Love (1757-1825) was a Church of Scotland minister at London and Glasgow, and an organizer of the modern foreign missions movement. John Macleod wrote of him, "In his early spiritual experience he was very thoroughly searched by the teaching of Jonathan Edwards and the men of the older New England introspective school. This left its mark on his teaching in turn." When "Rabbi" John Duncan was ordained at Milton Church, Glasgow, in 1836, those who had admired Love's ministry turned to Duncan as "the Elisha on whom the mantle of their master had fallen." These two sermons are dated 1788, and were published in Love's Discourses on Select Passages of Scripture (Edinburgh 1829).

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:14.

First Sermon

The general sound of heaven, eternal life, salvation, the love of God in Christ, is pleasing to the ears of men. There are few to be met with who suspect themselves to have any dislike at the things expressed by these terms; much less that they in danger of being eternally damned on account of an obstinate refusal of such blessings. Every man thinks himself fond of heaven, and that his desires of eternal life are not only sincere, but sufficiently strong, to bring him, at one time or other, to go through whatever may be required that he may obtain that blessedness. Why do men entertain such flattering thoughts of themselves? It is because they know not the plague of their hearts, and because they consider not the true nature of the salvation and happiness which are brought to light by the gospel. If the testimony of God, in his word, may be credited, there is that naturally in every man's heart, which, without the interposition of grace, will infallibly lead him to neglect, to despise, to hate, and to cast away, all the treasures of salvation, and all the joys and glories of heaven. This assertion will not appear strange, if we consider what the Scripture teaches of the nature of heaven. It is a happiness, spiritual, intellectual, holy — consisting in the knowledge, the image, the fellowship, the service, of the infinitely holy God. But, from experience, it is plain, how cold, how dead, how perverse, the hearts of men are, as to the great truths concerning the being and perfections of God. And it is only because these fundamental truths are basely and carelessly passed over by many preachers, that the hearts of many professors of religion do not fret, and boil, and foam with indignation, in the hearing of the word of God. I am persuaded that if the glory of the true God were faithfully, and in its proper majesty, published as it hath sometimes been, unless God should sovereignly change the hearts of many, it would soon thin many places of worship. Were God to appear in the sanctuary, as he hath sometimes done, the whole herd of hollow-hearted, worldly, conceited professors, would flee from him, as wild beasts keep at a distance from a fire blazing in the desert.

These remarks I have thought necessary, to rouse your attention to that great subject which this text sets before us. When Moses was about to give his last testimony concerning the character and ways of God, he begins with this solemn exclamation, "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak: and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth!" He knew the hardness of the people's hearts whom he addressed, and the difficulty of awakening them to a sense of God. For my own part, I wish to proceed with fear and trembling in the illustration of this passage, not only because of the dignity of the subject, but because of the danger there is lest a suitable reception should not be given to the truths which shall be declared from it. I am afraid of the consequences which a lukewarm, and heedless, and much more, a presumptuous and hostile, hearing of such truths may draw after it. Take heed, I beseech you, how ye hear. These walls, these seats, this light of the sun, shall be witnesses against every man or woman who shall, in the course of this subject, judge himself, or herself, unworthy of everlasting life, by resisting the truth, or by holding it in unrighteousness.

Before entering on the text itself, I must observe some things as to the circumstances in which this divine oracle was delivered.

And first of all; Moses and the Israelites were in circumstances of deep humiliation and distress. The murdering hand of oppression, early lifted up against the life of Moses, and generously resented by him in mature years, had depressed him from royal splendor to the sorrows and labors of a helpless exile. The sweat of hopeless labor, stained with the blood of the beloved infants, produced those groans and cries of the Israelites, which pierced the heavens and roused the God of vengeance. In this night of trouble, when earth afforded no prospect of deliverance, the God of heaven shone forth, and made this solemn revelation of himself to Moses. Such is the way of God, in imparting to sinful men the knowledge of himself. The first conversion of the soul to God, and remarkable discoveries of his glory afterwards, are frequently ushered in by severe, outward trials. But should it happen otherwise in this respect, God will not have much to do with any soul, without making it to feel spiritual trouble. God will pull down the stubborn stoutness and frothiness of a secure spirit, when he comes, in earnest, to make himself known. For this is his invariable rule, "I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit." And therefore, the people who think to steal into saving knowledge, with a whole heart, will one day find themselves disappointed.

