Matthew 1,21. New Year's Day. Henric Schartau

Matthew 1,21

New Year’s Day 

Henric Schartau (1757-1825) 

(49) II. 

New Year’s Day Sermon. 

Introduction. 

You shall call His Name Jesus; for it is He who shall save His people from their sins. 

1. This is the commandment which Joseph of Nazareth received from an angel concerning the name of the Son which should be born of the virgin Mary. The words are recorded by Matthew (1,21). 

2. The name Jesus means a Savior. Mary’s Son should be a Savior, and therefore He should receive this Name. He should save, not only provide postponement of the punishment for sins, nor alleviate the anguish for sins, but He should save His people. 

3. It was to His people that this salvation should be granted. When we learn that Jesus should be a sSavior from sins, we are also enabled to understand what sort of a people it was that He should save, namely, a people of sinners. But where is there a people without sins? It was, then, the whole human race which constituted this people. For this reason Jesus is not called the son of fAbraham, Isaac or Jacob, but the Son of Man. He came to save the human race in general. 

4. The Savior should grant salvation from the very greatest want and distress, for He should save His (50) people from their sins, from the transgressions of God’s law, from God’s wrath and from the perdition of the soul. He should grant a perfect salvation, so that the punishment for sins should be remitted, the sinful desires be overcome and the very seat of corruption be eventually uprooted, for He should be a Savior from sins. 

5. Mark this, O sinner, that this benefaction consists in salvation from sins. Jesus is not a Savior unto sin. He has not in His redemption given us license to sin. Nor is He a Savior in sin, remitting the punishment, but leaving a person in the bonds of sin. No, He is a Savior from sins, to the end that the sins will be abandoned when forgiven, and that the conquering power of Jesus’ resurrection will overcome the sinful desires, when the comforting power of His suffering and atonement will overcome the pangs of conscience, for Jesus is a Savior from sins. 

6. I propose to develop this matter still further and to point out the comfort which is obtainable in the Savior’s Name, but let us first pray that even on this occasion He may be unto us a Savior, so that the Word of God which will be spoken may work unto salvation, so that the bondservants of sin may desire Him unto deliverance and flee to Him for refuge, and that by Him they may be granted eternal salvation. To this end let us unite in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, etc.” 

( 51) Proposition. 

Our Comfort in the Name of the Savior. 

1. The comfort obtainable in the Name of Jesus, the Savior.

2. How this comfort can be obtained. 

First Part. 

7. We are here to speak of the comfort that can be obtained in the Name of Jesus, the Savior. 

8. The comfort lies principally in the reference of the evangelist to the fact that this Name had been given to our Savior by the angel, who announced to Mary that she should give birth to a Son, for then was also announced that Jesus should possess such attributes as would enable Him to be a Savior from sins, according to the interpretation of His Name given to Joseph and set forth in our introduction. When Gabriel the angel announced to Mary that she should give birth to a Son, whom she should call Jesus, he also said: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His reign there will be no end.” A man like this could be all that we have heard in the introduction, a Savior from sins. 

9. Jesus is a Savior from the want and distress of sin, and we have the comforting assurance that He has come to save sinners.

10. Jesus is a Savior from the debts of sin. Our debts can now be forgiven, for Jesus has taken them upon (52) Himself and has paid them all. By His circumcision Jesus subjected Himself to the entire Law, not only the Decalogue, but to all the enactments in the Pentateuch. The pain Jesus then suffered was a beginning of all the suffering which He should endure as a punishment for sins. A sinner can therefore be delivered from his sins, however many they may be, for Jesus has paid for them all, being “the propitiation for our sins and for the whole world.” A sinner can be delivered from his sins,however great they may be, yes, if they were red as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, for “the blood of Jesus, shed for you, cleanses from all sin.” Yes, in Gethsemane the burden of sin weighed Jesus down with His face to the ground, and on the cross it wrung from His heart a bitter cry; but the burden of the sins of the world, though grievously heavy, was borne by the Lamb of God, and cast away, when He arose in glory from His tomb. 

