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BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF A

SERMON,

Preached on SUNDAY, March the 11th, 1810,

AT THE

OBELISK CHAPEL,

BY J. CHURCH, Minster of the Gospel.

"O House of Jacob, come ye, let us walk in the Light of the Lord."

A SERMON.

JUDGES viith Chap. 20th Verse.

THE history of the church of God, in all ages past, as recorded in the Scriptures, is intended by the Spirit to exhibit many things of vast importance to us, on whom the ends of the world are come.

FIRST.--The rebellion, ingratitude, and idolatry of the Israelites, give us an awful proof of human depravity, and teach an humbling lesson to the spiritual Israel, who have the same sinful nature, are prone to the same sins, and would often fall into them and their consequences, but for the grace of God.

SECONDLY.--The patience and long-suffering of God, particularly marked out in this history--he bare long with them; his mercy was extended, prolonged, and manifested to them, notwithstanding all their provocations, in forgetting his deliverances of them in times past, and practising the same sins he had before resented.

THIRDLY.--His disapprobation of their conduct, and the means he took to testify it, are set before us. Our God is never at a loss for means to accomplish his wise and holy purposes of justice or mercy, as is evident from the history before us. The blessed Spirit operating upon the souls of his people, often by his influence reproves their consciences of sin, as it is so opposite to the purity of that divine nature, or holy principle he has blessed them with. Sin, committed by a believer, is a transgression of the law, or dictates of faith; for there is no sin, condemned under the first covenant, but what, under the covenant of grace, is pointed out in more odious colours.--Hence the idolatry, rebellion, and ingratitude of the believer, are seen and lamented by him as a child of God; and as God the Spirit communicates light to his understanding, to discover it as sinful, he perpetually testifies that his sins are more sinful than those who know not God.

FIFTHLY.--The tender mercy of God the Saviour appears as remarkable in their deliverance; in the remembrance of his covenant of old, with their fore-fathers; his good hand was seen in bringing them out of trouble, although they had brought these troubles on themselves--what a solemn, but gracious proof; "O! Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself! but in me is thine help." And what encouragement does this give to poor backsliders to return to Jesus, their first husband; for although they have brought these troubles on themselves, yet Jesus is ready to deliver them! What a striking account does the pious Nehemiah give of the conduct of the Israelites, and the goodness of God to man--9th chap. 28th verse; "But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee, therefore thou leftest them in the hands of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they cried unto thee thou heardest them from heaven; and many times thou didst deliver them, according to thy tender mercies."

