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 Notes

Chapter 6 Organizing and Staffing

The Process of Organizing
Fundamental Concepts and Principles
The Span of Management
Line and Staff Relationships
The Dual Pyramid form of Organization in Health
Care
Basic Departmentation
Specific Scheduling
Flexibility in Organizational Structure
The Organizational Chart
The Job Description
The Management Inventory
The Credentialed Practitioner as Consultant
The Independent Contractor
Guidelines for Contracts and Reports
Exercise: Creating Organizational Charts
Exercise: Developing a Job Description
Appendix 6–A: Sample Contract for a Health
Information Consultant
Appendix 6–B: Sample Cover Letter and Report

Chapter 7 Committees and Teams

The Nature of Committees
The Purposes and Uses of Committees
Limitations and Disadvantages of Committees
Enhancement of Committee Effectiveness
The Committee Chairperson
Committee Member Orientation
Minutes and Proceedings
Where Do Teams Fit In?
As Employee Involvement Increases
Employee Teams and Their Future

8
 Exercise: Committee Structures
Case: The Employee Retention Committee Meeting

Chapter 8 Budget Planning and Implementation

The Revenue Cycle
The Budget
Uses of the Budget
Budget Periods
Types of Budgets
Approaches to Budgeting
The Budgetary Process
Capital Expenses
Supplies and Other Expenses
The Personnel Budget
Direct and Indirect Expenses
Budget Justification
Budget Variances
The General Audit
Sample Budget: Health Information Service
Exercise: Adjusting the Budget

Chapter 9 Training and Development: The Backbone of

Motivation and Retention
Employee Development
Orientation
Training
Mentoring
Clinical Affiliation/Clinical Practice Program and
Contract
Exercise: What to Do When Budget Cutting
Threatens Training?
Case: The Department’s “Know-It-All”
Appendix 9–A: Training Design: Release of
Information

Chapter 10 Adaptation, Motivation, and Conflict Management

9
 Adaptation and Motivation
Theories of Motivation
Practical Strategies for Employee Motivation
Appreciative Inquiry
Motivation and Downsizing
Conflict
Organizational Conflict
Discipline
The Labor Union and the Collective Bargaining
Agreement
Labor Unions in Health Care: Trends and Indicators
Case: A Matter of Motivation: The Delayed
Promotion
Case: Charting a Course for Conflict Resolution
—“It’s a Policy”
Notes
Appendix 10–A: Sample Collective Bargaining
Agreement

Chapter 11 Communication: The Glue That Binds Us

Together
A Complex Process
Communication and the Individual Manager
Verbal (Oral) Communication
Written Communication
Communication in Organizations
Orders and Directives
Case: The Long, Loud Silence
Case: Your Word Against His
Notes

Chapter 12 The Middle Manager and Documentation of

Critical Management Processes
The Strategic Plan
The Annual Report
The Executive Summary

10
 Major Project Proposal
Business Planning for Independent Practice
The Due Diligence Review
Exercise: Preparing Your Business Plan
Appendix 12–A: Newman Eldercare Services, Inc.:
Strategic Plan
Appendix 12–B: Annual Report of the Health
Information Services
Appendix 12–C: Executive Summary: Annual Report
of the Health Information Services
Appendix 12–D: Sample Project Proposal for Funding

Chapter 13 Improving Performance and Controlling the

Critical Cycle
Quality, Excellence, and Continuous Performance
Improvement
The Search for Excellence: A Long and Varied
History
The Management Function of Controlling
Benchmarking
Tools of Control
The Critical Cycle
Exercise: Choosing an Adequate Control Mechanism
—What Fits Best?
Exercise: Promoting Total Quality Management
Note

Chapter 14 Human Resources Management: A Line

Manager’s Perspective
“Personnel” Equals People
A Vital Staff Function
A Service of Increasing Value
Increase in Employee-Related Tasks
Learning about Your Human Resources Department
Putting the Human Resources Department to Work
Some Specific Action Steps

11
 Further Use of Human Resources
Wanted: Well-Considered Input
Understanding Why as Well as What
Legal Guides for Managerial Behavior
An Increasingly Legalistic Environment
Emphasis on Service
Case: With Friends Like This ...
Case: The Managerial “Hot Seat”
Note

Chapter 15 Day-to-Day Management for the Health

Professional-as-Manager
A Second and Parallel Career
Two Hats: Specialist and Manager
A Constant Balancing Act
The Ego Barrier
The Professional Managing the Professional
Leadership and the Professional
Some Assumptions about People
Style and Circumstances
The Professional and Change
Methods Improvement
Employee Problems
Communication and the Language of the Professional
An Open-Ended Task
The Next Step?
Case: Professional Behavior—The Bumping Game
Case: Delegation Difficulties—The Ineffective
Subordinate
Notes

Index

12
 Preface

This book is intended for healthcare professionals who regularly

perform the classic functions of a manager as part of their job duties—
planning, organizing, decision making, staffing, leading or directing,
communicating, and motivating—yet have not had extensive
management training. Healthcare practitioners may exercise these
functions on a continuing basis in their roles as department directors
or unit supervisors, or they may participate in only a few of these
traditional functions, such as training and development of unit staff. In
any case, knowledge of management theory is an essential element in
professional training, because no single function is ever addressed
independently of all others.
In this book, emphasis is placed on definitions of terms, clarification
of concepts, and, in some cases, highly detailed explanations of
processes and concepts. The examples reflect typical practices in the
healthcare setting. However, all examples are fictitious and none are
intended as legal, financial, or accreditation advice.
Every author must decide what material to include and what level of
detail to provide. The philosopher and pundit Samuel Johnson
observed, “A man will turn over half a library to make one book.” We
have been guided by experience gained in the classroom, as well as in
many training and development workshops for healthcare
practitioners. Three basic objectives determined the final selection and
development of material:

1. Acquaint the healthcare practitioner with management concepts

essential to the understanding of the organizational environment within
which the functions of the manager are performed. Some material
challenges assumptions about such concepts as power, authority,
influence, and leadership. Some of the discussions focus on
relatively new concepts such as appreciative inquiry approaches to
motivation and conflict management, cultural proficiency and
diversity training, changes in credentialing, and job duties of
technical support personnel. Practitioners must keep abreast of

13
 developing trends in management, guarding against being “the
last to know.”
2. Provide a base for further study of management concepts. Therefore,
the classic literature in the field is cited, major theorists are noted,
and terms are defined, especially where there is a divergence of
opinion in management literature. We all stand on the shoulders
of the management “giants” who paved the way in the field; a
return to original sources is encouraged.
3. Provide sufficient detail in selected areas to enable the practitioner to
apply the concepts in day-to-day situations. Several tools of planning
and control, such as budget preparation and justification, training
design, project management, special reports (e.g., the annual
report, a strategic plan, a due diligence assessment, a consultant’s
report), and labor union contracts, are explained in detail.

We have attempted to provide enough information to make it

possible for the reader to use these tools with ease at their basic level.
It is the authors’ hope that the readers will contribute to the literature
and practice of healthcare management as they grow in their
professional practice and management roles. We are grateful to our
many colleagues who have journeyed with us over the years and shared
their ideas with us.
Joan Gratto Liebler
Charles R. McConnell

14
 About the Authors

Joan Gratto Liebler, MA, MPA, RHIA, is Professor Emerita, Health

Information Management, at Temple University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. She has more than 36 years of professional experience in
teaching and research in healthcare settings. In addition to teaching,
her work and consulting experience include engagement with
community health centers, behavioral health settings, schools,
industrial clinics, prisons, and long-term care, acute care, and hospice
facilities. She has also been an active participant in area-wide
healthcare planning, end-of-life care coalitions, and area-wide
emergency and disaster planning.
Ms. Liebler is also the author of Medical Records: Policies and
Guidelines and has authored numerous journal articles and contributed
chapters relating to health information management.
Ms. Liebler holds the degrees of Master of Arts (concentration in
Medical Ethics), St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and Master of Public Administration, Temple
University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a credentialed
Registered Health Information Administrator.

Charles R. McConnell, MBA, CM, is an independent healthcare

management and human resources consultant and freelance writer
specializing in business, management, and human resources topics. For
11 years he was active as a management engineering consultant with
the Management and Planning Services (MAPS) division of the
Hospital Association of New York State (HANYS), and he later spent
18 years as a hospital human resources manager. As author, coauthor,
and anthology editor, he has published more than 30 books and has
contributed several hundred articles to various publications. He is in
his 35th year as editor of the quarterly professional journal The Health
Care Manager.
Mr. McConnell received a Master of Business Administration and a
Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the State University
of New York at Buffalo.