11. Jesus is a Savior from the threats and condemnation of the law and from the anguish thereby caused in the conscience. The Word of God threatens with anguish every soul that works evil. This anguish must be felt in the soul, either in eternity by those who will be condemned, or in this life at the time of spiritual awakening. It was from this anguish for sins that Jesus wrought redemption, when He delivered us from the curse of the law. When Jesus permitted Himself to be circumcised, He subjected Himself to the law, as the Apostle Paul expresses it: “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” The threats of the law were fulfilled, when Jesus suffered the punishment for sins, and thereby He redeemed us (53) from the curse of the law. When a person is made free from the curse, by virtue of the redemption in Christ, he is also delivered from the anguish caused by the curse of the law. Jesus has fulfilled all the requirements of the law. If we have our share in the Savior who has fulfilled the law, we need not fear, though condemnation is pronounced upon all who have not fulfilled the law. 

12. Jesus is a Savior from the power of sin. He proved victorious in His temptations, and so we need not be subject to sin. We, too, can continually be victorious, until the power of sin shall be entirely overcome in death. In His circumcision Jesus began to assume the obligations pertaining to His mediatorial office, and in His baptism He assumed them entirely. Thereupon followed His temptations. As the Second Adam Jesus advanced to be tempted by the devil, and He was victorious, where the first Adam fell. Jesus stood in our stead and was victorious on our behalf. He purchased for us power unto victory over all temptations to sin. No man need be a bondservant of sin. The Son of God can make you free indeed.He “gave Himself for us, so that He might redeem us from all iniquity.” No one need permit himself to be overcome by the devil, for Jesus has “brought him to nought,” and God can “deliver us from the power of darkness.” No one need be subdued by the world, for Jesus has “overcome the world,” and He can “deliver us out of this present evil world.” The most deeply rooted sins must yield to the power of His grace. The most violent temptations can be resisted by a redeemed soul. The most cunning deices to lead a believer astray are frustrated (54) by Jesus, who protects His own, turns their simplicity into wisdom and their earnestness into an unconquerable power unto victory. 

13. Jesus is a Savior even from earthly want and distress, for these are results of sin. 

14. Physical distress follows upon sin. As soon as Adam had fallen into sin, such distress was announced. The ground was cursed. It became less fertile, necessitating hard labor and anxiety: “In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” The Lord has not been please to remove all earthly difficulties. He has left hardship as a chastisement unto repentance for those who are not converted and as a trial for the believers. 

15. Nevertheless, in as much as Jesus has wrought salvation from the punishment for sins and, hence, also from all real injury, He saves His own from much earthly distress, and many a time, in the midst of their suffering, He saves them from the worst part of all physical distress, namely, sickening worry, and enables them to heed the apostolic injunction: “Do not be anxious about anything,.” He strengthens their arms of faith so that they are enabled to “cast their anxiety upon Him.” During all their tribulations, Jesus grants unto each and every one of His believers the same experience as Jacob had and of which he bore testimony, saying: “The angel which has redeemed me from all evil.” 

16. Eventually, He saves them in a blessed death from all manner of evil. Then their tears are wiped away, never to flow any more. “neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pay, any more.” “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and He will save me unto His heavenly reign.” 

(55) Second Part. 

17. We are here to show how this comfort in the Name of Jesus, the Savior, can be obtained. 

18. Circumcision was a ceremony to be performed, not only in the case of Jesus, but in the case of every one who should belong to the people of God. Every one who should have a part in the Messianic redemption should be circumcised, as Jesus the Messiah was circumcised. Concerning this circumcision Paul teaches that it does not consist in any external ceremony, but “circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit.” This is accompanied with a painful change, quite as keen as that caused by the “circumcision, which is outward in the flesh.” So long as this change exists in the soul, it is as real a mark that the person thus transformed belongs to the spiritual Israel or the people of God, as the outward circumcision in the flesh was a mark of fellowship with the children of Israel or God’s people of old. 

19. A person obtains comfort in the Name of Jesus, if he submits to the pain of the spiritual circumcision, which belongs to repentance. The infant boys in ancient Israel were adopted into the old covenant of grace without any expressed consent on their part, just as the children of the New Testament are adopted into the same covenant of grace, without any assent on their part being required. But if a person of more mature age desired to be adopted into the commonwealth of Israel, he had to submit to the pain caused by circumcision, just as Abraham himself had to, before he could become the ancestor of the woman’s Seed, which had been promised, destined to bruise the serpent’s head, (56) and in which all the nations of the earth should be blessed. A similar condition appertains to each and every one who would become a partaker of the blessing which Jesus the Savior has purchased. One must submit to the spiritual circumcision which takes place in conversion, when the Word of God like a “two-edged sword pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow.” Indeed, a man cannot himself work repentance for sins and thus bring about his conversion. He must not, however, evade nor disdainfully oppose and thrust away the sword of the law, when the Holy Spirit would thereby sever the bands of sin which hold him a captive to the evil one. Nor dare he endeavor, with amusements and human comforts, to heal the wounds, which result when the Holy Spirit tries to crush his stony heart with the hammer of the law. When a person does not cease using the Word, though he perceives how it disturbs and worries his mind, the Holy Spirit leads everything to the end so that the  sorrow for sin shall, without causing any injury, is sufficient for God’s purpose. 

