DUKE UNIVERSITY DIVINITY SCHOOL LIBRARY “er. SS a, id . eo ee * ' . , > 4 » 7; + 7 ‘ - Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/spirituallifeO1 nash “SPIRITUAL LIFE. BY OREN Te Lo NASH. D.D; Of the North Carolina Conference, M. E. Church. Southe WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BISHOP O. P. FITZGERALD, D.D. NASHVILLE, TENN.: PUBLISHING Houvsz MrtTHopist EpiscopaL CHuRrcH, SouTH, BaRBEE & SMITH, AGENTS. 1898. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the no 4 . By L. L. Nasu, RY In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at i Div. Sj ay +K IV can Sy iss Preface to Second Edition Having a number of calls for this little book since the first edition has been exhausted, I have published this edition to meet the demand. It is now about eleven years since this book was brought out. There are a few changes I would make, if I had to write it over. I would elaborate some of the points, and endeavor to make my position more clear; but I would not change the teachings, as I am more fully satisfied, if possible, of the correctness of the doctrine stated. To aid the serious reader to comprehend my posi- tion, I will state the leading doctrines taught in the book: (1) The existence of a spirit world. (2) The total corruption of the human race while in a state of nature. (3) The awakening wrought in the soul of man by the Spirit of God. (4) The necessity of repentance. (5) The necessity of Regeneration, and what it is to be born again. (6) The growth of the spirit, after Regeneration. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION (7) This growth is under Spiritual Law. (8) The Spiritual Life a Unit. (9) Spiritual Life may be known by its fruits. The last three chapters, 1oth, 11th and 12th, deal with Eschatology, and give the scriptural doctrine of the state of existence after death both in the disem- bodied state, and after the Resurrection of the body. The 12th chapter deals with the second coming of Christ, in which the leading views held by believers in Christ are stated. There are some views, touching the meaning of the scriptures which speak of the second coming of Christ, that are not noticed: There are some who believe that the scriptures that speak of His second coming describe a process, and not an event. It will be seen that the post-millenarian doc- trine is accepted, and that the doctrine of the second coming of Christ in His human person, to judge the world, is believed by the author. As to the time of this event, the author makes no pretense to know anything, as that is one of the things the Father keeps in His own power, and it is not revealed to any crea- ture. This little book has been very kindly received by eminent Divines in various denominations; and it is hoped this second edition will meet with as kind reception from the Christian public as the first edition met with. The desire of the author is to do good, and strengthen the faith of believers in the only true re- PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION ligion, which he fully believes will continue to meet the demands of our humanity to the end of time. it3 As Bishop Fitzgerald says: It is written in “a reverent and earnest spirit; he appeals to scripture authority and common sense.” My appeal is cer- tainly to scripture authority and to the common sense of mankind. In this age of scepticism and intel- lectual doubt, we cannot do too much to counteract this spirit of unbelief. Hoping that the Good Lord will bless this effort in strengthening the faith of the Church, and enlarg- ing her Spiritual Life, this edition is submitted to the kindly consideration of the reading publlc. Be CWEL. Greensboro, N. C. August, 1909. Page 27—1st line, should read “‘terms’? _ Page 177—7th line from bottom, read seal | INTRODUCTION. THESE twelve cuapters are written in good, strong English style. They discuss the salient points of a sub- ject of profound and eternal interest. The spirit of the writer is reverent and earnest; he appeals to Scripture authority and common sense; his strong conviction is contagious and invigorating; his buoyant faith uplifts the faith of the reader. The spirit of the book is not controversial, though the author gives no uncertain sound in any utterance that he makes. Even among readers who might differ somewhat from his manner of stating some of his views, no offense could be taken. He is everywhere sweet-toned and brotherly. From such examination as I have been able to give to the work, amid pressing duties and some physical disability, I can and do hereby commend it to the reading Christian public as worthy of their friendly consideration. The polemics of the book are not aggressive nor objection- able. Its spiritual suggestion and stimulation will not be small to him who reads thoughtfully and prayer- fully. OQ. P. FirzGERALD. May, 1898. (3) CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE FREE, OPIREDUAL, SPHERE)... s...csece does 11 Se EC) CHAPTER I1. SONA BURAT, MAN SS... 5 css c's s0 a eetateatae ey CHAPTER IIr. SAW AKENED MAN C2. 0c. las esescees voles 39 CHAPTER IV. CMON, i 'p.2 we iainig s/s a0 sie aie ecdeesoe 62) CHAPTER V. PRMGHON RATION 22, 00d 5.00-0g=csee ce ekeesy. Aw CHAPTER VI. SIESiERRAE, CROW TE). 2 2 as a5 de su, ale oes RSE re CHAPTER VII. irs (Aw OF SPIRITUAL LiFe. 50. c..c05656 ee CHAPTER VIII. Pam LINETY OF SPIRITUAL LIFE). fs. 0205255 -07 CHAPI ER TX. oe PULE) OW) SPIRTEUAL IstRE ss sch ccee cc SEE 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. PAGE SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE DISEMBODIED STATE.. 139 CHAPTER XI. SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE RESURRECTION STATE. 155 CHAPTER XII. THe MILLENNIUM AND SECOND COMING OF OTURUST. ite aepetein axe a ovsteleiers oot tenet scene 167 “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God- head, so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their im- aginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Rom. 7z. 20, 21.) 