PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Horae Homileticae — Volume 8 of 21
Simeon, Charles, 1759-1836 · 282,151 words · 604 reading sections
972.1 The Father'S Conduct Towards Jesus. 387
The text sets forth his innocence in two particulars ; "he did no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth." Deceit and violence are the fruits of wisdom and power when abused : and alas ! wisdom is but too often employed in devising mischief, as power is in executing it. Our Lord was endued with wis- …
385 wordsSECTION 362388 Isaiah, Liii. 9, 10. [972.
Lord's prophet; and thereby to make them desist from their purpose. If they were Jewish soldiers, as doubt- less they were, because they were sent by the chief priests and elders, and Pilate was not yet acquainted with their intentions, they could not but have heard the history of the prophet Elijah, who struck de…
360 wordsSECTION 363972.] The Father'S Conduct Towards Jesus.
so even his heavenly Father acted towards him, as if he had been the greatest of all criminals ; as we shall see by considering, II. The conduct of his Father towards him — We must acknowledge that there is something in- expressibly awful, and deeply mysterious, in the declaration before us : nevertheless it will…
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worthy to be laid up in the tabernacle, they were to be " beaten very small :" and in the same manner was Jesus to be bruised, before the incense of his merits could be accepted, or his own person be received into the tabernacle of the Most High. This was by far the most distressing part of our Saviour's suffering…
384 wordsSECTION 365972.] The Father'S Conduct Towards Jesus. 391
and again, that " he was made a curse for us : " all of which passages shew that God sent him into the world on purpose to bruise him. And when the time should come for executing upon his Son all that he was ordained to suffer, the prophet represents the Father as feeling a complacency in the very act : " Awake, O…
383 wordsSECTION 366392 Isaiah, Liil 9, 10. [972.
into the world on purpose that he might suffer ? Did he delight in other sacrifices merely as typical of those sufferings ? Did he declare, that the offering up of his dear Son was an offering of a sweet-smelling savour ? Did he exalt Christ for his sufferings ? and does he continually bestow the richest blessings…
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saw how inconceivably miserable we must have been to all eternity if left to ourselves : he therefore covenanted with his Son, and agreed to pardon us, to give us peace, to adopt us for his children, to restore us to our forfeited inheritance, and to exalt us to glory, if he would, by substituting himself in our p…
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We might assign more reasons, if it were necessary ; but we trust that these are sufficient for the justifying of the Father's conduct towards his Son. If, as has been shewn, the Father saw that the bruising of his Son would be pleasing to his Son, beneficial to man, honourable to his law, and glorious to him- se…
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Christ's death a condition of our salvation. Isai. liii. 10. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the plea- sure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. THERE are in the Holy Scriptures many apparent contradictions, which, when properly understood,…
901 wordsSECTION 370400 Isaiah, Liii. 10. [973.
it to have been meritorious in the sight of God (which it could not be, because, " after having done all that was commanded them, they would be only unprofit- able servants"), they could merit only for themselves : the righteousness of a mere creature could never have been so excellent as to deserve eternal happin…
709 wordsSECTION 371402 Isaiah, Liii. 10. [973.
Such was the condition imposed on God's only dear Son, when he undertook to mediate for fallen man : "He must make his own soul an offering for sin," and die in the stead of those whom he would redeem. The benefit arising from his performance of that condition is seen in, vol. viii. D D II. The promises suspende…
828 wordsSECTION 372404 Isaiah, Liii. 10. [973.
c Ps. lxxii. 16. d Ps. Ixxii. 15, 17. e Ps. xxi. 1—5. tongue should confess that Jesus Christ was Lord, to the glory of God the Father f." The accomplishment of his Father's eternal purposes was to be yet a further part of his reward : " The pleasure of the Lord was to prosper in his hands." The pleasure of Jehov…
663 wordsSECTION 37340G Isaiah, Liil 10. [973.
Yea, rather, do not his labours for you shew how you ought to labour for yourselves ? Awake, then, from your slumbers, and work out your salvation with fear and trembling. You feel the need of labouring for the bread that perisheth ; begin then to labour in good earnest for that which endureth to everlasting life…
545 wordsSECTION 374Dcccclxxiv.
