THE STONE OF ISRAEL - Christmas Evans
SERMON XVIII.
THE STONE OF ISRAEL.
“Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua. Upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”—Zech. iii. 9.
Amid all the tribulations which the church has suffered, she has ever been preserved and sustained by the gracious providence of God; like the bush in Horeb—burning, yet unconsumed.
In the days of this prophet, the church was feeble and afflicted. Having just returned from the captivity in Babylon, by which she had been greatly reduced, she resembled the myrtle among the oaks, the firs, and the cedars. But the Messiah appears to the prophet, standing among the myrtle-trees, and encouraging the children of Israel to proceed in rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. The good success of Zerubbabel is represented by a golden candlestick, with a bowl at the top, and seven lamps for the light, and seven pipes to convey the oil to the lamps, and two olive-trees—one on each side—pouring the oil into the pipes. This was intended also to set forth the relation of Christ to his church, as her head, and the fountain whence she derives strength and nourishment, enabling her to grow in grace, and the saving knowledge of God. As they bring forth the foundation and the corner-stones with joy, wondering at the Divine goodness and mercy, Jehovah shows them that he is about to lay in Zion the foundation and chief corner-stone of a spiritual temple: “Behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua. Upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”
p. 243Let us consider the important truths taught us in this metaphorical description of Christ and his mediatorial work.
I. Christ is the foundation and chief corner-stone of his church. This figure is often used in the Holy Scriptures. “From hence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel”—said Jacob in the blessing of Joseph. “The stone which the builders refused,” said the Psalmist, “is become the head-stone of the corner.” And Isaiah said—“Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.” All these predictions were appropriated by Messiah, to whom they were intended to apply. Christ is the foundation and chief corner-stone. “Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets”—that is, the foundation which they recognized and recommended—“Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.” He is indeed the foundation of the world; and in the fulness of time, was declared the foundation of the church. All the buildings of mercy that have ever been erected stand firm and immovable on this Rock of Ages.
In the architecture of the first covenant in Eden, there was a Stone under one end, and earth under the other. “The first man was of the earth, earthy.” And when the storm and the flood came, the earth gave way, and the building fell. But in the architecture of the second covenant upon Calvary, God laid help upon one that was mighty. “The second man is the Lord from heaven.” A stone suitable for the foundation of a royal palace is very valuable, because the safety of the building depends upon the firmness of the foundation. This Stone is “chosen of God and precious.” It is long and broad enough for the whole edifice, stretching from eternity to eternity; and sufficiently strong to sustain it, though millions of living stones be built into the spiritual temple; and such is its firmness, that time, with all its storms, shall never destroy it, or injure its beauty. It is a tried and precious stone, composed of all that is excellent on earth, and all that is glorious in heaven—a sinless specimen of humanity, possessing “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” As a foundation, it is laid deep in the earth; as a corner-stone, it rises above the stars, and binds the whole building in heaven and earth together.
II. This Stone is “laid before Joshua.” God has revealed his p. 244Son, as the only foundation, and chief corner-stone, to the wise master-builders of his church, in every age of the world. The seed was promised in Eden. Holy men of old beheld the promises afar off. Abraham desired to see his day; he saw it, and was glad. This was the foundation of the prophets and apostles. As Moses found so much of God in the rod that was in his hand, that he could think of no other means for working a miracle; so the prophets and apostles saw and felt so much of Christ in the revelations of which they were made the media, that they could never think of salvation from sin and hell but through his meritorious death; and the most dreadful tortures, and even martyrdom itself, lost their terrors in “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
This Stone was laid also before Wickliff and Luther. The office and work of Christ had been lost sight of, in the intercession of saints, and the merit of human works. But “the foundation of God standeth sure;” and all the rubbish which Roman monks had heaped upon it could not hide it from the reformers, whose vision had been cleared and quickened by light from heaven. And it was laid before Wesley and Whitefield in England, who built upon it “gold, silver, and precious stones;” and before Powell, Erbery, and Wroth—before Rowlands, Harris, Jones, Evans, Thomas, and Francis—as the foundation of that wonderful revival in Wales, the blessed effects of which we feel to this day.
We are now endeavoring to exhibit the glory and excellency of this Stone, as the foundation of your hopes. Will you build upon Christ? Can you venture your eternal salvation upon the merit of his sacrifice? “He that believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
III. It is said that “upon one stone shall be seven eyes;” by which we may understand, either seven eyes of others, looking upon the stone; or seven eyes in the stone, looking upon others.
