George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 FAMILY OF 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
iSKETCil 
 
 OF A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 DELI'VERED BEFORE THE 
 
 \ NORTH CAROLINA BIBLE SOCIETY, 
 
 TVT, 
 
 a 
 
 AT ITS ANNIVERSARY, 
 
 IN THE CITY OF RALEIGH, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, THE 12TM OF DECEMBER, 1841, 
 
 BY CHARLES M. F. DEEMS, 
 
 OF THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 
 
 RALEIGH: 
 
 PRINTED BY WESTON R. GALES, AT THE RALEIGH REGISTER OFFICE. 
 
 '}<"':<":<""iC: 
 
 18 4 1. 
 
S E M M O N 5 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA BIBLE SOCIETY, 
 
 IN THE CITY OF RALEIGH 
 
 OXSUNDAY^THE 12th OF DEC EMEER, 184 1'. 
 
 BY CHARLES M. F. DEEMS, 
 
 AGE>'T OF THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, 
 
 RALEIGH: 
 
 PRINTED SY WESTON R. GALES, AT THE RALEIGH REGISFER OFnCE, 
 
 1 8 i 1 . 
 
At a meeiirtg of the North Carolina Bible Societt, a motion -vvas 
 wiade?bj Mr. Johx Primrose, seconded and amended by the Hon. Judge 
 Cameron, that the thanks of the Society be returned to the Rev. Mr. Deems,. 
 for the Sermon deUvered belore them on the previous Sunday, and that he be 
 respectfully requested to furnish a copy for publication, under the direction of 
 the Board of Managers. To attend to this business, the Board appointed tha 
 Subscribers. 
 
 NELSON B. HUGHES, ) 
 
 RUFFIN TUCKER, C Committee. 
 
 WESTON R. GALES, ) 
 
 NOTE BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 The Anniversary Discourse was delivered from very elight not««, and th3 
 whole of the following Sermon was written in the interval of business,- sevaral 
 days after. Of course the language could not be retained, and the author iS' 
 oonseious that several illustrations used on ''the occasion have passed from his 
 mind. Some points, too, are more nearly developed in the written than they 
 were in the spoken Discourse. These remarks are thought to be due to thoso- 
 wko heard the Sermon, and who may kindly peruse this- Pamphlet. 
 
THE FLOWERS COILECTUWI 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 " The word of God is quick and powerful.*^ 
 
 Hebrews, iv, 12. 
 
 This blessed Book, which we have adopted as the rule of 
 our faith and practice, is known among us by different names. 
 We call it the Bible, as being pre-eminently the most valu- 
 able of all books ; and we call it the Sacred Scriptures, 
 because it contains what we believe to be the writings of 
 Holy men of old, who were inspired from on high. In the 
 text before us it is called the Word of God, as coming 
 immediately from the mouth of the great Creator. And that 
 this volume is not the production of unaided human intellect, 
 but has come from the great Spirit, is a proposition which 
 we not only most heartily adopt, but it is the fundamental 
 article of Christian faith, upon which we build all our hopes 
 of happiness in the world beyond the tomb. 
 
 As believers in the genuineness and Divine ai^thority of 
 the Bible, we cannot see that it requires any unnatural effort 
 of the mind, to perceive and believe that it is possible and 
 probable that He who has given us bodies and spirits, and 
 established the mystic union between mind and matter, 
 should make a revelation of his nature and will to the 
 creatures whom He has otherwise so abundantly favored. 
 Few are so far gone into the mists of error as to deny that 
 there is some great First Cause ; for Scepticism herself, as 
 she stands before the magnificent temple of Nature, must 
 silently commune with thoughts of the glorious Architect; 
 and when she penetrates the Holiest of Holies of intellect, 
 she IS awed into religious silence, under an almost oppressive 
 conception of the unfathomed resources of the Omnipotent 
 Original Mind. How, then, shall we dare to question 
 whether it is possible for that great First Cause to make any 
 impressions upon the spirit which sprung from his own ? 
 
