Sermons and Sermonettes*
BY
REV. J. P. ROBINSON, A. B.,
Pastor of First Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., and Chairman of
the Home Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention.
NASHVILLE, TENN.:
National Baptist Publishing Board.
1909.
PREFACE,
This book, though feeble, may be considered an
effort to stimulate young men. The Author makes
no pretention at perfection or scholarship in this
book; his aim is to inspire young men to go high¬
er in the world of literature, especially our
young colored ministers. If I could, I would help
every man who believes himself called to the min¬
istry, because he requires help and study. I dedi¬
cate this book to the ministers and laity of the
church and hope thereby to give some little idea
of sermonizing.
I pray the blessings of the Almighty God upon
every one who may read this book.
Sincerely, from the Author,
J. P. Robinson.
CONTENTS.
preface. . . .; 3
CONTENTS 4
INTRODUCTION 7
BIOGRAPHY 11
the power of Satan 17
deception of the fig tree 21
the gospel invitation 23
the holy spirit is good 26
the lord's supper 31
god removes the tears 33
HOW TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 35
authority of the church 39
the personality of the holy spirit 42
the power of the holy spirit 44
an awful question unanswered 45
a CUP of blessing for A CUP of woe 51
glory in THE cross 54
a peaceful reign of the church 58
the baptist church.. 60
crying rocks 68
CHRISTIAN ENERGY * 72
mutual affection 77
DEDICATION 79
A TRAGIC message borne to jbsus. 83
the new church. 88
THE PRISONER OF the gospel delivered 95
continuation of *he baptist church history 102
similitude .108
(4)
Contents.
SALIFICATION * 113
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 121
COMB 126
THE AUTHORITY OF GOD'S ANOINTED 129
THE THREE DISTINCTLY REVEALED 133
JUSTIFICATION 136
THE WICKED KING'S INQUIRY AND ANSWER 139
CHARACTER AND REFORMATION OF ANTIQUITY 143
THE FIRST RISE OF HERESY IN THE CHURCH 146
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 151
THE HIDDEN LEAVEN 155
THE BEAUTY OF THE CHURCH 157
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES. 160
MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION 164
OUR PULPIT 167
A LYING FAMILY 170
PASTORS, TAKE HEED 176
PAUL AT MARS' HILL 178
GOD AS A STRONGHOLD 182
THE DANGER OF SHAME IN THE WORLD AND THE WORLD
TO COME ...185
GOD'S CALL TO CONSECRATION .188
THE fMPETUOUS QUESTION ANSWERED 190
CHRISTIAN EARNESTNESS 193
REPENTANCE AND THE HOLY GHOST GIVEN 197
MANY INVENTIONS FOUND. 199
JESUS THE SOURCE OF COMFORT 203
SAFE WITHOUT WANT 206
COME DOWN FROM THE CROSS 209
HARNESS THE FORCES 211
THE GLORY OF STRENGTH IN GOD . .216
THE POWER OF THE TRUTH. 218
INTRODUCTION.
"Speak the Truth," is a divine injunction that
will survive time and live in eternity with things
eternal. Such is my humble effort in this brief
introduction to the work of our personal friend
and brother in the labors of love.
Rev. J. P. Robinson was born a slave in De
Soto County, Mississippi, in 1856. When quite
a young man he Went to Woodruff County, Ar¬
kansas, where he lived one year. After his re¬
turn home he professed Christ as his personal
Saviour, and was baptized in the fellowship of
a Baptist church in 1879. In 1883 he was called
to ordination by the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church,
at Alexandria, Ark., of which he was a member.
During which time, with a very limited education
obtained by his own efforts, he secured employ¬
ment as county school-teacher.
His noticeable ability as a Gospel preacher,
cleanness of Christian character, and the charac¬
teristics of a progressive young man, soon
brought him into prominence. He was elected
(7)
8
Introduction.
by the Union Association as its missionary. Dur¬
ing this time the First Baptist Church at Little
Rock employed him to serve them temporarily,
because of the illness of thir pastor, Rev. R. B.
White, who did not recover. January, 1886, he
was called to the pastorate of the above-named
church, where he has been retained faithfully in
the service of the church until now (1909).
Rev. Robinson found quite a large debt hanging
over an unfinished building, but succeeded in mak¬
ing such terms with the creditors that the debt
was paid with comparative ease, and at the same
time, not only finished the building, but erected
a splendid parsonage, all of which is practically
free from debt. He, in the meantime, entered
the Arkansas Baptist College as a student, and
graduated with the honor of A. B., May, 1898.
The world is full of books, yet few of them ap¬
peal directly and peculiarly to the Negro race.
But in the "Sermonettes" of Rev. J. P. Robinson
I am of the opinion that the public, especially
those of the denomination with which he is identi¬
fied, is given a work covering rich 'and hitherto
neglected ground. It will be found to be produc¬
tive in thought, effective in reason, and logical in
conclusion.
Introduction.
9
The Author is a tried 'and true friend to the
educational work of his race, and especially that
of his State. He is one among the strongest
preachers in this country. In intellect, he is a
power; as a pulpiteer, he is eloquent; as a man,
he is congenial and affable; as a Baptist, he is a
stalwart; in the interest of his race, he is true to
a fault; in character, he is a Christian gentleman.
J. R. Bennett,
Hot Springs, Ark.
BIOGRAPHY.
Rev. J. P. Robinson was born near Hernando,
De Soto County, Mississippi, December 1, 1856.
Amelia Robinson was his mother; Joseph Robin¬
son, his father, was taken away from his mother
two months before young J. P. was born. Both,
of course, were slaves at that time, and could
promise very little for their boy's future. But
he was kept very closely by his mother, and thus
had a chance to pick up many a valuable idea
around the fireside. He did not dare to show any
disposition, however, for reading and writing, as
it was an unlawful act for Negroes in those
days.
He was reared on a farm, and thus had advan¬
tage of nature study, which the city boys cannot
get. With his early store of common sense and
the education of contact he had a rapid growth.
His first real schooling, however, was begun
in a district free school as late as 1874. But he
could not remain even during the whole of that
short time. He went only a few weeks in the
day, and attended night school, and thereby
doubled his advantages and pushed forward his
course of study in the common English branches.
12
Biography.
He was converted to the Christian faith, August
22, 1879, and joined the Holliburten Baptist
Church, near Nesbitt, Mississippi. In 1881 he
began public life as a minister and common school
teacher, and taught successfully in the common
schools of Arkansas seven years.
In 1886 he entered the pastorate, served two
churches in the rural district six months. In 1887
he was elected pastor of the First Baptist Church,
Little Rock, Arkansas. This is his first and only
pastorate, for he has been re-elected by the peo¬
ple every year since 1887.
In 1889 he entered the Arkansas Baptist Col¬
lege, taking up the studies of the third year Gram¬
mar School course. He remained in this institu¬
tion eight years, till he was graduated from the
classical course, taking the degree of A. B.
His most remarkable career is seen in his pas¬
torate of the First Baptist Church, of Little Rock.
He found the church $5,000 in debt, with no hope
to get out unless some one was found willing to
do double work and work on half salary. He was
the man, for he served the church for less than
forty dollars a month till the debt was cancelled,
the mortgage lifted and the magnificent structure
completed. The property is now worth fully
$40,000. Hence in four years—1887-1891—he
had collected and spent fully ten thousand dollars
on debts and improvements, almost thribbled the
membership, nicely furnished the church with
pews and other furniture and musical instru-
Biography.
13
ments. From his early pastorate up to now he
has baptized nearly one thousand persons, mar¬
ried quite a number of distinguished couples, com¬
forted many a mourner at the funeral pyre.
As a financier also, he has made a commendable
record. For, although he has always had a small
salary, his family has always been small, and he
has been economical. He does not chew nor
smoke. Neither does he believe in what is called
"fast living." Hence he has been able to save
much of his light income.
He is a very close student of men, literature
and theology. He is one of the strongest doc¬
trinaires in the denomination, and is not apt to
overlook any point of doctrine that stands in fa¬
vor^ of Baptist faith and practice.
Coming to the church of which he is now pas¬
tor, and has been for fifteen years, he is still in
the hearts of the people as when he first began
to work. It must be remembered that when he
took charge of this church, a few months after
the death of the former pastor, the church heavily
in debt, the membership squandered, there could
not be found a quorum of men in the church who
seemed to take any interest, except the deacons.
I have often heard him say that he prayed the
prayer of Solomon, in these words: "Lord, give
me not gold nor silver, but give me wisdom,
knowledge, understanding and prosperity, that I
may lead the people over whom the Holy Ghost
14
Biography.
has made me overseer, to victory and to glory."
It can now be seen by a casual observer that God
heard his prayer, from the fact that the church
now draws upon all the people of the city.
We remember one promise he made the church
in his address after election: "If the church goes
down, I will go down with it." This was almost
a prophecy. Though he was a young man almost
entirely inexperienced, he kept his promise. It
seemed that he could see a ray of light from a dis¬
tance which burned into sunshine and love.
Amidst discouragements, debts, tempests and
storms, by the help of God he stood. I have often
heard him say that from chilhood he had a burn¬
ing desire to become educated—when he was but
a country lad, living on the farm, when food was
scarce and clothing slim—and often remarked
that when he became a man, he would educate
himself. And as true as a needle to the pole, he
kept his word. All who know him, even now,
know him to be a man of his word.
He served his mother and stepfather until he
was twenty-two years old, without a salary. At
the close of this time, his stepfather promised him
that he would give him a horse, saddle and bridle
when he married. In one year after that lie w*
married to Miss Sophia Washington, of De Soto
County, Mississippi. She was a lovable woman.
Five children were born unto them. From time
to time all of them died in infancy, except the old-
Biography.
15
est boy, Joseph, who lived to be twelve years old.
Death came into his family, though young and in¬
experienced, and with his trial of despondency,
dark clouds, trouble 'and gloom, cut out these lit¬
tle sprigs until the last one was gone; even the
mother, who had given so much time and care to
him and the little ones, succumbed to his mon¬
strous blow. It was indeed a gloomy day. This
all happened since his pastorate here. One can
see what kind of material a man is made of, hav¬
ing gone through such an ordeal of conflict and
trouble. And yet, he would not give up his hold.
He still believed that God was blessing him. Hav¬
ing recovered from these troubles, he had to al¬
most begin life anew. In the meantime he was
undergoing the arduous task of liquidating the
great church debt, re-establishing the ruins there¬
of and regaining confidence with the creditors.
None but God could have enabled a man to stand
all of these embarrassments. It was not long,
however, until the sun of righteousness began to
smile on his labor. It was several years, how¬
ever, that he lived a single life. Afterwards, he
met Miss Amanda Talley, of Shelbyville, Tenn.
After some correspondence, visits, etc., he offered
her his hand in matrimony, which was accepted,
and February 22nd, 1893, he was married in
Nashville, Tenn., where she and her widowed
mother had moved, and came to Little Rock, Ar¬
kansas, where they have lived since. He has
figured prominently in all the gatherings of Bap-
16
Biography.
tist bodies. He has been Vice President of the
State Convention thirteen years, and a Trustee of
the Arkansas Baptist College, his Alma Mater,
ever since its incipiency, which positions he now
holds. He is also Chairman of the Home Mission
Board of the National Baptist Convention, which
position he has held from its incipiency, except¬
ing one year. In the city in which he lives, he
has the respect of all who know him, regardless of
race, color or "previous condition."
Jos. A. Booker,
President Arkansas Baptist College,
SERMONS AND SERMONETTES.
THE POWER OF SATAN.
Text:—"And the fifth angel sounded, and
I saw a star fall from heaven unto the
earth: and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit. And he opened the bot¬
tomless pit; and there arose a smoke out
of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace;
and the sun and the air were darkened by
reason of the smoke of the pit." (Rev. 9:
1, 2.)
On last Sabbath I spoke to you about
"The Power of the World to Come on Gos¬
pel Invitation," but I speak to you to-day
about "The Power of Satan." The word
"Revelation" from the original means un¬
veiling, especially of the future, and of the
relation of the Church to the power of the
world. The book, therefore, which bears
the above name, is prophetic. However,
the writer is now writing under the influ¬
ence of the Holy Spirit, for he tells things
too wonderful for me. At this time the
church was in great peril of extermination
from the hostile powers of the world, so
history records—especially Syria and Rome.
(i?)
18 Sermons and Sjrmonettes.
The prophecy points to the fact that the
Lord will work out deliverance for his peo¬
ple by the coming Messiah. Jewish religion
looked for Christ to come while we look for
Christ to return. This book is ascribed to
John. Four times he mentions himself in
the first verse of the first chapter of Revela¬
tion.
I.—THE INFLUENCE OF A FALLING STAR.
Let us stand on a dark night amidst the
flying clouds and the darkened heavens by
reason of the black smoke! Look with as¬
tonishment as you stand in the glare of the
zigzag lightning as she laughingly twists
herself across the blue etheral regions—but
what means this falling from heaven to
earth? Ah, yes; I see now. It is Satan
that made the deception with "Eve and
Adam in the Holy Garden—caused them to
hide themselves from God. God finds them
again, but not until they are besmirched
with sin. And they beheld their own
nakedness, to be remembered forevermore
with shame. This star falls not to be
dashed to pieces, but to give power to sin,
which was verily accomplished.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 19
n.—HE OPENS WAR ON THE CHURCH WITH
THIS INFLUENCE.
This pit does not mean a grave or burial
place, but an eternal pit for sin. This pit,
like the fountain of David, is open for sin
and uncleanness. This pit is said to be
bottomless and the sun and the air were
darkened by reason of the smoke. So with
the influence of Satan. The world cannot
see God as it would see him, owing to the
smoke which has filled the world—with
that terrible sin. I noticed further that
this angel had the key which represented
power. Did you ever think of such a place?
This key would let you in, but would not
let you out because the pit is bottomless.
It must be reopened, for it is the deepest
hell. I go one step further, God has had
the signal light hoisted. Don't pass it,
there is danger ahead! Stop! wait for or¬
ders from the Captain of the army!
CH.—THE INFLUENCE OF THE FLAMING SWORD
ON THIS SIDE OF THE FURNACE.
Hear the cry! Come while he may be
found. Seek him while he is near. We are
in the world to light up the world by the
20 Sermons and Sermonettes.
Gospel light of the Son of God. May the
sword of every child of God be bathed in
righteousness of the Son of God to-day,
and ministering headlights reap the fields
of our God and his Christ, until the king¬
doms become our Lord's and His Christ's,
and we shall reign with Him.
Joel spoke of the darkness in the second
chapter, second verse, in these words: "A
day of darkness and of gloominess, a day
of clouds and of thick darkness, as the
morning spread upon the mountains: a
great people and a strong; there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more
after it, even to the years of many genera¬
tions."
Amidst all the smoke and confusion must
come a pure church washed in the blood ol
the Lamb. All the furnaces of sin have
been thrown open against the bride, the
Lamb's wife, but she has stood the test of
the fire and pillars of smoke. Thank God!
The red coat Cardinal has stood out
against her, but she has broken down their
influence to that extent, that almost the
whole world is under the influence of the
Christian religion.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 21
In this scope he makes room for the
world. He hath power, but Jesus hath
greater power.
DECEPTION OF THE FIG TREE.
Text:—11 Behold, these three years I come
seeking fruit on this £g tree} and And none:
cut it down; why cumhereth it the
ground?" (Luke 13: 7.)
In this place where our Master draws
this picture of the fig tree, are extensive fig
orchards planted and very flourishing. At
any rate, there is no reason for the unbear-
ing fig tree, or it is said that a fig tree that
does not bear fruit the third year is not
very promising. The gardener digging and
manuring it is in accord with ancient agri¬
culture. It has also been stated that a fig
tree does not bear fruit every year. It is
not so. I have learned from authority that
a good tree will bring a crop every year.
I. Christ, the master of the vineyard,
comes to his own year after year, seeking
fruit, but none can be found. The Jews at»
22 Sermons and Sermonettes.
tempt to feed him upon their wicked pride
and vanity, but he does not relish that, for
it cannot stand the test of the invisible
kingdom. So he patiently seeks for three
years, and every visit he makes he finds
something; but that found is indigestible—
nothing but leaves! So often has he come
with like results! He is now to the ex¬
treme of his patience. He ordered it cut
down and it was done.
II. His hunger mocked* The Master
comes hungry for food, having walked un¬
der a burning Eastern sun, knowing of the
promise of a good yield. When he gets
there, the tree is dressed in evergreen—no
mourning hung upon its branches—and
brisk and flourishing. But what a sight as
he looks! How sad! Nothing but leaves!
Coming a little further, he be held the city
and wept over it saying, "If thou hadst
known, even thou, at least in this thy day,
the things which belong unto thy peace!
but now they are hid from thine eyes. For
the days shall come upon thee, that thine
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee around, and keep thee in on
every side. And shall lay thee even with
Sermons and Sermonettes.
23
the ground, and thy children within thee;
and they shall not leave in thee one stone
upon another."
THE GOSPEL INVITATION.
Text:—"Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may ob¬
tain mercy, and find grace to help in time
ofneed.^ (Heb. 4:16.)
Were I to speak to you about some repub¬
lic of this earth that had made her subjects
such an invitation as the above, there
would be a great rush this morning to the
banquet or to register the names of those
who would like to take part in this celebra¬
tion. I come to you not with an earthly
invitation, but with a Gospel invitation.
It is a message from the Lord.
I. this invitation is coextensive with
his mercy.
You need not ask to be excused, because
it is imperatively necessary that you come,
and the preparation is of long standing.
Your future destiny depends upon your
24 Sermons and Sermonettes.
coming to its call. You hunt among the
rocky cliffs of this world for pleasures, but
nothing will give you so much comfort as
the present help in the time of need offered
in nay text. Along the journey of life we
are impressed every day of our lives that
the inevitable awaits us. Since this is true,
common sense would dictate the acceptance
of this invitation.
II.—THE INVITATION IS EVERLASTING.
It is unlike the invitations of dynasties
and kingdoms of this world, for they last
only for a season and then vanish away. Or,
as the fashions of France, they change every
season, and then only a certain class can
keep pace with these changes. Only a cer¬
tain class is entertained at these banquets.
But my text sends out an invitation to
all. I go one step further: the invitation is
not compulsory; the language is indicative
of the fact that the acceptance is left to
your own will. "Let us come," says the
Apostle, "boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace
to help in time of need." I am forced to
ask you a question here, seeing that the in¬
vitation is of necessity: Are you coming?
Sermons and Sermonettes.
25
•#
Better come! The fashion of this world
tells us of our need of religion, but Christ
satisfies our need.
in.—THE INVITATION TELLS YOU HOW TO
COME—BOLDLY.
The world talks about heaven, but Christ
tells us how to get there and prepares us
for reception when we do reach the place.
They are of this world who tell us what we
ought to do to inherit eternal life, but
Christ tells us what we must be. Throne
here means dignity and power. You weak
and feeble worms of the earth, come to this
throne of grace ! Christ is lifted upon the
throne of grace and yet he gives comfort
and help in the time of need. I see some
who are physical wrecks; others who are
wrecks, soul and body; some who have
lost both name and character. The invita¬
tion is extended to you. Come off of that
sand-bar! The flood will soon set in. I hear
the murmur of the threatening storm. "0,"
but you say, "I would come, but my hus¬
band, or my children, or my father, or my
mother, or my riches, or my health, or my
disease, stands in the way. Tell them all
26
Sermons and Sermonettes.
to come, for there is room, room, room!
And this present help in time of need means,
"Come now."
(a) This invitation is impregnated with
power and it comes at a time when you are
left mostly to combat with the world and
winds of confusion; but remember at the
throne of grace you will find the needed
help. (b) All are invited alike. Sinner,
you are invited. Arise and come, before the
clock of your destiny strikes its last time.
0 that last moment is so much nearer than
you think for. If you will listen to the
murmur of conscience, you will hear the
alarm to-da}^. (c) This is a glorious in¬
vitation. To de±)y it is to deny a home for¬
ever.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD.
Text:—11 And the Lord said, My Spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that
he a ho is £esh: yet his days shall be a
hundred and twenty years." (Gen. 6: 3.)
So completely do the Scriptures teach the
identity of the Holy Spirit with God, that
Sermons and Sermonettes.
27
the fact of His personality is either ac¬
knowledged or established. Therefore, His
personality is the most important feature
to discuss. In these points where he is
mentioned as "My Spirit, "''Spirit of God,"
"Spirit of Promise," "Spirit of Wisdom,"
etc., are plainly brought before us the di¬
vinity and personality of the Holy Spirit.
Notice these words in Proverbs: "Behold, I
will pour out my spirit unto you, I will
make known my word unto you." (Prov¬
erbs 1:23.) Here we are encouraged that
the Spirit will be poured upon us and His
Word made known. Nothing iskeptfrom us.
"For I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground."
The water pouring and flood flowing are the
representations of the influence of the Holy
Spirit. "As for me, this is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that
is upon thee, and my words which I have
put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of
thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy
seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's
seed." "And I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments, and dc
28
Sermons and Sermonettes.
them." (Ezekiel 36:27.) It would take a
stroke that would move mountains and
seas to make us go wrong following his
judgments and statutes. "Neither will I
hide my face any more from them : for I
have poured out my Spirit upon the house
of Israel.''
"And it shall come to pass afterwards,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh; and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your old men shall
dream dreams, your young men shall
see visions." Here we see that the flesh is
under the influence of the Spirit. "Yea,
through rivers and flowing waters"
of dreamland. "According to the word
that I have covenanted with you when ye
came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth
among you." Oh, what an association and
ever-abiding peace! "Not by might, nor
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the
Lord." God needs not out strength and
wisdom and words, but belief and obedi¬
ence. "Behold my servant, whom I have
chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is
well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he shall shew judgment to the Gen¬
tiles." (Matt. 12: 18.)
Sermons and Sermonettes. 29
The writers of the New Testament de¬
clare certain things spoken by Jehovah as
spoken by the Holy Spirit. As it is said by
the Holy Ghost, "To-day, if ye will hear
his voice, harden not your hearts." (Heb.
3:7.)
I. The sacred writers of the old Scrip¬
tures were messengers of God, yet the in¬
fluence by which they became such is called
the Holy Ghost. "He spake by the mouth
of the holy prophets, which have been since
the world began," For the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man, but by
the Holy Ghost. The Church of to-day
needs to be touched by the Holy Ghost, so
that a flame of hallowed fire could be re¬
kindled with fire from heaven. "God, who
at sundry times and in divers manners spake
in time past unto the fathers by the proph¬
ets." (Heb. 1:1.) "Searching what, or
what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it tes¬
tified beforehand the suffering of Christ, and
the glory that should follow." (1 Peter
1: 11.)
II. The creation of the world is ascribed
to the Spirit. "By his Spirit he has gar-
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nished the heavens; his hand has formed
the crooked serpent." No painter's brush
has been able to picture that science of
which the artist catches but a glance in this
verse. "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, and
they are created."
III. He is said to search and know the
deep things of God. We cannot know them
without him. He is said to be everywhere,
or omnipresent. "Whither shall I go from
thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy
presence?" The divinity of the spirit is
proved by his influence over Christ. It is
shown that Christ, the Son, is God. The
connection of the Spirit of God with Christ
shows that he must be God: 1. In his birth
(Matt. 1:18, 20.). 2. The mental and spir¬
itual influences were predicted. "And the
Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and light, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
(a) These were filled at his baptism. (Matt.
3:16; John 1:33.) "I knew him not: but
he that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me, Upon whom thou shall
see the Spirit descending, and remaining on
Sermons and Sermonettes 31
him, the same is he which baptized with
the Holy Ghost." Jesus returned in the
power of the Spirit and there went a
fame of him through the land. (Luke 4:14.)
(b) Devils are cast out by the power of
God. (Matt. 12:28). (c) The spiritual in¬
fluence: without measure. "For he whom
God hath sent speaketh the word of God."
(John 3:34.)
IV. The dwelling of the Spirit in the peo¬
ple of God, makes them the temples of God.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you?" (1 Cor. 3:16.)
V. The Spirit is expressly called God in
the case of Ananias to his wife.
THE LORD'S SUPPER.
Text :—"One of you shall betray me." {Matt.
26:21.)
I. This symbolizes the suffering and
death of Christ. The bread broken shows
forth his broken body, through the agony
and pain of Him who said: "If I be lifted up
I will draw all men unto me." This carries
us now to Calvary, amidst the suffering
32 Sermons and Sermonettes.
of a dying Christ and the tears of a weep¬
ing mother and the jeers of a howling mob.
II. It is a personal evidence that I have
tasted of that suffering and death, and our
sympathy is touched as it was never
touched before, when I remember that I
helped nail him there; and I take the em¬
blem of this suffering, thus showing my re¬
lation with Him who died for me, and who
has said, as often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you do show the Lord's
death and suffering until He shall come
again.
III. It is a memory of thankfulness,
when my heart reflects upon the wonder of
His grace, and of His tender compassion.
I am lost in wonder, but never so far lost
that I do not thank Him for what He has
put in my reach that caused my heart to
burst forth in thankfulness to Him to
whom I owe my life and heart—yes, all the
joys I have. The mind of the poet must
have been absorbed in mystery and admira¬
tion when he wrote these lines:
My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delight,
The glory of my brightest day®,
The comfort of my night.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 38
IV. It shows fellowship with Christ. I
want, most of all, to be in fellowship with
Christ, and thus partaking of this symbol
tignifies fellowship with the blessed Christ.
I thank God for that fellowship that the
world can never give. My soul longs for
that fellowship.
V. It is typical of the marriage supper of
the Lamb. We are taught that there will
be a marriage in mid-air. Will you be
there? You are invited. Christ and the en¬
tire army of Christians will be there. The
king is at the head of the procession, as¬
cending to the table, leveling down by the
Jordan through the jeers and scoffs of the
world to enter at last in the everlasting
home.
GOD REMOVES THE TEARS.
Text:—"For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed themt and
shall lead them unto living fountains of wa¬
ters: and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. (Rev. 7:17.)
The word Revelation means unveiling; it
refers possibly to the future of the Church
in her relation to the powers of the world,
s
84 Sermons and Sermonettes.
The book of Revelation is prophetic, but in
a dark way full of symbols. From the
days of Daniel and Ezekiel it was Jewish
prophecy. In a time when the Church
seems to have been in peril and was threat¬
ened to be exterminated by the hostile pow¬
ers of the world, especially Syria an J Rome,
the uniform refrain was: "The Lord will
soon work out deliverance for his people
by the coming of the Messiah." All of these
apocalyptic books seem to breathe the same
spirit.
In the beginning of John's testimony he
testifies that he had seen the Lord. He
claimed that as regard the people of God:
I. The Lamb shall feed them.
II. The Lamb shall lead them. What a
joy to be led unto living water!
III. God wipes away the tears. God
with his own gentle hand, as a father would
a child whom he found sorrowing and cry¬
ing, wipes tears from its eyes, and comforts
humble hearts and gives th©*^i joy instead.
These tears shall return no m^re.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 35
HOW TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN
Text:—"And said, Verily I say unto you,
Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven(Matt. 18:3.)
This is a subject of no little importance. I
have no doubt but that the Apostles were struck
with awe when the blessed Christ spoke of little
children; but we need not forget what valuable
lessons one may learn from the study of children.
Possibly this is the first time that Jesus introduces
the subject of little children. Then it is to draw
that truth which never will be eradicated from
the musty pages of history, that they must be¬
come as announced, as docile, and though troubled,
yet happy, whose passion rums away in love.
