such carnal aid and help to entertain become dim: truth, in doctrine, in them. experience, and in practice, is awfully departed from us; high cedars are falling, high principle many are giving up, and holy practice is scoffed at. Will a gracious God bless writer and reader of these lines, and make both more alive to God, more zcalons for truth in all its branches, stronger in faith; and make Christ, the Rock of Ages, our all in all. How very tenacious every minister should be to direct distressed and paralyzed souls to these cooling refreshing streams, to exalt this Rock of Ages in all their preaching, as the high shadow from the heat; and the rivulets that run from this rock cleanse effectually, and convey life and fruitfulness whereever they come. And this running water sets forth most strikingly the special and peculiar presence of God among his saints. Wherever there is a little camp of his chosen adopted children convened together, there the Lord Jesus Christ is to bless and comfort them. It is heaven to be where the Saviour is, "This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.' He sees all his saints at a glance, and sees how they are scorched and parched with sin and Satan; his hand upholds them under the weight of the world's frowns, and the pressures of persecution, and the burdensome body of death. He saves them from sinking in times of trial and affliction; his ear is open to all their complaints and confessions. One says, "Thou drewest near when I called upon thee. Thou saidst, fear not." Another says, "Out of the belly of hell I cried, and thou heardest my voice." When Peter was put in prison, the church prayed for him; God heard them, and granted them their request. And very often he shines as the Sun of Righteousness upon his church, causes the sweet gales of his Spirit to blow upon them, sprinkles his precious pardoning blood upon them, comes down like rain upon the grass, or the dew upon the flower, and often sprinkles clean water upon his followers, and makes them clean; and from all their filthiness, and all their idols, cleanses them. May these grace-reviving waters often run into the sanctuaries of our Zion, and revive the ministers of Christ, and the saints of the Most High God. Surely they were never more needed; for the fine gold is SUBSTANCE OF A SERMON Preached at Haberdasher's Hall Chapel, London, Monday, Dec. 4. 1837, by Rev. JOHN HOBBS. "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,"-1 Cor. i. 9. All things in providence and grace are regulated by the will of God, and to this all things are made subservient: but it is by his special will only that any of his creatures are called to a knowledge of themselves, and that relation into which God hath taken them unto himself: it is also by spe cial will that any of his saints are called to minister in holy things. It is not the common call which is effectual in translating God's elect out of the kingdom of Satan into the king dom of God's dear Son, which qualifies a man for the ministry: this call, though accompanied with talents, gifts, and abilities, is not sufficient, and will not profit the preacher or hearer, unless the Lord has specially called and chosen such an one to minister in his holy name: "No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." This special call is manifested by that peculiar concern for souls, and the glory of God, which the Holy Ghost works in the mind of him whom he is about to send into the vineyard, and by that abundant matter which is poured into the vessel of his choice. that accompanies the word preached will evidence that he is sent of God; for he will be enabled to discover the The power believer wlien he cannot find himself; he will ministerially hold up a light, which shall enable the doubting and wavering to see that he is in the footsteps of the flock; he will remove the stumbling-blocks that lie in the sinner's way, by setting forth the freeness, the fulness, and the sufficiency of God's salvation; he will shew that the law of God, which condemns a sinner by nature, is magnified and made honorable by the Lord Jesus Christ; that gospel precepts are a rule for the believer, by which he may know, after the inner man, to what measure of conformity to the image of Christ he has attained; and that the fulfilment of them is the work of God the Eternal Spirit, who works in the sinner to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Also, those dispensations which are so opposite to nature, and which to the outer man have the semblance of destruction, shall be so scripturally set forth and explained, to be designed only for the spiritual good of the poor sinner, and the glory of God, that the tried and buffeted soul shall be enabled oftentimes to realize that blessed truth, that the streams of God's river or means, through which the Lord's mercy in manifestation flows to him-make glad the city of God. In short, there shall be a divine power in such a ministration, that shall enable a man or woman to rise above all prejudice against the preacher, and constrain him or her to come after him of spiritual necessity, to receive at his hands those blessings which the Lord by him shall communicate to the poor and needy. And he who comes to the Lord's house for any other purpose, comes only to gratify the flesh; and as he sows to the flesh so shall he reap corruption; for as the gospel of Christ is offensive to the carnal mind, the persons so coming will often be displeased with the truths they hear, and go away preferring the doctrines of men to their own destruction. Now faithfulness is a perfection peculiar to God himself, and in vain do we look for it in any other; not eveir in the most highly favoured of the Lord's people shall we find it: for, though it is said of them, that they are called, and chosen and faithful, yet this is only as they stand in Christ Jesus, and in covenant relation to each other: independent of this there can be no confidence placed in their dealings with each other; their faithfulness will increase or diminish as circumstances vary; and hence the