4 
 
 If he has created matter and modified it into a myriad of 
 combinations, and is able still to operate upon it, and even 
 to annihilate it ; if that intangible agent, the mind, has 
 obtained all its endowments from the Creator, who shall say 
 that it may not receive any impressions from his spirit ? 
 
 Is it not probable, too, that God — or call the author of 
 Life by whatever name you please — would make a revelation 
 to his creatures ? Hush the voice of the Bible and the Priest, 
 and listen to the speakings of Nature. She tells us that on 
 all her broad bosom she bears not an irrational creature which 
 is born to pains, and which has a longing unsatisfied. She 
 tells us that He who gave them desires has prepared abun- 
 dantly for their gratification. Let us then look in upon 
 ourselves. Each one of us finds himself to be a singular and 
 incomprehensible union of substances we call matter and 
 mind. The peculiar conformation of tlie former, we call 
 Z)Of/y,and find in the ample store-house of Nature a provision 
 for all the wants of this body by Him who created it. The 
 mind, a more subtile production of this great First Cause, 
 has as many desires as the body upon which it operates, and 
 these desires are far more refined than the appetites of the 
 body which it inhabits. Now, if the Author of all has made 
 a full preparation for the satisfaction of the body, can it be 
 thought that He would purposely or inadvertently overlook 
 the wants of the mind? Such an assertion would be a libel 
 upon Him who has made in mind, what He has not in matter, 
 a resemblance of Himself. Among other things we find that 
 the spirit within us has an anxious craving, — we cannot say 
 that it is unlawful, — to know its origin and its destiny. 
 When it has tested the extent of its powers, it feels that it 
 could never have come into existence of its own accord, and 
 that the source of its existence must be than itself inconceiv- 
 ably far more powerful and glorious. When it looks into 
 the future, it can see nothing in the dissolution which it finds 
 must take place between it and the body, to suspend or de- 
 stroy its own existence. Beyond that hour of dissolution, 
 what shall be its abode and its company, its powers and it{% 
 employments, arc (iuestioni; which become unspeakably im- 
 
5 
 
 poriant. In vain does it seek a reply from Nature's thousand 
 voices, and it turns its anxious eye to its Autlior to know 
 these things which so relate to itself. But, who and what is 
 that Author? And the profound stillness of the Universe, 
 when the soul proposes the solemn question, settles upon it 
 with a most oppressive heaviness. Can it be possible that 
 He has spread the splendid firmament above us, and painted 
 the rich scenery of earth around us, to give us indubitable 
 proof that He exists, and then retire behind the veil which 
 we cannot pierce, to enjoy the malignant pleasure of behold- 
 ing His creatures groping after Him until they fall into the 
 pit of the grave ? If He thought it not trifling to create us. 
 Oh! would it be condescending too m.ich to reveal Himself, 
 in part at least, that the awful suspense of our spiritual igno- 
 rance might be removed ? From the little we beliold of Him 
 in the works of His hands, especially in our bodies and spir- 
 its, we conclude that there is the strongest probability that 
 the Author of Life and of the Universe would instruct His 
 children. 
 
 And now, v/ith this probability strengthening upon it, 
 where shall the human mind turn to find this revelation ? 
 It is not upon the page of Nature, for that has been studied 
 in vain. And of the many theories which have been pre- 
 sented, each has in its turn been discarded as unsatisfactory. 
 The Bible is now presented v/ith its high claims to a divine 
 origin, and the human miind is called upon to render a ver- 
 dict in favor of this volume, as being a production of infinite 
 mind. Its defenders say that it brings more external and 
 internal evidence of its genuineness and authenticit}^, than 
 any other book in existence. They say that it contains all 
 that it is necessary for us to know concerning the nature of 
 the Creative Cause, of ourselves, our duties and our destiny. 
 They claim for it a character of trutht\ilness without the 
 slightest mixture of error ; and challenge for it an examina- 
 tion by the light of all learning and the scrutiny of the 
 severest tests. 
 
