SERMON. HEB. IV. 15, 16. We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. THE humiliation of our blessed Saviour is at all times a subject worthy of our pious meditation. Whether we contemplate him enduring the temptation of Satan in the wilderness, or agonizing in the garden, or expiring on the cross, it is alike incumbent upon us to admire and adore the unsearchable riches of that grace, which caused him," who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righte ousness of God in him." That circumstance of our Lord's earthly pilgrimage, to the consideration of which we are more peculiarly summoned by the solemnities of the season of Lent, is his temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Three particulars here demand our attention. I. The manner of Christ's temptation: ---He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. II. The reason of Christ's temptation:-That he might be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. III. The result of Christ's temptation:-We may come boldly to the throne of grace, for the purpose of obtaining mercy and finding grace to help in time of need. In considering, first, the manner of Christ's temptation, we shall observe the order that we find in the narrative of the Evangelist Matthew, rather than that of St. Luke; there being a slight but unimportant difference in the arrangement of the circumstances which then took place. St. Mark's account is exceedingly concise. Immediately then after the baptism of Christ, by John, in the river Jordan, and the manifestation of the divine approval, by the visible descent of the Spirit, with the declaration of the celestial voice which proclaimed, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," we find Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. When he had continued forty days and forty nights in this dreary solitude, without any provision for the wants of that human nature, of which it is expressly stated by the Evangelist himself "that he took its infirmities, and bare its sicknesses," he sunk under the protracted privation, and was afterwards an hungered. This, then, was the moment which the subtle and insidious tempter selected for commencing his assault upon the Messiah. Taking advantage of that infirmity, by which he perceived that the Saviour's mortal frame was oppressed, and now almost overpowered, he came to him, and said, "If thou be the Son of God,"-if thou be indeed Jehovah's righteous servant, the Son in whom his soul delighteth, and to whom he has editions of the original were disposed of in Germany in the space of two years. 1. A Map, illustrating the Ministerial Journeys of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, constructed from the design of the Rev. J. C. Crosthwaite, A.M. by A. ARROWSMITH, Hydrographer to his Majesty. A. and S. Arrowsmith. Price 4s. 2. A Map, illustrating the Travels of St. Paul, constructed from the design of the Rev. J. C. Crosthwaite, A.M. by A. ARROWSMITH. A. and S. Arrowsmith. Price 4s. THESE two maps are highly creditable to the Rev. Mr. Crosthwaite (a clergyman of the church of Ireland), by whom they were originally designed, and they form a useful supplement to the atlasses to the Bible hitherto published; for though almost all of them have maps of Judæa adapted to the evangelical history, yet in no one of them do we recollect to have seen the several routes of our Saviour, and of the great apostle of the Gentiles, so clearly laid down as in Mr. Crosthwaite's maps. The addition of references to the various passages of the four Gospels, in which the ministerial journeys of Jesus Christ are narrated, and to those parts of the Acts and Epistles, in which the routes of St. Paul are either mentioned or described, greatly enhances the value of these maps, which are neatly engraved by the eminent hydrographer, Arrowsmith. An Apology for the Established Church in Ireland; being an Attempt to prove that its present state is more pure than in any period since the Reformation; in a Series of Letters addressed to the Earl of Mountcashel. By the Rev. HENRY NEWLAND, B.D. Vicar of Bannow. Dublin: Curry and Co.; London, Hurst, Chance, and Co. 1829. pp. 264. Price 5s. As the ecclesiastical affairs of Ireland will most probably be discussed in parliament before the publication of our next number, we cannot close this department of our journal for the present month without recommending Mr. Newland's important volume to the attentive perusal of all who take an interest in the welfare of the sister island. A large portion of his work is devoted to proving how very little the Protestant church in Ireland has benefited by her connexion with the state; and how LARGE A PORTION of her revenues was alienated by the ministers of the crown, in former times, which is now the property of laymen, who are actually in the receipt of tithes collected from six hundred and eighty parishes, to the amount of THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS per annum; while the entire income of all the Protestant bishops and clergy does not exceed that sum. Besides the amount of property just specified, laymen have become possessed of ONLY fourteen hundred and eighty glebes belonging to the church!!! Among many other interesting statements (and all Mr. Newland's statements are founded on facts), we may notice the truly gratifying circumstance, that the Protestants have not decreased, as the advocates of popery insinuate; but on the contrary, for nearly the last hundred and sixty years, that is, ever since the year 1672, they have kept, upon an average, the same proportionate ratio with the Romanist population, viz. as one to two and twothirds. Not fewer than six hundred and eighteen new churches have been erected since the Union of Ireland with Great Britain, besides ninetynine which have been enlarged in the same period; so that, in the short space of twenty-nine or thirty years, the bishops of the Protestant church in Ireland have accomplished almost as much as had been effected in the space of nearly three centuries. The important subjects of the diminution of unions of livings,-the state of curates, and the various efforts made by the clergy for the diffusion of education in Ireland, are severally discussed by Mr. Newland; who writes with the warmth of a man convinced of the goodness of his cause, and conscious that the conduct of the bishops and clergy of the Irish Protestant church needs only to be investigated, in order to be approved by every candid and dispassionate person. SERMON. HEB. IV. 15, 16. We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. THE humiliation of our blessed Saviour is at all times a subject worthy of our pious meditation. Whether we contemplate him enduring the temptation of Satan in the wilderness, or agonizing in the garden, or expiring on the cross, it is alike incumbent upon us to admire and adore the unsearchable riches of that grace, which caused him," who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righte ousness of God in him." That circumstance of our Lord's earthly pilgrimage, to the consideration of which we are more peculiarly summoned by the solemnities of the season of Lent, is his temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Three particulars here demand our attention. I. The manner of Christ's temptation: -- He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. II. The reason of Christ's temptation: -That he might be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. III. The result of Christ's temptation:-We may come boldly to the throne of grace, for the purpose of obtaining mercy and finding grace to