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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
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SERMONS 
 
 SILENT SABBATHS, 
 
 AN OFFERING TO 
 
 Christian Families and Vacant Churches. 
 
 KEV. F. C. MONFORT, D. D., 
 
 Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 Elm Street Printing Company, Nos. 176 & 178 Elm Street. 
 1884. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by 
 
 F. C. MONFORT, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 <& F!l ' 
 
 v> 
 
 ^ JAN I 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ogicalS^ 
 
 Most of the sermons comprising this volume have already ap- 
 peared in newspaper or other form. Their republication will, it 
 is hoped, perpetuate their usefulness. 
 
 They are offered, as the title of the volume indicates, especially 
 to churches which have not the voice of a living ministry, and 
 to families deprived of church privileges. 
 
 (iii) 
 
•^ogl 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 I. — The Divine Name, 9 
 
 "lam that I am." — Exodus iii. 14. 
 
 II.— The True God, . . . . . .20 
 
 "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself." — 
 Psalm 1. 21. 
 
 III. — The Search After God, . . . .31 
 
 " Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ?"— Job xi. 7. 
 IV. — Human Depravity, 41 
 
 "By one man's offence death reigned."— Komans v. 17. 
 "The carnal mind is enmity against God." — Romans viii. 7. 
 
 V. — The Punishment of Sin, .... 53 
 
 "The pains of hell gat hold on me."— Psalm cxvi. 3. 
 
 VI. — The Testimony of Jesus, .... 64 
 
 "I bear record of myself."— John viii. 14. 
 
 (v) 
 
vi Contents. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 VII. — The Humanity of Christ, . . .75 
 
 "The man Christ Jesus." — 1 Timothy ii. 5. 
 
 VIII. — Justification, 88 
 
 " But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, 
 being witnessed by the law and the prophets." 
 
 IX. — Forgiveness, 99 
 
 "There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." — 
 Psalm cxxx. 4. 
 
 X. — Faith and Confession, .... 108 
 
 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with 
 the mouth confession is made unto salvation. "—Romans x. 10. 
 
 XI.— The Law Still Binding, ... 119 
 
 "Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, 
 
 we establish the law." — Romans iii. 31. 
 
 XII.— The Comforter, 132 
 
 "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 remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto 
 you." — John xiv. 26. 
 
 XIII. — Regeneration, 150 
 
 "Ye must be born again." — John iii. 7. 
 
 XIV. — Sanctification, 162 
 
 "But grow in grace." — 2 Peter iii. 18. 
 
Contents. 
 
 XV. — Revival, 
 
 "O Lord, revive thy work."— Habbakuk iii. 2. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 176 
 
 XVI.— At Ease in Zion, 188 
 
 "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion."— Amos vi. 1. 
 
 XVII. — Perseverance, 200 
 
 "The righteous also shall hold on his way; and he that hath clean 
 hands shall be stronger and stronger."— Job xvii. 9. 
 
 XVIII.— Providence, 210 
 
 "The Lord of hosts which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent 
 in working." — Isaiah xxviii. 29. 
 
 XIX.— Angels, 223 
 
 "They came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, 
 which said that he was alive."— Luke xxiv. 23. 
 
 XX.— Work, 234 
 
 "We are laborers together with God."— 1 Corinthians iii. 9. 
 
 XXL— Work and Reward, .... 244 
 
 "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall 
 receive a reward."— 1 Corinthians iii. 14. 
 
 XXII.— The Bible, . . ■ . • • -255 
 "The entrance of thy word giveth light."— Psalm cxix. 130. 
 
 XXIII.— Tradition, . . • • • 268 
 
 "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by 
 your tradition."— Matthew xv. 6. 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 XXIV.— Meditation, 280 
 
 "Thou shalt meditate therein." — Joshua i. 8. 
 
 XXV.— The Sanctuary, 291 
 
 "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts." — 
 Psalm lxxxiv. 1. 
 
 XXVI.— Praise, 302 
 
 "It is good to sing praises unto our God." — Psalm cxlyii. 1. 
 
 XXVII.— The Messenger's Cry, ... 314 
 
 "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." — Matthew ili. 3. 
 XXVIH.— Christian Unity, . . . .326 
 
 "That they all may be one." — John xvii. 21. 
 
 XXIX.— A Peculiar People, .... 336 
 
 "Ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land." — 
 Judges ii. 2. 
 
 XXX.— National, 348 
 
 "Happy is that people whose God is the Lord.'" — 
 Psalm cxliv. 15. 
 
 XXXI. — Communion, 360 
 
 "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to 
 another." — Luke xxiv. 17. 
 
 XXXII.— The Resurrection, . . . .368 
 
 "The Lord is risen."— Luke xxiv. 34. 
 XXXIIL— Heaven, 379 
 
 "Now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face."— 
 1 Corinthians xiii. 12. 
 
I. 
 
 THE DIVINE NAME. 
 
 "I am that 1 am."— Exodus iii. 14. 
 
 THESE words are simply the name of 
 God. Moses had received a message to 
 his people, and knowing that they would ask 
 his authority, said, "What shall I say unto 
 them?" God replied: "I am that I am. 
 Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, 
 I am hath sent me unto you." 
 
 The words in the original are almost identi- 
 cal with the word "Jehovah." They mean 
 "The Existing One:" the absolute, uncreated 
 ever-living God. 
 
 They are the language of assertion rather 
 than of logic, and in this harmonize with other 
 Scripture. The Bible is not a book of argu- 
 ments. Holy men, moved by the Holy Ghost, 
 did not try to prove their mission or message. 
 Their credentials were the command of God, 
 and the works which He did by them. They 
 did not go back of these to discuss His ex- 
 istence or right. It was not necessary even to 
 
 (9) 
 
10 The Divine Name. 
 
 introduce Him in the opening of the record. 
 The lirst chapter of Genesis tells not who He 
 is, nor how long he has existed, but simply 
 what He did. "In the beginning God created 
 the heavens and the earth." It is taken for 
 granted that He is, and that men believe in 
 Him. 
 
 Incidentally the grounds of this belief are 
 given. " The heavens declare the glory of God 
 and the firmament showeth His handy work. 
 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
 night showeth knowledge" of Him. Paul 
 expresses the same thought : " The invisible 
 things of Him from the foundation of the world 
 are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
 that are made." The earth and heavens and 
 man show the power and Godhead of the 
 Creator. One sees intuitively that there must 
 be a Creator ; that the world proves a World- 
 maker, and human speculation can neither 
 evade nor strengthen the axiom. 
 
 Such speculation may indeed be the starting 
 point of folly and sin. The record is that men 
 of old "became vain in their imaginations, and 
 their foolish heart was darkened. Professing 
 themselves to be wise, they became fools and 
 changed the glory of the uncorruptible God 
 into an image made like to corruptible man, 
 and to birds and four-footed beasts." Such spec- 
 
The Divine Name. 11 
 
 ulation, in our day, may deny God altogether 
 or make him as unlike Himself as the images 
 of the ancients. Fortunately, we are not de- 
 pendent on speculation. We have God's work 
 and Word, and the study of one prepares us 
 for the testimony of the other. The God whose 
 glory and handiwork we find in the heavens, 
 is the God who announces himself by the name, 
 
 "I AM THAT I AM." 
 
 Again, the words are a declaration of God's 
 unchangeableness. He is what He was and 
 will be, the "I am" in eternity past and eter- 
 nity future. "This," he adds, "is my name 
 forever, and this is my memorial unto all gen- 
 erations." No argument could so impress the 
 eternal and unchangeable being of God as 
 these simple words. Their echo is heard in 
 the Ninetieth Psalm, "Thou hast been our 
 dwelling-place in all generations. Before the 
 mountains were brought forth, or ever thou 
 hadst formed the earth and the world, even 
 from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." 
 "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as 
 yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in 
 the night." We hear it, also, in the prophets 
 as well as in later revelation: "The Lord is 
 the true God. He is the living God and an 
 everlasting King." " I am the Lord: I change 
 not." "Unto the King, eternal, immortal, 
 
12 The Divine Name. 
 
 invisible, the only-wise God, be honor and 
 glory forever and ever." 
 
 Still, again, the words are a revelation of 
 God's personality. There were then, as now, 
 men who sought the First Cause of things that 
 are, not in a personal God, but in an essence 
 or a law. Some regarded matter as eternal, 
 and found in it, as recent speculators do, the 
 potency of all forms of life. In opposition to 
 such materialism, God declares His personal- 
 ity. He speaks of Himself as "I," "I am," 
 "I will," " I hate," "I love," "I bless." His 
 words are the foundation of philosophy, as 
 well as theology. Whether we explain the 
 account of creation as found in Genesis accord- 
 ing to the Miltonian theory, or believe in 
 universal star-dust which came together and 
 formed worlds, as some scientists think, back 
 of all, at the beginning, was a personal Creator. 
 
 A difficulty with skeptical philosophy is, 
 that it ignores "the beginning." It describes 
 worlds, and the process by which they are sup- 
 posed to have been formed, from matter which 
 may have been the debris of other worlds ; but 
 it does not tell us where the matter came from 
 at the first. It talks of law and development, 
 but back of development and law there must 
 have been a personal power. Things do not 
 develop from nothing, and laws do not make 
 
The Divine Name. 13 
 
 themselves. The sand-bar which forms in a 
 stream during high water, is a development 
 and the result of laws. The sand may have 
 come from an older bar higher up, and, perhaps, 
 may have obstructed navigation at a score of 
 points. It may at one time have been solid 
 rock, but these changes do not explain its exist- 
 ence. If the whole theory of development 
 were admitted; if scientists could find the 
 missing link and produce life by spontaneous 
 generations, and remove other difficulties which 
 have so far baffled them ; the theory would still 
 be unsatisfactory, unless it accepted the Bible 
 statement that back of all, at the beginning, 
 there was a personal Grod who created all. The 
 sand which whirls about in eddies and settles 
 in bars, did not make itself at the beginning'. 
 The atoms of star-dust which whirled through 
 space and came together in worlds, did not 
 create themselves. Neither are the laws which 
 regulate the currents of rivers, or the move- 
 ments of suns, self-made or accidental. Behind 
 them all are the personal wisdom, power and 
 will of the Almighty. 
 
 Every honest inquirer, who follows his line 
 of study far enough, reaches the same result. 
 You have, for instance, an ear of corn; back 
 of it is the seed ; back of the seed is the law 
 of reproduction, and back of the law is God. 
 
14 The Divine Name. 
 
 You draw water from your hydrant ; back of 
 the hydrant is the water-pipe ; back of that is 
 the main, and the reservoir and river, and the 
 fountains and clouds; and back of these the 
 Almighty. Not another law, nor an essence, 
 nor a vague, indefinable force ; but a personal 
 God! 
 
 Let us not, however, be misled by a word. 
 Our idea of personality may be narrow. God 
 is not a man, nor like men. He has not a form 
 and physical parts as human persons have. 
 "God is a Spirit." "Ye saw no manner of 
 similitude," said Moses, "on the day that the 
 Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst 
 of the fire." Man was originally made in the 
 image of God, not physically, but in his spirit- 
 ual nature. This was and is, in spite of the 
 sin which has marred it, his higher and better 
 part. A man is more than a body with hands, 
 and head, and feet. He m^y lose both hands 
 and feet, and yet be a man. He may, indeed, 
 lose his whole body, and yet be a man. The 
 body may be buried and decay, but the spirit- 
 ual nature lives on. The body with its parts 
 is only the dwelling-place, and the dress and 
 the instrument of the Spirit, This thought 
 will help us in the study of God's character. 
 " God is a Spirit." 
 
 But the question rises, How can we study 
 
The Divine Name. 15 
 
 or know anything about spirit? We can not 
 see it, nor hear nor handle it. We answer, 
 Just as we study material things. We know 
 nothing of matter except by its properties, its 
 shape, color and solidity. So we know God 
 only by His attributes, as these are revealed in 
 His Word and work. And just as the shape, 
 color and solidity of a material object are 
 known through material hands and eyes, are 
 the attributes of God apprehended by the spir- 
 itual nature of man. As matter influences 
 matter, so does spirit influence spirit. God 
 draws near to His people, and inclines them 
 to draw near to Him. We do not understand 
 Him, nor the method of His influence ; so we 
 do not understand the influence of the sun and 
 earth upon each other. But the fact that we 
 can not "find out things to perfection," either 
 in the natural or spiritual world, does not 
 hinder our earnest effort to find out and profit 
 by all it is possible for us to know. 
 
 In studying the work and Word of God, we 
 find, first, evidences of His wisdom. The 
 Maker of heaven and earth, and of man, must 
 be infinitely wise. " He that planted the ear, 
 shall he not hear?" " He that formed the 
 eye, shall he not see? " He that made the 
 mind, shall he not know? The heavens de- 
 clare God's wisdom. The Bible also is full 
 
16 The Divine Name. 
 
 of it: "Behold, Grocl is mighty in strength and 
 wisdom." Daniel said: "Blessed be the name 
 of Grod forever and ever, for strength and wis- 
 dom are his." The ascription of the Church's 
 praise has been and is : "To the King, eternal, 
 immortal, invisible; the only-wise Grod." The 
 response of heaven is and is to be: "He is 
 worthy to receive power, and riches, and wis- 
 dom." 
 
 We notice that in these texts power and 
 wisdom are associated. They are likewise as- 
 sociated in the thought of all who consider the 
 work of Grod. Creation testifies that He is 
 wise to plan and strong to execute. He does 
 not need to declare His power and wisdom. 
 The painter of Raphael's "Madonnas" did not 
 need to tell men that he was an artist. The 
 faces of Mary and the Savior spoke his praise. 
 So the heavens and the earth, the sun, moon 
 and stars, the trees and flowers and fruits, and 
 living things, and man, unite to tell the infinite 
 wisdom and might of Him who made them all. 
 
 Less plainly written in creation, and, on that 
 account, more plainly announced in Scripture, 
 is God's holiness. Holiness is absolute per- 
 fection, spotless purity, freedom from sin and 
 from all possible weakness. Holiness had no 
 place in the heathen theologies. Men deified 
 strength, and wisdom, and beauty; but it re- 
 
The Divine Name. 17 
 
 mained for Jehovah to declare His own holi- 
 ness. At the very beginning of revelation, at 
 the giving of the law, He said: "I the Lord 
 your God am holy;" that is, "I who am what 
 I am, am holy." This holiness was the subject 
 of his people's praise. "The Lord is righteous 
 in all his ways and holy in all his works." 
 "There is none holy as the Lord." "Who> 
 shall not fear before thee, Lord: for thou 
 only art holy." 
 
 Not only such passages as these, but others 
 which speak of His justice, goodness and truth;, 
 of his mercy, long-suffering and faithfulness, 
 are testimonies that He is holy; for holiness 
 comprises all these attributes. They are the 
 various rays whose colors blend to form the 
 pure white light. He is just, because a holy 
 God can not be unjust. His goodness to men 
 is the manifestation of his holiness. Truth 
 and faithfulness are simply other terms for 
 the same thing. Justice and mercy are not 
 opposites, as we are prone to imagine. A holy 
 God must be both just and merciful. Our God 
 is infinite in both, and unchangeable. The 
 same Jehovah who said, "The soul that sin- 
 neth it shall die," gave his Son to be the Sav- 
 ior of sinners ; and in the law, as well as its 
 satisfaction, in justice as well as in grace, mani- 
 fested his holiness, 
 2 
 
18 The Divine Name. 
 
 We must not think of Him as first just and 
 then merciful, and, again just, when the day 
 of mercy is past. The plan of salvation is as 
 old as the plan of creation. God is what He 
 always was — infinite, eternal and unchange- 
 able, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
 justice, goodness and truth. 
 
 Our view of God's character is necessarily 
 incomplete, though we study it in the very 
 words of Scripture. He is in heaven and we 
 upon earth. He is infinite and we are finite. 
 He is holy and unchangeable; we are unholy 
 and fickle. We do not know the meaning of 
 infinity. We are as one in deep water feeling 
 for the bottom ; or, rather, as a child reaching 
 out for a star. Our minds reach farther than 
 the arms of a child, but they have their limit, 
 and beyond that limit is the infinite. 
 
 Take a telescope and point it to the farthest 
 star. Increase its power and people the sky 
 with new stars. Take the strongest possible 
 glass and reach the farthest possible limit, and 
 infinity is still beyond. So it is in our study 
 of God. We say He is infinite, eternal and 
 unchangeable in being and attributes, but we 
 no more compass Him with these words than 
 we compass space with our telescopes, or eter- 
 nity with our mathematics. 
 
 The study, however, is profitable. We learn 
 
The Divine Name. 19 
 
 all that we need to know concerning God, and 
 the duty He requires of us. He reveals Him- 
 self by His name, "I am that I am ;" and adds, 
 "I am your God." He says, "I the Lord 
 your God am holy;" and in the same breath, 
 "Be ye holy." His prophet declares, "In the 
 Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength;" and 
 exhorts, "Trust ye in the Lord Jehovah." 
 Christ said, "God is a Spirit, and they that 
 worship him must worship him in spirit and 
 in truth." Let us walk reverently before God. 
 Let us trust Him and accept the salvation He 
 has provided, and let us worship Him in the 
 beauty of holiness. 
 
II. 
 
 THE TRUE GOD. 
 
 "Thou thoughtest that 1 was altogether such a one as thyself." — 
 Psalm 1. 21. 
 
 "DELIEF in God leads to the study of his 
 "^ character. Men are not satisfied to wor- 
 ship at altars dedicated to the Unknown ; and 
 since the day of Job, have striven to "find out 
 the Almighty." 
 
 The abstract idea of God does not satisfy. 
 The soul would worship something real, and 
 which it can realize; hence the various forms 
 of idolatry. Men have deified the sun, moon 
 and stars. They have worshiped rivers, mount- 
 ains, trees, and even brute beasts. Reaching 
 out toward that beyond their reach, they have 
 laid hold on these. They have also made rep- 
 resentations of God, carving their conceptions 
 in stone, or metal, or wood; and have bowed 
 down to idols which, having eyes, ears and 
 hands, were powerless to see, hear, or help 
 them. 
 
 Going a step farther, they have made gods 
 (20) 
 
The True God. 21 
 
 in their own image and have given them rev- 
 erence. The earth and the heavens have been 
 peopled with gods and goddesses like them- 
 selves in form and feature, as well as in intel- 
 lect, affections and will. Striving fo know 
 God, they have clothed Him with forms and 
 attributes according to their times and circum- 
 stances. A warlike race deified the soldier. 
 Their god was their ideal man, and their ideal 
 man was the warrior armed for battle. Mars 
 and Hercules were the gods of people who 
 knew nothing grander or better than martial 
 prowess or physical strength. The lovers of 
 beauty deified beauty, and were worshipers of 
 Venus. All the gods of the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans were deified men. Whatever seemed 
 good in man was attributed to God. They 
 worshiped wisdom, and strength, and skill, and 
 beauty, and grace. They deified, also, good- 
 ness and mercy, as well as the less godlike 
 attributes which were manifest in men. Their 
 gods were not the work of their hands, but of 
 their minds. They thought the great God al- 
 together such a one as themselves. 
 
 This conception showed itself in their wor- 
 ship. They honored their gods as they honor- 
 ed men — sacrificing to them, and giving pres- 
 ents, and beseeching help with such pleas as 
 would influence men. 
 
22 The True God. 
 
 The Jewish people, though worshipers of 
 God, had, as our text testifies, no true con- 
 ception of his character. They rendered the 
 service, commanded in the law, without real- 
 izing its meaning. They offered bullocks and 
 lambs upon the* altar, and straightway sinned 
 against God and each other. 
 
 God rebukes their blindness and sin. "I 
 will take no bullock out of thy house, for every 
 beast of the forest is mine; offer unto God 
 thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most 
 High." It was as if he had said to them : I 
 am not a man that I should be partner in your 
 iniquity or receive the fruit of your sin. I am 
 the Lord, and love purity, and justice, and 
 truth. " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether 
 such a one as thyself; but I will reprove 
 thee, and set them in order before, thine eyes. 
 Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me; and to 
 him that ordereth his conversation aright, will 
 I show the salvation of God." 
 
 A proper conception of the character of God 
 / is essential to true worship. We can not, of 
 course, "find out the Almighty unto perfection," 
 but we can, by the study of His Word, attain 
 such knowledge as will fit us to render Him 
 acceptable service. His Word and character 
 are in harmony, and neither can be properly 
 studied alone. He is his own interpreter and 
 
The True God. 23 
 
 the interpreter of His truth. If we would 
 savingly know that truth, we must know Him. 
 If we would glorify Him, either by word or 
 work, we must understand His will. There is 
 no saving faith or true desire for His glory in 
 such a conception of Him as that of the con- 
 text. He who thinks of Him as unjust or 
 unmerciful, has not the first qualification for 
 worship. 
 
 Our views of particular doctrines are more 
 or less affected by the conception of God upon 
 which our theology rests. This conception is 
 to the mind what perspective in a picture is to 
 the eye. If it is accurate, objects have their 
 proper size and form; if inaccurate, they 
 are distorted. ' It is the background of theo- 
 logical thought. Its light or shade gives a 
 general tone, which affects every particular 
 point. 
 
 We may illustrate this : A certain class 
 regard God as the personification of justice, 
 but are blind to more tender attributes. As 
 the Greeks of old magnified strength in Her- 
 cules, they magnify stern, unbending justice. 
 Their minds rest on the law and on the fact 
 of sin. They hear the thunderings and see 
 the clouds and lightnings about the summit of 
 Sinai. The conception is true so far as it goes, 
 but it is incomplete. They see one side of 
 
24 The True God. 
 
 the divine character — the side which would 
 seem to them most godlike in man. 
 
