THE FAMILY SACRIFICE

A SERMON

Preached in the Year 1838¹

By Mister JAMES WELLS

At the Surrey Tabernacle, Borough Road

Volume 2 Number 84

“Our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother, he has commanded me to be there.” 1 Samuel 20:29

THE Lord's people cannot perish nor come short of one mercy treasured up in Christ for them yet means suited to their circumstances are to be used for their preservation. Noah built an ark, and the Lord's people shall fly to Christ for refuge. Lot was delivered from the cities of the plain, and the Lord's people shall be delivered from the systems of the world and be sheltered in the secret place of the Most High. Rahab received the spies and hid them and is commended by the Holy Spirit in so doing (James 2:25) Jacob fled from the face of Esau. Moses was hiding three months when a child, and when he came to years of maturity refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; he then fled to Midian and was received by Jethro, thus being preserved for his future work. David fled from time to time from Saul, and though he had more than one opportunity of putting Saul to death, yet he knew it was best to leave the matter with the Lord. Moses did not forward his advancement, nor make any progress in delivering Israel, by killing the Egyptian. So that David was determined, and was kept by the Lord in that determination, not to put Saul to death. The family of God is ancient, honorable, and indissoluble. But passing by this part of our text, our object shall be to notice the sacrifice, the city, and the command.