15
 What’s New in the Seventh Edition

Management Principles for Health Professionals, Seventh Edition continues

to present foundational principles of management in the context of
contemporary health care. The Seventh Edition reflects current issues
by linking them to basic principles. Newly added examples include
corporate compliance, standards of conduct and mandatory reporting,
eHealth (its expansion, plus issues relating to reimbursement), revenue
cycle considerations, cultural competency and diversity training, and
comparative effectiveness reviews. There is continuing expansion of
material relating to the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), electronic health records/personal health
records, due diligence reviews, and healthcare reform legislation.
Examples and exhibits have been updated throughout. Examples
reflect a wide variety of settings, including acute care, observation
units, urgent care, rural critical access care facilities, neighborhood
health centers, secure personal care units, continuing care facilities,
and rapid treatment centers. These examples feature various patient
groups, including the frail elderly, at-risk youth, and homeless youths
and adults. A full-scale plan, with 500-day implementation schedule, is
included to illustrate project management. Newly emerging
jobs/positions are included, such as compliance officer, privacy
specialist, data quality and analysis specialist, and contractual
management teams.

SPECIFIC CHAPTER UPDATES

Chapter 1, “The Dynamic Environment of Health Care,” presents a
template for analyzing megatrends in health care with attention to
clients, families as caregivers, professional practitioners, the healthcare
marketplace and settings, the impact of technology (including eHealth
and virtual health), data mining, the health information exchange, and
social/cultural factors. An expanded section on financing and
reimbursement is included. The characteristics of the effective

16
manager are delineated.
Chapter 2, “The Challenge of Change,” includes detailed examples
relating to the continued implementation of the electronic health
record (including outreach campaigns and meaningful use initiatives),
the organizational restructuring resulting from marketplace forces, and
continuing impact of healthcare reform legislation.
Chapter 3, “Organizational Adaptation and Survival,” includes
expanded discussion of competition and adversarial relationships.
Extensive analysis of the effects of mergers, partial or full closure of a
facility, and the final stages in the organizational life cycle is made. The
main features of the manager’s concerns and activities during this
phase are amplified.
Chapter 4, “Leadership and the Manager,” was formerly Chapter
12, “Authority, Leadership, and Supervision.” The material concerned
with knowing one’s own leadership style has been expanded.
Information presented on orders and directives has been moved to
Chapter 11, “Communication,” and the discussion of supervision and
discipline has been moved to Chapter 10, “Adaptation, Motivation, and
Conflict Management.”
Chapter 5, “Planning and Decision Making,” adds material relating
to the consequences of delaying decision making or not making
decisions at all, along with the second- and third-order impact of
decisions. More examples of the after-action report are included.
Under the topic of planning, project management is presented,
including the role of the project manager along with project evaluation
through process and outcome reviews. A complete project, coupled
with a 500-day implementation plan, is provided to illustrate the
extensive nature of project delineation, activity description, and
evaluation cycles.
Chapter 6, “Organizing,” provides additional discussion of the job
analysis, classification, and job description interrelationship.
New/emerging/changing job titles and responsibilities are included
(e.g., corporate compliance officer, data quality specialist, privacy
officer). Standards of conduct and mandatory reporting are added to
the orientation module. The role and function of the external, contract
management team is delineated. The changing characteristics of the
work force are highlighted. The management inventory to forecast

17
staffing needs is developed. The consultant report reflects current
issues relating to transition from hard copy to electronic health
records, and the resulting legacy systems, changes in data entries,
studies relating to shorter stay admissions compared to balance-of-life
admissions in skilled care, the necessity of studies relating to patterns
of readmission to acute care, and studies about secure personal care
units (including suspected elder abuse because of involuntary
seclusion).
Chapter 7, “Committees and Teams,” offers refined and expanded
information concerning employee teams and their legality and advice
and guidance for building and maintaining a departmental team.
Chapter 8, “Budget Planning and Implementation,” is essentially
the same as the former Chapter 7, “Budgeting: Controlling the
Ultimate Resource.”
Chapter 9, “Training and Development: The Backbone of
Motivation and Retention,” includes new material that reflects
diversity and cultural competence. New material has also been added
to address the mutual responsibilities, and the elements of an affiliation
agreement/contract between the healthcare organization and external
academic programs for clinical practice rotations. Additional aspects of
the training design are included to reflect the needs assessment for
training, aspects of interpersonal skills, and challenges associated with
difficult client interaction.
Chapter 10, “Adaptation, Motivation, and Conflict Management,”
includes an explanation of motivational strategies for dealing with crisis
incidents. The impact of downsizing is explained in detail, including
the environment created when layoffs occur, the effects on employees
who must be released, and the reactions of “survivors” who are
expected to do more with less at a time when morale and motivation
have been adversely affected. Labor union trends and issues are
highlighted, and the sample labor contract has been updated.
Chapter 11, “Communication: The Glue That Binds Us Together,”
formerly Chapter 14, stresses plans and preparations for addressing
communication during a crisis via the need for disaster planning.
Material concerning “the grapevine” and the manager’s role in rumor
control is presented, and information concerning orders and directives
has been moved here from an earlier chapter.

18
 Chapter 12, “The Middle Manager and Documentation of Critical
Management Processes,” includes full-scale examples of reports,
strategic plans, and due diligence reviews. Current points of emphasis,
including regional health information exchanges, telecommuting
issues, upgrading job titles and content (including certifications and
qualifications), participation in clinical practice programs, and
achievements related to external rating reviews (e.g., Medicare Five-
Star rating) are described.
Chapter 13, “Improving Performance and Controlling the Critical
Cycle,” discusses ideas for topics for studies that reflect current issues
such as comparative effectiveness evaluation, outcome measurement,
Recovery Audit Contractor audits and payment error reviews,
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
governance principles, issues specific to critical access/rural facilities
(e.g., use of and reimbursement for telehealth, swing bed usage,
pattern of transfer to regional tertiary centers), no-show and cancelled
appointment patterns, and cultural and linguistic services. Seven
categories of performance improvement studies are also described. In
addition, selected strategies of improvement processes are noted,
including rapid cycle improvement, waterfall/cascading impact reviews,
and root cause analysis. An application of dashboard reporting is given,
reflecting its use in a disaster situation. Three examples are given to
reflect the unanticipated consequence of planning: when an
improvement fails and negative outcomes occur.
Chapter 14, “Human Resources Management: A Line Manager’s
Perspective,” formerly Chapter 13, is essentially unchanged from the
previous edition, although laws applicable to employment are reviewed
for updates.
Chapter 15, “Day-to-Day Management for the Health Professional-
as-Manager,” has been slightly expanded to address the development
and management of one’s own career.

19
 CHAPTER 1
The Dynamic Environment of
Health Care

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
• Describe the healthcare environment as it has evolved since the
middle to late 1960s with attention to the dynamic interplay of
key factors.
• Examine megatrends in the healthcare environment with
attention to:
○ Client characteristics
○ Professional practitioners and caregivers
○ Healthcare marketplace and settings
○ Applicable laws, regulations, and standards
○ Impact of technology
○ Privacy and security considerations
○ Financing of health care
○ Social and cultural factors
• Identify the role set of the healthcare practitioner as manager.
• Review the classic functions of the manager.
• Define and differentiate between management as an art and a
science.
• Conceptualize the characteristics of an effective manager.

THE DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT OF HEALTH CARE

20
The contemporary healthcare environment is a dynamic one,
combining enduring patterns of practice with evolving ones to meet
challenges and opportunities of changing times. The healthcare
organization is a highly visible one in most communities. It is a fixture
with deep roots in the social, religious, fraternal, and civic fabric of the
society. It is a major economic force, accounting for approximately
one-sixth of the national economy. In some local settings, the
healthcare organization is one of the major employers, with the local
economy tied to this sector. The image of the hospital is anchored in
personal lives: it is the place of major life events, including birth and
death, and episodes of care throughout one’s life. Families recount the
stories of “remember the time when we all rushed to the hospital ...”
and similar recollections. The hospital is anchored in the popular
culture as a common frame of reference. People express, in ordinary
terms, their stereotypic reference to the healthcare setting: “He works
up at the hospital,” “Oh yes, we made another trip to the emergency
room,” or “I have a doctor’s appointment.” Popular media also uses
similar references; television shows regularly feature dramatic scenes in
the acute care hospital, with the physician as an almost universally
visible presence. Care is often depicted as happening in the emergency
department.
On closer examination, one recognizes that, in fact, many changes
have occurred in the healthcare environment. The traditional hospital
remains an important hub of care but with many levels of care and
physical locations. The physician continues to hold a major place on
the healthcare team, but there has been a steady increase in the
development and use of other practitioners (e.g., nurse midwife,
physical therapist as independent agent, physician assistant) to
complement and augment the physician’s role. A casual conversation
reflects such change; a person is just as likely to go to the mall to get a
brief physical examination at a walk-in, franchised clinic as he or she
would be to go to the traditional physician’s office. One might get an
annual “flu” shot at the grocery store or smoking cessation counseling
from the pharmacist at a commercial drug store. One might have an
appointment for care with a nurse practitioner instead of a physician.
Instead of using an emergency service at a hospital, one might receive
health care at an urgent care service or clinic.

21
 Although the setting and practitioners have developed and changed,
the underlying theme remains: how to provide health care that is the
best, most effective, accessible, and affordable, in a stable yet flexible
delivery system. This is the enduring goal.
Those who manage healthcare organizations monitor trends and
issues associated with the healthcare delivery system in order to reach
this goal. Thus, a manager seeks to have thorough awareness and
knowledge of the interplay of the dynamic forces. It is useful,
therefore, to follow a systematic approach to identify, monitor, and
respond to changes in the healthcare environment. The following
template provides such a systematic approach. The starting point is the
client/patient/recipient of care. This is followed in turn by
considerations of the professional practitioners and caregivers;
healthcare market place and settings; applicable laws, regulations, and
standards; impact of technology; privacy and security considerations;
financing; and social-cultural factors.

