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EXCELLENCY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
WHILST we admire, as of necessity we must, the richness and diversity of the imagery which is employed to depict the beauty of the Christian Church, we must be careful to seize the truths which are so exhibited: for in this the sublime descriptions of the prophets differ materially from the poetic flights of other authors; they declare what actually exists; whereas the poetical representations of uninspired men are for the most part either mere fictions, or truth rendered fictitious by the high colouring that is given to it. The description here given of the glory of the latter day is exceeding grand. The whole creation, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, contribute to it according to their several ability. Not men only, but even flocks and herds, are spoken of as coming voluntarily to consecrate themselves to the Lord; and in my text, the woods of Lebanon yield their produce, to adorn the Church, and to glorify their God.
The particular expressions in my text lead me to set before you,
I. The constitution of the Church of Christ—
From Lebanon the wood was brought for the erection of Solomon’s temple [Note: 2Ch_2:16.]: and all the glory of Lebanon shall be brought to our Zion also, to build an habitation for our incarnate God. By “the fir-tree and the pine,” I understand the great and mighty of the earth; whilst “the box” represents the poor and humble, whether in respect of civil rank, or intellectual capacity. Both the one and the other of these shall be employed as constituent parts of God’s spiritual temple. For each a suitable place shall be found, and for each an appropriate use.
The high and mighty shall be brought on a level with the lowest—
[Christianity does not at all interfere with distinctions in civil life: they are the appointment of God himself; and are necessary to the well-being of mankind. But in a spiritual view, the greatest monarch upon earth must be brought on a level with the meanest of his subjects. The axe must be laid to the root of all his pride and self-sufficiency, and he must be felled by the operation of the word and Spirit of God. Every man is a sinner before God; every man must be made to feel and acknowledge his guilt; every man must seek for mercy through the blood and righteousness of that Divine Saviour who died for him. Every man must live altogether in a state of dependence upon God, not merely as a God of providence, but especially as a God of grace; and must receive continually fresh supplies of grace and strength out of the fulness that is treasured up for him in Christ. This is not the work of the poor only, but of the rich also: the most learned philosopher must in this respect feel himself on a par with the most illiterate of the human race. All must equally be taught of God; and all “be saved equally by grace through faith in Christ.”]
The poor, on the contrary, are raised to an equality with the highest—
[There is not a blessing which the poorest may not obtain, to the full extent that it can be enjoyed by the rich and great. The Apostles themselves were not selected from the higher or more intelligent classes, but from the lowest walks of life. A few poor fishermen were raised up to be the teachers of the whole world. And if it be thought that this was a peculiar case, and that the poor by reason of their disadvantages are greatly inferior to the rich, I must say, that, for the most part, the very reverse of this is true; and that God yet daily, in ten thousand instances, “reveals to babes the things which he has hid from the wise and prudent [Note: Mat_11:25.].” The very circumstance of the poor having so little in this world lends them more simply to depend on God; and their conscious want of human knowledge leads them to implore more humbly and more earnestly the teaching of God’s Spirit: and hence by coming to God “hungry, they are filled with good things, whilst the rich are sent empty away [Note: Luk_1:53.].” Thus does God still “take the beggar from the dunghill, to set him among the princes [Note: 1Sa_2:8.]:” and it is still daily seen, that “the box” occupies a place in the Church of God which the loftiest cedar in Lebanon might envy.
That this is the constitution of the Church of Christ, is not left to be inferred from the figurative language of my text: it is expressly stated by St. James, who save, “Let the brother of law degree rejoice, in that he is exalted; but the rich, in that he is made low [Note: Jam_1:9-10.].” Here, I say, the whole of what I have asserted is stated plainly, and without a figure.]