In taking one more view of this history, we must admire the conduct of God in over-turning all the schemes of men, their wisdom, counsel, and power: that in providence as well as in grace, his wisdom, power, and faithfulness, might be clearly seen and adored by his people. His wisdom in the permission of the Fall, and its awful consequences, seems to go before, and make way for the displays of his love, mercy, power, and faithfulness. This is seen in his dispensations, generally, and particularly in grace & providence. How often has infinite wisdom permitted heavy troubles to come on the Church, to wean her from the creature--to shew her the value of Jesus, as a deliverer--and to lead her to him by many intreaties; that while we feel our strength perfect weakness, we may the more clearly discover the good hand of our God, in our support and deliverance, and give him the glory due to his name for it. The principal end God has in view in all his dispensations, is his own glory--this is the first cause and last grand end of all things--"for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things." Had the victory we are considering been gained by well disciplined men, led on by wise, noble, valiant generals, who had often been successful in war--had this been the case, the creature would have been extolled, and God nearly forgotten. But this victory was a display of the power of Jehovah--his hand clearly seen, his mercy displayed, and all the honor given to him to whom it is due. The means, the feeble means the Lord made use of were simply, a weak un-armed man, with only three hundred men, led by him, with lamps, trumpets, and pitchers--to carnal reason a very unlikely method to conquer two hundred thousand Midianites, well skilled in the art of war. But this was God's method, and we have a right to submit our wisdom to God's plan; "for my thoughts are not as your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways, saith the Lord; for as the heavens are high above the earth, so are my ways above your ways." And this victory, through such feeble means, is a confirmation of this truth--the angel Jehovah Jesus, appeared to Gideon as he was threshing wheat, in a secret place, to hide it from the enemy; and assured him, that however mean himself and family were, he should deliver Israel from their present servitude. Gideon, astonished at such an appearance, such a salutation, and such a declaration, began to ask, "How this could be?" The blessed Jesus tells him, "Surely I will be with thee." Gideon, like the rest of God's people, could not give God the credit of God, nor take him at his word--he could not honor him by believing on him, and prays, "If I have found grace in thy sight, shew me a sign that thou talkest with me."--As believers in Jesus, we are called to walk by faith, and not by sight, as seeing him who is invisible, or out of sight--depending on his word, oath, and faithfulness, as the word of a covenant God, who cannot lie: this is honoring Jesus--yet God condescended to give Gideon the request of his lips; and to confirm his faith, he, with a rod, touched the rock, and caused fire to come out of it, and, consume the slain Kid and unleavened cakes, all moistened with the broth, which Gideon, at his command, had put thereon. Gideon was fearful and apprehensive of immediate death, as he had seen an angel; but the Lord kindly assured him that he was in no danger.--How strange and groundless the fears of God's people--frequently they take covenant-love dispensations as tokens of wrath; forgetting it is written, "I will no more be wroth with thee, nor forsake thee."--We are seldom satisfied with the wise and gracious conduct of our God; when we have no sign or clear evidences we murmur--when we have we often fear they are not of a right kind. Well may saints be called children, seeing they possess the weakness of them.

After this, Gideon built an altar, and called it Jehovah Shalom--believing what the Lord had declared, "that he would send peace to Israel." It is worthy of observation, that the people of God only rear up altars to the Lord, as they believe in him--there is no praying or praising but by faith in Jesus; this leads the soul out to God, and "without faith it is impossible to please God." Gideon then testified his zeal for the service of God, and in God's strength he threw down the altar of Baal, and cut down the grove that was by it. This shews the effect of faith in Jesus; it is a faith which worketh by love to God's service, and produces a zeal for his glory. This alarms Satan, who stirs up persecution against all who love the Redeemer's cause, as in the instance of Gideon--his fellow-citizens sought his life, for opposing their idolatry; but Joash, his father, remonstrated with them, that it did not become the people of God to plead for Baal; and that if Baal was truly God, he ought to exert his power in punishing those who had broken down his altar; and he called his son Jerubbaal, that is, let Baal contend with himself .

Understanding the Midianites had crossed Jordan, Westward, and were encamped in the valley of Jezreel, at no great distance--filled with the Spirit of God, as a spirit of courage, Gideon sounded a trumpet, and assembled his friends, to the number of thirty-two thousand men. But, alas! what was this little army to meet and encounter with two hundred thousand! Perhaps his heart might fail him once more--he begs another, even a double sign. We must never forget that God has said "Open thy mouth wide; ask great things;"--the Lord graciously answers him, and by bedewing a fleece of wool, while the adjacent ground was dry--and again bedewing the ground, while the fleece of wool was dry, the Lord confirmed his doubtful mind. Thus assured of victory Gideon marched his forces directly towards the Midianites. What the army thought we know not, in their march, knowing their fewness and the vast army of the other--but every natural gift is of the Holy-Ghost, as the God of nature and providence, as well as every spiritual one; and all the wisdom and courage of warriors are the work of God the Spirit, and no man has any of these gifts inherent in himself, they are the peculiar gifts of God, to answer his holy purposes. And now Gideon's faith is put to a double trial. If God gives his people grace, he tries that grace, especially the grace of faith. At the well of Harod God ordered him to warn his army, that every one who was timorous should return home, and there returned home twenty-two thousand! so that Gideon was left but with ten thousand. God was wisely securing the honor of this victory to himself--hence he assigns this reason, "lest Israel vaunt themselves and say, Not the Lord, but mine hand hath done this:" and so it is in our salvation--God has wisely permitted man to become as weak as he was wicked, that he might take occasion to honor the riches of his grace, in saving those who could not save themselves: and how often is this seen in his providential dealings, when brought into circumstances of sore trial, and every door shut up? then it is that the Lord's hand is more clearly seen, and the glory redounds to him. His glory is great in our salvation--this made the ancients say, "When the bricks are doubled, then comes Moses;" that is, "Man's greatest extremity is God's opportunity."