It was Rachel who envied her sister's
children, and said unto Jacob, her husband,
"Give me children, or else I die." A great dis¬
cussion is going on about children; possibly
more than any other. Job says, in speak¬
ing of his calamity, "They were children of
36 Sermons and Scrmoncttcs.
fools." The Psalmist says, "Children are
an heritage of the Lord: " and "let the chil¬
dren of Zion be joyful." "The glory of
children are their fathers." (Prov. 17: 6.)
"Children shall rise up against their pa¬
rents." (Matt. 10: 21.) "Suffer little chil¬
dren, and forbid them not, to come unto
me." (Matt. 19:14.) "Children of this
world are wiser in their own generation."
Christ often taught by object lesson; so in
this case he called a little child to him and
said, "Except ye be converted, and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven." Little children have
faults, because I have seen in some of them
evidences of envy and jealousy. Christ did
not use them because they were without
fault; but when we compare the child with
the adult, the contrast is very great. The
child is confident, ready to believe and
obey. Origen suggests the child's readi¬
ness to cease from grief, fear and anger,
and its disregard of social distinction
among its playmates. We can only see
the lesson here as Christ taught. "It must
be children, then, in humility of mind, and
not without sense," as Broadus puts it.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 37
You can see that the Apostles are arguing
the wrong point altogether, instead of ar¬
guing who can be the most humble, the
most like Christ, the most submissive, the
most gentle, the most affectionate, in order
to get into the kingdom of heaven. They
are much distressed over the question as to
who shall be the greatest.
I. Humility. This, of all the duties of
man, seems to be the hardest lesson to learn
—humility, self-forgetfulness (me). This is
a silent charge which Christ gives them,
and yet how truthful. Now, I would not
have you forget the requirements of our
blessed Master, j. e., Become as little chil¬
dren, converted, or ye cannot enter into the
kingdom of heaven. You must have a new
heart, a new mind: your thoughts must be
higher, but lower in temper and selfishness,
before you can enter into the kingdom of
heaven. The pride, ambition, dominion,
must be mortified—must be killed. Yes, and
the soul must be converted before you can
hope to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
II. Yourself must be convinced that you
have turned away from sin. That is why
conyerting grace makes uf like little chil-
38 Sermons and Sermonettes.
dren; not silly like a child. Paul tells us
this in 1 Cor. 14: 20: "Brethren, be not
children in understanding: howbeit in mal¬
ice be children, but in understanding be
men." "That we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive." (Eph.
4; 14.) Nor playful. "But whereunto shall
I liken this generation ? It is like unto chil¬
dren sitting in the markets, and calling
unto their fellows, And saying, We have
piped unto you, and ye have not danced."
(Matt. 11: 16, 17.) But as children, "de¬
sire the sincere milk of the Word."
III. As children dependent—depending
upon parents or guardians to care for them,
so must the children of God depend upon
their Heavenly Father for comfort, grace
and care. "Therefore take no thought, say¬
ing, What shall we eat ? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be
clothed? " (Matt. 6: 31.) For I say unto
you, your heavenly Father knoweth what
things ye have need of. Like children,
harmless, inoffensive, without malice, gov-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 96
ernable and under command. "But is un¬
der tutors and governors until the time ap¬
pointed of the Father." (Gal. 4: 2.) The
child in rags, if he has the breast in his
mouth, is as well pleased as the child in
silk. We are asked what time the child be¬
gins to praise the Lord; we can only an¬
swer by saying, that when a child learns to
know good from evil and feels its responsi¬
bility. (a) Low in statue as a child. (b)
Low in mind as a child, (c) Special love
for parents or guardians.
AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH.
Text:—"And I will give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven: and what¬
soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." (Matt. 16: 19.)
From the first look at the above passage
that we have as a text, it will seem that
the authority is vested in the ministers.
Catholics, Pope and priests, with all their
scholarshipJ have this false idea of the
40 Sermons and Sermonettes.
Church. But when we turn to Matt. 18:
17, 18, and hear the Lord speaking in his
own words, we will certainly be convinced
of this great error; " And if he shall neglect
to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if
he neglect to hear the church, let him be
unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.
Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and
whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven." In the above passage
the power of binding and loosing is wholly
in the church. So the claim of supreme
authority in that made for Peter by the
Church of Rome, and then arrogated to
themselves as the legitimate successors, is
baseless and impudent. Peter was simply
first to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ of
God; in the Pentecost he was first to open
the door of faith to the Jews and Gentiles.
One thing is noticeable: Peter does not
claim a single right over the other.
1. Power given. The man of God
is directed to man the vessel through
fear and trembling. "I will give unto
thee the keys of the kingdom of heav¬
en." Not now; but it was done after the
Sermons and Scrmonettcs. 41
resurrection. The keys were turned off in
Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, when
the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the
new born kingdom.
II. The doctrine of the kingdom. As
God's ambassador, you must explain to
the world the will of God—not power to
make laws, but to execute those already
made. Make disciples of all nations. Power
to admit all who come to a knowledge of
saving faith in Christ Jesus.
III. Power of disciples. Judicial power
to exclude those she, through her righteous
judgment, deemed unworthy for her fellow¬
ship, and to admit those whom she deemed
worthy of fellowship. We believe with Pe¬
ter's perception of things; he would here let
some one know that the Lord had him
vicegerent successor to himself.
All of Christ's disciples have a key by
which they can enter into secret closets,
close the doors, and there turn with power
to our Heavenly Father, until our souls are
fed; yes, until we want no more.
42 Sermons and Sermonettes.
THE PERSONALITY OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT.
In speaking upon this subject, it must be
understood that the Scriptures teach that
the Holy Spirit is a being, and that He is a
person of activity. In the Book of Genesis
(1:20) the Spirit is spoken of as "moving
upon the face of the waters amidst thick
darkness;" "And God said, Let there be
light, and there was light."
I. What was it that was seen coming
down upon Jesus when he was baptized?
Not angels nor seraphs nor clouds nor char¬
iots. It was the Spirit of God lighting upon
him. When that miraculous conversion
took place one day, as the rich man was
going on his journey, reading the Scrip¬
tures, a man of God explained to him the
Scriptures more perfectly. When he came to
sufficient water he agreed to take on Christ
thoroughly; the Spirit caught up the man
of God, and the eunuch saw him no more.
He doubtless shrouds the church here in His
mysteries. You see Him. The Holy Spirit
is in a state of activity.
Sermons and Sermonettcn. 46
II. As a teacher, the Holy Spirit is most
wonderful. Jesus said of Him, speaking to
his disciple#: "When they bring you before
the synagogue and magistrates and pow¬
ers, take no thought of what you shall
speak, for in that very hour the Holy Ghost
shall teach you what you ought to say."
0 wonderful Teacher! He comes before the
judges and teaches his pupils not knowing
how to answer the lawyers and doctors.
In that very hour he, the Holy Spirit,
teaches what to speak and how to speak,
and at the same time gives comfort. Hear
what Jesus says of him: "But the Com¬
forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance." He then brings to you a
message from the Father to that faculty
that whether in pain or health, we cannot
go very far without, which is the faculty of
memory. When Lazarus was sitting in
Abraham's bosom, and the rich man ap¬
pealed to him for aid, the voice of God her¬
alded to him in no uncertain tones.
*4 Sermoms and Sermonettcs.
THE POWER OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT.
Tbxt '.—"For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
(Rom. 8:14.)
Great importance may be attached to a
leader. We cannot afford to treat this sub¬
ject lightly, because this is the leader of the
sons of God. Nowhere in the Bible do we
find the Holy Spirit called the Son of God,
or the Son of God called the Holy Spirit,
but in seeing all his personal activities, we
cannot help tasting and feeling his power.
But he is resisted by man.
I. You voluntarily resist the Holy Ghost.
It must be an awful charge that you began
where your fathers left off. They killed the
prophets, they betrayed and murdered that
Just One, in which ye have taken a part.
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart
and ears, ye do always resist the Holy
Ghost." (Acts 7:51.) A fearful charge!
Are you guilty? It is said in Isaiah 63:10,
that "They rebelled, and vexed his Holy
Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their
enemy, And he fought against them."
Sermons and Sermonett*§. 46
II. A time when he will cease to influence
man, for we are taught that "My Spirit
shall not always strive with man." Some
of you may remember the last word you had
with that one whom you love more than all
this world—stood by and watched the ve¬
hicle as it bore him away; but some from
that procession that lingered near are in
your heart. It is the last word or the last
embrace. Think of Him who comes to guide,
comfort and cheer—lead and teach and
regenerate—wearied with pleading, and
bruised, bidding farewell, never to return.
III. He gives utterance. We are now at
Pentecost, and of a sudden our service takes
a change. Cloven tongues of fire are seen
upon each of them. We hear every man
speak.
AN AWFUL QUESTION
UNANSWERED.
Text:—"How much owest thou unto my
lord?" (Luke 16: 5.)
We very much mistake ourselves if we be-
lieve or imagine that the desierr» of the doc-
46 Sermons mod Sermonettes.
trine of Jesus Christ was given to amuse us,
with our notions of divine mysteries, or to
entertain us with divine mercies. No; the
divine revelation of both of these is written
to quicken us to the sense and practice of
Christian duty and integrity, and also to
quicken our blunt conception of right to¬
ward our fellowman and God. Let us un¬
derstand that we not only owe to ourselves
the justice of right to our fellowman, but
also to God. In our text each one of you is
thrown upon his own resources to answer
this question. You may refuse to answer it
to-day, but it inevitably must be answered.
It is unlike the answer, " Speak now or
hereafter hold your peace!" It means an¬
swer now or you will be bound to answer
it hereafter, and that before the Great Judge
of all the earth. Men are so curious to
know into the affairs of others! They ask
about another's bank account; they ask if
his house and lot are paid for; they ask if he
buys his stock of goods for cash or C. 0. D.;
they ask if such and such a man is good
for his debts. This question comes directly
to each individual: "How much owest thou
ttnto my Lord ? " This not only calls to a
Sermons and Sermonettea. 47
sense @f duty to yourselves, but as much as
any one thing, to the duty, beneficence to
those who stand in need of aid, who have
been hindered in the race of life. This is the
question which our Saviour is pressing to
the hearts of those who hear him, remind¬
ing us that we are stewards of God's mani¬
fold grace, and since we have in divers in¬
stances been unfaithful to our God, the
Friend of poor sinners and sinners saved by
grace, we have forfeited the favor of his
goodness. It is our duty to make what we
have, and what we may get, count for the
upbuilding of his Kingdom.
I. As stewards, we are intrusted with a
great concern—that which concerns the des¬
tiny of all nations; because the stewards
should be counted worthy. You are God's
stewards; therefore you must be faithful and
not unfaithful to your stewardship. Suppose,
when the lord comes, he should find the stew¬
ard off of watch, not having saved anything
for the lord, but all the trees blasted, the
fruit moulded, the grapes decayed, the wheat
wasted, the oil burned up, the springs dry,
and those who come under our influence per¬
ishing for life, and he, the secretary, shall
48 Sermons and Sermonettes.
ask the question of our text, "How much
owest thou unto my lord ?" could I imag¬
ine I hear you answering, "I knew you
were a hard man, reaping where you hadn't
•ewa." If you are unfaithful, then you are
ungrateful. How could you be so unfaith¬
ful to him who has done so much for you ?
II. Shall God's hope be blasted ? or shall
he come in holy expectation to gather his
own with interest ? Do not stop at duty,
but go beyond duty; for all we do is nothing
more than "filthy rags." I ask again: Shall
God's hope toward man be blasted, or shall
he come and find a great harvest of 9oals,
while in Darkest Africa and other heathen
lands men are perishing for the Bread of
Life, naked and vicious, uncivilized and un-
christianized—no Sabbath, no Gospel, no
Bible, no light from Heaven ? What is your
answer ? Do you sit with folded arms and
clenched teeth and with modest face, and
say, "I can't pay?" Or will you say, "By
the grace of God, since I owe all to him, I
will pay! I will pay all to him with interest.
Not only that; I will see that my neighbor
pays his debt." This debt is a just one.
Since the gold, silver, the ore and all vegeta-
Sermons and Sermoncttes.
49
tion are his, even I am his; and since I live
in the dawn of the twentieth century, as I
see her peeping from beyond eternity, thrust¬
ing herself upon me with all the duties of
Christianity and the responsibility of lost
souls and the heathen at my door; while I
admit that my money is no more than trash;
I will pay what I ©we the Lord, if it costs
my life.
III. Now, will God get his with interest?
Yea, he is more deserving than I can repay.
If the light of Christianity can shine out
into a dark and benighted world, I shall en¬
ter into the secret closet and light my lamp,
and it shall burn while I have breath to live.
Yea, more than that; it shall burn when I
am gone. It shall influence the aged and
the young to be consistent in the doctrines
of Jesus Christ; and more than that, sinners
shall be constrained to come to God, and
transgressors shall be brought to God.
Again, "How much ©west thou?" God re¬
ceives his with interest. If I should live in
Heaven a thousand years, I could not repay
lor his wonderful work to me alone. Then
how much must I owe for what he has done
to those related to me, my neighbors and the
A
50 Sermons and Sermonettes.
strangers, and last, but not least, the hea¬
then. I owe also a debt of gratitude for
the continuance of his mighty work in the
uplifting of mankind as it began hundreds
of years ago. Having given him my life,
having given him my property, having given
him my money, the debt is not paid; for the
poet breaks forth and says,
"Nothing1 neither great nor small
Remains for me to do;
Jesus died and paid it all-
Yes, all the debt I owe."
IV. Payment must be made on demand.
What are you going to do? Are you going
to trample these opportunities under your
feet? Opportunities lost can never be re¬
gained—opportunities of a great harvest.
It is in your power; it is in your province; it
is a principle steeped with the Christian re¬
ligion that no Christian can escape the eye
of convincing duty. Listen to the cries that
come to you each day, each week, each
month, each year, saying, "Prepare your
men, prepare your women for the advance¬
ment of the Kingdom of Christ." Build
high the towers, make strong the fortifica¬
tions against the power of sin, death and
hell, and let the beauty of the Lord shine
Sermons and Sermonettes. 61
upon the debtors. The cries come not alone
from home, but from without. The heathen
are crying, "Come and help us!" The blind
are crying, "I can't see! The sick and im¬
prisoned are crying, "Open the doors! Let
me out I Let me see! Let me see the pro¬
spective view of the Gospel light!'' Another
cries, "I am a slave, sold to sin and into in¬
iquity. Light up my benighted heart with
the searchlight of the Gospel, with the can¬
dle of his fire. Set my soul ablaze with his
hallowed love."
A CUP OF BLESSING FOR A CUP
OF WOE.
Text:—"And he went a little further, and
fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as
thou wilt.*' {Matt. 26:39.)
Christ Jesus has been characterized by the
wicked men of the Jewish Court to be a devil,
a winebibber, the Prince of Devils; a de¬
ceiver, one seeking after his own elevation,
62 Sermons and Sermonettca.
and numerous other appellations, which I
need not here mention, all of which he
proved to be false.
I. He gave to man a cup of blessing. In
this cup that he gave to men, it signified
their union with him. To evidence his wil¬
lingness, he, when he was praying to his
Father, said, "If it is possible, let this cup
pass from me, but if not, thy will be done;"
thus showing that he was willing to give
up every joy that man's redemption might
be secured. "Now is my soul troubled; and
what shall I say? Father, save me from
this hour: but for this cause came I unto
this hour." (John 12: 27.) An hour to reap
the vengeance of m an, and hour of dread, an
hour of persecution.
II. In return, Christ received a cup of
woe. I believe the most heinous sin is a sin
of ingratitude. Here a king comes to us in
every day life, with no pomp and splendor
and fashions of the world. He is without
guilt, deportment spotless and has brought
to the world a life devoted to the uplifting of
others and sweeter than the honey in the
comb: it is everlasting life. But for this he,
the King of Glory, receives a cup of cursing.
versions ana sermonatta*. 58
He comes seeking tke lost. Yea, you and I
were lost, but it is a blessing to know that
we are found, aad that same hand that
was nailed to the wood is held out for you
to-day. The sinners, though wandering in
mountains of sin, should reach after this
hand. Jesus will bring them home. "I can
of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I
judge: and my judgment is just; because I
seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me." (John 5: 30.)
"I give up all for thee." Here is a great pic¬
ture of love and endurance, and of suffer¬
ing. Let us learn to hold him in grateful
memory for his everlasting kindness and
love. What pity must have reached his
breast.
III. The impossibility of the cup's pass¬
ing. It was impossible for it to pass, for he
himself said, "For this cause came I into the
world." They are wreaking vengeance
upon an innocent Christl How cruel!
Heaven signalized of this cup later. Dark¬
ness prevailed over all the land, and a trem¬
bling is felt even my the mute. Death hushed
the mouths of those who were hushed. For
his good deeds they poured upon him their
54 Sermons and Scrmonettes.
'unbridled tempers. Help us to see Jesus
in a way that we have never seen him be¬
fore.
(a) Our wills are always contrary to his.
(b) Now it is over, give all we have in
token of high regard.
(c) In the struggle we are saved.
GLORY IN THE CROSS.
Text :—"And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
(.2 Cor. 12: 9.)
Our subject brings before us to-day the
cruel punishment of the cross, inflicted first
by the Romans upon their servants who
had perpetrated crimes; on robbers, assassins
and rebels, among whom Jesus Christ our
Redeemer was reckoned on the ground that
he made himself king. It is said that the
words in which the sentence was given
were, "Thou shalt go to the cross." The
person who was subjected to this punish¬
ment was deprived of his clothing, except-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 66
ing something around the loins, and in this
state of nudity he was beaten sometimes
with rods, but generally with whips. Many
died under this flagellation, but Jesus was
crowned with thorns and made the subject
of mockery. Insults of this kind were not
among them ordinarily. This was owing
to a petulant spirit of the Romans. The
criminal, having been beaten, was made to
carry his cross to the place of punishment,
which was commonly to the hill near the
public way out of the city. The cross usu¬
ally bore the crime for which the criminal
was hanged, with the inscription written
on the transverse beam. There seems to be
nothing recorded in history to indicate what
their feet rested upon, but it is recorded that
the criminal was nailed to the cross, with
one nail in each hand and foot, this being
the most cruel punishment that could be in¬
flicted by man. But in this Christian war¬
fare it is not a punishment of a transverse
beam of wood, but a broken heart; not a
suffering where the rebel makes remarks, but
an agonizing suffering of the soul. But I
hear the voice of the Lord saying, "My grace
is sufficient for. thee."
®i Sermons and Sermonettes.
I. Sufficient grace in the time of need.
Such grand encouragement for the true-
hearted is all that seems necessary in this
moment. The writer is suffering from sick¬
ness and is now undergoing such a burden;
but the Lord would let us know that we
must not seek to escape the cross. Even
directly from Satan, something personal is
following Paul, because he refers to the
thorn in the flesh (sharp pain or shame),
but he hurls the sparks of fire from his
truth, saying, "My grace is sufficient for
thee."
II. Perfect strength to overcome weak¬
ness. The Apostle in now in a vision. "I
knew a man some years ago—whether in
the body or out—I do not know, God know-
eth such an one—but anyway, he was
caught up into the third heaven and heard
things too wonderful for me;" so casting
about in his mind, he said, "0 myself I
will not glory, but in mine infirmities."
His natural condition is here called in and
shows patience, being made perfect, under¬
going sore afflictions. It was three times
on the Mount of Olives that Jesus prayed
he might not be lifted too high in his own
Sermons and Sermonettes. 57
heart. The trial must endure, but grace
must also endure and never fail.
III. The reality of his glory upon me—
that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. In this weakness this power has its
most untold manifestation. This power
moves coincident with this grace. His
power is perfected in man. I charge you,
to-day, that the Lord has more need of our
weakness than of our strength. Our
strength is often against him, his servants
drawing on his resources, and showing
forth his glory. Man's extremity is God's
opportunity. He always goes too far lean¬
ing upon himself. Then it is a loving Father
that sends the Holy Spirit to lead him
back again; and here is manifested the un¬
told love of God.
Man's Security is Satan's Opportunity,
(a) God's way is not to take his children
away from trials, but to give them strength
to stand against them, and under an every
day life the consolation comes to each one
of his children here below, "My grace
is sufficient for thee." (b) In nc time
is God's opportunity more pregnant than
when the malady of sin approaches so
68 Sermons and Sermonettes.
heavily, that a smile from our Father's
home, says, "I give you perfect strength
to overcome weakness." (c) The true dis¬
ciple of the Lord finds infirmities. "There¬
fore," saith he, "I take pleasure in infirmi¬
ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in perse¬
cutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for
when I am weak then am I strong."
A PEACEFUL REIGN OF THE
CHURCH.
Text:—"Behold, a King shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in
judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding
place from the wind and a covert from the
tempest; as rivers of water in a dry
place, as a shadow of a great rock in a
weary land." (Isa. 32:1,2.)
Of all the prophets of God who have
spoken, the writer whom we have under
consideration is the most extensive. Yet,
we know but little of his personal history.
In Isaiah 32: 1, 2, we are reminded of the
principal men of the earth.
Sermons and Sermonettcs. 09
I. Jesus Christ is the Prince of the King
of the earth.
II. He surpasses every creature in person
and bestows authority upon them as he
sees fit. (Rev. 1:5.)
III. He is the Prince of Life. As God, he
is the Author and Disposer of all life, tem¬
poral, spiritual and eternal; as a pleader he
purchases, bestows and brings everlasting
happiness. He is the Prince of Peace. He
is the God of peace. He brought peace for
guilty man; he made peace between Jew
and Gentile; and on the field of battle
with Satan, just as he would take his flight
for the blessed heaven, he left these words
to his children, "My peace I leave with
you," reminding them that "not as the
world giveth, give I unto you." (a) And
he is a peaceful governor in that he governs
his church. The war will have ceased; the
impious rulers shall have been put down,
and instead of debauchery and ruin there
will come a king that will protect and
comfort his subjects, and so enlighten them
that all fallacy and immorality shall be
put down, and our God and his Christ will
have a great name in this earth. (6) We
<50 Sermons and Sermonettes.
need comfort in this present world and life
—to a traveler in the East, shelter from the
winds of the desert with their suffocating
clouds of dust, without water to quench
the thirst or shade from the scorching sun,
which would be blessings of the highest
value. Oh, what protection! But this king
of righteousness is a great protection in a
land forsaken by its inhabitants. He is
water to quench the thirst, or shade from
the scorching sun; a cover in the time of a
storm. Oh, when the black clouds of con¬
fusion come upon you like a mighty army,
who is it that can quell the winds? Jesus!
He is to rise to rule, not as a king of earth,
but as a king of peace. His whole reign
should be a peaceful, righteous reign.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH.
Text :—"Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost:1 {Matt. 28: 19.)
The Church comprehends several Chris¬
tian denominations that differ from each
other in their views of the mode of bap-
Sermons and Sermonettcs. 61
tism and of the proper recipient of the or¬
dinance. The Baptists believe in the bap¬
tism of believers only—the peculiarities of
the Baptist denomination in respect to the
subject of baptism in support of their views.
Respecting baptism, they maintain that the
Greek word for baptism in the English
form, properly and exclusively signifies im¬
mersion, and that, consequently, the com¬
mand to baptize can only be fulfilled in this
way or manner. Hence, the idea by many
that sprinkling, pouring or plunging is
equally legitimate according to the design
of the institution. They utterly repudiate
the critical discussion of the ordinance.
Some argue that immersion is not at all a
mode, but that it is baptism itself, on the
ground that to represent immersion as the
mode of immersion is totally absurd. And
this would seem obnoxious enough, if it is
admitted that the meaning of the Greek
word can be only represented by immersion.
With regard to the subject of baptism, the
distinction of the Baptist denomination
from the other denominations of Chris¬
tians is that they require a personal faith
as indispensable to baptism. They insist
62 Sermons and Sermonettes.
on personal, absolute, true religion, of
which not one of its acts can be performed
by proxy. They insist that no one who
cannot give a reason for the faith that he
has in the Lord, is not eligible for church-
membership ; that the concurrence of a
sanctified mind is obedience. The Baptists
record the instances as they occurred in the
New Testament as theirs.
Those baptized by John confessed their
sins. "And were baptized of him in Jordan,
confessing their sins." (Matt. 3: 6.) Not
on the banks of the Jordan, nor about the
river, but in the river confessing their sins
were they baptized by John. Jesus Christ
gave the command to the Apostles to teach
and baptize. "Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." (Matt. 28: 19.)
Again, the Trinity called to witness it,
called it a blessed ordinance. I call it a
blessed ordinance, because it has withstood
all the flashes of skeptics and infidels, and
it is as pure and firm to-day as it was on the
day that the gallery of heaven was filled.
Seraphic Spirit and the blessed Holy Spirit
Sermons and Sermonettcs.
63
came down lighting upon him, and a voice
from Heaven was heard to say, "This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." Let us not forget that on the
day of Pentecost the people were overshad¬
owed with the presence of the power of the
Holy Ghost. They that gladly received
his word were baptized, "both men and
women." "They continued steadfastly in
the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and
in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts
2: 42.)
And again at Samaria, those who be¬
lieved were baptized (Acts 8: 12). Both
men and women confessed and avowed
their faith. They heard the statement, be¬
lieved it, and were baptized. Saul of Tar-
sus, after the wonderful vision, eclipsing
everything that he had heard, was un¬
horsed or thrown to the ground. His sight
was restored, he believed, and was baptized
(Acts 9: 17, 18). The scales fall from his
eyes; he sees as he has never seen before
and his strength is also restored. Just the
case with every one that believes. Corne¬
lius and his friends heard Peter, and they
were filled with the Holy Ghost. (Acts
64> Sermons and Sermonettes.
10: 44.) Peter is seen with that same
boldness, saying, "Can any man forbid wa¬
ter, * * * which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we?" Lydia heard Paul
and Silas and was baptized—she and her
household. Paul afterward went to her
house to comfort the brethren. The jailer
and all his house heard the Word and were
baptized, believing in God (Acts 16:32, 34).
Crispus and all his house and many Co¬
rinthians heard, believed, and were bap¬
tized. Crispus is the chief ruler of the syn¬
agogue, but when he had felt the power of
the Holy Spirit, he believed and was bap¬
tized. Not only he himself, but the Corin¬
thians also. No one, as we have seen, has
turned aside after fallacy after conversion,
but in every case they were baptized. The
disciples of Ephesus heard and were bap¬
tized, not in the name of man or any
earthly being, but in the name of the Lord.
The Lord Jesus is the plan as practised by
those who walked with God. It is suffi¬
cient for us. "If thou withdraw thyself
from me, oh, whither shall I flee?" Under
all of their disadvantages and circumstan¬
ces, they come out where Jesus came—out
of the water.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 65
Thus far we have gone and we see that
every one that has believed on the Son of
God was baptized. Of all the above-named
links of the chain of baptism referred to,
not a single link has been missing, but all
fitly joined together, pointing from the
cradle of our blessed Master to his bap¬
tism, forthwith to his temptation in the
wilderness, fasting and praying, and even
coming up through suffering of body and
agonizing of soul, the most courageous
battle ever fought between heaven and
earth. The household of Stephen was bap¬
tized by Paul, and they addicted themselves
to the ministry of the saints.