CLIENT/PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS
The demographic patterns of the overall population have a direct
impact on the healthcare organization. For example, the increase in the
number of older people requires more facilities and personnel
specializing in care of this group, such as continuing care, skilled
nursing care, and home care. Clinical conditions associated with aging
also lead to the development of specialty programs such as Alzheimer’s
disease and memory care, cardiac and stroke rehabilitation, and
wellness programs to promote healthy aging. At the other end of the
age spectrum, attention to neonatal care, healthy growth and
development, and preventive care are points of focus. Particular
attention is given to adolescents and young adults who engage in
contact sports, where concussion, permanent brain injury, fractures,
and sprains are common. In all age groups, there is a rising rate of
obesity; type 2 diabetes; and addictions to substances, such as heroin,
opioids, methadone, and assorted “street drugs.”
Diseases and illnesses are, of course, an ever-present consideration.
Some diseases seem to have been conquered and eliminated through
timely intervention. Some recur after long periods of absence.

22
Tuberculosis, polio, smallpox, and pertussis are examples of successes
in disease management and prevention. Sometimes, however, new
strains may develop or compliance with immunization mandates may
decrease so that these types of communicable diseases reappear.
Decades of use of antibacterial medicines has given rise to
superbugs, resistant to the usual treatment. Another element of
concern is the appearance of an almost unknown disease entity (e.g.,
Ebola or a pandemic agent). New clinical conditions may also arise
within certain age groups, necessitating fresh approaches to their care.
By way of example, consider the rise in autism and childhood obesity.
Other characteristics of the client/patient population reflect patterns
of usage and the associated costs of care. The identification of
superusers—patients who have high readmission rates and/or longer
than average lengths of stay or more complications—gives providers an
insight into practices needing improvement (e.g., better discharge
planning or increased patient education). The geographic region that
constitutes the general catchment area of the facility should be
analyzed to identify health conditions common to the area. Examples
include rural farm regions, with associated injuries and illnesses; heavy
industry, with work-related injuries; and winter resort areas, with
injuries resulting from strenuous outdoor activity (e.g., fractures from
skiing injuries).

TRENDS RELATING TO PRACTITIONERS AND

CAREGIVERS
The trends and issues relating to practitioners and caregivers cluster
around the continuing expansion of scope of practice, with the related
increase in education and credentialing. The traditional attending
physician role has given way to the inpatient physician, the hospitalist.
The one-to-one physician–patient role set continues to shift from solo
practice to group practice and team coverage. Licensed, credentialed
nonphysician practitioners continue to augment the care provided by
the physician. These physician-extenders often specialize—for
example, the physical therapist in sports-related care, the occupational
therapist in autism programs, the nurse practitioner in wellness care

23
for the frail elderly, the nurse midwife, the nurse case manager in
transition care, and the physician assistant in emergency care.
Educational requirements include advanced degrees in the designated
field.
There is a related shift in the practice settings for these various
practitioners. The move away from inpatient-based care leads to an
increase in independent practice. Sometimes the franchise model is
favored over self-employment. Regional and national franchises
provide a turnkey practice environment with the additional benefits of
a management support division.

The Family as Caregiver

Although the provision of care by family members is a practice that
long predates formal healthcare models, these caregivers are the focus
of renewed attention. As shorter stays for inpatient care, or subacute
care to reduce inpatient care, become the norm, the role of the family
caretaker intensifies. The patient care plan, with emphasis on the
discharge plan, necessarily includes instruction to family members
about such elements as medication regimen, wound care, infection
prevention, and injection processes. If the patient does not have a
family member who is able to assist in these ways, or if the patient
(often a frail, elderly person) lives alone, coordination of services with a
community agency or commercial company is needed. This gives rise
to related issues. Can family members be reimbursed by insurance
providers? If so, what is needed by way of documentation and billing?
And there is yet another related issue: how can employers assist
workers to meet the demands of work as well as help the family
member? Practices such as flexible work hours and unpaid leave
become both desirable and necessary elements.

Changes in Management Support Services

Behind the scenes, there is the wide network of management support
services within the healthcare organization. The trend toward
specialization increases within these ranks, with new job categories
being developed in response to related trends. With regard to finances
and reimbursement, chief financial officers (or similar administrators)

24
augment their teams with clinical reimbursement auditors, coding and
billing compliance officers, physician coder-educators, and certified
medical coders. The regulatory standards manager specializes in
coordinating the many compliance factors flowing from laws,
regulations, and standards. The chief information officer augments
that role with specialized teams, including nurse informaticians, clinical
information specialists, and information technology experts.

Patterns of Care
Improvements in patient care services, the utilization of advanced
technologies such as telemedicine, and the financial pressures to reduce
the length of stay for inpatient care have resulted in shorter stays, more
transitional care, and (possibly) a higher readmission rate. To offset a
high readmission rate, additional attention is given to the discharge
plan. The increased use of the observation unit in the emergency
department also helps reduce admission and readmission rate. These
issues and trends lead to a discussion of the healthcare setting.

THE HEALTHCARE SETTING: FORMAL

ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS AND LEVELS OF
CARE
Each healthcare setting has a distinct pattern of organization and offers
specific levels of care. Characteristics include ownership and
sponsorship, nonprofit or for-profit corporate status, and distinct levels
of care. These elements are specified in the license to operate as well as
in the corporate charter. Ownership and sponsorship often reflect deep
ties to the immediate community. A sector of the community, such as a
fraternal organization, a religious association, or an academic
institution, developed and funded the original hospital or clinic, almost
always as nonprofit because of their own nonprofit status. These
organizations purchased the land, had the buildings erected and
equipped, and provided continued supplemental funding for the
enterprise. Federal, state, city, and county units of government also
own and sponsor certain facilities (e.g., facilities for veterans, state