20. The Holy Spirt enables a person thus prepared by the word to receive comfort in the Name of Jesus and to accept Him as a personal Savior,. This acceptance is made by faith, for John the Evangelist teaches that “Jesus gave the right to become children of God to them who believe on His Name.” It is the character and nature of true faith to accept Jesus as a Savior from sins which are painfully perceived. This faith begins rather as a longing, poured out in prayer≤ than as a certainty expressing itself in praise. Nevertheless, the certainty is there, and by virtue thereof a person ( 57) looks for comfort noy yet received, and expects it confidently, with humble submission to God’s pleasure, saying with the Prophet Micah: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause.” Even as the sinner did not, during his spiritual awakening, dare to flee from the chastising arm of the Almighty; so neither does he now venture to thrust back the hand of God which offers comfort in the Name of the Savior, promising forgiveness in His atonement and eternal life in His redemption. 

21. With such a faith follows a continuing change in a person’s spiritual condition, which becomes a constant evidence that he belongs to the people of God and that he has a part in the salvation which Jesus has purchased, and hence he also finds abiding comfort in the Name of the Savior. 

22. In the first place, this change brings the comforting assurance that one is saved, saved from all sins, saved from the wrath of God, saved from the curse of hell, saved from the power of Satan and that one shall be saved in the midst of all temptations, saved from want and distress, saved in death unto eternal life. 

23. In the second place, this change in conscience also brings a change in one’s mind and heart, so that one becomes like a child, without the opposition of any misinterpretations, evasions or contradictions, laying bare one’s inner life to the eyes of the omniscient God, to receive the impressions of the reminders and corrections of the Holy Spirit, to the end that He might thereby “guide me with HIs counsel and afterward receive me to glory.” 

(58) Application. 

24. Jesus is such a Savior,m and He grants such comfort, as has here been set forth. No doubt, you are anxious to receive the comfort, and I do not begrudge you the good fortune, for it is indeed not easy to be a sinner without a Savior. It will not suffice, however, to entertain this comfort in your thoughts, if God has not put it into your heart, for then, perchance, you might lack it in times of adversity and, worst of all, in the time of death, when you need it the most. If you wish to avoid such a calamity, get better acquainted with Jesus, for He will teach you to know yourself as lost and to know Him as a Savior. Call on Him, and He will answer you; seek refuge in Him, and He will receive you. 

25. If you have learned to know how wretched, corrupted, lost and condemned you are, then there is help for you in Jesus, for He is a Savior for precisely such as you. He has been pleased to bear such a Name as has reference to sins, from which He should save His people, in order that you might know and understand that sinners and their Savior belong together. He has already saved you from blindness and carelessness. It is for your Savior’s sake that the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of your understanding and quickened your slumbering conscience from the stupor of false security. Your Savior has begun the good work in your heart and will continue it, if you abide in His Word and use it with diligence and care. 

26. If you have already enjoyed His blessing, so that you are free from your anxiety for sin and from the fear of hell, then you truly belong to the people of (59) God, the spiritual Israel, the congregation of saints. Then there shall also appear in you arks of the spiritual circumcision. If Jesus has become your Savior form the debts of sin, He has also become the Savior from their power. If He has delivered you from your anxiety, you must also let HIm deliver you from your former habits in sin, unto the glory of God. As He has begun to rule in your conscience over the fear of death, so He will also prove prevailing in your life over everything contradictory to the Word of God and enable you to escape from it. The devil may indeed lead you into error and thereby make you like a stranger before God, but unexpected token of mercy will soon restore the former confidence. By the experience of God’s mighty help, your hear will take courage at the approach of every distress incident of this present life. Like David, meeting Goliath, you are going to be able to say: “Your servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like as one of them. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.” The Lord has delivered you from the lion and the bear, from the devil and from sin. The cares of life cannot be greater than one of the spiritual foes whom you have already conquered. Through Jesus you will be able to conquer everything, for He has conquered it all. 

