10 Points from a sermon on holiness

Distinguishing Character of Christians

This is from a sermon by Benjamin Beddome on John 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

1. It is not that they have no connection with the men of the world. Grace does not dissolve the union between man and man.

2. It is not that they are to be wholly disengaged from the things of the world.

3. It is not that even the best of men are entirely divested of a worldly spirit, though they are not of the world.

4. They are in a considerable degree mortified to the things of this life, so as not to have "the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God." They are in the world, but not of it: it is their residence, but not their portion.

5. They possess different tempers and dispositions from the men of the world. "Old things are passed away, and all things become new."

6. They speak a different language from the rest of the world.

7. They are neither influenced by the maxims of the world, nor do they imitate its customs.

8. They do not take up their rest in this world. They are born from heaven, and are bound to heaven.

9. To illustrate this character Christ has given his own.

10. From this view of the subject we may learn what judgment we are to form of those about us what is our duty with respect to ourselves.

Medical References in Sermons 13

It is said that Beddome would often turn to the world of medicine for an apt illustration in his preaching.

Example 13

Consider what I say 2 Tim 2:3

We hearken to a physician when he prescribes for our health, and to a counsellor when he is to plead our cause; and shall we not much more hearken to the servants of the most high God, who shew unto us the way of salvation?

Sermon July 16 1780

Another note in the Angus Library reveals that on 16 July 1780 Beddome preached on Exodus iii. 4. The sermon manuscript is there.

Beddome on the Incarnation

In his sermon on Luke 23:18 Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss Beddome says

The title which Jesus here assumes in calling him self the Son of man may teach us the following things 1 That he is really and properly man as well as truly divine. In the assumption of our nature he was found in fashion as a man he took on him the seed of Abraham and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. There were some in the early ages of the church who supposed that the body of Christ was only an aerial substance not flesh and blood but having the form and appearance of it imagining that it was incompatible with divinity to become really incarnate. Against this error the apostle John bears his testimony in the following words

The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life for the Life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God And this is that spirit of antichrist whereof you have heard that it and even now already is it in the world  John 1:14; 1 John 1:1,2, 4: 2, 3

The doctrine of Christ's incarnation is of such importance that it is fundamental to the truth of the gospel and to every doctrine contained in it. For if Christ were not really a man he could not have made atonement for every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. Hence when he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me. If his incarnation were a fiction his death and resurrection and ascension would be a fiction also and the gospel would not be true. Then would our faith be vain and we are yet in our sins. Christ was really God and it was necessary that he should be so in order that he might satisfy divine justice; he was really man and it was equally necessary that he should be so in order that he might suffer. Hence it is that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Medical References in Sermons 12

Sermon on Romans 8:28

All second causes are under the direction of the great first Cause, That which in itself might be pernicious when mixed with other ingredients becomes medicinal and salutary.

Medical References in Sermons 11

The Important Question John 9:29

Persons do not step immediately out of a state of quietness in sin into a state of salvation. They must have a fearful apprehension of wrath before they will fly from it a painful sense of their disease before they will apply to the physician and none will seek after life and righteousness from another till they have seen themselves in a state of guilt and condemnation. Nothing but absolute necessity will drive a soul to Christ.

Medical References in Sermons 10

The Impotent Man Acts 3:8

2. His poverty added to his distress. If help was to be obtained by medicine he had not the wherewithal to procure it. We read of a woman who had spent her whole substance upon physicians but it is probable that this man never had any substance to spend. It is evident that at this time he lived upon charity and perhaps had to beg his bread. And thus it is with sinners they are wretchedly poor yet very proud. So poor that like this man they are ready to starve yet so proud that they will not beg.

Also later in the sermon

2 It was speedy and instantaneous. Peter does not put him upon a long course of medicine giving him to hope that after trying this or the other method he might obtain relief but takes him by the hand and lifts him up when suddenly the disorder be it what it will left him and his limbs were restored to their proper use ....

And

Heal thou me says the prophet and I shall be healed. The cure will be wrought if thou undertake it, All others are mere empirics* they may skin over the wound but thou wilt heal it. They may palliate the disorder but thou wilt remove it. Oh bring your sick and polluted souls to Christ and say as the centurion of his servant Speak but the word and I shall be healed or as the leper concerning himself Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean.