25
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s
hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life,
and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of
men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and
find him, though he be not far from every one of us; for in him we
live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own
poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” [224]
But natural religion, though it reveals the being and attributes of
God, cannot teach the way of salvation, nor lead us in the path of
holiness. It may excite a thousand fears, not one of which can it
allay; and suggest a thousand questions, not one of which can it
answer. It leaves us, with the deist, in a region of doubt and
perplexity; and neither of its four oracles—creation, providence,
reason, and conscience—can satisfy the soul that inquires, “What
must I do to be saved?” Its light affords us no guidance in the path
of virtue; no certain indications of duty, either to God or man. Our
understandings are so darkened, our wills so perverted, our
affections so carnal, that we can depend upon no suggestions of
external nature, or of reason and conscience, for the regulation of
our moral conduct. God, therefore, of his infinite mercy, has given
us his written word—a perfect rule both of faith and practice—a law
by which we ought to live, and by which we shall be judged—a
revelation of the mystery which had been hidden for ages, but is
now made manifest to the saints, dispelling the fears of conscience,
soothing the sorrows of the heart, and bringing life and immortality
to light.
Divine revelation, though infinitely above human reason, does not in
the least oppose it. That God should clearly make known his will to
man, is so far from being contrary to reason, that we may truly say,
nothing is more reasonable. The deductions of reason from the
insufficiency of natural religion strongly indicate the necessity of
such a revelation; and as to its possibility, we know that there can
be no impossibility on the part of God to give it, and there is no
impossibility on the part of man to receive it. God is able to
communicate his will to his creatures in any way he pleases. He can
stamp it on the mind, and make us know that it is he who speaks to
us. But he has chosen another method. He has given us a record of
his will in the Holy Scriptures. “God who, at sundry times, and in
divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
Is the gospel the truth of God or not? Much has been written on
this question. The arguments that have been advanced in support
of the affirmative have never been overthrown, and never can be, by
all the skeptics in the world. The revelation of the method of
salvation was given in the garden of Eden to our first parents. Since
that period great talents have been employed, talents worthy of a
better cause, in ridiculing the Bible; but to very little purpose. The
character of the Book of God stands firm as a mountain amid the
clouds, the thunders, and the whirlwinds; and all the opposition of
infidels and blasphemers, instead of tarnishing, have only brightened
its lustre; and from every trial through which it has passed, it has
come forth as fine gold from the furnace. The religions of the world,
the vices and virtues of the world, all its wisdom and sagacity, and
all its power and authority, in league with the demons of the pit,
have not been able to destroy the gospel, or stay the wheels of its
chariot. Though they were headed by the prince of darkness—the
prince of this world—the prince of the power of the air, that worked
mightily in the children of disobedience, in Palestine, in Greece and
Rome, and all over the world; yet the gospel has proved
triumphant. Its enemies, human and infernal, may wonder and be
amazed at its prosperity; but let them remember that its author is
the living God, and liveth for ever. Though its ministers have been
persecuted and imprisoned, stoned, sawn asunder, slain with the
sword, and burnt in the flames; yet the word of the Lord is not
bound, but is freely preached in many parts of the world, and its
doctrines and practices maintained in their purity by multitudes of
Christians, notwithstanding the most dreadful attempts that have
been made at different times to corrupt and destroy them. “For all
flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away; but the
word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you.”
We would now call your attention to the Divine authority of the
gospel, and its characteristic glory.
I. It is “the gospel of the blessed God”—a message from God to
man—a revelation of God’s gracious method of saving sinners
through the death of his Son—a declaration of his sovereign love
and mercy to the utterly wretched and perishing children of men. It
testifieth of the coming of the promised Messiah; of the glory of his
person as God-man; of the excellency of his offices, as our Prophet,
Priest, and King; the honor which he has conferred upon the law
that we have violated, and the satisfaction which he has given to the
Divine justice that we have insulted. It records the sufferings and
death of Christ, his victory over the powers of darkness, his
resurrection from the grave, his ascension to glory, his session at the
right hand of the Father, and his intercession for sinners on the
ground of his vicarious sufferings; and predicts his second coming in
glory, on the clouds of heaven, to judge the quick and the dead.
I do not mean to say that there is no other truth necessary to be
preached and believed, but all the truths of Divine revelation are
immediately connected with the doctrine of the cross. This is the
testimony that the Father hath testified of his Son. This is the glad
tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people. This is the faithful
saying, or true report, that is worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save the chief of sinners. This is “the
glorious gospel of the blessed God;” emanating from his spirit, and
conducting to his kingdom. Let us consider the evidences of its
Divine authority.
The perfections of God, in some degree, are manifested in all his
works and words; his character is stamped on every thing that his
hands hath formed, and his mouth hath spoken; so that there is a
vast difference between the work and language of God, and the
work and language of men. This is especially the case in reference
to the Christian revelation. It is “the gospel of the blessed God,” and
bears throughout the impress of its author. When John saw the
Lamb in the midst of the throne, he had no difficulty in determining
that he was a proper object of adoration and praise. As soon as any
one sees the stone with seven eyes laid before Zerubabel, he knows
that it is not a common stone. When you look to the book of the
firmament, the fingers of the Creator’s eternal power and Godhead
are evidently seen in the sun, the moon and the stars. So, in the
Bible, we trace the same Divine hand. As often as I read it, I see
eternity, with its flaming eye, gazing upon me. It unfolds to me the
mysteries of creation and providence. It informs me who made, and
still sustains and governs the universe. It leads me to the spring
and original cause of all things; and places me immediately before
the eyes of the eternal God; and I find myself, in his presence, both
killed and made alive—most dreadfully oppressed, and set at perfect
liberty—sunk in the valley of repentance and humiliation, and lifted
upon the top of Pisgah—full of fears, and full of joy—desiring to hide
myself from his sight, yet wishing to abide in the light of his
countenance for ever!
I see the eye of Omniscience looking out upon me from every
chapter of the Bible—from every doctrine, every precept, every
promise, every ordinance of the gospel—penetrating alike the
darkness and the light—searching me through and through, till I can
hide nothing from its gaze—giving me a faithful representation of my
conscience and my heart—making me hate myself, and confess my
uncleanness, and cry out for the creation of a right spirit within me.
And then I see it looking far into futurity—discovering, many
hundreds of years beforehand, the smallest circumstances in the life
and death of Jesus, even to the price of his betrayal, the gall
mingled with his drink, and the lot cast for his vesture. How can I
doubt that this is the eye of God?
Again: I see Holiness, Justice, and Truth, gazing upon me from the
very heart of the gospel, like so many eyes of consuming fire. I
tremble before them, like Moses before the burning bush, or Israel
at the base of Sinai. Yet do I wish to behold this terrible glory, for it
is mingled with milder beams of mercy. I take off my shoes, and
approach that I may contemplate. “Truly, God is in this place!” I
cannot live in sin under the intense blaze of his countenance. But
here also I find the cleft of the Rock, even the Rock of Ages, wherein
he hides me with his hand, while he makes all his goodness pass
before me, and proclaims to me his name—“The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin,
and by no means clearing the guilty!”
“The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged
sword; piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow; and discerning”—revealing—condemning—
correcting—“the thoughts and intents of the heart.” It unlocks my
soul, and sits upon its throne; an infallible judge over all my secret
imaginations, purposes, and feelings; bringing them under its own
perfect law; examining them in the light of spotless holiness,
inflexible justice, and eternal truth. And when I shrink from the
scrutiny, overwhelmed with a sense of my corruption, and confessing
my guilt with a broken and contrite heart, then it speaks to me of
the boundless love of God, and the infinite merit of Christ; and “a
still small voice” directs my sight to the holy of holies; where I see,
through the rent vail, the King of Zion, sitting upon his throne of
grace, more glorious than the ancient Shekinah upon the mercy-
seat. I approach with joyful confidence, and find him invested with
my own nature, “God manifest in the flesh,” his royal garments red
with sacrificial blood; and again I hear the still small voice—“Thy
faith hath saved thee; go in peace!” And when the dark mountains
of tribulation rise up before me, I see their tops gilded with beams
of love; and when I look into the valley of the shadow of death, I
see it brightening with the footsteps of the Son of God; and when
the soul sits solitary and dejected in her mortal prison, longing for
the wings of a dove, that she may fly away and be at rest, she sees
the eyes of her Deliverer looking through the crevices of the wall,
and hears his voice at the grated window—“Fear not, for I am with
thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God!”
Thus the gospel commends itself to my conscience and my heart, as
“the gospel of the blessed God.” But there is other, and if possible
still stronger, proof of its divinity; namely, its power to renew the
human soul, and reform the human character. The Earl of Rochester
was a great skeptic, and one of the most witty and sarcastic men of
his age. In his last sickness, he was reading the fifty-third chapter
of Isaiah; where the prophet, in so graphic and touching a manner,
describes the vicarious sufferings of Christ. It scattered all his
deistical doubts, as the sun scatters the mist of the morning; led him
with a broken and believing heart to the atoning Lamb of God; and
converted his death-bed into a vestibule of heaven. This is not a
solitary case. Thousands and millions have been, in like manner,
awakened and converted through the gospel, and brought to the
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. It is “mighty through God,
to the pulling down of strong-holds; casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God;
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ”—turning men from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins, and an
inheritance among all them that are sanctified through faith in
Jesus. Matthew at the custom-house, the woman of Samaria at
Jacob’s well, the dying malefactor upon the cross, the penitent jailor
at Philippi, the blasphemous persecutor on the road to Damascus,
and three thousand souls under Peter’s preaching at the Pentecost,
all found it “the power of God unto salvation.” And still it retains its
convincing and quickening virtue. Wherever it is proclaimed in its
purity, and accompanied with the power of the Holy Ghost, proud
and hardened sinners are pricked in their hearts, and forced to cry
out—“Men and brethren, what must we do?” It answers the
question. It points to the crucified and saith—“Believe and be
saved!” It reconciles the enemy unto God. It makes the blasphemer
a man of prayer, the sensualist a man of purity, the inebriate a man
of sobriety; and where sin abounded, grace much more abounds.
The dead whom Jesus quickened had no time to inquire into the
mysterious process by which the work was wrought. They sprang
instantly into life by the power of God. Yet the evidence of the
change was clear and incontestible. So it is with the transforming
effects of the gospel. We cannot rationally doubt its power to raise
the soul from death in trespasses and sins. Suppose I have been
long afflicted with a cancer, or have been bitten by a mad-dog, or a
rattlesnake; and I find a sovereign and instantaneous remedy; but
after I am cured, a skeptic calls upon me, and tries to convince me
that the remedy is good for nothing, insists that it is a cheat lately
invented by a villain, demands of me to prove that such things were
used before the deluge, and asks me a thousand questions about
the cure which Solomon could not answer; how can I look upon such
a man as better than a maniac? I have tried the experiment, and
found it successful; and all his pretended philosophical reasoning