One great stress should be put on the
soul being converted. The Baptists believe
that it is as obligatory to baptize now as it
was when it was first instituted, for the
following reasons:
I. Baptism is divinely instituted as an
ordinance of the Christian religion, and to
be administered not according to a race,
creed, color or condition, but to all. I sup
pose there are those who have never seen
this little word, "a//," but we believe that
uoon it hangs everlasting things.
66
Sermons and Sermonettes.
II. There is no intimation that bap¬
tism is to be restricted to any nation. Pe¬
riod or time is a general law without any
restriction whatever, with one exception,
and that refers to character. He that be¬
lie veth, therefore, the divine law must re¬
main obligatory unless it is repealed by di¬
vine authority. Since there is no intima¬
tion in the Scriptures that the law of bap¬
tism has been repealed, therefore, it makes
the law still binding on those that believeth
on his name. Yes, binding with an ever¬
lasting adamantine chain.
III. Its penance is taught in the pas¬
sage, "Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world." This promise
was given when the ordinance was insti¬
tuted, and it is plain to see the continuance
of baptism until the world ends.
IY. Baptism is one of the most impor¬
tant doctrines of the duties and privileges
of the Gospels. Our Saviour connects it
with the doctrine of the Trinity, preaching
and believing the Gospel, following all
righteousness. Is baptism a righteous act ?
If so, why question its authority or its
validity? "Suffer it to be so now: for thus
it becometk us to fulfil all righteousness."
Sermons and Sermonettea. ®7
V. Here the nations are to be baptized
and taught by the same class of men.
Doubtless Jesus meant what he said. His
promise can never be broken, because all the
world is included in the same command. He
is on board of the old vessel to see that
ravenous beasts cannot come too near the
vessel, or make his children afraid. Paul
connects baptism with death, and refers to
it as a burial, when he says, "Therefore, we
are buried with him by baptism." (Rom.
6: 4.) "For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
(Gal. 3:27.) Here we are swallowed in
Christ, lost in Christ.
VI. He connects it with one body. (Eph.
4: 4-6.) There is one body, one Spirit, even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
Peter connects it again, when he says, "Re¬
pent every one of you for the remission of
sins and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost."
(a) We cannot discontinue baptism because
of the link that links conscience to words.
God would be missing, and that would pre¬
clude us from taking the train on the di¬
rect route for Heaven. (6) Baptism an¬
swers our purpose to-day as when Peter
68 Sermons and Sermonettea.
and the Apostles were here, and will con¬
tinue until the world shall end.
Tlielaw of baptism needs no amendment
to-day. When Christ was baptized it needed
none. The Christian baptism is perpetual,
for it is given by authority from Heaven.
No injunction has been sent from Heaven
for any other. Therefore, all others are
not even mockery, but are simply irreli¬
gious and consist in non-worship of the God
of Heaven and His Christ.
CRYING ROCKS.
Text:—"I tell you that, if these should
hold their peace, the stones would immedi¬
ately cry out." (Luke 19: 40.)
I. A bold personality. Our text may
be construed as a proverbial expression,
showing the necessity, or the reason why
our blessed Lord should have the praise.
Jesus is now traveling in the city of Jerusa¬
lem, and I have no doubt but it is noised
abroad that he is going to enter the city.
Sermons and Sermonettes. &9
If it were in modern times, flags and bun¬
ting would be flying and the children would
be, no doubt, singing the "Star Spangled
Banner," and the colors of our country
would be seen on every corner; but the
King of Glory is in the land. How must he
be received ? The heralds rang out the ho-
sannas, and blessings rang out from a mul¬
titude of throats at such hallucination. A
distorted element was here. They showed
their disgust by saying, "Master, make
these people hush; they disturb the peace."
II. Here is shown the necessity of praise.
We remember how, some time ago, the
blessed embassador referred to the stones,
when he said, "Think not to say within
yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:
for I say unto you, that God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
Man ma} - stubborn to bow, but the silent
rocks await the animation of Jesus Christ.
The riven rocks compact will, if summoned,
take your place and speak his praise. The
poet was right when he penned these lines:
"I heard the voice of Jesus say,
'Come unto me and rest:
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast.'"
70 Sermons and Sermonettea.
Tlxe palm trees are being stripped of their
foliage. See the congregation pulling off
their outer garments, putting them upon
the colt.
III. All nature will praise him. Listen
to the hum of birds as they give praises to
the King of Glory. Are you going to join
the chorus ? Send in your petition. They
are making up an army of volunteers. Will
you come ? Hark! the ocean has caught
the sound. See her rushing and surging!
Watch her foaming billows! If you are go-
ing, get in a hurry! I hear orders given on
the battlefield : "Go work, and I will pay
thee if thou holdest out to the end; I will
give thee a crown of life."
(а) Habakkuk said, 1 'For the stone shall
cry out ofthe wall, and the beam out of the
timber shall answer it. But listen, I must
answer to the call." They are waiting for
me at home. I must be at the feast; the
lamb is slain.
(б) It is said, "Let the heavens re¬
joice, and the sea roar, 0 children of God."
"Sing-, all ye harps of gold,
And when we tnne our highest notes,
Our jojs can ne'er be told.'* r
Sermuus and Strmonettes. 71
(c) Some time ago, when the two great
parties were at sword's points, struggling
for supremacy, one of them put itself on rec¬
ord as being in favor of a man for President
who is the very expression for prosperity,
and whose idea of the American government
is the idea of our ancestors, and with a
touch of his finger on the electric button of
prosperity, thousands of men were given
employment. The hunger and want began
to die away. Fires were rekindled, thou¬
sands of men, women and children's hearts
were made glad. I present to you this
morning, one greater than he of earth; a
man whose image is expressed in the church,
a man to whom the world must bow—all
the great men, from Adam to the sounding
of the trumpet that will summon the small
and great; all men who snatched from
their fellowmen with one stoke of the pen,
their God-given liberty.
(d) Why not prepare for that grand em-
campment, when the carnal sword shall be
dropped at the feet of our Master ?
(e) Our leader has arisen, not again to
sleep the sleep of death, but a living real¬
ity, Would you hold your peace if He were
72 Sermons and Sermonettes.
entering your heart ? Oh, why not speak
as you walk ? Why not speak as you live?
The silent rocks may be watching, catching
a glimpse of divine light. We need a living
personality. Will you live it or will you
have the rocks to speak in your place? If
these hold their peace, the rocks will cry
out.
CHRISTIAN ENERGY.
Text:—"Behold, I come quickly: hold that
fast which thou hast, that 110 man take thy
crown." (Rev. 3:11.)
I. To be consistent Christians we must
be quick of perception. God has never held
back his goodness from man a single mo¬
ment. He (man) has wandered into the
valley of wickedness, but the Lord sent
agents for him, and with loving voice
warned him of the threatening judgment,
and of the terrible day when he alone must
stand at the bar, a witness, not for others,
but for himself. Paul gives us a sidelight
of this Christian energy when he refers to
it in Phil. 4: 5, "Let your moderation be
Sermons and Sermonettes. 73
known unto all men. The Lord is at
hand." Here we notice that he is at hand.
Thank Heaven for the God that we can
comprehend in our very being! We should
know how to be quiet, yet firm and persist¬
ent, ever abounding in the Lord. 1 do not
know how he counts time, but in our lan¬
guage it means, in a hurry, soon, early.
II. He certainly means here that earnest¬
ness shall be seen in our lives, doings, and
sayings. There are a great many people
who are so blinded by the business affairs
of the world that it takes all of their en¬
ergy and time to get along. But, my
brother, you must remember that you are
at this end of the line. The distance is not
known. You need not mind who is at the
other end. They are winding the beam of
eternity. "Hold *** fast, *** let no man
take thy crown." The sinner has an inher¬
itance given him by simply believing and
trusting in him who stilled the tempest: in
him who called the dead and they came
forth; in him who ignored death and the
grave, and in his farewell address said,
"All power in Heaven and in earth is en¬
trusted in my hand."
74 Sermons and Sermoncttes.
III. Do not fear responsibilities, because
if you run, you will fall in the snares of the
devil. I have seen many a one fall by the
way for fear of a tedious journey, or hard
sayings, or like Lot's wife, looking back to
the perishing things of this life. But, 0
blessed God, the prize is at the end! Let no
man take thy crown. In the war between
light and darkness, let no man exchange
suffering for ease, but fight the good fight
of Faith; lay hold of eternal life, and as the
poet would have it:
"Yield not to temptation.
For yielding- is sin,
Each vic'try will help yos,
Some other to win;
Fight manfully onward,
Dark passions subdue,
Look ever to Jesus,
He'll carry you through.**
The old ship is drawing nearer home.
Hold fast! Satan and his combined forces
are trying to wrench the power from you.
But "Hold * * * fast, * * * let no man take
thy crown."
(a) You need not expect to hold without
exertion, but you may hold by prayer and
endurance. You may perish in this world,
but you cannot perfeh theyt, and then you
Sermons and Sermonettes. 76
have so much encouragment that helps
you hold. They are constantly going away
from here and they do not come back. 0
there must be a great place of happiness in
the great beyond, because of the record it
has in the world.
The infidel says there is no Christ; but he
cannot but see death, because he has stood
by the bedsides of loving ones and seen their
quivering lips falter and faint. With his el¬
oquence, he cannot bring them back. But
on every turn of the road, if there is any
turn, those who waded through bloody
seas say it is better farther on.
(6) To know a wrong is a great gift of
God. Pray for it, so that you may be
easily touched with the loving hand that
has never misguided a single man; but
every one that has been led by his counsel
has been gloriously blessed.
(c) The business of this life will soon be
over. Then what will we do standing in
the midst of the swelling Jordan, when the
sweeping tide of eternity shall come press¬
ing her claim on the world ? But another
thought. You who are standing on the sink¬
ing sands of time, holding to the ship of de-
76 Sermons and Sermonettes.
struction, loose your hold and catch hold
of your mother's God or you will lose
the most precious opportunity of all your
life. "Hold * * * fast, * * * let no man take
thy crown."
MUTUAL AFFECTION.
Text:—"A new commandment I give
unto you, That ye love one another; as 1
have loved you, that ye also love one an¬
other." (John 13: 34.)
In coming to you with this, I trust that
I will not appear selfish, or be burdensome
to my children, but I want by the grace of
God already given unto me to stir up your
minds as to life and duty; and as we begin
our services of a new year, it, to me, seems
very becoming to speak upon the subject of
"Mutual Affection."
I. The Command of our Master. We
need not look this way or that way, if we
ate born of God. He is our Master, and it
is a great privilege to call him Master.
This new commandment is given you, and
it is certainly desirable for the success of
Sermons and Sermonettes. 77
his kingdom in this world. What would
the people of God be without that loye?
Saints and devils cannot live together, be¬
cause their characters are too far different.
Then the command goes abreast with the
command of believing in Christ. "And this
is his commandment, That we should be¬
lieve on the name of his Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as he gave us com¬
mandment." (1 John 3: 23.)
II. He is the Ruler. If he is the ruler,
we are only his subjects for we are bought
with a price far more precious than gold or
rubies. If we are loyal subjects, we will
obey his commands. We were paid for
with the blood of Jesus Christ, who loved
us with inexpressible love. The gold—all
the Californias were his, and all the dia¬
monds of the world were his, but some¬
thing more precious had to be sacrificed.
It was the precious blood of Jesus. Mod¬
ern Christianity, I believe, swings out of
her orbit when she seeks to hate any of
mankind on account of race, color or pre¬
vious condition of servitude. It is Christi¬
anity's duty to seek love. The Christian
loving ones are those who are growing in
the likeness of our Master.
78 Sermons and Sermonettes.
r
\ . . \
III. He. is our Redeemer. When we like
sheep had jjgone astray, he brought us from
the chain of woe, slaves to disgrace, shame
and ruin, lost without hope until Jesus
came upon thet scene and heard the wail and
cry of a world doomed to ruin. A flaming
sword swinging in the way of the garden
of purity to keep the way of life, and filled
with pity and mercy, he comes to us:
" Down from the shining- seats above,
With joyful haste he fled;
Entered the grave with mortal flesh,
And dwelt among the dead.
" O for this love, let rocks and rills
Their lasting- silence break,
And all harmonious human tongues
The Saviour's praises speak."
This is a new commandment, for in our
journey to the celestial world Christ's ex¬
ample must be practiced. While his acts
were deeds of kindness and love, this
commandment of love dates back to the
beginning when our forefathers awaked
from a deep sleep. Then notice with
these words of kindness, how our Mas¬
ter dealt with those, even who persecu¬
ted him. "Father, forgive them." How
dreadful was it on the night of his betrayal,
Sermons and Sermonettes.
79
— ^
when he looked the man in the face7 who
would give the fatal kiss.
IV. Love, like a plant, must be cultiva¬
ted, but unlike plants, it will grow stronger
at death.
DEDICATION.
Text :—u And the Lord spake unto Moses,
sayingy On the first day of the first month
shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent
of the congregation. And thou shalt put
therein the ark of the testimony, and cover
the ark with the vail." {Exodus 40: 1—3.)
Dedication—a religious ceremony by
which any person or place or thing was de¬
voted to a holy purpose. Thus, the taber¬
nacle and the second temples were dedicated
to God.
Thus, we meet here to-day on this occa¬
sion, and like Israel of old, this visible tab¬
ernacle is only temporary, and yet it be¬
speaks to the coming generations the
thought of their ancestors' God. Now, it
may be well for us to turn to the 8th
chapter of 1 Kings, beginning at the 1st
verse: "Then Solomon assembled the elders
Sermons and Sermonettes.
of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the
chief of the fathers of the children of Israel,
unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they
might bring up the ark of the covenant of
the Lord out of the city of David, which is
Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled
themselves unto king Solomon at the feast
in the month of Ethanim, which is the sev¬
enth month. * * * Then spake Solomon, The
Lord said that he would dwell in the thick
darkness. I have surely built thee a house
to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide
in forever." Now having been ordered by
the Lord, Moses begins his work.
I. God's orders must be filled. Though
Moses was weighted down with cares and
anxieties and the people filled with an in¬
spiring ambition, the man of our text never
moved without being ordered by the Lord.
And it delights our hearts when we see the
Master walking among us giving orders to
his children. It was David, the sweet singer
who had communion with God, that said,
4'The steps of a good man are ordered by
the Lord: and he delighted in his way."
Notice the time was the first of the first
month, only lacking a few days of being one
Sermons and Sermonettea. SI
year since they had emerged from bondage.
After Moses had done as commanded, he
directed consecration.
II. Consecration. To consecrate is to
give to God; as a place holy and acceptable
to the Lord. Testimony spoken of here in
our text is the type of man's futurity—what
man is to believe, do and teach. And as
David said in his prayer, " Let my heart be
sound in thy statutes; that I be not
ashamed. * * * Quicken me after thy loving-
kindness ; so shall I keep the testimony of
thy mouth." You are called on to-day to
testify as to your knowledge of the hidden
mystery.
III. The testimony of Christ must be
confirmed in you. Here is hidden in the ark
the thing which must be handed down to
your children's children. So in the archives,
this old church to-day will be testimony of
your faith and practice which should be so
clear in keeping with the words of our
Lord and Master, that no man could mis¬
understand you. With her triple declara¬
tion of One Lord, One Faith and One Bap¬
tism, let it go out in unmistakable terms
that you are not too bare of the Word of
82 Sermons and Sermonettea.
God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ
and all things he saw. The two stone tab¬
lets were a visible testimony.
The church of to-day needs spiritual
giants. But men think more of their bodies
than their souls. It is said that Greece had
her heroes and esteemed them as gods. To
be victorious in their games was a great
honor. Kings envied it, poets sang of it,
ruleis were honored, visitors were honored.
Hercules, Theseus, Castor and Pollux were
subdued monsters. They slew lions, stran¬
gled serpents, overcame giants and were
valiant in war, but in the art gallery of
eternity, I see one Hero whom all the world
would like to admire. Yes; stand all the
heroes side by side—but he is mighty in
battle and is full in glory. It is the Christ
of God. The Greeks had Ajax wrestling
with Ulysses, Hercules with Achilles, lut
Christ, with one great stroke of gallant
pride, freed us from sin.
(a) God's strong men. Who will volun¬
teer and be one of God's athletes? Moses
was a strong man, full of courage and
power. So, in the church those who lead
God's host must be spiritual giants, whose
Sermons and Scrmonettcs. 83
faith is not a fiction, but founded upon
Christ, the Son of God. When we remem¬
ber how God's Word has been preserved and
handed down to us, we should learn more
and more how to love and reverence him.
A TRAGIC MESSAGE BORNE
TO JESUS.
Text:—"And went and told Jesus,*1
{Matt. 14:12.)
I. The appearance and manner of the
Baptists attracted w de attention.
II. Chagrined with despair, etc.
III. A better place could not have been
selected to go and tell Jesus.
John the Bapt 'st may be considered the
greatest Prophet and the forerunner of
Cnrist. He was the son of Zacharias and
Elisabeth, and was bom six months before
Christ (Luke 1: 5-15). Of the early part
of his life we know but little. It is sup¬
posed that he grew and waxed strong un¬
til the day of his showing unto Israel.
Though he was consecrated from his moth-
84 Sermons and Sermonettes.
er's womb for the ministerial office, he did
not enter into this responsible position in
the heat of his youth, but spent sev¬
eral years in solitude and self-denial—a
good example for the minister of modern
times. For a man to go out in this mission
needs to conquer his own passions and
mortify the temptations of the world.
This is what John did before he could
preach repentance to others. We cannot
acquire divine knowledge as we ought amid
the busy scenes of life, or amidst the noise
of folly, the clamor of gain and worldly
greed, and the allurementi of vice. I ac¬
knowledge there is a great deal in the world
to be admired, and still if we would gain
spiritual wisdom, we must retire from the
world and be still. The prophetical descrip¬
tion spoken in Isa. 40: 3, of the Baptist, is
very striking to me for several reasons. It
tells us about the Baptists that will cry out;
situates him in the wilderness just where he
was heard—out in the desert—preparing a
highway for our God. Listen to the words
of the Prophet, "The voice of him that cri-
eth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the wav of
the Lord, make straight in the desert a high-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 83
way for our God." Then it was a Baptist
preacher who first came to prepare the
hearts of the people for the coming of otir
Lord. However despised by the world
and hated by the proud and haughty, his
was the first voice heard preaching the
way of life, and if God has made any
changes, I fail to see it in his Holy Word.
This voice was really sounded in the proph¬
et's ears before it was heard on earth. And
another prophet predicted his coming when
he said, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn
the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse." (Mai. 4: 5, 6.) This also is meant
of the Baptist, I have no doubt, for I have
the testimony of Jesus himself, saying,
"Among them that are born of woman,
there bath not risen a greater than John
the Baptist." That is Christ's eulogy upon
him. But alas, "For all the p ophets and
the law prophesied until John. And if ye
will receive it, this is Elias, which was for
to come." (Matt. 11 • 13, 14.)
86 Sermons and Sermoncttc*.
I. The appearance and manner of the
Baptist attracted wide attention. His
clothing was of camel's hair, a girdle of
leather was about his ioins, his food con¬
sisted of locusts and wild honey, and he de¬
livered his message with authority, and as
he preached his oratory and ability was im¬
pressive and lasting; his powerful influence
was extensive. Those who heard him were
awakened to a sincere religious inquiry.
His place of preaching was in the wilder¬
ness on the river Jordan. A beautiful fea¬
ture in John's life and character was his
lowliness. Popularity, it is said, is dan¬
gerous. Every one should take the exam¬
ple of John, turning the attention of the
world to Christ instead of ourselves. In
John's preaching he condemned relatives in¬
termarrying; for Herod had married his
brother's wife while he yet lived. This was
a great scandal which John exposed. He
did not do it in a corner, but to his face.
Herod grew incensed and ordered his arrest
and imprisonment. Oh, but that impious
day at the king's birthday party is a chance*
for the king to revenge himself and gratify
the whims of a lewd woman! Thus an
Sermons and Sermonettes. 87
honest prophet is martyred for a dishonest
woman. Note that other prophets spoke
of Christ's coming, but John said he had al¬
ready come.
II. Chagrined with despair, his disci¬
ples go and tell Jesus of the tragedy. There
stands a woman high up in Jewish society,
but Jesus sees her character all smutted
and deformed. There she stands with the
bleeding head of the prophet of God in a
charger. A few friends take his body and
bury it. Oh, where could the heart of such
a woman be? She trudges away with
the bleeding head and questions her
mother.
III. A better plan could not have been
selected than to go and tell Jesus. While
they witness the scene with sunken hearts
and weeping eyes, the disciples do not forget
to tell Jesus. From the darkness and con¬
finement of prison, he passes to the liberty
and light of Heaven, and while malice is
gratified at the sight of his head without
the body, his soul repairs to the Great
Court where no Herod presides; where no
Herod thirsts for blood; where they that
labor shall be rewarded eternally; where
68 Sermons and Sermonettes.
zeal and comfort shall be the watchword of
the final and faithful. Yes; go tell Jesus
your sorrows. He will sympathize with you
for he has sorrowed himself. Yes; go tell
him of your plans for life and eternity. He
knows better how to guide than you.
THE NEW CHURCH.
Text: And in the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people,
but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for
ever." {Dan. 2: 44.)
Just a few days ago I happened to step
into the "Vanguard" office, and all at once
the editor said to me, "Do you know that
you are on the program to preach at the
Union District Association?" "No!" was
my immediate reply. "Why, man, you are
on to preach on the subject of 'The True
Church.'" "What!" "Yes!" And then I
began to think that somebody had put the
church under false colors, or attempted to
Sermons and Sermonettes. 89
hide the brilliant light which she would dis¬
play in a lost world. If logic is true, we
reason from the above subject that the
church cannot be false if she is true. There¬
fore, we began to reason that there cannot
be but one true sun to shine in this universe:
all other lights are borrowed or mockeries.
So with the Church. There can be but one
true Church. The word "church" in the
New Testament occurs at least one hun¬
dred times. Translated from the original,
it means "congregation" or "assembly."
Hence in Acts 19: 32, 39, 41, it is trans¬
lated "assembly," but in the whole of the
New Testament, with the above exceptions,
it is translated "church "
Paul says, "Christ also loved the church,
and gave himself for it; * * * that he might
present it to himself a glorious church, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."
(Eph. 5: 25, 27.) What could he have
meant when he referred to the seven
churches in Asia, the church at Jerusalem,
and the church of Smyrna ? I have no doubt
but that he meant only the congregation
of baptized believers in Christ, or the assem¬
bly having Christ as their head and guide
SO Sermons and Sermonettes.
of rule and practice—no Pope, or Bishop, or
Presbytery; it is Christ, the Head of the
Church, or, as in the original, Ekklesia. We
now see that a church is truly set forth
in obedience to following the Lord Jesus
Christ as he commands.
L THE TRUE CHURCH IS THE ONE THAT
CHRIST ORIGINATED.
Christ is the Monarch. His word and
Spirit is the rule by which he gives pro¬
tection and grace and at whose shrine he
receives homage and tribute. It is a king¬
dom whose subjects are not of this world,
though they be in the world. It is a king¬
dom of love and j oy and righteousness and
peace in the Holy Ghost.
n. THIS KINGDOM WAS TO HAVE BEEN SET
UP IN THE MIDST OF CONTENDING FORCES.
"The God of heaven" was to set up this
kingdom and give power to Christ or exe¬
cute judgment, and bring in a reprobate
people subject to our God and His Christ.
What does church loyalty mean ? Does it
mean jars and seisms, tribulations and con¬
flicts ? These are but the vanguard of what
Christ himself said, that the time would
come if it were possible, that men would de-
Sermons and Sermoncttcs. 91
ceive the very elect of heaven; but he warns
us not to go after them, neither bid them
Godspeed. The originator of this kingdom
is from above; therefore, those who expect
to inhabit that kingdom, must tend up¬
ward, having his word as the sword of the
Spirit. I hear Paul for a moment raising
objection to modern Christianity: "They
have faith without works; religion with¬
out piety; assemblies without Christ; but
alas I what will be the ultimatum, when, in
the midst of flying clouds, they stand to be
adjudged for true faith, true religion or, be¬
ing false to their God, for false faith."
Those who obey him only shall shout the
hallelujahs, casting their crowns at the feet
of the Saviour, who said, "And I, if I be lifted
up, will draw all men unto me." You will
find the true church of Jesus Christ on the
main line. No switch between the earth
and the Holy City. Of all modern inven¬
tions, and men of scientific reasoning, no
one has discovered a new way in truth to
the Holy City. Turn, if you please, your
attention for a moment, and take inspec¬
tion of the Pedobaptist denominations,
And ask who laid the foundation of these
92 Sermons and Sermonettes.
so-called churches, which I deem societies
ask, who organized them? Man, is the an¬
swer. Who ordered him to do it? Man,
is the answer. To whom does he look for
rule and guidance? To man. Watch them
in their conferences how they make laws to
govern their so-called churches! watch how
their presbyteries engineer their churches!
Watch how their synods give orders!
Watch how the Pope issues decrees? This
is all man's invention. But let us turn for a
moment and behold the Baptists with
their triple declaration, "One Lord, one
Faith, and one Baptism," whose rules
and regulations are already made. Jesus
signalized it when he said, "All power in
heaven and earth is trusted in my hands."
Again, it was to be set up in the days of
these kings. Notice in Luke 2: 1, that
Christ was born in the days of these kings,
when all the world was to be taxed. It was
seen that all these kings were enemies of
Christ, and it is seen that the church was to
be set in defiance of them.
in. IT IS A KINGDOM THAT KNOWS NO DECAY.
All other kingdoms, with their pomp and
splendor, their kings and queens, their po w-
Sermons and Sermonettes, 93
ers, potentates and dominions, failed; and
time rolls on until the days when they are
forgotten, having been lost in the sea of ob¬
livion. But the kingdom spoken of here is
an everlasting kingdom. It shall stand for¬
ever. Fire and sword have not yet been
able to destroy it; contending armies fight
in vain against it; false teachers may rage
and grasp their hands and clench their teeth;
but the kingdom spoken of by Daniel shall
stand forever. For it was Christ that said,
"The gates of hell shall not prevail against
it." The angel of God comes to the church
to-day as in days of old, saying, "Let
not your hearts be troubled; neither be
afraid." And the poet breaks forth in
words of love, saying, "I am thy God, and
will still give thee aid."
(a) It is a victorious kingdom. It has
stood the mighty floods and rivers of
bloodshed. It has stood the criticisms of
the infidel. And yet she goes on as if un¬
disturbed,
(b) It is a kingdom of power. It shall
break in pieces other kingdoms and con¬
sume them—when all other kingdoms have
been forgotten like Pompeii; when all gran-
94
Sermons and Sermoncttes.
deur, and splendor and science have been
buried never to rise again. I suppose if
God had intended that men should be the
head of his church, he never would have
said, "Upon this rock will I build my
church," for "upon this rock" there is no
room for any other church.
(c) The church cannot be left to man.
(d) For it is Christ's own design.
(e) It was built for all eternity. If you
are going to the City of Refuge, you would
better enter the ark of God, for you will find
her near the river's brink, baptizing men,
not to save them, but because they are
saved through faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. We have orders from heaven, "Go
ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost," and "Lo, I am with you
alway even unto the end of the world."
A men.
Sermons and Sermoncttes. 96
THE PRISONER OF THE GOSPEL
DELIVERED.
Text:—"And, behold, the angel of the
Lord came upon him, and a light shined in
the prison: and he smote Peter on the side,
and raised him up, saying•, Arise up quickly.