 Another class see only love. They delight 
 in such Scripture as, "God is love/' They 
 believe that He is just, but the study of justice 
 is an ungrateful task. The problem of sin and 
 punishment is too darkly colored, and they turn 
 the page to more cheerful pictures. The diffi- 
 culty with both classes is, that their God is an 
 ideal and not the God of the Bible. They use 
 the Bible, indeed, but only as a man with one 
 eye uses a stereoscoj^e. They read it through 
 glasses colored by their conception of what God 
 ought to be, forgetting that, "as the heavens 
 are higher than the earth, so are God's ways 
 higher than our ways, and his thoughts than 
 our thoughts. " 
 
 The result is manifest in their treatment of 
 other truth. One looks on the atonement as a 
 legal process in which God holds Christ, as 
 security for men, to the strict letter of the law. 
 The other is shocked at the idea of vicarious 
 suffering. He can not think of punishment 
 as actually inflicted on the innocent. He in- 
 terprets the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah figu- 
 ratively, and makes an object lesson of the cross. 
 The difficulty with both is in the attempt to 
 harmonize Scripture with a wrong conception 
 of God. Many a man has given up the doc- 
 
The True God. 25 
 
 trine of a vicarious atonement, as taught in 
 the Bible and believed by the Church, because 
 it was not altogether such an atonement as a 
 God, made in his likeness, would devise. It 
 is significant that men who go astray in this 
 direction often retrace their steps or go on to 
 infidelity. A few years convince them that 
 they must give up their preconceived idea of 
 God or give up the Bible. 
 
 The same thing is true of those who reject 
 the doctrine of future punishment, because it 
 does not harmonize with their conception of 
 God. " How," it is asked, " can our Father so 
 smother and forget his love as to eternally pun- 
 ish a disobedient child? " The question pro- 
 ceeds upon a wrong conception of the divine 
 Fatherhood. He is, indeed, a Father, but not 
 altogether such a father as ourselves. The 
 doctrine of the punishment of sin is hard to 
 hear, and harder to understand; but where the 
 Scripture is plain, choice must be made, and 
 he errs to his injury who clings to a precon- 
 ceived idea and rejects the Divine Word. 
 
 Christians are sometimes bewildered by 
 strange providences. Wickedness flourishes 
 and goodness is under a cloud. They are 
 tried by floods or fire, or by sickness or the 
 loss of friends, until they feel as Job did, that 
 the Lord has become their enemy. Who can 
 
 \r 
 
26 The True God. 
 
 explain the chastening of the Lord? We say 
 and believe, without realizing, that He afflicts 
 in love.' We do not know ourselves, or our 
 sin or necessity. Job, feeling himself " clean 
 and without transgression," grieved over his 
 misfortune. The same Job, after the revelation 
 which gave him a true view of God, said: "I 
 have uttered things which I understood not. 
 Now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor 
 myself and repent in dust and ashes." 
 
 Much of the complaint with which we meet 
 trial springs from a wrong conception of God. 
 We do not see Him as He is, and hence do 
 not see ourselves as we are. We have ideas 
 of what His providence ought to be, but the 
 question of Elihu is appropriate : "Should it 
 be according to thy mind? Nay; it is not 
 of man that walketh to direct his steps." The 
 Word of God is our light. In it we have a 
 revelation of God which explains His provi- 
 dence, or if it does not explain, gives comfort, 
 which is better than knowledge. "Blessed be 
 God my Savior which giveth songs in the 
 night." As the heavens are higher than the 
 earth, so are God's attributes, and His plan of 
 salvation, and His providence above those of 
 men. 
 
 Man was originally the injage of God, but 
 the image has been so marred that He is no 
 
The True God. 27 
 
 longer recognized in it. If we would know 
 Him , we must look elsewhere than to human 
 nature. There are indeed men in whom jus- 
 tice, or mercy, or other godlike qualities are 
 manifest, but these qualities, even if they were 
 perfect, are not the sum of the Divine char- 
 acter. We can not point to the man in whom 
 they are most developed and say God is alto- 
 gether such as he is. We can not even sum 
 up all that seems good to us and say this is 
 God. The world by wisdom did not, and can 
 not, know God, except as He has revealed Him- 
 self in His work and Word, and especially in 
 his Son Jesus Christ. If we would know Him, 
 we must study this revelation. We may do 
 this reverently with the helps which good men, 
 going over the ground, have prepared, and such 
 a help will be found in this formula: "God is 
 a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in 
 his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
 goodness and truth." Can any human words 
 better emphasize the thought of our text? The 
 contrast between the human conception of God 
 and the God of the Bible is in every word. 
 Man is not infinite, but finite. He is not eter- 
 nal, but a creature of yesterday. He is not 
 unchangeable. The most perfect God which 
 we can make in our image must partake of 
 our finite, changeable nature; but God is, in 
 
28 The True God. 
 
 his being and attributes, yesterday, today, and 
 forever the same. "Even from everlasting to 
 everlasting thou art God." 
 
 No study of God's character is more profit- 
 able than that to which we are invited by the 
 life of Christ. He was the "image of the in- 
 visible God;" "the brightness of his glory and 
 the express image of his person." "Philip 
 saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and 
 it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I 
 been so long time with you, and yet hast thou 
 not known me, Philip ? He that hath seen me, 
 hath seen the Father." Well might the offi- 
 cers say, "Never man spake like this man;" 
 for never man before Him had divine wisdom. 
 He was the manifestation of God, and those 
 who know Him have a true conception of the 
 Father. 
 
 The study of Christ's life is profitable not 
 only for doctrine, that we may know God, but 
 for instruction in righteousness, that we may 
 grow into His likeness. He is our example. 
 "Let the same mind be in you which was also 
 in Christ Jesus." All his attributes are for 
 our imitation. To be holy, as He was holy; 
 to be like Christ, in justice, mercy and other 
 attributes, is to be like God. Imitation of 
 Christ is godliness. It is not only our duty, 
 but our privilege "to walk as he walked;" and 
 
The True God 29 
 
 we may do this in faith that grace sufficient 
 for our necessities will be given. The promise 
 is, that although He is not altogether such as 
 we are, "we shall be like Him;" that the image 
 of God lost in the Fall shall be restored in 
 Christ. That we do not at once attain, is no 
 reason for discouragement. Shall the artist 
 despair because his model is beyond his pow- 
 ers? because the rose is perfect, shall he not 
 paint roses? ISTo arrow goes without a curve 
 to its mark ; that aimed high goes farther than 
 that sent on a dead level. So he whose thoughts 
 are on the perfect character of God, will reach 
 better results than he who copies a human 
 model. He has, moreover, the encouragement 
 of increasing proficiency and of perfect knowl- 
 edge and likeness in the future. "We shall 
 be like him, when we shall see him as he is." 
 The rewards of righteousness and the pun- 
 ishment of sin are, like the character of God, 
 known only by revelation, and understood, at 
 best, only in part, in this life. Let us not err 
 in our conceptions of heaven, making it alto- 
 gether such a place as we would prepare for 
 ourselves. Let us not be misled by the figures 
 which are necessary to picture it to our finite 
 minds. The sea of glass, the streets of gold, 
 the jewel gates, and the tree and water of life 
 are but faint expressions of unutterable beauty 
 
30 The True God. 
 
 and joy. The glory which overcame the three 
 disciples on the mount of transfiguration, and 
 before which John, in Patmos, fell as dead, can 
 not be expressed in finite language. Equally 
 unutterable are the miseries of the world for 
 which the wicked are preparing themselves. 
 The fire, and the worm, and the valley of tor- 
 ment should not mislead us. They are not a 
 hell altogether like the hells of earth; for as 
 the heaven is higher than the earth, and as 
 Grod is greater than our conception of him, so 
 is heaven more heavenly and hell more dread- 
 ful than anything man can imagine. 
 Let us seek the one and flee the other. 
 
III. 
 
 THE SEARCH AFTER GOD. 
 
 'Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection f" — Job xi. 7. 
 
 W 
 
 E believe in God, the Creator of all 
 things. We believe in His Word, and 
 that it is given to teach us His character and 
 will. "The Scriptures principally teach what 
 man is to believe concerning God, and what 
 duty God requires of man." 
 
 Even with the open Bible, however, men 
 differ in their idea of God. They may accept 
 the inspired statements that God is a Spirit; 
 that He is love ; that His throne is established 
 in righteousness ; that He is holy. They may 
 unite in a definition of God as a Spirit, infinite, 
 eternal and unchangeable in being and attri- 
 butes, and yet have no true conception of Him. 
 It is one thing to know the facts concerning 
 God, and another thing to know God. You 
 may know the face and voice and history of a 
 fellow-man, and yet not know him. You may 
 be much with 'him, but have no view of his 
 heart. You may judge him harsh and cruel, 
 
 (31) 
 
32 The Search After God. 
 
 when he is really tender. There may be that 
 in you which repels him, and makes it impos- 
 sible for you to know him. So our knowledge 
 of God is dependent not only on Him and 
 on the full introduction erven in His Word, 
 but upon ourselves. A student's success de- 
 pends not on his books and teachers only, but 
 on himself. He may lack the mind to grasp 
 truths which are clear to others. 
 
 The study of God's character is a spiritual 
 exercise, the success of which depends on the 
 spiritual condition. "A sound mind in a sound 
 body" is necessary to successful study; and, 
 we may add, a sound spirit in a sound mind 
 is necessary to spiritual success. Apply this 
 thought to the study of God's character. The 
 devout soul longs for knowledge of, and com- 
 munion with Him. How are they to be ob- 
 tained? " Canst thou by searching find out 
 God?" No; that is not the way to find Him. 
 As well search for the light, or for music which 
 fills the air, or for the air itself which is all 
 about us. If one can not see the light, the 
 fault is in his eye; so if we do not see God, 
 the fault is our own. Years ago a large tele- 
 scojDe was brought to this country and great 
 results were expected from its use. It was 
 turned one evening to a distant star, and stu- 
 dent after student noted with wonder a pecul- 
 
The Search After God 33 
 
 iarity of the light. The professor was called, 
 and, with no wonder whatever, took out the 
 eye-glass to find it defective. The peculiar 
 light was not in the star, but in the telescope. 
 It is so with us. We may look at God in all 
 honesty, and may see Him as He is not. We 
 may see him differently at different times. 
 Just as the moon has its phases, so we may 
 see one attribute and then another. The 
 change is not in God. He is the same in all 
 generations. One person may see only his 
 justice, another only his love ; but as the moon 
 is always round, whatever shape it seems to be, 
 so God is both loving and just and perfect in 
 these, as in every attribute of His being. 
 
 That our idea of God depends on our spirit- 
 ual condition, rather than on any study of Him, 
 is plainly taught in the Scriptures. "With the 
 pure, thou wilt show thyself pure: and with 
 the fro ward, thou wilt show thyself froward." 
 Again he says: "With the merciful, thou wilt 
 show thyself merciful: and with the upright 
 man, thou wilt show thyself upright." The 
 meaning of this is not that God changes ; that 
 He is pure to one and froward to another ; that 
 He is merciful at one time and unmerciful at 
 another; but that a pure person will see and 
 rejoice in God's purity, the merciful will mag- 
 3 
 
34 The Search After God. 
 
 nify his mercy, but to the froward, the wicked, 
 he will seem harsh and ungracious. 
 
 The unprofitable servant saw God in this 
 light. He said: "Lord, I knew thee that thou 
 art a hard master, reaping where thou hast not 
 sown." The other servants saw Him as a kind 
 and generous Master. He was the same to all. 
 That he appeared different, was because they 
 were different. 
 
 While Christ was upon earth, there was 
 division in regard to Him. " Some said, He 
 hath a devil; others said, He is of God." 
 After His death, there was equal division. He 
 was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the 
 Greeks foolishness ; but to those who believed 
 He was the power of God and the wisdom of 
 God unto salvation. Even among the apostles 
 there were different views of Christ's character; 
 so there were different views of God the Father. 
 The beloved and loving disciple said, " God is 
 love." The logical disciple — the systematic 
 theologian — reasoned of the mystery of godli- 
 ness ; to him God was just. Together and with 
 the other inspired writers, they have given us 
 a perfect representation of the Godhead. This 
 it is our privilege to study, that we may know 
 God and our duty to Him. 
 
 The study, however, must be experimental. 
 A man may study astronomy in his room with 
 
The Search After God. 35 
 
 books, and never look at a star or use an instru- 
 ment. One may study chemistry or surgery 
 without experiments, but he does it at a dis- 
 advantage. No amount of reading can com- 
 pensate for the neglect to practice. So no 
 amount of reading, though it be in the Bible, 
 can justify one in failure to do the things com- 
 manded. Experimental religion is necessary 
 to Christian knowledge. You can not find out 
 the Almighty to perfection by simply search- 
 ing even in the Bible. He is there revealed, 
 but His glory is hidden from the mere reader. 
 To find Him out, we must read and experiment. 
 We must put in practice the principles of the 
 Bible. These principles are gathered together 
 in a law. If we would know Him, we must 
 keep His law. Nothing prevents our knowing 
 God but sin, the transgression of the law. It 
 is a vail which is over our faces, and through 
 which we see imperfectly. If we would re- 
 move the vail and see Grod as He is revealed 
 in Christ, we must obey His Word. " He that 
 hath my commandments and keepeth them, he 
 it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall 
 be loved of my Father, and I will love him and 
 will manifest myself to him. Judas said, Lord, 
 how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us 
 and not unto the world?"— that is, How shall 
 we have knowledge of Grod which others do not 
 
36 The Search After God. 
 
 have? "Jesus answered, If a man love me, 
 he will keep my words, and my Father will 
 love him; and we will come unto him and 
 make our abode with him." This is not sal- 
 vation by works. Salvation is always by faith 
 in a crucified Redeemer. There is no other 
 way. These words were addressed to believers. 
 They are a command to show faith by obedi- 
 ence, and a promise to him who obeys of the 
 presence and blessing of God. God will make 
 His abode with those who keep His command- 
 ments. They will have daily acquaintance 
 with Him, and new views of His character 
 and will. 
 
 There is but one way to know God, and that 
 is by obedience. There is but one way to His 
 presence, and that is the way of holiness. With- 
 out holiness, no man can see the Lord. The 
 first step in this way is to believe in Christ ; 
 after this, His footprints give us the direction. 
 Imitating His example, we may know God as 
 He knew Him. During His life on earth, He 
 was ever with the Father; there was no vail 
 of separation between them, because there was 
 no sin. He was holy, harmless, and separate 
 from sinners ; there w T as no guile in Him. He 
 was in all points tempted, yet without sin. If 
 we would truly know God* we must be holy, as 
 Christ was holy. 
 
The Search After God. 37 
 
 With this thought in mind, turn to the 
 Beatitudes and read the words: "Blessed are 
 the pure in heart: for they shall see God." 
 Purity means holiness. God's holiness is the 
 sum of all His attributes. He whose heart is 
 holy, shall know a holy God. Our Savior an- 
 swers the question which Zophar put to Job, 
 "Canst thou find out the Almighty?" The 
 pure in heart shall see Him. 
 
 This question is practical. It touches the 
 secret spring of Christian happiness. He who 
 has true communion with God, has a joy above 
 anything of earth; yet too many neglect this 
 communion, allowing sin to separate between 
 them and God. They do not see Him and 
 live in His smile, because they do not meet 
 the conditions. I know a young man (some 
 of you know such) whose life illustrates this 
 truth. He is a Christian, but a very sorry one. 
 He prays little, and reads the Bible less ; he 
 does no work in the Sabbath-school or church; 
 he does not enjoy Christian conversation; he 
 takes no pleasure in religion; he wishes he 
 could, but does not know why it has not the 
 charm it once had. I know why; I can tell 
 his trouble as a physician can tell a common 
 disease by its symptoms. There is a sin (I do 
 not know what it is), perhaps a cherished 
 habit, secretly indulged. It prevents his 
 
38 The Search After God. 
 
 communion with God, and so paralyzes his 
 soul. 
 
 I said, He is a sorry Christian. If you know 
 any like him, pray for them. If you have 
 yourself secret or open sins which hinder your 
 walk with God, pray for yourself. There is 
 no more unpleasant life than that of one who 
 believes in Christ and yet rejects the strength 
 he offers; who gives up this world's joy and 
 neglects the joy of religion. Such an one takes 
 the bond of Christianity without its blessing; 
 he bears the cross, without the strength which 
 makes it light. He is like a boat without 
 speed enough to give steerage; he is like a 
 wave of the* sea, driven of the wind and tossed. 
 He dwells in middle ground between two hos- 
 tile armies, spoiled of his enjoyment by one 
 and of his peace by the other. He accom- 
 plishes nothing for the Master in life, and in 
 death leaves friends to doubt whether he was 
 really converted or not. 
 
 From this type of Christianity may God 
 preserve us. Let us, by God's help, preserve 
 ourselves. And to this end, let us put away 
 whatever hinders our approach to, and enjoy- 
 ment of, God. Let us cultivate that holiness 
 which opens our eyes to His holiness. Let us 
 strive to be like Him, that we may see Him 
 
The Search After God. 39 
 
 as He is. God-likeness, or as we have short- 
 ened the word, godliness, is holiness. 
 
 No attribute of God is more emphasized in 
 the Bible than holiness. As we said before, it 
 is the sum of all the attributes. " Holy, holy, 
 holy, art thou, Lord God of hosts." At the 
 same time, no duty is more emphatically urged 
 upon God's people than holiness. It is the 
 sum of all duties. We are urged to put away 
 all sin, and to grow in grace and in the knowl- 
 edge of our Lord. This growth in grace, or 
 holiness, is the process by which we reach 
 knowledge, and in this knowledge is the soul's 
 highest happiness. 
 
 Holiness and happiness are twin sisters. 
 We may, for the sake of explanation, speak 
 of the one as older and introducing the other; 
 but, really, they are born at the same time, 
 and grow side by side. As we become holier, 
 we are happier. "Blessed are the undefiled 
 in the way" — or, in other words, Happy are 
 the holy — "who walk in the law of the Lord;" 
 "Blessed is the man in whose spirit there is 
 no guile;" "Blessed are the pure in heart." 
 They walk with God as Enoch did; they talk 
 with Him as Moses did; they rejoice in Him 
 as Peter did, with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory. Their eyes are opened, also, to under- 
 stand His Word. Christ gave thanks to God 
 
40 The Search After God. 
 
 that He had hid some things from the wise and 
 prudent, and revealed them unto babes. We 
 may apply His words to all the essential doc- 
 trines of salvation. They are revealed in their 
 fullness, not to the student, the philosopher, or 
 the very learned, but to the obedient. There 
 are difficult things in the Bible which require 
 the wisdom of the wise ; there are very simple 
 things which the wise never learn, which can 
 only be learned by obedience. "If any man 
 will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." 
 Holiness opens the eyes, not only to see God, 
 but to understand the Bible — not in its philo- 
 sophical distinctions, nor in its history or geog- 
 raphy, but in its spiritual truths. 
 
 My friends, if you wish to know God and to 
 know your duty, and to glorify God and to 
 enjoy Him forever, strive to be holy. Make 
 it the rule of your life to do what is right, not 
 in your own strength, but by faith in Christ; 
 not in any boastfulness, but in humble humility, 
 with repentance, knowing that God dwells in 
 the high and holy place ; with him, also, that 
 is of a contrite heart. " Canst thou by search- 
 ing find out God?" "Without holiness no 
 man shall see the Lord." "Blessed are the 
 pure in heart: for they shall see God." 
 
IV. 
 HUMAN DEPRAVITY. 
 
 11 By one man's offence death reigned."— Romans v. 17. 
 
 THE Bible teaches that all men are sinners. 
 "There is not a just man upon the earth 
 thatdoeth good and sinneth not;" "All have 
 sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" 
 "There is none righteous: no, not one." 
 
 It teaches also that sin is inherited. "Be- 
 hold, I was shapen in iniquity;" "By one 
 man's disobedience many were made sinners." 
 It teaches still farther that the condition of 
 the sinner is hopeless, so far as his own efforts 
 are concerned. He can do nothing for himself. 
 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an un- 
 clean? not one." He is "not subject to the 
 law of God, neither, indeed, can be." 
 
 Some Christian people are shocked at the 
 idea of total depravity, but their protest is 
 against the term rather than the doctrine. The 
 words have a formidable sound and' may be 
 misunderstood. They do not mean that every 
 man is as wicked as it is possible for a man to 
 
 (41) 
 
42 Human Depravity. 
 
 be, but simply this : that the nature of man is 
 sinful; that when our first parents sinned, a 
 seed of evil was planted in their souls — a seed 
 which has multiplied itself as their race has 
 increased. It means that just as the ground 
 at the time of the Fall was cursed with thorns 
 and briars and thistles, and other hurtful 
 things, so our race was cursed. The covenant 
 made with Adam was for himself and his pos- 
 terity, and that posterity are partners in his 
 sin and fall. 
 
 We are not now discussing the guilt of his 
 sin, but simply its results. Its effect on our 
 race was the loss of original righteousness, and 
 the corruption of our nature. 
 
 Notice the sense in which we use the word 
 total. The corruption, or depravity, touches 
 the whole nature. Soul, mind and body are 
 affected by it. The body may be well devel- 
 oped and beautiful, but it has in it the seed of 
 death. The mind may be brilliant and strong, 
 but it will fail. The soul may not yet be ac- 
 quainted with actual sin, but it has the tendency 
 to it. There is a disposition which, unless re- 
 strained by divine grace, will as surely ripen 
 into sin, as thistle-seeds will ripen into thistles, 
 or a cannon-ball, dropped, fall to the ground. 
 
 The Bible makes this very clear. It speaks 
 of men as "dead in trespasses and sins.' , 
 
Human Depravity. 43 
 
 "Total depravity" is a hard saying, but 
 "death" is even harder. The meaning of the 
 apostle in using it is, that in the Fall our race 
 became so helplessly disposed to sin, that, but 
 for God's grace, we could have no more power 
 than a dead body. The words, "In the day 
 that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," 
 were fulfilled. "By one man sin entered into 
 the world, and death by sin." It was the 
 same consciousness which led Paul to say, "In 
 Adam all die;" which led David to cry out, 
 "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;" and Job 
 to say, "Who can bring a clean thing out of 
 an unclean? " " That which is born of the flesh 
 is flesh; " "The carnal mind is enmity against 
 God;" "For when we were in the flesh, the 
 motions of sin did work in our members to 
 bring forth fruit unto death." Can language 
 furnish any stronger statement of the doctrine 
 than this? The fall of Adam threw both him 
 and his descendants into a state as hopeless as 
 death. Just as a dead body corrupts, so the 
 soul hastens to its decay. 
 