 That this book is " the word of God,'' all Christians firm- 
 ly believe. To review the many powerful arguments which 
 
•sanctified learning has brought to its support, would be a task 
 %vhich would as far exceed the ability of the present speaker, 
 as it would be inappropriate to ihis occasion. We cannot 
 forbear, however, alkding to one of its internal arguments, 
 which alone, we think, would he sufficient to commend it to 
 ■every heart sincerely seeking after truth. It is, that doctrines 
 necessary to the salvation of our immortal souls, which could 
 not possibly have been discovered by unaided human intellect, 
 arc clearly and satisfactorily developed in the Bible. It is a 
 truth not only asserted in the Holy Scriptures, but corrobo- 
 a-ated by the bi-story of mind that " tlie world by wisdom 
 knew not God." Take the theories concerning the Deity 
 whicli arc the offspring of the most gifted minds in those 
 sges which had all the light that possibly could be possessed 
 without the Bible, and we find that they represent God as a 
 J5eing who, with all the greatness with which they clothe 
 Ilim, is only an Almighty monster. If thus the great have 
 conceived him to be, what can we expect to be the ideas of 
 the vulgar ? The mass have made him a detestable wretch, 
 superior to themselves only in his greater ability to indulge 
 more frightful lusts. But the Bible gives us a yiew of His 
 nature, which is as sublime as it is consoling. A secret 
 prompting of his heart told man that he must appease God, 
 because he was sinful, and vv^as exposed to punishment. But 
 the world's wise men could not tell him whore he might be 
 cleansed of his moral defilement, they could not devise any 
 manner of mediation between him and his God, they could 
 propagate no plan of salvation wliich would suit all souls, 
 ynder all circumstances, to the end of all time. This the 
 Bible does ! It reveals a God whose attributes of justice and 
 mercy, both infinite, kiss oacii otlier upon a platform which 
 His right arm has thrown up, in the presence of the Universe, 
 for the salvation of a world. The mightiest human intellect 
 may ponder upon the sublimity of this plan for ages, and 
 rise from the stud}' with expanded powers. It must be from 
 the Creator of all — the book which developes such glorious 
 <:loctrines ! As Christians, we so receive it, and present the 
 Bible to the world, saying, Here is the Word of God !" 
 
1 
 
 Of this book, the passage of Scripture before us says, it is 
 I wing Viud powe7ifnl' 
 
 I. As our God is living, and is the fountain of all life, and 
 the source of all existence, we may reasonably expect that 
 the words which proceed out of his mouth shall have all the 
 elements of life. Not like the sound v/hich is given from 
 an inanimate thing when a master hand touches it cminingly, 
 it has the tone of life upon it. 
 
 The Word of God is living light. " The entrance of 
 Thy word givetb light,'^ is an exclamation of the Psalmist, 
 verified in the world by innu-merable examples. Apart from; 
 the teachings of the Bible, how dai'kencd is the human mind ! 
 It is true, that in Christian lands many men do seem to be 
 possessed of expanded powers of mind, who- never read the 
 Bible, and who have never been accustomed even in child- 
 hood to its teachings ; but their light is only the reflection of 
 that which glows all around them in society. A conversation 
 with such men wouW soon discover their spiritual darkness,, 
 as- there is many a Nicodemus who is celebrated for his- 
 learning in the v^orld, and yet not able to comprehend the^ 
 simplest doctrine taught in the school of Christ. An ac- 
 quaintance with general literature, a faiPiiliarity with the- 
 circle oi the sciences, a close-study of the arts, will not supply 
 the lack of a devoted perusal of the Sacred Scriptures. The 
 chamber of the mind may be well furnished with the rich 
 tapestry of varied learning, c>nd the graceful statuary of polite- 
 letters, but unless the living light of " the word of God'^ 
 shall illuminate it, its elegant adornment will be useless* 
 The light of truth adds a charm to all beauty. 
 