rings in my ears like a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. The
wisdom of men has invented many remedies for the guilt and the
love of sin; but the vain philosophy of the world has never, like the
gospel, restored a single soul to peace, purity, and happiness. I can
truly say, after the most careful self-examination, and millions more
can testify the same thing, that the gospel, in the hand of the Spirit
of God, has subdued the love of sin, and quenched the fire of guilt
within me; and has taken away the sting of death, and the terrors of
the grave. If the infidel will allow that I am a sane man, and a man
of truth, what farther proof does he want that this is “the gospel of
the blessed God?”
Once more: The character of God, as exhibited in the gospel, is
perfect, every way worthy of himself, infinitely above any original
conception of the human mind. The gods of Homer and Virgil are
cruel and revengeful. The god of Mohammed delights in pollution
and crime. The god of Voltaire is a buffoon, and the god of Paine a
tyrant. But the gospel represents the Deity in his true character, as
the concentration and the fountain of all moral excellence.
All this evidence of the Divine authority of the gospel is corroborated
by an overwhelming array of external proof. It was certainly written
by the men whose names it bears. They were men of irreproachable
character. Their declarations were confirmed by the testimony of
miracles, and the fulfilment of prophecy. Jesus of Nazareth was
crucified on Calvary, rose from the dead the third day, and ascended
to heaven, according to the Scriptures. These were facts believed
by the primitive Christians, and admitted by their enemies. They
were received with the most perfect confidence by the immediate
successors of the original witnesses; and farther corroborated by the
testimony of neutrals, apostates, and the most inveterate
opponents. The question therefore is settled; all is admitted that is
necessary to prove that the Christian’s gospel is “the gospel of the
blessed God.”
II. It is “the glorious gospel”—emphatically and pre-eminently
glorious; and this is our second topic of discourse.
It is a wonderful exhibition of the glory of God—the most perfect
revelation of the Divine attributes ever granted to man—displaying
the sovereign mercy of the Father, in the gift of his beloved Son; the
infinite compassion of Christ, in offering himself upon the cross for
our sins; and the gracious power of the Holy Spirit, in turning us
from darkness to light, and renewing us in righteousness and true
holiness after the image of God.
But it is chiefly from a comparison of the gospel with the law, both in
its dispensation and its character, that we see its transcendent glory.
On this point let us fix our attention.
“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ.” The ministration of the law brought the angels from heaven
to earth, but the ministration of the gospel required the incarnation
of the God of angels. The Mediator of the new covenant is Jehovah
enshrined in humanity—“Emmanuel”—“God with us”—“God manifest
in the flesh”—“the fulness of the Godhead,” that “filleth all in all,”
imbodied and made visible in the lowly Son of David.
This is the foundation of the apostle’s argument, by which he
convicts the despisers of the gospel of greater guilt than the
transgressors of the law. “If the word spoken by angels”—that is,
the law given upon Sinai—“was steadfast, and every transgression
and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall
we escape”—we who have heard the glad tidings of the gospel—“if
we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by
the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God
also bearing them witness, with signs, and wonders, and divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost?” If God is greater than man,
then the gospel is greater than the law; and its superior excellence
constitutes for it a superior claim upon our faith and our affections;
and the strength of that claim graduates the guilt of its rejection.
There is a fire more intense than that which flamed on Sinai, and a
judgment more terrible than that of Korah and his confederates.
“He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy, under two or three
witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be
thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and hath
done despite to the Spirit of grace!”
The ceremonial law contained many a type and shadow of Messiah;
but the gospel is the history of his advent and mediatorial work.
The ceremonial law pointed to the coming Prince of Peace; but the
gospel brings him to his throne, and puts the crown upon his head.
Christ is “the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image
of his person;” and Moses and Aaron are lost in his light, as the
moon and the stars in the blaze of the rising sun. The excellence of
his person, the merit of his sacrifice, and the utility of his offices,
give him an immense superiority. The many prophets, priests, and
kings, of the former dispensation, were but the shadows cast by the
one great Prophet, Priest, and King, which indicated his coming. A
light arose from the cross of Calvary which turned the black cloud on
Sinai into a pillar of glory.
Typical blood shielded the children of Israel from the arm of the
destroying angel, healed the leper, anointed to holy offices, atoned
for ceremonial sins, and sealed the covenant of God with his people;
but never cancelled the sinner’s debt, nor satisfied his conscience,
nor sanctified his affections, nor calmed his trembling spirit in the
hour of death. All these blessings, however, flow from the blood of
Christ—these, and infinitely more—more than tongue can tell, or
heart conceive.
The gospel is emphatically the ministration of mercy—the covenant
of grace, “ordered in all things and sure”—a goodly ship, freighted
with the bread of life, and commanded by the Son of God, who has
steered into the harbor of our famishing world, and is dispensing the
precious provision to all who will accept. These arc “the sure
mercies of David.”
The law is only a partial revelation of the Divine attributes, which, in
the gospel, are all equally exhibited, and all equally glorified. Here,
“Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace have
kissed each other.” The justice of God looks more terrible at the
cross of Christ than at the gate of hell; and is more glorified in the
sufferings of his Son than in the eternal agonies of all the damned;
while his mercy is more beautiful, because more honorable to his
administration, than if sinners had been saved without an
atonement.
Thus, while the law reveals the righteousness of God, the gospel
brightens the revelation of his righteousness, and adds the
revelation of his grace. While the law imprisons the sinner, the
gospel liberates him, yet liberates him according to law. While the
law shows the malignity of sin, and dooms the sinner to death, the
gospel assents to both, but conquers the one and counteracts the
other.
The law convinces us of our fall; the gospel assures us of our
redemption. The law shows us what we are, and what we ought to
be; the gospel tells us what we may become, and now the change
must be effected. The law tears open our wounds; the gospel pours
in the healing balm. The law makes known our duty; the gospel
aids us to perform it. The law plunges us in the ditch; the gospel
opens to us the purifying fountain. The law is a mirror in which we
behold our own filthiness and deformity; the gospel is a mirror which
reflects the glory of God in Christ, and transforms the believer into
the same image.
The law has no fellowship with the sinner—offers no pardon to the
sinner—cannot cure the love of sin in his heart—cannot give a spark
of life, without perfect obedience, and full satisfaction for past
offences. Therefore some accuse the law of cruelty—cannot set
forth the superior glory of the gospel, without representing the law
as a tyrant or a vagrant. But it is not the cruelty of the law, but the
righteousness of the law, that condemns the sinner. This is the
reason that it has no alms-house, nor city of refuge, in its dominion.
Yet “the law is our schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ.” By
convincing us of sin, it shows us our need of a Saviour. It meets the
sinner on his way to hell, and drives him back to Calvary!
But the gospel is more glorious. It enters the sinner’s heart, and
casts out the love of sin, and scourges the traffickers from the
temple of God. It enters the prisoner’s cell, knocks off his fetters,
and bids him go free. It descends into the valley of dry bones,
makes the mouldering skeletons living men, and leads them to
Mount Zion with songs of everlasting joy. It gives eyes to the blind,
ears to the deaf, feet to the lame, tongues to the dumb, health to
the sick, life to the dead, and revives such as are fainting under the
terrors of the law. It is “the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth.”
The Moravian missionaries in Greenland preached several years on
the great doctrines of natural religion, and the requirements of the
moral law, without producing any visible reformation in their
hearers; but under the very first sermon which exhibited “Jesus
Christ and him crucified,” many were pricked in their hearts, and led
effectually to repentance.
We have a striking illustration of the distinguishing glory of the
gospel—its mercy—in the parable of the prodigal son. The young
man, having received his portion from his Father, went into a far
country, and spent all his substance in drunkenness and
debauchery. Reduced to the last extremity of want, the proud young
nobleman hired himself to a citizen of that country, and became a
feeder of swine—the meanest employment to which a Jew could be
degraded. On the very verge of starvation, we see him snatching
the husks from the mouths of the detested animals to satisfy his
hunger. Now he contrasts the present with the past. “My father’s
house! O, my father’s house!” A trembling hope springs up in his
bosom, “I will arise and go!” I see him coming, full of guilt and
shame—halting—trembling—ready to turn back, or lie down by the
wayside and die. While yet a great way off, the father beholds him
—O, not with an eye of anger and revenge! and runs to meet him—
O, not with a drawn sword, or an uplifted rod! He feels within him
the yearning of a father’s heart, leaps to embrace the prodigal, and
pours upon him a mingled shower of kisses and tears. Not a
reproachful word is uttered—not the slightest censure—nothing but
love. “Father, I have sinned! I am not worthy to be”—“Peace, my
son! Servants, bring a robe, a ring, a pair of shoes; and haste to kill
the fatted calf; and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was
dead and is alive, was lost and is found!” “And they began to be
merry.”
Such, my brethren, is the unspeakable mercy of the gospel, which
constitutes its distinguishing glory. It is the law that creates the
famine in the “far country” of sin. The poor prodigal goes about,
begging for bread; but none will give him a crust, or a crumb. The
desert of Mount Sinai is a poor country for a starving soul. There is
no bread in all that region, and no toleration for beggars. If the
sinner offers to work for any of the citizens—either for Mr. Holiness,
or Mr. Justice, or Mr. Truth—he is sent into the fields to feed swine,
till he is thoroughly convinced of the nakedness of the land, and the
misery of his lot; and if he faints through famine or fatigue, and fails
to perform his task, he is thrust into the house of correction, and
placed upon the tread-wheel of remorse, till the ministers of mercy
come to his relief. It is the gospel that whispers—“Return to thy
father!” It is the gospel that inspires the hope of acceptance. It is
the gospel that meets him with more than paternal welcome, and
rains upon him the baptism of blessings and tears. It is the gospel
that brings its robe of righteousness, and its ring of favour, and
spreads its feast of joy, and calls the angels to merry-making “over
one sinner that repenteth.”
O, the love of God! O, the riches of Christ! His salvation is more
than a restoration to the joys of Eden. He came that we might have
life, and that we might have it more abundantly. Where sin
abounded under the law, grace hath much more abounded under
the gospel. It is an ocean of blessings—“blessings of the heaven
above, and of the deep that lieth under”—the blessings of Jacob,
“prevailing above the blessings of his progenitors, unto the utmost
bound of the everlasting hills”—blessings which cannot be
circumscribed by time, passing over the mountains which now divide
us from the promised land, and flowing down on the other side into
the pacific vales of immortality!
Such is “the glorious gospel of the blessed God.” You have seen the
evidence of its divinity, and the peculiar excellence of its character.
Suffer me to ask, do you believe its doctrines? do you obey its
precepts? do you enjoy its blessings? do you delight in its promises?
It commends itself every way to your faith, and your affections. It is
worthy of all acceptation. It is the light of the world—walk ye in it!
It is a feast for the soul—eat and be satisfied! It is a river of living
water—drink and thirst no more!
How miserable is that man who rejects alike its evidences and its
offers! How miserable in the hour of death! As Thistlewood said of
himself, when on the drop at Newgate, he is “taking a leap in the
dark!” How miserable in the day of judgment! God saith—“Because
I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hands all the
day long, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught my
counsel, and would none of my reproof; therefore I also will laugh at
your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh—when your fear
cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind—
when distress and anguish cometh upon you!”