First. The SACRIFICE. Let us then, take a two-fold view of the great sacrifice of Christ; 1st, as a sin-offering; 2ndly, as a peace-offering. 1. A sin-offering. Here we have to attend to these two things; 1st, the sin for which the Savior atoned; and 2ndly, how he atoned for it. 1st, the sin for which he atoned. The evil of sin is seen from the word of God, the experience of the saints, the practice, and calamities of the world, and in the terrors of the lost, but infinitely above all, in the death of Christ. But my aim here will be first to give an account of sin as it is in itself, together with the state into which it has brought all men. One of the characters of sin then, is death, so that men by nature may be said to be dead in a five-fold sense; dead to God, for they know not the spirituality, holiness, majesty, perfection, and immutability of that law by which they are accountable to their Maker. Know it in the letter they may, and thousands do, but they have not been burnt out of their false refuges by its fire, truly alarmed by its thunders, nor killed to the religion of the flesh by its power. They are dead, dead in the hands of a law they know not, not only dead in the law, but also dead in sin. Sin was infused into our nature by the fall; and being conceived in sin and shaped in iniquity, we have personally known no other state, so that sin is natural to us: we feel not what a depraved nature we are the subjects of a few animal propensities and evil passions may be conspicuous enough, but the thousands of abominations lying under these we feel not; but when the Holy Spirit brings the law into the conscience, sin revives, and the man seems to himself buried in the abominations of his nature. He never before dreamed that he was so vile and loathsome. We then, by nature are dead in law, and dead in sin, and dead in the world; not dead to it, but dead in it. We feel not the emptiness and vanity of its amusements, wealth, wisdom, and applause: we feel not the nothingness of all creature doings in matters of religion: we are not alive to the many delusive systems of religion abroad in the world. We are then by nature dead in the world, for the world is called the congregation of the dead (Proverbs 21:16) We are also virtually dead in the body; and so, it is written, “the body is dead because of sin” (Romans 8:10) “Dust you are, and to dust shalt you return.” Exquisitely beautiful and wonderful as is the structure of the body, sin has ruined it. It is dead because of sin and must mingle with the dust. Humbling truth! But who can deny it? Who does not more or less, fear it? And who would not, if possible, evade it? But more humbling and awful still is that eternal death, a death (if I may use the expression) that will never die, those who are lost are said to go down into silence; called a state of silence for these three reasons. 1st, Because they are severed from those with whom they communed on earth. 2ndly, because they are banished from the enjoyment of God, for they shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. 3rdly, because they cannot impugn the justice of God in their condemnation, for, in this respect they shall be speechless. Thus, then, by nature we are dead in law, dead in sin, dead in the world, dead in the body; and dead eternally by desert; who then can deliver us from the law, from sin, from the world, from mortality, and the wrath to come? But these are only a very few of the things we have to say of our state by nature, as I shall now proceed to notice, 1st, a few of the names by which sin is characterized in the word of truth. 1st. Some of its names. It is called murder, because it in the first place aimed at the Almighty himself; for says the enemy, “You shall, be as gods,” and of course above all law. God is an infinite good, and sin would, if possible, have annihilated this infinite good, and thus have reveled at large in its own atheism. Sin, as thus aiming at God, is an infinite evil; are not your iniquities infinite? and never did sin show itself to such an extent as in slaying the Lord of life and glory; it threw angels from the highest bliss to the lowest hell, has slain the whole human race, and entailed eternal wrath; yet these, awful as they are, do not equal the crucifying of the Son of God. This was the greatest sin men ever committed, it scattered the Jewish nation to the four winds even to this day, yet their charging him with doing that by the wicked one which he did by the Holy Spirit is called the unpardonable sin; but this does not do away with the truth of the observation that the greatest sin men ever committed was crucifying Christ, for this was putting into practice, as far as they could, all their murderous enmity against him, this was the perfecting of their national sin. Again, sin is called pride, and hence it is that men through the pride of their hearts will not, and cannot seek God; that is, not truly so, for the greater part of seekers are only false seekers that will never find, and so it is written: “Many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able,” for these, with all their seeking, cannot bow to the real majesty of the law, the sovereignty of God, nor the plan of mercy, nor receive the truth in love of it. Proud man must be something and do something, but really and truly to feel and acknowledge his utter helplessness is a state into which none but the Holy Spirit can bring him. Satanic pride despised Jesus of Nazareth; free-will pride despised the truth to this day. Again, sin is called falsehood. The devil was a liar from the beginning; every man by nature is a liar, the heart of man is full of falsehood, the world is full of falsehood; lies, in politics, in war, in commerce, in science, in history, abroad, at home, among our friends and our enemies, the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, male and female, old and young, religious and irreligious, who but the Lord himself can teach us the truth among all these lies? This falsehood belies God and man, angels, and devils, it denies the truth of God, misrepresents the state of man as a sinner, it has denied the being of angels and of devils, yes, the being of a God. “Surely men of low degree (the profane) are vanity, and men of high degree (Pharisaic