 The unregenerate man may not be as bad as 
 it is possible to be, or even as bad as many 
 about him are. He may be comparatively good 
 and lovable, free from bad habits, honest and 
 moral. We all know such men. The seed of 
 evil has not grown in his soul, but it is there. 
 
44 Human Depravity. 
 
 The disease of sin has not reached a forward 
 stage, but it is a fatal disease, nevertheless. 
 Lust, the natural disposition to evil, may be 
 restrained ; but when it hath conceived, it bring- 
 eth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bring- 
 eth forth death. Lust, sin, death, these words 
 mark the downward course of the natural man. 
 The seed, the disease, the lust, the disposition 
 to evil, are of one and the same meaning. Man, 
 by the Fall, became depraved. He is "prone 
 to evil." "To be carnally minded, is death." 
 This death or depravity, or tendency to evil, is 
 an hereditary disease. It descends from the 
 fathers to the children, not only to the third 
 and fourth, but to every generation. 
 
 Just here a difficulty occurs to some. God 
 is good; He is a loving Father, and surely 
 would not thus curse a race with the sin of 
 one pair. Here is a tender child. Its' eyes 
 have scarcely opened to this world's light; its 
 soul is pure from actual sin ; it knows no differ- 
 ence between right and wrong. Surely there 
 can be no depravity, no seed of sin, here ; surely 
 the curse of its parents, and of the parents of 
 its race, can not rest on it. Here is another 
 child. It counts its age not by months or 
 weeks, but by days only; yet the physician 
 sees on it the marks of corruption, and knows 
 that its life, if it lives, will be one of loathsome 
 
Human Depravity. 45 
 
 sickness. Why? the child has done no sin. 
 Nay, but the sin of its father is written in its 
 blood. 
 
 By analogy, natural truths may help us to 
 understand spiritual. The physical poison 
 which descends from father to son illustrates 
 the soul poison — the depravity which has cursed 
 our race since the Fall. Children are not many 
 months old before the fruits of this depravity 
 are manifest. They may be models of beauty 
 and affection, yet those who love them most 
 are conscious of the naturally evil inclination 
 of their hearts. Temper shows itself; deceit 
 is not far behind it; selfishness rules them. At 
 times they are angels; again, an evil spirit 
 possesses. Do you say they are young and 
 scarcely know right and wrong? Granted; 
 yet even in tender years the disposition to sin 
 is manifest, and the Scripture is sustained 
 which says: "They go astray as soon as they 
 be born, speaking lies." There is another 
 Scripture which says: "The imagination of 
 man's heart is evil from his youth up." 
 
 The little child is an emblem of purity only 
 because in it the tendency to sin is less devel- 
 oped into actual wickedness than in those who 
 are older. As years increase, natural deprav- 
 ity manifests itself more and more, and the 
 words of Job are justified, "Man drinketh in- 
 
46 Human Depravity. 
 
 iquity like water;" that is, he is by nature 
 inclined to sin ; he sins as naturally and easily 
 as a thirsty man drinks water. 
 
 Had Adam not sinned, he, and with him our 
 race, of which he was the representative, would 
 have naturally inclined to holiness. Nothing- 
 would have interrupted communion with God. 
 The affections would have been fixed on holy 
 things, the conscience would have been infallible 
 in its leadings, the will would have been in har- 
 mony with God's will ; but in the Fall, the affec- 
 tions, the conscience and the will, and, indeed, 
 the whole nature of man, became biased toward 
 evil. The affections are not set on things above, 
 but on things of comparatively trifling value, 
 and sometimes on things that are vicious. God's 
 infinite love and holiness do not besret love, 
 because the carnal mind is enmity against Him. 
 The enmity of his heart will not be re- 
 strained, but is manifest in open rebellion. 
 Depravity manifests itself in indifference oft- 
 ener than in hatred to God. " God is not in 
 all their thoughts." Their hearts are so ab- 
 sorbed in, and inclined to, other things, that 
 they can not love Him with pure affection. 
 
 The conscience, also, is perverted. It does 
 not condemn the wrong and approve the right 
 with that certainty which would mark the con- 
 science of an holy being. Sometimes it is so 
 
Human Depravity. 47 
 
 perverted that, in the language of Scripture, 
 "It calls evil good, and good evil; puts light 
 for darkness, and darkness for light." 
 
 The will is in harmony with the affections 
 and conscience, and prompts to continued rebel- 
 lion against God. "Ye will not come unto me 
 that ye might have life," said Jesus. "The 
 heart of the sons of men is wholly set in them 
 to do evil." Even though they know the right,, 
 they choose the wrong. The will is a scale. 
 Its beam goes down to the side of the heavier 
 weight. Holiness, happiness, the glory of God, 
 nothing can be weightier than these. But the 
 will is depraved ; its beam is unbalanced ; its 
 inclination is to evil. There is a law in the 
 members which wars against the law of the 
 mind, and which brings men into captivity. 
 The whole race is bound in this captivity, tor 
 spiritual death, and nothing less than a new 
 birth will secure deliverance. "Except a man 
 be born again, he can not see the kingdom of 
 God." 
 
 Some men, inclined to theological specula- 
 tion, have tried to carry the study of sin back 
 of the Garden of Eden. They have striven 
 to reach its source, and to answer such ques- 
 tions as these : Is God the Author of sin ? and, 
 Why did a holy and just God permit it? On 
 these questions the Bible gives us no light. 
 
48 Human Depravity. 
 
 Nature is equally silent. We know that by 
 "one man's disobedience many were made sin- 
 ners ;" "that by one man's offense death reigns." 
 We know that it does reign ; we have felt its 
 power in our hearts, and see it in the lives of 
 others. Out of depraved hearts proceed evil 
 thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, 
 theft, false witness, blasphemies. This is not 
 an accident or an unusual development of man's 
 nature; it is the natural outgrowth of hearts 
 vitiated and inclined to sin. Bad as these 
 things are, they are but a faint approach to 
 what it would be had God left our race alone 
 with its depravity. Read in the third chapter 
 of Romans the description of men without God, 
 and you will see a picture of our race as it 
 would be had not Heaven interposed for its 
 salvation. 
 
 It is plain to all that death reigns, and that 
 its seed is in every soul. But why is it so? 
 Many learned men have sought in vain for 
 answer. The origin of evil is a nut which no 
 man, so far, has been able to open. It is one 
 of God's mysteries. Time spent on it is as 
 surely wasted as that spent on the problem 
 of perpetual motion. The scholastics discussed 
 it; hundreds of books and tens of thousands 
 of pages have been written upon it, and yet the 
 question is as simple and mysterious as ever. 
 
Human Depravity. 49 
 
 Why did a just and holy God permit sin in 
 the world? 
 
 I have dwelt on this point for a reason. 
 Recently, a public lecturer discussed it at 
 length. In the name of progress, he went 
 back to the arguments and explanations of 
 three centuries ago. There was a time when 
 shaven monks, locked in cells, could devote 
 years to such weighty subjects as the nation- 
 ality of Cain's wife, the size of the human 
 soul, and the origin of evil. They could cal- 
 culate the number of souls able to stand on 
 the point of a needle, and write the result 
 with all soberness. They had nothing else to 
 do. But we have no time for idle speculation. 
 Our study and our religion are for a purpose. 
 The fact of depravity is plain; God's reason 
 for permitting it no man can find out. To 
 search for it is folly. 
 
 A man floats on the current of Niagara; 
 suddenly he realizes that it is bearing him to 
 death. The current is a plain fact; the subtile 
 power of gravitation which creates it is a mys- 
 tery. Does he rest on his oars, to solve it? 
 Nay ! the question is not why the water hurries 
 on to its plunge, but how is he to escape. His 
 feet are braced ; his grasp on the oars is firm ; 
 every muscle of his body is strained for safety. 
 We are in a like case. The danger is manifest. 
 
50 Human Depravity. 
 
 The cry of our soul is not, Why does it happen 
 so? but, How shall we escape? The man 
 seized with a dangerous sickness does not ask 
 how it happened, or why the sickness was per- 
 mitted ; but, What is the cure ? Is there any 
 hope ? 
 
 So should we, as the natural heart is reveal- 
 ed and its clanger realized, seek to escape. The 
 study of our sin can only be profitable as it 
 leads to the remedy. There is hope, whether 
 the disease be in its first or its worst stages; 
 there is a balm in Grilead; there is a kind 
 Physician near. The very texts of Scripture 
 which declare our depravity and guilt, tell also 
 of its cure. "If through the offense of one 
 many be dead, much more the grace of God 
 and the gift by grace, which is by one man, 
 Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many;" 
 "For when we were without strength, in clue 
 time Christ died for the ungodly;" "Whoso- 
 ever belie veth, shall be saved." 
 
 Christ is the Physician and the remedy; 
 without Him there is no hope. Man can not 
 cure himself of his sin. He may moralize and 
 resolve, but can no more change his nature 
 than a thorn-tree can change itself to a cedar, 
 or a diseased man purify his blood by a thought. 
 Such a diseased man comes to a physician. 
 The currents of his life are charged with poi- 
 
Human Depravity. 51 
 
 son ; grievous sores are upon his face and body. 
 Ah ! we will purify these places and apply a 
 healing salve; he will soon be well. "Nay," 
 says the physician, "these sores are the outward 
 signs of a hidden disease ; washing and salves 
 are good, of course, but they are not enough." 
 Pluck the thorns from a thorn-tree and more 
 will grow on ; close up these places and others 
 will open. Some remedy must reach the root 
 of the poison, or no cure can be expected ; some 
 remedy must reach the root of man's depravity, 
 or he can not be saved. The message of the 
 gospel is, " There is none other name under 
 heaven given among men whereby we must be 
 saved, but the name of Christ ; neither is there 
 salvation in any other." 
 
 "See in the Savior's dying blood, 
 
 Life, love and peace abundant flow ; 
 'Tis only this dear, sacred flood 
 
 Can ease thy pain and heal thy woe." 
 
 Good resolutions are valuable as collaterals. 
 The one important thing is to trust in Him 
 who will take away the old disposition to sin 
 and implant love ; who will take the old heart 
 of stone and give a heart of flesh. 
 
 The work of the Great Physician does not, 
 at once, overcome all the effects of the Fall. 
 Man is still subject to temptation ; there is, 
 however, implanted a living principle. The 
 
52 Human Depravity 
 
 sou] which before sought darkness, seeks light ; 
 he who before loved evil, now loves righteous- 
 ness. His affections are lifted to higher things ; 
 his conscience is enlightened, and his will made 
 subject to the will of God. If the Evil One 
 prompts him to sin, he has but to seek again 
 Him who has overcome the Evil One. No one 
 knows better than the Christian how strong 
 temptation is ; no one is more happy than he, 
 if he knows also his own Heaven-imparted 
 power of resistance. The study of depravity 
 should but lead him to rejoice that where sin 
 abounded, grace did much more abound; and 
 that where sin reigned unto death, grace now 
 reigns, through righteousness, unto eternal life 
 by Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
V. 
 THE PUNISHMENT OF SIJ\ T . 
 
 u The pains of hell gat hold on me." — Psalm cxvi. 3. 
 
 TDASSINGr along the street recently, there 
 was thrust into my hand a bit of paper, 
 which proved to be an advertisement. My eye 
 rested at once on a picture of a man suffering 
 with neuralgia. 
 
 His face was distorted ; the eyes were start- 
 ing from their sockets ; the teeth were set, and 
 the hands, buried in the hair, seemed to hold 
 the head from bursting. On each side, and 
 floating in the air, were imps with forks and 
 augers and other implements of pain. It was 
 a shocking picture, but not half so shocking as 
 the larger picture, an old painting from which 
 it is taken. 
 
 That larger picture hangs in an European 
 gallery, and is catalogued, "The Pains of Hell ;" 
 "Unknown." It represents an immense ma- 
 chine with a hopper, into which an arm, like 
 that of a blacksmith with sleeves rolled up, is 
 hurling men, women and children. Below the 
 
 hopper are wheels, and knives, and saws, and 
 
 (53) 
 
54 The Punishment of Sin. 
 
 fire, and snakes, and all manner of fearful things. 
 The unfortunates thrown into the hopper fall 
 into the wheels and are ground, and sawed, 
 and cut, and burned, and bitten, while at every 
 turn imps with augers and fire-brands torture 
 them. This was an artist's idea of the pains 
 of hell. 
 
 It was a common idea in the Middle Ages. 
 Other artists represented prisons, with the rack 
 and screw, the unquenchable fire and undying- 
 worm. Raphael and Murillo put on canvas 
 ideals of the infinitely beautiful in pictures of 
 Mary and Jesus. Others painted the infinitely 
 horrible in pictures of hell. Belief in a place 
 and elements of physical torture was a starting- 
 point from which to depict every conceivable 
 torture, and to clothe in reality every super- 
 stitious dread. 
 
 Their works illustrate the common belief 
 of the time respecting future punishment. 
 What the Romish Church taught the painters 
 put in colors. The books and sermons of the 
 time preached a condemnation in which the 
 worm and the fire were allied with the rack 
 and scourge, and other pain-inflicting inven- 
 tions. They made hell a place of bodily tor- 
 ment, into which the wicked were cast, while 
 God's arm was made bare for their punish- 
 ment. 
 
The Punishment of Sin. 55 
 
 This idea is not that of the Scriptures. They 
 teach that there is a place of punishment, but 
 they do not justify Milton's description of walls 
 and gates and a liery furnace. They speak of 
 the undying worm and the unquenchable lire, 
 but to make these mere physical torment is to 
 lower them. There is a fire that can not be 
 quenched, but it is not such as we kindle with 
 coals. It is a fire of evil passions which burns 
 in the soul. There is a worm which dieth not, 
 but it is not of any species classified by natu- 
 ralists. It is the worm of remorse, which 
 gnaws and gnaws and is never satisfied. 
 
 The inspired penmen used language which 
 men can understand, and in dealing with things 
 incomprehensible illustrated them by ordinary 
 objects. Nothing is farther from a proper in- 
 terpretation than that which makes such illus- 
 trations literal, and only literal. The spirit 
 hath not flesh and bones, nor is it made of as- 
 bestos or of any material substance. It can 
 not be burned nor eaten by worms, but it can 
 and must bear the penalty of sin. 
 
 The text offers opportunity to study the 
 the teachings of Scripture as to future pun- 
 ishment. David, to whom the older comment- 
 ators very properly ascribe this Psalm, could 
 speak from experience of hell, for he had en- 
 dured a taste of its terrors. His words here 
 
56 The Punishment of Sin. 
 
 are almost a repetition of those in the Eight- 
 eenth Psalm, and, though undoubtedly Mes- 
 sianic, must be regarded as a leaf from his 
 own history. They must be regarded also as 
 more than a lament over ordinary misfortunes. 
 "The sorrows of death" and "the pains of hell" 
 were not bodily ills, nor the fear of enemies. 
 He had committed grievous sin, and for this 
 ex])erienced repentance and humiliation. His 
 "sin rose up" and his transgression was "ever 
 before" him. Floods of ungodly men encom- 
 passed him, and he was brought to the dust in 
 view of God's holy and just indignation. 
 
 This suggests that operations of the mind 
 and heart have much to do with future suffer- 
 ing. These, at least, may involve torment 
 greater than any physical pain. Mental and 
 spiritual distresses are more grievous than 
 those which affect the body. Men driven by 
 remorse and self-loathing seek an end in sui- 
 cide ; and others would do so, but for the 
 knowledge that one suffering will not prevent 
 the other. The mind is so constituted that it 
 can make its own hell, one more terrible than a 
 machine of torture, or than anything an artist 
 can paint. 
 
 I believe that the suffering of the world to 
 come will consist, first, in a sense of complete 
 sinfulness. Devils are not incapable of distin- 
 
The Punishment of Sin. 57 
 
 giiishing right and wrong, nor will lost men be 
 incapable. There is no reason to believe that 
 the mind loses any of its power at the death of 
 the body; on the contrary, it will rather be 
 strengthened, to draw closer distinctions be- 
 tween good and bad, and between happiness 
 and misery. 
 
 A criminal loses none of his faculties at con- 
 demnation. The picture of freedom as seen 
 from his barred window has new charms. 
 The misery of a prison is increased by experi- 
 ence. So heaven will be dearer and hell more 
 terrible to the lost than the heart had con- 
 ceived. Goodness, as seen in God, and sin, as 
 seen in the heart, will be more strongly con- 
 trasted. The holiness of God and Job's sin 
 made him say, "I abhor myself;" and he who 
 sees his sin and loathes himself, has a like 
 foretaste of hell. 
 
 The sinner will be conscious not only of sin, 
 but of increasing sinfulness. The pains of hell 
 got hold on the psalmist when he felt his native 
 sinfulness and saw its results in grievous trans- 
 gressions; when he cried, "Behold I was 
 shapen in iniquity," " Against Thee, and Thee 
 only, have I sinned." Paul felt the growing- 
 power and sinfulness of the natural man, and 
 in these an earnest of infinite misery when he 
 exclaimed: "0 wretched man that I am! 
 
58 The Punishment of Sin. 
 
 who shall deliver me from the body of .this 
 death?" . 
 
 One can not imagine a worse punishment 
 for murder than that the guilty man should be 
 chained to the corpse of his victim. This 
 method of punishment was in Paul's mind. 
 Sin was to him a body of dreadful and increas- 
 ing corruption. If one who lived by faith in the 
 Lord Jesus was so tortured by sin, what must 
 be the misery of those hopelessly bound in it? 
 If David's sin wrung from him such expres- 
 sions as the text, what will be the end of an 
 unrestrained sinful life? 
 
 It often happened that prisoners chained to 
 corruption received it into their veins ; indeed 
 this was an invariable result when the bodies 
 remained in contact. The figure is very strong. 
 Think of one's own body, with its delicate senses 
 of touch, smell and sight ; with its nerves and 
 veins — channels of life and death — chained to 
 a mortifying corpse ! Think, then, of the more 
 terrible corpse of sin, and of wearing it eter- 
 nally — of its unjustifiable nature, and increasing 
 pollution. No wonder many long to escape 
 from themselves and from the sin which is a part 
 of themselves. No wonder Hindoo philosophy 
 finds its heaven in unconsciousness ; no wonder 
 men rebel in vain against the power which 
 makes it their fatality to live and bear their sin- 
 
The Punishment of Sin. 59 
 
 fulness. What doom can be more terrible or 
 more irrevocable than that which " calls on and 
 compels a man to be his proper hell," to feel 
 eternally the qualms of conscience, the un- 
 quenchable fire, and the sting of remorse, the 
 worm that dieth not. Lord Byron's writings 
 are not always profitable reading, but if you 
 wish a picture of perdition by a man who was 
 in perdition, read in Manfred the story of his 
 soul's unanswered wail for oblivion. 
 
 A foretaste of this was the lot of both the 
 psalmist and the apostle, and is experienced 
 not infrequently in this life, both by those who 
 are Christians and those who are not, in the 
 loathing which follows sin. Repentance is a 
 severe exercise. The refiner separates dross 
 from silver by intense heat. Repentance for 
 sin is such a heat. Consciousness of sin with- 
 out repentance is a fire which is not quenched, 
 but burns with increasing fierceness. 
 
 Some may not feel the truth of this. They 
 are not really conscious of sin and of their dan- 
 ger. Deadly wounds may give no pain. So 
 the worst condition for a living man may be 
 one of insensibility. Most men have had mo- 
 ments or days of such consciousness. If any 
 have not, the freedom betokens unusual purity 
 or spiritual paralysis. 
 
 Again, the state of punishment is a state of 
 
60 The Punishment of Sin. 
 
 separation from God. Some have a foretaste 
 of this in the conviction that the Spirit has 
 been grieved and withdrawn, and that they are 
 lost. Who can conceive the agony of Jesus 
 when, in the saddest hour of His passion, He 
 cried: "My God! my God! why hast Thou 
 forsaken Me?" Our text is a prophecy of this 
 utterance. The words are at once David's ex- 
 perience and in a wider sense the prediction 
 of Christ's agony. They describe also the state 
 of every one who feels that he has forsaken 
 God and is forsaken of Him. The meaning is 
 not that God had forgotten Christ, or that He 
 ignored the sinner, but that He looks on sin 
 only in wrath. Christ had, during all His 
 ministry, enjoyed the Father's favor. "This 
 is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well 
 pleased." On the cross, however, all was 
 changed. He saw God as lost souls see Him. 
 Clothed in the sins of the world he was hateful 
 in His sight, who can not look on sin with al- 
 lowance. Lost souls will know that God's 
 favor is withdrawn — that they are abandoned. 
 They will realize also His displeasure, and the 
 terror of His face will lead them to call on the 
 mountains and hills to fall on them and hide 
 them from Him. However full or light the 
 measure of actually inflicted punishment may 
 be, this conviction of God's displeasure, with 
 
The Punishment of Sin. 61 
 
 the state of sinfulness which warrants it, will 
 cause every soul to cry out as Cain did, "My 
 punishment is greater than I can bear." 
 
 It would be well for us if, for a time, as in 
 David's case, the curtain could be raised which 
 hides eternity; if we could descend into hell 
 and see the condition of those who, in life, 
 planted the seeds which have ripened into 
 woe. 
 
