PREFACE, BY THE REV. HENRY HUNTER, D. D. positions of the kind are more calculated to be useful to mankind. By the reception given to this volume I shall be enabled to determine whether it is proper to desist, or to go on. The attentive reader will readily perceive that I have made the arrangement of the subjects part of my study. When I found any of the links of my chain anticipated by my respectable predecessor in the works of translation, I refer to it, that those who choose to read in a series may be saved the trouble of tracing it from volume to volume. THE name of SAURIN, as a preacher and a | ply; being thoroughly convinced that no comScripture critic, is so well known, and so highly respected, as to render any panegyric or recommendation of mine altogether unnecessary. His great work, entitled "Discourses Historical, Critical, Theological, and Moral, on the most memorable Events recorded in the Old and New Testaments," is in the hands of almost every Protestant Divine who understands the French language. Of this the first volume only has been given to the English public, by a respectable layman, John Chamberlayne, Esq., of the city of Westminster, presently after the publication of the original at the Hague, in 1723. Unhappily for the world, Mr. Saurin did not live to accomplish that arduous undertaking: his valuable labours being interrupted by the stroke of death, before he had quite finished the sixth discourse of vol. iii., which contains the period of Solomon's piety and prosperity. The work was, however, very creditably continued and completed by Messrs. Roques and De Beausobre. A republication of Mr. Chamberlayne's volume, and a translation of the other five, would be an important, and no doubt an acceptable addition to English literature. The late Reverend Robert Robinson, of Cambridge, has given a very good translation of five volumes of the "Sermons" of "Saun," selected from twelve, of which the original consists; to these he has prefixed "Memoirs of the Reformation in France," and of "Saurin's Life." This work has been so well received all over Great Britain, that a third large impression of it is already nearly exhausted: a striking proof, surely, of the author's extraordinary merit as a Christian orator, especially if it be considered that this approbation is expressed in an age and a country daily enriched with original displays of pulpit eloquence, and whose taste is rendered fastidious by profusion and variety of excellence. But the public, it would appear, is still disposed to receive more of Mr. Saurin's Sermons, for I have been frequently and importunately solicited to undertake the translation of what remains: a request with which, I acknowledge, I felt no great reluctance to com As the originals are much longer than the generality of modern sermons, and as I suppose these may probably be adopted by families as part of their serious domestic reading, I have taken the liberty to divide most of them into two, and some into three parts, in the view of relieving the exertion of the person who reads, and the attention of the hearers: introducing nothing of my own, except sometimes a few lines of recapitulation, where it seemed necessary to connect the several members of the subject. To one advantage only over my predeces- BETHNAL-GREEN ROAD, SERMON LXIX. THE SONG OF SIMEON. LUKE ii. 25-30. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law; then he took him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive," Gen. xlvi. 30. This was the exclamation of an affectionate father; might I not have said, of a weakly affectionate father, on a memorable occasion in his life. If such an emotion savour not of heroism, it is at least an effusion of nature. Joseph had been the centre of a fond parent's tenderest affections. Jacob had for more than twenty years been impressed with the belief that this dearly beloved son was devoured by an evil beast. He displayed every token of affliction that could be expressed by the paternal heart, on the loss of a child, a darling child, thus cruelly torn from him. After so many years of mourning, he is informed that his son is yet alive, that he is exalted to the most eminent state of power and splendour which the king of Egypt could bestow; that he had sent to bring his father down to him. Every instant now appears an age to the good old man, till the period of their reunion arrives. Every thing that retards the accomplishment of his wishes seems to defeat it. He trembles to think on the length of the way, on the dangers of such a journey, on his own debilitated frame. He departs at length, he reaches the desired haven: he beholds with his eyes the endeared object of so many earnest prayers. He feels himself in the embrace of his Joseph, he feels his visage bedewed with the tears of filial love. Joy deprives him of the powers of utterance, and with difficulty the faultering tongue can pronounce the words which Moses, if I may be allowed the expression, seems to have derived from the bowels of paternal tenderness: "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." A greater than Jacob, my brethren, or rather a greater than