1992 issue 3 - sermons of benjamin palmer: christ's love for his people - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1992 Issue 3 - Sermons of Benjamin Palmer: Christ's Love for His People - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/8

W e are pleased to announce a

newconttibutingwriter for

The

Counsel

oj Chalcedon. He is Rev. Benjamin

Morgan Pahner, (1818-1902), one of

the threemostimportantPresbyterian

ministers of the Nineteenth Century,

along with Dr. JameS

H.

Thomwell

and

Dr

.

Robert

L

Dabney. He was

one

of

the greatest preachers

of

the

first

twenty centuries of the Christian

era. For a third of

his

life he was the

devoted and dearlybeloved pastor of

First Presbyterian

hurch of New

Orleans, Louisiana.

Studying

his

lifeand

his sermons has

been one of the two

or

three most

important times in

my

life. As

one

has

written: His out

standing work was

that of apreacher-

speaking with an

eloquence that has

been rarely

q u a l e d the

glorious gospel of

theblessedGoci It

will

be n

honor

to

rneethimsome-day

in heaven.

Rev. Paliner's sermons

will

appear

frequently

in

the pages of our

magazine, with oIlly minor

editing.

Thousands, from all over the nation,

flocked to hear this man preach. The

common man, from all walks of

life

,

lovedhim. The entire nation mourned

at his death.

Because

we

are

not as

literate

shis

generation, it

will

take

time and effort

to

read

his

sermons;

but

it

will

be well worth it. I earnestly

pray the .Rev. Palmer's life and

preaching

will

affect you as it

has

me.

He being de d yet

spe keth

(JCM ill

h r i s t ~ Lave For His People

As

the Father hath

loved me, so

have I loved you.John 15:9

There

is

an amazing depth in the

GospelofJohn, whichrendersitalmost

hopeless of exposition.

The

other

Evangelists, indeed, present aperfect

portraiture

of

our Lord-throwing,

with artistic skill, feature

after feature

upon the canvas. They record His

miracleswithhistorica1 pre

cision,

and

recite

His

parables and

fragmentary

discourses with touching simplicity

and beauty. Yet their representation,

as compar

ed

with that of John, is

largely external. They present the

figure of Christ before

th

e eye with

such singular

attractiveness,

that we

instantly admire andadore. ButJohn

nestles in the Lord's

very

bosom, and

creeps

into

the Saviour's heart; whence

his

gentle voice breathes as

from

an

oracle the words

of

love

which are

8 t THE COUNSEL of OtaIcedon March, 1992

ever found in that

Saviour's heart.

So

that,

reading

the New Testament, we

pass

through the Gospels of

Matthew,

Mark and Luke, very much as the

priest

of

old passed through the

holy

place;

until inJohnwe find the holy of

holies of

the

Bible,itsinnermostshrine.

The transparent clearnessofJohn's

style, to acertain extent, also deceives

us. Asuperficial reading takes in the

import

of the

words so that we seem

to

understand, until

we begin to

reflect;

and the longer we

read, the

more

the

deeps open before

us-:-until, at length,

thought and reason

are swallowed up in

the vastness of the

revelation of this

rpystic andseer.

It

is

as though oneshould

stand and look up

into the clearbluesky

above;

which parts

before the eye, and

the sight

is

nowhere

hindered, hutpierces

onwardand upward,

until visionandfancy

are lost in the

immensity of space.

Just

so,

you and I kneel at the edge of

one

of

those sublime utterances of

Christ, which are reported by John;

and as we look, we seem

to

ga

te into

the very depths of eternity.

To

take

up, then,

these

thoughts, to pass them

throughtheprismofouranalysis,and

then to throwtheminto ogical forms ,

would

seem

almost profane in

its

coldness. Yet it is the hard condition

o f a n e a n h l y k n o w l e d g e t h U s t o ~ l y z e

and to

exp

l

ore;

and our only hope

is

afterwards

to

re-cornbine the

elements


2/8

which

we have

separated, and

to

glow

with a warmer devotion than

before.