9) SPIRITUAL LIFE. CHAPTER I. Tue SPrriTUAL SPHERE. OD has created two entities, and, so far as we know, only two: matter and spirit. No sane mind can question the real existence of either. ‘Matter, we know, has an existence, because we are conscious of its presence, and through con-| tact with it, by means of our senses, it becomes to us a conscious reality. As unreasonable as the denial of the existence of material things may ap- pear to the common sense of mankind, its exist- ence as a real entity has been denied by those whose minds have been disordered and whose reason has been perverted. But consciousness is the highest tribunal; and if we cannot believe our consciousness, we can know nothing, and we are in the strongest sense of the term agnostics. Believing in the truthfulness of consciousness, and the reality of the existence of material and spiritual things, we shall not stop to consider the vagaries of those who question the correctness of Q) Io SPIRITUAL LIFE. cognition, or the truthfulness of apprehension, but proceed to study the reality of spiritual things upon this foundation, and to investigate spiritual phe- nomena from what we know of spiritual things, with the hope of rising higher and knowing more about what we should be most interested in know- ing. In material things we find lifeless, dead matter, and for convenience of classification we call this inorganized matter. Upon this founda- tion we find that the wise Creator has built vege- table and animal life. This we call organized mat- ter. We call this organized matter the vegetable and animal kingdoms. In the material sphere we have three kingdoms: the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms. Above all these king- doms we have another, which we call the spiritual sphere, or the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ came into the world to reveal this kingdom to men. He claimed to be a King, and to have a kingdom. When he was arraigned before Pilate, and was asked, ‘‘Art thou a king?’’ Jesus an- swered, ‘‘ Thou sayest that I ama king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the cruth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John xviii. 37.) Jesus Christ was always a king, and lived and reigned in the spiritual realm, even THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. If in the days of his humiliation. He said: ‘‘My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.’’ (John xviii. 36.) That he might teach the nature of this kingdom, Jesus exhausted every figure of speech; but his disciples were so dull of comprehension they could not understand him. They always con- nected it with the material, visible world. Even when he said to them, ‘‘ The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,’’ they did not understand him. When he told them that they should not say, ‘‘ Lo here! or, lo there! for, be- 29 hold, the kingdom of God is within you,”’ they were still far from apprehending his meaning. To see this kingdom we must be born again. Although this kingdom is within us, we cannot realize it without spiritual life. The spiritual king- dom is the most real and substantial part of God’s creation. *‘For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”’ All the phenomena of the spirit belong to the in- visible and the eternal. The.artist has the ideal of things, which he expresses in his work. The things themselves may be easily destroyed, but 12 SPIRITUAL LIFE. the ideal is indestructible. This truth is accepted by philosophy, hence ideas are regarded as the only real entities. «* While the idea gives rules, the zdea/ serves as the archetype for the permanent determination of the copy; and we have no other rule for our ac- tions but the conduct of that divine man within us, with which we compare ourselves, and by which we judge and better ourselves, though we can never reach it. These ideals, though they cannot claim objective reality, are not therefore to be considered as chimeras, but supply reason with an indispensable standard, because it requires the concept of that which is perfect of its kind, in or- der to estimate and measure by it the degree and number of the defects in the imperfect.’’ (Kant, “« Critique of Pure Reason.’’) It matters not how little we know of the realm of the spiritual, .it has influence over us, and we. are largely controlled by forces that belong to the spirit world. In the order of creation of the material universe, the higher is built upon the lower. ‘* Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.’’ (1 Cor. xv. 46, 47.) In the order in THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. 13 creation, the earth was first found; then vegetable life appeared; then the lower order of animal life; and last of all man was made in the image of God himself. The fall and redemption of man were in the mind of God from the beginning. Not that God ordered or caused the fall, but the plan of redemption and restoration of man to a place in the kingdom of God was no afterthought with the Deity. In man there is a union of the material and spiritual. He belongs to two worlds. ‘‘And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”’ There was a spiritual sphere before the material universe was created, and the inhabitants of this kingdom sang together and shouted for joy when God spread out the north over the empty place and hung the planets upon nothing. But it is with reference to man’s relation to the spiritual kingdom that the earthy comes first. It is the di- vine plan that ‘‘ that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” There are, no doubt, myriads of inhab- itants of the spirit world who have never ‘‘ borne the image of the earthy.’’ The great mystery of the spiritual sphere is seen in the relation of man to this higher kingdom. ‘‘And without con- troversy great is the mystery of godliness: God I4 SPIRITUAL LIFE. was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, be- lieved on in the world, received up into glory.” (r Tim. iii. 16.) This mystery engages the thought of angels. They study the question from above, while men study it from below. Man is the mystery of the universe because the material and spiritual both meet in him. Angels are his © servants: ‘‘Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?’’ (Heb. i. 14.) But these things are hid from the natural man. ‘ But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually dis- cerned.”? (1 Cor. ii. 14.) We might as well at- tempt to teach the blind how colors look, or the deaf the melody of sound, as to attempt to show the things that belong to the spiritual world to the natural man, until he receives spiritual sight. Hence we shall not be surprised if some things that are said, in our effort to describe the spiritual sphere, are looked upon as foolishness by those who know nothing of spiritual life. But be pa- tient with us, and it may be that you will, unex- pectedly to yourself, find that you are brought into a new world. THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. 15 The natural man is like the shipwrecked mari- ners who escaped from a sinking ship in a life- boat. After drifting until they were nearly fam- ished for water, they saw a vessel and cried for help. As they neared the vessel they called for water, and were told to reach over the sides of their boat and drink, for they were sailing in fresh water. Miles of fresh water were all around them, and they knew it not. The natural man is conscious that he needs something to make him happy. There is within him a longing for some- thing better than this lower world can give him. Here his pleasures perish with the using. He sees his cherished hopes blasted, and is disap- pointed in his fondest expectations. ‘The world— his world—passes away, and leaves him disap- pointed and lonely. In his sore distress he asks, ‘*Ts life worth living?’’ and there is no answer but the echo of his own voice. He looks up to the stars, and they seem to mock his helpless grief with their merry twinkle. He studies all nature for a solution of his question, and a solace for his sor- row, but no answer comes to his troubled heart, and no light penetrates the sullen gloom that sur- rounds him. Like a solitary cloud, self-balanced and alone, he is in a universe of gloom. In this condition the kingdom of God offers 16 SPIRITUAL LIFE. him a refuge. The King calls him: ** Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’” (Matt. xi. 28-30. ) There is one mistake that keeps many from accepting this gracious invitation. They imagine the kingdom of God is a long way off. They measure spiritual things by material measure. The promises of God are all put off to be enjoyed in the future. Could this restless, troubled world realize that the kingdom of God is at hand, and its blessings within reach, would not a sunburst of happiness drive away the clouds of trouble and unrest, and bring peace to troubled hearts? When we think of heaven we put it away beyond the stars, and imagine that a home so far away cannot cure our present ills. When we think of spiritual beings, because we cannot see them with our natural eyes, we doubt their existence, and sink down into the valley of gloom. We are like Jacob when he went away from home to escape the fury of Esau, whom he had robbed of his birthright. He thought he was not only leaving home and friends behind, but God as well; and THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. I7 lay down on the ground with a heavy heart, and a pillow of stone. He was disconsolate indeed. But while he slept he had a vision. A ladder was let down from heaven, and the angels ascended and descended upon it. They surrounded him with their glorious presence and illuminated the place where he lay, until his sad heart was so filled with spiritual light that he awoke in a new world, and exclaimed, ‘‘ Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!’ We need a vision of the spiritual world. We need to know that the place where we dwell ‘‘is none other but the house of of God’”’; and ‘‘the gate of heaven.’’ The angels are around about us, and God, who is over all, stands above us ready to say: ‘“*I am the Lord God of your fathers, and to me all things belong. IT am able to supply all your need, and to give you an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.”’ Faith in the spiritual is not an unreasonable superstition. It cannot be that a world like this— so full of evidence of wisdom, inhabited by such beings as men whose aspirations reach out into the infinite and eternal future, and whose instincts demand an interest in another and a better coun- try—is entirely disconnected from the spiritual realm. We cannot bring the spiritual world un- 2 18 SPIRITUAL LIFE. der the government of natural law. We cannot apply linear measure to spiritual distances. We may flash our words around the globe with light- ning speed, but thought annihilates space inde- pendent of a wire conductor or a galvanic bat- tery. It is only the material part of man that de- pends on material contrivances, and only as he is connected with matter that he has need of mate- rial things. Neither can that which is purely ma- terial get into the spiritual world. Matter is not spirit, and never can be. ‘‘ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.’” (1 Cor. xv. 50.) ‘* The king- dom of God is not meat and drink; but righteous- ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”’ (Rom. xiv. 17.) It is a spiritual kingdom, and our material part cannot enter its mysteries or share its joys; it is for our spirits. This does not prove that there will be no material bodies in heaven, but it does prove that we cannot carry our material thoughts and sensual natures into this kingdom. Matter and spirit are united in hu- manity, and after the resurrection our bodies and spirits will be forever united; but the distinction between matter and spirit will forever remain. Flesh and blood as it exists in this life will not be THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. 