And his chains fell off from his hands."
(Acts 12: 7.)
It is seen that the book of The Acts of the
Apostles does not give the ministry of all the
Apostles, but of only two, viz., Peter and
Paul. Luke seems to be the authority for
both the books of Luke and Acts. The Acts
take up the story of the Gospel where the
book of Luke leaves off. The narrative is
told in plain and simple style from its cradle
in Judea to its home in the heart of the
heathen world. In one instant the Gospel
is offered first to the Jewish nation, and being
rejected by it, his apostles are commissioned
to give it to the heathen world. Paul, though
bound in affliction, is a witness in Rome,
the capital of the Pagan world. Jesus after
his resurrection charges his disciples to
tarry until they are endowed with power
•6 Sermons and Sermonettes.
from on high. Then they are to have wit¬
ness from Jerusalem as a center to the whole
world. After this, Jesus is taken up from
them under the cover of a cloud, with full
assurance that he will come again. The
people hated the doctrine of the Resurrec¬
tion, which was the corner stone of all that
Peter preached. Roman prisoners had a
chain fastened at one end to the wrist of
their right hand and the other to the wrist
of the soldier's left hand, leaving the wrist
of the right hand of the keeper free in case
of any attempt to escape. For greater se¬
curity the prisoner was, cs is seen here,
chained between two soldiers, one on either
side. Thus the best representative of Jesus
Christ is shut up within double gates, and
guarded by double sentinels, with double
keepers; and double chains seem to defy all
escape. So thought the keepers who
watched the grave of our Lord Jesus. But
God saw their folly, and in the midst of the
watchguard and staff of soldiery, an angel
came from Heaven and broke the silence of
the grave and the men fell as dead.
I. Contentment in adversity. Peter islyw
ing between two soldiers, perfectly resigned
Sermons and Sermonettes. 97
to his fate, expecting soon to be hurried to
the judgment bar, when messengers of God
came down from Heaven. No one hears the
click of a latch or the rattling of the galling
chains as they smite Peter on the side, and
say to him, "Arise up, quickly." The pris¬
oner obeys, and as he moves himself his
chains fall from his wrists.
II. Prayer the weapon which brought
contentment. I have no doubt but that
through the prayers of the Church the
prisoners of Christ were fanned to sleep
upon the deep ocean of God's love. If the
poet would write at this moment, for it is
a momentous occasion, he would write:
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed,
The motion of a hidden fire.
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is theffiifrden of a sigh,
The falling^'of % tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of spctch,
That infant's lips can try ;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that teach
The Majesty on high.
Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
Bis watchword at the gates of death)
He enters Heaven with prayer.
g8 Sermons and Sermonettes.
III. If you are content to let God use
you, the world will open doors, and break
down great rock walls, or loose you. It
was in the jail at midnight when two pris¬
oners of our Lord Jesus Christ were pray¬
ing. Their feet were made fast in the stocks;
they sang and prayed unto God, when sud¬
denly there was a great earthquake—so
great was it that the foundation was
shaken, and every door was opened and the
keeper would have killed himself but for the
interference of the man who was a prisoner
for God, who said, "Do thyself no harm ;
for we are all here." Let the world wrap
her chains and bar her doors, the links will
be snapped by an Angel of life, while her
ramparts will fall at the tread of his feet.
Whoever heard of light shining in a prison
at midnight unless the golden gates of eter¬
nity had been thrown there upon the eter¬
nal hinges of his promise. "I will be with
thee in the sixth trouble and in the seventh
I will in no wise forsake you." It must have
been a happy moment when the messenger
of God came from Heaven, with a blazing
light which lighted up every nook and cor¬
ner of the jail, and struck him on the side.
Sermons and Sermonettes.
99
A.t his command lie aro&e and every fetter
fell from him. So many of God's people
who have been commanded to be free, are
found in sin and shame, chained between
the world on one hand, and slumber on the
other. If by faith you touch the key that
unlocks mercy's door, you would be set in
the way to God. It was Augustine who
said that "true happiness is to know God."
This was verified, not only in prison, in the
midst of galling chains, but thousands of
other ways, some of which I might mention.
It was Elizabeth in 1549, a tender maiden
who had formerly been a nun, who was ap¬
prehended for Christ and his people. When
the officers came to her house they found a
satin New Testament. They said, "We have
the right person; we have now the teacher."
She was carried from counsel to counsel.
When she was asked whether she had a hus¬
band, she answered, "It is not permitted for
us to swear; our words must be yea, yea;
nay, nay." Thumbscrews were put on her
hands and ankle bones. You might have
heard the cracking of bones and seen the
gushing of blood. When she cried, "0, I
cannot longer bear it," they told her to con-
100 Sermons and Sermonettes.
fess, and they would ease her pain. She
cried, "I feel no pain." The sentence was
finally given that she should be put in a
sack and drowned.
(а) Hurry to the cross. If you are going
to come after the blessed Christ, you must
be in a hurry, because the heavenly messen¬
ger must report to headquarters and must
go in on time. God intends for Christians
to be bound to the cable of faith and that
only. How beautiful must have been the
prison when such heavenly appearance came
in amidst a dark dungeon, thus signifying
that Christ can take the most depraved na¬
ture with the touch of his nimble finger,
and bring it into most exquisite beauty.
My friends, if you are coming to the cross,
make haste, for underneath its rubbish is
the crown of everlasting joy. Make haste!
All run and obtain the prize, and your dark
nights will be turned into eternal day.
(б) Sight in the dungeon is significant
of his presence. He is not only present, but
is there to help in time of need. 0 what
a change the Gospel of the Son of God has
wrought among the children of men I It
has turned pri ons into pleasure gardens,
Sermons and Sermojiettes. 101
fires and faggots into pleasant shades, and
the souls of men to beat as one man's soul.
(c) Prisons are comfortable when the
messengers are there. The command is re¬
ceived with such grace and fortitude.
Sleeping between two soldiers until an
angel from Heaven flashed into the prison,
the prisoner of the Lord was struck on the
side and was told to arise, and every chain
fell from his limbs. When that prisoner
prayed in the Philippine jail, an angel leaped,
as it were, across the boundless ocean of
eternity to break the chain from his wrist
and to rescue him. It could not be a dream,
for the jailer would not have attempted sui¬
cide, or the chains would have been fastened
to his wrists next morning. The great iron
gate was opened, having noiselessly swung
back of its own accord, and he was more
safe among his companions. Herod grew
enraged and had the guards called in and
beheaded: but God watched the bloody-
handed murderer, and it was not long be¬
fore Herod was taken with a loathsome
disease and died.
102 Sermons and Sermonettes.
CONTINUATION OF THE BAPTIST
CHURCH--H STORY.
Text:—"If jt continue in the faith
grounded and settled, and be hot moved
away from the hope of the gospel." (Co/.
1: 23.)
I. We Must Remain Under the Pow¬
er of the Gospel.
II. The Holy Influence of the Gos¬
pel Establishes Our Lives.
III. He Cannot Claim Us as His Un¬
less We Continue.
To suppose that the necessity of water
baptism is by the baptism of the Holy
Ghost, is manifestly erroneous on two ac¬
counts : (1) There is in the scriptural sense
no baptism of the Holy Ghost, no miracu¬
lous gifts, no converting operation, no sanc¬
tifying of the influence of the Spirit. It is
ever called by the writers, the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. The bestowment of the Holy
Ghost on the day of Pentecost and at the
calling of the Gentiles at Cornelius' house is
different from subsequent bestowments of the
Sermons and Sermonettes. 103
Spirit. Thus we have no other mention ol
the Holy Spirit baptism in the above. We
may feel the influence of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, but these influences are not the
baptisms of the Holy Spirit, and we ought
not call them such. Suppose that every be¬
liever were baptized into the Holy Spirit,
would that make the obligation to be bap¬
tized less? No, I think not, for the same
command was given, "Baptizing them in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,''
to those who baptized the few chosen of
God. Then remember that Peter com¬
manded every Pentecostal convert to be
baptized. It is said in the original that
they gladly received the Word and were im¬
mersed. There are Christian denomina¬
tions that say it is not worth while to obey
God in this point; but we preach Christ and
obedience. The church believes in the sepa¬
ration of that and the church. Now, then,
if we just keep the congregational idea, we
may understand its history. The origin of
the Baptist is claimed to have been in apos¬
tolic times. They claim no such continuity
as is involved in apostolic succession; but
they claim that in all time past there have
104
Sermons and Sermonettea.
been congregations and teachers, who ha ve
ever held to this faith, "One Lord, one faith
and one baptism," and held to the immer¬
sion of believers.
(2) In all ages, the Baptists have be¬
lieved their denomination more ancient than
themselves. They deny that they owe their
origin to Roger Williams, John Smith or
Waldenses. The Welsh contend that they
received theirs directly from those who
were associated with the Apostles; the
Dutch Baptists, it is said, trace their spirit¬
ual pedigree back to the same source; the
Germans maintain that they are older than
the Reformation, or the corrupt anarchy
which they sought to reform; the Walden¬
ses boast that they are far older than
Waldus or their most ancient predecessors
in Piedmont. So may the Lollards, the
Hewicians, Paterines, Paulicians, Donatists,
and other ancient Baptists, whose history
is lost in the depths of antiquity. But the
old church reappears and reveals herself and
its source in Christ and the Apostles.
From tradition, the belief is that the Bap¬
tists have existed in all ages of the world,
and in every quarter of the world. It is
Sermons and Sermonettes. 105
not without foundation. Its history is
seen in prehistoric times. Attempts have
been made to identify them with the Ana¬
baptists. This name was given them as a
reproach, because the Baptist ministers
were guilty of great excesses at the time of
the reformation in Germany, the only place
where there seems to be a rejection of infant
baptism. The Baptists baptized those
whom they conceived to have not been bap¬
tised before, for they deny any baptism
that is not on personal faith in Christ. Let
us compare the difference between the Bap¬
tists and Anabaptists. l)r. Brown says in
his "Life and Times," that there were a hand¬
ful of men resembling modern Mormons.
They claimed new revelations, not the
Scriptures, as their guide in setting up their
new faith. Their leader was the successor
of the prophets of Zwickan. As early as
the year 1522, they had nothing in common
with the Baptists, except the denial of in¬
fant baptism; for it is said that they held
to a worldly, not a spiritual kingdom
Their being enthusiastic persecutors made
them fanatics against the Word, the Spirit
or the example of Christ. Says one, "They
106 Sermons and Sermonettes.
drew in their own defense the sword which
Peter was commanded to sheath." Much
of the butchery and tragedies of Munster
are chargeable to them to-day. The fa¬
natical proceedings at Munster in the year
1534, under John Buckhold, the prophet,
polygamist and bloody tyrant, shocked all
men of common sense. Says Munro, "1
warned every man against the Munster
abomination."
The English Baptists look upon their ori¬
gin as traceable to the early church in
Wales. Some believe that Christianity was
introduced into Wales by a Welsh Princess,
Claudia, who had been converted at Rome.
It is said that in Paul's ministry, when the
Britons were harassed by the Saxons, they
retired from their country into Wales and
there religion began to flourish. This
Welsh Chi'istianity is said to have been full
of life, and to have had its institution
of learning. Hundreds of ministers went
out from this college or monastery. Al¬
though the names and works were given to
the college at Bangor, a pure, sacred reli¬
gion was encouraged by them about the
jtox 596. Ethelbert was king of Kent, and
Sermons and Sermonettes.
107
was sent to England by Gregory, the
seventh Bishop of Rome. Although he
made converts of the king and queen, he
would not be satisfied until he had secured
the allegiance of the Christians of Wales.
The Welsh Christians hold a council: seven
bishops are in this council, with some of the
wisest men of Bangor. According to his¬
tory, a hermit advised them to listen to the
king if he showed humbleness, but to reject
his councilif he was proud. Here this les¬
son is to be learned, not recorded in history!
However, they found a dignitary who was
displeased, and he remained seated during
their council, as they refused to grant his re¬
quirements. He asked them to grant him
three points: That you give your children
to be Chris lians. Of course, no friendly re¬
lations seemed to be possible between the
Christians and Augustine. Because of the
refusal their house was burned, and their
library destroyed. This controversy was
kept up for a hundred years afterwards,
and in memory of Augustine, there is a
trace of baptism. Camden tells us that
the multitude who believed and went into
the water did baptize each other.
108 Sermons and Sermonettes.
SIMILITUDE.
Text I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman," etc. (John 15: I, -2, 5,
4, 5.)
The true vine is spoken of as if there were
an untrue vine; and if so, Christ presents
himself as a fruit of the vine. Branches of a
vine have a tendency of running every
way, spreading everywhere that time will
give them. So Christ's Church is the simili¬
tude of the vine. But Christ says, " I am
the true vine," and remember, here, that
the vine and the branches partake of the
very same nature; and if the root is affected,
the whole vine and the branches are also
affected. "Thou hast brought a vine out of
Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen
and planted it." This is Christ. This is
the Church.
I. He is the true vine—not a spontane¬
ous product, but the true vine; for he is the
Word made flesh, "and dwelt among us."
The vine naturally must go through its
seasons. Thus, it is seen that the vine has
an unpromising size, like every other plant,
Sermons and Sermonettes. 109
and will survive every other obstacle and
come forth living, bearing fruit. It is said
in Isaiah 53: 2, that it had no form ol
comeliness. The vine is a spreading plant;
so is Christ, his church and his salvation.
It shall be known to the end of the earth.
It was said to the Apostles tlu; t they should
carry "this Gosper' to the ends of the
earth, that the fruit thereof should honor
and glorify God and cheer man. How de¬
lightful to him who honors God with the
first fruit of his labor, first of the fattening,
first of his means, first of all he has. As
darkness is opposed to light and light to
darkness, so is fallacy opposed to truth and
light. There is a wild vine that will de¬
ceive all who come in contact with it. It
spreads also. It is the wild vine of sin and
chaos, which brings down kingdoms to deg¬
radation and destroys the hope of man. It
must have been partaking of the wild vine
which led Mother Eve to give of the fruit to
her husband, which deceived him. It dis¬
turbed God upon his throne. While their
heads were hung in shame and sadness, it
was God who visited them in that desolate
hour when he, the man, attempted to
110
Sermons and Sermonettea.
thrust the fruit of his wild experience upor
his companion. But Christ, he is the true
vine, whose fruit is sweet and delicious. H<
does not deceive. Habakkuk speaks of it ir
the third chapter and seventeenth verse
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom
neither shall fruit be in the vine; the laboi
of the olive shall fail, and the field shal
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off fron
the fold, and there shall be no herd in th<
stalls."
II. Christ is the vine that will not de
ceive; covering every space, taking all terri
tory. Any other vine is false. But of al
the enjoyments of man in this life, it is bui
a shadow compared with that of those wh<
will put their trust in him in the life tc
come. If the vine is faulty, so will be th<
fruit. But, search all the records. Non<
can bring a truthful accusation against th<
Priftce of Peace, who will at last ride out it
triumph, leading the host of his blood
washed army to victory, when every fo<
shall be vanquished and Christ shall b<
Lord indeed.
III. Believers are only branches of this
Sermons and Sermonettes. Ill
not nations, but believers, Christ tlie true
vine being the central figure around which
all his children are encompassed. I repeat
that the branches of the vine must partake
of the same root and of the same nature, of
the same kind. The root is not seen, but it
goes forth drinking the water from the
earth and the dews from heaven, thus giv¬
ing life and possibility to each branch, and
affording fruit to each branch. So in Christ
Jesus, it is not visible to the eye, but
through his Spirit life, wisdom and strength
are given to those who are his believers,
those bringing forth the fruit thereof. The
vine shoots forth, brings forth fruit accord¬
ing as the root puts forth. So in Christian¬
ity our lives are hid in God with Christ. 0
for that life that will bring forth the
branches of the vine, spreading in different
directions as do the branches, but entering
in the root of the vine. It is said in Scrip¬
tures also, that "the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself except it abide" in the vine.
Take for instance a branch cut loose from
the main vine. What effect does it have on
the branch? It will wither and die, be¬
cause it has nothing to subsist upon, being
112 Sermons and Sermonettes.
cut off from the fountain head. It will
therefore ultimately fail. So with a believer.
He cannot bring forth the fruit of this vine
unless he abide in the vine. He says, "I am
the husbandman," meaning the tiller of the
field, the cultivator, the one who must be
responsible for the growing fruit. God,
therefore, gives the increase. We are to fur¬
ther the watchfulness of the husbandman,
seeing that his chosen are protected. So the
Father, the husbandman, will see to it that
no evil will befall those who are his faithful
followers. I charge you to-day, as branches
of that great vine, to cover every possible
space from one end of the earth to the
other, wherever God hath breathed breath
into the nostrils of human beings. See to it
that the old Gospel chariot shall roll to the
door of every man, woman and child, with
a flag of peace, marching in one solid pha¬
lanx, crying in the language of the poet:
"Jesus paid it all,
All to him I owe."
See to it that your Christian influence and
dignity shall be messengers of peace and
shall carry life and happiness upon their
wings to those who may be starving for the
bread of life.
Sermons and Sermonettes-
113
It is said that there never was a Father
so wise as God is about his Church. This
we can witness from the days of John the
Baptist until now, that through blood and
fire and smoke and the guillotine, the unseen
hand of God has been observed writing the
destiny of the nations, and establishing his
temples, tearing down the gods of f lly and
idleness, and erecting the thrones of the
Prince of Peace upon the destruction thereof.
You, my brother, cannot stand alone: if you
attempt it, you must wither and die. But
attached to the true vine there is a secret
part like a running stream, which will roll
on through the ages, that none can fathom,
save the Great Architect of the Universe.
(a) To be fruitful, we must abide in ti e
vine. (b) Ye cannot stand alone, (c) A
barren vine is always cut and burned.
SANCTIFICATION.
When this subject was assigned to me
some weeks ago, I began to settle in my
mind what I understood by the term Sanc-
tification. The word is from sanetus, mean¬
ing to render sacred or inviolable by a re-
114 Sermons and Sermonettes.
ligious act; to appoint as sacred, to fixun¬
alterably, to confirm, to ratify. So Sancti-
fication means that godly work or glori¬
ous work done in the human soul after th«
image of God, and set apart for his service,
and made to die unto sin, and to live unto
righteousness. We must, therefore, con¬
sider the subject of this discussion in a two¬
fold light:
First, as an inestimable privilege granted
us from God. 4'And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God yout
whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord
JesusChrist." (1 Thess. 5: 23.) InthisverFe
the powers of body and soul are mentioned
in one connection—all are prayed to be
sanctified.
Second, as an all-comprehensive duty ac¬
cording to his Holy Word. "For this is
the will of God, even your sanctification,
that ye should abstain from fornication." (1
Thess. 4:3.) Here the will of God is called
in as a test of this all-important subject.
Every man of us appeals for God's will in
prayer, whether living or dead. Allow me
to say, unless we humbly submit to his will
Sermons and Sermoiiettes. 115
we cannot be saved. Sanctification differs
from Justification. Justification changes our
state in law before God as a Judge; Sancti¬
fication changes our heart and life before
him as our Father. Justification precedes
and Sanctification follows as the Spirit and
evidence of it. Justification is a work done
at once; Sanctification is a work done grad¬
ually. The grace of God implanted is the
matter of our Sanctification. Justification
removes the guilt of sin; Sanctification, the
power of sin. Justification delivers us from
the avenging wrath of God; Sanctification
confirms us to his image. Yet Justification
and Sanctification are inseparably con¬
nected in the promise of God. 4'And we
know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did pre¬
destinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called;
and whom he called, them he also justified;
and whom he justified, them he also glori¬
fied." (Romans 8: 28-30.)
116 Sermons and Sermonettes.
Iti the aforenamed verses an entire sepa-
tation is seen, because they are called
chosen and glorified. Then God covenants
with this sanctified few. "For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house ol
Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I
will put my laws into their mind, and
write them in their hearts : and I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a
people." (Heb. 8: 10.) In the promise of
the gospel, Acts 5: 31, we find these words:
"Him hath God exalted with his right
hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to
give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness
of sins." I wonder if God meant what he
here said. If he did not, then none of it is
meant. Then in 1 Cor. 6: 11, I have no
doubt but that any who has ever tasted of
the love of God will ground his arms of re¬
bellion against the doctrine of Sanctifica-
tion. "And such were some of you: but ye
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,
and by the Spirit of our God." The life
Christ lived must be lived out in us in this
world.
Sanctification is first a divine work, and
not begun or carried on by the power of
Sermons and Sermonettes. 117
man. We are made heirs of God by the
power of the Holy Ghost. What power can
unmake us? "But after that the kindness
and love of God our Saviour towards man
appeared, Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of re¬
generation, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost." (Titus 3: 4, 5.) We are new crea¬
tures in Christ Jesus and separated from the
world as his people. We have no need to
come out of him for we have all in him.
Christ becomes all to us. Sanctification
is a progressive work, not accomplished
at once. "But the path of the just is as
the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs
4: 18.)
We grow towards Sanctification as we
live more and more godly in the present
world. It is also an internal work, not an
external profession alone or bare morality.
"Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward
parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt
make me to know wisdom." (Psa. 51: 6.)
It is a necessary work, because of the satis*
faction it brings to the soul, body and
118 Sermons and Sermonettes.
mind, and the external enjoyments of God's
presence in a future world. ' 'Jesus an¬
swered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John
3:3.) I suppose a man cannot easily get
into a king's palace unless he can see it.
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord."
(Heb. 12 : 14.) I believe in this verse: it ex¬
presses the very character of the man who
enters Heaven.
A Holy Reverence. 1. "But the former
governors that had been before me were
chargeable unto the people, and had taken
of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels
of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule
over the people: but so did not I, because of
the fear of God." (Neh. 5: 15.) 2. Ear¬
nest regard of "the Lord is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore, will I hope in
him." 3. Patient submission. "I was
dumb, I opened not my mouth; because
thou didst it." In this, I concluded that
your will is swallowed up in his will, lost in
God, living in a flame of God's love, entirely
resigned to him by this Sanctification, using
Sermons and Sermonettes. 119
David's prayer: "Order my steps in thy
word: and let not any iniquity have domin¬
ion over me." (Psa. 119: 133.)
Sanctification is communion with God.
"Yea, in the way of thy judgments, OLord,
have we waited for thee; the desire of our
soul is to thy name, and to the remem¬
brance of thee." (Isa. 26: 8.)
Delight in the Lord. "One thing have I
desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the da}rs of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple."
(Psa. 27: 4.) "I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth
thee : Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent
in dust and ashes." (Job 42: 5, 6.) "Who
maketh his angels spirits ; his m!nisters
a flaming fire." (Psa. 104: 4.) "For my
love they are my adversaries: but I give
myself unto prayer." (Psa. 109: 4.) "The
Lord is my light and my salvation; whom
shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my
life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psa.
27: 1.)
Uniform obedience. "Herein is my Fa¬
ther glorified, that ye bear much fruit."
120 Sermons and Sermonett**.
(John 15 : 8.) God is honored in the holi¬
ness of his children. Sanctify means some¬
times to set apart; but more to separate
sacredly for the Lord. When man throws
himself upon God and takes upon himself
the nature of holiness, and has been born
again, his sanctification is sure. How shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer
therein ? God forbid. "If ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.'' There must be daily dying unto
sin even by one who eaters in by the sheep-
fold.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 121
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
TEXT:—"And the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters" (Gen. 1:2.)
1. The third personality revealed in the God¬
head is the Holy Spirit. He is called "The Spirit,"
"The Spirit of God," "The Holy Spirit," "The
Spirit of the Lord," "The Spirit of Christ," "Thy
good Spirit," "The Spirit of Glory," "The Spirit
of Grace," "The Spirit of Knowledge," "The Spir¬
it of Understanding," "The Spirit of Council or
Might," "The Spirit of Knowledge and of fear
of the Lord," "The Holy Spirit of Promise," "The
Spirit of Truth," and "The Spirit of Wisdom."
Christ also called him "The Comforter." The
Divine Spirit thus denominated must be a person
in The Godhead. It cannot be the spiritual part of
God, because God is not compounded of spirit and
body, because God is not matter or material; nor
can it be God's spiritual nature. As man is some¬
times called soul and body, the simplicity of God
forbids this composition. So it must be God him¬
self or some influence exerted, or a person in the
Godhead.
2. The evidence of personal action from God
shows that he is either God himself or a divine
person. The Scriptures speak of the Spirit as in
a state of activity. "And the earth was without
122 Sermons and Sermonett&s.
i I
form, arid vjoid; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep/ And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face ox the waters." A moving person is not
a person of inactivity, but living and giving life
to all it touches. "And Jesus, when he was bap¬
tized, went up straightway out of the water: and
lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and light¬
ing upon him" with full authority to do the work
he came to do. God chooses the dove as a mes¬
senger after the flood, and with the innocence of
a dove the Holy Spirit is seen by Jesus Christ on
the day of his baptism. "And when they were
come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord
caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no
more: and he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts
8:39.) This man is led from the sight, but his
companion's heart catches on fire, and he goes on
his way rejoicing. This must have been his work,
or else he would have been left in a different pos¬
ition.
8. The Spirit teaches and gives instructions.
"For the Hol\* Ghost shall teach you in the same
hour what ye ought to say." (Luke 12:12.) He
never makes a mistake. All his counsels are pure
and wholesome. O, have him to come and teach
you; if you do not your life will be a mistake.
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your
Sermons and Sermone1%&8*\ 123
remembrance, whatsoever I have sa|d linto you."
(John 14:26.) "Howbeit when he, ^the^ Spirit of
truth, is come, he will guide you into all t^uth: for
he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, then shall he speak: and he will shew
you things to come. He shall glorify me: for
he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto
you." (John 16:13, 14.)
"Lord, teach me how to shun
Thy dreadful wrath severe,
That when thou comest on thy throne
I may with joy appear."
4. He is a witness. "The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God." (Rom 8:16.) "Who hath sealed us, and
given the earnest of the spirit to our hearts."
5. He is spoken of as leading the Son of God.
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God." (Rom. 8:14.) As a
leader he is not surpassed. No man living or
dead can accuse the Spirit of misleading him.
6. He is said to dwell with men in such a way
that his presence is that of God. "And I will pray
the Father, and he shall give you another Com¬
forter,' that he may abide with you forever."
(John 14:16.) What a glorious messenger comes
to stay forever; not emotional in his visit, but
comes once for all. "But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you." (Rom. 8:9.) "If any man defile
124 Sermons and Sermonettes.
the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the
temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (1
Cor. 3:17.) What! know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
"Ye are bought with a price!" "I have given
myself to the Lord!" You cannot take yourself
back any more.
7. Grieve him not. "And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day
of redemption." (Eph. 4:30.)
8. Ananias is said to have lied to him. The
penalty was sudden death. Blasphemy against
him is unpardonable in this world and in the
world to come. "Wherefore I say unto you, All
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven
unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy
Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And who¬
soever speaketh a word against the Son of man,
it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speak¬
eth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be for¬
given him, neither in this world, neither in the
world to come." (Matt. 12:31, 32.)
9. He is resisted by men. "Ye stiffnecked and
uncircumcised in hearts and ears, ye do always re¬
sist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do
ye." (Acts 7:51.) We cannot accomplish great
things for God and resist the Holy Spirit.
10. Also he is vexed by them. "But they re¬
belled, and vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he
Sermons and Sermonettes. 125
was turned to be their enemy, and he fought
against them." (Isa. 63:10.)