Gideon was now encouraged, divided his army into three companies, and ordered them to imitate him in all he did--16th verse; "And he divided the three hundred into companies," one hundred in each company, partly to make the better figure; a shew of an army, with right and left wing, and partly that they might fall upon the camp of Midian in different parts--and he put a trumpet in every man's hand--they that returned of the trumpeters having left their trumpets behind, so that there was a sufficient number of trumpets for three hundred men; and these were put into their hands, that when they blew together the noise would be very great, and it would seem, by the noise, like a great army, and so terrify their enemies. "With empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers:" the pitchers were of earth, and so very easily broken, and made a great noise in clashing together one against another; and these were empty of water, or otherwise would not have been fit to put lamps into--and the lamps put into them were not of oil, for then when the pitchers were broken the oil would have run out--but were a kind of torches, made of rosin, wax, pitch, and such like things; and these were put in the pitchers to preserve them from the wind, and conceal them from the enemy till just as they came upon them, and then they held them out--which, in a dark night, would make a terrible blaze, as before this they were of use to light them down the hill to the camp. Gideon stood forward first, and as he acted so were they to act; and as they were acting so they were to exclaim, "The Sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" or, for the Lord and for Gideon. The name Jehovah, these heathens might often have heard as the God of Israel, and would now sound dreadful to them; and the name of Gideon also:--this was the reason why Gideon is added, and not out of arrogance and vanity, but put after the name of the Lord, as being only an instrument the Lord thought fit to make use of; but all the glory belonged to the Lord.

Verse 19.--So Gideon, and the three hundred men that were with him, which was one of the three companies his army was divided into, came unto the out-side of the camp, in the beginning of the middle watch, . In early times the Jews divided their nights into three watches; Gideon choose the middle--had he come the first, all might not have been in bed--had he come the last, some might have been rising; but he took this time, a little after midnight in the dead of the night, when the whole army was fast asleep--and the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands, to blow withal--and they cried, The Sword of the Lord, and of Gideon! The noise, and the blaze of light were very surprising to the host of Midian, just awaking out of their sleep, perhaps--an awful emblem of the surprise a soul experiences, when it leaves the body without a hope, and without a God!--a greater emblem of that period, when the midnight cry shall be made--when the arch-angels trumpet shall wake the dead!--shake the vast creation when the blaze of a burning world, and the sword of vindictive justice shall be seen.--"The host of Midian ran, and cried, and fled."--Such shall the terror be in that dread moment. See this finely represented by the excellent Admiral Kempenfelt, who was drowned in the Royal George, and who composed some excellent verses on the Last Day. I will only mention these two verses, as suitable to this subject, and will be acceptable to the believer, while it is a terror to those Midianites who will experience the horrors of that day.--

Hark! 'tis the trump of God Sounds thro' the worlds abroad-- Time is no more! Horrors invest the skies! Graves burst and myriads rise! Nature, in agonies, Yields up her store.

Chang'd in a moment's space! See the affrighted race Shrink and despair! Now they attempt to flee-- Curse immortality? And view their misery Dreadfully near!

But while the Midianites fled, the Israelites stood every man in his place;--so it will be at the final consummation of all things. Clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, we shall stand in our lot, and see a burning world, and the misery of the damned. But while Jesus descends as our salvation we shall glorify, and for ever admire him.--This will surely be thy experience and thy privilege, O believer, as sure as ever the Holy Spirit has brought you, in time, to believe on him, to seek him, rejoice in him, and live to his praise.

