecting the happiness of true reli- gion; and draw a parallel between the Jews assem- bling for their solemn feasts, and Christians universally uniting in the same grateful acknowledgments and heavenly joys. But there are two observations, to …
497 wordsSECTION 510114.] The Three Yearly Feasts At Jerusalem. ."> ! 7
sake." O that we might be like him ; men of piety, men of principle, men of firmness and decision !] 2. They who serve the Lord shall be saved by him — [The trust which the Jews at those stated seasons reposed in God was never disappointed. Nor shall ours be, though all the hosts both of men and devils were confed…
538 wordsSECTION 511The Veil Of Moses.
cxv. Exod. xxxiv. 35. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses face shone. And Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. IT is an established and invariable truth, that " those who honour God shall surely be honoured by him." We have the clearest e…
368 wordsSECTION 512115.] The Veil Of Moses. 549
As the brightness of Moses' face was supernatural, so the effect of it on the people was peculiar to that occasion. But there is an awe inspired by the presence of every good man, in proportion to the weight of his character and the eminence of his piety. Herod, though a king, " feared John, because he knew that h…
435 wordsSECTION 513550 Exodus, Xxxiv. 35. [H5.
or duration of which none of them could understand. They could not discern its spiritual import, but judged of it only by the letter. They thought it a covenant of life ; whereas it was not at all designed " to give life," but rather to be " a minis- tration of condemnation and death." They supposed it was to cont…
494 wordsSECTION 514115.] The Veil Of Moses. 551
law would be fully understood ; and Christ would be recognised as " the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Then should the glory of that dispensation be clearly seen, and the incomparably brighter glory of the Chris- tian dispensation be seen also. For this view of the subject we are al…
450 wordsSECTION 515552 Exodus, Xxxiv. 35. [115.
and " by manifestation of the truth must commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of Godf." It must be our labour to rend away the veil from the hearts of our hearers : for " if our Gospel be veiled, it is veiled to them that are lostg." " The glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ ;" and t…
466 wordsSECTION 516The Offerings For The Tabernacle.
Exod. xxxvi. 5 — 7. And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the tvork, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more tvork for the offering o…
358 wordsSECTION 517554 Exodus, Xxxvi. 5—7. [116.
was sufficiently powerful for the occasion. The ac- count given us of their zeal is truly edifying. It will be proper to notice, I. The object of it — [They had lately shewn an unhappy zeal in the service of a false god ; and now they laboured to evince their gratitude to Jehovah, and to exalt the honour of his n…
462 wordsSECTION 518116. J Offerings For The Tabernacle. 555
were to receive instruction: and all desired, in whatever way they could, to advance the work. Now it is in this way that genuine religion always operates. The converts in every age are represented as coming unto God, " their silver and their gold with them3:" and it is charac- teristic of them all, that they are …
447 wordsSECTION 519556 Exodus, Xl. 1, 2. [H7.
[It is generally thought that the duty of propagating Christianity pertains to Ministers alone. But it is very little that a Minister can do without the co-operation of his people. Multitudes will never come to hear him, or afford him any opportunities of benefiting their souls: and the greater part even of those …
301 wordsSECTION 52011 7. J The Tabernacle Service Commenced. 557
Exod. xl. 1, 2. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. THE beginning of a new year is, not without rea- son, considered by Christians in general as a fit occasion for more than ordinary attention to religious duties.…
490 wordsSECTION 521558 Exodus, Xl. 1, 2. [117.
be accomplished by it. What that end was we are informed in the Epistle to the Hebrews : The taber- nacle itself, and all its vessels, were intended to be " an example and shadow of heavenly things," that is, of the things revealed to us under the Christian dispensation. In a word, the law and its ordinances were…
444 wordsSECTION 522H7.1 The Tabernacle Service Commenced. 559
come to God by him p. Now all of these, whether the vessels, or the persons who officiated in the use of them, " were anointed with oilq," to shew, that even Christ himself, "being anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows1," had " the Spirit given to him without measure for the performance of his work s…
447 wordsSECTION 523560 Exodus, Xl. 33, 34. [H8.
to him c ; and, as an holy priesthood, we are to be offering ourselves to himd. Every faculty of our souls is to be sanctified to his service by the Holy Spirit, lightened by his light, and nourished by Iris grace. We are, in fact, to be "lights in this dark world e," and " witnesses for Jehovah, that he alone is …
373 wordsSECTION 524Erecting Of The Tabernacle. 5(>1
Exod. xl. 33, 34. So Moses finished the toork. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. AN union of many hands and much zeal must of necessity expedite any work that is undertaken. So it proved in the constructing of the tabernacle ; the 118.] whole of w…
458 wordsSECTION 525562 Exodus, Xl. S3, 34. [118.