If we take the former idea, there are many eyes looking upon this “One Stone;” some from envy, malice, and wrath; others from astonishment, gratitude, and love. It attracts the gaze of heaven, earth, and hell. The eternal Lawgiver looks to Messiah for satisfaction on behalf of guilty man. Mercy and Truth look upon him as the foundation of their palaces. Righteousness and Peace look upon him as the only place where they can salute each other with a kiss. The devil and his angels, sin, death, and the p. 245grave, look upon him with eyes of anger and revenge; determined, if possible, to bruise him with their weapons, and cast him among the rubbish, into the pit of corruption. Celestial spirits look upon him with eyes of wonder and delight; announce his coming to Joseph and Mary, sing his advent to the shepherds of Judea, accompany him through all his pilgrimage of sorrow, minister to him after the temptation in the wilderness, talk with him on the mount of transfiguration, sustain him in the agony of the garden, gather unseen around his cross, roll away the rock from the entrance of his tomb, and attend him with songs as he ascends to glory. And believers look upon him with eyes of faith and love, as the foundation of all their hopes, in this world, and that which is to come—as their “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”
The other interpretation refers these “seven eyes” to the perfection of our Lord’s mediatorial character. The priest under the law was to sprinkle the blood seven times upon the mercy-seat, and seven times upon the leper; the first to typify a perfect atonement for sin; the second, a perfect application of its benefits to the believer. When the Lamb of God revived from the ashes on the altar of Calvary, he appeared “in the midst of the throne,” having seven horns and seven eyes, to denote the completeness of his prophetic wisdom, and the fulness of his regal authority. He sustains to his people the threefold relation of high-priest, prophet, and king. He is our high-priest, not after the order of Aaron, whom death robbed of his sacerdotal vesture; but “a high-priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedec.” He is our prophet, speaking with the tongue of the learned, and as one having authority—speaking to the conscience and the heart, and the dead hear his voice and live. He is our king, according to the decree, “on the holy hill of Zion;” exalted by the right-hand of the Father, and “declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.” Methinks I hear the Father speaking to Caiaphas:—“Have you a law, and do you say that by your law he ought to die? I will read to you the law on the morning of the third day, and you shall see that he is the resurrection and the life—that I have made him both Lord and Christ!” And methinks I hear the voice of the risen Messiah:—“I have travelled through the forest of the world’s temptations, through the dens of lions, the p. 246mountains of leopards, the dark haunts of devils, and the dominions of death and the grave; and have opened, through all the desert, a new and living way to my Father’s house. The powers of darkness thought to strip me of my official regalia, and bind me for ever in the grave; but I have broken Cæsar’s seal, and rent the rocks of Joseph’s sepulchre, and am alive for evermore—the high-priest, prophet, and king of Israel. Though I gave myself up to death upon the cross, death could not deprive me of my threefold office. I died with my vesture on, my miter and breastplate, as high-priest over the house of God. I died with the book of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in my hand, as a prophet to instruct my people, and lead them into all truth. I died with the crown upon my head, and all my enemies beneath my feet, as a king, whose dominion is everlasting, and whose glory shall never end. Death and hell could not take from me my triple diadem; and I came forth from the place of the dead in the power of an endless life; and will continue to wear my robes unspotted, till I have finished my mediatorial work, and gathered all the saints unto myself!”
IV. This stone is fitted and prepared by God himself. “I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts.”
This figure evidently refers to the sufferings of Christ, by which he was made perfect for his mediatorial work. Many hammers and chisels were upon him from Bethlehem to Calvary; but they were all appointed of God, as the instruments of his preparation to be the sure foundation and chief corner-stone of the church. The Scribes and the Pharisees, Caiaphas, Judas, Pilate, the Jewish populace, and the Roman soldiery, whatever their malicious designs, only accomplished “the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” upon his well-beloved Son. All was appointed by the Father; all was understood by the Messiah; all was necessary to secure the great objects of his advent. It pleased the Father to bruise him, and put him to grief; and he cheerfully submitted to suffer, that we might be spared. O, wonder of wonders! Emmanuel wounded, that sinners might be healed! the Golden Vessel marred, that the earthen vessels might be saved! the Green Tree dried up, that the dry tree might grow as the lily, and cast forth its roots like Lebanon! According to another metaphor, “the plowers plowed upon his back; they made long their furrows.” And they were deep as well as p. 247long. They plowed into his very heart, and his body was covered with blood, and his cry of agony pierced the supernatural gloom of Golgotha, and soured the wine of dragons throughout the region of Gehenna!
Thus the foundation was fitted and prepared; and wicked men and devils but blindly did the work which God had before determined to be done. It is fixed in its place, firm and immovable; and the chief Architect is raising other stones from the quarry, and building them thereon, “for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” Brethren, “look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and the hole of the pit whence ye are digged”—even the flinty rock of impenitence, and the horrible pit of corruption. I have known men relinquish the hewing of stones from the quarry, because it was more expense than profit; and I have known men abandon the digging of ore from the mine, because it was too deep in the mountain. But Christ “descended into the lower parts of the earth,” and imbibed the gas of death. He carried in his hand the hammer of the word, which breaketh the flinty rock in pieces. He expelled the deadly vapor, blasted the solid adamant, and prepared the way for the workmen; and when he ascended, he sent down the apostles, to gather stones for his spiritual temple; while he stands at the top of the shaft, and turns the windlass of intercession, by which he draws up all to himself.