SERMON XVII.
THE SONG OF THE ANGELS.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men.” Luke ii. 14.

The most important event recorded in the annals of time, is the

incarnation of the Son of God. Anointed to be “the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession,” it was necessary that he should humble
himself, to assume our degraded nature, and enter into our suffering
condition. Had he appeared on earth in the unmitigated glory of his
Godhead, the children of men could not have borne the revelation,
and could not have been benefited by his personal ministry; neither
could he have been “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” nor
have offered himself a sacrifice for our sins. His manifestation in the
flesh was essential to the great objects of his advent; and no
wonder the heavenly host descended to announce his coming, and
poured forth their delight in this joyful strain;—“Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Let us consider, first, The incarnation of the Eternal Word; and,
secondly, The song of the angels on the occasion of his birth.
I. Though it is impossible for the immutable God to be made a
creature, yet the Divine nature was so closely and mysteriously
joined to the human, that the same person was “a child born,” and
“the Mighty God”—“a son given,” and “the Everlasting Father.” The
Divinity did not become humanity, and the humanity did not become
Divinity; but the two were so united as to constitute but one glorious
Mediator.
Though his incarnation did not destroy, or even tarnish in the least,
the essential glory of the Deity; yet was it a mighty and marvellous
condescension, for him who is “over all, God, blessed for ever,” thus
to assume our frail and suffering flesh. Solomon asked—“Will God in
very deed dwell with men upon the earth?” A question which
neither men nor angels could answer. But God hath answered it
himself, and answered it in the affirmative. “The Word” that “was in
the beginning with God, and was God,” in the fulness of time, “was
made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
We can form no idea of the natural distance between God and man.
But the infinite vacuum is filled up by the Messiah. He is
“Emmanuel”—“the true God,” and “the Son of Man.” “He thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no
reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh.” Passing by the nobler nature of
angels, “he took on him the seed of Abraham.” Nor did he join
himself to humanity in its original perfection and glory. He came
into the mean condition of fallen creatures, sharing with us our
various infirmities and sufferings. Yet he was free from all moral
contamination. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate
from sinners.” He “knew no sin.” He “did no iniquity, neither was
guile found in his mouth.”
But notwithstanding the humility of his appearance in Bethlehem,
such was the dignity of his person, and such the magnitude and
grandeur of the work for which he came into the world, that angels
descended from heaven to publish the glad tidings to the children of
men. True, no ambassadors were sent to the Sanhedrim at
Jerusalem—none to the Senate of Rome, to proclaim the coming of
the Prince of Peace; but never was there such an embassage on
earth, to announce the birth of a royal son, as that which came to
the shepherds of Bethlehem. When he appeared among men, the
order was given in heaven, that all the angels of God should worship
him; and their example was followed by wise men upon earth. The
prophet Isaiah said that his name should be called Wonderful; and
the angel informed Mary that he should be great, and should be
called the Son of the Highest; and that God should give unto him the
throne of his father David, and he should reign over the house of
Jacob for ever. “Though he was rich, yet for our sake he became
poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.” He humbled
himself that we might be exalted—was bruised and wounded that
we might be healed—died the most shameful death that men could
inflict, that we might live the most glorious life that God can confer!
II. Let us now consider the import of the anthem, sung by the
heavenly host, when he was born in Bethlehem. “Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
1. “Glory to God in the highest.” The shining light between the
cherubim, on the mercy-seat, was called “the glory of the Lord,”
being a supernatural representation of his presence in the
sanctuary. Three of the apostles saw the same glory upon the
mount of transfiguration, and all believers have seen it by faith. The
word “glory,” in the anthem of the angels, refers to the divine honor
and praise resulting from the humiliation of Christ. The redemption
of sinners, through the blood of the cross, and by the grace of the
Holy Spirit, is not only consistent with the glory of God, but highly
promotive of his glory, as our Creator and Lawgiver. It brightens all
the gems previously visible in his crown, and reveals others that
were concealed. His glory, as seen in the works of creation and
providence, is the glory of wisdom, power, and love. His glory, as
seen in his law and its administration, is the glory of holiness,
justice, and truth. These are essential to his nature and his
government. But in the incarnation and the cross of Christ, we
behold a new glory, a glory nowhere else displayed, the glory of
mercy. God was known before to be the friend of saints, but here
he shows himself the friend of sinners. His character as previously
revealed was matter of admiration and praise in earth and heaven,
but this new revelation occasions new wonder and rejoicing to men
and angels. Angels delighted to bear the joyful news to men, and
this was the burden of their message:—“Behold, we bring you glad
tidings of great joy, which shall be unto”—the righteous? the
benevolent and charitable? no; but—“unto all people.” And what are
these tidings? “To you is born, this day, in the city of David, a
Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” Here is the Lawgiver embracing the
rebels; his the glory, theirs the benefit; while angels participate the
joy of both, singing—“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace.”
2. “On earth peace.” Not by a compromise with Satan, as he
proposed when he tempted the Son of God in the wilderness. Not at
the expense of the Divine law, but by magnifying and making it
honorable. Not a peace with enmity, for Christ hath slain the enmity
by his cross. Our peace flows from the reconciling blood of Jesus.
Nothing else could satisfy the claims of Divine justice, and procure
pardon for the penitent believer.
Without the atonement, there is no peace for sinners. There is an
accusing witness within. Behold that king in the banqueting-house!
Why changes his countenance? Why tremble his knees? Have the
wise men of Babylon interpreted the mystic writing upon the wall?
No; but conscience has. Conscience has given dreadful intimations
of its meaning, before Daniel comes into the presence of the king,
and the Hebrew prophet only confirms the previous interpretation.
Every sinner bears about with him that internal tormentor. It may
be bribed; but not for ever. It may be lulled to sleep; but it will
awake with increased energy, and augmented wrath. The gnawing
worm may be stupified for a season, but cannot be killed. The
devouring fire may be temporarily stifled, but cannot be quenched.
How dreadful are its torments, when it wreaks all its anger upon the
guilty! To be drowned in the Red Sea, like Pharaoh—to be
swallowed up by the earth, like Korah—to be hewn in pieces, like
Agag—to be eaten of worms, like Herod—is nothing in the
comparison.
Where shall we find peace? We have heard of a stone which
nothing but blood can dissolve. Such a stone is the human
conscience. But all the blood shed on Jewish altars could never
effect the work. It must be the blood of Jesus. He is “the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world.” At his cross, the
believer’s conscience finds assurance and repose. He is the good
physician, and his blood is the sovereign balm. Come to his
extended arms! Come, for he waits to be gracious!
3. “Good will toward men.” The “good will” of whom? Of God,
blessed for ever. The funds of a benevolent society may be
exhausted, so that its members in distress can receive no benefit.
But in the “good will” of God we find unsearchable riches of grace,
sufficient to pay off our whole debt to the law, and restore our
forfeited inheritance; to bring forth the prisoners, and them that sit
in darkness, out of the prison-house; to support the believer through
life, and comfort him in death, and raise him from the grave not a
beggar, or a pensioner, but a prince, clothed in white, and entitled to
an everlasting kingdom.
Did I possess the nature of angels, with my present sinfulness, I
should have no hope of salvation, for God hath provided no mercy
for fallen angels; but, in his infinite wisdom, he hath devised a
method for the consistent display of his “good will toward men,” by
assuming their nature, and in that nature atoning for their sins. This
is a wonderful scheme, whereby God can be just, and yet justify the
ungodly. His law is honoured, though its violater be acquitted; and
his government is secure, though the rebel be forgiven.
Methinks I hear the Infant in Bethlehem, speaking from the manger,
in the strain of the Evangelical Prophet:—“Is my hand shortened at
all, that I cannot redeem; or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at
my rebuke I dry up the sea, and make the rivers a wilderness; I
clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their
covering. Though ye see me in human flesh, I am still Lord of all,
and can save unto the uttermost. Though ye do not hear me, I have
the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season to him that is
weary. I have taken upon myself your nature, that I may be able to
sympathize in your sufferings, and make satisfaction for your sins.
For you will I give my back to the smiters, and my cheek to them
that pluck off the hair; and I will not hide my face from shame and
spitting. Calvary and Joseph’s grave shall manifest my benevolence,
and it shall be seen that my mercy is mightier than death. Who will
contend with me? Let him come near! Let us stand together! I
challenge all the powers of darkness to defeat the purposes of my
grace. I will triumph by suffering. I will dash them in pieces as a
potter’s vessel. Hell shall tremble at the report; and on every gate
and door-post, in all my journey from this place to Golgotha, and
thence home to my Father’s house, shall be inscribed the record of
my good will toward men!”
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Behold him pressing the
wine of eternal life for us from the cup of his own mortality;
demolishing the kingdom of darkness on earth, and establishing in
its stead the kingdom of heaven; destroying the works of the devil,
delivering the captives from his iron yoke, and uniting sinners to
himself in everlasting fellowship and love. The whole economy of
Divine grace, based on the incarnation of the Son of God, is like a
complicated piece of machinery, consisting of many wheels, all
revolving in harmony, and impelled by the same power. Salvation is
a river, flowing from the manger in Bethlehem, conveying eternal life
to millions, and bearing away many a precious gem from the
dominions of death and hell. It has already swept from the earth
more false gods than would have filled the Roman Pantheon; and
carried multitudes of human souls, pardoned and purified, to
Abraham’s bosom. No opposition of men or devils can stand before
“the glorious gospel of the blessed God.” O that its light may shine
into the heart and the conscience of every hearer! May the
goodness of God lead you all to repentance, and fill you with peace
in believing! Then will you go forth with joy, and publish his “good
will toward men;” and when the purposes of his mercy are
accomplished in your hearts, you shall be removed from grace to
glory—from peace to perfect love—and sin and sorrow shall be shut
out for ever! Amen.