11. He strives with men. "My spirit shall
not always strive with man." (Gen. 6:8.) Be¬
ware! at least, this day may be the last strug¬
gle with you, sinner. Suppose this is your last
trial! Lo, see the Judge on his throne. Listen!
You are being sentenced. Alas, farewell forever!
12. He inspires men. "And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them ut¬
terance." This is just what will take place under
the influence of the Holy Ghost. The tongue
shall be changed to melody and praise for God.
Under this changed condition, light and joy will
be brought to the soul. "As they administered to
the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Sep¬
arate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where-
unto I have called them."
13. As interceding for them. "Likewise the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought: but
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that
searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of
the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints according to the will of God." Thus we
see that the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints
in prayer, because he knows what is the will of
the Lord.
126 fcerfm.ons and Sermonettes.
14. He bestows divers gifts. "Now there are
diversities ol Rifts, but not of the same Spirit."
(1 Cor. 12:4.)
COME.
Text:—"Behold, he shall come up like a lion
from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation
of the strong." (Jer. 50:44.)
I. Men need never shut their eyes when God
sends messages.
II. God's wrath is more destructive than a
whirlwind.
III. There is no power that can stand before
him. (a) Open your eyes and see him as he is.
(b) The power of men is contempt with God; yet
in God's wrath he remembers many.
When Maundrell visited the Jordan on the 30th
day of March, the proper time for these overflows,
the river ran at least two yards below the brink
of the channel. After having descended the outer
banks, he went about a furlong upon the level
strand before he came to the immediate bank of
the river. This inner bank was so thickly covered
with brushes and trees, among which he observed
the tamarisk, the willow and the oleander, that
he could see no water till he made his way through
them. In this entangled thicket so conveniently
planted near the cooling stream and remote from
the habitation of men, several kind of wild beasts
Sermons and Sermonettes. 127
were accustomed to repose till the swejling of the
river drove them from their retreats. This cir¬
cumstance gave occasion for that allusion of the
prophet in our text. "He shall come up like a
lion from the swelling of Jordan." We can arouse
no greater feeling in this poetical figure, than a
lion aroused from his bed by a torrent of over¬
flowing water.
A destroyer more than a match for the helpless.
This the Edomites were to find in that cruel and
fierce and irresistable Nebuchadnezzar and his
armies. It is said that this prophet of God sur¬
vived to see the accomplishment of all his darkest
predictions. He witnessed all the horrors of the
famine, and after that the triumph of the enemy.
He saw the strongholds of the city cast down—
the palace of Solomon, the temple of God with all
its courts. It looked of cedar and of gold. Lev¬
eled to the earth, or committed to the flames, the
sacred vessels of the ark of the covenant were
pillaged by profane hands.
I. Men need never shut their eyes when God
sends messages to them, for these messages are
wholesome, and of God, and whosoever goes over
them will be caught by the whirlwind of his fury.
They are yours! Hear them! They come from
our Father's house, and his house abounds with
plenty. Closed eyes literally mean a closed heart.
God will open your eyes, if it costs the breaking
of your heart. He has many ways to give us no¬
tice of the coming Judgment.
128 Sermons and Sermonettes.
II. God's;wrath is more destructvie than a
whirlwind. Sometimes the whirlwind may leave
a vestige of the past; but not so with him, for he
claims all the hiding places the secrets of his
chamber. Whether we know this or not, one
thing is certain: no living man can hide from him.
Yes, the very hairs of your head are numbered.
He keeps the place of the sparrow, and sees one
if it falls. How much more does he take care of
us?
III. There is no power that can stand before
him. The world will crumble before him and all
powers shall fall at his appearance, and like the
swelling of Jordan, he shall sweep all things be¬
fore him. There will be no room for you amidst
the rocking hills—no rocks amidst the leaping,
fiery volcanoes. No power can stand before him;
no room in the deep, for she is sick of her folly.
Then hide in the Son, the only safety. Not only
does he sweep down the army, but each individual
must stand trembling before the great white
throne. But, my friends, come to-day in the quiet
of his fury.
(a) There is an eye that looks more closely
than yours. It is a piercing eye. Who can escape
it? No one! It found Adam in the garden; it
saw the pinning of the fig leaves; it saw the bloody
fratricide, the murderer of his brother; it saw
Moses amidst the flaming bush. That eye saw
Aaron when with his hand he made the golden
calf, and poor, afflicted Jeremiah when prophesy-
Sermons and Sermonettes. £1$
ing and weeping for sorrow—an eye that saw
Daniel in the steadfastness, when he would not
be polluted with the king's meat. 0, it is an ever¬
lasting eye!
(b) Yet, in God's wrath, he remembers mercy.
He to us is what the sun is to the world. In its
light, all nature breaks forth into song and joy.
Shut him out, and all die. No wonder the poet
freaks forth into unison and says:
"God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm."
I presume, sometimes in his tender mercies, as
it were, he mounts his Gospel chariot of mercy,
and like a great ocean of water, he overflows the
world with his love and goodness. I have been
caught in his overflow.
THE AUTHORITY OF GOD'S
ANOINTED.
Text:—"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken¬
hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set it liberty
them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable
year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18, 19.)
130 Sermons and Sermonettes.
A glorious message to us all! No wonder God
takes notice of a sparrow's fall. Luke, the evan¬
gelist, is probably the same person spoken of by
the Apostle Paul. He is also called the beloved
physician, and was the writer of the book which
bears his name, and of the Acts of the Apostles.
He was the friend and companion of Paul, and
was with him in most of his journeys. He is with
Paul in his first Macedonian tour. After this a
separation occurred. But he is with Paul at Phil-
ippi, when he sailed from thence to Jerusalem.
We know but little of him before or after this.
I. The Spirit Sent Upon Him. He bestows
upon us gifts and graces not by measure, but with¬
out measure. "For he whom God hath sent speak-
eth the words of God: for God giveth not the Spir¬
it by measure unto him." What an inspiring bene¬
diction to his followers! He wants you to be filled
with his Spirit. You have no right to complain,
for he has just put upon you the Spirit of wisdom
and joy in the Holy Ghost, and peace.
II. Those whom God appoints to his service he
anoints. Anointing is an ancient custom of the
Oriental people. "They anointed the whole body,"
says Dr. Robinson, "but sometimes they anointed
their heads and feet." It was customary to pay
this sort of respect to their guests. It was said
to be conducive to help. The anointing of sa¬
cred persons or tents signified their being set apart
to the service of God. The custom of anointing
was also common among the Greeks and Romans.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 131
III. But he sent me with such a soothing mes¬
sage, to bind up the broken- hearted. 0, what joy
would come to you and me, if when the battle of
life is over, when bathed in the sea of forgetful-
ness, you should hear some saint say before the
Almighty throne of God, pointing to you, "He
bound up my broken heart when disease and dis¬
appointment had bereft me and beclouded my vi¬
sion." My friends, if the cover were lifted this
morning so that the heart could be examined by
the finger of the Almighty God, who cannot be
wrong, 0, how this old world would rise as one
man with astonishment at seeing the tears run
from weeping eyes and broken hearts. 0 child of
God, take this message. Go to the uttermost parts,
give it to the poor; enter every hovel, home and
land, and if you meet one on your way, give the
message as coming from a great Father of love,
for it cannot be other than that.
IV. And another message, to preach deliver¬
ance to the captives. Matthew Henry says that
the Gospel is a proclamation of liberty. To this
I agree, for I would not have known that I was
free had it not been that the word came from
God through the Gospel. "If my son set you free,
you 'are free indeed." Liberty was proclaimed to
Israel in Egypt and in Babylon. By the blood of
Jesus sinners are loosed from the bonds of guilt
and sin. It is deliverance from sin that is pro¬
claimed by the Son of God. If you sinners are
willing to be ruled by him and make him your
132 Sermons and Sermonettes.
rule and practice through life, 0, how different
you will be when the Judgment alarm shall be giv¬
en. 0 blessed God! freedom from sin means lib¬
erty from the prison of Hell.
If there are any of you here that are wearing
the galling chains of slavery of sin, you know
what is meant by the ringing of the Gospel bell
of Liberty. 0 my Father's children, is it not a
fact that there are those of you who are wearing
the galling chains of corruption, and have felt the
fever of sin parching your tongue? I admo,nish
you, to-day, to throw off the world and arise from
your knees, bowing to devils, and look up as Paul
and Silas did in their prison cells, when they heard
the angel say, "Arise!" If you are a child of God,
do likewise.
(a) And recovering of the sight to the blind.
0 how many children of God are hoodwinked, by
day and by night—blindfolded. But, my friends,
God's Son sends this message to you, that he has
"eye salve" for you, not only my Father's children,
but for every unregenerate soul. Go to him by
faith and through the dark and mysterious way
and say, "I am blind!" The answer will come
through the Gospel truth, "Receive thy sight!"
1 think that if there is any body in the world that
has power to see, it is the child of God. Unarm
yourself! Put on the whole armor of faith!
(b) What is the acceptable year of the Lord?
I want you to know that though you may have
offended him, you may now be reconciled to him.
Sermons and Sermonett&s. 133
O, the happiest moment of your life is the deliver¬
ance from the bondage of sin. It was when you
made peace with God. This text alludes doubt¬
less to the Year of Jubilee, when the servants were
set at liberty. 0, glory to God! Jesus came to
sound the Jubilee trumpet. Are you under the
dread of hearing the alarm that shall come in the
calm of his gentle passion? Listen to his gentle
voice as he exclaims, "Liberty from sin, freedom
for the slaves, healing balm for the sick!" Come
to-day! Amen.
THE THREE DISTINCTLY
REVEALED.
Text:—"But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of me." (John 15:26.)
We have considered the work of the Holy Ghost,
the Spirit of God, and now we come to the third
idea, the above-named subject. The Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost having now been considered, let
us notice The Three revealed distinctly:
I. At the baptism of Christ are seen the Son,
who has just been baptized, the Holy Spirit, de¬
scending like a dove and lighting upon him, and
so the Heavens opened, and a voice from Heaven
saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased." This descension is from the Father
134 Sermons and Sermonettes.
from Heaven, and not from the Son. They seem
to be interested in the mode of baptism, for all
three are there; the Father thunders, his voice
is full of pathos and love; the Holy Spirit comes
with body shaped like a dove, filled with innocence,
as a witness, and they all gave their sanction to
the ordinance. And the Father describes his
compassionate love by saying, "This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17.)
II. The distinction is also set perfectly plain
in the 28th chapter of Matthew, wherein the com¬
mission to his Apostles is, "Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." Here the divinity and personality of all
are seen. The three are involved, because it is
an act of worship such that can only be paid to
God. It is a profession of faith in God and his
righteousness, which is due to God only: so noth¬
ing can be passed upon him as a substitute. If
God had wanted a substitute, he would have made
it in that greatest counsel the world ever read.
But no: God's design is the real worship, just as
he will accept from the sinner, the real heart.
O, Counselor, come to-day among us, so that we
may see more clearly what is real worship!
III. In our Lord's last discourse, he promised
to send the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit from
the Father. Here the Son sends the Spirit, and
the Spirit proceeds from the Father, and he is al¬
so referred to as one "whom the Father will send
Sermons and Sermonett&s. 135
in my name." (John 14:26.) He is referred to
in no uncertain tones as a messenger, as a teacher,
and as a witness.
IV. Paul refers to the Three when he says or
writes to the Corinthians, "Now there are diversi¬
ties of gifts, but the same Spirit" * * * the same
God which worketh all in all. (1 Cor. 12:4.)
Listen to the lion-hearted Paul, as he closes his
second epistle to the Corinthians. Hear him:
"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of
good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and
the God of love and peace shall be with you."
(a) Think! The Son of God has been in the
world now, no doubt, thirty years; has walked the
hilly ways of Palestine, has been entertained as the
carpenter's son, and as an industrious lad of Jew¬
ish descent. The great physicians of the world
have been dumfounded at his prudence and wis¬
dom. The wise men of Egypt have been dis¬
turbed from their slumbers by night. Suddenly
awaking one night, they found themselves filled
with astonishment, because of the seemingly dis¬
ruption of the elements. They arise, and with
steady tramp, go to see what this strange con¬
stellation is; but alas, no muffled drum was heard;
no voice of thunder from the Father! But on the
day the Father as worshipped by the Son in the
mode of baptism, God the Father moved to sanc¬
tion the praise and said, "I am well pleased." It
seems to me that he might be as well pleased by
his sons to-day.
136 Sermons and Sermonettes.
(b) Again, there is no room, for other disci¬
ples but those whom God has given this commis¬
sion. The territory must be taken up by his min¬
isters, those whom he has chosen. So you ask me
who they are? These are they that follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. See him coming
up out of the water. Have you followed him
there? See him cleaning the lepers! See him
giving sight to the blind! Look! See that lame
man! Watch him as he leaps for joy! But they
are conspiring against him. But listen: I can
hear him as he says that he did not come to bring
peace, but a sword. They want to offer a com¬
promise, but no; "for this cause came I into the
world," "that they might have eternal life." Have
you gone with him along these despicable ways
of baptism ? The servant is not greater than his
master.
(c) Don't cry too hard. He says, "My yoke is
easy, and my burden is light." You have worried
with your life so much until a grasshopper seems
like a great burden to you. 0, wonderful revela¬
tion of the Trinity! The grace of God and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you forever.
Amen.
JUSTIFICATION.
Text :—"Who shall lay any thing to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." (Ro¬
mans 8:33.)
Sermons and Sermonettes. 137
Justification is a doctrine in which every indi¬
vidual should be interested. No doctrine in the
Bible is probably more important than the above-
named doctrine. Hence, the importance of hav¬
ing knowledge of it. Since the doctrine gives to
each individual relation we may ask here, What
is justification? Justification is a judicial act of
God. By the account of this, the mediatorial work
of Christ, sinners are received through faith and
united to their Saviour, on which account God de¬
clares the sinner free, having received Christ as
his substitute from the demands of the law. The
law demands that the soul that sinneth shall die.
Christ gave himself as our substitute.
I. Whose right is it to justify? We have the
answer. Since God is the Lawgiver, the judge,
therefore, it is he that justifies. The demand of
the law having been met, it is God's will to accept
Christ as our intercessor, being justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ.
We were lost in sin and shame, and through the
atoning blood of Jesus Christ, we are made free
from the law of sin and death. We have been
purchased with a great price. Then, how neces¬
sary it is for us to know our relation with God!
for not the hearers of the law are justified, but
the doers of it. This doesn't mean doing in the
sense of doing something for satisfying the de¬
mands of law on your part, for we are taught in
the Scriptures, "By grace ye are saved, and that
not of yourselves. It is the gift of God."
138 Sermons and Sermonettes.
II. Why justified? But go ye rather and learn
what that means. I will have mercy and not sac¬
rifice. To this passage the poet comes in and
says,
"Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling."
"O Lamb of G'od, I come! I come!"
It was Christ who said, "I am not come to call
the righteous, but sinners unto repentance." As
much as to say, "He is saved, saved forever!"
Every Christian should rejoice that he is saved
through Christ, once for all. Let the sinner re¬
turn to God, for he will abundantly pardon. We
are taught in Acts 3:14, "But ye denied the Holy
One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be
granted unto you."
Justification does not simply include a judicial
act. So it is said by some persons, but this is
false. We are redeemed from sin, having given
up the perishable things of earth to receive the
imperishable things above. Paul says in Acts 22:
14, "The God of our Fathers hath chosen thee,
that thou shouldest know his will, and see that
Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his
mouth." "This position," Says Dr. Boyce, "it is
a false one, from the fact that justification is the
opposition of condemnation."
(a) Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is
he that condemneth ? It is Christ who died—yea,
Sermons and Sermonettes. 139
rather that is risen again, who is ever at the right
hand of God, who maketh intercessions for us.
(&) The justified are not spoken of 'as having
a holy nature, or being free from sin; but are still
represented as struggling against sin, and not only
the sins which arise from without, but the temp¬
tations and sins which proceed within. There is
a change of heart in believers, or regeneration.
The former is the work of the Holy Spirit, while
the latter is the act of God. There is a continuous
work going on in the life and in the character,
the soul having been separated, having died to
sin, will live unto God.
THE WICKED KING'S INQUIRY AND
ANSWER,
Text :—"And Ahaziah fell down through a lat¬
tice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria,
and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said
unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of
Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease "
(2 Kings 1:2.)
Ahaziah, son and successor of Ahab. He
reigned two years alone with his father, who edu¬
cated him in the kingdom the year before his
death, B. C. 894. He was wicked and impious,
but no more so than his father. He worshipped
Baal and Astarte, whose rights had been recog¬
nized by Jezebel, his mother. His vanity blasted
140 Sermons and Sermonettes.
the whole kingdom. After the fall through the
lattice of his own house, he sent to the God of the
Philistines, Gad, to know whether he would be
healed. He sends messengers to the god of Ekron
to know whether he should recover. This was
both foolish and selfish, because this was an idol
god, and therefore, was helpless to help himself.
I. Shall I recover. Just as well to have asked
the snow-capped mountains, for they could have
answered as well. How sinful, depressed and de¬
luded! Why could he not have asked for help?
His wicked heart would not let him.
"Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain."
Not shall I recover to better my condition or
get out of this heathen darkness. This thought
had not touched his heart. His thought should
have been, "What will become of me after death ?"
How often do we go along without thought of
the Great Beyond! This thought should engage
our attention in our mad career, in our mis¬
guided steps, in our careless words, in our con¬
versations, in our thirst for our fellowman's blood.
What horror death brings to the human family.
My friends, the leading thought of man should
be (with man), "what will become of me after
death?" Not where shall I die or be buried. In¬
stead of sending to the God of all the earth and in-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 141
quiring about his condition, he sends to a dumb
idol. Oh! how wicked we mortals are to rush
over the mercies of God with our depraved na¬
tures, bathed in unrest, gloating in ourselves, de¬
ceived in our own imaginations. Why not call
on God who can hear?
Baal-zebub signifies the Lord of a fly. This
was certainly a dead message to a dead god fly.
Here was a species of fly that Moses declared un¬
clean. They abound in Egypt and are annoying
and vexatious in the extreme, attacking the eye¬
lids in swarms with the utmost pertinacity. This,
of course, must be intolerable. In some parts of
Egypt a whole district would be depopulated for
a time by them, inhabitants being unable to
stand against them. The Philistines and Canaan-
ites adored the fly god, in order that he should
protect them from these tormenting insects. As
soon as the buzzing of these insects is heard by
the cattle they forsake their food and run wildly
about the plains until they die of hunger, fatigue
and fright. No remedy remains but to leave the
black earth and hasten down to the sands of the
desert.
II. No recovery can come to you. It must
have given this king great pain when he found
his recovery was impossible. The angel of the
Lord, God's heavenly messenger, was spokesman
to Elijah, and said, Arise, go up to meet the mes¬
sengers of the King of Samaria, and say unto them
that he shall not get down from that bed, but shall
142 Sermons and Sermonettes.
surely die. When his messengers came the king
said, "Why are ye now turned back?" They
said, "There came a man up to meet us, and said
unto us, Go, turn again unto the Lord, Is it not
because there is not a God in Israel, that thou
sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ek-
ron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from
that bed in which thou art gone up, but shalt
surely die.'' Here King Ahaziah grew alarmed
and said, "What manner of man was he which
came up to meet you?" They said, "He was a
hairy man, and was girt with a girdle." Then
the king sent unto him a captain with fifty, and
he went to him, and behold, he sat on the top of a
hill. He addressed him/, "Thou man of God, the
king hath said, Come down." Elijah bowed him¬
self before his God and prayed. He said, "If I
be a man of God, let fire come down from heav¬
en and consume thee and thy fifty." Again he
sent unto him 'a captain with another fifty; and
Elijah said, "If I be a man of God, let fire come
down from heaven and consume thee and thy
fifty," and it was done. The third time he sent,
and the captain fell on his knees before Elijah
and besought him and said, "0 man of God, I
pray thee, let my life and the life of these fifty
thy servants, be precious in thy sight." Fire
came down from heaven and destroyed the two
captains and their companies. And the angel of
the Lord said, "Go down with him: be not afraid
Sermons and Sermonettes. 143
of him." And he arose, and went down with him
unto the king.
III. Doomed to death instead of recovery.
The measure of God's forbearance is fulfilled and
the king is cut off by one stroke.
CHARACTER AND REFORMATION OF
ANTIQUITY.
Text:—"Then Asa took all the silver and the
gold that were left in the treasures of the house
of the Lord, and the treasurers of the king's
house, and delivered them into the hands of his
servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad,
the son of Tabri-mon, the son of Hezion, king of
Syria, that dwelt at Damascus." (1 Kings 15:18.)
Asa, third king of Juda after Solomon, was the
son and successor of Abijam.. ."And Abijam
slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the
city of David." (1 Kings 15:8.) He began to
reign 951 years before Christ. The first part of
his reign was perfectly peaceful. He restored
the pure worship of God; expelled those who were
sacreligious, superstitious, and prostituted them¬
selves in honor of their false gods; purified Jeru¬
salem from her practices attending the worship
of idols, and deprived his mother of her office be-
144 Sermons and Sermonettes.
cause she erected an idol to Astarte. In the elev¬
enth year of his reign God gave him victory over
the vast army of the Cushite king, Zerah, and the
prophet Azariah encouraged him to go on in his
work of reform. And yet, when Baasha, king of
Israel, opposed this very work, he sought aid, not
from God, but from heathen Syria. In the latter
part of his life he became diseased in his feet
and the Scripture reproaches him for having re¬
course with physicans and not with God. "And
Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was
diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceed¬
ing great: yet in his disease he sought not the
Lord, but to the physicians." (2 Chron. 16:12.)
How soon men forget to give God honor and
glory. Here God caused this man, Asa, to suc¬
ceed in all of his work of reform. But when the
time came for him to show his strength and pow¬
er of soul, he trusted in man, and not in God.
And still God blessed him and made his reign one
of the happiest that Judah ever enjoyed. His
piety is spoken of as an example. And he walked
not in the ways of his father; he turned not aside
from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of
the Lord. Nevertheless, the high places were
not taken away, for the people offered burned in¬
cense yet in the high places. And he walked in
the way of his father, doing that which was
right in the sight of the Lord.
Ben-hadad was hired by Asa, King of Judah,
to make war upon Baasha, King of Israel. He
Sermons and Sermonettes. 145
raised large armies, ravaged a party of Naphtal;
for two successive years made war with Ahab,
King of Israel, and was utterly routed by the aid
of God. Ahab spared him, contrary to the com¬
mand of God, and gave him conditions of peace.
This seemed never to have been, for three years
after Ahab renewed the war and was slain. Af¬
ter about nine years Ben-hadad again invaded Is¬
rael and the prophet Elisha was instrumental in
frustrating his plans. "And Elisha prayed, and
said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may
see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young
man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire round about
Elisha." Then Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and
said, "Smite this people, I pray thee, with blind¬
ness. And he smote them with blindness." Eli¬
sha said unto them, "This is not the way, neither
is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you
to the man whom ye seek." But he led them to
Samaria. When he got them into the city, he
said, "Lord, open the eyes," and it was so. And,
behold, they were in the city of Samaria. The
King of Israel, when he saw them., said to Elisha,
"My father, shall I smite them?" and he said,
"Thou shalt not smite them * * * set bread and
water before them, that they may eat and drink,
and go to their master." Shortly before the
death, Ben-hadad asked what would be the issue.
The prophet answered that the disease was not
mortal, but he would surely die.
146 Sermons and Sermonettes.
THE FIRST RISE OF HERESY IN THE
CHURCH,
Text:—"For if I build again the things which
I destroy, I make mystlf a transgressor " (Gal.
2:18.)
It is said that when Christianity began its ca¬
reer in the world's conquest, through the preach¬
ing of the Gospel of the Son of God by Paul, the
ancient world received it with utter indifference,
or with hostility; but when it was accepted, it
was taken along with a mixture of the elements
of old notions of heterogeneous character. A
fermentation which arose bore fruit as the moth¬
er of many heresies. Notwithstanding they were
being warned daily of division, heresies, anti¬
christs, false teachings and damnable doctrines
that would come up, they were also told that the
men would arise who would deceive, if possible,
the very elect of God, and they were warned not
to go after them. As the disciples were command¬
ed to preach the Gospel to all nations, no one can
doubt that the whole world was called to receive
the Gospel, which is the necessary message for
every soul (Matt. 28:19). But some who felt
themselves bound to the law of the Old Testament
regarding the validity of the Law of Moses, not
having understood the deep meaning of the say¬
ing of Jesus Christ, began to pray to him to de¬
part out of their cost, for they thought that cir-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 147
cumcision was still indispensable to their recep¬
tion into the Kingdom.
When Philip, the Hellenistic apostle, preached
occasionally to the Samaritans, the apostles rec¬
ognized this work by sending to them Peter and
John, who preached unto them Jesus Christ the
Son of God (Acts 8:14). It also took a divine
revelation to convince Peter that the Gentiles,
thirsting after salvation, forsaking their lives,
hungering for righteousness, were fit for the
kingdom of Heaven. It was the Hellenistic Jews
who took a bold step for the conversion of the
Gentiles at Antioch. Many of those who used cu¬
rious arts, and many of those who heard the
Apostles preach, brought their books and burned
them before all men: "and they counted the price
of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of sil¬
ver." To foster this movement, they sent Barna¬
bas, who entered into it with all his soul, and also
the lion-hearted Paul, who afterwards visited him
in behalf of the work. It is seen that the zealots
in the Antiochan Church occasioned the sending
of Barnabas to Jerusalem in the year 51, in order
to settle an important question on Doctrine or
Heresy, which had crept into the church. At a
meeting or council called to assemble there, Pe¬
ter and James the Just delivered the decision that
the Gentile converts should only be required to
observe certain legal restrictions. "But that we
write unto them, that they abstain from pollu¬
tions of idols, and from fornication, and from
148 Sermons and Sermonettes.
things strangled, and from blood." (Acts 15:
20.)
An arraignment led to one party of the Gen¬
tiles, the other as the apostle of the Jews: "Four¬
teen years after," etc. (Gal. 2:1-10.) At the
same time Peter laid himself liable to open cen¬
sure for inconsistency, and to weak fanaticism of
certain Jewish Christians, and to have the truth
of it pointed out to him by Paul: "But when Peter
was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face,
because he was to be blamed. For before that
certain came from James, he did eat with the Gen¬
tiles : but when they were come, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing them which were of
the circumcision. And the other Jews dissem¬
bled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas
also was carried away with their dissimulation.
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly
according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest
after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the
-Jews, why compellest thou the Gentles to live as
do the Jews? (Gal. 2:11-14.)
I. Hence the creeping in of heresy at an early
date. The need of filling the apostolic account
of the life of our Redeemer by written documents
led to the origin of the written gospel. The mis¬
sionary apostolic churches, founded by the Apos¬
tles, called forth the doctrinal epistles. A hedg¬
ing of New Testament writings was made at an
early date by the communications from the one
Sermons and Sermonettes. 149
church to another (Col. 4:16.) There was no
confession of faith as a standard of orthodoxy,
but the way was prepared by adopting Matthew
28:19, which says, "Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fa¬
ther, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Here
is seen the difference between the Mosaic Law
and the Gospel of Good News and Glad Tidings.