The work was gloriously begun on the day of Pentecost, and men and demons have never yet been able entirely to stop its progress. The pope and the devil tried their best, for a long time, to keep the digging and hewing tools of the twelve wise master-builders concealed in the vaults of the monasteries; but Luther, with the lamp of God in his hand, discovered them, brought them forth, and set them at work; and millions of lively stones have since been dug out, and sent up from the pit, to be placed in the walls of “God’s building.”
And still the gospel is mighty in the salvation of souls, of which we have abundant evidence in the principality. What multitudes were converted at Langeiththo in the days of Rowlands and Williams; when two thousand communicants in the winter, and three thousand in the summer, met every month in the same place around the table of the Lord! And there are now in Wales hundreds of large and flourishing churches among the Baptists and Independents. p. 248Glory to God, that I have in my own possession the register of hundreds, who have been hewn from the flinty rock, and raised from the horrible pit, to a place in the Lord’s holy temple—from drunkenness to sobriety, from unbelief to faith in Christ, from enmity to reconciliation to God, from persecution to patient suffering for righteousness’ sake, from disobedience to the filial temper of “sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty;” and many of them I have seen going home, rejoicing, to their Father’s house above!
Hark! what do I hear? The hammers and chisels of mercy all over the mountain of the militant church. The great Architect is building up Zion. He is gathering his materials from Europe, and Asia, and Africa, and America. Glory to God! I hear his footsteps to-day in this mountain; I see his hand in this congregation. Brethren in the ministry, we are workers together with him. Delightful work! How easy it is to preach, when the hand of God is with us! Let us labour on! The topstone will soon be brought forth with shouting, the sound of the building shall cease, and we shall receive our reward!
V. The gracious design for which this Divine Foundation is prepared, is the justification and sanctification of sinners. “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.”
Christ came to destroy the works of the devil—to take away sin by the offering of himself. As the moon is illuminated by the sun, so the rites and ceremonies of the old testament are illustrated by the facts and doctrines of the new. The priesthood of Jesus explains the priesthood of Aaron. The one sacrifice of Calvary explains all the sacrifices that went before. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ enters the windows of Solomon’s temple, and penetrates the Holy of Holies within the vail. All the bloody offerings of the Mosaic ritual were intended only as types of him who “removed the iniquity of that land in one day.”
What land? Emmanuel’s land—a garden enclosed, and measured by the line of God’s eternal purpose; including all the redeemed of the Lord, who will ultimately be brought to glory. The map of “that land” was in the mind of Jehovah, when he made this promise through the prophet. He remembered his covenant engagement before the foundation of the world in reference to its redemption. He saw it encumbered by mountains of sin, and blasted by the fiery curse of the law; and in the fulness of time, he sent his Son to deliver it.
p. 249To remove iniquity is to remove its penalty and its pollution. Christ hath accomplished both for believers. He “bore our sins in his own body on the tree!” He carried upon his own shoulder the burden which must have sunk the whole human race to eternal perdition. By enduring our punishment, he provided for our purification. In his own wounds a fountain was opened wherein we may wash and be clean. From his own heart the balm was extracted whereby our moral leprosy may be cured. “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” See how our great High-priest removes the iniquity of his people; not, like Aaron, by many sacrifices; but by the single offering of himself, “in one day.”
The word which is here rendered “remove” is in the original the same as that which is used to express the translation of Enoch. As Enoch was removed from the earth, beyond the sight of man, and the power of death; so sin is removed by the Mediator—removed for ever from the believer’s heart and conscience—blotted out—cast into the depth of the sea—carried away into the land of forgetfulness. The removal is perfect and everlasting.
This was a work which Jewish sacrifices were too weak to accomplish. For two thousand years the victims bled upon the altar, and not a single sin was actually removed. Every year the goat of the burnt-offering must bleed afresh, and the scape-goat must be sent away into the wilderness. But Jesus, the great ante-type of all these emblems, removed in one day, by a single offering, the iniquities of all who believe in him, from the fall to the end of time.
All the sacrifices that preceded his coming were intended only to remind men that they were sinners, that they needed an atonement, and that justification and eternal life could flow only from the meritorious sufferings of the future Christ. But when the substance came, the shadows passed away, and the promised work was at once accomplished; and all our iniquities were lost in the sea of mercy, which rose to a full tide in the Mediator’s merit.
Sinners, do you expect ever to be made free from sin? Would you have your leprosy cured, your impurity cleansed, and the curse removed? Come to our great High-priest! Lo, he stands by the altar, and the blood is on his hands! He waits to be gracious! Come, for he has virtually removed your iniquity, and it requires in you but a simple act of faith to realize the benefit! “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!”
Christmas Evans