*Persons who, in medicine or other sciences, rely solely on observation and experiment. Quack doctors.

Medical References in Sermons 09

Zechariah 9:12

1 Consider the relief provided by a stronghold. However, not any stronghold which we may fancy or prepare for ourselves though the imagination of man is very fruitful in inventions of this kind. When conscience is alarmed any thing is sought to that will afford a little present ease and lying vanities are as common now as lying wonders were in the dark days of popery. The physician of souls is neglected and physicians of no value are applied to. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to king Jareb yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your wound. Such has been and still is the conduct of sinful men. They make any thing their refuge rather than Him who is as a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Some overwhelmed with a sense of guilt and terrified with apprehensions of future wrath fly to the absolute and uncovenanted mercy of God. Some to their church privileges and others to their good works and religious performances. Some hope to conciliate the divine favour by their prayers and tears their amendments and reformations and ....

Medical References in Sermons 08

Self-examination Psalm 139:23

THIS excellent Psalm so descriptive of the greatness and majesty glory and excellency of God concludes with a pathetic address to him Search me oh God. Do it thoroughly, search into my actions and all their springs, into the temper of my mind and every crevice of my soul. Take full cognizance of me, examine me as an artist does his work to see whether there be any flaw or defect in it, as a physician does the pulse or a surgeon the wounds of his patient, as a merchant his book of accompts or a shopkeeper his stock in trade. Try me as we try gold in a balance or by the touchstone or as candidates for honour and preferment to see whether their talents be equal to the station they are designed to occupy.

Medical References in Sermons 07

The imperceptible diffusion of error and truth Luke 13:21

Where the word leaven is understood in a bad sense it seems to have more immediate reference to error, false doctrine Beware, says Christ, of the leaven the Pharisees and Sadducees, the former of whom depended upon their own imperfect services for justification in the sight of God and the latter denied the being of angels, spirits, a resurrection and future state of rewards and punishments. Now as it was then it is at present. The greatest errors have many advocates, the most erroneous teachers many followers and there will be Pharisees and Sadducees to the end of the world. Leaven is not only sour and disgusting but penetrating and diffusive and so is false doctrine. It eats, says the apostle, as doth a canker or, as the word might be rendered, a gangrene, which beginning in the extremities soon reaches the vitals carrying with it inevitable disorganization and destruction. Now had not this gangrene, this leaven hid by Antichrist and disguised by plausible appearances or mingled with some important truths at one time infected and corrupted the whole visible church till God raised up Huss, Jerome, Wickliffe, Luther, Calvin and the other reformers. Thus the apostle Peter speaks of persons bringing in damnable heresies and adds, many shall follow their pernicious ways. Thus some apply the words of my text to a general defection from the way of truth and righteousness.

Medical References in Sermons 06

In the case of the sermon Christ the physician of souls on Matthew 9:21, the whole sermon is marked by illustrations drawn from Beddome's medical background. The sermon begins

The Son of Man came not to be ministered to but to minister and as he travelled from place to place various were the applications made to him for relief and none of them unsuccessful. The woman spoken of in my text had been afflicted with a severe disease for twelve years which wasted her strength and exhausted her spirits. The person concerning whom she speaks was the blessed Jesus who had in innumerable instances displayed his wisdom grace and power in the case of the most obstinate and inveterate maladies with which mankind could be afflicted and he does so still, his agency should be no less acknowledged in the blessing a medicine to the restoration of health than in the working a miracle for that purpose and to him the relieved should ever ascribe the praise. Who healeth all my diseases says the Psalmist. Art thou in health, give the glory to him to whom it is due; art thou sick, apply to him who hath healed those whom other physicians have been unable to relieve. In another place it is said of this same woman that she had spent all her substance in seeking relief but could not obtain it. ....

Medical References in Sermons 05

It is said that Beddome would often turn to the world of medicine for an apt illustration in his preaching.

Example 5

God the supreme disposer of human affairs Psalm 31:15

Any singular appearances of God either in a way of wrath or mercy.

There is a time to wound and a time to heal a time to cast down and a time to build up. Thus David pleading with God for Zion's deliverance says, The time to favour her even the set time is come. As there is a decree goes forth for the sinner's destruction so also for the saint's deliverance and the one can no more be resisted than the other. The purpose promise and fulfilment exactly answer each other. Our times are in God's hand, our times of sickness and recovery, whether the one be short or long, moderate or severe or the other be sudden or gradual. Of this we have a remarkable instance in the case of Hezekiah.