19) the casket of the soul in the future; and yet there will be a resurrection of our bodies, and a glorifi- cation of them to suit the eternal character of the spiritual sphere. ‘‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.’? (1 John iii. 2.) Jesus Christ arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven with his glorified body. We do not know what changes passed upon his material body; but his spiritual part is the same that dwelt among men, and his body is the same that was nailed to the cross, in spite of its glorification. Science teaches us that light in a vacuum travels about one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second, and that at this great rate of speed it would take some of the fixed stars hundreds and thousands of years to throw their beams of light on our planet. But Jesus Christ arose with his glo- rified body to heaven, which may be beyond the stars, immediately; and ten days after he left, the Holy Spirit came upon his disciples, and filled them with the power of the kingdom of God. He has the power over material things to set aside the fixed laws that govern them, and to do what would be impossible to do in harmony with these laws as we understand them. The material is subject to 20 SPIRITUAL LIFE. the spiritual. The kingdom of God is the supreme kingdom. Miracles are manifestations of spiritual power and energy. To say that a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature is, in reality, an yemployment of language which in the face of the matter cannot be justified. Miracles are the manifestation of a power superior to matter and above matter and its laws as we are able to com- prehend them. Our efforts to interpret spiritual phenomena by material rules, and to bring the spiritual in subjection to the material kingdom, are manifestly an error. But it is hard for us to think in any way without using the language of earth, and the revelation that God makes to us is made in our language because we can un- derstand no other. There are, no doubt, things belonging to the spirit world we have no power yet to understand. ‘‘I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I can- not tell: God knoweth); such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I can- not tell: God knoweth); how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”’ (2 Cor. xii. 2-4.) Such was the experience of St. THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. 21 Paul. He kept the experience to himself for fourteen years, and when he did speak of it he did not assert his own personality, but leaves us to infer who the man was who received this revela- tion. He carried through his life a knowledge of the spirit world that he could not make known to the Church. Why it was unlawful to tell what he heard we do not know; but it seems that he who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, would not withhold from us any good thing if we could receive it in our present state. St. Paul had a special mission to the world, and he received special qualifications for his work; while he got an insight into the spiritual sphere he could not tell in all its fullness, he did make known enough of the mysteries of this kingdom to enable every believer in his gospel to adjust him- self to the kingdom of God. And yet: ‘‘As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be un- derstood, which they that are unlearned and un- stable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.’’ (2 Pet. iii. 16.) The whole revelation of God is an effort on his part to reveal himself and his kingdom to man. We say this with reverence, for we fully believe in the omnipotence of Deity; but we cannot but 22 SPIRITUAL LIFE. believe that the most stupendous work the God- head ever enterprised is the redemption of man and raising him up out of this natural, sinful world into his eternal kingdom. The creation of the material universe, and peopling it with sentient beings, was but the work of his fingers. His greater power is displayed in the restoration of man to the divine image. ‘‘According as his di- vine power hath given unto us all things that per- tain unto life and godliness, through the knowi- edge of him that hath called us to glory and vir- tue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet. i. 3, 4.) From all this we learn that sin separates us from God and his kingdom. It is the will of God that we should not only enter into his kingdom, but partake of his nature. ‘* Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” To see here means to possess, to enjoy; and the blessedness is not in the future, but in the present tense. While ‘‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,’’ yet ‘‘God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all THE SPIRITUAL SPHERE. 23 things, yea, the deep things of God.”’ (1 Cor. ii. 9, Io.) While we cannot put the experiences wrought in us into language intelligible to the natural man, we can enter into the experiences of the king- dom of God. These experiences spring from our knowledge of Christ, ‘‘whom not having seen, we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souis.’’ Miracles are not tne best evidence of the exist- ence and power of God or of the reahty ot the spiritual and eternal kingdom of God. ‘The ne- cessity for the working of miracles to make God manifest to men is no compliment to our intelli- gence, but rather a rebuke of our stupidity. The divine power and presence of God may be seen everywhere by him whose spiritual eyes are opened. It is unbelief that asks for a sign, and no sign is given unto it. Truly Jesus turned water into wine at the wed- ding in Cana of Galilee; but is there any more evi- dence of his divine power in this miracle than may be seen by the eye of faith every day, as by nat- ural law, which is nothing but the divine manner of doing things, we see water turned into wine as 24 SPIRITUAL LIFE. it refreshes the vine and makes it bear the wine- producing grape? The days of miracles have passed away, but God is showing himself and his spiritual king- dom to believing souls in his providence. He is uncovering himself in his saving grace as Jesus Christ is revealed in human experience and as the kingdom of God is set up in human hearts. There is something unspeakably glorious in the experience of men when they enter the kingdom of God. This experience is more than a creed; it is a life. To enlarge this life is our object in these pages. “But the natural man recetveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto nim: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (x Cor. it. 14.) (25; CHAPTER II. Tue NaturaL Man. > Y the term ‘‘ natural man’”’ is meant an un- spiritual man, one who has been born of the flesh, but who has never been born of the Spirit. He is a child of fallen Adam. He is dead to spiritual life, and is so regarded in the Scriptures. While this is the condition of every unmregenerate man, tnere 1s a spiritual influence that exerts itself on every such man, that works in him much that is good. It is this spiritual pow- er thet plants within him that silent monitor we call conscience. What is conscience but the con- sciousness that the acts for which a person be- lieves himself to be responsible do or do not con- form to this ideal of right; the moral judgment of the individual applied to his own conduct, in dis- tinction from his perception of right and wrong in the abstract and in the conduct of others. It manifests itself in the feeling of obligation or duty, the moral imperative ‘‘I ought”’ or ‘‘I ought not.”’ Conscience is a witness implanted by the Holy Spirit in every human breast. The fact that there is such a witness is unquestionable, but the Author (27) 28 SPIRITUAL LIFE. of its existence is not recognized by the natural man. He thinks that his conscience is a part of himself, and is not derived from any other source. He attributes the work actually wrought in him by the Spirit of God to his own moral goodness, and for this reason does not know that he is spiritually dead. The natural man is a robber and a rebel. He robs God of the glory of his work wrought in humanity, and rebels against obedience to what he knows to be right. If he persists in this course, conscience itself will by and by cease, and leave him capable of committing the most atrocious crimes without compunction. In a description of the natural man it will be necessary to show man up in his most desperate condition. Let us bear in mind the fact that no man is entirely destitute of divine influence, and in a purely natural state, until he has done violence to his conscience, and seared it as with a hot iron. While we are all sinners by nature, yet ** where sin abounded”’ grace does ‘‘ much more abound.” We are born into the world with corrupt natures; and yet, under the gracious provisions of the atonement, all who die in infancy are uncondition- ally saved. The gracious influence of the Spirit of God will save every human soul who does not of his own volition rebel against this influence. THE NATURAL MAN. 29 Man has a bad heredity by nature, and his envi- ronment in this world is not calculated to correct his evil bias. The work of his salvation, gracious- ly begun in him by virtue of the atonement, has much to overcome, both from inherited sin and bad external surroundings. When we consider the immense work involved in imparting spiritual life to fallen man, we need not be surprised at the slow progress made, even under the operation of almighty grace and love. This world is full of attractions for the natural man, and they are all opposed to spiritual life. The carnal nature is enmity to God; it is not subject to his law; nei- ther can it be. To establish spiritual life neces- sitates the crucifixion of the flesh, with its appe- tites and passions. St. Paul gives us a catalogue of the works of the flesh, and the doing of the things described in this list is perfectly natural to every unregenerated soul. ‘‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.’’ (Gal. v. 19-21.) 30 SPIRITUAL LIFE. In the doing of these things the natural man finds his pleasure. The love of them is so strong that he has no power of himself to turn away from them. He has no desire to give them up, until grace works in him that desire. He has no will to depart from them until God works in him that good will, and enables him to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling; while God works in him to will and to do, of his own good pleasure. The pleasures of sin are a present possession. The opportunity for enjoying them is always at hand. The natural man can understand these things; he cannot understand the higher and bet- ter joys of spiritual life. Much has been said and written about man’s creation in the likeness of God, and of his fall. We do not propose to deal with the history of man, but in this connection deal with him as we find him. We accept without question or misgiving the account of creation giv- en us in the Bible, but we are not so much con- cerned to know where man came from as we are to know what he is and what is to be his final des- tiny. We find him just such a being as the Bible describes. When not assisted by divine grace, all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart are only evil continually. He is a selfish, cruel being, living for his own gratification, and so un- THE NATURAL MAN. 31 feeling that it has been justly said that ‘‘ nothing equals man’s inhumanity to man.’’ Placed as he is in a world where the beneficent Creator has made so many things conducive to his happiness, and where there is so much evidence that his Crea- tor is love, and desires his well-being; yet he per- sists in turning the blessings of heaven into a curse, and in making himself miserable, while he spends his time and energy in making his fellow-men un- happy. He knows what is right, and approves it; but pursues a wrong course, against his own rea- son and the happiness of himself and others. In all ages, and among all peoples, there has been acknowledgment that there is something wrong with humanity. This knowledge is not confined to those who have studied the sacred Scriptures. Heathen philosophers and sages have recognized this fact; and many of them have grappled with the difficulty, and made heroic efforts to reform the race. Some of these would-be reformers of the world’s irregularities have left the impression of their labors on the world, and the result of their teachings have lived long after they passed away. Let us study a few of these human teachers of hu- manity and their work. Confucius, the sage of China, whose teachings have affected a larger part of the human race than the teachings of any other 32 SPIRITUAL LIFE. mere man, saw that the world needed reforming, and spent his life in an effort to make men good. His teachings did not deal with the future, nor did he trouble himself with the origin of the race. To correct the wrong tendency of human life, and make the world better, by improving the minds and morals of mankind, was the task of the Chi- nese philosopher and sage. His success in making himself a name, and living for centuries in the minds and hearts of the inhabitants of the most populous nation on the globe, is attributable to the fact that he dealt with the world as he knew it, and taught the truth as he saw it. But his teachings, while accepted by millions, did not possess the pow- er to lift men up to the excellent moral idea he pos- sessed, or destroy the selfishness of the natural man, and make him what all could see he ought to be. In the study of Greek and Roman literature we find abundant evidence to prove that mankind lived far below the ideal of rectitude held by the wisest and best men of their day. Human nature is the same in all ages. The depths of degrada- tion into which the downward ‘tendency of man plunges him has left its own evidence in the history of the past, and the condition of the natural man of to-day proclaims the same deplorable fate for the race unaided by the power of divine grace. THE NATURAL MAN. 33 While everything in nature moves in harmony with the law under which it is placed, man pre- sents, and has always presented, a notable excep- tion. To the thoughtful mind, we constantly see that we live in a world ‘‘ where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.’? Education has been tried, as a remedy to correct man’s irregu- larities and bring him into harmony with the law under which he is placed. But so perverse is un- regenerate humanity that it becomes more hope- lessly wicked and contrary to the law of right as it ascends the scale of intellectual development in its natural state. So true is this that itis an axiom that ‘‘educated depravity is a machine of destruc- tion.’’ Cultivate the faculties of fallen man, and you but teach him the art of gilding sin, and to take away from it the ugliness that belongs to it, and make that appear attractive which would oth- erwise be repulsive. Look at humanity in squalor and rags, covered with filth, and breathing out blasphemy; and the sinner himself turns away from the loathsome sight in disgust. But take the same fallen, depraved thing and teach it the art of gentility, cultivate zsthetic faculties, polish it with polite manners, and give it the science of the dip- lomat, and you have increased its power for evil a hundredfold. But in spite of all this, sin in high 3 34 SPIRITUAL LIFE. life is as loathsome, yea, more loathsome in the eyes of God than it is in its natural dress. Ex- tremes meet at every point in the life of fallen hu- manity. ‘The natural man, in the enjoyment of wealth and honor, can hide his ugliness from his fellow with the long robe and wide phylacteries of the Pharisee. But God judgeth not as man judgeth. He looks upon theheart. The fashion- able sinner, clothed in fine linen and purple, and faring sumptuously every day, who sows to the flesh, will be as sure to reap corruption as the most degraded and loathsome wretch that lies in the gutter. The cultivated, refined woman who knows nothing of spiritual life is as far from heay- en and happiness as her shameless sister who sells her soul for the bread that perisheth and disgraces her kind to the disgust of the wicked. ‘‘ But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” (1 Tim. v. 6.) To reach the natural man with spiritual life at either extreme of human society is the problem that confronts the kingdom of God. Much attention is given to the ‘‘ submerged tenth”’ —not too much, however—but at the other end of the line, in the higher walks of human society, there is a problem, the solution of which is so difficult, and the task so stupendous, that the bravest hardly dares to undertake it. The natural man seems THE NATURAL MAN. 35 aware of the fact that this world is his kingdom. He will tolerate the kingdom of God if it does not thrust its demands across his plans and intrude its requirements into an interruption of his pleasures. The Son of God was tolerated while he confined himself to the working of miracles; but when he drove out the money-changers from the temple, and declared that the scribes and Pharisees would be cast out of the kingdom of God, their hatred knew no bounds, and their malice would accept nothing but his blood. There are many at this day who breathe the same spirit. They are not unnatural, but natural men. Even the grace of God is turned into lasciviousness, and all the work of uplifting