Joseph, is here. Simeon had received from God the assurance of having his life prolonged till his eyes should see the promised Messiah. On the accomplishment of that promise depended the solution of these anxious inquiries, so interesting to the wretched posterity of Adam:-Is there any mitigation to be expected of that fatal denunciation, "in the day thou eatest of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, thou shalt surely die?" Gen. ii. 17. Did so many oracles, which announce a Redeemer, proceed from God, or from men? Is it possible that the love of God should rise so high, as to immolate his own Son in the room of the guilty? In a word, is the expectation of Israel well founded, or is it chimerical The promise is at last fulfilled: that divine infant at last appears, whom God had " prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of Israel," Luke ii. 31, 32. Already has an angel of the Lord announced his advent to the shepherds: already has a multitude of the heavenly host made the air resound with these triumphant strains, "glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men," Luke ii. 14. Already have the sages of the east arrived to render him supreme homage, as to their sovereign. What remained to Simeon, after having seen the Saviour of the world, but to take possession of the long expected salvation? He accordingly takes the child in his arms: his faith is now changed into vision, and his hope into enjoyment, and he in transport exclaims, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." This devout rapture is to be the subject of our present discourse, and its import we shall attempt to unfold, after having made a few reflections of a different kind, tending to elucidate the text. I. We are to make a few preliminary reflections, for elucidating the text. And here it is natural, in the first place, to inquire, who this Simeon was, who acts such a distinguished part, at this period of the gospel history? But all that can be added to the narration of the evangelist is merely a tissue of conjectural traditions palpably false, or, at best, extremely uncertain. Cardinal Baronius, on the authority of some ancient doctors of the church, insists that he must have been of the sacerdotal order. This they attempt to prove from the words of the passage under review, "He took the infant Jesus in his arms," as if to present him to the Lord; an idea not supported by any one of the circumstances recorded in the gospel. Certain modern doctorst believe him to have been the son of the celebrated Hillel, who was chief of the sect of the Phari sees. They even go so far as to assert, that he was the father of that Gamaliel at whose feet Paul was brought up. With respect to his condition, a variety of fables are retailed descriptive of his person; such as that he was blind, and recovered his sight on receiving our Saviour into his arms: and that other, of his being one of the interpreters of the Septuagint version;s that having found many passages which predicted that the Messiah was to be born of a Virgin, he refused to translate them; nay, that he substituted the term Woman in place of Virgin, in translating the noted prediction of Isaiah vii. 14: that having closed his tablets, on opening them to resume his labour, he found the word Virgin miraculously substituted in place of Woman; that he besought * Annal. Eccles. Antv. 1612. A. C. 1. p. 58. tom. 1. † Consult Lightfoot, tom. 2. Horse Hebr. in Lue. ii. 25. p. 498. Rot. 1686. Baronius ut supra. Allatius de Ecel. Occid. Col. 1648. Niceph. Hist. Eccl. lib. i. cap. 2. Paris, 1630. God to grant him an explanation of this wonderful phenomenon, and his prayer was answered: once more;* that having seen in the temple various women presenting their children, he had distinguished the holy Virgin by certain rays of light which surrounded her person, on which he thus addressed the other mothers: "Wherefore do you present these children before the altar? Turn round, and behold this one, who is more ancient than Abraham." Fictions, of no higher authority than what is farther related of him, namely, that the Jews, jealous of his talents and virtues, and, more especially, scandalized at the testimony which he had borne to Jesus Christ, had refused him the honours of sepulchre: that his remains, after having reposed a long time at Constantinople, in a chapel dedicated by James, denominated the Less, were conveyed to Venices in the thirteenth century. Dropping, then, legends of such doubtful authority, let us satisfy ourselves with exhibiting Simeon under three authentic characters, which while they lead us to an acquaintance with the man himself, will give us an idea of the state of the Jewish nation, at the era of the Messiah's birth. The first respects the faith of Simeon; "he waited for the consolation of Israel." The second respects his piety and moral conduct; "he was just and devout." The third respects his gifts and privileges; "he was divinely inspired, and it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." 