 Here is one who loved only the world's 
 praise. He cared nothing for God or humanity. 
 His one longing desire was for applause, 
 and this desire he still has and will have to 
 eternity. Here is a woman, young, gay and 
 intelligent, whose heart was on society. She 
 had no higher aim; she gave it her soul, and 
 the passion, indulged and cultivated, bound 
 her each year with new chains. She grew 
 old, but the passion increased. She lost her 
 color, her bright eyes, her graceful form, her 
 teeth and her hair, but her passion remained. 
 People were no longer attracted to her, and 
 her last years were spent in lonesome misery. 
 Death did not cure her passion, nor will eter- 
 nity satisfy it. Here is another who in life 
 was licentious. Here another who was dishon- 
 est. Their life aims were selfish and impure, 
 and their souls are unchanged. The opportu- 
 nity for gratification is gone, but the longing 
 
62 The Punishment of Sin. 
 
 remains and will remain forever. Can you 
 think of a worse lot than that in which such 
 longing contends with remorse? These are 
 the fires of unquenchable passion, and this is 
 the worm that dies not. 
 
 Another feature of David's suffering is stated 
 in the words, " The floods of ungodly men com- 
 passed me about." Floods of the ungodly will 
 compass the sinner, and their companionship 
 will add to his distress. Men who in life pride 
 themselves on morality, must associate with 
 immorality. Those who yield secretly to sin, 
 or, if open about it, sin in a respectable way, 
 and with choice society, will no longer choose 
 their associates. Women who, though sinners, 
 move only in good society, avoiding all ques- 
 tionable companionship, will spend eternity 
 with a different set. 
 
 You have, no doubt, been surprised at the 
 published descriptions of evil places in large 
 cities. A single hour in some of these places 
 would shock us beyond a year's recovery ; yet 
 these are a faint approach to the realities of 
 wickedness eternity will disclose. If any 
 are the slaves of sin and will not break the 
 chains, let them look on the picture of that for 
 which they are preparing, and to which they 
 will come, unless stopped by grace. "With- 
 out are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers 
 
The Punishment of Sin. 63 
 
 and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever 
 loveth and maketh a lie." How can one with 
 a fine moral sense and delicate feelings associ- 
 ate with those whose breath here would defile, 
 and the mention of whose crimes would drive 
 the color from their lips? How can they live 
 with drunkards and thieves and liars and dev- 
 ils ? But worse than all, how can they bear 
 the thought that, by the very nature of things, 
 they will, in time, take their position as equal 
 to the lowest of them, and doomed with them 
 to an eternity of hopeless wickedness ? 
 
 What more intolerable state can be con- 
 ceived? What could be more unendurable 
 than such a condition and such an expectation? 
 A man made in the image of God, with facul- 
 ties able to appreciate good, yet unalterably 
 wicked, and irrevocably condemned to the fires 
 of conscience, the worm of remorse and the 
 company of the damned. A place of torment 
 where he could be burned would be his salva- 
 tion, the Valley of Hinnom would be Paradise ; 
 but this is hell. 
 
 From this there is for the sinner but one es- 
 cape, and that is by faith in Him who will not 
 only remove him from one place to another, but 
 who will change his heart. The natural 
 heart works its own condemnation. A new 
 heart in Christ Jesus is salvation. 
 
VI. 
 THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS. 
 
 "I bear record of myself." — John viii. 14. 
 
 (r ~PITE Pharisees charged that our Savior 
 based His claim to the Messiahship on 
 His own testimony. He admitted the charge, 
 affirming the truth of His words and claiming 
 the testimony of the Father — "My record is 
 true," "I am one that beareth witness of my- 
 self, and the Father that sent me he beareth 
 witness of me." 
 
 No careful reader of Scripture fails to note 
 the divine egotism of Christ. He preached not 
 a system of philosophy or theology, nor a 
 Messiah to come, but himself. "I am the 
 bread of life," "I am the vine," "I am the 
 good shepherd," "I am the door," "I am the 
 way and the truth and the life," "I am the 
 light of the world," " I will give unto him that 
 is athirst of the fountain of the water of life 
 freely," " I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men 
 unto me," " I am the root and oifspring of 
 David, and the bright and morning star," "I 
 am Alpha and Omega — the beginning and the 
 end — the first and the last," "I and my father 
 are one." 
 
 The disciples understood by these utterances, 
 as He certainly intended they should, that He 
 
 (64) 
 
" The Testimony of Jesus." 65 
 
 was God, equal with God the Father; tha^ He 
 was the centre and heart of the plan of salva- 
 tion, and that His was the only name whereby 
 men could be saved. His hearers generally 
 so understood Him, and while some believed 
 and followed Him, others were offended. ' ' Thou, 
 being a man, makest thyself God." 
 
 The Jews had a plan of salvation divinely 
 appointed, but misunderstood. The central 
 idea of this plan was sacrifice — shedding of 
 blood for the remission of sins. The plan was 
 not complete in itself, as many of them thought. 
 It spake of Christ no less frequently and em- 
 phatically than He afterward spake of Him- 
 self. The lamb slain at the Passover told of 
 the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
 The entrance once each year to the Holy of 
 Holies told of Him who once for all was to en- 
 ter in. The law was a schoolmaster to lead to 
 Christ. It was a telescope through which at 
 the distance of so many years the fathers of the 
 Jewish nation saw the Messiah. That the 
 sons and their sons in succeeding generations 
 looked at, instead of through the instrument, 
 busying themselves only with its mechanism, 
 did not alter the case. It was their ignorance 
 which made an idol of what was simply a mir- 
 ror. Even as the two disciples on the way to 
 Emmaus talked with Christ, and wist not that 
 5 
 
66 ' ' The Testimony of Jesus. ' ' 
 
 it was He, so they partook of their Passover 
 and observed their law, and knew not that 
 Christ was in them. 
 
 They indeed knew that there was to be a 
 Messiah, and had fixed the time and place of 
 His appearance, but they did not understand 
 that the sword was to awake against God's 
 Shepherd and against the man that is God's 
 fellow ; that the virgin's child was to be indeed 
 the " Mighty God," " the Everlasting Father ; " 
 that the Child of Bethlehem was none other 
 than He "whose goings-forth had been from 
 old, even from everlasting. " These passages 
 and others like them were plain statements of 
 the deity of the Messiah. He was to be " Im- 
 manuel," " God with us." At the same time He 
 was to suffer and to save the people from their 
 sins. In Him the Gentiles were to trust, and 
 all the ends of the earth were to fear Him. 
 
 The disciples of Christ recognized Him as 
 all that He claimed to be. They acknowledged 
 His deity. In answer to the question, " Whom 
 say ye that I am?" Peter said, "Thou art 
 the Christ, the Son of the living God." So, 
 after Christ had quieted the sea, said all the 
 disciples. " In the beginning was the word, and 
 the word was with God and the word was God." 
 "And the word was made flesh and dwelt 
 among us." This was the testimony of John, 
 
" The Testimony of Jesus" 67 
 
 who, of all the disciples, perhaps knew Jesus 
 best. His words found a ready echo in the 
 writings of his fellow disciples and of Paul, 
 who wrote of Christ as "being in the form of 
 God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal 
 with God." 
 
 They had no doubt of His deity ; they knew 
 in whom they believed. They understood, not 
 perfectly, but with growing clearness, His mis- 
 sion to earth. He was the Savior of sinners, 
 and the only Savior. In Him all the nations 
 of the earth were to be blessed. He was to 
 them the Way and the Door and the 
 Vine, the Good Shepherd, and all that He 
 claimed. If He emphasized His own name, 
 they emphasized it no less. Peter said, 
 "This same Jesus, Him hath God exalted," 
 " Neither is there salvation in any other." 
 Paul determined to know nothing but Christ. 
 All of them saw in the Gospel, as the 
 Spirit revealed its meaning, Christ first, last 
 and always. They performed miracles, but 
 gave the glory to Christ. When Peter and 
 John saw that the people wondered at the heal- 
 ing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate, and 
 gave them glory, Peter said: "Why look ye so 
 earnestly on us, as though by our own power 
 or holiness we had made the man to walk? 
 The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, 
 
68 "The Testimony of Jesus." 
 
 the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son 
 Jesus, . . . and His name, through faith 
 in His name, hath made this man strong." 
 They preached salvation, but only through 
 Christ. His birth, His life, His death and 
 resurrection, were the theme of their preaching. 
 He Avas the way to heaven, the source of truth 
 and the author of life. Believe in Him and 
 be saved, was their Gospel. 
 
 Christ holds in the Church the place He held 
 in His own teachings and in that of His disci- 
 ples. Upon Him as a cornerstone, the Church 
 is built. His life is the rule and square by 
 which His people — living stones — are fitted to 
 their places, and His love cements and fin 
 ishes the whole. Take away Christ, and the 
 Church's doom could be written in the words 
 which Christ spoke concerning the temple: 
 "There shall not be left one stone upon anoth- 
 er that shall not be thrown down." Even 
 more than this could be written. The stones 
 themselves would vanish. Without Christ, the 
 Church is a temple in the air. . Its pillars and 
 stones are a delusion, and its doctrines and 
 services a mockery. Christ is the Sun — the 
 centre of all truth. About Him, as planets in 
 their orbits, the various doctrines revolve. 
 Blot out the Sun and the system is destroyed. 
 Christ is the Head, the Church is His body and 
 
11 The Testimony of Jesus ." 69 
 
 we are members. Can the body live if the 
 Head be taken away ? 
 
 The success of the Church in any age depends 
 on its estimation of Christ. If it honors Him, 
 it shall be honored; if it lifts Him up, it shall 
 be set on high. If, on the other hand, it esteems 
 Him anything less than He claimed to be, it 
 shall be lightly esteemed. The success of any 
 branch of the Church, or of any denomination, 
 which counts itself a part of the Church, de- 
 pends on its estimation of Christ Recogniz- 
 ing His deity and atonement, and preaching 
 the doctrines necessarily associated with these, 
 it cannot fail. Regarding Him as anything 
 less than God, and preaching anything less 
 than an actual atonement for the sins of the 
 world, it can not really succeed. 
 
 It is not enough to believe in Him as a great 
 and good man, as a prophet, or even as the 
 greatest and wisest of the prophets. 
 
 It is not enough to applaud His teaching as 
 better than that of other teachers, or His 
 devotion as beyond that of ordinary men. He 
 is more than these or He is nothing. He 
 Himself said: "I and my Father are one." If 
 He is not God, equal with God the Father, 
 and if He was not lifted up on the cross, that 
 whosoever belie veth in Him might have eternal 
 
70 " The Testimony of Jesus." 
 
 life, the Church has no Gospel, and no reason 
 for existence. 
 
 A prominent Unitarian writer notes the 
 lack of spirituality among the people of his 
 faith, and asks its cause. The answer is not 
 hard to find. Unitarianism, the denial of 
 Christ's deity, never has been, is not, and can 
 not be spiritually vigorous. All spiritual life 
 is of the Holy Ghost, who takes of the things 
 of Jesus and reveals them as they are, and whose 
 testimony can not contradict that of the Master 
 Himself. If it is true, as both Paul and John 
 affirm, that "no man can say that Jesus is 
 Lord but by the Holy Ghost, 1 ' it is just as true 
 that no man led by the Holy Ghost can say 
 that He is not. 
 
 We do not expect Churches which deny the 
 deity of Christ to be seriously interested in the 
 salvation of men, either in their own circle or 
 among the heathen. Such Churches may cul- 
 tivate the philosophical or the aesthetic, but not 
 the spiritual. They may attract and appear 
 prosperous, but ordinarily this is not to be ex- 
 l^ected, for their appeal is to people of culture 
 and intelligence; and usually such people, if 
 they reject the deity of Christ, see no logical 
 reason for a Church or for any service. Unitari- 
 anism is at best only a temporary stopping- 
 place for intelligent people. They either rise 
 
" The Testimony of Jesus." 71 
 
 from it to a true appreciation of Christ's char- 
 acter and mission, or go downward into utter 
 and hopeless infidelity. 
 
 The Church which succeeds — which wins men 
 and holds them and builds them up in faith and 
 life — must have a reason for its existence. It 
 must offer a positive relief from the misery 
 which sin has brought into the world ; it must 
 hold up a Savior able to save, and one whose word 
 in regard to Himself is to be believed. What 
 the world needs is positive truth. Sin is a reality 
 and punishment a reality. Man wants a real 
 Savior, such as Christ declares Himself to be. 
 
 The Church must preach such a Savior; it 
 must, moreover, preach the truth declared in the 
 Old Testament as well as the New — that there 
 is no other Savior. "Look unto me and be ye 
 saved, all ye ends of the earth ; " "I, even I am 
 the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior;" 
 "Neither is there salvation in any other, for 
 there is none other name under heaven given 
 among men whereby we must be saved." 
 
 Man in his despair has but one hope. Jesus 
 is the only Helper, the only Way, the only 
 Door, the only Salvation. The purest angel of 
 the heavenly host could not atone for sin. The 
 most that angels can do is to minister to those 
 who are already through Christ heirs of salva- 
 tion. The Virgin Mary, honored above other 
 
72 " The Testimony of Jesus." 
 
 women by her vocation, can not forgive sin nor 
 help the sinner. She, with all other redeemed 
 souls, ascribes salvation to the Lamb. Her 
 song was, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
 and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my 
 Savior." Could she hear the worship rendered 
 her in these later days, verily her soul would 
 answer in the words of the angel before whom 
 John fell in Patmos : " See thou do it not, for I 
 .am thy fellow-servant. Worship God." 
 
 The Church must not only emphasize the 
 teachings of Christ as to His person and mis- 
 sion ; it must practically illustrate them. He 
 must be the first in the hearts of His people as 
 well as in their theology. The Church in 
 which high social standing, or influence, or 
 temporal power, or art, or wealth, takes the 
 place of Christ, has passed its day of useful- 
 ness. 
 
 So has the Church in which a particular form 
 of service or a specific doctrine is the chief 
 thing. Each denomination has its forms and 
 distinctive principles, and these are important. 
 Men of conscience must maintain what they 
 believe to be the truth. But the sun is larger 
 than the moon, though the moon eclipses it. 
 So Christ is the real light of the world, and the 
 one object of worship in His Church, though 
 distinctive principles, mere satellites, may hide 
 
- * ' The Testimony of Jesus. ' ' 73 
 
 Him from view. Eclipses of the sun are accord- 
 ing to fixed laws, so are spiritual eclipses ; yet the 
 Church is not helplessly bound to an orbit and 
 hopelessly hurried into the shadow before it. 
 It is to determine whether it will live in the 
 presence and light of Christ, or in the dim 
 moonlight of its own forms and statements of 
 truth. 
 
 The future of the Church depends on our 
 belief and practical treatment of Christ. If we 
 can say with Peter, "Thou art the Christ, the 
 Son of the living God ; " or with Paul, " The love 
 of Christ constraineth us to live henceforth not 
 unto ourselves, but to Him," our light will in- 
 crease and our influence be blessed. 
 
 The same truth is of personal application. 
 Our individual success in this life and that to 
 come depends on our treatment of Christ. In 
 a special sense He is to every man what he 
 thinks Him to be. He believes Him to be the 
 Way, and He is the Way. He believes Him 
 to be the Door, and enters through Him 
 the heavenly rest. He believes Him to be 
 the Vine, and is united to and nourished 
 by Him. If Christ is not the Door, heaven is 
 closed against him. If Christ is not his 
 way, he has no way to the inheritance above. 
 He dwells in a house like that which a fool- 
 ish poet built, which had no stairway to the 
 
74 " The Testimony of Jesus." 
 
 rooms above. If he is not united to Christ as 
 the branch is united to the vine, there is no spir- 
 itual life in him. 
 
 The Master will not accept a divided al- 
 legiance. He must be the first, and last, the 
 all-and-in-all to the soul. His people must ap- 
 preciate His person and work, and this appre- 
 ciation must beget consecration to Him. He 
 will not tolerate a rival. There is such a thing 
 as divine jealousy. He who loves houses or 
 lands, or anything else, more than Christ, is 
 not worthy of Him. He must be everything 
 to the soul, or He is nothing to it. Moreover, 
 what He is in life, He will be in death, and at 
 the resurrection, and forever. 
 
 He who takes Christ at His word has a sure 
 dependence. He may be tried and tempted 
 and cast down, but in the end he shall come off 
 conqueror, through Him that loved him. This 
 is the Christian's hope. He who takes Christ's 
 word, and trusts in Him, has it. He who does 
 not, has no Savior and no hope, either at death, 
 or at the judgment, or in eternity. 
 
VII. 
 THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 "The man Christ Jesus."— 1 Timothy ii. 5. 
 
 THE Bible teaches that Christ is God, and 
 that He is man. If we emphasize His 
 deity more than His humanity, it is because 
 the former is more frequently questioned. Op- 
 position to a doctrine leads men to study the 
 arguments which sustain it. Opposition to the 
 deity of Christ has so enlisted its defenders 
 that intelligent Christians are familiar with its 
 proofs. His humanity, on the other hand, be- 
 lieved in by the Christian world and seldom 
 disputed, is seldom discussed. Yet to religion 
 and to our salvation, it is no less necessary that 
 He should be man than that He should be God ; 
 for it is upon Him, not as God only, but as God 
 and man in two distinct natures and one per- 
 son forever, that we build our hope. His deity 
 and humanity are together the headstone of 
 the corner, the foundation ot our faitn. 
 
 Christ's disciples recognized Him as both 
 human and divine. Convinced by His won- 
 
 (75) 
 
76 The Humanity of Christ. 
 
 derful works that He was Grod, they needed no 
 proof that He was man. They saw Him face 
 to face, and heard his voice and talked with 
 Him, and journeyed and ate and rested with 
 Him. The officers who were sent to take Him 
 as He taught in the temple, recognized His 
 manhood, testifying at the same time to His 
 divine wisdom : " Never man spake like this 
 man." Pilate, without denying His divine 
 origin and mission, treated Him, both in action 
 and word, as a man — tying, scourging and 
 condemning Him: "Then came Jesus forth, 
 wearing the crown of thorns and the purple 
 robe, and Pilate said, Behold the man." Some 
 commentators regard this utterance as a repu- 
 diation of His deity and Messiahship, but it 
 certainly has no such meaning. Read naturally 
 and in their connection, the words prove noth- 
 ing more than that Jesus, whether God or not, 
 was man. Pilate made no distinction between 
 Him and others in like circumstances. 
 
 The human character of Christ is stated. in 
 Scripture fully and plainly, both in prophecy 
 and history. It was "the seed of the woman" 
 which, according to promise, would bruise the 
 serpent's head — a man who would break Sa- 
 tan's power. So Eve understood it; for when 
 Cain was born, she exclaimed, "I have gotten 
 a man from the Lord;" or, "I have gotten a 
 
The Humanity of Christ. 77 
 
 man, Jehovah." She regarded her first-born 
 as the promised Savior. Abraham understood 
 that the Messiah would be of his seed. The 
 Jews knew that He would be of the family of 
 David: "There shall come forth a Rod out of 
 the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow 
 out of his root." They knew that His human 
 life would begin, as all human life does, in 
 helpless infancy: "A virgin shall conceive and 
 bear a son." They knew that He would "grow 
 up as a tender plant ;" that He would be "a man 
 of sorrows," and that at last the sword would 
 "awake against the man" that was God's 
 "fellow." All this their Scriptures taught 
 them. The Messiah was to be born, and de- 
 velop, and suffer, and die as a man. Re was 
 to know physical agony in the piercing of His 
 hands and feet, and agony of mind and of soul 
 in the desertion of His friends and in separa- 
 tion from God. He was in everything, but sin, 
 to be fully identified with humanity. 
 
 The life of Christ was a fulfillment of all 
 that the prophets from Samuel until John had 
 testified, and of the promises which God had 
 made concerning Him from the first declara- 
 tion in Eden to the annunciation at Nazareth. 
 He was born of "the seed of David;" He "was 
 found in fashion as a man;" "when the full- 
 ness of time was come, God sent forth His 
 
78 The Humanity of Christ. 
 
 Son, made of a woman, made under the law;" 
 and He "made himself of no reputation, and 
 took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
 made in the likeness of men." "The Word 
 was made flesh, and dwelt among us," and not 
 only dwelt among us, but was of us; "for, 
 verily, he took not on him the nature of an- 
 gels, but of the seed of Abraham." He be- 
 came bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh ; 
 mind of our mind, and heart of our heart. 
 His humanity was recognized. For thirty- 
 three years he moved among men — as a child, 
 a son, a workingman and a teacher ; seen, and 
 heard, and handled; loved, feared, served and 
 neglected, as were others of His day. When 
 John, at Bethabara, saw Him, he said: "This 
 is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man 
 which is preferred before me." The woman 
 of Samaria, after she had talked with Him, 
 said to her townsmen: "Come, see a man 
 which told me all things." 
 
 The humanity thus recognized was real. 
 Christ was truly a man. He experienced all 
 the necessities to which men are subject. Hav- 
 ing labored, he required rest; having fasted, 
 he was hungry ; having walked far in the heat 
 of the day, he thirsted. "Jesus being wearied 
 with his journey, sat thus on the well;" and 
 when there came a woman to draw water, He 
 
The Humanity of Christ. 79 
 
 asked for drink. At this very time, His disci- 
 ples were gone away to buy meat. There is no 
 record of His being sick, but this does not 
 prove Him exempt from disease. The testi- 
 mony of His life is that He suffered from or- 
 dinary causes the ordinary results, and felt the 
 permanent effects of hunger, cold and fatigue 
 in the bodily ills to which these give rise. 
 
 Christ assumed more, however, than our 
 physical nature. His incarnation was not a 
 mere imprisonment of the divine nature in a 
 perishable human body. He became brother 
 to our souls, partner of our mental and moral 
 as well as physical being. He thought, rea- 
 soned, judged and acted on His judgments, as 
 men think, reason, decide and act. When 
 brought in contact with startling things, He 
 was surprised. An oft-repeated record is, "He 
 marveled." As a man, He "grew in stature 
 and wisdom; " as a man, he developed through 
 labor and was perfected "through suffering;" 
 as a man, He rejoiced and thanked God, and, 
 as a man, He sorrowed "exceedingly." He 
 suffered at the desertion of His friends, and in 
 Gethsemane endured an agony of soul which 
 puts the stamp of genuineness on His human- 
 ity. He was a man in His affections. There 
 came to Him a young man, rich and intelligent, 
 and withal pure in his thought and action. 
 
