COMING TO JESUS A MOTIVE FOR BRINGING OTHERS TO HIM.

REV. J. FLETCHER, D.D.*

BRIDGE STREET CHAPEL, BRISTOL, SEPTEMBER 23, 1834.

"And he brought him to Jesus."-JOHN, 1. 42.

THE most important and endearing elements of character are derived from association with others. It is one of the great laws of our nature that our principles, and habits, and all that distinguishes the complexion of our mental and moral being, should be mainly dependant on the minds and characters of those with whom we voluntarily associate. Sometimes events, to our apprehensions seemingly contingent, bring us into contact with such as exert the most powerful influence on our whole lives. How often are talents elicited, trains of emotion kindled, modes of thinking and feeling originated, resolutions and determinations formed, at one interview, with some master-spirit, that may affect the entire complexion of a man's history and character, and fix the elements, not only of his future, but his final destination?

In the recollection of events, these circumstances stand out before the memory in bold and prominent relief; and they never can be forgotten: and in no respect is this principle more strongly illustrated than in the history of a sinner's conversion to God. The value of such a crisis does not result from its connexion with any order of human instrumentality, however interesting or delightful it may be to trace it back: it derives its importance from its being the time when, and the means by which, to use the simple but comprehensive phraseology of the text-a man is "brought to Jesus." It is the commencement of an intimacy with the Saviour; it is the formation of a friendship, which shall form his character in time, and fix his destiny for ever. To be introduced to Jesus, to be acquainted with Jesus, to become one of his disciples, to yield the understanding to the authority of his word, and the conscience to the claims of his law, and the heart to the demands of his love, and the life to the interests of his service, is the very character and essence of all true godliness. And this is the turning point on which depends the interest of time, and the momentous results of eternity. Such an event, however brought about, by whatever means effected, cannot be lost from the recollection; and the very locality connected with such an event (where you can so connect it) acquires an interest and an attraction superior to all other sources of influence in the world. Can those disciples, who for the first time met with the Son of God, forget the day and the period of that interview? Can the woman of Sicar forget the well of Jacob? Can Zaccheus forget the sycamore tree? Can Paul the Apostle forget the way Anniversary Sermon for the Bristol Auxiliary Missionary Society.

to Damascus, or the house of Judas in the street which was called Straight? Impossible.

My friends, it is in perfect accordance with all these incidents, and the sympathies they awaken, and the results arising out of them, that we are assembled here this morning, to implore the divine blessing on the hallowed cause of missions, and to increase our own attachment and devotion to that cause. For what is the simple object we have in view, the object of the Sabbath, and the sanctuary, and the means of grace, and the institutions of religion, and all the possible and varied forms in which divine truth can be presented to the attention of mankind: what is the one simple and comprehensive object of all these associations and all these efforts? To bring men to Jesus; to introduce them to him; to cause them to enjoy friendship with the Son of God on earth; and thus to prepare them to be for ever with the Lord.

The narrative connected with the text will furnish ample material for the illustration of two simple propositions, which will constitute the basis of our reasoning and appeal upon the present occasion. We are told by the inspired evangelist, that “John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, we have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus." Now, there are two principles suggested by this narrative: in the first place, that true religion is the result of personal conviction respecting the claims of Jesus Christ; and in the second place, that those who have thus become the disciples of Christ will be anxiously concerned to bring others to the knowledge of the same Redeemer. In one word, you have in this principle the duty of the converted to the unconverted. That duty constitutes the basis of missionary enterprise a just estimation of this object must pervade our minds, must affect our hearts, must be solemnly before us in all its momentous reality and infinite importance; or in vain will be all our exertions and efforts.

TRUE RELIGION IS THE RESULT OF PERSONAL CONVICTION RESPECTING THE CLAIMS OF JESUS CHRIST. You must possess that religion yourselves, or you never can attempt, successfully and scripturally, to impart it to others; nor have you reason to expect the divine sanction to your efforts, or that the divine blessing will rest on your engagements, if your efforts and your engagements are not the expression and the reality of personal conviction. It is the order of the gracious covenant, "I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing." It is the order of, and in perfect harmony with, that promise-"God be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations." It is the order recognised by the Divine Redeemer in the promise of his own Spirit, and the illustration given of the nature of true religion, and the benevolent results of it.