professors) are a lie, (Psalm 62) but the Lord is a God of eternal truth.” Again, sin is called a thief. It robbed angels of their bliss, men of Paradise, and God of his glory, and would rob the Savior of his crown, his throne, his people, his honors, and his praise; but here this thief is debarred, he must plunder where he can, but not where he would; although he is diligent and has men and devils on his side. This thief sends thousands into a profession to spy out the liberty of the saints, and if possible, to rob them of that liberty which they have in Christ. This is the tendency of all the legal systems of the day; the Galatians were robbed to a certain extent, and for a little while, by these legal advocates, for Moses, and Moses will curse them for their service when they have done, for Moses acknowledges no law fulfiller, either in whole or in part but Christ. Elias acknowledged Christ on the holy mount as the end of prophecy, and Moses acknowledged him as the end of the law; the only way then, in which the law is honored is by the perfect work of Christ, all that step before him are thieves and robbers, and the true sheep will not follow them, indeed how can they when these legalists leave Christ behind, at least, partly, and that is as bad as doing it quite: beware then of false prophets for they are thieves and robbers. Again, sin is called envy. The Lord abundantly blessed Isaac, and the Philistines envied him; the Lord Jesus and his people are abundantly blessed and they are abundantly envied, the complaint of the enemy is that our high priest has taken too much upon him (Numbers 16) he having gone to the end of the law, having made an end of sin, finished transgression, completed salvation, and brought in everlasting righteousness, choosing whom he would, ordaining them to eternal life, and securing them thereunto, thus becoming their all in all, and shall ever be crowned Lord of all; this exaltation of Christ, this happiness of his people, this glory of God, are offensive to men and devils; if the wicked one envied Adam and Eve the happiness of an earthly paradise, how much more does he envy the Israel of God their happiness, and the God of Israel his glory. The Jews could not endure the rising and spreading fame of Jesus, they envied this our spiritual Joseph, and Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered Jesus unto him, what evil is there that envy will not do? It persecuted and slew patriarchs, prophets, and priests, delivered him who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, into the hands of sinners; ridicules the Lord's elect; and seeks to this day their destruction. Who, then, is able to stand before envy? (Proverbs 27:4) Jesus has stood before it, and overcome it for his people, and will overcome it in his people, and by him they shall overcome it too, and envy will rage in vain. Again, sin is called hatred, so that men, by nature hate the truth of God, both law and gospel, unless the law and gospel be somewhat modified; for the law, when declared and enforced in its real character, speaks nothing but wrath and condemnation; but when brought forth, merely as a rule of life, and to be obeyed as far as we can this softens the matter, and renders the law comparatively palatable to the carnal mind, so that our churches resound again with “Good Lord, deliver us,” and “incline our hearts to keep this law;” the law was added, because of transgression, that sin by the law may become exceeding sinful, so that by the law is the knowledge of sin; this is the use which the Holy Spirit makes of the law in the consciences of those of whom he is the teacher, and where this experience is not, there is ignorance of, and hatred to, the law in its real nature and use; and such as do not know the law in its killing power, are, to all intents and purposes, haters of the law, though they know it not. The natural consequence of this ignorance of the law, is hatred to the real gospel of God; the doctrines are too high, too commanding, too full, too firm, too positive, and withal, very uncharitable; and again, these high doctrines are dangerous, and a thousand other expressions of their ignorance of them, and hatred to them. Men, thus hating the truth of God, it is no wonder that it should be so natural as it is to hate one another; but no hatred is like that of hatred to the truth of God. Yet it is not the letter of truth, nor the name of God or Christ. No, thousands who are in a state of nature, have a love to these; it is not, then, the letter of truth and name of God, of Christ, or a Christian; it is the real nature of these, which they so sincerely hate, yet they knew not that they are enemies to God, if they did, they would tremble at his word, fall at his feet, acknowledge his sovereignty, long for his mercy, obey his truth, seek his face, and Christ would be their all in all. Again: sin is called unbelief. “Has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” is it certain that death will be the result of eating of the tree in the midst of the garden? This enemy thus infused the seed, planted the root, laid the foundation, and thus made suitable preparations for carrying into effect his dark designs; unbelief acts against God in a fourfold way; first, it opposes the account given us in the Book of God, of our real state by nature. There are but few, very few, who believe that we are what we really are by nature, and those few are the remnant, according to the election of grace; these, in the fullest sense of the word, believe and feel that the creature is utterly helpless, and that in the flesh dwells no good thing, but sins and abominations without number; but this truth to its full extent, unbelief cannot admit. 2ndly, In reprobation. “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord has rejected” (Jerimiah 6:30). Not reprobate silver because they are worse than others, but because the Lord has rejected them; nor does it mean that the Lord has made them sinful, but being sinful by nature and practice, the Lord has rejected them purely because he would; for “whom he will he hardens,” not influentially, but permissively; the non-elect, whoever they are, must be lost, but this men cannot believe. 3ndly, In election. This truth is also opposed, kept back, and rejected by unbelief. 