II. How are we built? Not upon fiction or
fancy, but upon the doctrine of Apostles and
Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
Cornerstone, the Architect and Builder. If you
build your own structure, your work will decay;
and when the perpetual fires of eternity shall be
raining down from God out of heaven, your work
will be destroyed and burned up.
III. Your own imagination of building is
runious to the soul. The very foundation of
man's imagination will undermine not only his
soul, but the souls of all who are influenced by
him, and nothing but time and eternity will tell of
its destruction. So my advice to every man is:
Let Christ do the building, for he is the
"Sure foundation stone which God in Zian laid."
Nor will you cease to contend for the doctrine
of Jesus Christ nor rest at being a transgressor
of law. It seems to be idea of this modern
holiness movement to lay again the foundation
which they claim to have destroyed, thus making
150 Sermons and Sermonettes.
themselves transgressors, and not only so, but
aliens to the commonwealth of Israel.
(a) Sinful man can never satisfy justice.
Christ is all-sufficient. He is the refuge, and a
covert in the time of storm. Any part of your
saving yourself is heresy. The law was not suf¬
ficient; the law was defective, but Christ is suf¬
ficient. Man is imperfect. Christ is perfect.
"For there is not a just man upon earth, that do-
eth good, and sinneth not." (Eccl. 7:20.) Let
us ask ourselves the question: Does Solomon
know what he is talking about? Is he a man of
sorrow and acquainted with grief? Certainly he
must be quoting from his own experience, as God
said that there should never be another man like
Solomon in all the earth.
(b) Imperfection in man. We quote another
man's experience—Job—who says that man is
liable to trouble as the sparks are to go upward.
As long as there is trouble in the flesh, it is a very
great sign of sin in the man. For nothing comes
of sin but trouble.
(c) It is the soul that is born again, and not
the flesh. For Christ said, "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is Spirit." As a man born of the flesh
once cannot be born over, so a man born of the
Spirit cannot be born over in the Spirit. "As we
said before, so say I now again, If any man
preach any other gospel unto you than that ye
have received, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:9.)
Sermons and Sermonettes. 151
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.
Text :—"And the Lord God said, It is not good
that the man should be alone; I will make him a
help meet for him" (Gen. 2:18.)
This help meet was made—not thoughtlessly
created—a social being, as well as an associate
and co-partner; for man's life is not what it
ought to be without this help meet to extend and
perpetuate his happiness.
What is marriage? What is divorce? Mar¬
riage is of divine appointment. God has ordered
it for the purpose of increasing the happiness of
man. Man had not been made very long, I think,
until he was married, and he remained so mar¬
ried until death. Even after they had disgraced
themselves by sin, they still remained husband
and wife. There is a difference between betroth¬
al and marriage. Betrothal is a covenant or
agreement to become united in holy wedlock;
while marriage is a union of man and woman
in conjugal affection.
In India and China children are often betrothed
by their parents while yet in infancy, or even be¬
fore their birth; and this practice is not unknown
among the Semitic peoples of the Mediterranean
seacoast. The wishes of the young women are
rarely ever considered. Almost universally in
the East is a dowry paid by the husband to the
152 Sermons and Sermonett&s.
family of the wife as a prudential measure. The
Orient theory is that love comes after marriage,
and that it can be kept from natural development
by keeping the sexes separated. It is divine, be¬
cause Christ said, "What therefore God hath
joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matt.
19:6.)
Solomon, the great man of God, called a wife
the gift from the Lord, and in the marriage cere¬
mony some one is required to stand as the donor
for the bride. This is true also in England and
in China. It is also believed in China that matri¬
monial matches are made in heaven; and at the
time of marriage an invisible cord of silk is used
to link the tokens of marriage together. When
the cord of tokens is tied, it is impossible to
change their destiny. The first record of mar¬
riage is found in Genesis 2:18-24. "And the Lord
God said, It is not good that the man should
be alone; I will make him a help meet for him."
Adam awoke from that deep sleep into which
God had caused him to fall, and found that out
of material substance God made woman, and he
married her. Hear his ceremony, "This is now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of
man. Therefore shall a man leave his father
and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and
they shall be one flesh."
I. Parents should assist their children in mar¬
riage. "But thou shalt go unto my country, and
Sermons and Sermonettes. 153
to my kindred, and take, a wife unto my son
Jsaac." (Gen. 24:4.) "And Caleb saia. He that
smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will
I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othinel
the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it;
and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife."
(Josh. 15:16, 17.) If the Oriental son has be¬
come of age without being betrothed by his pa¬
rents, it is his privilege to ask his father to find
him a wife. Then it is for his father to decide
whether his request is reasonable.
II. There should be an agreement between pa¬
rents and children as to their marriage. (Read
Gen. 34:14.) Even the daughter's choice is some¬
times recognized as worthy of consideration.
Thus, the parents of Rebecca asked her if she
would go with them to become the wife of Isaac.
In Judges 14: 1-3, Saul consulted the wishes of his
daughter, Michal, in proposing to betroth her to
David. So we might go on, incident after inci¬
dent, showing how they get together. But how
must they get apart, is the question that most
concerns you. "Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother and shall cleave unto his
wife: and they shall be one flesh." Can a man
be dismissed from himself? A man, when he
marries a woman, ought to get out into his own
house and home. This is the Bible doctrine. In
the East, the best women wore a plain cashmere
of negligee fashion. What is more they wore no
ornaments.
154 Sermons and Sermonettes.
III. Lifting the veil after the ceremony. The
bride lifts the veil and gives the husband a kiss.
It is certain that we have traced the matrimonial
services from beginning to end. Now what will it
cost to separate? Let us see what Christ says about
it: "But I say unto you, that whosoevr shall put
away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication,
causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever
shall marry her that is divorsed commiteth
adultery." (Matt. 5:32.) Here in this message
all parties concerned are bound by the tie of matri¬
mony. And in Matt. 19:9 the above passage is
repeated with the same signification. So far as
I have been able to see, no one is authorized to
separate married men and women. Now, you
ask, "What has the church to do with it?" Why,
the same as she would have to do with a drunkard
or any other charge; for the woman which hath
an husband is bound by the law to her husband
as long as they live. The apostle Paul refers to
the same subject, and he is inspired of God to
write: "For the woman which hath a husband is
bound by the law to her husband so long as he
liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed
from the law of her husband. So then, if, while
her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her
husband be dead, she is free from that law: so
that she is no adulteress, although she be married
to another man." (Rom. 7:2, 3.) And he states
further, in the 7th chapter of 1st Corinthians:
Sermons and Sermonettes. 155
"Let not the wife depart from her husband: But
and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or
be reconciled to her husband: and let not the hus¬
band put away his wife." The wife is bound, by
the law of her husband as long as he liveth. But
if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be
married to whom she will, only in the Lord. Here
the line seems to be drawn between the world
and the church, the saint and the sinner. Death
dissolves all legal ties.
THE HIDDEN LEAVEN.
Text:—"The kingdom of heaven is like unto
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."
(Matt. 13:33.)
We are now to take in consideration the Para¬
ble of the Hidden Leaven. We note, first, that
it is not likened to other kingdoms, but likened
to hidden leaven. The parable states that the
woman took and hid it; had it under her own
influence.
I. This Parable, The Hidden Leaven, must
come to light. Leaven permeates every particle
with which it comes in contact. It is a sour
dough kept over from one meal to another, in
order to raise the new dough. Leaven was for¬
bidden the Hebrews during the passover feast of
seven days, in memory of what their ancestors
156
Sermons and Sermoncttes.
did when they went out of Egypt, they being
forced to carry unleaven meal with them and to
eat their bread in haste. (Ex. 12:15-19.) They
were careful to clean their houses before the feast
began. (1 Cor. 5:6.) This cannot refer to the
permeation of the Gospel of the Son of God in the
whole world, because it would not be in harmony
with the Word.
II. Leaven not desirable because corrupt. A
glorious message to fill the hearts of men! Since
there is no purity in leaven, it must be the false
doctrine rising in the land of the church. The
triple hiding of this leaven might attract your
attention, because it is seen in every-day life; and
it had been promised that the kingdom of heaven
is like unto hidden leaven—buried treasure—but
full of light and glory, glowing beyond the busy
.scenes of life, and regaled with eternal joy.
III. The command was that it should not be
found in the home on Feast Day. So with the
kingdom of Christ. It must be without spot or
wrinkle, pure and clean, having been made "white
in the blood of the Lamb." In this passage is
shown what influence woman exerted over the
world, and that in the midst of false doctrine
she will come forth shining as transparent glass.
It cannot mean other than that the hidden treas¬
ure will finally triumph and fill the world with
the glory of God.
(a) The coming forth of this light must be
seen. Those who are in the likeness ,of his com-
Sermons and Sermonett&s. 157
ing must exhibit it until kingdoms and monar¬
chies fall and crumble at his feet, as it was said
by John, that every kingdom shall come to be our
Lord's and his Christ.
(b) Corruption cannot inherit the kingdom
of God. However whitewashed, those who are to
inhabit that kingdom must be robed in garments
of white, pure and clean, without a single dis¬
cord in voice or dress or rank. As leaven cor¬
rupts the meal, so false doctrine corrupts the
Church. While the watchmen are asleep, false
doctrine is making encroachments upon the
Church of Christ.
(c) Just as the purity of Christ, so is the purity
of the heart and the life and the character in the
Christian religion required to be. Of the vivid
description of the eternal world, it is ever de¬
scribed as the health resort for the world to come,
the asylum for the afflicted, and the comfort for
the distressed, the rest for the weary, and the
home of the slave. It is the land of the free—
free from care, free from toil, and free from
death.
THE BEAUTY OF THE CHURCH.
Text :—"Who is this that cometh out of the wil¬
derness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with
myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the
merchant f" (Song of Solomon, 3:6.)
158 Sermons and Sermonettes.
I. The beauty of the church is spoken of with
great respect. This book to my mind is a little
peculiar. Of all the poetic books, this one seems
to portray the character of Jesus and his church
to the best advantage; and also the Christian
graces are seen through the church. She is de¬
scribed as coming out of the wilderness like pil¬
lars of smoke. What a description of a mighty
painter! Smoke going to the highest heaven,
bathing in seas of forgetfulness! These words
are doubtless to the daughters of Jerusalem, to
whom was delivered the charge: "0 ye daughters
of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of
the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love,
till he please." They shyly looked upon her (the
church), because she was black, but now they
admire her. Because of her beauty and comeli¬
ness the whole world honors her. It is the home
of the child of God on earth. Who would have
expected such grandeur and beauty to come out
of the wilderness? This may be seen as the Jew¬
ish church, when after forty years in the wilder¬
ness, she triumphs and looks glorious and takes
her stand in the land of promise. Baalam re¬
ferred to her when he said from the top of the
rocks, "I see him, and from the hills I behold him:
lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not
be reckoned among the nations."
II. She comes out of the wilderness to take
a bold stand against the archangels of darkness,
and powers, and dynasties, and kingdoms. With
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one hand she pushes back the law and ceremo¬
nies and with the tongs of fire clasps a wondering
world in the flames of love and joy of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Even on the day that Christ en¬
tered into Jerusalem the people cried out: "Who
is this that cometh?" "Behold, thy King Com¬
eth * * *riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the
foal of an ass."
III. She is a monument of mercy. Her cry
and pleading is for the guilty and condemned
rebels. All nations must cast their trophies at
her feet and be anointed with her sweet incense
and myrrh. 0, it is at the great bar of God that
she pleads for the sinner, (a) She is the stand¬
ard of truth. In her the truth never grows ob¬
solete, but it fastens its grasp in the heart of
the child of God, and it is heralded from the tall
white throne that no liar shall enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven, (b) She is the representa¬
tive of Christ. As to character and uprightness,
(c) She is the standard of liberality and love.
All the great gifts of the world come from the
liberality of the child of God. He who loves God
loves liberality and will spend his lifetime striv¬
ing for the uplifting of fallen humanity, "for the
liberal soul shall be made fat." We praise her
for the lessons of love and liberty. For it is cer¬
tain that she taught the first lessons of love, and
from the resurrection to the ascension comes the
voice of the centuries, saying, "He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that be-
160 Sermons and Sermonetles
lieveth not shall be damned." The lessons of
love taught by the church are superior in quality
in that it knows no bounds. All come from that
high Christian integrity and from the words of
the Master: "Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature," "baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost, * * * and, lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES.
Text :—"Let both grow together until the har¬
vest : and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and
bind them in bundles to burn them but gather
the wheat into my barn " (Matt. 13:30.)
I may call your attention to the fact that in the
East may be seen great fields of barley or wheat.
There you will see tares growing among the bar¬
ley; both are in the proper stage of development.
In those parts where the grain has headed out
the tares have done the same, and there a child
could mistake them for wheat or barley. But
where both are less developed the closest scrutiny
will often fail to detect them. Even the farmers
who weed their fields do not pretend to distinguish
between the tares and wheat until both are well
grown. Should they do so, they would not only
mistake good grain for tares, but very commonly
Sermons and Sermonettes. 161
the roots of the two are so entwined that it is
impossible to separate them without plucking up
both. Both, therefore, must be left to grow to¬
gether until the harvest.
What are tares ? Tares are noxious plants that
grow among the wheat. You will find it every¬
where among the wheat fields of Palestine. It
can hardly be distinguished from the wheat. The
Arabs, according to a certain authority, do not
separate tares from wheat unless by means of
fan or sieve. It is said that to mingle it with
bread causes dizziness.
I. The tares will be gathered and bound in
bundles. The reapers who may be charged with
the responsibility will be surcharged with the.
power of the Spirit, and the glory of his counte¬
nance will gather the corn or wheat into the barn.
But you must not fail to notice that the good and
bad are together in this world undistinguished,
but at the great Judgment Day they shall be sepa¬
rated. No tares among the wheat! No sinners
among the saints! They shall see the difference
between the righteous and the wicked. "Then
shall ye return, and discern between the righte¬
ous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth him not." (Mai. 3:18.)
Christ will not bear always. So many irreligious
people, I believe, put his forbearance to the test.
But, alas, when he shall say to the reapers, "Bind
them in bundles and burn them!" "For, behold,
today oometh! that shall burn as an oven; and
162 Sermons and Sermonettes.
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch." (Mai. 4:1.) "I
will consume man and beast; I will consume the
fouls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and
the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will
cut off man from the land, saith the Lord."
(Zeph. 1:3.)
II. They shall be bundled up. Sinners of the
same character shall be bundled together. The
atheist, the infidel and the hypocrite shall be bun¬
dled together in the great Judgment Day, and
those who have been associated with sin and wick¬
edness shall be ashamed, and it will be an aggra¬
vation of their misery. It was David that prayed:
"Lord * * * Gather not my soul with sinners."
(Psalm 26:8, 9)
III. They will be bound together and burned.
Such is the end of the wicked. People wko are
in the church as tares are in the field. 0 what
an awful calamity for one who is living in the
light of the Gospel of God. amidst the Gospel
truth, with the sword of the Spirit bathed in tears
of our blessed Christ, putting on pretention until
the Judgment horn shall blow! What will be¬
come of the ballroom Christian, whose heart ii
filled with carnality and the pleasures of this life;
the Christan who finds more pleasure in the ball¬
room than in the prayer meeting; the Christian
who delights more in committing sin than in the
Sermons and Sermonett&s. 163
blessings of the church of God? 0 think how
Christ must have turned himself from you a few
days ago when I saw some of the Christian men
of this church, riding deep in the stirrup, lead¬
ing sinners to the ballroom at the clatter of the
drum and the swell of the horn! Think what
they will do when they stand before the great
white throne of Almighty God, with bated breath
and a downcast look, to hear the words from the
mouth of God: "Bind them together and burn
them."
IV. Heaven is the barn into which God's wheat
shall be gathered. The Christian here is likened
unto wheat, gathered out of sin, separated from
the world—separated from the clash and gaiety
of society—separated from the pollution of this
world. On the day of God's harvest this world
shall be burned up. Yet it is the field in which
the most precious of God's people are to be gath¬
ered. Hell, the furnace of fire, is to be kept ablaze
by the wrath of God and fed by tares, and lighted
by sin as campfires of eternity that shall burn
down to the lowest pit. (a) This wheat shall
shortly be gathered home. Home, because it is
a place of happiness! Home, because it is
a place of everlasting joy! Home, because our
hearts are there! Home, because loved ones
await us there. Home, because Christ is there!
But here let us take another view. It is the
tares and wheat growing together; but alas! the
storm of life is past and all God's grain is gathered
164 Sermons and Sermonettes.
in heaven, (b) Souls housed as grain in a barn.
Alas! the wheat is sifted from the chaff.
MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION,
Text :—"The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hear est the sound thereof, but canst not
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so
is every one that is born of the Spirit(John
3:8.)
In a previous sermon on Sanctification, we
learned a great many things about this impor¬
tant doctrine. You can see at a glance, that the
manner in which the Spirit acts upon us in Sanc¬
tification is unknown to any one. In none of
God's acts can we tell about his dealings.
I. Man's knowledge too dim to understand his
action. In the book of Ecclesiastes we are taught,
"As thou knowest not what is the way of the
Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb
of her that is with child: even so thou knowest
not the works of God who maketh all." (Eccl.
11:5.) Could we conceive the secrets of his hid¬
den treasure, and understand him as we behold
his wondrous works, and look with amazement
to the bedecked heavens, we might have an idea
a faint idea, of what perfect Sanctification is!
But in sanctification the Spirit moves as mysteri¬
ously as in regeneration. The Spirit teaches the
truth as it is in God's Word. "As thou hast sent
Sermons and Sermonettes. 165
me into the world, even so have I also sent them
into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through
the truth." Again we are reminded that we are
bound by a tie of love, which none can give but
Christ, that we are sanctified through the truth.
II. All plants must grow. There must be no
stagnant pools upon the King's Highway. Falla¬
cy, like any other impediment, will work and twist
you out of your proper channel. In 2 Peter 3:
18, he says: "But grow in grace, and in the knowl¬
edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
Growth, then, is necessary to this Christian de¬
velopment. There is nothing good in the flesh.
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profit-
eth nothing: the words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63.)
My Lord intends that his children shall be sanc¬
tified in truth, and the truth will make us free.
(John 8:32.) "This is my comfort in my afflic¬
tion: for thy word hath quickened me." (Ps.
119:50.) "Give me understanding and I shall
keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my
whole heart." (Ps. 119:34.) While we anxious¬
ly wait upon the Lord, he will bring unto us the
message of truth. Blessed God! But we know
not his way.
III. The great privilege of hearing his mes¬
sage. 0, how it should thrill my heart to bring
to you the Gospel message. "Through thy pre¬
cepts I get understanding." Therefore, I hate
166 Sermons and Sermonettes.
every false way; hate sin and love and serve my
Saviour. This is a sign of growth. The Spirit
came upon the apostles as a mighty, rushing wind.
(Acts 2:2.) And you, my brethren, can remem¬
ber what an influence he had over them, and
every one was awakened to speak out in his own
language and in his own tongue. Yet the Spirit
works as a free agent, giving to every man as
he wills. 1 Cor. 12:11, says, "But all these work-
eth that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he will."
(a) His work upon the conscience is power¬
ful and effectual. Could we ransack the whole
world, and were it possible for us to know of the
many hearts he has regenerated, the souls he has
given joy, the aching hearts he has comforted,
the human beings he has tied together in bonds
of love, we could not but acknowledge that his
free agency is powerful and effectual. To hear
the approaching soft whisper of him gives new
life, and it fires up the memory of an undying
joy that waits the final and the faithful. Thus
the poet cries,
"Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve.
And gird the Gospel armor on."
(b) He is a patient teacher. The sou 1 goes
out with crying and with groans which cannot be
littered. "And the Lord said unto him Arise
und go into the street which is called Straight,'
Sermons and Sermonettes. 167
and inquire in the house of Judas for one called
Saul, of Tarsus: for behold, he prayeth." So is
every one born by the Spirit of God.
(c) He works secretly, not so much for the
exterior, but for the interior. Be careful, my
brethren, lest this flood of increasing fallacy,
creep into our churches, devour the very spirit
and work of the church; and remember what
Jesus said—"That which is born of the flesh is
is flesh."
OUR PULPIT.
new things and a new year.
Text.—"Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new " (2 Cor. 5:
17.)
In the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians
he tells them of his intentions to pass through
Macedonia, but being providentially hindered for
some time, he writes a second epistle—a year af¬
ter history records the account. It seems to have
been the incentious man who requested (having
been excommunicated) to be restored to the
church, having been censured. In our text a
statement was made that will meet the approval
of every regenerated heart. If a man be in
Christ, he is a new creature. How true is that
168 Sermons and Sermonettes.
blessed word meaning that the man has been
created anew. If you have been created anew,
you must prove yourself as such. Then you
must move up on the higher ground, leave the
stagnated pool of sin and shame, and go on to
perfection, because of your new creation. What
would you think of a man always talking about
having built a new six-room house and talk for
time without number, and still live in the old
one-room log hut by the old filthy, black
pond, where the atmosphere is impure and
it still breeds desease of sin and impu¬
rity? I tell you it looks very much like the same
man to me. The old year, like the old body, has
has been an eventful one. It has seen its bitters
and its sweets; it carried with it its sorrows and
its afflications, its joys and its sorrows, its disap¬
pointments and besetments. When the death
knell was heard a few nights ago at midnight,
had seen the broken hearts tied and broken. Had
you seen the pangs of all earth's grief, you would
to-day be wringing your hands for anguish and
crying, but God has kept all that from our eyes,
and it seems as but a dream of yesterday.
It ought to be the care of every Christian that
they be new creatures. First, I have a new name.
I hear some people say there is nothing in a name,
but I cannot agree, for to me that kind of doc¬
trine is false. For the name is the line that dis¬
tinguishes one man from another. This new
name therefore groups us together as a band that
Sermons and Sermonettes. 169
has been created anew. However, the name will
not make much difference unless it is a new name
given by him who giveth and will make all things
new.
Not only do they have a new name, but they
live a new life. God help us to walk and live
this new life. "But ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his." (Rom. 8:9.)
Christ becomes all and all to this new creature
in this new life—a new heart.
If the heart is not renewed, you stand on slip¬
pery ground. But not risk yourself, but Christ.
This new heart carries with it new nature, and
it is noticeable because you have become dead
to the world and the lusts thereof. And the
grace nails the lusts of the flesh to the spiritual
cross. It tries to revive, but faith stands with
the hammer of conviction, with a written inscrip¬
tion in his hand, saying, "I have victory over
death, victory over sin, victory over the grave."
And so great is this new heart until old things
pass away never to re-enter the soul again, and
as you leave old principles of lying and drunken¬
ness and other sins too numerous for me to men¬
tion here in the grave of sin and iniquity, so must
this poor soul of ours bloom into everlasting joy;
and, furthermore, this new heart creates seem¬
ingly a new world in the soul.
170 Sermons and Sermonettes.
THE NEW man.
He must have new thoughts because he is liv¬
ing in this world, but not of the world. For in
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any¬
thing but faith which worketh by love—this is
the characteristic of the new man. Then as the
accummulated responsibilities of the old year die,
and I hear crying as in the distance, let us praise
God for his longevity of life, and welcome the
New Year, and begin the battle for life and
heaven anew, because new responsibilities are
upon us. They are full of anxiety but, thank
God, pregnant with hope, for behold, I create a
new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall
not be remembered or come into mind. How
glorious is the thought that there will come a day
when all earth's troubles shall pass away; when
a new heaven and a new earth shall be the saint's
dwelling place; when the seas shall be wrapped
in His mantle of love, neither shall their places
be found any more to molest us or make us afraid.
Oh, glorious day, hasten with thy mantle.
A LYING FAMILY.
Text.—"But Peter said, Ananias, why hath
Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,
and to keep part of the price of the landV* (Acts
5:3.)
Sermons and Sermonettes.
Our text last Sunday, if you will remember,
was taken from the same book of the Acts of the
Apostles as we have it this morning, and we are
but a few steps from the same chapter to-day.
We are dealing with a new subject entirely, but
not a new man. He is old, and the world has
been bothered with him for centuries, and still
he does not die. The next generation will meet
the same fate as their ancestors; but he will be
no more to them than an heir. He has deceived
every kindred, tribe and people, and is still teach¬
ing that lying is the best policy. He is the
father of lies. He told Adam the first lie, and
it is too well remembered by the reading world
for me to repeat it here. However, Adam
obeyed his dictation, and found the whole a fa¬
brication too late to redeem himself from an aw¬
ful curse. He was led into it by his closest
friend, his bosom friend. Beware, my friends,
in confiding too much in your best friends; even
they are deceptive. When the eyes of the hus¬
band of Eve were opened, it was but to find that
he had pulled down the frowns of the Almighty
God upon his posterity. He shuddered, he
shrank, he feared, he trembled, but the yoke of
sin was upon him. In the midst of this condi¬
tion he heard the voice of God in the garden,
saying, "What is this thou hast done?" and so
chagrined was he that he hid himself from the
face of the Lord and said, "I was afraid because
I was naked." Here in this instance is a whole
172 Sermons and Sermonettes.
family ruined on account of listening to a lying
spirit. This spirit was doubtless varied in make¬
up, because he appeared to Adam in the form
of a serpent, but had the power of speech. When
he appeared to Adam's wife he had changed him¬
self, so history records; but to her his words were
sweet and enticing. He also beautified himself
in the form of an angel. She was charmed by
the excellence of his appearance, and the firm¬
ness of his expression gave him her best atten¬
tion. When the story was convincingly told she
yielded to his persuasion. Not only was his
family wrapped in lying, but through it all man¬
kind. God does not love a liar. He never did
and he never will. So those who lie may settle
in their own conscience that they are not loved
by him.
I. The heart is filled to lie by Satan. I draw
the contrast between Satan and the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of Satan fills the heart with malice,
contempt, hatred and fallacy. While the Holy
Spirit teaches us to pray and be truthful. Our
government is based upon truth, yes, every right
principle. In our discourse to-day we find an¬
other family who covenanted to lie. If there
were any children in the family, we have never
been able to find out, but we do know that there
were husband and wife. They covenanted to
deceive the church about their own property, their
own money, intending to get praise and credit
for that which they did not deserve. In my mind
Sermons and Sermonettes. 173
I can hear them covenanting now, saying, We
cannot afford to give away all of our living, but
we will sell our property and keep back part of
the price, the brethren will never know the dif¬
ference. But they forgot that God was looking
down in their hearts and listening to their con¬
versation, and as they proceeded in this way, the
justice of God frowned upon them, for this was
an awful thing for them to have done. Having
completed their plot, Ananias proceeded to the tem¬
ple, doubtless with a long face, saying, "This is all
that we have." Having said this, the apostle ac¬
costed him and asked him if that was all. He
said, "It is." Then the apostle asked him, "Why
hast Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost?" and further stated that he had not only
lied to the Holy Ghost, but had lied to God. Here
is a family whose hearts Satan had filled. He
had hold of their tongues, tongues filled with poi¬
son, with cruelty.
II. There must be a refilling. This brings up
three little words in my mind, when, why and
where. All of these words are important to each
individual here. When the heart is renewed by
the Holy Ghost, cleansed in the fountain of the
Saviour's blood, made pure within, white and
clean. Where the covenant is made between the
Son and the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the poet answers it by saying:
"Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone!"