 Again : We very frequently find men in the lowest walks- 
 of life, on whose powers the incubus of poverty has ever 
 pressed, who never had the polish which mingling with the- 
 intellectual imparts, but vAio have been converted to God by 
 his Holy SpIHt, and have thenceforth given attention to the 
 study of his word. How perceptible is the change which is- 
 produced upon their minds ! In a short time we find them 
 .speaking understandingly of those things of which-we thoughb 
 thein pFofouudly ignorant: And why is this ? Because. Ihc^/r 
 
Iiave stiulled the word of God, and It has turned their minds 
 in upon themselves, and they liave become deeply interested 
 in the sublime doctrines of the Bible. Their minds are now 
 more ready to receive instruction in secular learning, and 
 they have become theologians and metaphysicians at the same 
 time. " It giveth understanding to the simple." 
 
 Let the Bible, the word of God," be taken to a heathen 
 in his ovvn language. It finds him in the veriest darkness? 
 deceiving himself with the illusion that all around him is 
 light. But the living light of tlie word of God plays on the 
 image before which he is bowed in his degrading worship, 
 and he beholds all its horrid deformity. He turns from his 
 Deity wilh disgust, and is driven out a godless wretch. 
 The ligiit enters his mind, and discovers to him the filthy 
 figures which crowd his imagination ; it pierces into the heart 
 and reveals its moral defilement and loathsome leprosy. 
 This living light points him to the sword of justice gleaming 
 from the dark cloud of the true God's indignation against sin, 
 and he is ready to sink into despair. But a concentration of 
 all the light of this wondrous book arrests his sinking mind, 
 and with trembling he follows its brightness until it mantles 
 the cross of Calvary. There he beholds the Lamb of God 
 Vv^hich taketh away the sins of tlie word." The pitying 
 glance of that eye in death's agony melts his heart ; the blood 
 from that pierced side sprinkles him, and lo! he is more 
 spotless than infant purity ! Vv'ith this "word of God" in 
 his hand, he joyfully pursues life's rugged way, for he beholds 
 his path growing brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. 
 
 But the word of God" is also living seed. Deposited in 
 the heart, as it often is, by some unseen agency, it germinates 
 and brings forth righteousness and bliss. The living preacher 
 is he whom God hath appointed to sow this good seed, and 
 the field is the world. And how often does the minister go 
 to the performance of his public duty with a heart weighed 
 down Vv'itli some of earth's cares or sorrows ; how often does 
 he retire from the altar to his private chamber, feeling that 
 he is an exceedingly profitless servant ! And yet that very 
 di-couriC which may seem to him a failure; may be blessed 
 
9 
 
 of the Lord to the salvation of some soul. God does not 
 always show the spiritual husbandman the first quickeiHiig 
 of the seed he sows. Let this consolation sustain those of 
 us who minister in holy things, for " in due time we shall 
 reap if we faint not." At the family altar, as well as in the 
 sanctuary, the good seed is planted. How often does the 
 Spirit of God bless the reading of the sacred Scriptures in 
 families ! Fathers, Mothers, heads of families, fail not daily 
 to gather your little ones to the reading of God's holy word; 
 and if they seem thoughtless be not discouraged, for the liv- 
 ing seed is silently falling upon the fallow ground. Many 
 a winter's snow may come, but as surely as the God of the 
 sun and rain exists it shall survive. The voice of the moth- 
 er will be remembered, when all else connected with child- 
 hood shall be forgotten. It is the last music which dies out 
 of a boy's heart. Passages of " the word of God'' in the 
 mother's tone will often ring upon the heart of the man when 
 wrinkles and furrows are on his time-worn visage. Words 
 of instruction and consolation, and powerful appeals from 
 the Ho]y Scriptures, breathed upon his mind in earlier days 
 at the family altar, but lost in the lapse of time, will come 
 meltingly upon the 3'oung wanderer's heart, when the thou- 
 sand mouths of the Ocean shall yawn to swallow him, and the 
 storm-spirit pour its unearthly shriek upon his ears. In 
 these instances, and they are numerous, we find a fulfilment 
 of the prophecy, For as the rain cometh down, and the 
 snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth 
 the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give 
 seed to the sower, and bread to the eater ; so shall my word 
 be that goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall not return un- 
 to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and 
 it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.'^ 
 