To close the history of Gideon--we find, that the Midianites in the dark, and in their terror, took their friends for their foes, and killed one another--one hundred and twenty thousand Midianites were slain; fifteen thousand got over Jordan with Zebah and Zalmunna, their kings.--Gideon pursued them at their heels. His men being faint he desired the elders of Penuel and Succoth, as he passed, to give them victuals; but they, accounting him a fool to pursue such an army with such an handful of men, refused his troops refreshment, which he, afterwards, justly resented.--After his victories the Israelites offered him the government of their country, which he as piously declined, and told them the Lord, alone, was their rightful sovereign.--Thus was Midian conquered in such a manner that they lifted up their heads no more, to threaten or overcome the Israelites.--After judging Israel seventy years, Gideon dies, leaving behind him seventy sons, all of whom were basely murdered by Abimelech.

I cannot pass by this history without enlarging a little more, which I shall do, God leading me, only to make a few remarks, in a spiritual way, upon that part which I first read as a text; and I hope, without any injustice to the subject, or straining it, or putting a sense on it, that was never intended, there can be no impropriety in my leading the minds of my hearers from the lesser to a greater subject; and I must give it as my most decided opinion, that the greatest part of the Old Testament circumstances were really designed to hold forth something of Jesus, and the salvation of the Gospel. To exhibit from the text the Person and Work of the Son of God--to point out the qualifications and work of Gospel ministers, with an application of the text to the whole body of God's elect, in the present state of things, is my design. The Person of Jesus, as God-Man Mediator, and the Redemption of men, by him, was exhibited to the Old Testament saints, by many figures; these, the excellent Milton stiles Religious Rights of Sacrifices; informing men, by types and shadows, of that destined Seed to bruise the Serpent--by what means he shall atchieve deliverance.--Our blessed Lord owns many of the shadows: the Apostle, or rather the Holy-Ghost by the Apostle, applies many others; the Brazen Serpent, Solomon's Temple, the Prophet Jonah in the Whale's belly, the Smitten Rock, the Vail of the Temple, the divided Waves of the Sea, the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by Night, with a vast many other emblems. Nor can I see why our blessed Jesus should not be pointed out to the faith and hope of God's saints, by the lamp and pitcher, while he, at the same time sounded the trumpet of free grace and eternal mercy, which was "a savour of life unto some, and of death unto others." May not the pitcher be an emblem of his earthen nature, and the lamp within, of his divinity--and by virtue of union of the two natures, our God is manifest in the flesh--married our nature, conferred an honor upon poor sinners that he never conferred on the angels. This was Job's triumph, "in my flesh shall I see God." He took part of the children's flesh and blood; he was truly human--bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, without the intervention of a human father, but by the miraculous impregnation of the Holy-Ghost; so that his human nature appears to be the joint work of the Trinity--the Father provides it--"a body hast thou prepared me,"--the Son assumed it--"he took on him the form of a servant;"--the Spirit formed it--"that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God--thus the word was made flesh and dwelt among us." The lamp within the pitcher may be an emblem of his Godhead, as the light of life--he wrapped up his divinity in his manhood--here it was he concealed his glory: well may the Prophet exclaim, "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel the Saviour." What a mystery! a child born--"the everlasting Father, the mighty God." How great is the mystery of godliness! Angels are amazed, saints admire, and sinners triumph--a God in every perfection, a Man in every faculty--God-Man--the foederal head--the representative of his Church--the second Adam--a public person--that as Adam the first, was the head of all, as sinners, so Jesus should be the head of all his elect. How striking is the language of Milton, when he represents the Almighty Father thus addressing his eternal Son--

Be thou, in Adam's room, the head of all mankind, Tho' Adam's son; as in him perish all men, So, in thee, as from a second root shall be restor'd As many as are restor'd--without thee none.

