Page images
PDF
EPUB

SERMON XXVII.

On the Exaltation of Christ.

PSALM cx. 1.

The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

THOUGH Christ is said to have brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel; and by the miracles which he wrought during his abode on earth, and other concurring circumstances, demonstrated himself to be the Son of God with power; yet we find, that the glory of the Messiah was, in some degree, manifested to the fathers, before he took our nature upon him, and came and dwelt among us. Several of the prophets appear to have entertained clear and strong conceptions of his excellent majesty and greatness. But more especially Isaiah, who represents his humiliation on earth in very tender and pathetic strains; and also displays great elegance and energy of language in describing the splendours of his eternal kingdom. "His name shall be called Wonderful, "Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, "the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his govern"ment there shall be no end, upon the throne of VOL. II.

39

[ocr errors]

David, to order, and to establish it with judgment, "and with justice for ever." It is true, these splendid descriptions of the Messiah were misunderstood by the people in general, who from thence were led to expect a mighty Conqueror to rescue them from the power of their temporal enemies who, at the time of Christ's coming, tyrannized over them. The Pharisees, the most learned of the Jewish doctors, seem to have laboured under the same mistake. Our Saviour, in one of his discourses, to prove his divine mission, quotes the words of the text-"Jesus asked them, "saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is "he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He "saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call "him Lord; saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, "Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine "enemies thy footstool? If David then call him

66

Lord, how is he his Son?" The Pharisees were not able to resolve the question. But the more enlightened Christian may answer-" Christ is the Lord, even of "David himself, being God over all blessed for ever"more;" and yet, in his human nature, which was united with the divine, he is David's Son, descended from him, and born in the same tribe, the tribe of Judah.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, maintaining the superiority of Christ above all created beings, even the most exalted angels in glory, introduces the text to corroborate his argument; "But to which of the

66

angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, "until I make thine enemies thy footstool?" The use, therefore, which I shall make of these words, will be to show, in what. manner Christ is exalted to be

Head over all things to his Church; and who those enemies are that must be subdued beneath his feet.

He is said to be seated at the right hand of God; by which we are to understand the great degree of power to which he is exalted. Thus he himself asserts"Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand "of the power of God." Jesus, who was born in the weakness of our humanity, and while a child, was obedient to earthly parents-who patiently endured the severest pains and indignities which the malevolence of man could inflict-"This same person, we are assured, "is now exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, having all power in heaven and in earth com"mitted to his hands."

[ocr errors]

By this expression we are also to understand, that Christ is advanced to superior honour, correspondent to his great power. We read in the book of Kings"That when Bathsheba went to make a request of her "son Solomon, the king rose up to meet her, and "bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne; "and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother, and "she sat on his right hand." Thus God, though he is a Spirit, and hath no body, nor parts of a body, in condescension to our weak apprehensions, is represented as seating his Son there. Though he took upon himself the form of a servant, and descended to the most humble offices of humanity; yet we see Jesus, who, in his human nature, was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honour -exalted above every name that is named; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.

But further; we are informed-"That in the pre"sence of God there is fulness of joy, and at his right

"hand there are pleasures for evermore." Now this may be said to be the seat of Christ, as he is raised to a state of the most perfect felicity, the reward of his sufferings on earth. Thus situated, he is the channel through which the bounties of heaven are conveyed to men below. As we are taught-"That every good "and perfect gift which comes from the Father of "lights, comes to us through the mediation of his Son "Jesus Christ."

Elevated as he now is to the summit of power, honour, and felicity, let us rest assured, that the words of the text will be verified in our blessed Lord and Saviour; and that every enemy will be made his footstool, who denies his authority, or refuses his do

minion.

This expression, His enemies shall be made his footstool, alludes to the custom of eastern conquerors, who, in order to show the abject condition to which their captives were reduced, placed their feet upon their necks. Thus we find that Joshua, after his conquest "of the five kings of the Amorites, called for all the "men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men "of war, Come near, and put your feet upon the necks "of these kings; and they came near, and put their "feet upon them."

It is true, the enemies of our blessed Lord, and of his holy religion, are not always punished in this world, according to their deserts. But yet, as righteousness necessarily exalteth a nation; and sin, in the common course of things, must eventually be the disgrace and ruin of any people; so it has sometimes happened, that God has made bare his arm to inflict upon his foes an immediate punishment, in a more open and extraor

[ocr errors]

dinary manner. For the truth of this assertion, we need only have recourse to the history of the Jews. They were our Saviour's first and most implacable enemies. They treated his person, his disciples, and his doctrine, with the utmost indignity and contempt. And as they were eminently obstinate and perverse, so were they chastised with peculiar severity. When our Saviour foretold the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem, he declared-" That then "should be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world to that time; no, nor ever "shall be." That this prophecy was exactly fulfilled, an historian of their own has fully informed us. The page of history does not furnish us with an account of more complicated, or more severe calamities, than those which overwhelmed this stubborn and rebellious people. Without, a conquering enemy, like a devouring flame, spread desolation over the face of a country, which before had flowed with milk and honey. Within the walls of Jerusalem, as if a foreign foe was not the cause of sufficient distress, civil faction, tumult, and confusion universally prevailed. Brother was armed against brother, and the most pressing famine preyed upon them all. When they were, at length, brought into a state of captivity, thousands were even then destroyed, while the survivors were dispersed as slaves into every quarter of the earth. And to this day they remain a standing monument of the truth of our Lord's predictions, and the power of God's avenging justice.

But as the kingdom of Christ is said to be not of this world, the enemies over whom he is chiefly to exercise his power, are of a spiritual, and not a temporal

« PreviousContinue »