Medical References in Sermons 04

It is said that Beddome would often turn to the world of medicine for an apt illustration in his preaching.

Example 4

On the value of the soul Psalm 35:17

Having considered the soul and body in a comparative light he is convinced of the great superiority of the former to the latter. Christ speaking of the body tells us it is more than raiment and the apostle says, No man ever yet hated his own flesh but loveth and cherisheth it, and no wonder for though but an animated lump of clay it is fearfully and wonderfully made and its whole frame is so skilfully contrived and so exquisitely put together as to awaken universal curiosity and admiration but one soul hath more real worth and excellency in it than a thousand yea than ten thousand bodies. The body is liable to many diseases and will at length be turned to putrefaction and decay but the soul will outlive the wrecks of time and the ruins of the creation. The body is but the house or tabernacle, the soul the inhabitant and as the man is more noble than the house so is the soul than the body The body is but a vessel or casket and the soul a precious jewel lodged there for a time. Now if the cabinet is so curiously wrought what must we think of the treasure contained in it? Surely the rich and various embellishments of the former should excite in us admiring thoughts of the latter. Thus it was with David and thus as far as spiritual light is communicated and grace in exercise it will be with us.

Medical References in Sermons 03

It is said that Beddome would often turn to the world of medicine for an apt illustration in his preaching.

Example 3

The happy fruits of repentance 2 Corinthians 2:2

As to the nature of the sorrow

1 It was not an habitual sorrow arising from a phlegmatic melancholy constitution or the want of a natural flow of spirits. The body has certainly a great influence upon the mind and when the former is oppressed with those elements of disease by which the due performance of the physical functions is obstructed the latter will be incapacitated for any considerable degree of cheerfulness. Then what is designed for comfort will sometimes prove an occasion of sorrow. As vinegar upon nitre says the royal preacher so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart. Such are apt to turn every thing to their disadvantage and rather than want a cross will make one. Perhaps Hannah might mean something of this nature when she says I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit, that is inclined to melancholy and overwhelmed with distress upon the slightest occasions.

(Melancholia (from Greek melaina chole "black bile", "blackness of the bile") is a condition characterised by extreme depression, bodily complaints and sometimes hallucinations and delusions.. Melancholia as a concept derived from ancient or pre-modern medicine, which regarded melancholy as one of the four temperaments matching the four humours. Until the 19th century, medical doctors regarded "melancholia" as having physical symptoms as well as mental ones, and medicine classified melancholic conditions as such by their perceived common cause - an excess of black bile. At times, received wisdom associated all forms of mental illness with the concept of misbalanced humours, with some mental disease deemed to be caused by a combination of excess black bile and a disorder of one of the other humours.)

Medical References in Sermons 02

It is said that Beddome would often turn to the world of medicine for an apt illustration in his preaching.

Example 2

Despise not prophesyings 1 Thessalonians 5:20

Ministers have their peculiar gifts, one of improving the understanding, another of convicting the conscience and a third of moving the passions. One is a son of thunder and another of consolation one opens the wound and another applies the healing balm. One is learned, another eloquent, one is highly argumentative another gently persuasive but there is no faithful minister of the gospel from whom we may not reap some advantage, let his peculiar gifts be what they will. Those who hear with prejudice are never likely to hear with profit, let the preacher be who he may.

Medical References in Sermons 01

It is said that Beddome would often turn to the world of medicine for an apt illustration in his preaching.

Example 1

The bitterness of sin Jeremiah 9:18

Is there so much bitterness in sin? then be contented to take the most bitter physic to purge it away. Care not how many afflictions you meet with how much pain and sorrow you pass through if it may be but a means of tearing you from the bondage of sin. Say, Lord afflict me, slay me, do what thou wilt with me but deliver me from the tyrannical power of sin in this world and the wrath due to it in the next.

(A purgative is a strong laxative or emetic. Such purgatives were popular in the eighteenth century and were used to induce vomiting or diarrhea. A popular purgative was calomel, which is mercurous chloride or protochloride of mercury, Hg2Cl2. This was a mercury-based medicine that came in two forms; blue pills which contained a mixture of mercury, liquorice, rose water, powdered rose, honey and sugar. Blue mass was a lump of mercurous chloride from which a doctors would pull a piece. Neither method provided for standardised or measured doses.)