This divinity often blazed through his humanity, in the miracles he wrought, which were done by his own eternal power and Godhead--the words he spoke, the tidings he foretold, but particularly his transfiguration on the Mount, when the light of his divinity shone so luminous, that his whole body, and even his raiment appeared like the sun in a case of chrystal. Peter calls it an excellent glory--St. John says we beheld his glory--the Evangelists say of those with him on Mount Tabor--and when they were awake, they saw his glory. The lamp may be a fine emblem of Jesus, as the light of life; this is peculiar to him as God, and as God-Man. The light is the most striking emblem of God Jesus; it is the life and beauty of every thing else--it hath a kind of omnipotency in it--a peculiar brightness and purity. He is the light of reason to all--he is the light of grace in the covenant--the light of truth in the word--the light of life in the souls of the elect, and the light of heaven in glory--the Lamb is the light thereof; the Lord is thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory: this is the lamp of salvation, the light of the Gentiles and the glory of his true Israel--such Jesus is, and such his grace. O! may he shine on you!--this will engage your hearts to love, admire, adore, and praise his name for ever and ever.--As all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus, so all the blessings of an everlasting covenant is treasured up in him--all that we can possibly stand in need of, for time and eternity--blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure to him--all the fulness of blessings are in him, for his dear people's use; hence, says one, "Out of his fulness have we all received, and grace for grace." These gifts could only flow to us through his obedience and death--the gift of the Spirit--access to God--spiritual knowledge and eternal glory. Not that the Redeemer is to be considered as purchasing these blessings; they were all given as the free, unmerited gift, of God--but it was necessary that Jesus should obey and suffer, that these gifts should flow to us in a way of justice and holiness, while the mercy and compassion of God was displayed. Hence he says, "If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send him unto you--it is therefore expedient for you that I go away;" as it was necessary that the pitchers should be broken, that the blaze of light might appear--First, to overturn the enemies of Israel--Secondly, to deliver the people from their oppression--so, by the sufferings and death of the human nature of Christ, he overturned the kingdom of Satan, took away his power, and delivered his people from the law, the guilt of sin, and the powers of darkness--he, by his death, slew death, and him who had the power of death; and who hoped he should be the executioner of the penal sentence of the law, was disappointed--in seeing the great Deliverance that was brought about in such a wonderful way, he was foiled and spoiled, the curse of the law falling on Christ--enduring the curse which we had deserved--standing in our place, he fulfilled the law for us, by his holy life--made an atonement by his awful, though glorious death--sanctified the grave by his burial--and rose for the justification of all that believe in him. Here was the overcoming the sharpness of death, and the opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers; and upon his ascension to heaven, and sitting on the right hand of the Father, he obtained the gift of the Holy-Ghost, which was shed abroad on the Apostles; and all spiritual good for poor sinners. Thus, through the breaking the earthen pitcher, a light is made manifest; all covenant blessings flow to us, in a way honorable to God, and safe to man--and now we rejoice, that by him all that believe are justified from all things; and that the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin. But can we forget the trumpet of his voice of love and mercy, which he so often sounded during his public ministry? With what declarations of blessedness did he begin his sermon on the Mount--what sweet invitations did he give to poor condemned, sin-burthened souls, in these words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.--If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.--Behold the man--look unto me--Come ye to the waters.--All things are ready, come unto the marriage.--Behold the Lamb of God." This is the inviting voice of the trumpet of the Gospel, as preached by the Lord Jesus--and though so melodious to a poor sinner; what solemn awful sounds were sometimes heard from his gracious and holy lips!--and how great the truth afterwards declared, that the ministry of Jesus is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. Hence, he said, "Wo unto you, Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites! Except your righteousness exceed the Pharisees, ye cannot be saved!--Except you repent, you shall likewise perish!--and because you say, we see, your sin remaineth.--For judgment am I come into this world, that those who see not might see; and those who boast of their light might be made blind."