The text is a beautiful illusu'ation of

this: As

the

Father hath loved me, so

have

I loved you. How simple the

statement. and yet how deep the

sentiment One can never exhaust

its

fullness.

Evidently. there are two senses

in

which the

Father may

mediator; opening the way for us to

see how upon precisely the same

grounds Christ loves His people. :As

the Father hath love me, so have

I

loved

you.

1. The

Father has infinite delight

in the

LordJeslIs

Christ,

as

He

is

the

representative

and

type of what

hllman nature in its peifection is.

Lord

Christ intervenes, taking upon

Him our nature;

and beingfound

in

fas/lion as

a

man, He

presents Himself

beforetheeyeofHisFather. the perfect

man. His

understanding. how

clear

His

affections.

how pure His will.

howconstantandfree Hisconsdence.

how

clean

What exactsymmetty in

all His powers How endUring in

suffering How patient in toil How

gentle. withoutweakness

be said to

love

the

Son:

either.

as

He

is

the only

begotten in

the mystery

of the adorable T inity;

or

else, as the

incarnate

Word,

achieving

here

upon earth the work of

our redemption. The

first

entirely surpasses

our conception. Who

can 'JlndouttheAlmighty

unto peifection? It is as

highasheaven;whatcanst

thoudo?

Deeperthanhell;

what canst

thou

know?

The

measure

thereof

is

longer

than

the

earth,

and

broader

than

the

sea.

Gob

11:7-9)

Itisjustas

Jifi,

my brethren/ taK ? the thought home

to

your own comfort,

that

Jesus has a

true sympathy with

you

in

your

struggfes

How forgiving. without

meanness

And so. as

the

typical man. as the true

ideal of the race

to

which

youandlbelong. Hestood

before His Father and

represented humanity in

its original

glory;

and the

Father renewed the joy

which He felt at the

creation. whenHe looked

upon this representative

of Himself and "behold it

was

very

good."

to

be

good.

'Everywhere

efSe

man

irufs

himselfrejecteri

despiseri

when

he comes

with confessions ofunworthiness andof

shame. tJ3ut when we Q1ee[at

the

mercy

seat,

this typica[representative

of

our

race

yieUs asympathy as rea{ with us

In like manner

Christians are dear to

Christ. because they

also

represent human nature

.

n

our SInS as

n

our

sorrows.

impossible for the finite to

comprehend the

holy commerce

of

the three, as it is to penettate the

undivided essence of the

one.

It

would seem rather to be the other,

which our Lord intends in the text.

For, in the verse immediately

following. He refers

to the obedience

which

He Himself

rendered

to

the

Father. in the discharge of His

mediatorial

functions: If

ye

keep

my

commandments, ye shall abide in my

love; even as

I

have

kept

my Father's

commandments, and

abide

in His

love.

Under thisview, then, my hearers, let

us attempt to consider upon what

grounds

the

Father loves

Christ,

the

At

the Creation. God sawall His

works that

they were

good; and He

pronounced this benediction with a

peculiar emphasis after the work of

the sixthday. whenHe hadmade man

in His own image and after His own

likeness.

He

had

created

the earth as

an

august

temple.

and placed man

within itas

the high

priest

to

conduct

its worship; that. looking

all

around

upon nature, He might gather her

beauties upon the mirror of his own

soul. and then cast the reflection back

upon

God

in solemn and holy chants

of

praise.

Butsin

reversed all

this. and

man

was himself the gloomiest

wreck

of the whole. In

this

emergency the

in its restoration. The life which has

been implanted witllin them by the

power

of

the Holy Ghost. is

developed-ffi that.frombeingbabes

in Christ.

theybecomeatlength perfect

men in Christ Jesus. In

all

the

stages

of theirgrowthingrace. theyapproach

nearer to their type; continuing.

through

all

the

ages.

thatwhichJesus

Christ began

upon

the

earth-

representing to angels above what

human nature shall be made to be

when that Spirit has completed his

work upon

all

its powers.