exhortation," Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of :" but in Jehovah we shall find the perfection without limitation. We see it, first, in his everlasting love to his chosen people: the foundation of this love is eternally in himself, therefore, before God's love could alter towards its objects, Jehovah himself must change, for God is love; but "as the Lord changes not, the sons of Jacob are not consumed." And this is a consideration which often, under the teachings of the Holy Ghost, affords great consolation to the tried and afflicted sinner, and is a support to him in the darkest dispensation. Health may depart, affluence be exchanged for indigence, affection to hatred, and esteem to reproach among men; spiritual comfort for distress, activity of soul for heaviness, liberty for captivity, and nearness for desertion: but amidst all this, the Lord's love changes not, because it is independent of all but himself; and, therefore, here is a good ground for the sinner to wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and to look for him, for he is faithful, and cannot deny himself. Secondly, in the fulfilment of covenant engagements on the behalf of his beloved people. Did the Father give the church into the hands of his beloved Son, to be eternally rescued from that death, which in common with the rest of mankind they merited by sin, and are they so secured? Yes, for it is written," he that believeth on me is passed from death unto life, and shall come no more into condemnation." Were the iniquities of the church in eternal covenant transactions laid upon Christ, and did he, the eternal Son of God, bear them? Yes, for "he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." Was Jehovah faithful to the law which denounced the curse upon the guilty? See the justice of God acknowledged, and the dregs of divine wrath poured out in the precious death of the Lord Jesus. And when divine justice was satisfied, did the Father fulfil the covenant promise of exaltation? Yes, for we read that God raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that our faith and hope might be in God; and he is exalted to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins; and, further, he is manifested in the hearts of his elect, who are by grace his willing captives, and desire no greater honours than to be enabled to yield obedience to the King of saints. And it needs no further argument to prove, that as God the Father is faithful in the fulfilment of covenant engagements, so also is the Son and the Holy Ghost; for when we consider that all the promises were given to Christ, the great Head of the church, and the accomplishment thereof dependant entirely upon his meritorious obedience; and as the church through grace knows and possesses the blessed effects of almighty love, there remains no doubt in the mind of the quickened sinner of the faithfulness of God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, who has, upon the ground of the life and death of the Lord Jesus, regenerated his beloved people, and put them into an eternal possession of the mercies of the Father, through his beloved Son, their elder Brother, Again, the faithfulness of God is displayed in his providential dispensations towards his people. The declaration is, that God shall supply all March, 1838.] I their needs out of his riches in glory by Christ Jesus: and where is the quickened soul, however young in the divine life, who cannot testify to the glory of God, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord (in covenant) spake concerning them, but that all have hitherto come to pass, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Look at the church individually and collectively, from the fall of Adam to the regeneration of the last elect vessel, and we shall see the faithfulness of a covenant God engraven on each monument of mercy, in a manner that neither time, circumstances, nor eternity can erase. Again, the Lord's people are to go from strength to strength; they are to go in and out and find pasture, and to grow in grace; and in all this the faithfulness of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is displayed, in the carrying on and completing the work of grace began in their souls. For though it may get so bad with them in spiritual things, as hardly to have a desire after God when enjoyment is suspended, yet the Lord is too faithful to his own glory, and consolation of his saints, to withhold the use of those means which shall cause them again to rejoice, and yield an abundant crop of praise to his holy name. "He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." We come now, secondly, to speak a little of the call: and this is not to be understood of an articulate voice, of which the outward ear only is sus ceptible, but it is the arrest of the sinner's mind to the consideration of his state, by the quickening power of the Eternal Spirit; and when the Lord calls the sinner, he calls efficaciously; for with this mighty call he works in the object both attention and obedience. Let the sinner be carried by sin never so far, or engaged in whatever his own corrupt nature and the adver sary of his soul may urge him to the commission of, contrary to God; however warmly and eagerly he may be pursuing the paths that lead to eternal death, either profanely or self-religiously, yet the voice of God in regenerating mercy vibrates through every faculty of his soul, and the man is constrained to listen to and acknowledge the awful truth, that he is leprous from head to foot, and that he justly deserves that wrath which is revealed in a broken law. The Lord sets the sinner's secret sins in the light of his countenance; and the man, more or less, according to the Holy Spirit's teaching, apprehends his vileness. The law calls for perfection, justice calls for satisfaction, Satan accuses, and justice condemns; and as the sinner is thus called to the consideration of and attention to his state by nature, obedience is manifest, by confession of sin, imploring of mercy, and putting his mouth in the dust, if