 " The word of God is living /" Contrasted with it, all 
 other religious theories are lifeless, all philosophy is dead. 
 Let the Natural Religionist read the page of that volume, 
 which he thinks tells all that the immortal spirit needs to 
 know, and if he find a reply it will tell him that there is a 
 a Mighty Spirit in the Universe. But of the character of 
 
10 
 
 that Being its teachings will be ambiguous, for while it has 
 lessons of his love of beauty written with the pencils of light 
 on the graceful flower ; and speaks of his love of grandeur on 
 the rocky tablet of the immense mountain, on the glorious 
 scroll of the firmament, and on the unmeasured undulating 
 face of the ocean — it reveals his terrible might in the volca- 
 no, the conOagration, the tempest, and the deluge. And what 
 are the re.sponses of the oracle of the heaihen ? With 
 a heart burdened with unspeakably interesting questions, he 
 rushes into the temple and presence of his idol. Tell me, 
 oh, tell me ! he cries, — what and where the Great Spirit is ? 
 And what am I ? and whither bound as carried down this 
 rushing str eam of life ? Beyond tlie portentous clouds which 
 I see settling most heavilv before me, are there torments or 
 is there bliss ? Does an eternal sunlight play on the blessed 
 islands in that veiled state, or do thunders and lightningsand 
 a horrible tempest empty their furies on the ruined soul ? 
 Oh, when, this tiresome strife of present existence shall close, 
 shall I have seen but the beginning of sorrows ? Is not the 
 great Spirit lovely, and will he not save me ? — The God is 
 silent, the oracle is dumb! The Priest who conducts the unhal- 
 lowed service of its damning rites points the enquiring wretch to 
 the instrument of torture, to blasted hopes, to the hearts's finer 
 feelings crushed, to a dark grave and to a hopeless hereafter. 
 
 It is not so with the word of our God, it is quick and life- 
 giving. As when the Incarnation of that Word stood at the 
 grave of Lazarus and commanded the buried one to come 
 forth, so "the word of God" now speaks to the soul which 
 is dead in trespasses and in sins, and lo ! the thrill of life 
 shoots through its faculties. And when the enquiring spirit 
 asks of this our oracle it finds a ready and most satisfactory 
 answer. Every objection is anticipated, every fear removed^ 
 every trouble soothed, every wound gently bound up. The 
 living Word speaks to the soul and bids it be happy, even 
 in this world. It tells the Spirit that God is love, that eve- 
 ry provision is made for its wants, that in this matchless 
 mercy and unfathomed wisdom, He has satisfied the de- 
 mands of justice and efiected its emancipation. It speaks to 
 
11 
 
 the Spirit and its chains fall off, and in the majesty of truth, 
 in the strength of freedom, and in the light of love, it treads 
 the temple of that God, whose living word reveals the high 
 and holy destiny which awaits it. It beholds in all things 
 of beauty around it the developement of that undying love 
 which watches all its paths, and which is preparing for it be- 
 yond the tomb a more glorious habitation. For not only 
 does this word impart a spiritual life here, but it reveals to 
 the soul the state of unceasing and blissful existence in the 
 world which is to come, ani informs the Christian that he is 
 now only upon the lowest step of that sublime pyramid of 
 life which he shall be everlastingly ascending, whose sum- 
 mit is lost in the inconceivably intense brightness of JEHO- 
 VAH'S peerless glory. 
 
 And this word of God, so living and life-giving must re- 
 main forever. It bears in itself the elements of indestructi- 
 ble existence. Heaven and earth may pass away, but it shall 
 not be shaken ; for the throne of the Eternal must fall and 
 the light of all life expire, before the words which he speaks 
 shall fail. And here the Christian stands, planting his feet 
 upon the Rock of Ages, while he defies the tempest to rob 
 him of his immortality, or shake his trust in God. Truly, 
 the word of God is living. 
 
