A SERMON
Preached on Sunday Morning July 21st, 1861
By Mister JAMES WELLS
At the New Surrey Tabernacle, Borough Road
Volume 3 Number 135
WE closed our discourse last Lord's-day morning by observing, relative to the Sonship of Christ, that some of the learned rendered the words of Nebuchadnezzar not as in our version, “The form of the fourth is like the Son of God,” but that “the form of the fourth is like a son of God.” But whether they are right in this alteration or not, we will take it just as it is, and will suppose, in order to give our opponents all the advantage we can, we will suppose, which is their conjecture, that Daniel had said something to Nebuchadnezzar relative to the Son of God; and that when Nebuchadnezzar saw this fourth man, for so he called him, he supposed him to be the Son of God, and said, “The form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Now suppose this, what does it prove? They tell us that as God in his Sonship he was begotten, that his Sonship lies in his Deity; a doctrine, I have already observed so repeatedly, the idea of one part of infinite Deity undergoing a revolution in order to become a Son, is something so contrary to the unity of the blessed God that my very soul recoils at such a doctrine. Now I say, supposing then that the person that appeared in the fiery furnace was a Divine Person, which no doubt he was, what does it prove? Why, it simply proves that a Divine Person appeared in human form. You cannot see Deity; nor, on the other hand, those who hold, that it was a pre-existing soul; you cannot see a soul any more than you. can see any other spirit. And therefore, Nebuchadnezzar seeing a person there in human form whom he acknowledged in a sense to be Divine, it only proves what is revealed in other parts of scripture, that this Divine Person very often appeared in the Old Testament age in human form, he was pleased to do so, and all perhaps to indicate that in the fulness of time he should appear actually, what he was then only in vision. And if one Divine Person could appear in bodily shape like a dove, which the Holy Ghost did at the river Jordan, without having actually a body like a dove, surely another Divine Person might appear in human form without the actual existence of either body or soul. Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will not detain you much more upon this subject; but I feel disposed, by way of introduction this morning, just to make two or three more remarks relative to this matter; to remind you that the Sonship of Christ lies in his complexity; strictly speaking, I should be more consistent if I were to say it lies exclusively in his manhood, but I will not so speak lest I should seem, to be speaking of Christ merely as man, whereas he is God and man in one person. Hence in this very chapter it is said, “Unto the Son he said;” now there is his manhood; by the term “Son” I understand his manhood; “That holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.” “Unto the Son he said,” there is his manhood; “your throne, O God,” there is his godhead, there is his complexity. And thus, I get then to the order of Christ's Sonship, that it stands thus in his complexity. They tell us it stands in his Deity. Let us look at the scriptures upon this matter. “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman;” was infinite Deity made of a woman? No: but manhood was. “To redeem them that were under the law;” now comes in his complexity, for redemption can be wrought only by his complex person: “and that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
And then again, if we trace this matter a little further, we shall still see the fact that the term “Son of God” is never once in all the Bible attributed to his abstract Deity or to his Godhead. The further we trace the matter the more clearly do we see the order of his Sonship lies in his complexity. “Though he was a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” Did infinite Deity learn? could that learn? No, my hearer, but manhood could. I am aware of a very favorite scripture, and I will just name that, and then for the present pass on, as this subject will interweave itself more or less as we go along, I will just notice one scripture which they think is to the point, and entirely overturns the notion of Christ's Sonship lying in his complexity, not in his abstract Deity. They think that, scripture in the 7th chapter of this epistle quite puts us to silence. I will just quote the words, and see how feasible they are, and then examine them. They are those relative to Melchizedek, that he was, “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God.” Yes, say they, here we get over you now that hold that his Sonship is in his complexity: here is a declaration, say they, that Christ was without father and without mother, and without descent, and without beginning of days, and without end of life. Paul does not say so, he says all this of Melchizedek: and Paul's object there is to set forth the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ neither as a Priest nor as the Son of God had any predecessor: there was no priest that went before him that could take Christ's place or do what Christ came to do; there was no son of God, the Old Testament saints were sons of God, but none of them were sons of God in the sense that Christ was; and therefore he is called God's only Son, his only begotten Son. And so far from Christ's having no father, or mother, without descent, without beginning of days and without end of life, why, he had all five of them. God was his Father, the Virgin Mary was his mother, he was descended from the tribe of Judah, he was born of the Virgin Mary, there was the beginning of days: he died on Calvary's cross, and there was the end of life; so that he had all five of them. So that the object of the apostle there is not to tell us that Jesus Christ in his infinite Deity ever underwent any change, but to set forth the great fact that the priests of the Old Testament were but types and shadows; that that long succession of sacrificial service was but a shadow pointing to Him that had no predecessor. So that Melchizedek stands on the page of history, for Melchizedek had descent; you will find in that same 7th of Hebrews where it is said Melchizedek was without descent, you will find in that same chapter that he had descent; so that he is thus placed on the page of history, purposely so, by the Holy Ghost; We have no account of his father and mother, of his descent, of his offspring, and therefore he stands out without predecessor or successor, in order to constitute that type that should instruct us in the eternity of Christ's priesthood. Thus, then I still abide by the fact that Emmanuel, God with us, is the Son of God, that he is the Son of God after the order of his complexity, God and man in one person.