80 The Humanity of Christ. 
 
 "Jesus looking on him, loved him" — as what 
 pure-minded man would not. The apostle 
 John, a man of lovely character, is distin- 
 guished as the " disciple whom Jesus loved." 
 He had a manly affection for His mother, and 
 even the pain of the cross did not drive from 
 Him the thought of her loneliness and need. 
 He could forget Himself in His care for her. 
 His words to her and to the beloved disciple, 
 '•Behold thy son," "Behold thy mother," 
 were at once a provision for her comfort and 
 a proof of His humanity. 
 
 He was a man in His sympathies : able to 
 rejoice with the joyful, and weep with the dis- 
 tressed. At the grave of Lazarus His heart 
 overflowed, and they that stood by, noting His 
 tears, said: "Behold, how he loved him." He 
 also "loved Mary and her sister," and wept in 
 sympathy with them. His tears and lament 
 over Jerusalem were the expression of deep 
 interest in, and sympathy with, those whom 
 He foresaw must suffer. 
 
 He was a man in His need of symj)athy. 
 Able to resist the Evil One, and to perform 
 miracles for the relief of men, He nevertheless 
 yearned, as every true man yearns, for human 
 sympathy. There is something intensely hu- 
 man in His words to the disciples at a time of 
 general desertion, "Will ye also go away?" 
 
The Humanity of Christ. 81 
 
 So, too, in His frequent visits to Bethany and 
 to the house of Peter. The cure of Peter's 
 wife's mother, who, when her fever left her at 
 the touch of His hand, arose and ministered 
 to Him, illustrates both His divine power and 
 His human need — a need not satisfied with food 
 and a bed, but which seeks companionship and 
 sympathy, and the ministry of human love. 
 This need, we may suppose, led him at times 
 to withdraw from the crowds, and even from 
 the twelve, and to rest in the society of three 
 chosen friends. Then, when in the garden He 
 withdrew a little distance from them, and 
 prayed in agony that the cup might pass, this 
 need drew Him again and again to return. 
 The words, "Could ye not watch with me one 
 hour," are an expression of human longing and 
 disappointment. 
 
 Christ was a man also in His subjection to 
 law. " He took upon him the form of a serv- 
 ant" — voluntarily assuming the obligations of 
 humanity. We have already noted His sub- 
 jection to physical law, and His growth and 
 perfecting through sorrow ; but this is not all. 
 He came under His own statutes; He was 
 "made under the law." He was bound as 
 every son of Adam is bound, to keep the Com- 
 mandments. His life is testimony that He 
 recognized the obligation. He was subject to 
 
82 The Humanity of Christ. 
 
 His parents. When tempted to idolatry, He 
 declared His duty and purpose in the words, 
 "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
 him only shalt thou serve." It is recorded that 
 He entered into the synagogue. " as was His 
 custom." When baptized of John, he said, 
 "Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteous- 
 ness;" recognizing ceremonial obligations, as, 
 at a later day, He recognized obligation to 
 civil authority by the payment of tribute. 
 
 He was a man in His liability to tempta- 
 tion. Satan desired to have Him, as he desired 
 Peter, "that he might sift Him as wheat." His 
 temptations were such as are common to men. 
 They came through appetite and ambition, as 
 they come to us ; and were resisted with the 
 Word of God, even as we must resist them. 
 "He was tempted in all points as we are, yet 
 without sin." His humanity differs from ours 
 only in that we have sinned, "while He was 
 without sin." Pilate said, "I find no fault in 
 this man;" and who that reads the story of 
 His life will not join in the verdict? He was 
 a man in His physical nature, in intellect, affec- 
 tions, sympathies and will; in His subjection 
 to law and in His liability to temptation ; but 
 He was sinless. His physical nature was under 
 control ; His affections were pure, and His 
 will was in harmony with the law of God. 
 
The Humanity of Christ. 83 
 
 We might stop with this picture of perfect 
 humanity, but that the picture itself is imper- 
 fect. While Christ was man, He was also 
 more than man. His humanity must not lead 
 us, even for a moment, to forget His deity. 
 Properly considered, it will not. Indeed, it 
 emphasizes it; for perfection does not belong 
 to our human nature. "No mere man, since 
 the Fall, is able, perfectly in this life, to keep 
 all the commandments of God." The Scrip- 
 tures, moreover, so associate the two doctrines, 
 that man can not put them asunder. 
 
 Being the "Son of man," Christ called Him- 
 self "the Son of God." That which we have 
 seen and looked Upon, and "our hands have 
 handled of the Word of life, was from the be- 
 ginning." "The Word was made flesh, and 
 dwelt among us;" but that Word was "in the 
 beginning, and "was God." "He took upon 
 him the form of a servant, and was made in 
 the likeness of men." In the same connection, 
 we read, "Being in the form of God, he thought 
 it not robbery to be equal with God." John 
 said, "After me cometh a man which is pre- 
 ferred before me: for he was before me." The 
 woman of Samaria said, "Come, see a man 
 which told me all the things that ever I did. 
 Is not this the Christ?" Paul speaks of the 
 "man Christ Jesus," and, in the same connec- 
 
84 The Humanity of Christ. 
 
 tion, of "God our Savior." The meaning of 
 these passages, and of others like them, is that 
 Christ was both God and man ; that He had, 
 at the same time, the infinite power of God 
 and the finite limitations of man ; that He had 
 the infinite wisdom of God and the growing 
 intelligence of man ; that, being infinitely holy, 
 He was tempted as men are tempted. How 
 can such things be? Man can not answer. 
 These are among the deep things of God. We 
 know that He did increase in wisdom; that 
 He was "straitened" until the accomplish- 
 ment of His work; that He was "made per- 
 fect through suffering;" that He declared Him- 
 self ignorant of the time of the world's end, 
 and that in other ways He identified Himself 
 with the weakness of humanity. Some would 
 have us believe that He emptied Himself of 
 His power and wisdom, as well as of His glory ; 
 that He laid aside His deity to take it again 
 at the resurrection ; but this does not explain 
 other Scripture. Speaking "of His life, He 
 said, "I have power to lay it down, and I have 
 power to take it again. 1 ' The power which 
 raised Him from the dead was His, even be- 
 fore He died, and it was divine. Again, He 
 had power to draw upon Heaven for more than 
 twelve legions of angels for His deliverance; 
 still again, He had power — divine power — to 
 
The Humanity of Christ. 85 
 
 forgive sin, as well as to raise the dead, and do 
 other mighty works. "Who can forgive sin 
 but God only?" Such passages show that He 
 did not empty Himself of His deity; that He 
 was still God while He was man. I prefer to 
 accept these statements, though they do in- 
 volve a mystery, and to leave their explanation 
 for eternity. 
 
 Christ still retains His humanity. He 
 became man not for thirty-three years only, 
 but forever. After the resurrection He showed 
 Himself to the disciples, not in a strange shape, 
 but as they had known Him. " Behold my 
 hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle 
 me and see." There was the old tenderness in 
 His words to Peter : " Lovest thou me ? " And 
 when He led them out as far as Bethany and 
 blessed them, and was parted from them and 
 received up into heaven, the hands raised in 
 blessing were human hands, and His parting 
 words were the benediction of the man Christ 
 Jesus. As He was taken up to heaven He 
 shall in like manner appear again to judge and 
 to rule. John saw Him in his vision in Pat- 
 mos, and heard His words, " I am he that liv- 
 eth and was dead." We rejoice in the assur- 
 ance that He "was and continueth to be God 
 and man in two distinct natures, and one 
 person forever, " that, as Paul expresses it, He 
 
86 The Humanity of Christ. 
 
 "continueth ever," and hath an unchangeable 
 priesthood. 
 
 Christ as a man is our hope. He took our 
 flesh and blood that He might deliver us from 
 sin and death, or, as the Scripture expresses it, 
 "that through death He might destroy him 
 that had the power of death, that is the devil," 
 and that He might deliver men. " It behooved 
 Him to be made like unto His brethren, that 
 He might be a merciful and faithful High 
 Priest to make reconciliation for the sins of the 
 people." 
 
 As a man He is our example. As He was 
 tempted, so are we ; as He resisted, so may we. 
 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in 
 Christ Jesus," "He that saith he abideth in 
 Him ought himself also to walk even as He 
 walked." Christ as a man is our intercessor. 
 Not only has He provided salvation, but " He 
 is able to save to the uttermost them that come 
 unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to 
 make intercession for them." 
 
 As a man He is our comfort and help. The 
 heathen prays to a senseless block, but we pray 
 to a God who partook of our nature, who 
 knows our infirmities, who suffered in all 
 points and was tempted like as we suf- 
 fer and are tempted. We pray not to a God 
 afar off, but to one near as our own flesh 
 
The Humanity of Christ. 87 
 
 and blood, and one who "in that He hath 
 suffered being tempted, is able to succor them 
 that are tempted." Christ's humanity gives 
 emphasis to the invitations and promises of the 
 Bible: "Come unto me all ye that labor and 
 are heavy laden," " Lo, I am with you always." 
 Are you despondent and weak in faith, listen 
 to these words. Are you tempted, go to Him 
 who resisted so long and well every wile of the 
 adversary. Are you afflicted, or poor, or de- 
 serted by friends, go to Him who drank afflic- 
 tion's cup to the dregs ; who saw every friend 
 forsake Him, and through whose poverty we 
 are made rich. 
 
 Are you a sinner, as yet without Grod, and 
 having no hope for the world to come, go to 
 Him, who being God, became man, and as a 
 man suffered and died, that those believing in 
 Him might have everlasting life. 
 
VIII. 
 JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being 
 witnessed by the law and the prophets: 
 
 "Even the righteousness of God ivhich is by faith of Jesus Christ unto 
 all and upon all them that believe ; for there is no difference : 
 
 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: 
 
 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in 
 Christ Jesus : 
 
 " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in h s 
 blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, 
 through the forbearance of God: 
 
 "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness ; that he might be just, 
 and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.'" — Romans iii. 21-26. 
 
 rPHE apostle in the former part of this epis- 
 tie establishes two things. First, that 
 God is infinitely holy, and has pledged Himself 
 to pnnish sin ; and second, that all men are sin- 
 ners. From these premises He reaches the 
 conclusion (in the 20th verse) : " Therefore by 
 the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified 
 in His sight." In other words, no man can 
 save himself. The whole race is in hopeless 
 condemnation, so far as its own efforts are con- 
 cerned. 
 
 This is not an agreeable doctrine, but in our 
 
 theological travels we must often tarry at disa- 
 
 (88) 
 
Justification. 89 
 
 greeable places. He who journeys to the prom- 
 ised land goes through the valley of humilia- 
 tion, and it may be, spends much time in its 
 unpleasant shades. He is called on to ac- 
 knowledge not simply the general doctrine of 
 man's sin, but his own personal condemnation 
 and hopelessness. To him who refuses this 
 acknowledgment, the Bible does not promise 
 salvation. Its promises are to the humble, the 
 self-condemned, the poor in spirit. " Blessed 
 are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the king- 
 dom of heaven," "The Lord is nigh unto them 
 that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as 
 be of a contrite spirit." * 
 
 As we tarry now at this doctrine, let me 
 urge each one to give it individual attention. 
 There are certain questions which we may 
 profitably put to ourselves. First— Is God 
 able to inflict, and will He inflict, the punish- 
 ment He has declared against those who break 
 His law? There can be but one answer. God 
 is infinitely just and powerful. He will pun- 
 ish sin. Second— Have I kept God's law per- 
 fectly? If not (and every one who knows his 
 heart will answer, No), if not, is there any hope ? 
 Am I not utterly lost and undone? There is 
 a stern logic in this part of the Epistle to the 
 Romans. ° Its conclusion is, that every child 
 of Adam stands a prisoner at the bar of divine 
 
90 Justification. 
 
 justice, waiting for the sentence of condemna- 
 tion. Every mouth is stopped, and the whole 
 world stands guilty before God. 
 
 Having reached this conclusion, we are ready 
 for the truth presented in the text. "But now 
 [that is, under the Gospel dispensation] the 
 righteousness of God without the law is mani- 
 fested, being witnessed by the law and the 
 prophets ; even the righteousness of God which 
 is by faith in Jesus Christ." When men could 
 not escape the punishment of sin, God Himself 
 provided an escape. He did not dishonor His 
 own law, nor allow sin to go unpunished, but sent 
 Christ, His Son, who willingly took on Him the 
 nature of men, and bore the punishment of 
 sin for men. 
 
 Christ's death was not simply a tableaux 
 calculated to move the affections. It was more 
 than an exhibition of God's hatred of sin. It 
 was the actual infliction of the penalty of a 
 broken law. It was the punishment of sin — 
 not of His sin, for He was not a sinner. As 
 the Apostle Peter expresses it, "He bare our 
 sins in His own body on the tree." Paul says, 
 "He was offered up to bear the sins of many." 
 In this chapter He says that through the re- 
 demption that is in Him God might be just 
 and the justifier of him that belie veth. 
 
 Redemption means deliverance by the pay- 
 
Justification. 91 
 
 ment of a price or a ransom. When a Jew of 
 old sold himself into slavery, he could be ran- 
 somed by any relative who would pay the 
 amount. When in ancient wars prisoners 
 were condemned to die, a price was often fixed 
 at which they might be redeemed. Men are 
 spoken of in the Scripture as sold under sin — 
 as having sold themselves for naught. In 
 Christ they are redeemed, if they will accept 
 redemption. He pays their ransom, and they 
 are freed from the curse of the law. God is 
 just and He justifies those who believe in 
 Christ. 
 
 To justify does not mean simply to forgive 
 sin, or to free from punishment. Justification 
 is the opposite of condemnation. A man is 
 condemned because he is found guilty. To jus- 
 tify is to find "not guilty." The Governor of 
 a State may pardon- a criminal, and so free 
 him from the punishment of his crime ; but God 
 does for believers more than this. Acting as 
 a Judge, he declares that faith in Christ is 
 equivalent to obedience. What saith the 
 Scripture? Abraham believed God and it 
 was counted to him for righteousness. He was 
 not righteous according to the law, but God 
 was pleased to receive another righteousness, 
 even that of faith. He stood before God as if 
 he had not sinned. So the sinner, who by 
 
92 Justification. 
 
 faith becomes partaker in Christ's righteous- 
 ness, is judged righteous. This is what the 
 apostle means by righteousness without the 
 law, and by the righteousness of faith. And 
 this, he says, is manifested under the present 
 dispensation. 
 
 It is not a new method of salvation. The 
 green stalk which pushes its way through the 
 clods in the spring is, in one sense, a new life ; 
 but in a higher sense it is a manifestation of 
 that which already lived in the bulb or seed or 
 root. There is no change on the part of God. 
 His plan was only made clearer by the coming 
 of Christ. It was, the text says, witnessed by 
 the law and the prophets. 
 
 Salvation has always been by faith. No man 
 ever was saved by his own perfection. Abra- 
 ham and Enoch and Abel believed, and were 
 justified by the same gracious plan as are saints 
 to-day. They may have had an indistinct un- 
 derstanding of this plan. The Jews who of- 
 fered sacrifices may have failed to fully recog- 
 nize them as types of Christ's sacrifice, and 
 their forgiveness as justification through Him. 
 The words of David and Isaiah may have been 
 imperfectly understood even by the most pious 
 Jews, yet their words were a testimony in ad- 
 vance to Christ, and to His atonement, and to 
 justification by faith. "Surely he hath borne 
 
Justification. 93 
 
 our griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did 
 esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and af- 
 flicted." "But he was wounded for our trans- 
 gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the 
 chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and 
 with his stripes we are healed." "All we, like 
 sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned every 
 one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on 
 him the iniquity of us all;" so were the 
 words of Joel and of Malachi, "Behold, I will 
 send my messenger, and he shall prepare the 
 way before me : and the Lord, whom ye seek, 
 shall suddenly come to his temple, even the 
 messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight 
 in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of 
 hosts;" "And it shall come to pass, that who- 
 soever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be 
 delivered ; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem 
 shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said." 
 The testimony became more clear as the Mes- 
 siah's time approached, until the words of the 
 later prophets read like history. Earlier 
 prophecies and types, however, must not be 
 carelessly esteemed. They are a part of the 
 witness to which the text refers. 
 
 The great object of the Old Testament, as 
 well as of the New, is to testify of Christ. To 
 Him gave all the prophets witness. He 
 Himself so interpreted them. "Beginning 
 
94 Justification. 
 
 with Moses and all the prophets, He expounded 
 unto them in all the Scripture the things con- 
 cerning Himself." 
 
 The righteousness of Christ is "unto all and 
 upon all " that believe. The words show man's 
 part in his own salvation. The righteousness 
 is not something within himself — some good 
 resolve or pious work. It is not even his 
 praying or his worship. "It is unto him and 
 upon him," that is, something from without 
 brought to him ; not something that he does, 
 but something that is done for him. The 
 same truth is expressed by the words, "By 
 grace ye are saved." Salvation is through 
 faith, but the faith is itself a gift. God gives 
 it to us. It is upon all that believe, because 
 God has made faith or belief instrumental to 
 salvation. 
 
 • Humility should not only have a place at 
 the beginning of the Christian life, but should 
 be a part of that life — a golden thread running- 
 through its whole warp and woof. Where, says 
 the apostle, is boasting? It is excluded by the 
 law of faith. How can one who has been 
 saved purely by the mercy of God boast of any- 
 thing except that mercy? He may have greater 
 faith than another, or be a better man. Just so 
 one sick person may be more faithful than 
 another in taking medicine, but this is nothing 
 
Justification. 95 
 
 to boast about. He may glorify the wisdom 
 which knows his disease and gives him the 
 medicine, but not his own wisdom in taking it. 
 We may boast all we will in the cross of Christ, 
 but not in our own faith. Religious pride is 
 as contrary to the spirit of the Gospel as other 
 pride. He who stands before God to glorify 
 himself as the Pharisee did — that he is better 
 than some poor publican or outcast, or than 
 some negligent backslidden Christian — dishon- 
 ors the mercy of God, which has made him to 
 differ, and has given him all the faith and all 
 the grace to resist temptation that he possesses. 
 " Rejoice not," said Christ to the seventy, "that 
 the devils are subject to you, but rather rejoice 
 that your names are written in heaven." Pride 
 assumes that we deserve credit for our salva- 
 tion, but the faith necessary to salvation as- 
 sumes that we can do nothing — that we are 
 simply "justified by grace through the redemp- 
 tion that is in Christ Jesus;" that there is no 
 difference in the sight of God between one sin- 
 ner and another, for all have sinned and come 
 short. We may have come short less than 
 some; our sins may be less heinous, but the 
 fact that we have come short remains, and 
 with this before us there is nothing to do but 
 to accept the mercy of God, who demands our 
 faith, and is pleased to count it to us for right- 
 
96 Justification. 
 
 eousness, and to thank Gocl that Christ having 
 borne the punishment of our sins, God's jus- 
 tice demands the salvation of those it would 
 (without Christ) have condemned. 
 
 The Bible contains many strange things, and 
 nothing is stranger than the plan of salvation. 
 It is the great mystery of godliness. The an- 
 gels desire to look into it. Its justice, as well 
 as its love, is infinite. On the other hand, 
 how simple is the way it opens before us. We 
 are not required to solve the mystery, but only 
 to walk in the way. A bridge crosses a chasm 
 or a deep river. It is a monument of marvel- 
 ous engineering and mechanical skill; but a 
 child who doesn't know wood from iron can 
 cross it. We need not fathom the love of God, 
 or the condescension of Christ ; nor know the 
 secret of the incarnation, or of the covenant 
 made before the foundation of the world ; but 
 we can read and understand the words, "Be- 
 lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt 
 be saved." A child, unable even to pronounce 
 such words as atonement and incarnation, can 
 understand this. All that we need to know is 
 perfectly plain. The way of salvation is so 
 clear and well defined, "that the wayfaring 
 men, though fools, shall not err therein." They 
 do not require any course of study or prepara- 
 tion. There is no particular ritual which must 
 
Justification. 97 
 
 be conformed to ; no programme of good deeds 
 to be carried out; no trying temptations to be 
 resisted. One is simply to believe in the Lord 
 Jesus. Upon this, and upon this alone, rests 
 his justification in the sight of God. After this, 
 there are duties to be done and temptations to 
 be overcome. The whole Christian life is be- 
 fore him, and he is neither freed from obliga- 
 tion nor absolved from temptation. 
 
 Upon one point this doctrine is liable to be 
 misunderstood. Men say, If we are saved by 
 faith, what use have good works ? why try to 
 keep the law? why not drift on in the way 
 most natural and pleasant, enjoying this world, 
 and leaving salvation in the next to God ? The 
 answer is very simple : Not only is the believer 
 justified before God, but there is a change of 
 heart. He has new desires and affections ; he 
 takes pleasure in resisting temptation and in 
 good works. The idea of going on in sin r 
 because Christ has borne its penalty, is shock-' 
 ing. "Shall we continue in sin because grace 
 abounds ? Gocl forbid : how shall we who are 
 dead to sin, continue any longer therein? " 
 
 An infidel reasoner derided the plan of sal- 
 vation in the presence of Dr. Chalmers. Said 
 he: "If I had your faith, I would take my fill 
 of sin." "And how much sin," asked Dr. 
 7 
 
98 Justification. 
 
 Chalmers, "would it take to fill a Christian 
 heart?" 
 
 A love of sin and a continual desire to break 
 the law of God, are clear evidences that the 
 heart is unchanged and the man not justified. 
 He who believes will love the law of God, and, 
 though sorely tried, will overcome the natural 
 desires. Though he fall seven times, yet will 
 he rise again. So far from taking his fill of 
 sin, his prayer will be: " Purify me, God; 
 fill me with thy love ; and make me holy, as 
 thou art holy." 
 