Sermon(s) at Hook Norton

In a catalogue of the valuable collection of important manuscripts, formed by the Late Rev. Dr. Wellesley, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, Which will be sold by auction, by messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 3rd Aug. 1866, Volume 2 there is listed under 101

Hymns by Mr. Beddome, Sermons by Mr. Turner at Abingdon, by Mr. Beddome at Hooknorton, by Dr. Langford, &c

MANUSCRIPT in different hands with autograph of Elizabeth Hibberdine 1768 on the fly leaf

8vo 1757-71

(Elizabeth appears to have been involved in the church at Hook Norton. In his will, realised in 1776, her brother Samuel Hibberdine 1726-1776 bequeathed her his rented pew in the Baptist Church. Possibly he also passed the manuscript book on to her. How Henry Wellesley 1794-18 came by it we do not know).

Sermon c 126 The pillar of cloud and fire

Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light…

I. EXPLAIN THE TEXT.

1. We may observe that God's people in every age stand in need of a guide, and without it they would miss the path of duty and of happiness.

2. The Lord Himself graciously condescends to become the guide of His people, and He alone is fit to be so. He only has a perfect knowledge of the way, and of all the difficulties that may befall them in it; and He only is able to support and defend them against the designs of all their enemies.

3. The Lord guides His people in different ages of the world, by various means adapted to their circumstances, and to the peculiar dispensations under which they live. (1) By His Providence. (2) By His Word. (3) By His Spirit.

II. SYMBOLIC MEANING.

1. It was altogether miraculous, and a symbol of the Divine presence. It was called the cloud of the Lord; there it was He dwelt in the midst of His people, and spake with them face to face (Numbers 19:14).

2. This mysterious cloud was intended to direct the Israelites in their journey, and by it the Lord communicated to them His will.

3. The cloudy pillar in the wilderness afforded refreshment by its shade, as well as guidance by its light. And is not Jesus both our sun and shield, our light and shade, as our different necessities require? In a season of darkness, He sends forth His cheering beams; and when our soul is ready to faint within us, He ministers to our refreshment and relief. 4. The cloudy pillar was designed for safety and defence, as well as for a guide through the wilderness.

(B. Beddome, M. A.)

As found in Exell's Biblical Illustrator. The full sermon is in The Short Discourses Vol 7

Sermon 103 The Gospel Trumpet

Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown… 

I. THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IS HERE COMPARED TO THE BLOWING OF A TRUMPET.

1. This figurative expression may allude to the trumpet which sounded upon Mount Sinai, at the solemn promulgation of the law. And though the ministers of Christ must not blend the law and the Gospel together, yet they are not Gospel ministers who do not preach the law, both as a ministration of wrath and as a rule of duty.

2. The words may allude to the trump of jubilee, which was sounded throughout the land of Israel at the end of every forty-nine years, proclaiming redemption and liberty to all prisoners and slaves, and causing the following to be a year of national festivity and joy (Leviticus 25:8-13). This interesting period having been prefigurative of our redemption by Christ, of our deliverance from the curse of the law and the dominion of sin, and of our introduction to the glorious liberty of the children of God, it is with great propriety that the proclamation of the Gospel is compared to the trump of jubilee.

3. Trumpets were also used on other occasions, which may bear some allusion to the proclamation of the Gospel. The Jews had an annual solemnity, which by way of distinction was called the feast of trumpets, and which introduced the new year (Leviticus 23:24). And these demonstrations of joy, like the rest of that typical dispensation, were only the shadow of good things to come; all had a reference to the promulgation of the Gospel.

4. Whatever be the immediate allusion in the text it is evident that the principal design of a trumpet is to sound an alarm; and such is the direct object of the Gospel ministry.

5. The preaching of the Gospel is compared to a "great trumpet." Great things were contained in God's law, but still greater things are made known by the Gospel.

6. The great trumpet which was sounded by the first heralds of salvation, continues still to proclaim the same good tidings.