 II. The second characteristic of the word of God, is that it is 
 poiverful. When that word went out at creation it travers- 
 ed the ocean of chaos and startled myriads of worlds into ex- 
 istence. When that Word appeared on earth in the flesh it 
 was a power which suspended the laws of nature, working 
 astonishing miracles and destroying the power of sin. That 
 Word, as written out in a volume, is powerful, ,even " th^ 
 power of God unto salvation." 
 
 The effect which the perusal of the Sacred Scriptusres has 
 upon a man is very different from the study of any human 
 composition. There is nothing in the writings of the learn- 
 ed, in the theories of philosophers, to change a man's entire 
 nature. Even those who have been the authors of the best 
 moral precepts have frequently been most wretched exem- 
 plars in practice. But the Bible, having been wri,tten by the 
 
all-wise God, through his amanuenses, holy inspired men, is sO 
 perfectly adapted to every circumstance under which every 
 man is placed, that it exercises a power over the human 
 mind and heart which nothing else possesses. An arm of 
 Omnipotence as it is, it beats down the bulwarks of pride 
 and unbelief, bursts open the doors of the heart, seizes the 
 lion in his fury and binds him with fetters of adamant. It 
 leaps from heaven, a blessed preserver, into the torrent of 
 sin on which the soul of man is borne to destruction, rolls 
 back the tide of nature, brings him up from the fearful abyss 
 and places him on an eminence from which he can behold 
 his former danger and adore his Redeemer. 
 
 The word of God by enlightening the intellect has given 
 man the ability to see the way which leadeth to God through 
 Jesus Christ. At the foot of the mercy seat he hath been 
 pardoned, at the foot of the Cross he hath been cleansed. 
 With his mind purified, his affections hallowed, his soul sanc- 
 tified, the man hath become a benefactor. He takes no lon- 
 ger any pleasure in living simply for himself. His mind is 
 now lifted from its filth and degradation and gathers percep- 
 tion of harmony and beauty. Here we have the foundation 
 of the Arts and Sciences which adorn life and administer 
 more refined pleasures to the immortal spirit. It is be- 
 cause the Word of God is in your midst, that your houses 
 are palaces and your meals banquets. As the intellect in- 
 creases in its elevation it gathers clearer ideas of relations, 
 and the Word of God furnishes all necessary standards of 
 judgment in these cases. The husband learns to use his su- 
 periority as not abusing it, and the wife submits to the hus- 
 band, not as to a master, but as to a stronger companion; not 
 as a degradation, but as a relief and a pleasure. The parent 
 learns to value his child, not as a slave to his caprice, but as 
 a stream of intellect which he has the ability to direct for its 
 own endless happiness and the benefit of a world. The child 
 is now bound to the parent, not by a feeling of servile fear, 
 not by a tie which weakens as the parentgrows helpless with 
 age, and breaks when he becomes a burden, but a love v/hich 
 i§ respectful when the parent is at the fullness of his matu- 
 
IS 
 
 rily and becomes more lender and refined as the infirmities 
 of years press him down. Having thus given to man a code 
 of morals to govern a family, the observance of which will 
 be crowned with domestic bliss, and the least deviation from 
 which will produce discord and misery, it leads man to look 
 upon his neighbor as his brother, and a member of the great 
 family of which God is the common Father. ^'Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbor as thyself^' (Compare that one injunction 
 with the code of morals of heathen philosophers.) Thus we 
 see the social compact strengthened by the holy influence of 
 the Bible. But man has certain rights to be guarded. 
 The Bible clearly sets them forth in a tone of authority 
 which is satisfactory, rebuking the oppressor, giving strength 
 to the oppressed to assert the truth and yet restraining him 
 from all acts of unlawful violences We here find the power 
 of the Bible to give a balance to Society and to erect a sound 
 fabric of Government. The man changed through the in- 
 strumentality of that Word which is powerful, is not satis- 
 fied to have a proper government established, and the arts 
 and sciences flourishing; his heart, now a fountain of good- 
 ness, goes out towards his fellow men. This creates the be- 
 nevolent institutions which are the glory of Bible lands. We 
 thus see the influence of the Word of God upon communities 
 by changing individuals and giving that direction to the 
 strength of their heads and hearts which was originally in- 
 tended by the great Creator. 
 