Christ's satisfaction in his people. Isai. liii. 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. THE prospect of saving a ruined world was a strong inducement with our Lord to undertake the office of mediating between God and them, and afforded him rich consolation under the heavy trials he w…
262 wordsSECTION 375408 Isaiah, Liii. 11. [974.
daughters of the Lord Almighty : but there is a tenderness in the expression before us, which well deserves our most attentive consideration. The image of a travailing woman is very commonly used by the inspired writers to illustrate different topics. As applied to the ungodly, it expresses the fear and terror, t…
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the truth of God. How often, alas ! do they grieve his Spirit by their evil deeds ! How often do they even " crucify him afresh, and put him to an open shame," by acting unworthily of the relation they bear to him! If even earthly parents are sometimes so distressed by the follies and indiscretions, or by the trou…
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0 Isai. lxvi. 2. p Hos. xiv. 8. i Jer. xxxi. 18, 20. the delight he feels, when one single person is reco- vered unto God through him. He forgets at once all the labour and travail he has endured, or rather he looks back upon it with most heart-felt satisfaction, as soon as ever he sees it brought to a successful …
734 wordsSECTION 378412 Isaiah, Liii. 11. [974.
By way of improving this subject, we may further observe, 1 Isai. lxvi. 7 — 13. u Rev. vii. 17. and Ps. xvi. 11. and xxxvi. 8. 414 ISAIAH, Lin. 11. [974. 1. How must the Lord Jesus be grieved when he sees sinners utterly regardless of him ! Surely if a mother, after all her pain and anguish, behold a lifeless c…
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y John iv. IS, 29, 32. be recompensed for all that he has endured for us ; and we shall participate his glory and blessedness for ever and ever. 3. How securely may we commit ourselves into the Saviour's hands ! If a child can be safely trusted with any one, surely it may with her, who travailed in birth with it…
278 wordsSECTION 380975.] Our Justification Before God. 417
Isai. liii. 11. By his knmvledge shall my righteous servant jus- tify many ; for he shall bear their iniquities. IT is not possible to conceive a more difficult ques- tion for unenlightened reason to resolve, or one in the resolution of which mankind are more deeply inte- rested, than this, How shall a sinner be j…
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this extent, and as equivalent to that name which is elsewhere given him, " The Lord our Righteousness." To "justify" sinners is the work assigned him by the Father. It is his office to take even the most sin- ful of the human race, and so to purge them from all iniquity that they may stand before God without spot…
403 wordsSECTION 382975.] Our Justification Before God. 419
to embrace this Saviour. On the contrary, if all the people in the universe would but look to him for the ends and purposes for which he is revealed in the gospel, they should instantly experience in their souls what the wounded Israelites experienced in their bodies when they looked to the brazen serpent in the …
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utter abhorrence of sin ; and his truth was pledged for the execution of the sentence which he had annexed to the violation of his commands; and therefore there seemed no alternative for God, no hope for man. But Christ, in becoming our surety, and bearing our ini- quities in his own body, removed all these diffic…
383 wordsSECTION 384975.] Our Justification Before God. 1-1
by covenant to give him a seed ; and had promised that, " if he would lay down his soul an offering for sin, the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand." Christ therefore, having fulfilled his part of the covenant, may claim the fulfilment of the Father's engagements, and, by virtue of the authority com- …
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should search the holy oracles for ourselves, and hear them expounded to us by others : nor should we ever rest till we can prove out of them, by indis- putable evidence, our right and title to the heavenly inheritance. Happy would it be for us, if we sought the knowledge of Christ ! we should soon be guided into…
744 wordsSECTION 386424 Isaiah, Liii. 12. [976.
h Prov. ii. 3 — G. ' Rom. iv. .">. law shall no flesh be justified11." Let us then guard against every species and degree of self-righteousness, and look for justification solely through the knowledge of Christ, and by faith in his all-atoning sacrifice. 4. Let us, however, be careful to shew forth our faith by o…
304 wordsSECTION 387The Fruit Of Christ'S Death And Intercession.