Another circumstance which deserves our attention is the long course of retirement, meditation, and search after God, through which Moses passed, before he obtained this glorious manifestation. He had been wandering about in this solitude for many years, far from the bustle and clamor of cities and courts. Much intercourse with God, he, no doubt, enjoyed in that period; but nothing remarkable enough to be put on Scripture record, till the expiration of forty years. And hence, we learn, that solitude and silent meditation are suited to the obtaining of the knowledge and fellowship of God; as, on the contrary, a noisy bustle, willfully and wantonly delighted in, will assuredly banish God from the soul. And this is one reason why I consider London as one of the chief nurseries for hell, that the devil hath in the whole world. Those who wish to know God, and to walk with him, must, as far as his providence allows, keep at a distance from the noise of fools, and seek the silent haunts of wisdom, in the closet and in the field.

But, after all that long tract of ordinary communion with God, the mind of Moses needed a further preparation for hearing the words of the text. Suddenly, when perhaps musing on the perfections of God, as displayed in the visible objects around him, and thus cherishing his faith of promised deliverance to himself and the church, he was roused by a spectacle which elevated his mind above the ordinary course of nature. A bush, which, probably, he had often seen without any remarkable circumstance, became, in a moment, encircled with radiant fire, and remained unconsumed amidst the flame: yet, even this symbol of the divine presence did not sufficiently overawe the spirit of Moses, till he was checked and solemnized by that voice from the midst of the bush, "Draw not nigh hither: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Then, we are told, Moses trembled and durst not behold.

He was standing before God, in this solemn posture, when, after other important declarations, and in answer to a humble inquiry concerning the arduous work then assigned him, God said to him, "I AM THAT I AM: and thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

I shall prosecute the illustration of these words, by endeavoring, in dependence on grace, to do the following things: First, To point out what is the general tendency of such a manner of speaking, concerning the divine nature, as the Lord himself here uses. Second, To show what are those particular things in the Godhead, to which this description is chiefly to be applied.

I. I propose to point out the general tendency of this manner of speaking concerning the divine nature. "God said, I AM THAT I AM: thou shalt say, I AM hath sent me unto you."

There is a general impression on the heart, which these words are suited, at the first hearing, to produce. If these is due earnestness in the soul's inquiries after God; if the question, "Where is God my Maker?" comes with force from the heart; if there is proper attention, and proper sensibility; such words as these of the text will sink deep, and produce great effect. This will be the case, even before the extent of their meaning hath been deliberately and accurately surveyed. This general impression and tendency of the words, we are now to point out. It consists of such things as the following:

1. This manner of speaking is suited to strike down our natural pride of understanding, by the apprehension of that sublime mysteriousness and unsearchableness, which necessarily belong to the nature of God.

Humility consists in the creature's willingly acknowledging its own inferiority to God. One of the first views of God, which produces this acknowledgment, is that of his being incomprehensible, or exalted above the possibility of being perfectly known, by any other understanding beside his own. This humble sense of distance from God, was, in the state of primitive integrity, entirely sweet and joyful. But, as the first motion of apostacy from God consists in an attempt to shake off the sense of inferiority to him, so we are taught, that an aspiring to equality with God, in point of knowledge, was interwoven with man's first transgression. The mysterious dignity of the Godhead, as infinitely beyond the reach of created faculties, being uneasy and troublesome to man, he became dissatisfied, because the Author of his being had set bounds to his knowledge. The same poison is found operating in every child of Adam, and is a fatal hindrance to their returning to God. For, as God cannot lay aside his essential greatness, so, while this petulant impudence of understanding remains, there can be nothing but a mutual loathing between God and the haughty sinner. It is, therefore, one of the first aims of divine revelation, to recover the soul from this diabolical madness, by presenting to view the glorious unsearchableness of God. Nor is there any other passage, where this is done with more striking majesty, than in the words of the text.

2. This manner of speaking concerning God is designed to make a wide separation between him and the whole system of created or imaginary beings.

The understanding of man, having lost those bright ideas of God which it once possessed, runs wild in its imaginations concerning him. Agitated by pride, passion, and carnal enmity, it debases and profanes the Godhead, by the vilest and most devilish fancies. In its more sober and regular excursions, it mingles the Creator with his own works, and thinks that he is very honorably treated if he is adorned with some of those excellencies which are to be found in men themselves, or among the created angels in heaven. But this text, with many other places of Scripture, is designed to cut down every such imagination, and to represent God as possessing existence and excellency, absolutely incomparable. We are here taught to beware of dishonoring God by bringing down his sacred nature to the level of any other being whatsoever. Nor must we suppose that we have at all given to God his proper glory, till we have ascribed to him such excellency as entirely transcends all that can possibly be found in the universe of created beings.

Go to the next installment:
I Am That I Am: Part II