 The joreac/iz?7^ of "the word of God,*' how powerful it 
 has been ! Before it the bold face has blanched and the stout 
 heart quailed. The proud boast of the wicked has been si- 
 lenced, the mockings of the fool have been hushed. The 
 lion and the tiger have been tamed, and the heart of the 
 lamb has been made powerful for good. The torrent intel- 
 lect which was devastating whole regions of mind has been 
 turned into the channels of benificence, and the powers that 
 stagnated in indolence have been sent forth to irrigate the 
 waste and weary land. It has thrown open tlie prison doors 
 and set the captive free. It has poured light in upon the 
 depths of darkness. It has gone into the midst of communi- 
 
14 
 
 ties, and under its influence, the ignorant have become wise, 
 the churl liberal, the spendthrift economical, the vulgar re- 
 fined, and the sinner a saint. Like oil it has allayed the tu- 
 multuous waves of strife. It has dashed down misrule — 
 trampled upon anarchy, and lifted up the comely form of 
 fainting order. It has extended the sceptre of mercy, and 
 arranged the scales of justice. It has reformed'the laws and 
 their executor. As the word of God has been spoken out by 
 the lips of truth, Empires have been convulsed, crowns have 
 fallen, and kingdoms have passed aw^ay. Its consolations 
 have been as powerful as its reformatory energy. The wid- 
 ow and the orphan have had their hearts to leap within them, 
 and the fainting traveller over earth's desert has felt the gift 
 of new life as this Word of Power has called him to the wa- 
 ters. Its power has disrobed Death of its terrors and depriv- 
 ed the grave of its victory ; and the weak child and feeble 
 woman have calmly walked down to their resting place with 
 a holy smile on their countenances. Even before the dark- 
 ness of the tomb had entirely shrouded them, they have seen 
 the first light of a glorious and eternal morning. 
 
 It has been powerful against the enemies of God. Every 
 thing which human ingenuity and infernal malignity could 
 devise have assailed it. And yet, like the billow-beaten 
 ocean-rock, it has been unmoved, while the waves of opposi- 
 tion have fallen back into spray, and the lightnings of perse- 
 cution havebeen woveninto a diadem of glory to adorn itssum- 
 mit. And while God lives it z^vY/ remain — it ivill be powerful. 
 
 And why is the Bible livijig ^\\^ powerful 7 Because 
 the Spirit of the Living and Almighty God is in it. " All 
 Scripture is given by inspiration of God.'^ Take His Holy 
 Spirit from it, and it will be as lifeless and as powerless as a 
 dead body. If we could preach the doctrines of the Bible 
 without any assistance from the spirit of God, we should find 
 it as useless as declaiming the orations of Cicero. Let us, 
 then, remember, in our private study of the Scriptures, that 
 we are not reading merely the writings of the Prophets and 
 the Apostles, but endeavor to feel each word as though it 
 were spoken immediately from the great God our Savior, 
 
15 
 
 out of heaven and in an audible voice. In our efforts to sup- 
 ply the world with the Bible, let us keep ever upon our 
 hearts the assurance that we are not sending the words of 
 worldly wisdom, but "the word of God which is living and 
 powerful,'' and which will do good to the bodies and souls 
 of our fellow men. And Oh ! let us who are engaged in the 
 hallowed co-operation with the blessed Trinity, take the 
 more diligence to make our own peace, calling and election 
 sure ! If the gifted and sainted author of the text, after 
 having seen Christ and possessed the power of working mir- 
 acles, entertained the slightest apprehension lest after having 
 preached unto others he should himself become a cast away, 
 let us not be satisfied unless we feel continually that God's 
 living word is powerful even unto the salvation of our own souls. 
 