Now having made these few remarks, I will go on to what lies before us. Now whatever Christ has done, and some of those things that the Lord Jesus Christ has done, I set forth last Sunday, those are the things that God has spoken to us by his Son. I should suppose that the idea intended by the words last days, and the heirship of Christ, that these, two points will occupy all the time I have this morning to speak to you upon this vital, and infinitely important and to my soul, exceedingly interesting subject.
Now here is first then the term, THE LAST DAYS. What are we to understand by the last days? You perhaps will feel almost surprised, when we come to look rather closely into these words, and to see into the vastness of their import, for they imply that that is very delightful on the one hand, and deeply solemn on the other. The last days here evidently mean the last days of the Jewish dispensation. That was a dispensation that was to come to an end, and these were the last days; so that Christ appeared, it is said in one place, “once in the end of the world,” the end of the age; “Christ has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Some people have misunderstood that scripture in the 10th of Revelation, where it says, “The angel which I saw stand upon .the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by him that lives forever that there should be time no longer.” People, generally, suppose this means the final judgment. Now mark, the angel stood with one foot upon the sea and the other upon the land. Who was this angel? Christ Jesus. When did he do this in the sense here spoken of? When he rose from the dead; when he gave up the Jewish nation, and the kingdoms of this world became the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. Christ's dominion then became universal, he had then power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given him. And now he enters into a solemn oath, that Jewish time, Mosaic time, the national time of the Jews shall be no longer. So that he was not only engaged to work out the salvation of his people, but also to put an end to Jewish time; he put an end to that time and that time shall never return. The apostle Paul says of that dispensation that it waxed old and decayed and is ready to vanish away; it is gone and gone forever. And what is meant by putting one foot upon the sea and the other upon the land? That would not apply to the last great day; why at the last great day, if this earth is to be destroyed there will be no more sea to put his foot upon. But if you take it, Christ placed, as it were one foot upon the sea and the other upon the land; that is, took possession of universal dominion, and said to his apostles, “All power in heaven and. in earth is given unto me,” and therefore go you forth east, west, north, and south wherever you go you will be within the range of my dominion; “go you therefore, and preach the gospel to every creature.” And so, he swore that Levitical time, that the national time of Jews should be no longer, but his own time will never end, “he dies no more, death has no more dominion over him.” The last days, then, will mean the termination of that dispensation. Ah, what shall we say to that that succeeds it, namely, the priesthood of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, the Sonship of Christ? There was a succession of sonship that followed the royal Psalmist David and the promise stood, “If they will keep my covenant and walk in my laws, that I shall teach them, your children shall sit upon the throne.” There was a succession of sonship, but not one of those sons could keep his standing, and at last they lost the throne, the kingdom, the scepter, and the whole of it. By-and-bye comes David's mystic son, the greater Son, the Son of God; he comes and takes our sins, and puts them away by the sacrifice of himself, he comes and takes universal dominion, and reigns in the eternity and greatness of his power. And this is that day of his power referred to in the 110th Psalm, “You shall make your people willing in the day of your power,” that is of your universal power, when you shall ascend on high, and shall reign with universal dominion, wherever your people are, or whatever they are, or whoever they are, your dominion is to be universal, you shall find them out, and you shall make them willing, and you shall bring them into the sworn covenant, and into your eternal priesthood, and their days shall never end, their inheritance shall be forever. See then, my hearer, the one dispensation, where Christ swore that time should be no longer; the other dispensation which lasts forever. “He that believes in Moses has temporal life, but he that believeth in me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” I feel interested in this, because it endears the Savior, it helps me to understand the scriptures, and that is no small privilege, I am sure of it, we want to clearly understand the scriptures. Now Jacob pointed to the very period of our text, he gathered his sons together that he might tell them what should befall them in the last days.