SERMON XVIII.
THE STONE OF ISRAEL.
“Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua. Upon one
stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving
thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of
that land in one day.”—Zech. iii. 9.

Amid all the tribulations which the church has suffered, she has ever
been preserved and sustained by the gracious providence of God;
like the bush in Horeb—burning, yet unconsumed.
In the days of this prophet, the church was feeble and afflicted.
Having just returned from the captivity in Babylon, by which she had
been greatly reduced, she resembled the myrtle among the oaks,
the firs, and the cedars. But the Messiah appears to the prophet,
standing among the myrtle-trees, and encouraging the children of
Israel to proceed in rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. The good
success of Zerubbabel is represented by a golden candlestick, with a
bowl at the top, and seven lamps for the light, and seven pipes to
convey the oil to the lamps, and two olive-trees—one on each side—
pouring the oil into the pipes. This was intended also to set forth
the relation of Christ to his church, as her head, and the fountain
whence she derives strength and nourishment, enabling her to grow
in grace, and the saving knowledge of God. As they bring forth the
foundation and the corner-stones with joy, wondering at the Divine
goodness and mercy, Jehovah shows them that he is about to lay in
Zion the foundation and chief corner-stone of a spiritual temple:
“Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua. Upon one stone
shall be seven eyes. Behold I will engrave the graving thereof, saith
the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one
day.”
Let us consider the important truths taught us in this metaphorical
description of Christ and his mediatorial work.
I. Christ is the foundation and chief corner-stone of his church. This
figure is often used in the Holy Scriptures. “From hence is the
Shepherd, the Stone of Israel”—said Jacob in the blessing of
Joseph. “The stone which the builders refused,” said the Psalmist,
“is become the head-stone of the corner.” And Isaiah said—“Thus
saith the Lord God: Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.” All these
predictions were appropriated by Messiah, to whom they were
intended to apply. Christ is the foundation and chief corner-stone.
“Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ.” “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets”—that is, the foundation which they recognized and
recommended—“Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.”
He is indeed the foundation of the world; and in the fulness of time,
was declared the foundation of the church. All the buildings of
mercy that have ever been erected stand firm and immovable on this
Rock of Ages.
In the architecture of the first covenant in Eden, there was a Stone
under one end, and earth under the other. “The first man was of
the earth, earthy.” And when the storm and the flood came, the
earth gave way, and the building fell. But in the architecture of the
second covenant upon Calvary, God laid help upon one that was
mighty. “The second man is the Lord from heaven.” A stone
suitable for the foundation of a royal palace is very valuable,
because the safety of the building depends upon the firmness of the
foundation. This Stone is “chosen of God and precious.” It is long
and broad enough for the whole edifice, stretching from eternity to
eternity; and sufficiently strong to sustain it, though millions of living
stones be built into the spiritual temple; and such is its firmness,
that time, with all its storms, shall never destroy it, or injure its
beauty. It is a tried and precious stone, composed of all that is
excellent on earth, and all that is glorious in heaven—a sinless
specimen of humanity, possessing “all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily.” As a foundation, it is laid deep in the earth; as a corner-
stone, it rises above the stars, and binds the whole building in
heaven and earth together.
II. This Stone is “laid before Joshua.” God has revealed his Son, as
the only foundation, and chief corner-stone, to the wise master-
builders of his church, in every age of the world. The seed was
promised in Eden. Holy men of old beheld the promises afar off.
Abraham desired to see his day; he saw it, and was glad. This was
the foundation of the prophets and apostles. As Moses found so
much of God in the rod that was in his hand, that he could think of
no other means for working a miracle; so the prophets and apostles
saw and felt so much of Christ in the revelations of which they were
made the media, that they could never think of salvation from sin
and hell but through his meritorious death; and the most dreadful
tortures, and even martyrdom itself, lost their terrors in “the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
This Stone was laid also before Wickliff and Luther. The office and
work of Christ had been lost sight of, in the intercession of saints,
and the merit of human works. But “the foundation of God standeth
sure;” and all the rubbish which Roman monks had heaped upon it
could not hide it from the reformers, whose vision had been cleared
and quickened by light from heaven. And it was laid before Wesley
and Whitefield in England, who built upon it “gold, silver, and
precious stones;” and before Powell, Erbery, and Wroth—before
Rowlands, Harris, Jones, Evans, Thomas, and Francis—as the
foundation of that wonderful revival in Wales, the blessed effects of
which we feel to this day.
We are now endeavoring to exhibit the glory and excellency of this
Stone, as the foundation of your hopes. Will you build upon Christ?
Can you venture your eternal salvation upon the merit of his
sacrifice? “He that believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
III. It is said that “upon one stone shall be seven eyes;” by which
we may understand, either seven eyes of others, looking upon the
stone; or seven eyes in the stone, looking upon others.
If we take the former idea, there are many eyes looking upon this
“One Stone;” some from envy, malice, and wrath; others from
astonishment, gratitude, and love. It attracts the gaze of heaven,
earth, and hell. The eternal Lawgiver looks to Messiah for
satisfaction on behalf of guilty man. Mercy and Truth look upon him
as the foundation of their palaces. Righteousness and Peace look
upon him as the only place where they can salute each other with a
kiss. The devil and his angels, sin, death, and the grave, look upon
him with eyes of anger and revenge; determined, if possible, to
bruise him with their weapons, and cast him among the rubbish, into
the pit of corruption. Celestial spirits look upon him with eyes of
wonder and delight; announce his coming to Joseph and Mary, sing
his advent to the shepherds of Judea, accompany him through all his
pilgrimage of sorrow, minister to him after the temptation in the
wilderness, talk with him on the mount of transfiguration, sustain
him in the agony of the garden, gather unseen around his cross, roll
away the rock from the entrance of his tomb, and attend him with
songs as he ascends to glory. And believers look upon him with
eyes of faith and love, as the foundation of all their hopes, in this
world, and that which is to come—as their “wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption.”
The other interpretation refers these “seven eyes” to the perfection
of our Lord’s mediatorial character. The priest under the law was to
sprinkle the blood seven times upon the mercy-seat, and seven
times upon the leper; the first to typify a perfect atonement for sin;
the second, a perfect application of its benefits to the believer.
When the Lamb of God revived from the ashes on the altar of
Calvary, he appeared “in the midst of the throne,” having seven
horns and seven eyes, to denote the completeness of his prophetic
wisdom, and the fulness of his regal authority. He sustains to his
people the threefold relation of high-priest, prophet, and king. He is
our high-priest, not after the order of Aaron, whom death robbed of
his sacerdotal vesture; but “a high-priest for ever, after the order of
Melchizedec.” He is our prophet, speaking with the tongue of the
learned, and as one having authority—speaking to the conscience
and the heart, and the dead hear his voice and live. He is our king,
according to the decree, “on the holy hill of Zion;” exalted by the
right-hand of the Father, and “declared to be the Son of God with
power by the resurrection from the dead.” Methinks I hear the
Father speaking to Caiaphas:—“Have you a law, and do you say that
by your law he ought to die? I will read to you the law on the
morning of the third day, and you shall see that he is the
resurrection and the life—that I have made him both Lord and
Christ!” And methinks I hear the voice of the risen Messiah:—“I
have travelled through the forest of the world’s temptations, through
the dens of lions, the mountains of leopards, the dark haunts of
devils, and the dominions of death and the grave; and have opened,
through all the desert, a new and living way to my Father’s house.
The powers of darkness thought to strip me of my official regalia,
and bind me for ever in the grave; but I have broken Cæsar’s seal,
and rent the rocks of Joseph’s sepulchre, and am alive for evermore
—the high-priest, prophet, and king of Israel. Though I gave myself
up to death upon the cross, death could not deprive me of my
threefold office. I died with my vesture on, my miter and
breastplate, as high-priest over the house of God. I died with the
book of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in my hand, as a
prophet to instruct my people, and lead them into all truth. I died
with the crown upon my head, and all my enemies beneath my feet,
as a king, whose dominion is everlasting, and whose glory shall
never end. Death and hell could not take from me my triple diadem;
and I came forth from the place of the dead in the power of an
endless life; and will continue to wear my robes unspotted, till I have
finished my mediatorial work, and gathered all the saints unto
myself!”
IV. This stone is fitted and prepared by God himself. “I will engrave
the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts.”
This figure evidently refers to the sufferings of Christ, by which he
was made perfect for his mediatorial work. Many hammers and