Isai. liii. 12. — Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ; hecause he hath poured out his sotd unto death : and he was numbered with the transgressors ; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. 976.1 fruits of Christ's de…
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the truth. But it was yet further accomplished in the time of Constantine, when the Roman empire pro- fessed subjection to the Gospel ; and the religion of Christ became the established religion of the world. Since that time the chief princes of Europe have called themselves by the name of Christ, and wished to be…
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d John xvii. e Luke xi. 22. By these united means then is Christ's kingdom to be extended : nor, when once they are combined, shall all the powers of earth and hell withstand their influence. However desperate the condition of any may appear, though they should have sold themselves to work iniquity, and become in…
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Father, or any power in the Lord Jesus Christ, there shall be " a gathering of sinners to our adorable Shiloh." The rich and powerful, as well as the poor and weak, shall turn unto him ; they shall submit to his government, and devote themselves to his glory. The other ground, on which the increase and ag- grandi…
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1 . The importance of Christ's mediation — On this every thing depends : without this, there never had been a gleam of hope for any, whether rich or poor. Satan would have retained his power over us, and would have been to all of us, as it were, the jailer, to carry us to prison, and the executioner to inflict up…
457 wordsSECTION 392Our Maker Our Husband.
the temples of their gods, so Christ will take us to heaven as the fruit of his victories, the everlasting monuments of his power and grace. Let us then " hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end." Let us " believe in the Lord ; so shall we prosper ; let us believe his prophets ; and so shall we…
321 wordsSECTION 393434 Isaiah, Liv. 5. [977.
that, at the first creation of man, it was said, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness3." In that passage it seems as if the formation of man was a matter in which the Three Persons of the Godhead concurred : and the same idea is evidently suggested in the passage before us. The same peculiarity occu…
411 wordsSECTION 394977.1 Our Maker Ouk Husband. 435
which appeared to be primarily, if not solely, in his contem- plation, he particularly adds, " This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and his Church8." But, to dwell on particular passages is needless ; because a defection from God is, throughout the whole Scripture, called " adultery;" it being an…
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1 . His union with us — [By the constitution of marriage, as formed by God him- self in Paradise, the husband and wife were declared to " be one fleshq." So, by virtue of this relation, as subsisting between Christ and his Church, we are not only one flesh with him, (for " we are members of his body, of his flesh,…
474 wordsSECTION 396977.] Our Maker Our Husband. 437
[Not only will love be exercised by a husband in a way of fond endearment, but it will shew itself in all its diversified operations, according as circumstances shall arise to call it forth. Thus will the Lord Jesus Christ evince his love to us in every possible way. Not only will he " delight in us," and " rejoic…
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to fulfil your duties towards hiin, and to walk before him in newness of heart and life. Whilst you reflect on your privi- leges, be mindful also of your duties. And be careful never more to " grieve his Holy Spirit," or to " provoke him to jealousy," by even the appearance of evil. Remember what even a creature e…
529 wordsSECTION 398Dcccclxxviii.
god's faithfulness to his covenant engagements. Isai. liv. 6 — 10. The Lord hath called thee as a ivoman for- saken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I for- saken thee ; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little ivrath I hid my f…
354 wordsSECTION 399440 Isaiah, L1V. G— 10. [978.
she was visited. In the days of the Judges she was often deli- vered up to her enemies, who oppressed her with the heaviest voke of bondage : at last she was sent into captivity in Babylon : and at this hour is Jerusalem a desolation, having for eighteen centuries been trodden down of the Gentiles, and left without…
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But the passage must also be explained, II. In reference to the Christian Church — We do not approve of limiting to the Church of Christ a multitude of prophecies which belong pri- marily to the Jewish Church. On the other hand, we must not rob the Christian Church of that interest which she has in them. It is ob…
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to him alone ! Too true is that accusation which he brings against us, that " we have played the harlot with many lovers1" — What then might we not expect, if God should deal with us according to our iniquities ? What, but that he should cast us off, and swear in his wrath that we should never more be received in…
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Nor let Christians who are under the hidings of God's face despond. Let not any of you ask, like David, " Will the Lord cast off for ever ? and will he be favourable no more ? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for ever- more ? Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? hath he in anger shut up his t…
288 wordsSECTION 403444 Isaiah, Liv. 13. [979.