Now I will go on to show wherein the blessedness lies, and wherein the solemnity lies. The last days. And you are aware Judah, of whom Jacob speaks in connection with the last days; and why does Jacob amidst his twelve sons speak more of Judah than of any others? Because Jacob knew it was from the tribe of Judah that Christ should descend; Jacob knew the angel of the covenant that had redeemed him: Jacob knew the God of Abraham, and of his father Isaac, that had fed him all his life long; Jacob knew and enjoyed the presence of that God by whose presence he could draw his feet up into the bed, yield up the ghost, and go triumphantly by that angel of the covenant, that covenant God with whom he was made acquainted, into an eternal world. And so, Jacob first makes Judah a type of Christ, and then presents to us the actual coming of Christ in what Jacob calls the last days. Do not you run away, any of you, and pique yourselves with the notion that you know more about God than Jacob, or Isaac, or Abraham did. I read a book some time ago wherein the writer says, a schoolboy now knows more of God than Abraham did. But how false that is. There never was an age and there never will be an age in which any son or daughter of Adam can savingly know the Lord but by the Holy Ghost; and it matters not how dark the age is at all, if the Holy Spirit be your Teacher, if you are the only man in the world that knows the Lord, he can make you as well acquainted with him as though all the world beside yourself knew him. Religion is a personal thing; it is that which is divinely taught. Let the sinner be made to see and feel his condition, and how far he stands condemned by the law, and then let him seek a covenant God and find salvation, all which the ancient patriarchs were favored to do, and did find the Lord, and know the Lord. But see, before I enter upon these last days, what a beautiful type Judah was of Jesus Christ. You know, it is Jesus Christ we want, if we have the Son we have the Father also, and if we have not the Son we have not the Father; if we have not Jesus Christ, we have not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and if we have not Jesus Christ, we have not the Spirit of Christ. So that that is what I trust we have come for this morning, with the desire to see Jesus Christ. Now we see then what a type Judah was of Christ, first, in his pre-eminence, second, in his victory, and third, in his repose. “Judah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise.” What for? Ah, something worth praising him for, one of the sweetest reasons that you can assign; “your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies,” stop their breath in a moment. So, my hearer, Jesus Christ came and took your sins by the neck and destroyed them all, choked them, there is not one can say a word now, not one of these dogs shall move his tongue against any of the children of Israel. He has taken Satan by the neck, and shaken him out of the church, out of his shoes I was going to say, so that the old accuser is choked, he cannot lay any charge before God to God's elect, and he has taken death by the neck and killed that, and he will take all our personal enemies by the neck; and he will stop their breath too. You purpose to employ your breath, do you, to injure some good man, or some good woman, some child of God, do you? Never mind; Judah's hand is in your neck: and peradventure while you are casting others into the furnace you yourself may fall into it. ‘‘Your father's children shall bow down before you;” we gladly bow down before the Lord Jesus Christ, we love to be where the poor Gadarene was, when he was sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; we love to be where the woman was when she washed the Savior's feet with her tears, anointed them with costly ointment, and loved much because much was forgiven. We love to choose the good part which is not to be taken away from us. Here then Judah is a type of Jesus Christ. Trust in the Lord; let us leave ourselves with him, let us leave our troubles, grace enabling us, with him, and go straight on, praising the Lord, for Judah means praise, and therefore the brethren are to praise him, and those that do love him thus in his exaltation, as well as in his humiliation, they are his brethren. We rejoice that all power in heaven and in earth is to our Jesus given. Again, he is spoken of as having achieved victory. “Judah is a lion's whelp.” Same idea in another form over again, never mind, as good old Gurnal says, we must go on drive, drive, and hammer the same nail until it take a firm hold, and then clench it. So he thus appears in his victory, “Judah is a lion's whelp, from the prey, my son, you are gone up, he stooped down; he couched as a lion,” and so Christ stooped when he came under the law, and came into our law place, and came under our sins, but at Calvary's cross he gained the victory, the victory is won.