Prayer. 

27. Lord Jesus, You were pleased to become the Savior of Your congregation when, by suffering and death, You did establish it upon Yourself as a Rock of Salvation. Be a Savior unto us still, so that the gates of hell may not prevail against Your Church, whether by force or deceit. grant us Your grace, lest in peaceful days we may leisurely slumber, or in days of persecution yield to the enemy. Guard us against every deceitful enlightenment, and against false zeal. Be a Savior to our King also, and save him from manifest and secret dangers. Be a Savior to our country and help us from the ravages of war and from the domination of foreign nations. Be a Savior to our city; protect us from misfortunes and save us from all distress, for Your Name is Jesus. Be our Jesus also and grant us Your grace. 

28. Amen, Lord Jesus, Amen. 

1. Corinthians 9,24-10,5. Septuagesima. Henrik Schartau

1. Corinthians 9,24-10,5
Septuagesima
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

Outline.
And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. Luke 13,30.

1. (88) The Lord Jesus says that there will be a peculiar interchange of places in His glorious reign, quite different from that which might reasonably be expected.
2. A. Some who have been known as being outside of the reign of God’s grace will, contrary to the expectations of many, be found to be within that glorious reign.
3. No one who at the time of his death stands outside of the reign of grace will ever be found within the reign of glory.
4. But some who have lived in such a way that all who have had knowledge in the Word of God might know that they were not true Christians become such, though the world which saw their former condition may not have observed the latter.
5. B. Some who were expected to be seen in the reign of glory will not be seen there.
6. Fear not, O sorrowful heart! No one who, by reason of the Word of God, can be expected in the reign of glory, shall be wanting there.
7. But some who have been called by grace and have (89) apparently attained to faith have nevertheless remained in their natural condition; and some who have had the true faith have fallen away. these shall be missed in heaven, though it appeared as if they would surely arrive there.
8. C. Many who have had great gifts, who have been sanctified by grace, and who have thus been brilliant, but nevertheless in personal character fundamentally weak -- these belong there.
9. Those who have had exalted positions and who, by virtue of this, have shown enlightenment and power, but who have in themselves been weak -- these may also belong there.
10. D. Some who have been considered humble and of low degree shall there be first, indeed, some who have had slight gifts and who have had external faults so that they scarcely seemed to be Christians.

The Text.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 1. Corinthians 9,24-10,5.
11. In Greece, and especially in the city of Corinth to which the apostle wrote this letter, there were among other physical exercises also those of races on specially made race-tracks, A large number of young people, even from far distant countries, came to take part in the games. After due training, to which belonged temperance in all things, they all exerted themselves to the (90) utmost to reach the goal first and thus to receive the prize.
12. The apostle here finds an analogy to the racing for the reign of God. He imagines how the athletes rushed on, and he urges the Christian racers to all the more eagerness, inasmuch as they are racing for a crown of greater glory. We can well understand how it frequently happened that some who were last at the beginning of the race gathered strength and advanced to be among the first, and vice versa.

Proposition.
A Great Interchange of Places on the Way to Heaven
I. The last become first.
II. The first become last.

First Part.
The Last Become First.

13. The last are also on the way, though they are last at the very first beginning of the race. They have a heartfelt desire to hear and read the Word of God, and they are often moved thereby, though nothing more. They have not yet been enlightened by the Word to see their depravity, nor have they been moved by its power to seek after salvation.
14. A. Some remain last. There are last which shall be first, says the Savior, and this implies that not all who are last shall be first, but only a few. “Awake up righteously, and do not sin; for some have no knowledge of God.” Some Corinthians were awakened, but (91) not rightly awake, persons who did not know God, but remained lying in their sins.
15. There are some who gladly hear and read the Word, and are moved to tears, but nothing more. Some can remain in this condition for many years. They are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” They are being driven by their learning in the Scriptures and appear to be in the race, but they get nowhere; they ever remain last.
16. B. Some attain a righteous life in Christ, though they do not become first. They were for some time, perhaps a long while, among the last, but they permitted the Holy Spirit to quicken them to earnestness, and thus eventually attained a righteous life, though they have not made great progress. They are like those of whom we read in Revelation 3,8: “You have little power.” Those who were ignorant have at least learned the rudiments which are necessary fro salvation, “the first principles of the oracles of God.” These become saved, but scarcely so.
17. C. Some become first, though they were last. They were last, but they gathered new strength and began to rush eagerly along, passing by all their competitors. They were ignorant, but finally, like David, they became more learned than their teachers. Like the Syro-Phenician woman, they advanced so far from their heathen unbelief that they received the testimony which she received of the Lord Jesus: “Your faith is great.” Instead of merely longing for feeling and relying on them, they have attained a faith like that of Thomas, to see not, and yet believe.
18. Such were the Thessalonians. Their faith grew (92) exceedingly, and their love to each other abounded. Their patience had become perfected to the extent that, like Moses, they considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,” and thy had gained such stability in their hope that,like Paul, they were sure that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Second Part.
The First Who Shall Be Last.

19. What do we mean with the first? We mean those who have just been described, who have attained the greatest measure and the highest degree of the love of Christ.
20. A. Some are first and remain first. They keep the faith unto the end. Jesus can say to them as He did to His apostles, “You are they who have continued with Me in My temptations.” Other Christians can also give them the same testimony, as for instance, Peter gives his fellow Christians (Acts 1,21). These keep the faith and a good conscience. They remain “always steadfast and unmovable” The apostle John calls them “fathers” and says concerning them that they “knew him who is from the beginning.” They have thus “attained unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” they are experienced in mind, and they walk steadfastly with their feet.
21. B. Some come near being last, but do not become last. This was the case with the pastor in Ephesus, (93) Revelation 2,1-5, also with Peter in Antioch, and with the Corinthians and the Galatians.
22. The pastor in Ephesus had left his first love, but he nevertheless still had faith, and he labored for the sake of Jesus. The Apostle Peter came near being one of the last in Antioch, where he fell into hypocrisy, eating with the Gentiles while alone with them, but withdrawing from them when other Jews arrived. But he gathered new power when reprimanded by Paul. The Corinthians had fallen back to the extent that there were factions and quarrels among them, and that they even condoned a manifest work of the devil in their midst. But they accepted the reproof in Paul’s first letter to them and repented, so that in his second letter he was enabled to express satisfaction with the results of the reproof.
23. C. Some who have been first become last, but do not remain such; they remain anew.
24. Peter had been one of the first. Jesus had borne testimony that Peter had a knowledge of Christ, not attainable by flesh and blood, but the result of a revelation given him by the Heavenly Father Himself. He become one of the last when he cursed and swore and denied that he knew Jesus. But he was awakened when the rooter crowed, he was convicted by the look of Jesus and became converted. He again advanced in the love of Jesus and could appeal to the omniscience of his Master, asserting that he still loved Him.
25. The Galatians had been among the foremost. Jesus had been set before their eyes as crucified. They had become last when they had fallen from grace and endeavored to become justified by the law. But they revived (94) when Paul was “again in travail until Christ was formed in them”. He hoped that they would become steadfast in Christ, and he had the assurance that the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit were still to be found among them. He had the confidence that there were still spiritually minded people among them who could restore those who had fallen in sin.
26. D. Some who have been first become last, and remain thus.
27. This was the case with a large number of Jesus’ own disciples who had been with Him a long time. Many went back when Jesus had spoken to them about the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and we have no record that they ever returned to Him. Judas Iscariot had been one of the first of the apostles who rejoiced to find that the devils were subject to them in the Name of Jesus: but he became one of the last. He sold his Lord, and he departed into the outer darkness, in despair having taken his own life. Demas had been one of Paul’s disciples, but he left his master, “having loved this present world”, and we nowhere read that he again began to long for the reign of God. In Hebrews 6,4-6, we read of others who had been first. They had “once been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good Word of God , and the powers of the age to come”. Then we are told how they became last, how they “fell away, crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame”. Indeed, we are told that (95) these remain last, for “it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance.”

Application.
28. If you imagine that you are one of the first, or at least nearly so, then you are certainly one of the last, and in danger of drifting away from the way of life. “Wherefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
29. If you admit that you are one of the last and desire to remain so, not wishing to advance, then you are not even on the way of salvation. Though you imagine that this is spiritual poverty and humility, it is nothing but hypocrisy whereby you attempt to cover your laziness and indifference. You desire to stand, as it were,on the boundary between the reign of Satan and the reign of God. You wish to have a little of each and to serve God and Mammon. You wish to have the grace of God and the friendship of the world, to find pleasure in the Word of God and to enjoy yourself in the Vanity Fair. But beware, lest Satan lay hold on you and pull you back into his dominion,. Yes, look and see, if you are not already there. I know how you would like to have it. You would like to be in the world, and you feel quite satisfied, if you but enter the door of heaven, but let me tell you the truth: if you are thus satisfied and not striving to advance, you will not even enter through the door. No, you will become one of those who will remain standing outside of the door forever.
30. Do you begin to realize how blind you have been, think that you were one of the first, whereas you (96) now find with anxiety that you are not even on the way? Behold, this is a prompting of the Holy Spirit. If you are deeply concerned about entering on the right way, then let it be your comfort that God is of a like mind. Awake rightly and be concerned about your salvation before you fall asleep in death. You still have an opportunity. Everything thus far neglected can still be retrieved and made good. The race course of life lies open before you, and the crown of life may yet be obtained. But neglect it no longer; you have slept long enough. This is the time to arise out of your slumber and to run the race set before you, so that you may receive the prize. Pray earnestly that you may be heard. Search the Scriptures carefully, so that God may enlighten, grieve, and comfort,and transform your heart.
31. You know that you are on the way, though you do not know whether you are one of the last or one of the first. Let me advise you to press on as diligently to obtain the crown of life, as if you really expected to be one of the first. Though it may see to you as if you were one of the last, you will nevertheless advance farther into heaven than you expected, and will there find greater blessedness than you had supposed. Amen.

Luke 18,31-43. Quinquagesima. Henric Schartau

Luke 18,31-43
Quinquagesima
Henric Schartau (1757-1825)

Introduction.
I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it is accomplished!

1. (97) Thus Christ our Savior speaks in a parable about His impending suffering. The parable is taken from the custom of that time of completely immersing the person to be baptized. The Savior means to say that just as on e baptized is covered with water, so He must be covered with sores and wales and bathe in His own blood. The words are recorded in Luke 12,50.

2. After the great, lamentable misfortune of the fall into sin, an could be saved in only one way: the Son of the living God must become a true man and submit to suffering and death for His brethren, the poor children of Adam, whose nature and fashion He assumed. His whole life was one of suffering. The weaknesses and infirmities of our nature, which He had taken upon Himself, were a constantly oppressive burden, and the poverty and wretchedness to which He had freely submitted on our behalf were sources of unceasing affliction.

3. Still this was not sufficient for the redemption of the fallen race. The wearisome life which the Savior led in this world terminated with still more grievous suffering, (98) with the most severe pains, and with death itself. Jesus foresaw the inevitable. He knew that the poor human race could not be saved by any other means than the strictest payment and the bloodiest atonement. As a true man, with human feelings, He shuddered at the gruesome anguish and agony and the dreadful pains which He must suffer. But He did not hesitate in the least He had resolutely determined with His Heavenly Father to save the sinful world. The great work of redemption could not by Him be called in question. On the contrary, the Savior longed to finish it, though it had to be done by the most grievous shedding of His blood. “I have a baptism to be baptized with,” He says, “and how I am straitened till it be accomplished!”

4. It is considered to be something great and excellent, when a person calmly submits to the inevitable. It is considered to be an evidence of great friendship, when some one lovingly and freely takes upon himself to endure the hardships of another. But to long for the greatest pains merely in order to save others -- this is an entirely Divine love, shown by no one except our Divine Savior.

Proposition.
The Great Love of Our Savior as Manifested in His Suffering for Us

I. The great love.
II. How we should reciprocate this love.

First Part. (99)
The Great Love.

5. The love of Jesus is great, for He is great who has loved us. It is a great act of friendship, when a man is willing to suffer for another, and it becomes greater, the more exalted and noble the person is who thus suffers for the other. It is, then, the very greatest love, when the most exalted God Himself has been pleased to suffer on our behalf. Our Savior is also true God, the Son of God, by whom all things are made. In His Divine nature He is immutable, and hence exalted above suffering; but He became a man in order that He might, in HIs human nature, suffer and die for us. God, who is the Highest, desired to thus humiliate Himself and to bear the punishment for our sins. The Almighty, whose power is manifested in the creatures, from the largest, who frighten us with their bigness, to the least, who by reason of their smallness escape our vision, God whose wisdom is portrayed in every flower of the field and in every blade of grass trampled under our feet, was “delivered unto the Gentiles. He was mocked, scoffed at, spitted upon, scourged and crucified.”