eternal life, we can judge only by his works. One thing is clear ; that " he who committeth sin is of the devil ;" and " he that doeth not righteousness is not of Godk." Hence, if we are living in the wilful commission of any one sin, or habitual neglect of any one duty, we have no ground whatever to ima- gine tha…
414 wordsSECTION 40497D.] Peace The Fruit Of Divine Teaching. 445
Isai. liv. 13. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. THE Jewish Church was often in a state of great distress, under the judgments of Almighty God. In Babylon especially was she at the lowest ebb of de- gradation and misery. But there was consolation provided …
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things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father : neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal himc." How far this is true or false, it is in the power of every man to ascertain, by his own experience. Let it be tried. Of the lead…
506 wordsSECTION 406979.] Peace The Fruit Of Divine Teaching. 447
The man who truly experiences this teaching, immediately comes to Christ as a sinner, and with deep humiliation and contrition seeks salvation through him alone. This our blessed Lord himself affirms ; and affirms it too with an express refer- ence to the ivords of our text : " It is written in the Prophets," says…
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malignity, and with all their numberless aggravations. He feels that a sense of his disease is necessary to an enjoyment of the remedy : and the more he sees his own guilt and helplessness, the more he glories in Christ as a suitable and all-sufficient Saviour. The very impossibility of being saved in any other wa…
494 wordsSECTION 408979.] Peace The Fruit Of Divine Teaching. 419
3. In the view of the final judgment — [The bar of judgment is no longer an object of dread and terror to his soul. " He knows in whom he has believed ; and is persuaded that he is able to keep that which he lias committed to him'1." He has no fear that God will forget his promises, or that the Saviour who bought …
483 wordsSECTION 409450 Isaiah, L1V. 17. [980.
it is by the holy violence of prayer that they must be brought down from heaven ; and by the appropriating energy of faith that they must be made available for your salvation ] 2. How injurious are the workings of unbelief — [Unbelief puts far from us the promises of God, under an idea that we have no title to the…
299 wordsSECTION 410The Saint S Heritage.
Isai. liv. 17. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord : and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. THE Scriptures uniformly suppose men to be, not only in a state of…
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written that they may be destroyed6." They still, as formerly, are a sect that is everywhere spoken against; nor is there " any manner of evil which will not be laid falsely to their charged" But God does often, in a wonderful way, interpose for them, to the vindicating of their character, and the confu- sion of a…
656 wordsSECTION 412454 Isaiah, Lv. 1—3. [981.
[They have given themselves to him, as "his servants:" and will he forget them ? Will He who " maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust," refuse protection to those who have exposed themselves to sufferings for his sake ? He has pro- mised to them, that " h…
278 wordsSECTION 413Exhortation To Receive The Blessings Of The Gospel.
Isai. lv. 1 — 3. — Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the ivaters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto m…
267 wordsSECTION 414981. J The Blessings Of The Gospel. 455
[The blessings of the Gospel are here set forth under the most natural and expressive images. What can be more refreshing than water ? more reviving than wine ? more nutri- tious than milk ? yet do these but faintly represent the opera- tions of the Gospel on the soul of man. Nor can water or milk be by any means …
482 wordsSECTION 415456 Isaiah, Lv. 1—3. [981.
and shall we not be inexcusable if we turn a deaf ear to such entreaties ? ] But God, knowing our extreme backwardness to go to him, urges us yet further by, II. An expostulation — Our infatuation justly calls for a severe reproof — [The contemners of God's invitations may be comprised under two classes, the wor…
438 wordsSECTION 416981.] The Blessings Of The Gospel. 457
cease to " hew out to ourselves broken cisterns," when we may have access to " the fountain of living waters?" shall we still grasp at a shadow, while we lose the substance 1 " Where- fore " act we thus ? What reason can we assign to ourselves for such obstinacy ? and what shall we assign to God, when he shall int…
466 wordsSECTION 417Christ A Witness And Commander.
How incurably obstinate then must we be, if such accumulated means be used in vain ! [Is the life of the soul a matter of such indifference, that a promise of it shall have no effect on our minds ? Shall God engage himself to us by covenant and by oath to supply all our need both of body and soul, and shall we acc…
352 wordsSECTION 418982.] Christ A Witness And Commander. 459
upon them through their exalted Messiah0; and he tells them, that God had given this Messiah, not, as they imagined, to them only, but to the whole Gen- tile world; who would eventually run to him, and embrace him, and become the heirs of those bene- fits, which the ungrateful Israelites neglected and despised. …
401 wordsSECTION 4194G0 Isaiah, Lv. 4. [982.
testimony are declared to be precisely such as we have affirmed. It was of the wonders of redemption that they testified ; and the Author of their testimony was Jesus Christ. In due time he came down from heaven, and testified of these things in his own person. He had from all eternity been " in the bosom of his F…
488 wordsSECTION 420982.] Christ A Witness And Commander. 4G1
of the host of the Lord," from whom alone all Joshua's suc- cess should spring". And to us also is he revealed under the same blessed character, "The Captain of our salvation x." He is at the head of all his people, and goes forth with them to battle : and all who have enlisted under his banners are to fight as go…
484 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical edition (1832-33); scan/OCR from Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.