The victory, of Gideon was a display of the sublime perfections of Deity; and surely we see them more clear, and more glorified in the work of a sinner's salvation: eternal love is the spring--infinite wisdom lays the plan--almighty power executes it--while mercy, grace, and compassion, justice and holiness, sovereignty and truth, appear glorious. Yes,

Here the whole Deity is known, Nor dares a creature guess Which of the Glories brightest shone, The Justice or the Grace!

Had but the prison wall been strong And firm, without a flaw, My soul had long in darkness dwelt, And less of glory saw.

Reproach from the world, or church, though it breaks the heart, makes us prize a name and a place in the covenant of redemption. Persecution, for imputed righteousness' sake, tries our profession and principles, and gives an occasion to rejoice in the honor of suffering for Christ's sake.--A body of sin and death, called the plague of the heart, tries our hope, and helps us to prize the blood of Jesus more and more.--Pain of body--delays of answer to prayer, try our patience.--False doctrines in the world, try our love; while the devil's fiery darts of blasphemous thoughts, often try our faith--thus as our earthen vessels break, the light appears; and we often shout victory, through the atonement and righteousness of Jesus, and by the faithfulness of God.--This light appears in the whole of their conduct, as external evidences of an internal work--in their love to, and zeal for the truth as it is in Jesus--in their unfeigned love to the brethren, as they stand manifest in each other's consciences that they are called by grace--in their just dealings with each other, and the world at large--"the Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, O mountain of holiness."--In their integrity, uprightness, affection, and sincerity, at home and abroad, they are to shine as lights, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.--In allegiance and obedience to the higher powers--knowing the powers that be, are ordained of God. A christian may and ought to be a good subject, under any government--"Fear God, honor the king," is the command of the Holy-Ghost--that whereas the world speaks against you, as evil doers, they may, by your conversation which they shall behold, glorify God, in the day of visitation. The grace of God makes men good fathers, good masters, good subjects, and honest tradesmen.--Believer, take care that you show to the world and the church, what great things God has done for you, by having your conduct squared according to the precepts of the New Testament, which is to be the rule of your actions; and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy. Thus the light appears, and you proclaim to all around, that you have been with Jesus, and learned of him. And while the Pharisees condemn you as an Antinomian in principle, shew them that your high principles are heavenly ones, by the effects produced--take the New Testament for your rule of conduct, and then fear not.--This light appears in a steady, uniform, constant attendance on all the ordinances of God's appointment--prayer, private and public--hearing those ministers that exalt the Saviour in every sermon--a submission to the ordinance of baptism, by immersion, as soon as it appears to them right--an attention to the Lord's supper, from a principle of love to Jesus--godly conversation with the most experimental christians. Here the light is seen: I mention these things because many of my adversaries have circulated it, far and near, that I am an Antinomian, and deny all practical religion!--When will mankind forbear lying against each other; and those who contend for the Law, keep the ninth commandment as they ought to do? "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

Finally.--Soon will the earthen pitcher be broke by death! then the soul enlightened, will enter into perfect day--see as it is seen--know as it is known. The blessed Spirit, in the article of death, will be poured out upon the soul, to fit her for her passage. Hence he is promised, as the early and as the latter rain--a greater light comes into the soul, as it is about to depart into the regions of endless light--in the light of faith the departing soul sees the pardon of sin, the obedience of Jesus its own--sees heaven open--angels ready waiting, and whispering to the saint, The master is come, and calleth for thee! while the saint exclaims, Come, Lord Jesus! come quickly!--thus he enters into rest, while Jesus is his everlasting light, his god and glory.--I close this Sermon, in the language of Dr. Watts' Description of a Saint's Life and Death, under the fine emblem of a Summer's Day and Setting Sun.

Just so the Christian, his race he begins-- He melts into tears when he mourns for his sins; And travels his heavenly way. But as he draws nearer to finish his race, Like a fine setting sun, he looks richer in grace, And gives a sure hope at the end of his days, Of rising in brighter array.

Which may God grant to us all.--AMEN.

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