174 Sermons and Sermonettes.
Why, because no one can enter the kingdom
of heaven without being washed in the fountain
of cleansing blood. When this old testament of
clay is swept out, new life springs forth, fresh
springs of living streams go flowing, flowing from
the fountain of life. God bless you all to-day in
springs of life in which all heaven rejoices, for
there is more rejoicing in heaven, says the Bible,
"over one sinner that repenteth, more than over
ninety and nine just persons; which need no re¬
pentance." Be not uneasy, my brethren, about
liars entering the kingdom of heaven; for if one
single liar should be found in heaven after the
thousands of years of worship, cross-bearing, and
burdened hearts in this life, heaven's happiness
would be thrown into chaos. I go one step fur¬
ther—notice that both the man and his wife were
liars, possessed of the same spirit; but think of
their fate. The husband fell dead at Peter's feet
with a lie in his mouth; the wife came in two
hours later, possibly she did not fail to keep her
covenant which she had made with him, not know¬
ing the fate of her husband. Many of our modern
women have taken lesson from Sapphira; for they
will keep their covenant, whether for good or for
evil. The difference is that they don't fall at the
time of lying, but usually die lying. When she
was informed of what had happened to her hus¬
band, she fell dying also. In these two cases,
death is the sentence for lying.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 175
III. There is a difference between a Spirit-
filled heart and a Satan-filled heart. The differ¬
ence is so vast that the vilest man in the commu¬
nity knows it. "By their fruits ye shall know
themand said Jesus, "A good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit." God grant that the Spirit may
iill our hearts to-day with Christian fortitude,
that he may burn up every sin that doth so easily
beset us, and help us to run this race with pa¬
tience, looking to Jesus Christ, who is the author
and finisher of our faith. As long as we live in
this world Satan will press his claim upon us;
but let us remember, Jesus has a greater claim.
Satan's claim is an assumed claim, but Jesus'
claim is a blood claim, because he shed his blood
to redeem us from the curse imposed upon us by
Satan's persuasive influence over our mother, Eve.
Satan's claim again is an idle tale, for nothing
follows it but death and destruction, but the claim
of Christ saves us from guilt, sin and death. No
wonder the Psalmist said in his exaltation, "Lord,
make me to know my end, what it is, that I may
know how frail I am." Satan is still fighting to
fill your hearts with lying. He wants to capture
the world with his lies. Let us teach our girls
who are to become mothers, that lying was the
first disgrace that came upon the family of men.
It was a disgrace then and it is a disgrace now.
"God be praised, for his mercy endureth for¬
ever."
A76 Sermons and Sermonett&s.
PASTORS, TAKE HEED,
Text.—"Take heed therefore unto yourselves,
and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of
God, ivhich he hath purchased with his own
blood." (Acts 20:28.)
Our text comes to-day as advice to ministers
as the watchmen of God. People are to a great
extent mistaken as to the appointments of pastors,
especially among our people; and I am afraid that
it means weakness in our churches. I believe
that modern Baptists are holding on only to a
few principles of Baptist doctrines. The cause is
that Baptists have begun to ape the world, seek¬
ing after man instead of God. There is but one
way, and that is God's way, to call a pastor.
His call is not a plaything, but it is God's great
blessing to the church. The pastorate is divinely
appointed—he must be appointed, he must be ap¬
pointed by the Holy Ghost. The church simply
votes her approval of what she believes the Holy
Ghost has done. This brings us to proposi¬
tion :
I. Take heed unto yourselves. That is the
first milestone in the Holy Ghost appointment.
Be careful how you take hold, for yours is a work
that has been assigned you by the Holy Spirit.
If you notice very carefully* the Holy Ghost has
given to you the charge over the whole church,
Sermons and Sermonettes. NJ.77
the whole flock. This includes deacons as well
as laity of the church; therefore he is intrusted
with a great work, and to testify to this assign¬
ment wrought by the Holy Ghost, it is unbaptis-
tic to set the time when he will serve out his
time, whether for one year or ten. One great
writer has said: "I believe that long pastorate
fruitage depends upon rootage, and roots cannot
strike down and out, deep and wide, in one or
ten years." This man bespeaks my sentiments.
Nowhere in the New Testament is the pastor's
call limited to a number of months or years. That
is man's way of doing things; but God's way is
lasting. Peter after having preached the Word
of God was crucified with his head downward,
requesting this because he felt his unworthiness
to die like his Lord and Master.
II. Take heed to feed the flocfc. This is the
only one great duty of a pastor, to feed the flock.
Sometime some one may map out your course;
but as you are led by the Holy Ghost, feed the
flock; for as many as are led by the Holy Spirit
of God are the sons of God. Now that is one
charge that must be closely observed. Allow not
the flock to go astray and die for want of the word
of God, for it is food to the soul. By it the soul
must be tried in Judgment. Oh, watchman!
mount upon the walls of today, for you must give
an account to God for your stewardship. There
will also come a time when you will have some
hard things to endure; but these will never come
178 Sermons and Sermonettes.
at a time when you will have to give up your weap¬
on, which is the Word of God.
III. As an ever seer. You are responsible for
what is taught in the community religiously, and
also for the doctrine of Baptist churches, as they
believe it and as they teach it. As Bishop of this
flock and leader of this community must be as
Paul said concerning the character, ministers—
blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober,
of good behavior, given to hospitality and apt to
teach. Thank God that you are possessed with
those characters. Continue, therefore, until
death shall bring you to your God. The over¬
seer answered in place of the Master himself.
Then since the appointment was of the Holy
Spirit the evacuation must belong to him. It was
Mr. Spurgeon who said, "The temple of heavenly
blessing is founded upon the shadowed rock."
No scene in sacred history ever gladdened the
heart and quickened the soul like Calvary's trage¬
dy. Light shines from Golgotha's midnight
scene and every flower of the field blooms sweetly
beneath the shadow of the once accursed tree.
When we remember the thirst of our Saviour,
it is but to know that Grace has dug the living
fountain with waters clear as crystal, each drop
of which can cure the ills of all mankind.
PAUL AT MARS' HILL.
TEXT.—"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars'
mil, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that
Sermons and Sermonett&s.
179
in all things ye are too superstitious." (Acts 17:
22.)
Paul was a very fearless gospel preacher. I
think his great strength lay, not in high sound¬
ing titles, nor in the popularity of the world, but
in the power of the Holy Spirit. He cared not
for danger when he knew he had God's message
to deliver. Possibly, my hearers, you never knew
where Paul stood—it was on Mars' Hill. It
means the place of the court where the supreme
judges of Athens assembled. It was on an emi¬
nence in the center of the city. This hill to-day
is almost a mass of stone. Its sides are steep and
abrupt. On this hill the Amazons pitched their
tents when they invaded Attica in the time of
Theseus, and afterwards the Persians under
Xerxes. As to the number of judges composing
this court it is uncertain: some say thirty-one;
others, fifty one; some, as many as five hundred.
This tribunal consisted originally only of nine per¬
sons who had held the office of chief magistrate,
an archon, and who had acquitted themselves with
honor. They were judges for life and never sat
in judgment only in the open air and at night,
that their minds might be less liable to be de¬
tracted from by surrounding objects or be sus¬
ceptible to pity or aversion or other motives.
Their jurisdiction was large. They took cogni¬
zance of murder, impieties and immoralities. They
punished vices of all kinds, idleness included.
They rewarded or assisted the virtuous. They
180 Sermons and Sermonettes.
were peculiarly attentive to blasphemies against
the god. It was, therefore, with the greatest
propriety that Paul was examined before this
tribunal, he having preached at Athens the plu¬
rality of the gods, and declared whom they adored
without knowing him, "This is the God whom I
preach to you." It was here that Paul spoke
with so much wisdom that Dionysius, one of the
supreme judges, was converted and was dismissed
without interference. We can see how God must
have stood by this God-man, while he spoke from
his place of judgment. As a herald of the cross
of Jesus from here, philosophers have gone down
to death. In process of time a law was enacted
prohibiting the introduction of any foreign wor¬
ship, under pain of death, without a decree from
Mars' Hill. What could have proven more sincere
in a preacher of righteousness, than to behold this
hero standing here between life and death de¬
claring the only true God. He is speaking to the
disciples of Socrates and Plato and of the dogmat¬
ics of the porch. They were addressed by a poor
lonely man who had no visible power to save him¬
self from peril but remember that God was with
him. The world to-day wants Pauline gospel.
The courts need the gospel from the magistrate
to the supreme court. These vain philosophers
made little of Paul. They called him babbler,
they said he was a setter forth of strange gods.
But when Paul thundered forth the gospel of the
Son of God, not only the flash of eternal light upon
Sermons and Sermonett&s. 181
the common people, but one of the judges also
was converted—Dionysius by name. And to¬
day in proud America the gospel with gloves off
is needed in the legislature, in the senate and the
halls of congress, everywhere that the soles of
man's foot have gone, the gospel is needed. Some
people are saying, "Let us alone, we pay you."
No, no, you support the message bearer. Their
pay will come later on, not until his coming and
when we shall see him as he is when he shall say,
"Come up, ye blessed ,of my Father, and inherit
the Kingdom of heaven prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." As you have seen, he
is preaching to an aristocratic set. But did you
ever think of how little God noticed or regarded a
philosopher whose heart had not been killed dead
to the love of sin and made alive in Jesus Christ?
Here were the wise assembled on the hill, but
Paul said on the hill, "As I passed by and beheld
your devotion, I found an altar with this inscrip¬
tion, 'To the unknown God/ whom, therefore, you
ignorantly worship."
My brother, art, science and learning can't
stand before the spirit and power of the gospel.
I see you are too susperstitious, you are fanatics
over the wrong religion. Suppose you had this
zeal in Christ that they had in the Athenian
courts. The world would rejoice, man would be
redeemed from a long neglected obedience. The
world and the modern church are too much the
same to my mind. They both seem to be going
162
Sermons and Sermonettes.
the same way, the world in the church and the
church in the world—theatre in the world and
the church in the theatre, the church in society
and society in the church. If the gospel was the
power of God unto salvation, then, it is the same
to-day. The God that made heaven and earth,
Him, I declare unto you. He dwelleth not in the
temples made with hands, neither worshipped by
man's hands as though he needed anything. He
gives to all life and breath and hath made of one
blood all the nations to dwell upon the face of the
earth.
GOD AS A STRONGHOLD.
Text:—"As for God his way is perfect', the
word, of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all
those that trust in him " (Psalm 18:30.)
The Psalmist was a great believer in God; he
was convinced of God's purity and was assured
that God's purposes were right and God's mercy
was sublime. He further states that God made
darkness his secret place, his pavilion around
about him, and every soul must bow to him. He
is a rock of offences; the Lord also thunders in
the heavens. Hailstorms and fires are storms of
his weapons of war. Hear this man of God, what
he says, "As for God, his ways are past finding
out."
Sermons and Sermonettes. 183
(1.) God's ways are perfect and are always
right.
God has his way in the whirlwind, yea, in the
storm. Time and tide have tried his way, but his
way still lives. Notice that David said, "He is a
buckler to all those that trust him," and then the
writer describes God as a rock. He says that
he is a rock, his way is perfect, for all his ways
are judgments. He is a God of truth and without
iniquity; just and right is he; no other God can
receive such application as the God of David, but
he is not so narrow as to keep it hid away in his
heart, for he wants that the world know it. If
you trust him he will be a buckler not only to
you, but to every one who trusts him. And re¬
member, my friends, as we stand in the evening
of the dying of the first year of the twentieth
century, that he is still able to uphold those who
trust him.
(2.) God's ways are delightful.
Therefore we need not fear the travel therein
because his ways are clear of ravenous beast and
are filled with wellsprings of truth, joy, and illumi¬
nated by the light of his untiring energy of the
sin-avenging. His words do not drop like flying
meteors, but they have been tried, yea, and are
being tried to-day; but they stand, and according
to what the Son of God has said, shall stand for¬
ever, for it is recorded in the Bible, "Till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all is fulfilled." Yea,
184 Sermons and Sermonettes.
he is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his
ways are judgment—a God of truth, and without
iniquity, just and right is he.
(3.) God's way is a tried way.
Is it not wonderful to you, my friends, how
that no one that really trusts him ever tires ? Ask
the aged whose faces are ploughed with wrinkles
and tears and they say all these years it is sweet
to trust him. If mountains come in sight, the
trusting child simply leaps over them, for his
hand will bear you on wings of mercy and uphold
you. If rivers of trouble come and tears flow
down in narrow streams they are dried by the
breath of his Spirit, and the trusting child goes
tripping along bright Canaan's highway. I go
one step further and remark, how beautiful the
scenery, the rivers of life from which to drink,
living springs shooting forth from God's prom¬
ises, Heavenly companionship, amgelic music.
The people of all the earth have tried it, but God's
way is still right; right because it is God's way;
right because God is the standard of right. So
man never gets right until he turns in God's way.
Oh! how beautiful are his ways. "His ways are
ways of pleasantness and all his paths are
peace."
(4) God's ways are truth.
No one can ever be misled by going in God's
ways. "And David went thence to Mizpeh of
Moab; and he said unto the king of Moab, Let
my father land my mother, I pray thee, come
Sermons and Sermonettes. 185
forth, and be with you, till I know what God will
do for me." Wait until you know what God will
do for you before you leave your position. Don't
leave on bended knees until you know, for in due
time God will give the signal of the beacon light
of his approval of your course.
(5) God's words are pure.
Words of false teachers and anti-Christs are
false, because they mislead you into impure
streams where the stagnant waters overwhelm
you and destroy your future hope forever. But
"God's words are pure." David says in the
twelfth chapter of the Psalms" and sixth verse,
"The words of the Lord are pure words: as sil¬
ver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven
times."
THE DANGER OF SHAME IN THE
WORLD AND THE WORLD TO
COME,
Text :—"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed
of me and my words, in this adulterous and sin¬
ful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be
ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38.)
Our text to-day puts every man on his own
merit. And in a time you need to be most shel¬
tered and shielded from an all-wise, sin-aveng¬
ing God. The warning is not only to those who
186 Sermons and Sermonett&s.
may be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also
the warning is to the one who is ashamed of his
words. Ah, this world is filled with humanity-
ashamed to own his blessed name; ashamed to
own his word and stand up for it. In my mind
I see thousands upon thousands going on to the
judgment bar of God, wrapped in a swaddling
cloak of shame, marching, stepping to the drum¬
beat of eternity to be hurled into outer darkness,
having been driven from His peaceful presence
to hear Him for the last time say, "Depart, for
I am ashamed of you." And then, with an anx¬
ious look will your mind recast itself upon lost
opportunities. But they are gone forever here
in this land of Bibles and prayers.
Ashamed of baptism; afraid of being criticised
by sinners and hypocrites; ashamed of the Com¬
munion, where the body and blood is exemplified—
where the cross is brought so near until nature
changes its position and the groans are heard
dying in the distance. Here, upon this momentous
occasion in the midst of which saints stand to see
the last breath expire. He does expire until a
wail is heard from Him and an answer is given.
In the midst of all this dark scene of a blushing
sin and twinkling stars and a darkening Heaven,
no shame came over him. Ah! I would rather
stand on his word and lose my life than to have
all of the plaudits of the world and be crowned
King. Two questions are important in this con¬
nection : Are you going to heaven? Then pull
Sermons and Sermonett&s. 187
your face of shame, for it will take a bold soldier
to stand in the raging billows of Jordan. You
will be discouraged, for some one in that very
train will say, "No shore;" but when having
passed from death unto life, Jesus is the founda¬
tion both sure and steadfast.
I. Ashamed of me and my word. As much
as to say, "If you are ashamed of me and mine,
I will be ashamed of you and yours."
II. What makes thee ashamed is bcause the
life will not, cannot stand when He comes to
make up his jewels. Luke says in the context
with my text, "But he that denieth me before men
shall be denied before the angels of God." How
may I deny Him? Every time we put off obey¬
ing him he is denied and rejected. Oh! my friend,
throw off the yoke of sin for it wears hard to
you. "Come and learn of him for his yoke is easy
and his burden is light."
III. He is assured of coming. When he came
before, he came alone. But when he comes again,
all heaven will be with him, and the sleepy earth
will awake with astonishment. Are you ashamed
now? You will be ashamed then. My words
shall stand. As the poet would have it,
"Firm as his throne his promise stands,
And he can well secure
What I've committed to his hands
Till the decisive hour."
188 Sermons and Sermonettes.
"Then will he own my worthless name
Before his Father's face,
And, in the new Jerusalem,
Appoint my soul a place."
GOD'S CALL TO CONSECRATION.
Text:—"But ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people;
that ye should show forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness unto his mar¬
velous light." (1 Peter 2:9.)
Dedication is an act of setting anything as a
consecration to God. It is said that the Mosaic
law ordained that all of the firstborn, both man
and beast, should be consecrated to God. The
whole race of Abraham was in a peculiar manner
consecrated to His worship; and the tribe of Levi
and the family of Aaron were more immediately
consecrated to God and His service. Ex. 13:2-
12, "Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatso¬
ever openeth a womb among the children of Is¬
rael, both of man and of beast: it is mine." 12th
verse, "That thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all
that openeth a matrix, and every firstling that
cometh of a breast which thou hast; the male
shall be the Lord's." 15th verse, "And it came
to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go,
that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the first-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 189
born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord
all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all
the firstborn of my children I redeem." Num.
3:12, "And I, behold, I have taken the Levites
from among the children of Israel instead of all
the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the
children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be
mine."
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, offered her
son to the Lord to serve all of his lifetime in the
tabernacle. 1 Sam. 1:11, "And she vowed a vow,
and said, "0 Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed
look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and re¬
member me, and not forget thine handmaid, but
will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then
I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his
life, and there shall no razor come upon his head."
The Hebrews sometimes devoted their fields
and their cattle to the Lord and their spoils taken
in war. Lev. 27:28, 29, "Notwithstanding no de¬
voted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord
of all that he hath, both of man and of beasts,
and of the field of his possession, shall be sold
or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy
unto the Lord."
Ministers of the gospel are peculiarly set apart
and consecrated to preach the gospel of the Son
of God. The Jews were exceedingly tender of this
ancient privilege of being the only people of God,
because of that special covenant taken with God as
the seed of Abraham, separated from the rest of
190
Sermons and Sermonettes.
the world. Thus they did not want to submit to
the gospel consecration. To this objection, the
apostles answered, "If you do not submit, you are
lost or ruined forever." Thus it is from these
passages that Gcd will carry on his work and
support the interest of Jesus Christ in the world,
notwithstanding falseness of pretended friends
and the opposition of his worst enemies:
1st. All true Christians are a chosen genera¬
tion.
2nd. All the servants are a royal priesthood.
3rd. All of God's children are peculiar in their
life and work.
4th. All of God's children will answer to his
call.
THE IMPETUOUS QUESTION
ANSWERED.
Text:—"Then answered Peter and said unto
him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed
thee; what shall we have therefore?" (Matt. 19:
27.)
Jesus is now on his Judean ministry. The men
who follow him look back and see home forsaken
with its beauty and its luxuries. Mother and
father, wife and children—filial affection clings
to them like a great monster. The question would
naturally come in the bosom of a thoughtful mind.
Paul declares in the third chapter of Philippians
Sermons and Serwonettes. 191
and eighth verse these words. "Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and
do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."
Jesus tersely answered that no man hath left
house, brethren, sisters, wife, father and mother,
lands with persecutions and in this world but that
he shall receive an hundredfold and in the world
to come eternal life. When the answer to Peter's
question is given, it is both powerful and satis¬
factory, viz., "Jesus answered and said unto them,
* * * "Ye which have followed me in the genera¬
tion, when the Son of man shall sit upon the
throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
This promise is not to one, but to every one who
loves his coming and watches for him the second
time, without sin unto salvation. It does seem
here that Peter had just come to himself; for,
observing that they had been following the Lord
Jesus Christ for some little time, he begins to
reckon what he had lost, unless something is given
in return; so he propounds the question, What
shall we be given in return? They had nothing
but a few fishing tackles and nets; but it was
great to them because it was all they had of earth¬
ly goods, and, besides, the fond affection of a lov¬
ing mother and father and loved ones, had all
been left behind.
(1) Consider the loss before you leap.
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Life is too short for you to throw it away
without reward. When a man invests his life
in luxuries of this world without an eye single
to the Lord and his righteousness for the uplift of
the human family his life is naught.
(2) Our reward promised in this world and
the world to come.
These rewards promised are better than gilt-
edged paper, because of the millions who have
not been given "titles to the mansion in the sky."
Not one has been given a faulty title, but to-day
they rejoice in that the foundation is sure and im¬
movable.
(3) Our reward increased.
For it is a hundredfold in the world to come
with the assurance that Jesus is the payee. Who
would not accept the invitation, "Come, for all
things are now ready!"
(a) The title secured. Stamped with his own
blood- as the poet would have it—
"Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain."
* * * * * *
"But His that saves from sin and death
And reconciles to God."
(b) We will have all eternity to enjoy this
reward.
(c) The promise accepted. Whosoever ac¬
cepts will not be deceived, for Christ has said
it.
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193
CHRISTIAN EARNESTNESS.
Text:—"Wherefore, seeing we also are corn-
passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every iveight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with pa¬
tience the race that is set before us," (Hebrews
12:1.)
The book of Hebrews, according to the latest
authority, is uncertain as to author; but from
what is seen in this epistle, it would seem that
a community of Jewish Christians was threatened
by persecution by their brethren, who threatened
to excommunicate them from their church. Thus
their faith was about to be shipwrecked in the
Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostle desires that
they hold fast to the confidence in Christ even
to the end. Claiming to be Christians was not
enough; they had to be tested—if they could find
strength to help them in time of need. The
Olympic games referred to in our text were early
Dracticed by those of antiquity according to the
historian. However, these were not practiced by
the Jews to a great extent. The riddle seems to
have been an intellectual pastime with them. One
of the motives which led the Queen of Sheba
to take her long journey to Jerusalem was that
she might propound riddles to the wise Solomon
and "When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame
of Solomon concerning of the name of the Lord,
394 Sermons and Sermonettes.
she came to prove him with hard questions."
(1 Kings 10:1.) It is for the Philistine. "And
it came to pass when their hearts were merry,
that they said, Call for Samson, that he may
make us sport. And they set him between the
pillars." (Judges 16:25.) The play between the
soldiers of Joab and Abner could not have been
called so in irony for the bloody conflict which
ended in a great battle with many lives lost. It
is known that ball playing was practiced at a very
early date, for Isaiah says, "He will surely vio¬
lently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large
country: there shalt thou die, and there the chari¬
ots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy Lord's
house." (Isaiah 22:18.)
1. Christian earnestness must be desired in
this life. Some times when our army is in close
quarters we have to take what is known as double
time, that is, to reinforce our forces when they
are about to be captured by the enemy. The same
may be true of our Christian warfare. There
are times when the army of Satan surrounds the
Lord's forces. Then is the time for the church
of God to get on double quick time. Can it be
truthfully said that the Christians are marching
to the hill of the Lord so slowly that Satan has
encompassed all of our men? Earnestness is re¬
quired in Christian life. So to the rigorous disci¬
pline to which contestants were previously sub¬
jected. The array of spectators before whom
such trials of courage and skill took place, the
Sermons and Sermonettes. 195
high character demanded of the arbitrator, the
perishableness of the garland obtained, compared
with the unfading reward of the saints. "I think
that God hath set forth us the apostles last as it
were appointed to death: for we are made a
spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to
men." For the foot race there was a special
place set apart, called the Stadium. The specta¬
tors occupied raised seats along its sides. The
end from which the start was made, was open
at the other end. In plain view of the contestants
was the goal, and the judge sat beside it with the
gold in hand.
Earnestness in suffering. The spectators looked
on to see us straining every nerve to gain the
victory over sin. Each soldier with bleeding
heart, fainting and falling amid groans that can¬
not be uttered; but Paul encourages us here and
says, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us." Then what
of the suffering? It is only a surety of rest pre¬
pared for the people of God. Tom Paine, the
great infidel, may say there is no God; he may
with his hammer of unbelief beat on the anvil of
truth; but after he had spent his life trying to
explain away the truth of the gospel, he died,
and the funeral was had, and he was no more;
but the truth remaineth the same, and to-day it
is the stronger in the eyes of the world than ever
before and the God of heaven is filling the whole
196 Sermons and Sermonettes.
earth with the fire of his truth. Paul exhorts us
to lay aside every weight and the sin which doth
so easily beset us. He means by this to lay aside
the worldly life and fondest recollection of sinful
pleasure, for it draws us back from our fondest
hope. Press forward, therefore, for the goal is
at the end. The Judge will not forget those to
whom it belongs. What is the sin that so easily
besets us ? It is the sin that has the greatest hold
on us. It won't let us go. You may have an
overdose of selfishness; but you must lay it down
and let Jesus in. Make room, my brother, for he
delights to come into a poor heart like yours.
3. Earnestness of Service. Ah, my friend,
you need not think your half-heartedness is ac¬
cepted with God, for God is worth all of your
time and you have covenanted to work in his
vineyard. The world watches as you run. Not
so much how you talk about running, as how you
run. So run that ye may obtain. The race must
also be run with patience, for patience is need¬
ful, for it will help you to withstand the diffi¬
culties set before you. Run, remembering that
he that said he had laid up for you a crown which
cannot fade. The service must be that $rhich
the heart will unite with in singing—
"All Christ, and Christ alone,
When he comes on his judgment throne;
"Will he find you among the throng
When he comes to claim his own?"
Sermons and Sermonettes. 19?
REPENTANCE AND THE HOLY
GHOST GIVEN.
Text:—"Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts
2:38.)
Our text will lead us to a serious reflection
without which it is impossible to comply with the
conditions named in this discourse this morning,
viz.:— Repentance, Baptism and the gift of the
Holy Ghost. Let the scene of your guilt of sin
take you to Calvary, and see yourself driving the
nails into the hands of our innocent Saviour with
the hammer of unbelief. I want by the help of
God that you look at the spectacle. If your heart
is not flint, reflect as you behold the scene. Can¬
not your heart be touched as he bleeds yonder
on the tree of rugged wood? When all nature
looks upon the horrible scene, it shakes and trem¬
bles. Now a glance at the text will lead us to
consider:—
1. The Duty of Repentance. After having
learned of the blessed Christ through the preach¬
ing of "the Gospel, repent—change your mind,
change your heart, change your way, and cause an
afterthought. This reflection will naturally lead
you away from sin, never to return to it. In
turning from sin, Heaven draws nearer, Christ
becomes dearer, faith stronger, the conscience
clearer, and Christ all.
198 Sermons and Sermonettes.
2. The Duty of Being Baptized. This may
not seem to many germane to my text; but I find
a triple declaration in my subject, therefore I
could not preach this discourse unless I should
give one in its order. Baptism here is the im¬
mersion of a believer in water, in the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Ghost—a doctrine which
the true believer glories in because he delights
to follow in the footsteps of his Master. When
a man has intelligently repented, he firmly be¬
lieves in following the commands and principles
of his Master. My friends, most of our errors
which have crept into the Church of God and are
creeping in to-day, arise from placing human
reason in competition with revelation. But man
is too frail to place himself against revelation.
Many thousands of God's saints seal their martyr¬
dom with their own blood. The Lord does not
seem to enumerate your sins in this connection;
but if you repent, believe and be baptized you are
welcome. Everyone who repents is sent to the
water, not the water to him, sent down into the
water to show to the world that the dead is sepa¬
rated from the living, and that he who puts on
the Christ-life shall rise again. So if a man
misses baptism, something is still undone, he
lacks the approval of Heaven. God said, after
Christ had come from beneath the waves of Jor¬
dan, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased.*' If God were well pleased, why should
mortal man be displeased? It is God's delight,
Sermons and Sermonettes. 199
while it is man's displeasure. I notice, breth¬
ren, that this command was pressed upon every
person, "Repent every one of your sins, turn
from the path of darkness into the path of light
and it will be well with you."