4thly, Completeness in Christ. This, by unbelief, is called a demoralizing dogma. This fourfold opposition to truth includes all the opposition truth ever has, or ever will meet with, from the men of this world; men cannot, because of this their unbelief, enter into rest; this unbelief, none but the Lord can remove. Again: sin is called folly, and for these reasons, that men, by nature, care more about the things of the poor perishing body, than about the things pertaining to the immortal soul; more about the creature than about the Creator; more about time than eternity; this life, than that which is to come. They do not stop here; but go on to prize the supposed free-will of the creature, more than the sovereign will of their Maker; the doings of the creature, more than the doings of Christ, the God-man; so far are they gone in folly, that the things of the Spirit of the Lord are foolishness unto them; the great plan of salvation, the plan of infinite wisdom, is accounted foolishness. “This their way is their folly, yet their posterity approves their sayings.” Again: sin is called vanity; men are reaching after vain things, man is a compound being, made of matter, and mind. The things of this world may supply the body; but God alone can truly stay and satisfy the mind. God is a spirit, and the soul of a man is spirit, and can be happy only in him who is a spirit. Solomon went to the highest possible pitch of worldly glory, and assures us, at last, that it was all vanity and vexation of spirit. Everything out of Christ is vanity, “Lord, turn away my eyes from beholding vanity and quicken you me in your way” (Psalm 119). Again: sin is called vanity, flattery. “You shall be as gods;” but instead of this they became sensual, and devilish. Profanity promises much gratification, gold and silver promise much happiness, a little morality a great reward in the world to come; and that it does not matter what our creed be, if we render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and then, no doubt, all will be well at last; but these are the more popular and general ways in which sin flatters deluded man; ten thousand are the ways in which men flatter themselves, and also one another, for “there is no faithfulness in their mouth, their inward part is very wickedness, their throat is an open sepulcher, they flatter with their tongue.” (Psalm 5:9). Again, sin is called shame. Adam and Eve knew not shame until sin clothed them therewith, nor does any man know the shame he is clothed with until the Holy Spirit convinces him of sin, it is then that the sinner is ashamed of himself before God, he is ashamed of what he has done, of what he is, and what he is likely, yes sure, to be in himself while in the body. Sin degrades to the lowest company and conduct, to the company of devils, and their conduct too, in opposing the truth of God. One of the most abominable operations of shame, is that it tries to make the Lord's people ashamed of the truth, although the truth will never be ashamed of them. Sons and daughters of the Almighty, kings and priests to God, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, having a kingdom, a crown of glory, and an inheritance as much surpassing the kingdoms, crowns, and estates of this world, as the Creator surpasses the creature; yet such is the power of shame and such our weakness, that we have blushed before mortals, lest they should know we have left the devil and his service, and his riotous agents: but, as Bunyan says, it is one thing to be attacked by this shame, and another thing to be overcome and led as his willing captive, as thousands are who keep the truth back, or lay it aside altogether, lest they should lose some of the good things of this life; these are the fearful and the unbelieving who shall, dying in this state, be cast into the lake of fire. Nothing can be such a disgrace as sin, the devil knows this, therefore he tried to make men ashamed of Christ, by setting men to declare that Jesus of Nazareth was a winebibber, a gluttonous man, a friend of publicans and harlots, a deceiver, blasphemer, an usurper, yes a devil, and so it is now, his holy and infinitely precious doctrines are charged with tendency to every evil, and that by thousands of thousands who are professed followers of Christ; tremble you accusers of the brethren, howl for the miseries that shall come upon you, you coldblooded enemies of eternal election, divine predestination, and complete salvation. You compromising, world-pleasing, fawning, hypocritical liberalists, “walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that you have kindled, thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, this shall you have of my hands, you shall lie down in sorrow.” Again, sin is called discord. Order, harmony, and tranquility reigned in man, and in the world, in the elements, and animal creation into all this sin brought confusion, discord, and war. I forbear to enlarge upon the mental, national, political, commercial, social, family and theological discord, of which sin is the root; yes, and discord itself, for sin cannot agree even with itself, not that it is so divided against itself, as to destroy itself, yet its legs are not equal; for though the world agree to reject the truth, yet they cannot agree one with another, for the devil's own armies fight one against the other, the dead Protestant against the superstitious Catholic, the Wesleyan against the Socinian, the mongrel. Calvinist sometimes a little against the Wesleyan, but as Mr. Huntingdon says, “they are like Samson's foxes, though their heads are turned different ways, they are all in one bond,” yes, and they are in the same gall of bitterness against truth too, that is speaking generally, for there are, no doubt some exceptions, some among them that are not of them. These, in the Lord's own time will come out from among them, so that on some we are to have compassion, making a difference, pulling them instrumentally out of the fire of enmity against the truth, hating even the garments of salvation spotted by the doings of the flesh (Jude 23). Death, murder, pride, falsehood, a thief, envy, hatred, unbelief, folly, vanity, flattery, shame, and discord are a few and but very few of the characteristics of sin.