Ah.

my

brethren;

take

the thought home to

your own comfort, that Jesus has a

true sympathy with you in your

March, 1992

TIlE

COUNSEL ofCha1cedon 9


3/8

struggles to

be

good.

Everywhere else

rule.

As

soon

however

as

you

,enter

m n inds

himself

rejected,

despised, within the

law itself, you discover

that

when

he

comes with confessions of in

its

interior aspect , t

is

]

ehovah s

unworthinessandofshame. Butwhen solemn assertion of Himself,

we kneel at the mercy

seat,

this

typical

construing His own perfections

to

representative of our

race yields

a human thought

Hence

, obedience

sympathy

as

real with us in our

sins,

must be estimated-not

only

as

the

as

in our sorrows.

No

other being in doing

of

a right

external thing

in

all

this vast universe

is able to

put a

obedience to an express

command-

lovingandahelpfularrnaroundus,in but

as

being the hearty response of

continually presented

in

Scripture

as

the object of the '

Father s

delight.

~ T h e r e f o r e doth my Father

love,

mt

becau.s

ellay

down

my life that

l

might

takeit again-

-- this

commilndment have

I

received of my Father:

,

(John

10

:17,18) Throughout

His

earthly

ministry, he refers the

glory

of

His

rnirac1es,andthegloryofHisdoctrines,

to the Father that sent Him;

the moments when we

sin; and still more, in

the moments of our

penitence when we

confess the shame with

which

we are

overwhelmed. The

blessed Redeemer,

because He is the true

typical man, has a

sympathywithyou and

with me in our battle

withsin,inourstruggles

with temptation, in our

resistance

of

the world

and of

Satan;

and

all

the

more, because

He

sees

what He

has Himself

restored, and what

is

the continuation upon

earth of thatwhich

He,

inHislleshcommenced.

AstheFalher

hath loved me, so

have

lloved you

.

n TheFatherdelightsintheLord

Jesus Christ, becauseo}Hisobedience.

I am persuaded that we look at

thelawtoomuchinitsexternalaspect,

as merely mapping out therelationsin

which we stand to

society

and

to

God,

and prescribing various

classes

of

duties.

All

perfectly true, in

so

far

as

this law becomes the

chart

of human

conduct: but then

we are

in

this,

standing outsideof thelaw, viewingit

only in its power of direction and

of

recognizirtg that

subordination ,of

office

which, in

the

economy

of

redemption,

he

sustains to Him.

]ustso,

~

the Lord

Jesus delight

in

the

obedienceofHispeopl.

True, it

is

short and

imperfect;

and God

and

we

alone know how

honestand

how

deep are

theconfessionswhich.we

pour into his ear at the

mercy seat, .over the

imperfe,ction of

that

obedience yrhich we

render.

Therefore

it

is,

: , that weare

not

scorched

and withered by the

our own nature

to

the perfections of

revilings

of

the

world;

fo

rwhen, with

God.

Thereis an

external

aspect to the

its

serpent tongue, it

hisses

in our ear

obedience,aswellasan

externalaspect its

rebuke and scorn,

w we

have

to

the law which commands the

gone

down, far deeper than

they

have

obedience.

Theobediencewhichrises

ever

been

able to object against

us,

into the majesty of worship, is the into the meanness of our sin. '

Long

obedience which

God

recognizes

as

before they

brought

the

indictment,

the

echo

orHis

own voice

in the

we

have spread it'in

tears

before

the

exposition of Himself. As he stamps,

ey

e of our Father in

Heaven; untU

he

one by one, and

aU

together, the has

sweedy

said, thy sins

which

are

perfections

ofHis nature upon statute

many be forgiven thee

,

go

in

peace.

and upon sanction,

we

, in our sphere Thus

we

stand

erect,

'

even When

the

ofobedience, respond in our thought world stones us with

itsbitter

and in our

affection

to

all

that

we

accusations and innuendoes. Short

discover : Upon this ground, the and imperfect as we confe it to be, it

obedience of the Lord Jesus

is is

nevertheless obedience; ' and

1

TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon March, 1992


4/8

obedience generous and free, an

obedience which springs from the

principle

of love

implanted in the

soul, an obedience which is

the

true

response of our rectified nat].lre to all

that the lawreveals to

us

of

God.