chisels were upon him from Bethlehem to Calvary; but they were all
appointed of God, as the instruments of his preparation to be the
sure foundation and chief corner-stone of the church. The Scribes
and the Pharisees, Caiaphas, Judas, Pilate, the Jewish populace, and
the Roman soldiery, whatever their malicious designs, only
accomplished “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”
upon his well-beloved Son. All was appointed by the Father; all was
understood by the Messiah; all was necessary to secure the great
objects of his advent. It pleased the Father to bruise him, and put
him to grief; and he cheerfully submitted to suffer, that we might be
spared. O, wonder of wonders! Emmanuel wounded, that sinners
might be healed! the Golden Vessel marred, that the earthen vessels
might be saved! the Green Tree dried up, that the dry tree might
grow as the lily, and cast forth its roots like Lebanon! According to
another metaphor, “the plowers plowed upon his back; they made
long their furrows.” And they were deep as well as long. They
plowed into his very heart, and his body was covered with blood,
and his cry of agony pierced the supernatural gloom of Golgotha,
and soured the wine of dragons throughout the region of Gehenna!
Thus the foundation was fitted and prepared; and wicked men and
devils but blindly did the work which God had before determined to
be done. It is fixed in its place, firm and immovable; and the chief
Architect is raising other stones from the quarry, and building them
thereon, “for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” Brethren, “look
unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and the hole of the pit whence
ye are digged”—even the flinty rock of impenitence, and the horrible
pit of corruption. I have known men relinquish the hewing of stones
from the quarry, because it was more expense than profit; and I
have known men abandon the digging of ore from the mine,
because it was too deep in the mountain. But Christ “descended
into the lower parts of the earth,” and imbibed the gas of death. He
carried in his hand the hammer of the word, which breaketh the
flinty rock in pieces. He expelled the deadly vapor, blasted the solid
adamant, and prepared the way for the workmen; and when he
ascended, he sent down the apostles, to gather stones for his
spiritual temple; while he stands at the top of the shaft, and turns
the windlass of intercession, by which he draws up all to himself.
The work was gloriously begun on the day of Pentecost, and men
and demons have never yet been able entirely to stop its progress.
The pope and the devil tried their best, for a long time, to keep the
digging and hewing tools of the twelve wise master-builders
concealed in the vaults of the monasteries; but Luther, with the lamp
of God in his hand, discovered them, brought them forth, and set
them at work; and millions of lively stones have since been dug out,
and sent up from the pit, to be placed in the walls of “God’s
building.”
And still the gospel is mighty in the salvation of souls, of which we
have abundant evidence in the principality. What multitudes were
converted at Langeiththo in the days of Rowlands and Williams;
when two thousand communicants in the winter, and three thousand
in the summer, met every month in the same place around the table
of the Lord! And there are now in Wales hundreds of large and
flourishing churches among the Baptists and Independents. Glory to
God, that I have in my own possession the register of hundreds,
who have been hewn from the flinty rock, and raised from the
horrible pit, to a place in the Lord’s holy temple—from drunkenness
to sobriety, from unbelief to faith in Christ, from enmity to
reconciliation to God, from persecution to patient suffering for
righteousness’ sake, from disobedience to the filial temper of “sons
and daughters of the Lord Almighty;” and many of them I have seen
going home, rejoicing, to their Father’s house above!
Hark! what do I hear? The hammers and chisels of mercy all over
the mountain of the militant church. The great Architect is building
up Zion. He is gathering his materials from Europe, and Asia, and
Africa, and America. Glory to God! I hear his footsteps to-day in
this mountain; I see his hand in this congregation. Brethren in the
ministry, we are workers together with him. Delightful work! How
easy it is to preach, when the hand of God is with us! Let us labour
on! The topstone will soon be brought forth with shouting, the
sound of the building shall cease, and we shall receive our reward!
V. The gracious design for which this Divine Foundation is prepared,
is the justification and sanctification of sinners. “I will remove the
iniquity of that land in one day.”
Christ came to destroy the works of the devil—to take away sin by
the offering of himself. As the moon is illuminated by the sun, so
the rites and ceremonies of the old testament are illustrated by the
facts and doctrines of the new. The priesthood of Jesus explains the
priesthood of Aaron. The one sacrifice of Calvary explains all the
sacrifices that went before. The glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ enters the windows of Solomon’s temple, and penetrates the
Holy of Holies within the vail. All the bloody offerings of the Mosaic
ritual were intended only as types of him who “removed the iniquity
of that land in one day.”
What land? Emmanuel’s land—a garden enclosed, and measured by
the line of God’s eternal purpose; including all the redeemed of the
Lord, who will ultimately be brought to glory. The map of “that
land” was in the mind of Jehovah, when he made this promise
through the prophet. He remembered his covenant engagement
before the foundation of the world in reference to its redemption.
He saw it encumbered by mountains of sin, and blasted by the fiery
curse of the law; and in the fulness of time, he sent his Son to
deliver it.
To remove iniquity is to remove its penalty and its pollution. Christ
hath accomplished both for believers. He “bore our sins in his own
body on the tree!” He carried upon his own shoulder the burden
which must have sunk the whole human race to eternal perdition.
By enduring our punishment, he provided for our purification. In his
own wounds a fountain was opened wherein we may wash and be
clean. From his own heart the balm was extracted whereby our
moral leprosy may be cured. “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh
away the sin of the world.” See how our great High-priest removes
the iniquity of his people; not, like Aaron, by many sacrifices; but by
the single offering of himself, “in one day.”
The word which is here rendered “remove” is in the original the
same as that which is used to express the translation of Enoch. As
Enoch was removed from the earth, beyond the sight of man, and
the power of death; so sin is removed by the Mediator—removed for
ever from the believer’s heart and conscience—blotted out—cast into
the depth of the sea—carried away into the land of forgetfulness.
The removal is perfect and everlasting.
This was a work which Jewish sacrifices were too weak to
accomplish. For two thousand years the victims bled upon the altar,
and not a single sin was actually removed. Every year the goat of
the burnt-offering must bleed afresh, and the scape-goat must be
sent away into the wilderness. But Jesus, the great ante-type of all
these emblems, removed in one day, by a single offering, the
iniquities of all who believe in him, from the fall to the end of time.
All the sacrifices that preceded his coming were intended only to
remind men that they were sinners, that they needed an atonement,
and that justification and eternal life could flow only from the
meritorious sufferings of the future Christ. But when the substance
came, the shadows passed away, and the promised work was at
once accomplished; and all our iniquities were lost in the sea of
mercy, which rose to a full tide in the Mediator’s merit.
Sinners, do you expect ever to be made free from sin? Would you
have your leprosy cured, your impurity cleansed, and the curse
removed? Come to our great High-priest! Lo, he stands by the
altar, and the blood is on his hands! He waits to be gracious! Come,
for he has virtually removed your iniquity, and it requires in you but
a simple act of faith to realize the benefit! “Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved!”
 SERMON XIX.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.
“But how should man be just with God?”—Job ix. 2.

The Almighty proclaimed himself to Moses, “the Lord, merciful and

gracious;” and in the New Testament, he is called “the God of all
grace.” “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as
sin reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through
righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.” God is
determined to glorify the unsearchable riches of his grace in the
salvation of sinners. But how can this be done, without casting a
cloud over the Divine throne, and bringing into contempt the Divine
law? How can the guilty be considered and treated as innocent,
without an apparent indifference to the evil of sin, and a total
disregard of the claims of eternal justice? How can the rebel be
acquitted in the court of Heaven, with honor to the character of God,
and safety to the interests of his moral government? This is a
question which angels could not answer; but it has been answered
by the God of angels. The light of nature and reason is too feeble to
afford us any aid in this inquiry; “but we have a more sure word of
prophecy, whereunto we do well that we take heed, as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place;” for “God hath shined in our hearts, to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
Jesus Christ.”
Following, then, the guidance of the New Testament, let us consider
the nature and the ground of a sinner’s justification with God.
I. To justify is the public act of a judge, declaring a person innocent,
not liable to punishment. “It is God that justifieth” the ungodly.
Justification, in its strict sense, and remission of sins, are two very
different things. Job could forgive his friends; but he could not
justify them. But in the gracious economy of the gospel, these are
always immediately connected; nor these alone, but other and
superior mercies—mercies infinite and unspeakable. Those whom
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