3. The Gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift of
God is an everlasting gift. God has no way to
keep from his promise nor would he. Are you
wedded to sin? Then you cannot be wedded to
Christ? "If any man loves mother or father
more than me, he is not worthy of me.
Come now to consider two great gifts that our
Father in Heaven hath given us after man had
fallen from his holiness, e. g., the Son and Holy
Ghost. Jesus is pleading at the bar. Oh sinner!
hear him now! Your case is before God. What
have you to say? Are you willing to come upon
the stand and testify in your defense? Will you
answer guilty as is charged in the indictment?
He will not plead for you and turn you away.
Mark affirms that John did baptize in the wilder¬
ness and preached repentance for the remission of
sin, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. He is the
leader, the teacher, the Heavenly messenger to
bring peace and comfort to our hearts. 0 Holy
Ghost, come to-day with all thy quickening power!
MANY INVENTIONS FOUND.
Text:—"Lo, this only have I found, that God
hath made man upright; but they have sought
out many inventions." (Eccl. 7:29.)
200 Sermons and Sermonettes.
This is an indictment against man to which we
must all plead guilty. Our parents in the Garden
sought our inventions, first by choosing rather to
disobey God than to obey him. My brothers, it
is quite wrong to sail under false colors that make
no uncertain sound. For the searcher will soon
come, not in dreams, but in reality. The Hebrew
title of Ecclesiastes is Koheleth, which means,
according to the Jewish tradition, a preacher. It
meant originally a Summoner, one who personifies
wisdom and gathers men together to listen to her
verdict. This book was a long time accepted
as a product of Solomon, written in his old age,
and intended as a warning to others against de¬
lusion, of which he himself had been a victim.
But modern critics think that it was written by
one who wrote about the time of Malachi. Let
it be as it is, a religious one in its teaching; all
vanity is exposed and right encouraged.
Moses dissolved religion into loyalty to God's
law in doing and continuing to do God's will.
Man can only consistently enjoy religion as he
obeys the will of God. Man has no preacher in
his labor here. One generation passeth away,
another cometh, but the earth remains forever.
The earth with her elements is ever moving and
man looks on, and goes never to return.
In our text the writer is not sitting idly, but
is watching the signs of the times and "Lo, this
only have I found, that God hath made man up¬
right ; but they have sought out many inventions."
Sermons and Sermonettes. 201
1. Activity Exemplified. It is seen here that
his whole life is full of activity though the world
has been caused to rise and cover her face in
shame and disgrace, for we learn that "God
created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him, and male and female created
he them." Here we see the activity of God even
in the creation. So life is sweet in this world
when it is spent actively engaged in the develop¬
ment of our nation. When the woman saw that
the tree was good for food and that it was pleas¬
ant to the eyes and a tree to be designated to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat
and gave also to her husband, and with her he
did eat.
2. Activity is a Blessing When the Conduct
is Ever Keeping in Touch With God by His Will.
The age in which we live is an active one. Are
your limbs tired? There is at your command an
iron horse waiting to carry you at the rate of
forty to one hundred miles. All commerce is on
wheels. Gospel on rails swinging the blade of
truth, cutting with two edges. Since these are
great truths, the singing of which makes the na¬
tions better, and blesses the world of mankind.
0 that every one would rise from lethargy and
actively engage in soul-winning and man-saving.
What a change would come to the busy scenes
of life.
3. Activity as is Seen in Nature. We watch
with interest the volcanic eruptions and begin to
202 Sermons and Sermonettes.
philosophize, but we are awe-stricken when the
fires of natures shoot forth and melted matter
breaks forth. When it seems that the rocks are
mad with everlasting indignation, the fatal king¬
dom is active, making life a success. The animal
kingdom strains every nerve developing life.
(a) Made man upright. Is he upright?
Now has he not gone from that lofty state of up¬
rightness by making invention whose founda¬
tions were sandy and whose principles were
wrong? What motive could move from that lofty
height to the lowest dust of sin and confusion.
He shuddered, he shrank, he fell, and awful was
his fall; it moved heaven's brightest jewel.
(b) He descended from high to low, from
which he has never been able to rally. Heaven
sent out the rallying cry, Who will go? and he
arose, the star of hope, love and truth, and said,
"Here am I, send me."
(c) Let your inventions be in harmony with
God and his purposes, or all will prove futile.
Why is it that a man has filled the land with
literature, inventing new schemes, new doctrines?
As much as to say to the Father, I have sought
out a new heaven and a new earth, which will
stand by the way of the cross. Every invention,
as far as the spiritual is concerned, will fall and
die, but my word, says God, will stand. May
God have all glory and honor forever through
his Son. Amen.
Sermons and Sermonettes. 203
JESUS THE SOURCE OF COMFORT.
Text :—"I thank my God always on your hebalf,
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus
Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him,
in all utterance, and in all knowledge." (1 Cor.
1:4, 5.)
In a recent sermon we were at the proud City
of Rome contending with contention and strife
between social equality and superiority. To-day
we are at Corinth contending for our choice main¬
ly among the ministers in our text. Saul is called
upon to give his opinion about these things which
concern the church most. As to its inner work¬
ings he praises God because the grace came by
Jesus Christ in behalf of us, and we are enriched
by him. As early as the days of Homer, Corinth
was important as a wealthy city. It is said that
she held the keys of Southern Greece, and lying
between two seas it became the great commer¬
cial centre between Asia and Europe.
When Greece with all of her glory was about
to go down, not only had Corinth become its
chief city, but the city of science, art and litera¬
ture. At the conquest of the country by the Ro¬
mans, the city was entirely destroyed (146 B. C.)
as history records. After lying in ruins for a
century it was again rebuilt by Julius Caesar.
Many merchants flocked there on account of its
commercial rating, among whom were many Jews.
204 Sermons and Sermonettes.
It was made the capital of the Roman Province
of Achia. At the time of Paul's visit it had re¬
gained its ancient magnificence, but with all of
this was associated licentiousness. Luxury-
made its name proverbial. Even among the heath¬
ens it was a stronghold of vice. On his second
missionary journey he introduced the doctrine of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. By the Grace of God Given You. This
grace comes not because you have done some¬
thing, not by your goodness, but through the good¬
ness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace then comes
to us unmerited; therefore, we are not saved by
man's goodness, but Christ's goodness, and when
this grace is bestowed upon you, you were en¬
riched by reason of your union with Christ.
After conversion, saith Proverbs, "Surely he
scorneth the scorners; but he giveth grace unto
the lowly." The grace of God was necessary be¬
hind the dark clouds of man's superstition. Hear
the writer talking about giving favor to the low¬
ly; he gives this favor to the contrite spirit, as
well as in the government of the heart. God re-
sisteth the proud and giveth grace to the hum¬
ble.
2. Grace and Truth Came by Jesus Christ.
When we were bowed down under the yoke of
the law, with our souls tied with the sins of our
ancestry, grace came, "For the law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
(John 1:27.) Glory to God in the highest! this
Sermons and Sermonettes. 205
jnmerited favor came just in time to save us.
There are many who are taught that they are
helping to save men; but my friend, man was
saved before he came into the world, by the man
who is matchless and mighty to save. And if by
grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise
grace is no more grace; but if it be of works,
then it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no
more work. Here it is seen that only one is the
principle, and Paul declares by grace are ye
saved, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God. As men sometimes believe in themselves,
the poet would have it in these lines:
"My God! the spring of all my joys,
The .life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comforts of my nights."
"In darkest shades if he appear,
My dawning is begun:
He is my soul's bright morning star
And he my rising Sun."
3. Everyone has Grace Given Them. Since
Jesus Christ is the giver of this grace, therefore
all have it in their possession. No matter
however man may discriminate against his
brother, the Lord Jesus Christ giveth grace. Paul
says in Ephesians 4:7, "But unto every one of us
is given grace according to the measure of the
gift of Christ." This is a full measure, over
sparkling with everlasting life, wherefore we are
206 Sermons and JSermonettes.
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved.
Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fears, for
our God is a consuming fire, and this all wise
provision, coming as it does, our life is enriched.
Coming to the knowledge of safety in him his
life enwraps our lives in himself. 0 glorious
cross! O resurrection day! what wonders must
be revealed at the last day! If I might have the
privilege of a grand review of the nations of those
who have been swathed in the light of his bless¬
ings! The world must be confronted in the
thought of our text to-day. In all knowledge that
man has taken to himself that he is the mighty
engine moving through this world, he is only
enriched by him who said, "And I if I be lifted
up from the earth will draw all men unto me."
Not a single grain of wheat unless being enriched
by him! Ah, let him speak forth to-day, and all
things will come forth wrapped in his own glory!
And all of you who have the privilege of rejoic¬
ing, may sing:
"Though the pathway be lonely,
And dangerous too,
Surely Jesus is able
To carry me through."
SAFE WITHOUT WANT.
Text—"And Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never
Sermons and Serrnonettes. 207
hunger; and he that believeth on me rliaU never
thirst." (John 6:35.)
This is a strong statement. Possibly no one
ever lived in this world who could substantiate
this statement but Christ. In all of life's work
man has one need, that is, bread. The bread
prayed for was daily bread: thus the bread of
which Jesus Christ is representative is the living
bread. It came from Heaven. You might have
seen the company looking among the smoulder¬
ing embers, among the smoking, as was seen by
him. Resemblance of bread. He uses the lan¬
guage. If you come to me no fire can devour
you or danger ensnare you. If you are depending
on earthly things to fill your soul, to satiate your
longing appetite, empty will be your labor, for
all earthly things will perish. I am food for the
hungry and water for the thirsty; therefore if
you are hungry, you are in a good place to be fed.
All of future life depends on our faith in the
bread of life.
I. Heavenly bread is living bread, because
Christ is the center around which all things are
centered.
II. The bread is good for the healing of the
nations. Christ is the bread of life, for no soul
can be saved without him. My friends, we must
take Christ and live, or refuse him and die.
Bread of itself is dead; but Christ the living God
is the living bread. You must do this and live,
or that and die. You remember that in the Gar-
208 Sermons and Sermonettes.
den of Eden the Lord told Adam that if he ate
of the bread which stood in the midst of the gar¬
den, he should surely die. And his disobedience
of our Heavenly Father was the introduction of
death in the world, and sorrow and discomfort
followed in the wake of death. Two great mas¬
ters are referred to in our text, Hunger and
Thirst. Possibly both refer to the spiritual man.
I am that living bread nourishing by my own
power, my brother; assurance of living, breathing
in pure Christian life is indeed helpful to any one
that believeth. The manna in the wilderness was
a good type of this Jesus. As the rock from
which they drank followed them was Christ, so
was the manna they ate of spiritual manna, as
you remember was gathered in the morning. So
must they who see Christ find him In the morn¬
ing of their youth. Old Israel lived on Christ
until they came to Canaan. So must they who
have tasted of the bread of life live on Christ.
The poet would sing as he writes:
"Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land:
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
Hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more."
"Open now the chrystal fountain
Whence the healing streams do flow;
Let the.fiery, cloudy pillar
Sermons and Sermonettes. 209
Lead mo all my journey through;
Strong Deliverer,
Be thou still my strength and shield."
"When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me through the swelling current;
Land me safe on Canaan's side:
Songs of praises
I will ever give to thee."
COME DOWN FROM THE CROSS.
Text :—"Save thyself, and come down from the
cross(Mark 15:30.)
A cross is a kind of gibbet made of pieces of
wood placed transversely. Death by the cross
was a punishment inflicted upon the meanest
slaves, and was a mark of infamy. "And if a
man have committed a sin worthy of death and
he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on
a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the
tree, but thou shalt in anywise bury him that
day: * * * * that thy land be not defiled which
the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."
(Deut. 21: 22, 23.) The Apostle Paul quotes the
Scripture forcibly when he says, "Christ has re¬
deemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree." This punishment
was common among the Romans. Their pains,
210 Sermons and Sermonettes.
afflictions, etc., were called troubles. Our Saviour
says that his disciples must take up their cross
and follow him. Though the cross is a sign of
ignominy and suffering, it is the glory and badge
of a Christian. The common way of crucifying
was by fastening the criminal with nails, one
through each hand, and one through each of his
feet. Sometimes they were bound with cords;
sometimes they used both nails and fastening
cords, so that the suffering would last longer.
Before they nailed him, they would generally
scourge him with whip or leather thongs, which
was thought to be more severe and infamous than
scourging with cords.
The slaves who had been guilty of great
crimes were fastened to a gibbet or cross, and in
this way were led about the city and beaten. Our
Saviour was loaded with his cross, and as he sunk
under the burden, Simon was made to bear it
after him. (Mark 15:21.)
After the person had been nailed to a cross a
stupefying draught was administered in order to
render him less sensitive to pain. This was an
alleviation which our Saviour did not accept.
(Matt. 27-34; Mark 15:23.) I hear him when
he says, "The cup which my Father hath given
me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11.) He
drank it to the dregs. A cross being erected un¬
der the burning sun, the wounds occasioned a
great fever, says the historian. The blood, in¬
terrupted in its regular channels, accumulated in
Sermons and Sermonettes. 211
different parts of the body and caused painful
congestion. Every writhing of the sufferer in¬
creased his anguish, which found relief only in
mortification and death. Those who were fast¬
ened on the cross lived several days usually, and
sometimes a week or more. Hence Pilate was
amazed at the Saviour dying so soon. The legs
of the two thieves were broken to hasten their
deaths, that their bodies might not remain on the
cross on the Sabbath day. But the crucified were
usually left dangling in the air under the eyes of
the guards until their bodies fell to the ground,
or were devoured by birds and beasts of prey.
HARNESS THE FORCES.
Text:—"Harness the horses; and get up, ye
horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets;
furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines
(Jeremiah 46:4.)
The author of the prophecy of this book was a
son of a priest and a native of Antioch, about
'three miles north of Jerusalem. He was called
to the prophetic office when but a child. "Then,
said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for
I am a child." (Jer. 1:6.) He began his proph¬
ecy in his native place. He soon entered upon
his life's work. His ministry commenced seventy
years after the close of Isaiah's: it therefore em¬
braced a period of forty-one years, and was a
life-long protest against the folly and iniquity of
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his people. He perceived the hopeless ruin that
they were bringing down upon themselves. He
had no wife nor child, so history records. His
one care was for his country, but his constant re¬
bukes brought him into disfavor with his people.
And, my brother, you will find yourself in the box
if you hold out hard against sin and folly. His
friends dealt treacherously with him; he was the
daily rebuke of his enemies, but the path they
were treading led to ruin. This saddened his
heart. He may therefore be called the weeping
prophet. The more corruption, the louder be¬
came his denunciation of sin. His prophecies
may be summed up in these words: Except in
judgment, there is no deliverance possible; that
salvation could only come through death and deso¬
lation. Here it can be seen that Israel's mistake
comes principally by disunion, and thus the judg¬
ment of God was pronounced upon them. So
will every nation when disunion is possible.
The coat of mail was a device known to the
most ancient people. It is named in the Bible
in connection with Goliath. "And he had a hel¬
met of brass upon his head, and he was armed
with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat
was five thousand shekels of brass." (1 Sam. 17:
5.) In this case a single man is well fortified.
How about a man whose God is the Lord? The
Hebrew rendered it, it is said, to mean a breast¬
plate of scales. It is thus that the Egyptian and
Assyrian monuments represent their kings as pro-
Sermons and Sermonettes. 213
tecting themselves when in battle. Uzziah, the
Hebrew king, is said to have provided his sol¬
diers with coats of mail. God has a wonderful
army whose numbers are as the sands of the sea¬
shore. I thank God that I am in that number
which is clad with the breast-plate of righteous¬
ness and shielded with everlasting arms of faith.
1. Preparation for the Future. These brigan-
dines served for protection. So must the people
of God be prepared against the onslaughts of the
marching army of the Adversary, who come in
personal conflict with the children of God. And
unless they have on the brigandines of faith,
wrapped in the garments of holiness, buckled
about with the truth, and with a heart killed
dead to the love of sin and folly, you cannot be
saved. This preparation must begin now. It is
a life's struggle. Imagine the righteous and
the wicked going to war. I need not say,
"imagine," for the war has begun already be¬
tween the world and the church. My brethren,
have you not heard the report that almost nine-
tenths of our church members, not excluding the
same of ministers, have taken up arms against the
only organization that Christ died for? The man
of my text was put in the pit, sunken up to the
neck. An Ethiopian was the instrument that
God used to convey the news to the king. The
king was already afraid of God's dealing with the
prophet, for he had already torn the scroll from
his fingers and burned the leaves one by one,
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and yet, God preserved the book, for the prophet
had a vision which gave him the same version
and the same book. Harness the future of a race
to render it fit for work of war; it is more fre¬
quently taken for a set of defensive armor. (1
Kings 22:24.) So must the people be in harness
before they will be enabled to accomplish much
for God and humanity.
2. Of Self-Respect. This is an excellent time
for the race to try its strength on God, both of
faith and character. This is a time of war, not
of grape and canister, but with mind and soul.
If the downtrodden race would have knowledge
and power, it must get under the shelter of his
wing, for without the cross there will come no
victory. Horses were very rare among the Jews,
so the historian relates. The patriarchs had none.
As horses seemed to have been furnished by
Egypt, God prohibits these, because he did not
want his people to be led into idolatry; because
the introduction of it was a new idea; because
he was swift of foot, it was an easy matter to
be led into idolatry.
3. Preparation must not be of Human Agency.
For God has made unmistakable promises that
can never fall. He wants not that we should de¬
pend upon the arms of flesh nor upon fleet caval¬
ry, but upon the everlasting arm of him who said,
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end."
4. The Preparation must be Made by Prayer
Sermons and Sermonettes. 215
and Faith. In this conflict we must fight for
God to-day! In this land a mighty nation has
harnessed the lightning and belted the earth with
their knowledge-power; but all must bow at his
shrine in obedience to his command. In the time
of the Judges we find horses and war chariots
among the Canaanites; but none among the He¬
brews, because it is said that they were too timid
to venture among the plains, and therefore con¬
fined their conquests to the mountainous parts of
the country. David's enemies, it is said, brought
into the field a strong cavalry, and in the book
of Psalms the horse invariably appears on the
side of the enemy. So in this land every swift
agency appears against us. But with God on our
side we will come out more than conqueror.
When the Israelites were disposed to put too im¬
plicit confidence in cavalry, the prophet remon¬
strated in these words: "The Egyptians are men,
and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not
spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand,
both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is
holpen shall fall down, and they shall all fail
together." (Isa. 31:3.) After all, there is no
hand strong like his hand. "And he took away
the horses that the kings of Judah had given to
the sun, at the entering in of the house of the
Lord, by the chambers of Nathan-Melech the
chamberlain, which was in the suburbs and
burned the chariots of the sun with fire." (2
Kings 23:11.) And, my brethren, there are
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some things among us that must be burned. This
summary was worshiped over all the East, and
was represented by a chariot drawn by the most
beautiful horses in the world. He performed this
task every day from east to west to enlighten the
earth. It is necessary for other races to keep
their people harnessed, it is also necessary for you.
Let us keep in mind the command of the Lord
Jesus.
THE GLORY OF STRENGTH IN GOD.
Text—"He staggered not at the 'promise of God
through belief; but was strong in faith" (Ro¬
mans 40:20.)
This church at Rome consisted of Jewish prose¬
lytes, who had been early converted to Christianity
and had settled at Rome, and who at the time
this letter was written, was formed into a regular
organized community. It was composed of Gen¬
tile Christans principally. It is not known how
the gospel was reached nor who formed the com¬
munity, but Aquila and Priscilla, with whom Paul
consorted, were members of it. History relates
here that the church may have been organized by
the Pilgrims as they returned from the Pente¬
costal feast on the day when the Spirit of God was
poured out on the day of Pentecost. We are as¬
sured of the fact that Abraham staggered not at
the promise of God through unbelief, but was
Sermons and Sermonettes. 217
strong in faith. He considered not the discour¬
agements as they came, but like a. vessel on the
sea, went braving the storm.
1. He Considered Not the Dangers. It was
"leaning on the promises of God." He does not
doubt anything God says, but like a brave soldier,
facing the unknown, he goes on as if these were
not dangers, pressing his way as if death were on¬
ly a dream. He hesitated not. Unbelief is a
great hindrance to Christianity; it is at the bottom
of all the staggering.
2. Count all Lost for Christ. This is the posi¬
tion we should take. With boldness of soul, be
lost in God. Oh! that myself was from the world
and I was hidden in his love, and then with con¬
fidence only gain strength in weakness and come
in his exalting love. His faith grew strong be¬
cause he exercised it more. Faith is exercised
the more we hold it.
3. He Gave Glory to God. Whosoever has
faith in God, him God honoreth, for whosoever
has unbelief dishonors God. He saw the storm
of doubt, anguish and fear come in unto him,
so he lay indoors like a sheep at sun. After the
strengthening storm of life is over, then Jesus
is the right example of Christianity to almost
every one. There come periods of conflict with
the power of evil; great dread in the presence
of sorrow, and fight with Apollyon. See the
survived flame of evil. Hear the whisperings of
demons and walk with the narrow path through
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them all with the deep pit of presumption on one
side and the treacherous quagmire on the other.
THE POWER OF THE TRUTH.
Text :—"And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free" (John 8:32.)
What would our world be without the truth?
It behooves us to know the value of truth as
against fallacy. What is truth? The term in
opposition to falsehood and acted upon in reality of
a thing whereof something is affirmed or denied.
Truth may consist of three or more elements,
viz.: natural or physical or moral. Natural truth
is said to be our sentiment according to the na¬
ture of things; moral, is the conformity of our
words and actions. The love of the truth is one
of the most noble characteristics that man, especi¬
ally a Christian, can possess. In seeking the
truth we ought to be zealous. Christian men have
lost their lives in the defense of it, and there are
others who are willing to do the same to-day.
This world would be a waste, howling wilderness
without it. Every true principle is based upon it. ,
All of our astronomical calculations, all of our
arithmetical calculations, even to the most minute
calculus, is based upon the truth. That the
church of God, with her millions of communicants,
sings the songs of Zion, with instruments of ten
thousand strings, is based upon the truth. The
truth is the lever that moves the world baptized
Sermons and Sermonettes. 219
in iniquity and sin. It is the principle upon which
every well-regulated family is conducted. The
enemies of Christianity were offended, and ob¬
jected to the doctrine of freedom. Only the Jews
were offended because they were Abraham's seed
and had the promised blessing.
1. Certainty of the Truth. This is what they
could not understand. The doctrine of the power
of the truth surprised them. The uttermost ca¬
pacity of their ability was tasked in the saying,
"The truth shall make you free." Isaiah in his
prophecy says, "The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent
me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim lib¬
erty to the captives, and the opening of the prison
to them that are bound." Here is great work
to be done that none can do but him that came
from above.
2. Privilege of Knowing the Truth. No char¬
acter is solid unless through the truth. "These
are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every
man the truth." To my mind this is binding on
every human being; for the truth is profitable to
all. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me." Since Christ is the way,
then let us resolve to let him be our way; for he
is right, and we will also be in the truth, because
he is in the truth. Christ is all to the system of
religion. If he is not in our religion we have
220 Sermons and ISermonettes.
none, and there is no true life unless it is his life
in us—the truth which is the power to make us
free. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak for himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew
you things to come." (John 16:13.) Jesus told
Pilate in the throes of death that "I should bear
witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the
truth heareth my voice." We thus see how much
it is worth to our mortal soul to be in the truth
and live. There are thousands of people wearing
false faces of religion. They call it the truth;
but would we search as God searches, and weigh
them as God weighs them. What a difference!
For instance, some people wear long faces and
a pretense. Some time they will mourn, pray
long prayers; but under the covering of all this,
it is by far different from what the outer world
knows of them. A talebearer is the reverse of
religion, and a lying tongue God doth hate. Let
us be mindful of the truth as Christ himself
taught and is still teaching by his example. No
wonder it is said that his ways are right and all
his paths are peace. Paul declares that we can do
nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
"For the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth. Stand therefore, hav¬
ing your loins girded about with truth, and hav¬
ing on the breastplate of righteousness." (Eph.
6:14.)
Sermons and Sermonettes.
221
3. The Glorious Promise of Knowing the Truth.
Whenever the foundation of our warfare is
based upon truth, we will come out on the right
side and the battle is ours. It is said that the
truth crushed to earth will rise again. It is like
our Master as to the resurrection. Prison walls
cannot hold the truth; bars and doors will unlock
of their own accord. Watch the gates of the
prison as Paul came out, swing back on the strong
hinges, and you can hear the voice of Paul say,
"Do thyself no harm: for we are all here." He
must have been the guest of the Lord. We are
reminded that Christ is the life and the only liv¬
ing way. Other ways may seem right to men;
but unless the ways are the ways of Christ, all
is void. When a man's soul is burdened by
chains of woe nothing will snap those chains, ex¬
cept truth and grace meet each other on the scene
and agree on the pardon. All the beauty of the
tree is wrapped in the truth. If we are saved,
it is because Jesus has made our dying bed, as
the poet would have it, as downy pillows are.
Again, ye cannot be freed unless by the truth.
Our text says, "The truth shall make you free."
All other ways, except the way of Christ, are pre¬
tentious and lead to death and hell. I am satis¬
fied now more than ever that the doctrine is right;
hence the doctrine of men is wrong, (a) An¬
cestral relations never free from sin. The Jews,
being the seed of Abraham, were sure of safety,
therefore they said, "We are Abraham's seed,"
222 Sermons and Sermonettes.
but a seeming rebuke came from our Saviour,
saying the truth shall make you free. Not Abra¬
ham's blood nor the promise should be as num¬
erous as the sands of the seashore; but that the
system of Christianity is on the principle of
truth; therefore, he said, "And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free." I
thank^God for such system of truth. It is more
powerful than ten thousand armies, for they fail,
waste and die; but the truth lasts always, it never
dies. Notice that truth beautifies life. It em¬
boldens character, (b) Appreciating the privi¬
lege to know the truth is elevating in its intents
and purposes. Did you ever think of being cut
off from the privilege? How it shocks sensibili¬
ty! how it impairs our motives! but, my friend,
in Christ we have the privilege, like a great
stream of water running through the land, to
know the truth. What is it that is blessing the
nations? It is the truth as it comes from our
"which art in heaven." Truth makes confidence.
It is a mighty moving power in this world. When
it is shaken it is undermined by fallacy. I call
on the mothers of our race and beg you to raise
your children, not with false ideas of life and its
beauty, but with truth, at the root of which is
principle, our nation will be strong and mighty.
It will be a host coming up to the help of the
Lord. Our church will be a mighty moving power
for God and his Christ. The nations of the earth
are not free because they are bound with lies*
Sermons and Sermonettes. 223
false modesty, false character, wearing masks
for manhood, wearing the fashions of France for
culture and refinement, living in glass houses and
throwing stones at their neighbor. For a man or
nation to be strong, they must -be built up in the
truth, and their life must be a life of confidence
and trust.
"Help me to know the truth
When I am in my youth,
That it may show my future good
Whether carved in stone or wood/'