help in time of need. In considering, first, the manner of Christ's temptation, we shall observe the order that we find in the narrative of the Evangelist Matthew, rather than that of St. Luke; there being a slight but unimportant difference in the arrangement of the circumstances which then took place. St. Mark's account is exceedingly concise. Immediately then after the baptism of Christ, by John, in the river Jordan, and the manifestation of the divine approval, by the visible descent of the Spirit, with the declaration of the celestial voice which proclaimed, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," we find Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. When he had continued forty days and forty nights in this dreary solitude, without any provision for the wants of that human nature, of which it is expressly stated by the Evangelist himself "that he took its infirmities, and bare its sicknesses," he sunk under the protracted privation, and was afterwards an hungered. This, then, was the moment which the subtle and insidious tempter selected for commencing his assault upon the Messiah. Taking advantage of that infirmity, by which he perceived that the Saviour's mortal frame was oppressed, and now almost overpowered, he came to him, and said, "If thou be the Son of God,"-if thou be indeed Jehovah's righteous servant, the Son in whom his soul delighteth, and to whom he has committed all power, both in heaven and in earth, exert that power for the relief of thy present necessities-" If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." But He, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, at once detected and defeated the deep-laid machinations of the adversary; he answered and said, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." How impressively does this admonish us, that no circumstances, even of extreme necessity, can palliate a compliance with the suggestions of the tempter, or justify a departure from confidence in God. Foiled in this first endeavour, and unable to overcome the Saviour by an appeal to the infirmities of his humanity, Satan had recourse to another, and a still more artful stratagem. "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God,❞—if thou art He to whom all the prophets bear witness, and in whom all the promises of the Scripture shall be fulfilled, give a proof of thy pretensions; shew that thou art the object of his peculiar carecast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." There is something peculiarly insidious in this proposal. By refusing to accede to it, our Lord might seem to admit or imply a doubt whether he were indeed the chosen of God; whether to him the prediction were truly applicable, and Jehovah would indeed interfere in his behalf. He might appear to be doubtful, either of the validity of his own mission, or of the favour of God. But how simple in itself, how confounding to the enemy, how worthy of Him, who spake as never man spake, is that dignified and godlike reply, It is written again," Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Yet the adversary, though repulsed, was not wholly confounded; though baffled, was not altogether subdued. He could neither persuade the Saviour to work a miracle for the supply of his exigencies, nor to make trial of the faithfulness of the divine promises; yet another, and a last effort remained. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Oh, impotent, as well as malignant artifice! Could the Son of God, who had dwelt from eternity in the bosom of the Father, and had glory with him before the world was-could he, who had been adored by angels and archangels, and all the host of heaven; of whom God had said, when he brought the first-born into the world, " And let all the angels of God worship him ;"-could he be moved by the passing grandeur of a perishable world? Could he be dazzled by that empty pomp of unsubstantial magnificence, which is indeed a vain shadow, wherein man disquieteth himself in vain? Blasphemous and profane imagination! an imagination fit only to be entertained by that Prince of Darkness; who, himself an eternal outcast from the presence of his Creator, could presume to bid his destined conqueror fall down and worship him. Then was it that the effulgence of the Deity burst through the enveloping mantle of the humanity, and the Son of God, manifesting his divine origin, and inherent omnipotence, rebuked the defeated adversary." Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." Such, according to the narrative of the Holy Evangelists, was the manner of our Lord's temptation. Into the peculiar mode of its operation upon his human body, or human soul; into the degree of suffering which he endured in the interval which preceded its commencement, as well as during its actual prosecution, it would not become us to inquire. Neither can we pretend to ascertain how far his feelings, under the assaults of temptation, would be in unison with our own; it is sufficient for us to know that which has been revealed for our consolation and encouragement, "that he was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin;" and that, wherein he himself hath suffered, "being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." We, therefore, pass on to the second point of consideration, viz.-The object of Christ's temptation. This is, that he might be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. The passage in our text, in connexion with many others which might be adduced, proves that Christ's assumption of the human nature, so far as it could be accomplished without relinquishing the attributes which are essential to, and inseparable from, Deity, was complete. Not only did he take upon him the infirmities, the privations, the sorrows of our mortal tabernacle; he entered even into our mental constitution, and sympathised, to a certain degree, with our spiritual difficulties and temptations. Of sin, indeed, the most formidable of those difficulties, and the most powerful of those temptations, he neither was, nor could be, a partaker; "he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners ;" "he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." He knew nothing of the turbulence of evil tempers, the heat of ungovernable passions, the tumult of irregular desires; he knew nothing of pride, and haughtiness, and vanity; nothing of malice, resentment, and revenge; nothing of rebellion, or worldliness, or unbelief. Rather it may be said, he experienced none of these, for he knoweth all things, and from him no secrets are hid; but it should be the consolation of the Christian that, though Christ was assimilated to our nature only in its capacity of suffering and of death, yet is he touched with the feeling of our infirmities; so touched, that he will always interfere for the deliverance of those who call upon him, not leaving them to be tempted above that they are able to bear, but making with the temptation a way to escape, that they may be able to bear it. It is because Christ is thus touched with a feeling of our infirmities, thus intimately and deeply interested in all the trials of those who are numbered among his true disciples, that temptation, however painful and unwelcome in itself, becomes beneficial in its result; for the trial of our faith worketh patience, and blessed is the man that endureth temptation. All must be, at one period or another, exposed to its dangerous influence; yet, however strong the temptation be in itselfor however weak that barrier of our hearts, against which its efforts are peculiarly directed, we have a never-failing resource in Christ. |