I now come to notice how the Lord Jesus atoned for the sin of which I have spoken. He atoned for sin by the sacrifice of himself; not; by the blood of goats and calves, nor by silver and gold, but by the sacrifice of himself. He was and is God and man in one person; he came under the law; but let us be very careful upon this matter, and be as clear as possible, that we may have no misunderstanding. I, therefore, repeat it, that Christ was and is God and man in one person; now mind, I am not going to say his Godhead could suffer, bleed or die, but I mean to say that the manhood of Christ was and is inconceivably noble, and infinitely valuable by its union to his Godhead, and that the obedience and death of his manhood, were in the strength of his Godhead. His human nature had in it all the holiness, majesty, and glory of his divine nature, so that his obedient life, and atoning death were not the works of a mere man, but the works of the God-man; it was to this God-man that the law looked for a magnifying of obedience, and for a satisfying atonement for sin. Now, as atonement was to be made by the sacrifice of himself, huge indeed was the guilt of the church; ponderous was the curse of the law, but such a person as this could and did overturn these mountains by the roots, and by his power destroyed their very being; as then Christ was and is God and man in one person; what must be the purity, majesty, strength, and glory of that righteousness which he produced by his own personal obedience to the law of God, for as man he was equal to the law, as was Adam before the fall, but then Christ was God as well as man, and was not only equal in holiness and righteousness of nature to the law, but infinitely superior to the law; uncreated holiness, infallible uprightness, perfect knowledge, infinite power, inflexible justice, boundless love and immutability are attributes of Emmanuel. From his whole person, not his manhood without his Godhead, nor yet from his Godhead without his manhood, but from his whole person, arose that righteousness, which is the way of acceptance with God; this is called the righteousness of God, and is for the children of God, it honors the law of God, shows forth the grace of God, glorifies the Son of God, is made known by the Spirit of God, and shall eternally shine in the presence of God. But my object here, is, to notice chiefly the atoning death of Christ; I wish still to repeat, that the life and death of Christ were the works of his whole person, he who obeyed the law was Emmanuel, he who atoned for sin, was Emmanuel, he as God-man obeyed the law, he as God-man had a life which he laid down for the redemption of the church; it is by his being God and man in one person, that he was qualified to compass, to bear, to atone for, and take away the sin of his people, no penal suffering was deserved by the sins of his people, but what he endured. The Father comprehended all the sins of his elect and laid them all on Christ. Christ being as God, one with the Father, comprehended all these sins in his death, and said, “It is finished.” The Holy Spirit comprehended all the sins of the church on Christ, and has testified that Christ “by one offering has perfected forever all them that are sanctified.” Jesus was not as a king, sending servants, employing property, and using money to attain some great object; he came himself, and employed no means to put away sin, but by the sacrifice of himself; none but himself could dry up the mighty oceans of sin and death; none but himself could entomb the curse of a violated law, overcome the fury, break the stratagems, and defeat the designs of the legions of fallen angels, whose enmity is implacable, whose diligence is unwearied, whose counsels are deep, and whose rage is constant; rest they cannot, the wrath of God dwells in them, and they in that; they are as the troubled sea, which cannot rest, but would carry the Lord's people away like feathers upon the wind; but our dear Emmanuel met them, with the breast-plate of his own righteousness, the arm of his own power, and according to the counsels of the upper world: these counsels must stand, and our God will do all his pleasure. Who then, but our precious Emmanuel could overcome the fury of fallen angels, and turn the counsels of hell into foolishness? And remember, the Lord of life and glory did this personally, by the sacrifice of himself; he travelled in the greatness of his own strength. Nor could the pious craft of the priest, the serpentine enmity of the scribes and Pharisees, the terrors of the Roman tribunal, nor the mad vociferations of the deluded multitude, joined to all the powers of darkness let loose upon him, neither all nor any of these could impede his march, stay his hand, nor move his heart from the victory upon which he was determined; nor could Peter's denying him, incline him to deny Peter, he turned and looked upon Peter, and overcame Peter with a look of majesty and mercy; Peter owned the power, felt the mercy, loathed himself, went out and wept bitterly. O! for the same mighty look from the same precious person, that we may feel the same power, experience the same mercy, loathe ourselves, and be perpetually going out from sin and self, sit at the Savior's feet, and there weep until we are lost in his love; and how often will this our Elder Brother forgive us, until seven times? yes, and until seventy times seven, for with him is mercy, and plenteous redemption, nothing can turn his heart from the objects of his love. I again repeat, that all the sin of the church was laid upon him, not one particle could escape the eyes of omniscience, nor the vengeance of inflexible justice; the guilt of the church is the mountain he levelled to a plain, the ocean he dried up, the fire he quenched with his own blood, the cloud he penetrated and destroyed, the plague that he stayed; deep indeed is the pit of sin, and his people are by nature in a low estate, in which low estate he has not only remembered them, but has placed under them his everlasting arms, he went by his atonement, by the sacrifice of himself, down even to unfathomable depths. Hear his own account of his solemn descent: “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps (Psalm 88:6). He went down himself, in the dignity of his person, and power of his infinitely efficacious blood, by which his people are brought up from the gates of death and power of the grave; stay in the pit of sin they cannot, must not, and shall not; the work is done it is settled in heaven, the decree is gone forth, and is in the book thus written: “As for you also, by the blood of your covenant. I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water” (Zechariah 9:11). God our Father has thus settled the matter, our Emmanuel has finished the work, the Holy Spirit testifies of it, and we know that his witness is true. Jesus thus visited, and not only visited, but redeemed his people, sin, death, and hell, never could, and never can, drag one chosen sinner beyond the reach of atoning blood; let then the heralds of Jesus proclaim the mighty depths of atoning blood, redeeming love, and saving grace, let them fear not to go down to the lowest of the low, the vilest of the vile. Let Manasseh, Mary Magdalen, the thief on the cross, and Saul of Tarsus tell of its mighty depths. But why need we mention these, are these the only great sinners that are saved? Verily no, for where shall we find a little sinner? The real heart-felt language of each (who is taught of God) is, I am a chief. Now mind it is said of the Savior, he went into the lowest pit; that he was by the Father laid in the lowest pit; the lowest pit is the curse of the law. He being God and man could and did go to the bottom of this pit, tore away its foundations: the foundations were the sins of his people. He took away sin, overcame death, and destroyed the gloomy pit. Not only are the guilt of the church and curse of the law called the lowest pit, but also darkness. This is the thick darkness in which we by nature are lost; a darkness of which we ourselves could have found no limits. It is a great darkness in its nature, extent, and duration. Into this darkness came the great Messenger of the covenant; but he being God as well as man could not be lost therein, He penetrated this thick darkness, sought and found all his people, who were therein lost. He, by the light of his own glory, breaking forth by his great atonement, shines the darkness of his people away, causing them to arise and shine in his righteousness. He is the glory of the Lord rising upon them. This light is progressing and will continue to do so until all his people are brought into perfect light; and so, shall the path of the just be as the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day. This pit shall not hold them; darkness shall not detain them. Jesus has gone to the bottom of the pit, to the uttermost boundaries of the darkness of his people. Not only was the Savior, by the sacrifice of himself, laid in the lowest pit and in darkness, but also in the deeps; not but the pit and darkness are deeps, yet I cannot forbear noticing the expression here used, because it seems to have a fulness of meaning, being used in the plural, not merely deep but deeps. He went into the deeps. May not these deeps mean the deep seas of sorrow through which he waded, and that for us?