II. THE EFFECT WHICH WAS TO FOLLOW UPON THE SOUNDING OF THE GOSPEL TRUMPET.

"They shall come which were ready to perish." Men as sinners are in a perishing condition. But those only who see and feel their perishing condition actually "come."

1. This "coming" implies repentance towards God.

2. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; for with this, all true repentance is invariably connected.

3. All that come unto God by a Mediator, will also come to Zion with their faces thitherward, openly professing their attachment to Christ, and devoting themselves to His service. The text, indeed, seems to be a prophecy of the union that should take place between Jews and Gentiles, under the Gospel dispensation, when they should be formed into one body, and equally participate in the blessings of salvation. The trumpet of the Gospel is still sounding in our ears, proclaiming the great jubilee, the day of salvation, and inviting us to seek the Lord in this welcome and accepted time. Have we embraced the invitation, and answered to the call?

(B. Beddome, M. A.)

As found in Exell's Biblical Illustrator. The full sermon is in Short Discourses Vol 6

The heavenly calling

In a sermon on the heavenly calling from Revelation 17:14 Beddome closes thus

1. It is personal and particular. The general call is to all that come under the sound of the gospel: this singles out the very person, and speaks to him, as it were, by name, —" Zaccheus, come down;" "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The former is drawing the bow at a venture; the latter directs the arrow to the mark. The one is directed to the ear, the other to the heart. Ministers stand at the door and knock; the Spirit comes with his key, and opens the door. "I have called thee by name - thou art mine."

2. It is a secret call; it is perceptible in its effects, but not in itself. This is beautifully illustrated by that saying of our Saviour, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Saul's companions heard a sound of words, but knew not what was spoken. The outward walk, the moral and religious conduct of the saint, are conspicuous to all; but the principles from which he acts, and the motives by which he is influenced, are known only to God and his own soul; in which sense the apostle might say, "As unknown, and yet well known." How different this call from that in the last day, when the angel commissioned for that purpose will say, in the hearing of all the world, "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgement!" 

3. It is always successful. Many other calls are not so, even where God himself is the speaker; for he "speaketh once, yea, twice, but man regardeth it not." But when he speaks with a design that we should hear and obey, that design is never frustrated. All the power, policy, and malice of earth and hell, cannot obstruct the operations of his grace, which, as they are sovereign and free, so they are irresistible; so that the enlightened sinner may say, with Job, "Call thou, and I will answer:" and as this call admits of no resistance, so it admits of no delay. "Immediately," says the apostle, "I conferred not with flesh and blood." He speaks, and it is done; .he commands, and it stands fast.

4. As it is effectual, so it is irrevocable. As the gifts, so the calling, of God is without repentance. God never repents that he has been the author of the change effected by his calling, nor the sinner, that he has been the subject of it. God is said to repent that he gave man a being, but never that he gave him grace. The exertion of his power towards his people is so far from creating any regret, either in him or them, that they both rejoice. There is joy both in the repenting sinner, and in heaven over him; and it is not likely that that should be revoked which gives such universal satisfaction. As it is happy for the sinner that his state is alterable, it is equally so for the saint that his is not so. A child of the devil may become a child of God; but a child of God shall never become a child of the devil again. The divine principle shall never be lost; but it shall, in the believer, be "a well of water, springing up to everlasting life." It came from heaven, and it will never leave the soul till it is brought thither.

Let us apply this subject, by inquiring whether we have been thus called. This is the great thing necessary to internal sanctification and all real religion. Here God's work upon us begins, and here begins our working for God. Let us then sit down to examine this matter; much, nay, all, depends upon it. No grace, no glory; - if we are not called, we shall not be crowned. Well might the apostle give that advice: "Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure." We can only know that our names are written in heaven by God's law being written in our hearts.

Let the saints especially, who are God's called ones, learn,

1 To be humble. Whatever they do for Christ is the fruit of what he has done for and in them; they have no reason to be puffed up with their best performances, for they have nothing but what they have received. The evil that is in them is from themselves, the good from God.

2 To be thankful. "I will bless the Lord," saith David, "who hath given me counsel;" those that are the subjects of God's grace should be the trumpeters of his praise. [ocr errors]

3 To be fruitful. Let not the grace bestowed upon you be received in vain; not only bring forth fruit, but show forth the high praises of Him that called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Walk worthy of your vocation, my friends, and "as He that hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation."