Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

When men are

Christ executes as our Redeemer. "made disciples," there is recognized his Prophetic office, by which he is the great Teacher of the will of God for the salvation of men. When they are "baptized as disciples," unto remission of sins, there is a recognition of his Priestly office, by which this remission is purchased and applied, and through which the gift of the sanctifying Spirit was procured and sent into the world. When they are "taught as disciples," to observe all the commands of Christ, there is an acknowledgment of his Kingly office, by virtue of which he has the right to command, and we are bound to obey all that he has thus commanded. Thus Christ is set forth in all the wondrous and manifold riches of his character and offices, as the great subject of gospel preaching, the great object of gospel faith, and the great end of gospel obedience. Men in their ignorance must be led to him to know the way of approach to God; in their guilt, to receive forgiveness and acceptance; and in their weakness to receive strength and guidance; so that Christ must be to them the Alpha and Omega, the centre and circumference of a complete and full-orbed piety.

III. We have the encouragement given to those who are to execute this commission. "Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The encouragement is the perpetual presence

of Christ. We are prone to think of Jesus as a being of eighteen hundred years ago, or at least as a resident in heaven, and to attach the idea of distance and separation to him. This prevents us from feeling his influence with that real and living power that ought to accompany it. When we think of one as dead or distant, we cease to feel his personal power as we do when we think of him as near and living. Hence it is that our Lord assures us that he is neither dead nor distant, but near us, with us, and with us at all times and places of the future.

There are two peculiarities of expression here that deserve notice. The first is the mode in

which he speaks of his presence. He does not say, I will be with you always, but I am with you, developing thus the fact that he spake as the Divine Redeemer, that eternal and self-existent Being, to whom there is neither future nor past, but one unchanging, eternal Now. The promise to be with them always to the end of the world, implies that it was not addressed to them as individuals merely, but as representatives of the church, for they were not to live always, to the end of the world. This proves at once the perpetuity of the church, and the divinity of the Saviour. If he is to be with his church to the end of the world, the church shall exist to that time, and hence be perpetual. If he is to be with

his people scattered through all ages and lands, at all times, he must be omnipresent, and therefore divine. Hence we have two implied claims of attributes belonging to God alone in these words, proving that he who uttered them was the Incarnate Word, "God manifest in the flesh," "God over all, blessed for ever."

The second peculiarity of phrase here is the words rendered "alway," which are literally "all days," not merely always, but all kinds of days, that were before them--days of light and of shadow, sunshine and storm, heat and cold, all the varying days of their destiny his presence should be with them; a pillar of cloud, when the heat and burden of the day came pouring down in a pressure of toil and sorrow; a pillar of fire, when cloud and darkness gathered over the path, giving cheer and guidance when all other lights had gone out; the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, when the sun beat fiercely on their heads; and a covert from the tempest, "when the blast of the terrible ones is a storm against the wall."

But what is the nature of this presence? It is not simply the presence of the Holy Spirit, for he says expressly "I" will be with you, announcing a personal presence with his ministers and people, of a real and most important character. It is not the presence of his human nature, for that is in

heaven, and has not been invested with divine attributes, as it must be, were it present at all times and places. It is then the presence in a peculiar and precious sense of his divine nature, just as he has promised it in the words, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matt. xviii. 20; and just as it is realized in the ordinances and especially the sacraments of the church, and the lives of God's people.

The promise then is one of unspeakable richness and comfort. Christ will be with us through "all days," and as our day, our strength shall be. Is it a day of worship? He will be in the midst. of the two or three who are gathered in the little prayer-meeting, as well as with the great congregation, in which a thousand voices swell the song of praise, and a thousand hearts respond to the words of prayer. He will also be with the lonely worshipper who enters into his closet, and with a burdened heart and a quivering lip prays to his Father which is in secret. He will be with the little company that gather with tearful eyes around the communion table, and will whisper to them, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." He will be with the drooping minister, as he stands up with a faltering heart to proclaim the word of God under discouragement, and will whisper to him as he

did to the disheartened Paul in Corinth, "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city." Acts xviii. 9, 10. But for this sweet promise many a heart would have sunk in attempting to preach the gospel to others.

Is it a day of toil? The work to which they were summoned was one of amazing, indeed of appalling magnitude. It was the conversion of the world to God, the downfall of all that was strongest and dearest to Jew and Gentile, and the establishment of a religion of self-denial and toil. . Well might they shrink from a work so vast, but for this promise, which secured more to be with them than were against them, and enabled them to wield a power that was mighty to the pulling down of strong holds. We are not therefore surprised that before the last of that company on Olivet was called home, the gospel had been preached to the very ends of the earth. But the same cheering presence is needed still, for the work is still a vast, and almost an appalling one. Nor less deeply is it needed in every work of the Christian life. We can "do all things," only when Christ strengthens us with his presence. With that presence we need not falter, for he is mighty to save, and will give us the victory at last over every opposition.

« AnteriorContinuar »