IX. 
 FORGIVENESS. 
 
 " There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared ." — 
 Psalm cxxx. 4. 
 
 "A/TAN does not require a divine revelation 
 " to acquaint him with sin. It is before 
 his eyes and in his heart. Not having the 
 written law, he is a law unto himself — his con- 
 science approving the right and condemning 
 the wrong. 
 
 Neither is revelation necessary to convince 
 him that sin will be punished. It is daily pun- 
 ished. He sees the operation of laws which 
 can not be violated without suffering. He who 
 puts his hand into the fire is burned ; he suffers 
 for the violation of a natural law. He who 
 takes poison is poisoned. He who overeats, or 
 overdrinks, or overfasts, or overworks must 
 suffer, in greater or less degree, the penalty. 
 The same is true in business and social life. A 
 bad investment is punished by loss of money, 
 and ill-breeding by loss of respect. 
 
 A certain school of scientists emphasize the 
 reign of law. We would unite with them in 
 
 (99) 
 
100 Forgiveness. 
 
 this. The universe is under laws, physical 
 and moral ; these are invariable. Every cause 
 has its effect, and every effect its cause. 
 
 Naturally, believers in God who see His 
 laws violated, believe in future punishment. 
 Analogy makes such punishment more than 
 probable. Nature, though she has light pen- 
 alties for light offenses, knows nothing of for* 
 giveness. The punishment follows the violation 
 as naturally as an apple, loosed from the tree, 
 falls to the ground. Nature has cures and 
 compensations which modify her penalties and 
 soothe their suffering ; but these are only the 
 operation of other laws. She does not go be- 
 yond her laws. Her testimony is that sin can 
 not go unpunished. She prepares us to accept 
 the divine declaration, " The soul that sinneth 
 it shall die." 
 
 Natural religion is inexpressibly dreary. 
 It offers no hope whatever to the soul con- 
 scious of sin. Forgiveness, if found, must be 
 found outside of Nature. Men, recognizing 
 this, have offered sacrifices and prayers to 
 idol gods, as others have to the true God. In- 
 stinct does not stop with Nature's revelation. It 
 hopes for and demands that which Nature re- 
 fuses. All men have some form of religion, 
 and some idea of a God ; and all seek the for- 
 giveness of sin. 
 
Forgiveness. 101 
 
 The Old Testament Scriptures gave promises 
 of forgiveness. God was represented as mer- 
 ciful and gracious ; long-suffering ; slow to anger ; 
 unwilling that any should perish ; abundant in 
 goodness and truth; forgiving iniquity, trans- 
 gression and sin; anxious to pardon those who 
 had broken His law. 
 
 The Psalmist, out of the depth of his humil- 
 iation, could cry unto the Lord: " There is for- 
 giveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." 
 Daniel, after his confession, could say with 
 assurance: "To the Lord our God belong 
 mercy and forgiveness." 
 
 Promises of forgiveness were associated with 
 promises of the Messiah. Jeremiah, speaking 
 of the coming Savior, says: "I will make a 
 new covenant with the house of Israel ; . . . 
 for I will forgive their iniquities, and I will 
 remember their sins no more." 
 
 We turn naturally for a better understand- 
 ing of this and similar passages to the New 
 Testament account of Christ's life. We notice, 
 first, that He had power over natural laws. 
 When Lake Genesaret was stirred by winds, 
 He said, "Peace, be still," and the sea obeyed. 
 When one who, by the operation of natural 
 law Avas paralyzed, came into His presence, He 
 said, "Arise," and he arose. Blind eyes were 
 opened, and even the dead were raised. He had 
 
102 Forgiveness, 
 
 power and authority to check the enforcement 
 of natural law upon those who had violated 
 it. His miracles prepared the minds of men 
 for the great object of His visit to earth. " Thy 
 sins be forgiven thee," and "Arise, take up thy 
 bed," were utterances of the same supernatural 
 power. The miracle was performed that they 
 might know His power to forgive. The same 
 analogy which led us from natural punishment 
 to spiritual, leads us from His miracles to 
 His salvation. He who could walk on the 
 water with Peter, heal incurable diseases by 
 His touch, raise the dead, and Himself rise 
 from the dead, proved His power to forgive 
 sin. 
 
 This was the argument of the apostle at 
 Antioch, when, after speaking of Christ's life, 
 death and resurrection, he said: "Be it known 
 unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that 
 through this man is preached unto you the for- 
 giveness of sins." 
 
 Forgiveness is no less miraculous, and is 
 even more wonderful than the suspension of 
 natural law. Grod had never declared that the 
 blind should not be restored nor the dead re- 
 vived, but He had pledged Himself to punish 
 sin. He could by a simple word give life or 
 take it ; but more than a word was necessary 
 to the forgiveness of sinners. He must be just. 
 
Forgiveness. 103 
 
 His solemn declarations against sin could not 
 be withdrawn. Sin must be punished. 
 
 It was on this account that the Old Testa- 
 ment writers had associated forgiveness with 
 the sufferings of the coming Messiah. It was 
 on this account that it "behooved Christ to 
 suffer, and to rise from the dead the third 
 day." We rejoice in His suffering, and that 
 He is now "at the right hand of God, exalted 
 to be a prince and a Savior, for to give repent- 
 ance and forgiveness of sins." 
 
 The Gospel which we preach is the good 
 news of forgiveness. That which every soul 
 needs, and which can not be found anywhere 
 else, is found in Christ. Christians are those 
 whose sins are forgiven them for Christ's sake. 
 The work of the Church is to preach forgive- 
 ness in Christ. The world's hope is in this 
 forgiveness. 
 
 The story of Martin Luther's conversion 
 illustrates this. He lay sick in his cell at Er- 
 furt, and with the possibility of death came a 
 sense of sin and a fear of the future. He re- 
 membered his prayers, fastings and penances, 
 but they gave him no hope. Monks and priests 
 came to comfort him, but he saw no light. At 
 last one venerable father, repeating the Creed, 
 emphasized and explained the words, "I believe 
 in the forgiveness of sins;" and at once the 
 
104 Forgiveness. 
 
 whole plan of salvation opened before him. 
 We believe in the forgiveness of sins. The 
 words are familiar to us as we write them, but, 
 like other familiar words, they are said thought- 
 lessly ; and with some, at least, their blessing, 
 because of its familiarity, is overlooked. 
 
 Let us notice several things in regard to this 
 forgiveness. 
 
 First. It is preached to men only through 
 Christ. God is abundant in goodness and 
 truth. His forgiveness is an ocean, but it flows 
 to us only through one channel. This is plainly 
 taught in the Scriptures. " There is none other 
 name under heaven given among men whereby 
 we must be saved." " Through this man," said 
 Paul, "is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
 sins." "Neither," said Peter, "is there salva- 
 tion in any other." We have redemption 
 through His blood, the forgiveness of sins ac- 
 cording to the riches of His grace. Weeping- 
 will not save ; forgiveness is not bought with 
 tears. Penances will not save; forgiveness is 
 not bought with sufferings ; at least, not with 
 our sufferings or tears. Neither formal obedi- 
 ence, nor worship, nor church membership, nor 
 vague confidence in God's goodness, will secure 
 forgiveness. There is but one hope for the 
 sinner. He must seek forgiveness in the name 
 of Christ, and because of His atoning work. 
 
Forgiveness. 105 
 
 This suggests to us the second thought. For- 
 giveness must be asked. It is not enough that 
 there is a way of salvation, we must walk in 
 it; not enough that there is forgiveness with 
 God, He will "be entreated of." The promise 
 is, "Ask, and ye shall receive." He who asks 
 not, receives not. 
 
 An old writer describes the arrival of souls 
 at the gate of heaven, and their triumphant 
 entrance. Satan comes also among them, but 
 is refused. 
 
 "You can not enter here." 
 "I sinned but once; these have entered who 
 sinned a thousand times. They are forgiven ; 
 why am not I?" 
 
 "Have you ever asked forgiveness?" 
 The condemnation of many a soul at the day 
 of judgment may be put in the form of a ques- 
 tion: "Have you ever asked forgiveness?" 
 
 Prayer is the soul's desire. The prayer of 
 the publican, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," 
 offered honestly and in faith, will always secure 
 forgiveness. The publican went down to his 
 house justified. He asked and received. The 
 Pharisee, a much better man, asked nothing 
 and received nothing. David, in his thanks- 
 giving, could say: "He asked life of thee, and 
 thou gavest it him;" while the Savior, declar- 
 ing in advance the condemnation of unbeliev- 
 
106 Forgiveness. 
 
 ers, says: " Ye will not come unto me, that ye 
 might have life." Ye will not ask forgiveness, 
 that ye may receive it. 
 
 I know a foolish child, or rather a young 
 man, for he is now grown, who for five years 
 has exiled himself from home. His father's 
 commands were just, but he rebelled against 
 them and was guilty of a grievous offense. 
 Confession and apology were demanded, but 
 he refused, and to this day refuses to make 
 them. His home, with ten times the comfort 
 he could earn for himself, is oj)en to him 
 when he asks forgiveness for his offense. I 
 urged him to ask it. He admitted that he had 
 done wrong, and said plainly that he had been 
 a fool ; but the natural pride of his heart will 
 not allow him to say to his father what he said 
 to me. 
 
 Any reasonable person will say that, while 
 his sin was folly, his refusal to seek forgiveness 
 is worse. So may we say of those who will 
 not seek the forgiveness of sins. The sins 
 themselves were folly, but the greatest folly is 
 that which refuses to ask the forgiveness God 
 (more just and loving than any earthly parent) 
 is ready to give. 
 
 God's readiness to forgive is testified by the 
 suffering and death of Christ. God so loved 
 the world as to give His Son that men might 
 
Forgiveness. 107 
 
 be saved. He has appointed a ministry to de- 
 clare this love. Wherefore speaking by His 
 authority, as though He did beseech you by 
 me, I urge you, as many as have not already 
 done so, to seek through Christ Jesus the for- 
 giveness of sins. 
 
 There is a lesson for Christians in the clos- 
 ing words of the text: "That thou mayest be 
 feared." There is forgiveness with God, that 
 He may be feared. 
 
 Fear in the Bible is not terror. He whose 
 sins are forgiven is not afraid of God, and has 
 no reason to be. Perfect love casteth out such 
 fear. Christian fear is reverence and consecra- 
 tion. David prayed, " Stablish thy word unto 
 thy servant who is devoted to thy fear." With 
 him the word meant service or obedience. 
 
 God's glory is nowhere more manifest than 
 in the plan of salvation. There is forgiveness 
 with Him that He may be feared, or "had in 
 reverence," that His name may be glorified 
 among men. 
 
 The forgiveness of sins should be the begin- 
 ning of a life devoted to the service of God. 
 It will be so with those who appreciate His 
 mercy. They will make known His goodness, 
 that others may unite with them in praising 
 His name. 
 
X. 
 
 FAITH AND CONFESSION". 
 
 11 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the 
 mouth confession is made unto salvation." — Romans x. 10. 
 
 rPHE old question, "What must I do to be 
 saved?" has its answer in these words, 
 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved." The answer suggests a ques- 
 tion: What is it to believe, in the Scripture 
 sense of the word? What is saving faith? 
 
 It is not mere intellectual belief of the truth. 
 Children born of Christian parents, and edu- 
 cated in the Sabbath-school and the church, 
 believe in the Lord Jesus. Living in a Bible 
 atmosphere, they breathe in its truths, accept- 
 ing them thoughtlessly, and, as a matter of 
 course. Their belief may or may not be that 
 necessary to salvation. A student studies the 
 Word of God and compares it with other sacred 
 books. He is convinced that God made the 
 world, and that all other gods are idols ; that 
 the Bible is God's book, while the Koran and 
 other pretended revelations are the work of 
 men. He is satisfied that Christ, the Son of 
 God, came into the world to save sinners ; and 
 
 (108) 
 
Faith and Confession. 109 
 
 that there is no other salvation. He is a be- 
 liever, but his belief may fall far short of that 
 required in the text. 
 
 Saving faith is an operation of the heart. 
 "If thou belie vest in thine heart that God 
 raised Christ from the dead, thou shalt be 
 saved." The mind may be convinced by facts 
 or logic, when the heart is untouched. It be- 
 lieves what it sees or can prove, but the heart 
 believes where it can not see nor reason. 
 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for: 
 the evidence of things not seen." Belief may 
 be reduced to mathematics, to dollars and cents, 
 or measures, or to the rules of testimony ; faith 
 goes beyond, and makes the thing established 
 a personal matter. Belief proves things ; faith 
 feels them. Belief says, There was such a 
 person as Christ; it can be proved just as we 
 prove the life of Washington or Wellington, 
 or that two and two are four. Faith says, Christ 
 is my Savior ; my trust is in Him. The one 
 busies itself with testimony and logic; the 
 other, with thanksgiving. Faith appreciates 
 the value of testimony and logic ; they are an 
 alphabet which it has no further need to study, 
 except that it may be able to give a reason for 
 its confident assurance. 
 
 Those who have faith often meet with in- 
 credulity. Men question the reality of feel- 
 
110 Faith and Confession. 
 
 ings and hopes to which they are strangers. I 
 knew a man whose sense of smell was remark- 
 ably acute. Long years of practice in hand- 
 ling perfumes enabled him to detect, at a whiff, 
 substances which other men could know only 
 on analysis. He handed me one day two vials ; 
 neither had, so far as I could detect, any de- 
 cided odor ; yet he claimed, and proved that, 
 from a single drop put on a handkerchief and 
 passed before his face, he could determine 
 either the one or the other. 
 
 His case illustrates, in a faint way, the differ- 
 ence between those who have and have not 
 faith. Faith may be likened to a sense which 
 some lack, while others have it more or less 
 perfectly developed. A man with a severe 
 cold may pass through a florist's store and 
 smell nothing. As well might such an one 
 deny the fragrance of roses and tuberoses, as 
 for those who only believe to question the real- 
 ity of faith. 
 
 Faith is not the result of reason or proof, 
 though these may promote it ; it is the work of 
 God's Spirit in the heart. " By grace are ye 
 saved through faith; and that not of your- 
 selves: it is the gift of God." Those who are 
 convinced of sin and would find salvation by 
 faith, must seek it of God. He only can open 
 the eyes of the soul, and reveal that which is 
 
Faith and Confession, 111 
 
 invisible ; He only can lead the heart to Him 
 whom, not having seen, it loves. 
 
 Saving faith includes things which may be 
 proved by reason. The belief that Christ was 
 God ; that He became man ; that He lived in 
 Palestine ; that He healed the sick, and raised 
 the dead, and taught His disciples, and estab- 
 lished the Supper, and died on the cross, and 
 rose the third day, and, after a time, ascended 
 to heaven — it includes these, but these are not 
 all. It includes belief that He is the Savior 
 and the Intercessor ; that He has already for- 
 given our sins, and that in His own good time 
 He will receive us to Himself, that "where He 
 is, we may be also." 
 
 Such was Paul's faith. He knew in Whom 
 he believed, and this knowledge gave him suc- 
 cess as the apostle to the Gentiles. His power 
 was not in eloquence, wit or personal goodness ; 
 he had his "thorn in the flesh." He was not 
 perfectly sanctified, as some good people in our 
 day claim to be; for he said, "Not as though 
 I had already attained, either were already 
 perfect." His power was in his firm faith in 
 Christ. He realized his own salvation, and 
 believing with the heart, gave himself to the 
 salvation of others. 
 
 This faith is as different from mere intel- 
 lectual belief, as poetry is from arithmetic, or 
 
112 Faith and Confession. 
 
 the sun from an iceberg. It is warm, and, 
 "working by love," causes the seeds of truth 
 sown in the heart, and watered by grace, to 
 spring up, and grow and bear fruit to God's 
 glory. 
 
 Some make a mistake in regard to this faith. 
 In the first hours of its joy, they think it a 
 release from sin, and even from temptation. 
 This blissful mistake does not last. Tempta- 
 tions come. We lose sight of Christ, and sud- 
 denly wake to repentance for sin. This was 
 Paul's experience. When he would do good, 
 evil was present with him. His life was a 
 constant warfare. Some, who have like faith, 
 are far less under its influence. They may be 
 naturally inconstant, or their views of truth are 
 indistinct, or they have besetting sins. Every 
 Christian has hours of faith and hours of sin 
 — the ups and downs of spiritual life ; now his 
 peace flows like a river, and again it is a trick- 
 ling stream. We must often recall ourselves 
 from the whirl and confusion of business and 
 pleasure, and fix our hearts on Christ crucified 
 and risen again for us. We may profitably 
 emphasize the fact of Christ's resurrection as 
 a reason for faith. The apostle so emphasizes 
 it in the preceding verse: "If thou shalt con- 
 fess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt 
 believe in thine heart that God hath raised 
 
Faith and Confession. 113 
 
 him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 
 Christ's resurrection was the proof of His 
 deity and Messiahshrp. He, therefore, who 
 believes in His resurrection, believes in Him. 
 
 Faith works by love and begets love; not 
 mere gratitude for the forgiveness of sin, but 
 adoring love. We love him, because our eyes 
 are opened to His love for us ; moreover, He 
 appears in His beauty as the one altogether 
 lovely. Some one says that, as we can not 
 separate consciousness of beauty from delight 
 in it, so we can not separate love from faith. 
 We can no more see Christ by faith without 
 loving Him, than we can see a picture which 
 meets our ideas of beauty without admiring it. 
 
 Another accompaniment of faith is joy. To 
 see Christ, and be sure of salvation through 
 Him, can not fail to rejoice the heart. There 
 is also peace, which, without Christ, the world 
 could not give, and which, while we see Christ, 
 the world can not take away; a peace which 
 passeth understanding; a sense of forgiven sin, 
 of harmony with God, of sonship; a sense 
 withal of perfect security ; for faith is accepted 
 as obedience. This is the apostle's meaning 
 when he says, "With the heart man belie veth 
 unto righteousness." Just as Abraham believed 
 God, and it was counted to him for righteous- 
 8 
 
114 Faith and Confession. 
 
 ness, so we, by faith, partake of Christ's right- 
 eousness. 
 
 Love, joy and peace are more than mere 
 mental or spiritual operations. Out of the 
 abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. 
 They manifest themselves, and so work the 
 natural results of faith. The faith appears in 
 the life. Richard Baxter says: "A changed 
 heart will have a change of company, if it is 
 to be had. The Christian, though still exposed 
 to temptations and bound by natural ties, 
 seeks the society of those whose faith, hope, 
 love, joy and peace are like his. Places which 
 before seemed attractive, lose their attraction ; 
 pleasures in which he delighted, no longer 
 charm him; while, on the other hand, things 
 once dull and uninteresting, attract and please." 
 
 His views of society and of pleasure have 
 changed. The change is a result of faith. Be- 
 fore conversion, he delighted, for instance, in 
 certain pleasures which, to say the least, are 
 questionable. He finds that these are losing 
 their charm. Thev still attract, but are not the 
 temptation they were. In proportion to the 
 strength of our faith, the desire for question- 
 able things decreases. Any Christian may 
 prove or disprove this from his own expe- 
 rience. Think of a time of revival, when your 
 soul was stirred and your faith was strong, and 
 
Faith and Confession, 115 
 
 try from the standpoint of that time to look at 
 the social temptations which have since met you. 
 One may, at conversion, be passionately fond 
 of certain amusements, and may be persuaded 
 that they are not wrong. He may continue so 
 to believe, and yet lose gradually his desire for 
 them. He feels what Dr. Chalmers calls the 
 "expulsive power of a new affection." Love 
 possesses his soul and drives out lesser affec- 
 tions, particularly those as to the indulgence 
 of which he is in doubt. 
 
 Faith works still another change in the heart. 
 The Christian has new views of himself. Paul, 
 before his conversion, was a Pharisee of the 
 straitest sect — vain, as other Pharisees were, of 
 his piety. After conversion, he called himself 
 the chief of sinners. Faith opens the eyes, 
 not. only to see Christ, but to see self. We 
 realize the need, not only of salvation in heaven, 
 but of constant help while on earth. This 
 sense of need, no less than the change of de- 
 sire, leads Christians to seek each other's so- 
 ciety. 
 
 Nothing is more natural than that Christians 
 should associate themselves, in worship and 
 work. God's Word so directs, and the new- 
 born soul at once responds, Amen. Faith and 
 confession belong together. If we are Christ's, 
 we would be known as Christ's. " Whose I am, 
 
116 • Faith and Confession. 
 
 and whom I serve," wrote the apostle. To be- 
 lieve in the Savior; to be bought with a price, 
 even His blood ; to be sure of heaven through 
 Him — -this is the most important thing. After 
 it, comes the confession of His name. 
 
 The first and most natural act of confession 
 is joining the church. This to the convert 
 should not be a trial. As birds of a feather 
 flock together, and as men united by common 
 interest have clubs or societies, so should Chris- 
 tians seek each other's presence and support. 
 
 It is the Christian's duty to unite with the 
 church: First, Because Christ commands it; 
 not, indeed, in so many words, but plainly, never- 
 theless. We are bidden to "confess His name 
 before men." This does not mean simply to 
 tell our friends, but formally before the world 
 to declare our allegiance to Him. Our text 
 also is a command. Confession is united with 
 faith as a condition of salvation. Moreover, 
 the command in each instance is coupled with 
 a promise. "If thou shalt believe, and con- 
 fess, thou shalt be saved;" "With the mouth 
 confession is made unto salvation;" and, again, 
 " Whosoever shall confess me before men, him 
 will I confess also before my Father which is 
 in heaven." Do these passages teach that there 
 is no salvation out of the church? No; for 
 many may believe who have no opportunity, 
 
Faith and Confession. 117 
 
 publicly, to profess the Savior. They bring 
 us, however, face to face with the duty of form- 
 ally enrolling ourselves on the Lord's side. 
 Neglect of this duty is dangerous. It may not 
 cause the loss of the soul, and yet cause serious 
 loss to the soul. 
 