“Tis finished, said his dying breath
And shook the gates of hell.”
And then the sweet repose. “Who shall rouse him up?” Shall the sins of the people? Ah, my hearer he has not “beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor seen perverseness in Israel.” He has taken, their sins away, cast them all behind his back. What do you think of such a Jesus Christ as this? If you do not love him it is because you do not know your need of him, you do not see his suitability. “The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” Who shall rouse him up or disturb him? Where does he rest then? In the church. He has desired Zion for his habitation, and he said, “This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it.” And so, he will satisfy the poor with bread, and will clothe the priests with salvation, and his people shall dwell in all the safety of omnipotence, of eternity, of immutability, the rest that remains for the people of God.
But let us go again to the last days. What should follow in the last days? “The scepter shall not depart from Judah;” nor did it from the tribe of Judah, it did it from all the other tribes; Judah retained a kind of tribal royalty all through the captivity and enjoyed a kind of tribal royalty, some degree of power and authority in itself, down to the coming of Christ. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.” Now who is this? Why, Jesus Christ. Then when Shiloh shall come, “the sent one,” “the peaceful one” the word conveys this, the word Shiloh comes from the same root as Salem, “peaceful one,” when he shall come, then the scepter shall depart, the tribe shall be broken up. “And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Has not that been fulfilled? I pass by the people gathered to him in his life, and come to the day of Pentecost, what did the Holy Spirit do on that day? What was the theme of the ministry of the apostle Peter, what was the theme of his discourse that day? Take the 16th Psalm, Christ Jesus: the 110th Psalm, which Peter also quoted, Christ Jesus; the life, and death, and resurrection; and doings of Christ Jesus, together with having given an explanation from the Book of Joel of the circumstances then existing. So that you find beyond all dispute that unto him the people were gathered. And have not people been gathered together unto, him from that day to this? and is it not said in the 1st of Ephesians “that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven,” that is the saints in heaven, “and which are on earth,” that is the saints on earth, his people on earth, even in him; all are to meet there, all centers there, he is the center of everything, their life, their sanctification, their justification, their salvation, their glorification, their all in all; it is by him the everlasting God will forever unto us be all and in all.
