66 "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust."* And being thus partakers they are begotten again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven," for them "who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." ."† For next, saith the apostle, our fellowship is not with the Father only, but also with his Son Jesus Christ. He and his Father indeed are one; one divine nature, one Godhead: but they are distinct persons, and it is through the Son that Christians have "access by one Spirit to the Father." + However, besides the fellowship which they have with the Son, viewed simply as God, there is to be considered, the fellowship which they have with him also as God Man and Mediator. In this character also, the only begotten of the Father peculiarly loves his people, and is beloved by them; and in this character especially, it is written of him, "In all their affliction he was * 2 Peter i. 4. + 1 Peter i. 3-5. Eph. ii. 18. afflicted:"* "that they are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones:"† that he "abideth in them, and they in him," and that "without him" or out of him " they can do nothing." "God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself."§ "Behold," he says, "my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth." He is the one appointed Atonement, Priest, and Advocate. If Christians have fellowship with him as such, then whatsoever interest he has with God; whatsoever there is in him that is well pleasing to God; whatsoever treasures he hath at his disposal, in all they have co-partnership and are sharers. One sentence of St. Paul may suffice to teach us this. "Of God, he, Jesus Christ, is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." ¶ Of all these things, his people stand in the utmost need: in themselves they have none of them, but he hath them all in absolute fulness and perfection; and therefore if he is theirs, and they his, in him, and through his munificent bounty and free love, they also shall have them all. "I will bring the blind," he says, " by a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight." "Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind, that ye may see." Because Christ is the light, "in his light they shall see light;"† and, as he says to them himself, "because I live, ye shall live also." Merit or righteousness they have none: but if they have fellowship with him, he hath abundance; and they are "complete in him, who is the head of all principality and all power." § "This is my beloved Son," saith God, "in whom I am well pleased." || Then if any man have fellowship with this Son, with him is God well pleased also. "When I am weak," says St. Paul, "then am I strong." But how is this? Doubtless, because his self-distrust obliged him to cast himself upon Christ; and then he "strong in the Lord, and in the power Briefly, whatsoever Jesus Christ is to God, in whatsoever relation he stands to him, and whatsoever he can command, into that same condition will he bring his peo was of his might."* *, Isa. xlii. 16. 18. ** + Ps. xxxvi. 9. § Coloss. ii. 10. ¶ 2 Cor. xii. 10. Eph, vi. 10. ple, and all those treasures he is ready to lavish forth upon them. If he is beloved, so are they; if he is a son, so is each of them; "if he hath led captivity captive and received gifts," he hath received those gifts for them; if he hath the Spirit, they shall have him too; if he is conqueror over all his foes, they have conquered in him on their behalf he hath " destroyed him that hath the power of death, that is the devil;"† and to every one among them "that overcometh, will he grant to sit with him in his throne, even as he also overcame, and is sat down with his Father in his throne."‡ Now, saith the apostle, lastly, "these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full:" and if by his writing he hath brought us to the knowledge of these privileges, what is there wanting to the perfection of our happiness, but that we should simply take what God is ready to bestow. On his part there is nothing wanting. If Christians are indeed what their name imports, they are now at this time passed from "death unto life;" even "now are they the sons of God," § and heirs of a kingdom. And with the hope of immortality before them; the Spirit of God for the companion of their pil+ Heb. ii. 14. § 1 John. iii. 2. * Psal. lxviii. 18. 66 grimage; the power, and the providence, and the wisdom, and the love, and the truth, and the faithfulness of God, all pledged to bless them in every thing, and by every thing, which they have or which befalls them, what is there more to long for, save the coming of that glorious day, when what they now see through a glass darkly, shall be seen face to face?"* Or if the rich man will glory in his riches, and the mighty man in his might, and the prosperous man in his worldly successes, what is the joy of them all put together to that "secret of the Lord which is with them that fear him," to the joy which the Christian may experience in the consciousness of God's love to him, and in the believing contemplation of the inheritance which that love hath laid up in store for him. But let me now bring you back to the foundation of all these things, and remind you how they must be sought. The root is the doctrine of this Christmas Day. The doctrine which I have brought before you of God's manifestation in the flesh. Not only are you to understand, that every thing comes to you from God through his only begotten Son: you must bear it in mind moreover, that he who was in the form of God, 66 * 1 Cor. xiii. 12. |