 Every Christian needs the strength which 
 membership gives, and which follows a profes- 
 sion of faith. He needs the support and ad- 
 vice of other Christians. Being known as a 
 Christian, he escapes many temptations which 
 would otherwise try him. Evil men let him 
 alone, and good men encourage him. Being 
 planted in the house of the Lord, he grows 
 every day in strength. He is in the way of sanc- 
 tification ; he is in the place where God reveals 
 Himself. A Christian not in the church is a 
 child without a home. He knows nothing of 
 its protection or of its enjoyments. 
 
 Again, church-membership is necessary to 
 the successful accomplishment of the work we 
 are to do for Christ. He has chosen us, and 
 ordained us, not to spiritual enjoyment alone, 
 but to "good wx>rks." Life is a warfare against 
 sin. The church is God's host. It is under 
 His direction, and in His plan each has his 
 place and duty. The new convert, full of zeal 
 for the cause, may believe that more can be 
 done by standing apart, but this is not God's 
 
118 Faith and Confession. 
 
 plan. So might a citizen say when, in war, 
 recruits are called for: "I will fight independ- 
 ently ; I will not enlist, nor belong to any com- 
 pany, nor obey any officer. I will take my 
 gun and conduct my own campaign." In the 
 church, as in the army, there must be organ- 
 ization. If there are scouts, they must be sub- 
 ject to officers; the sooner a convert realizes 
 this, the greater- will be his usefulness. 
 
 It may be well to close with a word of cau- 
 tion. A profession of religion is important, 
 but it must not take the place of faith nor of 
 obedience to God's laws. Beware of hypoc- 
 risy — of mere profession. It is (some one says) 
 "like the plumes on a hearse which bears men 
 to the grave." Beware of pious emotions 
 which end with their own expression ; of self- 
 deception; of a fair exterior which will not 
 stand the wear and tear of life ; of a Sabbath- 
 day profession, which is folded away during 
 the week. Beware of any profession which has 
 not behind it true faith in Christ. Confession 
 is made unto salvation only when man believ- 
 eth with the heart. 
 
XI. 
 
 THE LAW STILL BINDING. 
 
 "Do we then make void the law through faith f God forbid: yea, we 
 establish the law." — Romans iii. 31. 
 
 A GREAT question in the early Church 
 was concerning the law. Was it bind- 
 ing upon Christians? Were those saved by 
 faith obliged to keep it? 
 
 The Jew converted to Christianity had 
 many things to learn and many to unlearn. 
 The whole course of his education had been in 
 one direction. His religion, before his conver- 
 sion to Christ, could be summed up in these 
 words : The man that cloeth these things shall 
 live by them. Such an one, though a believer 
 in Christ, justified by faith, would be constantly 
 drawn toward the doctrines he had learned in 
 youth. 
 
 Resisting this . temptation, he might go to 
 the opposite extreme, just as a pendulum 
 drawn to one extreme will go to the other, and 
 just as reformations almost always carry men be- 
 yond the true stopping point. To guard against 
 
 (119) 
 
120 The Law Still Binding. 
 
 this tendency, and to set before the Jews their 
 true relation to the law of God, was the object 
 of the part of the Epistle to the Romans from 
 which our text is taken. 
 
 The apostle teaches that men are sinners; 
 that God's law requires perfect obedience, and 
 that, therefore, salvation can not be by the 
 law. Then he declares Christ, "whom God 
 hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith 
 in His blood, to declare His righteousness for 
 the remission of sins." » He tells of salvation 
 by faith to the Jew as well as to the Gentile. 
 Then, anticipating danger, knowing that men 
 will count themselves free from the law, and 
 under no obligation to obey it, because saved 
 by faith, he adds: " Do we then make void the 
 law? A T ay." The law is still binding. It is 
 God's law, and can not be annulled or made 
 void. It is a rule of life, as binding upon the 
 conscience as if salvation were by obedience. 
 
 There are passages in which he speaks of 
 himself as " dead to the law," or "free from 
 the law." He is free from and dead to it as a 
 means of salvation, for "through the deeds of 
 the law shall no flesh be justified," but he lives 
 to and is bound by it as a rule of action. This 
 distinction is very simple. Man is not saved 
 by obedience to the Decalogue, but he is bound, 
 nevertheless, to obey it. He is saved by faith 
 
The Law Still Binding. 121 
 
 in Christ, but Christ Himself has made obedi- 
 ence a test of love and faith. He has declared 
 that not a jot or tittle of the law can pass 
 away. The law can not, therefore, be made 
 void. 
 
 Human laws, like their makers, are change- 
 able. One Legislature may undo the work of 
 another. Laws may be repealed, or declared 
 unconstitutional. God's laws are like Him- 
 self, unchangeable. They stand on unchange- 
 able principles. " The law of the Lord is per- 
 fect," "The statutes of the Lord are right." 
 They can never in the dot of an i or the cross- 
 ing of a t cease to be of binding obligation. 
 
 Are we then, during this dispensation of faith, 
 bound to the old burdensome Mosaic code, 
 with its system of offerings and multiplicity of 
 detail. Far from it. God's law as given from 
 Sinai was complete. It was because men 
 violated it, that God gave them a system of 
 sacrifices and a ceremonial looking forward to 
 an atonement for their violation. The cere- 
 monial law, with its types and shadows, was 
 fulfilled in Christ, and could therefore be no 
 more binding upon men ; but with the moral law 
 — the Ten Commandments, which we all know, 
 or should know by heart — it is different, In 
 them there are no types nor shadows. They 
 are not symbolical nor explanatory. They are 
 
122 The Law Still Binding. 
 
 simply "Thoushalt," or " Thou shalt not." They 
 are the words of a King. They are the laws of 
 His kingdom, and are like the laws of the 
 Mecles and Persians, which change not. 
 
 The fact that salvation is not of the law does 
 not justify disobedience to the law. The fact 
 that a King mercifully pardons a criminal 
 does not justify the criminal in repeating his 
 crime. ' " Shall we continue in sin because 
 grace abounds ? God forbid ! How shall we, 
 who are dead to sin, continue any longer 
 therein?" We have experienced the grace of 
 God — our sins are forgiven. Henceforth we 
 are under double obligations. Duty is rein- 
 forced by love, and we not only obey, but de- 
 light in the law of God. 
 
 The question may be here raised, Did not 
 Christ re-enact some of the Ten Command- 
 ments? and does not His silence regarding oth- 
 ers nullify them? This point is made by 
 those who contend against strict Sabbath ob- 
 servance. No Commandment of the Ten is so 
 often assailed as the Fourth. 
 
 It is the fashion with a class of thinkers to 
 ridicule the Sabbath of our fathers as Puritan- 
 ical. Its long services, cold dinners, and en- 
 forced quiet are subjects for witticism. The 
 Mayflower crew, in the opinion of these think- 
 ers, were very good people, honest and brave, 
 
The Law Still Binding. 123 
 
 but they were bigoted, and unnecessarily strict. 
 They know better, and can be just as brave 
 and good without fanaticism. The Sabbath, 
 these men tell us, was a Jewish institution. 
 The Ten Commandments were given to the 
 Jews, and were binding on them; but, except 
 where reaffirmed by Christ, do not bind Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 Wp believe that our Savior's teachings, and 
 His observance of the Sabbath, as well as the 
 observance by the disciples of the first day of 
 the week, are an affirmation of the Command- 
 ment, and a warrant for the change of day. 
 Even without them, however, the duty of giv- 
 ing a day in seven to worship and rest would 
 remain. The Commandments were not simple 
 arbitrary enactments for the government of a 
 nation. They were the statement of princi- 
 ples as old as the universe. These were codi- 
 fied in convenient form on the tables of stone, 
 but it is a mistake to date their beginning from 
 the time Moses came down from the mount. 
 
 It was a sin to worship idols before the 
 First and Second Commandments were given 
 to Israel. The murder of Abel was a sin, 
 though committed before the law, "Thou shalt 
 not kill," was written. So obedience to parents 
 was a duty, and so adultery, theft, profane 
 swearing, lying and covetousness were wrong 
 
124 The Law Still Binding. 
 
 from the beginning of our race. They would 
 have been so, had God never spoken from the 
 thunder of the mount. 
 
 The same is true of the Sabbath law. The 
 principle upon t which it rests is fixed. Not 
 only must men avoid the worship of idols, but 
 they must worship the Lord. He is entitled 
 to a per cent, of their time and of their strength. 
 This was as true before the birth of Moses as 
 after his death. Through him the law was 
 put into shape, but it was no new law. This 
 is clear from the language, "Remember the 
 Sabbath day; " not a day now to be established, 
 but an already established day to be remem- 
 bered. 
 
 The children of Israel kept the Sabbath day 
 holy before the law was formally given. They 
 rested the seventh day, when manna was their 
 food. " It came to pass that on the sixth day 
 they gathered twice as much as on the other 
 days, and Moses said, ' Six days shall ye gather 
 it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, 
 in it there shall be none.' So the people rested 
 on the seventh day," is the record of their 
 obedience, when as yet they had not the writ- 
 ten law. The law was in their hearts. The 
 reason annexed to the Fourth Commandment 
 is, that the Lord, after the six days' work of 
 creation, 'rested the seventh day; wherefore 
 
The Law Still Binding. 125 
 
 the Lord blessed the Sabbath clay, and sancti- 
 fied it. 
 
 The duty of keeping one day in seven holy 
 to the Lord, began at the creation, and has 
 been since binding on every man, Jew and 
 Gentile. The Commandments written in Ex- 
 odus xx., are clear, and easily understood. 
 They are a formal declaration of principles 
 which can never be annulled. The Fourth 
 Commandment is God's own expression of His 
 Sabbath law. No man can improve upon it. 
 If the Puritan fathers were stricter than the 
 Commandment, they erred on the safe side. 
 Their descendants who ridicule their strictness, 
 are apt to err in a more dangerous direction. 
 
 The same is true of the other nine Com- 
 mandments. They are God's own expression 
 of the principles of right and wrong. These 
 principles commend themselves to the con- 
 sciences of all men. Even the heathen, "not 
 having the written law, are a law unto them- 
 selves; " that is, their consciences accuse or ex- 
 cuse them as they obey or disobey these plain 
 principles. 
 
 To say that the law is made void because 
 men are not saved by it, but by faith in Christ, 
 is absurd. The law can not be made void, unless 
 right becomes wrong or wrong right. It can 
 never be right to worship an idol, or profane 
 
126 The Law Still Binding. 
 
 God's name or clay, unless God ceases to be the 
 Lord. It can never be wrong to honor and obey 
 parents, nor right to kill, steal or commit adul- 
 tery. ^ 
 
 It is said that Rowland Hill was called to 
 account by an Antinomian for preaching a 
 severe legal Gospel. " Do you," said Mr. Hill, 
 "believe that the Ten Commandments are a 
 rule of life to Christians?" "Certainly not," 
 was the reply; "Christ's death has freed them 
 from the law." Mr. Hill rang the bell and a 
 servant came. "John, show this man out, 
 and keep your eye on him until he is beyond 
 the reach of every movable article in the 
 hall." 
 
 This was simply a severe way of stating an 
 important truth, viz.: that men who feel under 
 no obligation to keep the Commandments, are 
 unsafe men to deal with, whether they profess 
 faith in Christ or not. 
 
 " But," you say, "there are persons who keep, 
 and believe they are under obligations to keep, 
 the First Commandment, Second, Third, Sixth, 
 etc., who believe that the Fourth is no longer 
 binding." Of such the Savior has said: "He 
 that oifends in one point is guilty of all." More- 
 over, the violation of one, weakens the respect 
 for and loyalty to all. 
 
 Not only is the law not made void by the Gos- 
 
The Law Still Binding. 127 
 
 pel of Christ, but it is established. Christ es- 
 tablished the law by submitting Himself to its 
 penalties. When the law of a land is broken, 
 and a province rising in rebellion refuses its 
 allegiance, and when the ruler of the land 
 marches his army into the province and sub- 
 dues it, and hangs traitors or imprisons 
 them, then the law is established. When the 
 murderer dies for his crime, the law against 
 murder is established. So, when God punished 
 sin, His law was established. That He, in 
 His mercy, laid the punishment upon Christ, 
 who suffered, not for His own sins, but for 
 the sins of others, does not alter the case. The 
 penalty of God's broken law was inflicted, and 
 thus was the law established. Calvary is to 
 us a reminder of justice as well as mercy ; of 
 law as well as love. It shows us God's respect 
 for His own Commandments. It shows His 
 deep hatred of sin, and His faithfulness as a 
 Judge. 
 
 As we stand before the cross and look upon 
 Him whom our sins have pierced, let us re- 
 member not only His condescension, His hu- 
 miliation and death, but, going farther back, 
 let us read over the law thus sternly enforced, 
 established and made honorable — the law which 
 is still binding upon us as a rule of life. Let 
 us thank God that the penalty has been borne 
 
128 The Law Still Binding. 
 
 for us, and that we have another way of salva- 
 tion ; but, at the same time, let us testify our 
 love to the Savior by an exact obedience, 
 so far as we can give it, of every word of 
 His law. 
 
 He who trusts in Christ establishes the law. 
 He testifies that the law is right, and that he, 
 as a violator, deserves punishment. He re- 
 joices that, through Christ, God can be just and 
 yet justify him. The thought that Christ has 
 borne his punishment — that He has been 
 wounded and bruised, chastened for his trans- 
 gressions, moves his heart. The love of Christ 
 constrains him; love begets love, and thus, 
 also, he establishes the law. He obeys its 
 spirit. As the Scripture saith, " Love is the 
 fulfillment of the law." If he is truly con- 
 verted, he desires to obey. The spirit of the 
 law, love to God and man, is the ruling motive 
 of his life. The only sense in which he is not 
 bound by the law, is that he does not feel the 
 bonds. Instead of saying, " Thou shalt have 
 no other God before me," he says, "Thou art 
 my portion, Lord," "I will praise the Lord 
 while I have any being." 
 
 Instead of a command to rest and worship 
 God on the Sabbath, he cries out, " How amia- 
 ble are Thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts ! My 
 soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts 
 
The Law Still Binding. 129 
 
 of the Lord." Does he complain of the com- 
 mand, "Thou shalt not kill, nor steal, nor com- 
 mit adultery, or covet?" Nay. The voice of 
 his soul is : " Oh, how I love Thy law ! " When 
 tempted beyond his strength by the sin which 
 has become hateful to him, he cries out for de- 
 liverance. 
 
 Our Savior established the law by His exam- 
 ple and teaching. "Thus it becometh us to 
 fulfill all righteousness," was the keynote of 
 His life. He obeyed the law. All the persua- 
 sion of the devil on the mountain could not 
 tempt Him to worship other than the Lord. 
 He was found on Sabbath in the synagogue. 
 He was subject to His parents. He was holy, 
 harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. 
 His example established the law. Those who 
 imitate Him, obey it — not in the letter only, 
 but in the spirit. 
 
 This leads us to another thought. Christ 
 established the law by declaring its spiritual 
 meaning. To gain an accurate idea of the 
 life we, as Christians, are to lead, and of the 
 law, as it is now binding upon us, we should 
 read the twentieth chapter of Exodus and the 
 fifth chapter of Matthew together. "Thou 
 shalt not kill." Christ adds: "Whosoever 
 is angry with his brother without cause, is 
 in danger." You have never violated the 
 9 
 
130 The Law Still Binding. 
 
 letter of the command. Your brain would be 
 dizzy and your hair stand on end at the 
 thought of murder. But let your mind go 
 back to words or actions which roused your 
 passion. Remember the nervous twitching of 
 your arm as it ached to strike ; remember the 
 prints of your finger nails in your palms. "0," 
 you say, "I had a right to be angry." Per- 
 haps,. There is righteous indignation, but we 
 may deem ourselves righteously indignant, 
 when in God's sight we are unrighteously 
 angry. Remember, also, the bitter feelings 
 which filled your heart day after day — the an- 
 gry, revengful feelings. They were violations 
 of God's law. We can remember violations of 
 other Commandments as interpreted by Christ. 
 His interpretation established the law as the 
 guide for His people to all time. 
 
 Our faith, if it is genuine, should make us 
 Pharisees, in the better meaning of the word. 
 It should make its mark on our lives, on our 
 business and on our pleasures. It should fill 
 up our measures, and give character to the 
 goods we sell. It should make our word good, 
 and keep our mouths clean from profanity. It 
 should restrain our tempers, our passions and 
 our appetites. It should take us to the house of 
 God on the Sabbath clay, and keep .us from 
 covetousness, which is idolatry, and from all 
 
The Law Still Binding. 131 
 
 other forms of idolaty on all days. It should 
 make us charitable to the poor, and faithful in 
 all our relations to God and men. In other 
 words, it should establish us in the law. 
 
XII. 
 
 THE COMFORTER. 
 
 "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 remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" — John xiv. 26. 
 
 "T BELIEVE in the Holy Ghost." These 
 words are a part of the Apostles' Creed 
 and of the faith of the Church. We believe 
 in the Holy Grhost as we believe in the Son 
 and in the Father. The three are "one Grod, 
 the same in substance, equal in power and 
 glory." 
 
 The text is from our Savior's farewell sermon 
 to His disciples — a sermon in which He an- 
 nounced His death and their persecutions, and 
 exhorted them to love and faithfulness. It was 
 primarily a promise to qualify them for their 
 work as His official witnesses, but included a 
 promise to all who believe in Christ and look 
 for His appearing. 
 
 It was not the introduction to the Church of 
 a new power or unknown person, though the 
 name "Comforter" was new. The character 
 and work of the Spirit had been recognized in 
 
 (132) 
 
The Comforter. 133 
 
 the Old Testament. It was He who moved 
 upon the face of the waters at creation. Job 
 said, "The Spirit of the Lord hath made me." 
 He was manifest in Providence. He strove 
 with wicked men, and moved holy men to proph- 
 esy the coming Messiah. If His mission, like 
 that of the Messiah, was not understood, the 
 fault was in the readers rather than the record. 
 Christ's words, in the seventeenth verse, imply 
 knowledge on the part of the disciples: "Ye 
 know him, for he dwelleth with you." 
 
 The New Testament, however, is clearer than 
 the Old in its testimony both concerning the 
 Messiah and the Holy Spirit; and perhaps 
 no single passage contains more in regard to 
 the person and work of the latter, than the 
 discourse from which our text is taken, 
 
 It reveals the Spirit first as a person. Christ 
 speaks of Him not as a mere influence, nor as 
 the mind of God, but as a distinct personality. 
 He uses the personal pronoun — "The Holy 
 Ghost whom the Father will send, He shall 
 teach you." This is in harmony with other 
 utterances. He never speaks of the Holy 
 Spirit as it, but always as He. "He shall 
 testify;" "Whom the world can not receive, 
 because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth 
 Him." It is also in harmony with other Scrip- 
 ture, which represents the Spirit as a teacher 
 
134 The Comforter. 
 
 and guide, as grieved and sinned against or 
 obeyed. Ananias "lied to the Holy Ghost." 
 " The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas 
 and Saul for the work whereunto I have called 
 them." The disciples were commanded to 
 teach all nations, "baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 These passages prove not only the person- 
 ality of the Spirit, but His deity. He has His 
 place with the Father and Son. The sin of 
 Ananias was a lie "to the Holy Ghost" and a 
 lie "unto God." In many passages, acts or 
 words are attributed to God which, in other 
 passages, are attributed to the Spirit. The lan- 
 guage of God in the Old Testament is quoted 
 in the New as the language of the Spirit. 
 Isaiah says: "I heard the voice of the Lord, 
 saying, . . . Hear ye indeed, but under- 
 stand not?" Paul, quoting his words, says: 
 "Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the 
 prophet." 
 
 The distinct personality of the Spirit, and 
 His place with the Father and Son, are recog- 
 nized in the writings of the apostles. Peter 
 addresses an Epistle "to the elect according to 
 the foreknowledge of God the Father, through 
 sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and 
 sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; " while 
 
The Comforter. 135 
 
 Paul closes the Second Epistle to the Corinth- 
 ians with this benediction, "The grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
 the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with 
 you all." 
 
 We associate personality with a physical 
 form and functions. But the Spirit has no form. 
 "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see 
 me have." The original word means "wind" 
 or "breath"; in a wider sense, it means any 
 invisible, immaterial power; associated with 
 the adjective holy, it means the Spirit of God 
 or the Holy Ghost. The name expresses His 
 purely spiritual character and His holiness ; at 
 the same time, it is a statement of His deity 
 — for God is a Spirit, and God only is holy. 
 
 Again, we learn from the text that the Spirit 
 is sent of the Father. "The Comforter, which 
 is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
 in my name." In the following chapter, He 
 is represented as proceeding from the Father, 
 and as sent by Christ. These statements in- 
 volve the relations of the Father, Son and 
 Spirit, and so bring us face to face with the 
 mystery of the Trinity. The giving of the 
 Spirit is no less mysterious than the giving of 
 the Son. We can only accept the Scripture 
 statement, that in the work of redemption God 
 gave his Son for men and his Spirit to men ; 
 
136 The Comforter. 
 
 the first to make atonement for their sins, and 
 the second to operate in them, rendering this 
 atonement effectual. The latter is called "the 
 Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ." 
 He is distinct from both, as the Son is distinct 
 from the Father; and one with them, in the 
 same sense in which Christ said, " I and my 
 Father are one." 
 
 The work of the Spirit is set forth in the 
 text, first, in the new name by which He is 
 known — He is the "Comforter," or helper or 
 advocate of God's people; and, second, in the 
 promise that He "shall teach" and "bring to 
 remembrance" the words of Christ. In other 
 parts of the same discourse, we learn that He 
 shall glorify Christ; that He shall "not speak 
 of Himself," but shall take of the things of 
 Jesus; that He will "reprove the world of sin, 
 of righteousness and judgment," and that He 
 will "show things to come." We have already 
 noticed the work of the Spirit in creation and 
 during antediluvian and Old Testament times. 
 The promise of Christ was that He should now 
 come upon an especial mission. He should 
 take up the work which Christ was about to 
 leave. 
 