Our

divine Lord and Master

loves

us for

our obedience, precisely on the same

ground thauhe

Father loved

Him, for

His obedience. And then, Ollr

obedience is a continuation

of

that

which ChriStbegan, and bywhich

He

magnified the law and made it

honorable. Have

you

forgotten how

the

Lord identifies

Himself

with

His

people, making them the

representatives

of

Himself in His

person, in

His

work, and in His cause

here upon

the

earth? The feeblest of

believers inthe feebleness ofhis walk

does

yet in

so far

as

he renders an

obediencewhichis theresponse

of

his

own soul to the nat].lre

of

God as

revealed

in the law-continue in its

manifestation before the world that

glorious righteousness by which the

law of

God

was perfectly honored

through Christ

Himself.

m.

TheFatherlovestheMediator,

for

His

m zing

sacrifice

in the

redemption

of

lost world.

There is a generosity in self

sacrifice,

which

always

appeals to the

sensibilities of the

good;

and in none

ofits

forms,

however

low, as

you view

them upon the earth

are

you able to

withhold your eulogy. It may be the

self-sacrifice

of the mother, who,

through anxiety and toil, by day and

by night,

sacrifices

her comfort and

her

ease for

her

child.

It may be the

self-sacrifice

of the

father,

shown in

the labors which are perpetually

exactinguponhisfeebleframethrough

a long life, just that he

may leave

an

inheritance

for

his offspring and

emancipate them from the toil by

whichhis own body

has

been racked.

Itmaybetheself-sacrificeofthepatriot,

who willingly surrenders life and

fortune for the redemption and

independence of

his

country.

Or t

may be the self-sacrifice of the

missionary, who, leaving home and

its endearments, and

even

the sound

of his native tongue, goes

to

the ends

of the earth, ifhaply hemay cause the

desert to bloom as the

garden

of the

Lord. But

wherever you

find

the spirit

of self-abnegation, you

find

that upon

which human praise is continually

poured.

But,

my brethren,where

was

there

ever self-sacrifice

like thatof our

Lord; so free, there being no

compulsory necessity upon Him

to

offer

Hirnselfasubstitute forthe

guilty;

so

extreme in its condescension,

for

"He took not upon Him the nature of

angels,

but the seed ofAbraham," "made

Himselfof

no

reputation,

and took upon

Him thefonn

ofaservant, andwasmade

in

the likeness ofmen; andbeingfound

in

fashion as man,

He

hwnbled Himself,

and

became

obedient

unto

death,

even

the death of the

Cross.

(Phil.

2:7,8)

How agonizing too, the sufferings he

endured; sufferings which can never

be measured by human thought, not

expressed

in human language, until

you have penetrated the mystery of

that word uttered upon the Cross,

"My God,

my

God

whyhastthouforsaken

me "

And a

sacrifice

rendered

for

sinners, who had completelyforfeited

every

claim upon

His

forbearance or

Hismercy. Lookattheself-abnegation

of our blessed

Lord,

when

He

laid

aside the

glory

whichHe had with the

Father before the world

was,

and not

only

came

into the world which

His

power had built and assumed the

condition of a creature, but actually

went under the law and endured the

curse and shame of sin

for

us, that we

might be made tile righteousness of

God

in

Him.

And now, shall not the

generosity

of this

sacrifice

of our Lord

for

a wretched and doomed world,

appeal with all its force to the

magnanimity of the etemal Father?

How shall the great God fail to regard

hisSon with anything ess than infinite

delight, when He contemplates tile

nobleness of that sacrifice which he

offered

llP once

for all,

in the enq. of

the world,

to

take away sin.

