But if" God will treat with his poor creatiu'es, why by ambassadors, and not by himself immediately ? This is the fruit of Divine indulgence : sin hath made the presence of God dreadful ; man cannot now well bear it. What a fright was Adam put into when he heard but the voice of God, walking toward him in the garden, and not furiously rusliing upon him ! The Jews had the trial of this, Exod. xx. 18 ; they soon had enough of God's presence, and therefore came to Moses, saying, * Speak thou with us, — but let not God speak with us, lest we die,' ver. 19.
But if God will use ambassadors, why not employ some glorious angel from heaven, rather than weak and frail man ? The apostle gives the reason, 2 Cor. iv. 7: ' We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us ;' or, as in the original, ' in vessels of a shell.' As the precious pearl is found in a shell, so this precious treasure of the gospel shall be found in frail men, that the excellency of the work may be of God. The more contemptible the instrument, the more glorious appears God's power in using it for so high and noble an end. To see a man wound another with a sword, would carry no wonder ; but to wound him with a feather would appear to be a miracle : to see men fall down and tremble when an angel (a creature of such might and glory) is the speaker, is no great wonder : but to behold a Felix quivering on the bench, while a man, and he a poor prisoner at the bar, preacheth to his judge, this carries a double wonder :
First, That so poor a creature as Paul was, and in the condition of a prisoner, durst be so bold ; and also that so great a person as Felix was, should be smitten with his word as if some tlumderbolt had struck him. Who will not adore the power of a God in the weakness of the instrument ? Had God employed angels in this business, we should have been in danger of ascribing the efficacy of the work to the gifts and abilities of the instrument, and of giving credit to the message, for the messenger's sake, he being so honourable ; but now, God send- ing weak creatures like ourselves, when anything is done by them, we are forced to say, it is the Lord's doing, not the instrument's. What reason God had in adopting this plan to guard his own gloiy, we see by our proneness to idolize the gifts of men, where they are more eminent than others. What would we have done, if angels had been the messengers ? Trul}^, it would have been hard to have kept us from worshipping them, as we see John himself had done, if he had not been kept back by the angel's seasonable remonstrance, Rev. xix. 10.
Secondly, Ministers being men, have an advantage many ways above angels for the work. First, As they are more nearly concerned in the message tliey bring, so that they cannot deceive others without injuring themselves. What greater arginnent for a man's care than his own interest ? Surely the pilot will look how he steers the ship, that hath share in the freight. Secondly, Their affections are alike, arising from the sense of those very temptations in themselves, which their brethren labour under. This an angel could not have; and by this they are able to speak more feelingly to the condition of other men, than an angel could do. So that what man wants of the angel's i-hetoric, is re- compensed with his natural aflection and sympathy, flowing from experience. He knows what a troubled conscience is in another, by having felt it throb in his own bosom ; as God told his people, having been themselves sojoiu'ners in Egypt, — ' You know the heart of a stranger. ' And who will treat poor souls with more mercy than they who know they need it themselves ? Thirdly, The sufferings which ministers meet with for the gosjiel's sake, are of great advan- tage to their brethren. Had angels been the ambassadors, they could not have sealed the truth of the doctrine they preached with their blood. Paul's bonds were much talked of at court, and in the country also, Phil. i. 14: 'Many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.' Angels might have sounded the trumpet of the gospel with a shriller voice; but men alone have pitchers to break (I mean frail bodies) by suffering for the gospel, whereby the glory of its truth (like the lamp in Gideon's soldier's hand) shines forth upon the eyes of their greatest enemies, to the confusion of their faces, and amazement of their hearts.
i'OR WHICH I AM AN AMBASSADOR. gcjj
CHAPTER XIII.
AN EXHORTATION TO IIKAKKEN TO GOd's AMBASSADORS.