"He that believe thon me shall never thirst; and from within him shall flow rivers of living water." Let this conviction, then, be solemnly reflected upon by you. It is possible to contemplate the missionary enterprise, and all the sublime and interesting aspects that enterprise presents, rather as a matter of gratification that may delight the understanding or regale the imagination. But, viewed in its proper light, it is a matter affecting the conscience, and arising out of the impressions and the feelings of the heart. Would you secure, therefore, an enlightened devotion to the cause of missions, and the steady occupation of all your powers and energies in the prosecution of that cause, you must yourselves be possessed of a personal acquaintance with Jesus: the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus as your Lord, must be a matter, not of theory, and speculation, and profession, but of principle, and experience, and conviction.

This applies to all the objects we contemplate in relation to the interests of our fellow creatures at home, and the extension of religion in the world around us. On this account, therefore, the truth respecting Christ must be known · you must know it: for acquaintance with Christ is the knowledge of Christ; and the knowledge of Christ is essentially connected with the love of Christ, as the medium and the material of that knowledge. You cannot now be personally introduced to Jesus of Nazareth, as was Simon Peter, by Andrew his brother, or Nathaniel by Philip: but all that was substantially secured by the actual and literal converse of those disciples with Jesus; is secured by genuine religion wherever it exists; for it was a personal conviction founded on the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Therefore from this principle, you perceive, arises the importance of the Christian ministry, and the great design of that ministry. What is that design? For what was the Christian ministry instituted? Merely to enable a fellow creature to stand before you, and expatiate for a while on some moral or philosophical subject, for your gratification or amusement? No: the object of this hallowed office is that for which John himself stood in the presence of the altar, and the sacrifice, and all the apparatus of ancient dispensation, and said to his disciples as Jesus passed by, "Behold the Lamb of God." And this is the end for which we are to teach; and every discourse we deliver should direct our hearers to Jesus. For what is truth, but the word of Christ; and what is duty but the law of Christ; and what is faith but the reception of Christ; and what is obedience but the service of Christ; and what is devotion but the enjoyment of the presence and the love of Christ? Therefore, in the character of the Redeemer, every principle of religion is involved in the grace and truth revealed by the Son of God, are comprehended all the elements, and aspects, and combinations of that divine system of truth, which constitutes "the whole counsel of God." We must hide ourselves in the shadow of our God, and make it the object of our prayers and efforts to direct others to him-to feel that, if he be received, if he be known, if he be enjoyed, then the great end of our missions and our ministry is accomplished.

Oh, what sublimity and attraction are connected with this grace and this truth! How did the great Apostle of the Gentiles feel their sublimity and their attractiveness, when he said, It is "my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death;

for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Hence we are to exhibit them as the very means of bringing men to become acquainted with him, and to enjoy all the blessings he has to bestow. We are to exhibit him as the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega. And what is the object of revelation, and of the Christian revelation more especially, if that does not lead to him, and include him as the sum of every doctrine, and the substance of the truth and the reality of every type, and the theme of every prophecy, and the motive of every precept, and the glory and the elevation of every divine institution? As well might it be imagined there is an artery in the human system which is not connected with the heart, or that there is a planet in the solar system withdrawn from the centre of attraction, as to suppose any part of the divine testimony not connected with the glory, the grace, and the truth of the Divine Redeemer.