Brethren, shall we not be allowed

to

say

in the presence of the world

that,just in so

far as

we are Christians

atall,areweanimated by hisprinciple

ofself-abnegation andsacrifice? Why,

your Christian

life

began with the

solemn consecration

of

yourself to

Him who bought you with His

precious blood. The language which

burst

from

you heart in the moment

when you embraced your Lord, was

the language of Paul, "Lord, what wilt

thouhaveme todo." Itwas tllelanguage

of

hitn

of old declaring, "other

Lords

besides Thee

have h d dominion over

us;

but

by

Thee onl will

we make

mention

of

Thy name." (Is. 26:13)

"As

forme and

my house,wewillserve the Lord. (Joshua

24: 15) Step by step, as you track your

experience from the beginning

to

the

close, is

it marked by

this

principle of

self-renunciation in giving

to God

tile

praise ofyoursalvation. The spiritual

life which

is

breathed into you,

is

the

life

of Christ which the Holy Spirit

imparts. The strength by which you

perform duty and resist temptation

and secure triumph, is the strength

which the Saviour

gives

through the

power of the Holy Ghost. And the

glory

upon which we enter at the last,

as we rise into the presence of our

March, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon

11


5/8

Lord,

is

the glory which the Saviour

has gone before and prepared for

them that

love

Him. The language of

all Christian experience in

all

the

ages,

whether onearth orinheavllIl, illbe,

"not unto us, not unto us,

but

unto Thy

name

be the

glory.

The

Lord,

with

is

eye of omniscietlce looking into the

depths of he Christianheart,discovers

there this principle of sacrifice. It

imparts a glory even to

this ragged, ravelled

work of ours, over

which we weep tears

of penitence and

shame; and causes the

great Redeemer to hold

it

up

before

is

eye,

and give us His

blessing. Imperfect as

the work may be, it is a

work of sacrifice like

His own; perpetuating

upon the earth the

principle

of

self

abnegation which the

Lord Himself so

c

onsp

icu

ous ly

illustrated. Hence,

Paul says in the first

chapter ofhis epistle to

the Colossians;

who

now rejoice nmy

sufferings

for

you, and

fill

up thdtwhich is

behindoftheafflictions

of

Christ in my flesh for His

body's

sake,

which is the Church.

Colossians

1:24)

Nevetdidyougive a cup of coldwater

to a disciple in the name of a disciple,

never

did you practice economy in

your home, or upon your person, that

you might

have

something to give to

the cause of Jesus,-never did you

sacrifice a

feeling

ofresentment under

the wrongs which you suffer in

life,

but

the Lord upon

is

throne looks

upon it as the manifestation of the

sameSpiritwhichmovedhim,"though

He

was rich, for

our

sakes to become

poor,

that

we

through His poverty might

be rich.' (nCor.8:9)

Brethren,

take

your shame, if God appoints it asyour

lot, and bind it upon you for a

crown.

Take your sufferings, if God appoints

these

to

you, and,

like

Paul

of

old,

glory in your tribulation. f your

home bemadea chamelhouse, where

you are surrounded more by the

memories of your dead than by living

forms

beautiful to the eye, r ~ o i e in

that you are sharers of your Lord's

work in

sacrifice;

holding it up

in

memorial before the

eyes

of

men,

and

causingthemtorecognizetheprinciple

for

which the

Saviour was

most

loved

by the Father.

N

he

Father has

inexpressible delight

in the Lord

Jesus,

as the Head in

who ,

is

restored the unity of the Creation.