6. The love of Jesus Christ shown us in His suffering is great, for we, the objects of that love, are small and quite inconsiderable. The Creator has been pleased to suffer for those created by Him, indeed, for creatures who had not remained in the perfection which they had received at His hands, but had fallen into the most nefarious wretchedness and the most horrible wickedness. When a great general falls in battle, it is customary to erect a monument to his memory, bearing the inscription (100) that he died for his beloved fatherland. Indeed, it is true that he died for his brethren and friends at home, but Jesus did much more: He died for His enemies. The Apostle Paul has therefore erected the following memorial to the once crucified Savior: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for the good man some one would even dare to die. But God commends His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The greatest Love has died for His enemies, the Holy God for such as were an abomination in His sight, the Righteous God for those who had greatly offended Him.

7. The love of Jesus, shown us in His suffering, is great, for the suffering which He endured was great. He was tightly bound when delivered to the Gentiles. He was buffeted by those who mocked Him. He was bent down toward the earth and scourged. Taunts and jeers followed Him to the cross. His patient silence did not deter His enemies from following Him with their mockery to the very end. And yet His physical suffering can scarcely be compared with His mental agony, for the Son of Man endured anguish unto the sweating of blood and unto the pains of hell, even to the extent that He was forsaken by God. This is what the Son of Man suffered for us, until He gave the greatest evidence of His love by dying for us. Though a friend may sacrifice much for another, he nevertheless saves his own life, as the dearest of all. When a friend loves unto death, love can go no further. Jesus has given evidence of such love, as He also avers, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

8. The love of Jesus, shown in His suffering, was great, (101) for great was the distress from which He delivered us. Look at your life. Consider what you have done. Judge what you have merited. Howe would you fare, if you had noSavior? What would be your lot at the end of your life? Hell would be gaping to devour every soul on departing hence, if Jesus had not “ransomed them from the grave and redeemed them from death.” He assumed the debt and paid it. The guilty debtor need not now be delivered into the hands of the executioners until the debt is paid. Jesus has endured the punishment for sinners, and they may be spared. God reveals His righteousness by faith unto them who live by faith, “passing over the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God.” It was through His death that Jesus “brought to nought him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” and delivered them who before had been in the service of sin and subject to the bondage of Satan.

9. The love of Jesus, shown in His suffering is great, for great is the glory which is thereby secured. “Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Every one converted from the service of unrighteousness unto faith in Jesus Christ becomes righteous, for His fulfillment of the law is attributed unto every one who “believes on Him that justifies the ungodly.” When a person becomes thus justified by faith, he obtains “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” He enters into union with Christ, who lives in such a person, and for whom to live is Christ. He may indeed rarely experience the full comfort of his justification and the joy of his election, but he nevertheless looks (102) with patience for the “rest who remain for the people of God,” and he fights the good fight, confidently hoping to gain the imperishable crown of glory.

Second Part.
How We Should Reciprocate the Great Love, Which the Savior Has Shown Us in His Suffering.

10. He that has received open eyes of understanding, anointed with eyesalve, enabling him to rightly evaluate the Savior’s love, must, in the first place, consider the suffering of Jesus greater than all his sins. If Jesus is greater than you, then His payment is also greater than your debts. He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. A grievous suffering like His cannot be in vain for any one who rightly wishes to appropriate its blessings. The powerful fetters of Satan cannot avail against so mighty a Redeemer. He is the stronger One, who overcomes the strong enemy; “He takes from him his whole armor, and divides his spoils.” Honor, then, your Savior as He deserves to be honored. Acknowledge Him as the mighty Savior that He is, and do not make of yourself an exception to His unlimited redemption. If He has borne the burden of your sins, then lay them down at His feet, and if He has opened the dungeon of darkness, you should no longer remain in your wretchedness, since the Son of God offers to make you free indeed.