Now the last days, let us look at this now as the Savior sets it before us, relative to these last days of the Jewish nation, the near approach of their destruction, the signs thereof, and the signs of the end of this world. The two classes of signs are different in their character; must not apply the one to the other. What think you did the Savior mean, 16th of Matthew, when he said to the Jews, “O you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but can you not discern the signs of the times?” What were the signs of the times? I will tell you, in a few words. Read the 5th chapter of the prophet Micah, and by carefully reading that chapter in the light of the idea of the last days, you will see that Christ's birth was a sign that the destruction of the Jewish nation was not far off. In that self-same chapter where he is spoken of as born at Bethlehem, that self-same chapter contains threatening's to the Jewish nation that they were to be destroyed, so that Christ's birth and their destruction almost synchronize; that is, take place all but simultaneously: so that his birth was one sign. O you hypocrites, you could tell Herod of where I was to be born, you could do that for the sake of a little fleshly advantage, but you do not examine the scriptures, you examine your own traditions, you are guided by your own notions and the traditions of the elders; but search the scriptures, they are they that testify of me, search the inspired writings, go to the original; they are they that testify of me, and then see that my being born in Bethlehem stands connected with your destruction as a nation. That was one sign of their destruction, while to them that believed it was the sign of eternal salvation. Oh, how different the sign was to good old Simeon; he came to the temple, and did he stumble and fall? No; he was raised up, Ah, he says, now Lord, let your servant depart in peace, my eyes have seen your salvation, that, while his very birth is a proof that the destruction of the Jewish nation is not far off, yet I can see in the birth of this Holy Thing born the Son of God, I can see eternal salvation, I can see it in its certainty, its amplitude, its glory, so far so as to swallow up all my sins, and doubts and fears, and make me turn my back upon this world, and all its attractions, honors and pleasures, and long to reach that world where I can love such a God in perfection, where I can enjoy his salvation, and glory in his holy name forever. They are very sweet seasons, my hearer, when the tide of spirituality thus overflows all the banks of carnality and absorbs the soul in the love of the eternal God. Ah, it is heaven upon earth, those are our seasons of transfiguration, of reviving, of renewing. It is then you may sing with authority that which you. have been singing this morning:
“My willing soul would stay
in such a frame as this,
And sit and sing herself away
To everlasting bliss.”
Again, the life which the Savior lived was another sign of their approaching destruction. Hence the 9th chapter of Daniel, the same chapter that gives you the Messiah finishing transgression, making reconciliation for iniquity, and bringing in everlasting righteousness; that same chapter gives you the sure destruction of the Jewish nation; but they did not see this sign, could not discern the signs of the times. The prophets saw it, Jacob saw it, long as he lived before it; the apostles all saw it and understood it: Christians saw it and understood it. Again, his death was a terrible sign. That fearful prayer was answered and remains answered. “See you to it;” said Pilate. Pilate tried to extricate himself from such a position, the real awfulness of which he did not see, only in a very small measure; but they said “His blood be upon us, and upon our children;” we will become responsible, we will hold ourselves guilty, we don't mind it, That awful prayer was heard, that awful prayer was answered. His death was the sign of their destruction. Ah, when he died their sun was darkened, their moon turned into blood, their stars fell from heaven, the whole polity shaken to its very foundations, and forty years more, and then a burning mountain shall roll in upon that sea, dry it up, and destroy it, and that forever. The last days. No more Jewish nation, no more land of Canaan, no more temple, no more Levitical priesthood, no more human royalty; they are all gone, and gone forever. See then these were the signs of the approaching destruction. His resurrection was another sign of their destructions. That they did not on the day of Pentecost perceive, but it was, it was such a demonstration that he whom they had crucified was the Son of God that he whom they had crucified was a righteous man; that he whom they had thus put to death, God had raised from the dead. Thus, then they could discern the face of the sky, and they could follow their own traditions; but they could not discern the signs of the times. I am aware what I am now saying is a matter perhaps merely of understanding; but you will easily perceive how these solemn truths may apply personally to us also. I must not now stop to show the way in which they would apply. Thus then I think I have made the idea somewhat clear that the last days mean the termination of the Jewish nation; and that Christ's birth, and life, and death, and resurrection, the descent of the Holy Spirit and the ingathering of sinners, were all proofs that how Jews and Gentiles had become one; that the Jewish nation no longer stood by itself; yes, that they ceased to be a nation. People sometimes pray, Lord Jesus Christ, take to yourself your great power and reign but he has done that 1800 years ago, man; why, he has told you so. Have you read his own words? Did he not say; “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;” and, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” So that we are obliged to bid farewell to Bishop Newton, Mister Elliott, Doctor Cumming, Doctor Keith, and a number of learned men that have written upon the prophecies, for they are all wrong together, all in the dark together; they are all cramming us with the notion that all this which is past is yet to come, whereas, if we keep to the scriptures, and the scriptures only, we shall see as clear as A B C that such men are led by their learning, and not by the scriptures. And that which will enable us to carry mountains on our backs as though they were straws, is found in the scriptures; that that will enable us to take away the gates of Gaza, bar and all, and make light of the heaviest burden that men and devils may put upon us, is found in the scriptures; for is anything too hard for the Lord? “I can,” said one “do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.”