Sin, just like a cruel blade, which

cuts between bone and sinew, flesh

12

f

m

COUNSEL of Chalcedon f March 1992

andmarrow, how

divisive it-is

What

a fearful

sch:i.Sm.

has

it

wrought upon

this

earthof ours It has not only

separated man

from

God,

but it has

put barriers between man and

all

God's

creatures. The open sch:i.Sm.

between

rilan

arid

the

angels

; some

have thought to be symbolized in the

Cherubimandflamingsword tUrning

every way, which guarded the tree of

life; lest man should

put the climax to his

apostaSy,anddare the

powerofGodineating

of the sacramentaltree

after .his fall. It

was

most certainly

. ntimated, when man

vias driven from

paradise; each footfall

of the

guilty

pair, s

they wandered from

the beautiful Eden,

waking up the

echoes

of avacant world. It

is

this schism between

man and the very

,beasts of the earth,

which compels the

fonner tb retain his

jurisdiction over

the

latter,onlythroughan

everlasting

contest of mental power

with physical

force. But

in that

exigency, when sin had dislocated

this

earth and set

all

parts of it awry,

the LordJesus came . Behold Him in

HiSswift condescerision.

as

He passes

through

all

the

grades

of intellectual

being, until he finds man down there

at

the very bottom oftbescale; plainly

shOwing that in his entire descent

through these intervening gradeS,

He

took

them all up and folded them

within

Himself,

and thUs,byvittue of

His very incarnation, becomes the

head of the whole Creation of God. I


6/8

cannotgo

largely

into itas a doctrine,

touching it only by a side

reference

here; but every intelligent reader of

the Scriptures knows how constantly

this headship of thewrd]esus, which

He has acquired as the Redeemer, is

emphasized.

He raised

Himfrom

the

dead,

says Paul in is

Epistle

to the

Ephesians,

and

set

Him

at

His

own

right hand in the heaYen/y places,

far

above all

prindpalilJ

and

power,

and

might

and dominion, and every

name

that is named, not only in t is world, but

also

in that which is to come: and hath

pul all things under His feet, and gave

Him to be

the

head over

all

things to the Church,

which

is His body, the

fullnessofHimthatfilleth

all in

all.

(Ephesians

1:20-23) Again he

writesto theColossians,

Ye are complete in Him,

which

is the head of

all

prindpali/J

and

power.

(Colossians 2:10) Or,

as Peter puts

it: ''who

is

gone into

Heaven,

and is

on

the

right

hand of

God;

angelsandauthoritiesand

powers

being made

subject unto Him. n

I

Peter

3:22)

And is not

Christ a beauty in His

Father's eye, when He

recovers

the

universe from the divisive influences

of

sin,

and binds aU in a holy unity

again; presenting Himself before the

Father as the representative of the

whole creation,

made

one by

redeeming

grace, as

before it

was

one

by creative power?

What does fue Church

symbolize

in her spiritual unity, but this great

idea which the Lord ] esus has

accomplishedandwhichHemeansto

perpetuate through

us?

Even the

visible Church with all her

imperfections, with all tile discords

which springup in herbosom, strives

to

realize the same in her visible

unity-mind clashing with mind and

thought separating from thought, yet

all fused together into spiritual and

blessed onenesswhenever you gather

around the wrd's table and touch

tllosesacramentalernblems--tlleonly

spot

upon

the earth where all

controversies

are

composed, and all

varieties

of

opinion are reconciled.

For this our Lord prays in the

memorable words: that they all may

be one,

as

Thou, Father,

art in Me, and I

in Thee,

that they also may be one in

Us:-al1d the glory

which

Thou gaYest

Me, Ihave

given

them; that they may be

one, even

as We

are

one."

(John

17:21,22)

Thus, mybrefuren, does

fue

wrd]esus

delight in us, even as

the Fafuer delights in Hin1; because

weare exhibiting

His

glory as the head

overall things to the Churm,wielding

universal aufuority to fue praiseof

His

Fafuer's name.

V. he

Father delights

irifinitely

in

Christ as working

out

the

revelation

ofHis

merry

grace and

law.

Perhaps it is true iliat wherever

there is thought, there is speech. The

two

seem inall history, as

far

as we can

trace it, to be

strangely coordinated.