in the year,) was the ark, covered by the mercy-seat; on which abode the Shechinah (the bright cloud, the symbol of the Deity), between cherubim. In the ark the tables of the law were deposited : and at a subsequent period, Aaron's rod that budded, and the golden pot that had the manna, were laid up before ita. W…
486 wordsSECTION 526118.1 Erecting Of The Tabernacle. 5G3
God continually. There the illumination, the nourishment, the purity of every soul is complete. No veil obstructs the view, or forbids the access, of any individual: the beatific vision is vouchsafed to all, and the full fruition of their God is the portion of all the saints.] If we judged only from the minuteness…
458 wordsSECTION 527The Burnt-Offering.
the new year ! How sweet must have been the retrospect to all who had been engaged in the work, when they saw that they had not spent the preceding year in vain ! Each could call to mind some sacrifices which he had made for God, or some exer- tions used in his service : and they would enter on the new year with a…
458 wordsSECTION 528566 Leviticus, I. 3, 4. [119.
Sacrifices are of two kinds, propitiatory , and eucha- ristical; the one to make atonement for sins committed; the other to render thanks for mercies received. Of the propitiatory sacrifices we have an account of no less than six different sorts ; (all of which are stated in the seven first chapters of Leviticus;)…
442 wordsSECTION 529119.] The Burnt-Offering. 567
which prefigured him, that they might, as far as possible, exemplify his spotless perfection.] II. The manner in which it was presented — Here also we notice very minute directions re- specting, 1. The offerer— [He must bring his sacrifice " of his own voluntary will." He must feel his need of mercy, and be very…
474 wordsSECTION 530568 Leviticus, I. 3,4. [119.
misery, which we must to all eternity have endured ; and of that winch our blessed Lord sustained, both in his body and in his soul, when he died under the load of our iniquities. The partial washing of the sacrifice might probably denote the perfect purity of Christ ; or perhaps it might intimate the concurrence …
489 wordsSECTION 531H9.1 The Burnt-Offering. 569
[Of all the subjects that can be offered to our view, there is not any that can bear the least comparison with that Leading subject of the Gospel, Christ crucified : and I had almost said, that the New Testament itself scarcely unfolds it more clearly, than the ordinance before us. What would the most ignorant of …
516 wordsSECTION 532The Meat-Offering.
Their little can't be spared ; and if they are rich, Their victim is too costly. Away with such low and niggardly thoughts : let the large and liberal spirit of Christianity possess your souls : let nothing that you have endured, move you ; nor any thing that you can endure : be willing to be bound, or even to die…
427 wordsSECTION 533120.1 The Meat-Offering. 571
in which God's presence is more especially manifested, and his service more eminently performed. The types being expressly instituted for the purpose of pre- figuring spiritual things, have a determinate meaning in their minutest particulars : and it is highly probable that they have always a two-fold accomplishme…
359 wordsSECTION 534572 Leviticus, Ii. 1—3. [120.
to obscure the whole by any thing of a doubtful nature. Besides, there are in this type such a mul- titude of particulars, that it would not be possible to speak satisfactorily upon them all in one sermon, if we were to take them in the most comprehensive view : we shall therefore confine ourselves to such observ…
388 wordsSECTION 535120.] The Meat-Offering. 573
upon the altar. Who can contemplate this, and not see in it the temptations, conflicts, and agonies of the Son of God? We cannot but recognise in these things, him, " who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities ;" who himself tells us, that " He was the true bread, of which whosoever ate,…
493 wordsSECTION 536574 Leviticus, Ii. 1—3. [120.
Here then we are warranted in saying, that all who would find acceptance with God, must " have an unction of the Holy One, even that anointing which shall abide with them and teach them all things11." We should " be filled with the Spirit," and " live and walk under" his gracious influences1.] In a subsequent part…
828 wordsSECTION 537576 Leviticus, Ii. 13. [121.
There is yet one thing more which we must notice, namely, that a part only of this offering was burnt, and that " The remnant" was given to the priests8 — [The handful which was burnt upon the altar, is repeatedly called " a memorial :" and it was justly called so, especially by those who had an insight into the …
562 wordsSECTION 538121.] The Meat-Offering A Type Of Christ. 577
Lev. ii. 13. Every oblation of thy meat-offering shall thou season with salt; neither shall thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering : with all thine offerings thou shall offer salt. THERE certainly is need of much sobriety and caution in interpreting the typical parts o…
464 wordsSECTION 539578 Leviticus, Ii. 13. [121.
remember, that though the meat-offering was for the most part eucharistical, or an expression of thankfulness, it was some- times presented as a sin-offering, to make an atonement for sin : only, on those occasions, it was not mixed with oil, or accom- panied with frankincense, because every thing expressive of joy…
500 wordsSECTION 540121.1 The Meat-Offering A Type Of Christ. 579
of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost x." Nor is it without evident propriety that our services were prefigured by this ordinance. Was the Hour to be of the best quality, and impregnated with oil ? we must offer unto God, not our body only, but our soul ; and that too, anointed wi…
425 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical edition (1832-33); scan/OCR from Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.