I will give you one more thought, and that is this, that God has not only spoken to us by his Son in these last days of the Jewish nation, but he has said all he means to say while time shall last. Some people say, “Oh, I am sure Jesus Christ is the Son of God in his deity, for it was shown to me.” Where? “Oh, in a kind of feeling I had.” Do you think I am going to trust your animality, your animal feelings, going to trust your morbid, carnal imagination? Why, I would as soon trust the devil himself. The law and the testimony are the only rule to judge and decide by. The bible closes with a curse upon the man that shall add anything to it, and with a curse upon the man that shall take anything from it. God has said all he means to say on this side of the end of time, and he has said quite enough, bless his dear name there is no deficiency. What he has said has made millions since the completion of the scriptures wise unto salvation and taken them to heaven. What he has said has quickened us, comforted us, enlightened us, supported us, and will carry us all the way through. No, my hearer, we shall never have another bible; there is nothing to succeed the present; as well may you talk of another Jesus Christ to succeed and supersede the present Jesus Christ. What we possess we shall possess forever: the same Christ, the same kingdom, the same promises, the same covenant, the same God, the same righteousness, the same perfection, the same glory, and that to all eternity. We have had changes enough in the lower departments of existence, without having changes in this lofty possession that we have in and by the Lord our God. I think I have made this matter clear, so that you may not go dreaming on. Ah, the time will come, this thousand-year millennium that began when Christ rose from the dead, no question about that whatever, and has been progressing ever since. But, say you, where is the golden city? Are we brought into it? Certainly, we are! We stand upon free-grace ground, golden ground; we are encircled with the walls of salvation, represented as built of precious stones, and we are brought to the river of life, and to the tree of life; we have done with all mere temples as forming any part of our religion. We meet in this tabernacle, but the tabernacle serves us, we do not serve the tabernacle. This chapel has been our servant now for many years, and we do not mean to worship the place, it is our God we worship; it is no longer in Jerusalem, or this mountain; they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Thus then, you see the last days; you see how Christ was the sign of the approaching ruin of the Jewish nation. But those same things that constituted the signs of the destruction of the Jewish nation, constituted the signs, and proofs, and pledges of the salvation of others. Just so now, if I am ignorant of my state as a sinner, and am not reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, then I am an enemy to God, he stands a witness against me to prove and declare me his enemy. But if on the other hand I am reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, and love him, then I stand as his friend, Abraham the friend of God when he believed; and so the faith that works by love to him makes the man the friend of God. Without faith it is impossible. And he stands not only as the sign of salvation, but as salvation itself. It is written, “there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people, to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious.”
Time will hardly allow me to touch upon the other point, that of the heirship. I will just hint at what I was going to say, and then close. I must speak upon these words some other Sunday morning, can't say when. I should have taken a two-fold view of Christ's heirship: first, that he is heir of time things; and second, of eternal things. But I can enter upon neither, just make a remark or two in conclusion. Adam, by sin, lost his right to everything, and became destitute; but Jesus Christ did no sin, and therefore never lost anything to which he was appointed, never lost anything which was his right by virtue of his being the Son of God. Never sinned. Ah, in this blessed truth, friends, we lose all our sins, we cannot be destroyed by our sins. Destroyed in the first Adam by our sins we are, destroyed as in ourselves in the body, but it is only for a little time it must mingle with the dust. But if your body lay in the dust ten thousand years, it would seem but ten minutes to you; the Lord comes and wakes you up; why, how long have I been here? Ten thousand years. Why, it doesn't seem ten minutes even. I have been asleep all the time quite comfortably, because there is nothing to make you alarmed. And your soul will be so taken up with God when you get to heaven, you will not know how time is going. How is time going? Why a thousand years have passed away. What, a thousand years? I have been so taken up with God that I have not known how time was going on.