there may be hope and so sure as the Lord has called him to the feeling consideration of his sinful state by nature and condemnation by the law, as certainly will he in his own time call him into the realization of his perfection in, and justification by Christ Jesus; and as the poor sinneris enabled to attend to the testimony of Jesus, obedience will follow in the spiritual exercises of faith, and hope, and love, and acknowledgment, and praise; and he who knows nothing of such an experience, is not yet called of God. : The third thing to be considered is, "the fellowship of Jesus Christ;" and the saints have fellowship with the Lord in three particulars-1st, in the incarnation 2nd, in communion3rd, in the participation of his sufferings. The incarnation of the Lord Jesus, and the regeneration of the sinner, is the joint work of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: and as the human nature of the Lord was prepared by the Father, assumed by the Son, and was of the Holy Ghost, and was entirely passive in that mysterious operation; so, in like manner, is the regeneration of the soul; for it is born of God, quickened by the Spirit, and manifestly united to the Son; and as the two natures of the divine person of the Son of God can never be separated, so must the head and members eternally continue one glorious body. 2. The saints have communion with Jesus in their possessing that measure of the Spirit which they receive out of the fulness of Jesus, who, as the glorious Head of the church, possessed and was anointed with the Holy Ghost without measure. The sweetest of all communion to be enjoyed below is, when a poor burthened sinner is enabled to tell the Lord all his troubles, and then, as it were, to get into the bosom of Jesus, and freely delight himself in those blessings which the Lord unreservedly and with delight makes known to him concerning his eternal salvation. 3. As the saints have fellowship with their Lord in his incarnation and in communion, so also have they participation in his sufferings. Persecution, opposition, afflictions, and desertion, were some of the ingredients of that bitter cup, which was the portion of the Mighty God, who condescended for his beloved people to be also "the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief;" and of these things the Lord's people have a small taste, more or less: exempt they cannot be whilst in this waste howling wilderness, but grace shall be sufficient to support them and bring them through; and in all these things they shall be more than conquerors through him who hath loved them, and who is emphatically the faithful God." 66 to shew that the various sacrifices under the same, richly prefigured their illustrious antitype by whom they were all fulfilled, consequently by whom they were all abolished; and the Holy Ghost declares, that in all these things Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Thus, all that deny his eternal power and Godhead, charge the Holy Spirit with imposing a falsehood upon the church; for of no created being can it possibly be said, that they possess eternal duration; for as of necessity every created being must have a beginning, so also must they have an end. True it is, that the members of his mystical body possess eternal life, yet it is not in themselves by an inherent principle, but only as they derive it from him, who possesses it in his own right, and consequently can give it to whomsoever it shall please him, according to his sovereign pleasure. He is the same yesterday before time was, before the ponderous machine of the universe was put in motion; for by him, and for his pleasure, these things were created; and he is the same as respects his divine attributes, and to whom all the perfections of Deity solely belong, "God over all, blessed for evermore. "I am the Lord, and change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed," Mal. iii. 6. make known to them in this time- For his loving heart remains Here his redeemed ones only see their hope of heaven secure. The love of Christ must not be measured by our enjoyment of it, no; the earnest is certain, where the manifestations are not always happily realized, for he is everlasting in his love, eternal in his purpose, immutable in his decrees: he has not fixed his love upon them for any foreseen excellency in them, nor yet on account of any after worthiness he should discover in them, nor yet because they were the most of all people. All glory to his immortal name; every motive is in himself: "Even so, Lord Jesus, for so it seemeth good in thy sight." Here his love is displayed in all its glory, his mercy in all its fulness, his grace in all its richness, his power in all its invincibility: no power shall frustrate his design, nor mar his purpose; for as he loved them in purpose before time, so will he most assuredly bring them to the manifest enjoyment of the same in time; and for this very purpose is the world kept in being. Cheer up, ye suffering part of the family of heaven, though ye are tossed about upon the angry surges of adversity, in crossing this boisterous sea of life, amidst the various afflictions of mind, body, and Not only is he the same in his circumstances, to which the hand that unchangeable nature, but what he was writes is no stranger, and at times can yesterday, before time, in his eternal say, Bless the Lord, O my soul, for purpose of grace and How soul-animating the in the them all.' mercy, dateless covenant of his love to his reality, that Jesus is now, and will people. And to all that ask, when did be for ever the same. he first love them? we answer, by putting another question, when did he first exist? for he declares, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love;" and the effect of it is, they are brought to know it in the day of time, by the new-creating, wonder-working power of the Holy Spirit. For what Jesus Christ was toward them, and for them before time, that he will most assuredly My soul through many changes goes, A few more rolling suns at most, There shall we see him who loved us |