 And now, brethren beloved, this sacred gift is deposited in 
 our hands by its holy Author, to be dispensed to the whole 
 world. It is a Testament : our Heavenly Father's will. As 
 the lines have fallen to us in a pleasant place, and we have a 
 goodly heritage, let us not forget our brethren who are away in 
 the darkness of other lands. What shall we say unto God our 
 Father in justification of our conduct if we suffer them to per- 
 ish without telling them of our home in heaven? It may 
 cost us some sacrifice, but let us keep ever before our eyes the 
 example of Him " who though he was rich yet for our sakes 
 became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich." 
 And " if God so loved us we ought also to love one another." 
 
 Father, when you retire from the sanctuary this morning 
 and see the happy faces of your loved little ones around your 
 board, think of your brother in heathendom who has no do- 
 mestic comforts, no pleasant fire-side, no hallowed altar-spot. 
 Christian Mother, let your mind fly from this temple this 
 hour, to behold that mother who is now committing her off- 
 spring to the flames or to the waves.* Think not that that mo- 
 
 * To impress this remark, the following anecdote was related: "A Hindoo 
 woman cast her child, between three and lour years old, into the Ganges, as au 
 offering to the Goddess. The little creature made its way to a raft of bamboos 
 that happened to be floating by, and seizing one end of it has drifted along, ciy- 
 ing to its unnatural parent for help. Perceiving from the shore the dangers of 
 the child's escape, she plunged into the water, tore away us hold, broke its neck, 
 and hurled its life -warm corse into the middle of the current, by which it was 
 soon drifted out of sight." — Jyermari's and BenneWs Journal, 
 
16 
 
 ther's heart never knew woman's feelings ! When she first 
 pressed that child to her bosom she felt the rapturous thrill of 
 a mother's pure, devoted affection. But the iron heel of a ty- 
 rannical religion has crushed the buds of her love. Woilld 
 you save that innocent? Send the Bible and its power shall 
 tear down the temple of the idol and erect the altar of that Re- 
 ligion whose essence is love. Lady, robed, jewelled, accom- 
 plished and happy, — think of your destitute sister in the dark- 
 ened land ! Less fair, perhaps, than yourself, but Oh ! she hath 
 a soul as immortal as your own ! And if you leave her to die 
 in her degradation, at Christ's judgment that she may thus up- 
 braid thee: — I was hungry, and blind, andoppressed, and sinful, 
 and dying ; your hands held that which would have relieved me, 
 the tale of my wo fell upon your ear, but with a profitless word 
 of commiseration youturned coldly away to thesound of the vi- 
 ol, and the excitement of the dance — and I died! How then can 
 the Lord turn uponyou the smiles of his love, when he hath said 
 thaf if anyman have notthespiritof Christ,heisnoneof his ?" 
 
 And now,'in behalf of the North Carolina Bible Society, I 
 appeal to this congregation. I feel a solemnity come over me 
 when an appeal on behalf of the cause of Christ is to be made 
 to an assembly of Christian people. It is upon me now, for 
 I know that for all I have said I must give an account ; and 
 lest I have said said something amiss, lest I have left some 
 appeal untouched, there is a fear in n^fi^BtiAt;,, And when I 
 look around upon you and know that God the Father, 
 and the blessed Saviour, and the Holy Sanctifier are here, 
 that the Godhead knows the power of His own word and 
 hears the thousand cries and shrieks of a heathen world, and 
 that an account is to be taken of the doings of a crowded, in- 
 tellectual and wealthy assembly of Christians, oh ! how can 
 I but feel for the result ? Remember, my brethren, that "with 
 what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." 
 May the Great Head of the Church speedily send the light 
 andhealth, the life and power of his Word to all nations I And 
 let us remember that he has appointed human instrumentality 
 to accomplish this glorious consummation as we unite our 
 hearts in responding A^ien, and Amen !