1. "He waited for the consolation of Israel," that is, for the Messiah. This phraseology was adopted by the ancient Jews, and is still in use among the modern. "The years of the consolation," is a usual expression employed by them to denote the years of the Messiah. One of their most solemn oaths is that which appeals to the consolation: and one of their most common formularies is to this effect; "So may I see the consolation, as I have done such or such a thing; so may I see the consolation, as my testimony is consistent with truth." The prophets themselves employ the same style: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God: speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem," Isa. xl. 1. "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord; and to comfort all that mourn," Isa. lxi. 1, 2. "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people," Isa. xlix. 13. It were easy to prove, that these are so many oracular predictions, which the inspired authors of the New Testament, the only infallible interpreters of the Old, understood as descriptive of the Messiah. And proofs would multiply upon us without end, were we more particularly to undertake to demonstrate, that the title of the consolation is peculiarly adapted to our Lord Jesus Christ: but however instructive such reflections might be of themselves, they would carry us too far from the present object of pursuit. We could only wish, that the faith of Simeon might assist you in forming an idea of the state of the Jewish church prior to the coming of the Messiah. Believers, under that dispensation, entertained the same expectation with Simeon: like him they waited for "the consolation of Israel." We by no means presume to affirm that their ideas on this subject were exempted from prejudice. We well know that they assigned to most of the oracles, which announced a Re-deemer, a sense conformable to the colour of their passions. Isaiah, who represented him as "despised and rejected of men," Isa. liii. 3, had, undoubtedly, a more just conception of him than the sons of Zebedee adopted, Mark x. 37, when they requested of him the most distinguished honours of his kingdom. Daniel, who predicted that "Messiah should be cut off," Dan. ix. 26, entered, undoubtedly, much more profoundly into the view of his coming into the world, than Peter did, who having heard him speak of the death which he was to suffer, "began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee," Matt. xvi. 22; Job, who contemplated him by the eye of faith, " as standing at the latter day upon the earth," Job xix. 25, 26; and who hoped to behold him eye to eye, even after "worms should have destroyed his body," knew incomparably better the blessings which he was to purchase for mankind, than those grovelling spirits who expected from him temporal enjoyments merely. Even those of the Jews whose understanding was most clearly enlightened, had much less penetration into the mystery of the cross than the meanest of Christians, and according to the saying of Jesus Christ, "He that is least in the kingdom of heaven, is, in this respect, greater than John Baptist," Matt. xi. 11, and then all the prophets; nevertheless they all lived in expectation of a deliverer: they all considered him as the centre of every divine grace: they all waited for him as "the consolation of Israel." This is the first character given us of Simeon. 2. He was just and devout. The epithet just must not be taken in a literal and exact sense. Beware how you give a lie to revelation, to experience, to your own heart, whose concurring testimony evinces that "there is none righteous" upon the earth, no not one;" imagine not that Simeon by his virtues merited the privilege of "seeing the Lord's Christ," and of partaking of the fruits of his incarnation. The righteousness of Simeon consisted in the efforts which he made to work righteousness: his perfection, in the desire with which he was animated to go on to perfection, and in the regret which he felt that his attainments were so inconsiderable. The sacrifices which he made to God, derived all their value from the mercy of that God who was the object of his fear. Let this great principle of Christian theology be deeply impressed on your minds: lose sight of it, no not for a moment, and be constantly vigilant lest the impure doctrine of the merit of good works find admission among you. But wherefore suggest cautions to this effect? | wherein we come to announce the revival of Wherefore should these walls so frequently resound with truths of this class? My brethren, you have so effectually excluded, by your coldness in the performance of good works, the doctrine of their merit, that there is little room to entertain the apprehension of its ever finding an establishment in the midst of us. And it is an undeniable fact, that this error has gained no partisans in our churches; at least, if there the reign of Jesus Christ in the midst of us, by the celebration of his incarnation and birth; by the commemoration which we are to make next Lord's day in the sacrament of the supper: if at this season, when we are crying aloud to you in the words of St. John, "prepare ye the way of the Lord:" should you with the multitudes who attended his ministry, inquire, saying, "and what shall we do?" We would reply, wait for "the consolation of Israel," as Simeon waited for it: "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance." "Prepare the way of the Lord," ye great ones of the earth; lead the way in a procession of penitents, as the king of Nineveh did, when the preaching of Jonah thundered impending destruction in his ears, Jon. iii. 4. 