11. If you have been set free, thank Him for your deliverance and render unto Him praise for your redemption. As a bird escaping from the trap, immediately, on the very first branch where its feet find rest begins to chirp its song of gladness over its deliverance, and as (103) a prisoner, losing his fetters, stretches out his hands to his deliverer, thanking him for his new-won liberty, so likewise should every saved soul, when the snare is broken and he is set free, raise his voice in praise to his Savior and lift high his arms to glorify his Redeemer. All creatures praise Him as their Creator; surely, then, man should glorify Him as Savior. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” every bird pipes its own lay to His honor, every brooklet ripples its gladsome voice in acknowledgement of Him who guides its course. Should not man, then, praise Him the more -- man, whom He has saved from the greatest distress? Though weakness constrains his voice and destruction fetters his tongue, he should nevertheless, standing on the shore of the deep waters of misery, praise God for his salvation and join with the Church triumphant, “saying with a great voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”

12. If Jesus has given Himself in death for you, you should give yourself to Him. Though you are only a poor and wretched creature, give Him your heart. It is a small reward for the great labor which He has had to save you from your sins. Since He willingly assumed the fashion of a servant on your behalf, you should feel in duty bound to serve Him all the days of your life. He showed you such love while you were yet His enemy, and therefore you should feel all the more constrained to love Him, when the love of God has been shed abroad in your heart. St. John says, “We love, because He first loved us,” and again, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” Since Jesus (104) has been pleased to suffer in expressibly much for you, should not you be willing to suffer a little for Him? Of what consequence is the slight disgrace caused you by the world in comparison with the shame which the Son of God must suffer to save you from eternal death? “Consider, therefore, Him who has endured such gainsaying of sinners against himself, that you wax not weary, fainting in your souls.” If Jesus suffered, bearing His cross and your heavy burden of sin, you should not deem it grievous to deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Him.

Application.

13. Such, O man, is the love which your Savior has shown you. Where,then, is the love which you should show HIm in return? Are you not one of those concerning whom the Lord complains: “They have rewarded Me evil for good, and hatred for My love.” You know that He hates an ungodly manner of life, but you persist in living thus. You know that intentional sins provoke Him to anger, and still you continue to violate His commandments. Do you not fear that the wrath of the Lord Jesus will, upon His final coming in judgment, prove quite as great as the grace shown at His first advent and birth? Alas! How can it be otherwise? His righteousness must be quite as infinite as His mercy. How shamefully you change His grace into opportunity, license,and boldness to sin! Jesus has redeemed you, but you again give yourself into bondage. (105) Jesus has bought you to be His own, and you have surrendered yourself to the power of Satan. Wretched creature, how do you treat yourself? Jesus has shown you love, but you act as thought you were your own worst enemy. You cast yourself into the misery from which Jesus has saved you. You thoughtlessly neglect the salvation which He has procured. Who shall save you, if you thus persist until the hour of death to neglect so great a redemption? who shall be able to bless you, if your Savior who has procured salvation for you has been neglected during your lifetime, and if in your death you have been by Him eternally condemned? Truly, there is no other Savior than He. When He shall no longer be a Savior, but throughout eternity a judge and an avenger, what can you expect but judgment, condemnation, and eternal pain?

14. If your sins sicken your heart, if Satan is threatening you, and if you fear death, then know that you are redeemed. Learn to know it more and more in the words of life, and pray God that you may be enabled to believe it with certainty and assurance in your heart. Your sins shall then be forgiven, just as surely as Jesus has made payment for them, and you shall be delivered from the power of darkness, just as surely as He has redeemed the world. You shall be clad in His eternal righteousness when you put off the defiled garments of your own righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus shall become, not only your everyday attire, in which you shall walk securely through this earthly vale of misery, but also your festal garb, in which you shall be able to stand before Him on the great day of His arrival.

15. But remember that when Jesus has received you to be (106) His own you cannot longer live unto yourself. All that you have belongs to Him and should be submitted to Him, sacrificed for His service. Do not become a backslider, who believes for a while, but falls away in times of temptations. Seek your comfort in His love alone, your enlightenment in His word, and your hope in His righteousness. Then shall your love to Him, kindled in your heart by the gospel of His love, be fanned in to a brighter flame and increased by that same love of Christ. If you love Him who has first loved you, you must also love them that He has loved, for “if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him to be meek and lowly in heart. You shall then, in childlike innocence, enjoy the peace of children, and though this peace be disturbed by the threats of Satan, it shall not fail, but rather be translated into the beautiful “rest that remains for the people of God.” The comforts of the Holy Spirit, though here often covered with the miseries of this life, shall be changed into eternal joy. It is the Eternal who has procured this for you, and the righteousness which He has given is also external. “Even as He is risen from the dead, and lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.” Amen.