Thought is always tending to its

expression. Thought leaps out and

putsona form,thatitmaygohere and

thereand everywherethrough nature,

andtouch theobjectwhichhasexcited

it. Thought must have its eyes wifu

whim

it can look upon

other minds, and a

tongue with whicll it

can break the silence

and hold communion

wifuofuersouls. There

is

an infinite fitness that

the great God who

thinks who is the

fountain and origin of

all thought, should

speak. But oh wifu

what a dialect does He

utter the immortal

thoughts

passing

through His mind He

creates worlds upon

worlds, filling all space

wifu these orbs which

are the objects of

our

scientific

investigation; and He creates the little

violet which blooms and

gives

forfu

its

perfume beneafu your

feet,

as you

are

about to tread upon it unseen.

These are the silent types, through

which the great] ehovahspeaks

to

tile

universeHisimmortalthoughts.

like

fuose pages that are prepared for fue

blind, stars, worlds, mountains,

oceans, seas,

animals,plants, minerals,

are

the raised type over which the

blind pass the little finger with its

March, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL

o

Chalcedon

1;3


7/8

delicate touch, and putting letter to

letter, read out the thought. Shall you,

shall I,

allow

a

skeptical

science to

separate the works of God from im

who is their author? Or are these

sciences, which constitute

the

glory of

our day,

but

the open

paths

by which

we ascend beyond nature

up

to

nature's God? We will re-write the

line of England's

pantheistic poet,

when

he says the

proper study of

mankind is man;" and

withourversionof he

truth, say, rather with

the first answer of our

own

catechism,

man's chief end

is

to

glOrify

God and

to

enjoy Him

forever."

e will wage war

against the divorce,

which men attempt,

between the works of

GodandtheGodwho

made the works.

These are God's

thoughts, expressedin

type which the

eye

shall trace and which

the

finger

shall feel.

Like the immortal

Newton, who, when he had placed

his scaling ladder against the skies in

his astronomical

investigations,

rose

above them in the heights

of

scientific

induction, and closed his immortal

demonstration with the scholium

(comment), there is a

God

:

But,

my

brethren, GodmayexpressHispower

in the works of creation; or His

thoughts ofgoodness and purposes of

will, in the

acts of

Providence;

or

He

may utter

His

truth and

His

justice in

the law; but thatlarger opening of the

infinite heart, through which

He

shall

pour out forever upon the universe

the

, reasures

of

His

love,

calls for a

personal

manifestation.

TheSon, who

alone understood the nature of the

Father and could reveal it, Comes

from

the

bosom of that Father

to

declare Him; and because

of

this

revelation, the Father

loves Him.

I should like,

if

had time, to dwell

upon another shade

of

the

thought:

that Christ Jesus is far more

than

a

prophet, simplyutteringwith thelips

to us that God is .merciful and that

God is gracious; but that Hewent into

the working-house and

forge

of His

own passion, and there amidst the

fires

of sacrifice, wrought out the

principle of grace and forever

incorporated it with law as

an element

of

God's moral

government forever

andforever-potentiallyworkingout

themercysothatitshallbeanhistorical

1-4

' THE COUNSEL of OtaIcedon '" March, 1992

verity, and therefore mote easily

comprehended by us and more

perfectly

wrought

into our individual

experience.

Just

as the

Father

lo :res

Christ

for that, Christ, in His turn,

looks upon

His

Church and

loves

her

for

the

same

. That Church stands

before the

Redeemer,

not only

as

the

fruit

of

His sacrifice,

but the

preciOUS

. memorial of the mercy,

grace and love which

lay at the foundation of

that

sacrifice.

Willyou allow me to

hurry

to

a conclusion

by ' dwelling ,for a

moment upon the

peculiar

lmport of the

word As" in the text? It

is the particle of

comparison: ' . "As

'

th

Father

hath love me so

have

I loved

you

Oh

how it teaches us the

reality of Christ'slove to

His people

For, as the

Father'skivetoHimwas

areal love, of whichHe

the

S()n

;had an

inWard,

conscioUsness,

so; t is

our privilege

to

have an

abiding persuasion of

the Redeemer's love

to

us. Christ's

love to

His

Church is

as

real,

as the

love which the

Father

has to Him.