I now proceed to notice,
II. The excellence of that constitution—
In our text, this particular constitution is set forth,
1. As ornamental to the Church itself—
[Let any one view the Church as so constituted. Let the loftiest “firs and pines” be viewed in union with the humble “box;” the kings and princes of the earth assembled at the footstool of the Divine Majesty in concert with the lowliest classes of mankind: all there are bowing their knees together before their common Lord and Master: the same confessions, how humiliating soever they may be, proceed equally from the lips of all: the same petitions for grace, for mercy, for peace, for strength, are urged by all, with equal and united importunity: the same devout acknowledgments are poured forth by all for blessings received: the word delivered to them all is pronounced with the some authority, and entire submission to it required from them all under the same awful sanctions: the same invitations and promises are held forth to all: and the same glorious inheritance assured to all who receive and obey the word. View them all as then sitting down together at the table of the Lord, as guests equally invited; and equally accepted, by the great Master of the feast; all eating of the same bread; all drinking of the same cup; and all receiving into their souls the same heavenly communications; and all returning to their homes refreshed and strengthened for their future labours. Say, is not this lovely? Is it not a very emblem of heaven itself, where a poor Lazarus, whose very sores the dogs but lately licked, because he had not a friend to bind them up, now sits down with all the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord at the heavenly banquet, his head reclined in the very bosom of Abraham himself? Yes; thus it is in the Church below: “The rich and the poor meet together; and the Lord is the Maker of them all,” the Father of them all, the portion of them all [Note: Pro_29:13.]. Amongst them all, there is no room either for contempt or envy; the honour and the happiness of all being wholly independent on worldly circumstances, and dependent only on the access to God which each obtains for himself, and the consequent manifestations of God’s love which he is privileged to enjoy. Their degree of usefulness to the Church may indeed be affected by the situations which they severally occupy in civil life, and the qualifications with which they are endowed: but, as in the natural body, so in Christ’s mystical body, though one member may have a higher office than another, none can dispense with the services of the rest: “the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor can the head say to the feet, I hare no need of you.” Every member has its proper place, and its proper office: and, if one were wanting, the whole body would be defective, and deformed. But in Christ’s body not one member is wanting: every place is occupied; God having assigned to every member the situation adapted for it: and in the perfect adaptation of each to its proper ends, and the harmonious exercise of all for the general good, the beauty of the whole consists [Note: See 1Co_12:12-22.]. In truth, it is “for the beautifying of the place of God’s sanctuary” that this assemblage of the high and low, “the pine and the box, is ordained: and we cannot but acknowledge, that in this view “Zion is beautiful for situation, and the joy of the whole earth [Note: Psa_48:1-2.].”]
2. As honourable to God—
[To this point God himself calls our particular attention. “I will plant,” says he, “in the wilderness, the cedar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it [Note: Isa_41:19-20.].” Now why, I would ask, does he lay such peculiar stress upon this, but because it reflects peculiar lustre on his character, and displays in a most endearing point of view his glorious perfections? Truly “this does make the place of his feet glorious;” because it shews, that, whilst he is “Lord of all, he is equally rich in mercy to all who call upon him [Note: Rom_10:12.].” In his regards, there is no difference between one and another: “there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ, that is, the image of Christ upon the soul, is all, and in all [Note: Col_3:11.].”
Let us suppose for a moment that there were the same kind of partiality in him as he complains of in many of his professing people: “If there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and become judges who reason ill [Note: Jam_2:2-4.]?” I say, let us suppose such a partiality in God; and how unamiable would he appear! But “there is no such respect of persons with him [Note: Act_10:34.]:” the humblest shrub in all the woods of Lebanon is as dear to him as the loftiest cedar there: yea, the weaker they are in themselves, the more tenderly he watches over them for good, that he may “display in them the excellency of his own power [Note: 2Co_4:7.],” and “perfect his own strength in their weakness [Note: 2Co_12:9.].” Even the least and meanest of them all he regards as “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord; and in them he is, and will be, glorified [Note: Isa_61:3].”
In this then God acts altogether worthy of himself, and shews, that, as he is the Maker of all, so is he the Father, and the Friend of all.]
Application—
Such being the constitution of the Church,
1. Let us all seek to become members of it—
[Are there here any of the higher orders? I would say, give yourselves to the Lord, to serve him with your whole hearts. This is what you must do, if ever you would be happy; for in the very words before my text you are told, that “the kingdom and nation that will not serve his Church shall perish.” Do not imagine that your elevation among men can procure for you any exemption from your duty to God; your distinctions only render your way to heaven more difficult. For persons elevated in society to be humbled and brought upon a level with the poorest of mankind, is no easy matter: but it must be done — — — O beg of God to accomplish it for you, by the mighty working of his power! — — —
To you who are of the lower classes I would say, Rejoice, that whilst your fellow-creatures perhaps are ready to despite you on account of the disadvantages under which you labour, God loves you, and made it a distinguishing feature of the Messiah’s kingdom, that “the poor should have the Gospel preached to them [Note: Mat_11:5.].” Whatever the rich may imagine, you of the two are more favoured of God than they: for whilst “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven,” “God has chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom [Note: Jam_2:5.].” Labour then to secure this privilege: and, though you have none of the external recommendations of “the pine and fir,” you need not fear but that God will accept your services, and make you “pillars in his temple that shall go no more out [Note: Rev_3:12.].”]
2. Let us all endeavour to promote the establishment of it in the world—
[Low as the state of the Church at present is, it shall one day, like the stone which Nebuchadnezzar saw, “become a mountain, and fill the whole earth [Note: Dan_2:35.].” “The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains; and all nations shall flow unto it [Note: Isa_2:2.].” The stateliest trees shall then be as ambitious of contributing to its glory, as those of the humblest growth.” Let us then, in an assured prospect of that day, send forth workmen to Lebanon, to fell the lofty firs, and to bring in the humble box [Note: If this were the subject of a Mission Sermon, the thought of heathens and savages in every quarter of the world flocking to Christ, “as doves to their windows,” (ver. 8.) might here he opened to advantage.] — — — So shall the sanctuary of God be enlarged and beautified, and his name be glorified throughout all the earth.]