But we are to know this, to feel the importance of it, to be conscious of the claims involved in it-in one word, to seek Christ. You have, in the narrative connected with our text, a delightful illustration of the very way in which personal religion commences, and the leading features by which its principles are distinguished. If you are seeking after Christ, if you are really disposed to become acquainted with Christ, you will imitate these disciples of John. When they were directed to Jesus, they were not satisfied, as many are when they hear of the subject in the sanctuary, with a passing glance, a momentary direction of the mind, or the impulse of curiosity: but they looked to Jesus; and they followed him, and, whatever may have been the apparent difficulties in the way of access, yet they sought to obtain an interview; they directly addressed him; they were received with all the graciousness and benignity of incarnate love; they dwelt with him that night. And what a night was it! They will never, to all eternity, forget the first time they saw him; the first time they heard his voice, the first time they yielded their hearts to the authority of his law; when they became his; when the disciple was forgotten in the Master, and all the splendour of the meteor was lost in the blaze of the Sun of Righteousness. Oh, they never can forget that day and that hour; for then commenced their friendship with Christ, and their friendship was the result of personal and individual conviction, and they rested not till they obtained it; and they became at once his avowed disciples. My friends, I do not say there is any particular specific process, according to which your religious experience and feelings, and the order of your emotions or inquiries, must be conducted, to make you diciples of Christ. I am perfectly aware of an immense diversity in this respect, in the operations of the Divine Spirit; how some are brought at once from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, (and they will as soon forget an escape from shipwreck as forget the very time, and manner, and circumstances connected with their first interview with their Saviour, and their first subjection to his authority;) and how others may be led by a very slow and gradual method; scarcely perceptible, affording but few points of prominent recollection. Still the result is the same: they are "brought to Jesus;" and they are brought to him as the result of inquiry-inquiry continued ; inquiry followed by prayer; inquiry marked by solicitude, and anxiety, and demonstration; inquiry terminating in personal and individual conviction, and examination of the truth for themselves; not resting on educational impressions, or the authority of others, or the religion of the nation, or any other exterior cause;

but having received the truth in the love of it, they become the disciples of Jesus. In one word, personal religion is personal union with Christ. Union with Christ is, more than any other in the Sacred Volume, exhibited as the distinguishing feature of his people. By virtue of this union with Christ, under the sanctifying influence of the Divine Spirit, you become new creatures in Christ Jesus. By virtue of this union with Christ, all the blessings of his great salvation become yours: for union is the foundation of fellowship, and fellowship leads to resemblance, and resemblance secures practical obedience and devotion. Thus you see how all the elements of the Christian character, all the peculiarities of vital religion, are included in this simple, yet comprehensive view of the subject-that the true disciples of Christ enjoy a personal conviction respecting his claims, and yield themselves supremely to his service. Before I proceed to the illustration of the second topic suggested by this passage, let me remind you of one thing: that there is everything in the character and religion of Jesus Christ to deserve your investigation, to attract your regard, and to justify your attachment. When these disciples said to Jesus, “Where dwellest thou," what was the answer of Jesus?" Come and see." There was a characteristic display of his own grace and condescension, of his own sympathy and love, in the reply he gave to these sincere inquirers. And the language of the Saviour may be viewed as strictly illustrative of the whole system of Christianity. There is nothing which shrinks from inquiry, nothing which avoids scrutiny, and everything to challenge investigation, and everything to reward the most profound and penetrating investigation of the whole subject. On the evidences of the Gospel, or the doctrines of the Gospel, or the institutions of the Gospel, on the whole system of religion, you may see visibly inscribed, "Come and see." Therefore those who go forth to distant lands to spread the knowledge of Christ, can say to idolaters of every grade, to philosophers of every class, to inquirers after truth, whatever their prejudices or their habits, “Come and see." We have no secrets for the initiated only; we have no mysteries which we dare not develope; we can declare, without hesitation or reserve, the whole counsel of God. "Come and see;" examine for yourselves: these things were not done in a corner; everything will bear the light, Pour on the subject the whole gaze of your minds, and you will find in every exhibition of the truth that which will deserve and justify your supreme devotion.

Let us consider the second principle suggested by the passage-that THOSE WHO HAVE BECOME THE DISCIPLES OF Christ, will be aNXIOUSLY CONCERNED TO BRING OTHERS TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SAVIOUR. It is a simple deduction from the first principle stated. The sentiment, no doubt, has often been brought under your notice: but it is of the highest importance to contemplate the subject under the principles it involves and the obligation it enjoins. If you are sincere inquirers after Christ, and, thus inquiring after him, have attained personal conviction as to the result of that inquiry, and can say, in some measure with feelings of glad exultation and holy surprise, what the Apostles felt when they said, "We have found the Messiah:" if you can sympathize with emotions and feelings like these, the natural and the necessary result of these convictions will be, you will communicate the enjoyment of them to others. The very constitution of our nature leads to this: all the sympathies