9. "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God," 1 Pet. v. 6, "by whom kings reign, and princes decree justice," Prov. viii. 15. Employ the power with which Providence has intrusted you, not in a vain display of furniture more magnificent, or of equipages more splendid; not by assuming a deportment more lofty and intimidating; but in curbing bold and insolent vice; but in maintaining the cause of truth and justice; but in wiping away the tears of the widow and the orphan; but in rewarding services rendered to the state; but in procuring respect to the solemn institutions of religion; but in preventing the circulation of indecent and corruptive publications; and, as far as in you lies, in levelling to the ground that monster infidelity, which is rearing its daring forehead in the midst of you. be any, they have kept themselves invisible. We have seen many persons who, under the power of illusion, imagined they had fulfilled the conditions upon which the promises of salvation are founded; but never did we find one who advanced a plea of merit. But what we have seen, and what we have cause every day to deplore, and what is involving multitudes in utter ruin, is our frequently deceiving ourselves with the belief, that because righteousness and the fear of God are not meritorious, they are therefore unnecessary. What we have seen, and what we have cause every day to deplore, is the unhappy persuasion prevailing with many who bear the Christian name, that because the advent of the Messiah is a dispensation of grace, it gives encouragement to licentiousness and corruption. Let us not employ such ingenious pains to deceive ourselves. Multiply without end, ye "disputers of this world," your questions and controversies, it will never be in your power to prevent my clearly discerning, in the doctrine of the gospel, this twofold truth: on the one hand, that the best preparation for receiving the reign of grace, is that which Simeon made; "he was just and devout, and he waited for the consolation of Israel." On the other hand, that the most insurmountable obstacle which can be opposed to this reign, is impiety and injustice. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God," Isa. xl. 3; Matt. iii. 3; Luke iii. 6. This was the voice of the forerunner of Jesus Christ, and wherein did he make this preparation to consist? The preparation of him who had "two coats" was to "impart to him who had none," Luke iii. 11. The preparation of him who had meat was to act in like manner. That of the publicans was to "exact no more than that which was appointed them," ver 13. That of the soldier was to "do violence to no man, to accuse no one falsely, and to be content with his wages," ver. 14. The preparation of all was to "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance," ver. 8. Without these, the reign of grace was the reign of wrath: without these, "the axe was already laid unto the root of the tree; and every tree which brought not forth good fruit was to be hewn down, and cast into the fire," ver. 9; and this Messiah, this Redeemer of mankind, was to come with "his fan in his hand, thoroughly to purge his floor; to gather the wheat into his garner; but to burn the chaff with fire unquenchable," ver. 17. Ah! if at this period of the gospel dispensation, when we are exercising, in some manner, the functions of John Baptist, if in these days | are destitute of that righteousness, and of that "Prepare the way of the Lord," ye pastors of the flock. Distinguish yourselves from private individuals, not only by the habit which you wear, and by the functions which you discharge; but by your zeal for the church of Christ; by your unshaken firmness and forti-, tude in opposing those who impudently transgress; but by preserving a scrupulous distance from every thing characteristic rather of the slaves of this world, than of the ministers of the living God. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," professing Christians. Celebrate your solemn feasts, not only by frequenting our religious assemblies, but by a holy abstinence from those secret abominations, and those public scandalous practices which have so long inflamed the wrath of heaven against us; which even now are scattering the seeds of discord through these provinces; which are draining the resources of our country, which are tarnishing her glory, which present to our eyes, in a lowering futurity, vicissitudes still more calamitous and more deeply ensanguined than those which have already cost us so many tears, and so much blood. This, this is the only effectual method of waiting for deliverance and redemption. Far removed from us be those frivolous terrors, which would suggest, that to be subjected to the yoke of Jesus Christ, is