They crucified him; these deeps he went through for us, he went into the lowest pit, into darkness, into the deeps. They crucified him, and here they must stop; they can go no further; nor one of his sacred bones could they break; nor bury him with the malefactors: no, an honorable counselled shall go in boldly unto Pilate and crave the body of Jesus, and he shall be laid, not in the open fields, to be given to the fowls of the air, nor in the anatomist's dissecting room, but in a tomb hewn out of the rock, a new tomb wherein no man ever laid; and shall they be permitted to write a piece of mockery on the cross, saying, he said, I am the king of the Jews? No, but an eternal truth, this IS the king of the Jews. The great Mediator then went into all the deeps of vindictive wrath, has destroyed the foundation of our prison house, and rendered it impossible for his people to continue in their low estate. As he has then gone to the bottom of all their miseries, as there is in his atonement an inconceivable depth, so there is in his atonement a suitable width. We are by nature and practice afar off from God, but this great atonement brings all the Lord's people together in Christ, brings them near to God. Law and Gospel are brought together in him, the law demands nothing but what it finds in him, mercy desires nothing but what it accomplishes in and by him; mercy and truth, righteousness and peace meet in him, and by him, and by his atonement shall all the children of God be gathered together in him.

(Want of space compels us thus very abruptly to break off this sermon at little more than half its length. We may possibly give the other part in a future number.)²

¹

Mr. Wells, through indisposition, being unable to preach last Sunday morning, this sermon is sent out instead. (also see the footnote at the end of the sermon)

²

At the time of adding this sermon I am not aware that I have the second part to use as a reference. Should this sermon become available to me I will add it along with a reference of where to find it on the website. Richard Schadle