See

again,

howitdepicts theIiature

ofthislove.

The

Father's

love

to Christ

was

apersonal

love;

and Christ's

love

to

His

sheep is equally individual.

This is

the

sweetness

of t: 'that when

we were bleating in the cold, alone off

yonder upon the distant mountain;

the Good Shepherd

knew

His own,

and He

called

us by name and we

were

made to follow.

I am the Good


8/8

Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am

known o mine, and

they shall hear my

voice.

(John

10:14,16)

It

is

a

free love,

founded upon no

foresight of

goodness

in us, for when

we were

in our blood He passed by

and said unto us "live." See how the

Apostle puts it: For

if,

when we

were

enemies,

we

were recolldled,

we shall

be

saved

by His life. (Romans

5:10)

The

Father's

love to the Son is an

infinite

love, and

unchangeable in

its

duration.

So

is the love

which Christ

has for

His

people, a

love

that is

boundless and

without change. It is

sweetly

said

of Him, that having loved

His own,

He

loved

them

to

the

end.

Brethren, where

is

the end?

Look

Let

the clouds

part

before your eye beyond

the

horizon of time,

and gaze

down

the

vistas of what we

call

eternity, piercing

with your

view

through

the ages as

they

heap

upon the ages-:..say,

when

will

you come to the end? As longas eternity

lasts, or

the throne

abides upon which

He sits, shall this

Redeemer,

having

begun

to

love, love

to the

end.

And

so

love andheaven

are alikesecure

to -

conquerors while her, and

rejoicing

in

the

triumph of conquerors there.

.

And

then the

love of

the Father

to

Christ was the impulsive spring

of all

the obedience which He rendered to

His Father's

will:

And so

Christ's

love

to

us is the fountain and source ofall

the obedience which we seek to offer.

Oh Thismechanicalmorality-taking

the

dry

shell of a thing, and shutting

up thought and

feeling

and

desire

and

will and purpose in that external

mould, and taking the

brick after

it

h s

been bumtinthekiln,and

holding

it up before the great

God

and saying

tl13 t this is obedience Why,nothing

is

obedience

thatdoes notspring from

the heart,-justas these waters, which

theAlmighty h s

brewed

in thewomb

ofthe earth, spring

[rom tlle

fountains

which He has

placed

on a thousand

hillsides. Obedience is voluntary;

obedience is the homage of the

will

spontaneously rendered to God;

the

free

echo

which man's nature gives

to

thevoice

of

God

as

interpreted

to

Him

in

the

law.

As

the

Father's love to the

Son

was

the spring of

all tllat

Son's

obedience, so does Christ's loveforus

command our

obedience

in its tum.

We love Him,

because

He h s

loved

us;

and all duty

is

sweet, and

toil is

pleasure, when it

is

sanctified by the

love

from

which it splings.

Myunconverted friend, it

is

agreat

pleasure, even though

the

thing be

badly done, to preach God's precious

Gospel

to you.

I

take

you to record

tllat

my

llabit is rather to

woo

you, i

InlaY, with its attractive

voices,

rather

tllan to hold up the glittering sword

and hurl againstyou theanathelllaS of

the judgment. Would to heaven, I

had persuasion enough in my voice,

today, to

bring you

to

an acceptance

with us of these immense privileges

Oh, tllat

you with us could be made

willing in this, the day

of

His power,

to hold communion with tlle Father

and witll

the

Son and with the eternal

Spirit

and to know,

as

no other can

teach it to

you,

except the

Divine

Spirit Himself, what is that love of

Christ to the believer, which

He

compares the

Father's

love to Himself .Q

by Joe Morecraft

//I

usbands Wives

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March, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 5

1992 issue 3 - sermons of benjamin palmer: christ's love for his people - counsel of chalcedon

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