to derogate from his merits! And let us not deceive ourselves; there is not a single particular in the system of the gospel; there is not a single article of Christian theology, but what preaches terror, if we fear of God with which Simeon "waited for Farther, in order to our having a knowledge of the doctrines which were taught by the Messiah, we must "fear God" as did Simeon, we must be just like him; for "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant," Ps. xxv. 14, and "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself," John vii. 17. In order to our having an interest in the promises of the glory to be revealed, which are made to us by the Messiah, we must "fear God" as did Simeon, we must be just like him, for "without holiness no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14, and "having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit," 2 Cor. vii. 1. If we would attain the assurance of salvation, we must "fear God," as did Simeon, we must be just like him: "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall," 1 Cor. x. 12, and "if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee," Rom. xi. 21. 3. Finally, we are informed by the evangelist, that "the Holy Ghost was upon Simeon; and it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." On this particular, I shall confine myself to a single reflection. It supplies us with an explication of several ancient oracles, and particularly that of the prophet: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions," Joel ii. 28. The Jews themselves acknowledge, that the spirit of prophecy was one of the prerogatives, which had been denied to the second temple. This gift seems to have expired with Malachi. For an uninterrupted series of more than four hundred years no prophet had arisen. This high privilege was not to be restored to the church till the latter days should come; and conformably to the style of the Old Testament, the latter days denote the dispensation of the Messiah. Here then, we * Talmud Hieros. Taanith, fol. vi. 1. Babylon. Joma, fol. xxi. 2. have the commencement of the latter days. Here we behold the prophetic illumination reappearing in all its lustre. Here the hallowed fire is rekindling, and celestial revelations enlighten a dark world. These exalted privileges are communicated first to Zacharias, who beholds an angel of the Lord "standing on the right side of the altar of incense," Luke i. 11. They are next bestowed on the blessed Virgin, whom the angel thus addresses, "Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women," ver. 28. They are extended even to the shepherds, to whom another angel announces the birth of the Saviour of the world, and who "suddenly hear a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men," Luke ii. 13, 14. They are poured down upon Simeon; and we shall presently behold the whole Christian church inundated with an overflowing flood of divine irradiation. Let this suffice as to the character of Simeon. II. We are to attempt to unfold the import of the devout rapture which he felt. And here let us give undivided attention to the object before us, and let every power of thought be applied to discover, and to display, the emotions by which this holy man of God was then animated. He takes Jesus Christ in his arms: he blesses God, and says, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." "Lettest thou thy servant depart:" the Greek phrase literally rendered, is, thou unloosest, or settest free thy servant. The sense of the expression cannot, in my apprehension, be disputed in this place. To unloose, in the writings of certain profane authors, and the meaning is the same in our text, signifies that act of Deity which separates the soul from the body. Thou liberatest thy servant in peace, that is, thou permittest thy servant to die in peace. This object which strikes the eye of Simeon, is to him a complete security against the terrors of death. Wherefore should he wish to live longer in this world? Could it be to behold some wonderful event, or to acquire some valuable possession? But his whole soul is rapt in admiration of the object with which his eyes are feasted; the delight he feels in contemplating the Redeemer, "the Lord's Christ," absorbs every faculty. Could the fear of the punishment of sin suggest a wish to live longer? He holds in his arms the victim which is going to be offered up to divine justice. Could he desire longer life from any doubt he entertained respecting the doctrine of a life to come? He is at the very source of life, and needs only to be released from a mortal body, to arrive at immortality. Three sources of meditation, well worthy, I am bold to say, of all the attention you are able to bestow. 1. The desire of beholding some wonderful and interesting event, is one of the most usual causes of attachment to life. There are certain fixed points, in which all our hopes seem to be concentrated. Nothing is more common among men, even among those whose character as Christians is the least liable to suspicion, than to say, could I but live to see such and I such an event take place, I should die content: |