humanity by the Lord, who bought the human race with his blood, is denied; and this not by the lowest and most degraded, but by the most favored of the children of men. Itisin the higher walks of human society that the most stubborn resistance to spiritual life is found. As the king- dom of God advances, and human society is ele- vated, the tendency is to turn the Church of God into an affair of human society, and use it as a means of furthering the sensual pleasures of the natural man. Where these conditions are met, human nature in its worst form is intrenched in its most impregnable fortress. Education and cul- 36 SPIRITUAL LIFE. ture alone are so far from saving man, and fitting him for the kingdom of God, that they often place him beyond the reach of those means designed for his salvation. The natural man must be crucified before the spiritual man can be raised up. ‘‘ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”’ (Rom. viii. 7.) We may polish the natural man ever so much, even until he appears beautiful, but his innate depravity and hatred to God will re- main. As a volcano clad in snow may glisten in the sunlight, a thing of beauty, while the boiling lava is ever ready to burst out in an eruption and spread desolation and death, so stands the natural man, with all the polish of the schools, but carnal and at enmity with God. | The conflict between the carnal nature and the Spirit of God isunto death. It isa fight toa finish; there can be no compromise. The cross of the Christian is not a beautiful jewel, to be worn with pleasure, but it is a rough instrument, and has blood on it. He who bore the cross for sinners, and despised the shame that He might save them, never offered them salvation from their fallen con- dition on easy terms. He knew what was in man, and did not fail to declare unto him the whole truth. “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,and Christ shall give tnee light.” (EA pkestans v. 14.) (87) CHAPTER III. Tue AWAKENED Man. AN in his natural state is dead to spiritual things. He is called upon by his Maker to awake out of sleep, and to arise from the dead. To show him the true condition in which he is placed by his relation to fallen Adam, the strongest figures of speech areemployed. Heis told that he cannot know God without a spiritual birth. There is kindled in his soul pleasing hopes and longings after immortality. He is made to feel a sense of fear of something hidden from him in the myste- rious future. He cannot entirely divest himself of the idea that he must spend an eternity in a state of happiness or in a state of conscious suffering. All his reasoning cannot remove these hopes and fears entirely from his mind. He may not be in- clined to believe the revelation God has given him; but, after all his reasoning against it, the awful thoughtremains: ‘‘ These things may betrue; and if they are true, they are tremendous truths.” We cannot think that there is a rational human being who never felt these awakenings. Theyare wrought in every man by the Spirit of God. (39) 40 SPIRITUAL LIFE. They are more sensibly felt at some times than at others. The incidents and circumstances that sur- round us in life have much to do in giving power and effect to these awakening agencies. ‘The Holy Ghost is operating upon all human hearts and minds for this purpose. God is striving to arouse his human offspring to a sense of his presence and his love. These aspirations for a higher and bet- ter life are supernatural. They are flashes of light from the spiritual sphere. In them we see signs of spiritual life. If this light is followed, it will lead the earnest inquirer into the knowledge of things that cannot be conceived by the natural man. Life has been defined by science to be ‘‘ cor- respondence to environment.’’ The spiritual en- vironment is ever present, but man does not cor- respond to it until he is awakened. He lives and moves and has his being in God, and yet knows him not. Every revelation of Deity is an effort to arouse humanity to a consciousness of spiritual life. The thunderings of Sinai and the tragedy of Calvary have the same object. One appeals to man’s sense of fear; the other touches his sym- pathy. One shows the majesty of God; the other reveals his love. Sinai appeals to man’s reason, and says, ‘*God is just and will punish sin’’; Calvary appeals to his heart, and says, *‘ God is THE AWAKENED MAN. 41 merciful and will pardon transgression.’’ All that could be done to arouse a lost world to a sense of danger and deliverance has been done, and yet the world sleeps on and knows not the power of spiritual life. The awakening is not complete. A few hear the voice of the Son of God, and come into the kingdom. Satan is busy applying spiritual opiates to all who will take them. As long as he can soothe the conscience of the awakened soul and quiet the guilty fears of those who are not in touch with God, he is sure of his prey. He creeps into the Church and does his most effectual work as an angel of light. Many truly awakened souls have been lulled to sleep by a profession of faith in Christ without a conscious experience of pardon. The shadow is too often mistaken for the substance, and a form of godli- ness is accepted that knows nothing of redemption, and denies the power thereof. But in the face of these difficulties the divine agencies for awaken- ing men are in operation, sometimes with more effect than others in individual cases. While the Spirit of God is always at work, yet there is in- disputable evidence that there are seasons of spe- cial spiritual power in the awakening and con- version of sinners. ‘These seasons come when the human instrumentality is brought in subjection to 42 SPIRITUAL LIFE. the divine agency. God has taken man as his co- worker 1n this great enterprise. The divine pow- er and grace are always present in the individual, and may at any time arouse any man into a state of deep concern for his salvation; but external in- struments are generally necessary to give this di- vine grace efficacy. Hence the need of ‘* seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.’’ These seasons, in which there are general awak- enings, come when the human instruments are brought in touch with the Spirit of God. The first great awakening among men in this dispen- sation of grace occurred on the day of Pentecost. While the disciples of Christ were in one place, and in one accord, the Holy Ghost was poured out, and thousands were awakened to a sense of spirit- ual life. ‘* They were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?’’ Whenever the conditions are met the awakening power of God comes to the world. The Church is the channel through which God sends this power. He does not depend, however, upon a great multitude; but where there are two or three assembled in his name he has a means with which to work. Our Lord seems to have confided his interest to the Church; and not only does his glory depend on THE AWAKENED MAN. 43 the fidelity of his people, but the salvation of the world also. ‘There has never been a general awakening among men that did not come from the codperation of a few who were brought in touch with the Spirit of God. In view of the fact that it is necessary to the salvation of men that they must be awakened to the importance of spiritual life, and the Church occupies such an important relation to a lost world, the importance of this work is enough to wake the Church to a sense of her duty and responsibility. The Saviour of the world has given a charge to his people, and says to them: ‘‘ Occupy till I come.’’ There is encouragement given along with this re- sponsibility, for the Lord is ever ready to codper- ate with his people in all proper efforts to awaken a sleeping world. The means necessary to accomplish this work, so far as human instrumentality is concerned, is worthy of consideration. All who believe the Scriptures are agreed that a preached gospel is the divinely appointed agency intended to accom- plish this purpose. But there is a great diversity of opinion as to how the gospel shall be preached as an awakening agency. Some do not believe that it is necessary to appeal to a sense of fear of future punishment to awaken sinful men. But 44 SPIRITUAL LIFE. they certainly do not get this idea from the preach- ing of Jesus Christ or his apostles. If it had not been necessary to warn men of the danger of an endless hell to awaken them to a sense of the im- portance of fleeing the wrath to come, the Saviour would not have said: ‘‘And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm. dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.’’ (Mark ix. 43-48.) From the teachings of the Scriptures it is plain that a sense of fear of future and eternal punish- ment is necessary to arouse men from the sleep of death to the joy of spiritual life. It may be ques- tioned whether any man was ever thoroughly awakened until he felt certain of the danger of future punishment. The Holy Ghost is sent into THE AWAKENED MAN. 45 the world ‘‘to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”’ The awakened man fears the punishment in store for him in the future. He is assured that when he dies without pardon he must make his bed in hell. A dreadful bed indeed; where rest comes neither day nor night, and where the voice of gladness is never heard. He is fully assured of this state of wretchedness, although he may have doubts about a blissful immortality for any one. This is the side of spiritual being first revealed to a sinner. He is ready to exclaim with the psalmist: ‘‘ The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sor- tow.) (Ps. exvi. 3.) Spiritual life is accompanied with the pains of spiritual birth. These pains belong to the period of spiritual awakening. This experience is not a creed; for many who believe the things revealed in the Scriptures, who are orthodox so far as the assent of the mind is concerned, have paid so little attention to the awakenings of the Spirit of God and the personal appeals of the gospel that they are strangers to the quickenings of the spirit of life. It is not only necessary that the gospel should be preached in all its faithfulness, but personal ap- 46 SPIRITUAL LIFE. plication should be made of its teachings. There is work here for all who personally enjoy spirit- ual life. Our Lord’s method of evangelizing put every one who came in touch with him to work upon others. When they had found the life they forgot self in the fullness of their joy, and brought their friends to him. It is impossible to live in daily contact with those who are fully alive to the powers of spiritual life, and not feel the mighty in- fluence. And yet we have professedly Christian families with unawakened members in them: par- ents who profess to know Christ, with godless | children, dead in sin, and growing more callous every day; wives who profess to know Christ, with godless husbands, who never seem to think it is any of their business to wake their compan- ions out of the sleep of death; husbands who claim to be Christians, with godless wives. It is this state of things-that hangs like a pall of death over a sleeping world. Should we wonder that the unsaved question the reality of our profession, and the existence of a spiritual sphere? These could not exist if all who profess to know Christ and to be in touch with the spiritual world were themselves fully alive. wer'\ “or godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation mot to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2 Cor. vit. 20.) (47) CHAPTER IV. REPENTANCE. T is not enough that man should be awakened to a knowledge of his condition as an unsaved spirit? He must codperate with God in the work of salvation. The first call of the gospel that comes to his awakened ears is a call to repentance. “