 This work was in harmony with His previ- 
 ous labors. He had influenced God's people 
 of old to trust a promised Savior; He had, 
 
The Comforter. 137 
 
 moved holy men to testify of Christ. His 
 power had been manifest in the incarnation : 
 "The angel said unto Mary, The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee, and the power of the 
 Highest shall overshadow thee." He had in- 
 spired John the Baptist, the voice of one cry- 
 ing in the wilderness, to say: "Behold the 
 Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of 
 the world." At the baptism of Christ, He had 
 descended upon Him. John said, "I saw the 
 Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and 
 it abode upon him." Immediately after His 
 baptism, He was "led of the Spirit into the 
 wilderness." He was "full of the Holy Ghost;" 
 He "returned in the power of the Spirit;" He 
 baptized with the Holy Ghost; He "cast out 
 devils by the Spirit of God;" and when the 
 Pharisees denied this, and said: "He casteth 
 out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils," 
 He said, "Whosoever speaketh against the 
 Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him." 
 He "breathed on" His disciples, and said: 
 " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." 
 
 The study of such Scripture will help us to 
 understand the words of Christ: "If I go not 
 away, the Comforter will not come unto you : 
 but if I depart, I will send him unto you." 
 The study will help us also to understand the 
 mission of the Spirit, who, after preparing the 
 
138 The Comforter. 
 
 way for Christ, co-operated with Him during 
 His stay on earth, and came after His ascen- 
 sion to instruct and strengthen the disciples ; 
 to endue them with power, and to witness, by 
 signs and wonders, to the truth of their Gos- 
 pel ; and Who, though the day of miracles is 
 past, still abides with the people of God. 
 
 What Christ promised came to pass on the 
 day of Pentecost. The disciples were "all 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
 with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
 utterance." The same Spirit accompanied 
 them in their journeys. They healed the sick, 
 and performed all manner of miracles; they 
 were inspired to write, for the instruction and 
 comfort of God's people, the story of Christ's 
 life and death, and to set in order the doctrines 
 of salvation. For this a special illumination was 
 necessary. The Spirit must, in a peculiar and 
 miraculous manner, teach them of Christ, and 
 bring His words to remembrance. 
 
 These special manifestations of the Spirit 
 continued only so long as they were necessary 
 to the indorsement of the apostles as true wit- 
 nesses, and to the completion of the sacred 
 record. They ceased, but the Spirit was not 
 withdrawn. The promise of Christ included 
 the more common manifestations of His power 
 and His abiding presence. The Spirit remains 
 
The Comforter. 139 
 
 with the Church, and His mission is still to 
 speak of Christ and to call His words to re- 
 membrance. It was expedient that Christ 
 should die and rise, and be glorified, or, as He 
 expressed it, "Go away," that the Spirit might 
 take up His work — a work which, in one sense, 
 He had finished ; but which, in another, must 
 be carried forward and made effectual. It was 
 expedient, because the Spirit could do this ef- 
 fectually. It was a part of the divine plan 
 that Christ, in His human nature, should be 
 limited. He was, so far as we know, at but 
 one place at a time ; He reached men only as 
 men reach them. The multitudes must come 
 unto Him to hear Him. The Spirit, not bound 
 by these limitations, applies the truth when 
 and where He will. 
 
 The word Comforter does not fully explain 
 the Spirit's mission. The original word — 
 "Paracletos" — is more commonly rendered 
 advocate; there is, however, no one English 
 word which fully translates it. It means one 
 called to the side of, one who speaks for, who 
 counsels with and helps. The Spirit is the 
 mouthpiece and efficient agent of the Godhead, 
 and the Helper and Comforter of men. He fills 
 the place which Christ held. Moreover, the 
 name by which Christ calls Him is applied, in 
 1 John ii. 1, to Christ Himself: "If any man 
 
140 The Comforter. 
 
 sin, we have an advocate [a Paraclete] with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." This is 
 in harmony with Christ's promise, in verse 16 : 
 "The Father shall give you another Paraclete." 
 He Himself was the one, and the Spirit was to 
 be the other Comforter. In the eighteenth 
 verse, He says: "I will not leave you comfort- 
 less: I will come to you." This certainly does 
 not refer to His return at the end of the world, 
 but to His immediate coming and to His abid- 
 ing presence. He identifies His coming with 
 that of the Comforter — the Holy Grhost — who 
 is teach all things and bring His words to re- 
 membrance. 
 
 The work of the Spirit is to teach of Christ ; 
 to apply the truths which He taught; to con- 
 vince of sin; to show the love of Glod and the 
 atonement of Christ, and to emphasize the in- 
 vitations of the Gospel. He does not use His 
 own words, nor speak of Himself, nor proclaim 
 new truth; but simply holds up Christ. He 
 comes to the soul with words which Christ 
 spake while upon the earth. The words are a 
 seed which has lain cold and dead. By His 
 power, He fertilizes them and makes them the 
 beginning of a life. As He was the Author of 
 life at the creation, and of the human life of 
 Jesus, so He is the Author of spiritual life. 
 "No man can say that Jesus is the Christ, but 
 
The Comforter. 141 
 
 by the Holy Grhost . ' ' ' 'The wind bloweth where 
 it listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof; 
 but canst not tell whence it cometh, and 
 whither it goeth : so is every one that is born 
 of the Spirit," 
 
 The work of the Spirit does not end with 
 regeneration. As He was manifest after creation 
 in providence, so He causes the new-born soul 
 to grow. He is the Sanctifier ; and here again 
 He uses the words of Jesus. "Sanctify them 
 through thy truth; thy word is truth," de- 
 scribes the method of His operation. 
 
 When the disciples began to preach, after 
 the ascension of Christ, the work of the Spirit 
 was manifest. Men were "pricked in their 
 hearts." They were convicted "of sin, of right- 
 eousness and of judgment." The disciples ex- 
 plained the Gospel, and many believed. They 
 assembled continually for prayer and to re- 
 member Christ's words, and "great grace was 
 upon them all." So it has been and will be. 
 The Spirit's work is to convince, to convert, 
 and to sanctify. It is also to sustain, in view 
 of this life's ills and the future. He makes 
 the truth, in regard to Christ's suffering, a balm 
 for our earthly trials, and the resurrection of 
 Christ our hope for the life to come. In this 
 way the promise is fulfilled, "He shall show 
 you things to come." Every Christian ca,n 
 
142 The Comforter. 
 
 testify to His instructing and strengthening 
 influence. 
 
 That we do not recognize the work of the 
 Spirit is, first, because it is spiritual ; and, sec- 
 ond, because He does not speak of Himself, but 
 of Christ ; because He uses the words of Christ ; 
 and because His mission is not to glorify Him- 
 self, but Christ. His only testimony in regard 
 to Himself, is that in which He takes and ap- 
 plies such passages as the text, or the words of 
 Christ to Nicodemus, or other references to His 
 character and work. These, though they do 
 not solve the mystery of union with and sepa- 
 rate personality from the Father and Son, nor 
 enable us to comprehend the methods of His 
 operation, are all that we need. 
 
 It is true that unbelievers stumble, and that 
 some deny even the existence of a Divine Spirit. 
 They do not see and know Him as they see 
 and know material things, and will not believe. 
 So a blind man does not see the sun, but his 
 blindness does not dim the orb of day. So one 
 in a chill shivers in the warmest noon, but his 
 malaria does not affect the sun's heat. Men 
 can not see the Spirit, and may not be warmed 
 by His influence ; but His presence is none the 
 less real, because they are blind and poisoned by 
 the malaria of sin. Christ spake of such when 
 He said, "Whom the world can not receive: 
 
The Comforter. 143 
 
 because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth 
 Him." 
 
 Our failure to apprehend facts in the natural 
 as well as the spiritual world, results from defi- 
 ciency in ourselves. God's Word and work 
 are alike, in that both abound in mysteries, 
 which neither the senses nor the mind of man 
 can penetrate. 
 
 Let us study, for instance, the mystery of 
 light. What is light? Science answers with 
 a volume on the wave theory or the emission 
 theory. It says light is governed by particular 
 laws and operates in particular ways ; it tells 
 us that light may be subdivided, and shows, in 
 their order, the colors of the rainbow ; but still 
 the question is not met, What is light ? Is it, 
 as. some one has said, matter so attenuated that 
 it "strikes through your window at the rate of 
 nearly two hundred thousand miles per second, 
 and does not break the pane? " or is it simply 
 an influence " powerful enough to draw oceans 
 from their bed, yet so gentle as to enter, with- 
 out injury, the eye of a child?" What is 
 light? Science does not know. It formulates 
 its laws and describes its operations, but what 
 is it? The Christian knows the Holy Spirit — 
 that He abides with him; that He comes into his 
 heart as surely and perceptibly as light enters 
 a room; but what is the Spirit? We can only 
 
144 The Comforter. 
 
 say, " God is a Spirit, and the Spirit is God." 
 There are three persons in the Godhead — the 
 Father, Son and Holy Spirit ; beyond this we 
 can not go. We do, however, believe in light, 
 though it is a mystery ; and we believe in the 
 person and presence of the Spirit, though the 
 Spirit is God and incomprehensible. 
 
 We can reason, too, in regard to the Spirit's 
 work and the method of His operation; and 
 here, again, we find an analogy in the natural 
 world. I stood recently by a little box fast- 
 ened to the wall in a business house. It 
 had bells and wires, and a crank and mouth- 
 piece upon the outside, and is called a tele- 
 phone. What was inside I could not see. I 
 turned my face to the mouth-piece and spoke. 
 Back over miles of wire came the answer, 
 clear and distinct. I could both hear and rec- 
 ognize the voice. Here is a mystery — two men 
 can talk an hundred miles apart ! Let us ask 
 the inventor of the telephone for the explana- 
 tion. He opens the instrument and shows us 
 its plan. We ask as to the underlying princi- 
 ple, What power conveys the sound? Elec- 
 tricity. But how does it cause sound to pass 
 over the wires? He is dumb. We make 
 machines to generate it ; we use it as a motive 
 power ; we erect rods to carry it safely from 
 our houses ; we connect all parts of our land 
 
The Comforter. 145 
 
 with a net-work of wires, over which it is 
 flashed in obedience to our will ; we know how 
 batteries are charged, and understand the mag- 
 net ; we know there is a power, and are glad 
 to use it for our profit; but, What is it? and 
 How does it accomplish the work ? Shall we 
 refuse to believe in the telephone or telegraph, 
 because we can not tell how the current of elec- 
 tricity passes from one person to another? 
 Most certainly not. Neither should any one 
 doubt the work of the Spirit, because he can 
 not tell how the Spirit operates on the soul.. 
 Just as we use the light, though no man can 
 solve the mystery of light ; and as we use elec- 
 tricity, though no man can tell how electricity 
 does its work; so we receive and respond to 
 the Holy Spirit, though His being and methods 
 be past finding out. 
 
 There is scarcely a matter with which sci- 
 ence busies itself which has not some mystery 
 in it. What shall we say of gravitation, or of 
 life? Generation is no less a mystery than 
 regeneration. Growth in body is no less won- 
 derful than sanctification. We are met every- 
 where by mystery. He that is wise will take 
 the truth of God as it is revealed in His Word, 
 and as it harmonizes with Christian experi- 
 ence, whether he fully understands it or not. 
 Let us accept the testimony and promise of 
 10 
 
146 The Comforter. 
 
 Christ, and devote ourselves to a study of the 
 duty which the sending of the Spirit imposes 
 on us. 
 
 Our first duty is to receive Him ; to yield to 
 His influence, and be molded thereby accord- 
 ing to His will. We should give attention to 
 Him, listening for His voice and courting His 
 help. The telegraph wire must be insulated, 
 or no message will pass over it. The tele- 
 phone is of little value in a noisy office ; one 
 who would use it must shut out the noise. As 
 men build closets about their instruments, so 
 the Christian must enter his closet, separating 
 himself from the world, with its babel of 
 sounds and interests, that he may listen attent- 
 ively to the Divine words. 
 
 How may we know the voice of the Spirit? 
 There is little danger of mistake. The voice 
 which, in your heart tells you of sin, is of the 
 Spirit, and should lead to self-examination 
 and repentance. The longing for pardon ; the 
 thought of Christ ; of the beauty of his charac- 
 ter, and the tenderness of His invitation ; the 
 determination to trust in Him. These are the 
 influences of the Spirit. The recollection of 
 past vows, and of love grown cold ; the prayer 
 for greater consecration; the shrinking from 
 sin; the remembrance of Christ's words and 
 life ; the sense of comfort in view of His prom- 
 
The Comforter. 147 
 
 ises, and the determination to live only to 
 Him. These are the influences of the Spirit. 
 He speaks in the Word read and studied ; in the 
 sermon ; in the tract ; in the passage of Scrip- 
 ture which comes unbidden to mind; in the 
 sudden desire to do right ; in feelings of thanks- 
 giving ; in longings for purity, and in desires 
 for the upbuilding of the Redeemer's king- 
 dom. 
 
 The Church should be stimulated by the 
 study of this doctrine to exalt Christ. This is 
 the sum of the Spirit's promptings, and His 
 great work. Before Christ came, He testified 
 of Him; and since His return, He glorifies 
 Him. If the Holy Spirit does not speak of 
 Himself, but only of Christ, how much more 
 should the Church make the glory of Christ 
 her aim ? How much more should each Chris- 
 tian forget himself and his own glory, in the 
 effort to hold up and glorify Christ? As he 
 does this, he grows in grace ; for consecration 
 to Christ, and an increasing desire to exalt 
 Him, are growth in grace. 
 
 The voice of the Spirit, heard and heeded, 
 becomes more distinct and convincing, until it 
 is an abiding voice. The words of the Re- 
 deemer, continually kept in remembrance, gain 
 such power that Christ, by His spirit, dwells 
 
148 The Comforter. 
 
 in and controls the soul. Our prayer should be : 
 
 "Holy Spirit, all Divine, 
 Dwells within tiiis heart of mine, 
 Cast down every idol throne, 
 Reign supreme and reign alone." 
 
 The voice heard, but not heeded, will soon 
 cease to be heard. "My spirit shall not al- 
 ways strive with man," was the declaration of 
 a principle as true now as in the time of Noah. 
 The soul which does not hear, hardens itself. 
 Not more surely does water freeze when ex- 
 posed to severe cold, than does the soul thus 
 harden through neglect. 
 
 There are men who can hear the invitations 
 of the Gospel, and be no more moved than the 
 frozen surface of a lake is moved by the 
 wind. " To-day, if ye will hear his voice, 
 harden not your heart," "Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Do 
 you feel that you ought to have accepted Christ 
 long ago, and that you ought now to give atten- 
 tion to personal religion? Cherish the feeling; 
 it is the prompting of God's Spirit. Do not 
 allow yourself to ignore His voice. You have 
 had such feelings before, and have lost them. 
 It is of God's mercy that they return. It is 
 because the Spirit is long-suffering. Christ, 
 by His Spirit, stands at the door. He has 
 
The Comforter. 149 
 
 knocked and waited, and knocked again. As 
 you value your soul, do not put off salvation 
 any longer ; He will not always wait. 
 
 "Admit Him, ere His anger burn, 
 His feet, departed, ne'er return; 
 Admit Him, or the hour's at hand : 
 You'll at His door rejected stand." 
 
XIII. 
 REGENERATION. 
 
 11 Ye miist be born again." — John iii. 7. 
 
 r | ^HESE words were a dark saying to one 
 who sought light. Convinced of Christ's 
 power, Mcodemus asked of Him the truth 
 necessary to salvation. 
 
 The reply was a riddle: "Except a man be 
 born again he can not see the kingdom of 
 God." "But how [says Nicodemus] can a 
 man be born when he is old ? " "Verily, verily, 
 I say unto you [replies the Master], except a 
 man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can 
 not enter into the kingdom of God." 
 
 There are two births: the natural, the be- 
 ginning of separate natural life, and the spir- 
 itual, the beginning of spiritual life. These 
 are distinguished in the sixth verse of this 
 chapter, "That which is born of the flesh, is 
 flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit, is 
 spirit." There is mystery connected with the 
 natural birth, and as great, or greater, mys- 
 tery with the spiritual. "The wind bloweth 
 
 (150) 
 
Regeneration. 151 
 
 where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound 
 thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and 
 whither it goeth : so is every one that is born 
 of the Spirit." The riddle was still unsolved. 
 Nicodemus could only say, "How can these 
 things be?" 
 
 Christ's reply shows that the doctrine of re- 
 generation, or of a new birth, is part of the 
 Old Testament theology, of which Nlcodemus 
 was an expounder. "Are you a master in Israel, 
 a teacher of the law, and do not know this?" 
 
 The Jewish Rabbis did not know the doc- 
 trine, and yet it is taught 'in their Scriptures. 
 David prayed, " Create in me a clean heart, 
 God." There was a promise given through 
 Moses, "The Lord thy God shall circumcise 
 thine heart." Ezekiel prophesied, " I will put a 
 new spirit within you, and I will take the 
 stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a 
 heart of flesh." 
 
 What was thus dimly set forth in the Old 
 Testament is plainly declared in the New; not 
 only by Christ in the words, "Ye must be born 
 again," but also by the apostles in their ser- 
 mons and writings. 
 
 What is regeneration, or the new birth ? It 
 is the beginning, the creation of a new life in 
 the soul. Men are described in the Scriptures 
 as dead in trespasses and sins. " To be carnally 
 
152 Regeneration. 
 
 minded is death." All, naturally, are so 
 minded, and are at "enmitv against God." 
 They "can not please God." They can not, of 
 themselves, be "reconciled to the law of God." 
 They are "without strength." "By the offense 
 of one man death reigns," " Death passed upon 
 all, for that all have sinned." The sinful 
 nature is a fixed fact, which men can no more 
 change than a leopard can change his spots, or 
 an Ethiopian his skin. They may have vig- 
 orous physical life, and strong mental powers, 
 and a will, and natural affections, and yet be 
 as unable to seek God and delight in His serv- 
 ice as the dead body of Lazarus was to raise 
 itself before Christ spoke the word. 
 
 There is no power in men whereby of them- 
 selves they can find life. "No man can come 
 to me [said Christ] except the Father draw 
 him." As the child can not beget itself, so 
 man naturally can not quicken his own soul. 
 If there is to be a spiritual life, it must 
 come from without ; it must begin as life first 
 began — by creation. 
 
 It can come, moreover, only from the author 
 of life. To be born again is, as you will see in 
 the marginal notes of your Bible, to be "born 
 from above." He who formed man, and 
 breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 
 must impart some principle, or perform some 
 
Regeneration. 153 
 
 act, whereby life begins where there was no 
 life. God is the Author of life. He is "the 
 Fountain of life." Christ is spoken of as "our 
 life," and this life is imparted by the Spirit. If 
 a dead soul is to live, it must be by the power of 
 the Holy Ghost. Christ says: "So is every 
 one that is born of the Spirit." " Not by works 
 of righteousness [says Paul] which we have 
 done, but by the washing of regeneration and 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost." The Spirit is 
 the efficient cause of the new birth. He is 
 the Sanctifier, and the new birth is the first 
 step in sanctification. It is the Spirit that 
 quickeneth. 
 
 Men who prepare dictionaries sometimes de- 
 fine words most clearly by telling what they 
 do not mean. It may be profitable for us to 
 thus study our Savior's words, "Ye must be 
 born again," and so negatively define regen- 
 eration. 
 
 And first, regeneration is not conversion. - 
 The two always go together, but are nev- 
 ertheless distinct. The distinction is very 
 simple. The Spirit influences a sinner to re- 
 pent and turn to God. He is turned. That is 
 his conversion. At the same time the same 
 Spirit implants a new purpose, new hope, new 
 affections, in short, a new life, in his soul. 
 That is regeneration. 
 
154 Regeneration. 
 
 Again. Regeneration is not, and does not 
 depend upon any formal religious act done by 
 the sinner. It is not a result of baptism, as 
 some have argued from the words, "born of 
 water." Water purines, and is the natural 
 symbol of spiritual purification. God promised 
 by the prophet Ezekiel, " Then will I sprinkle 
 clean water upon you; a new heart also will I 
 _X/ give you." The new heart does not come by 
 M: ?s- baptism, nor by any other ordinance within the 
 gift of the Church. It is the work of the Di- 
 vine Spirit in the soul. Baptism, "sprinkling 
 with clean water," is now, as in Ezekiel' s day, 
 a symbol of the Spirit's work. 
 
 Still again. It is not a matter of enthusi- 
 asm and rapturous feeling, of ecstasies and 
 shouts. Sometimes, indeed, the new life is so 
 full and joyous that praise comes of itself, and, 
 perhaps, is boisterous ; but these are even then 
 only a result. The same things may come 
 from other causes. We are creatures of senti- 
 ment and sympathy. A magnetic wave may 
 pass over a congregation and break down 
 every soul, when few or none are touched by 
 the Spirit of God. It happens frequently at 
 funeral services, that people will listen un- 
 moved to the tenderest Scripture, and yet 
 weep in sympathy when a stricken wife or 
 mother bids farewell to her dead. Grief, sym- 
 
Regeneration. 155 
 
 pathy, feelings of almost every shade, are con- 
 tagious. Persons may, in a religious meeting, 
 be carried away into what seems the seventh 
 heaven ; their mouth may be filled with sing- 
 ing, and they may be unable to restrain their 
 joy ; or they may have a quiet delight, like that 
 of an old nurse who imagined herself in Bethle- 
 hem, and that the Virgin had given her the 
 infant Jesus to hold. Their feelings may result 
 from the Spirit's work in conversion and re- 
 generation, or they may be simple natural 
 emotion. 
 
 Some persons are* more easily moved than 
 others. They are naturally sympathetic. It 
 is easy for them to weep or to sing. Others are 
 naturally cool and thoughtful. The former, as 
 well as the latter, need to distinguish carefully 
 between pious sentiment and regeneration. The 
 first, lest they be deceived ; and the second, that 
 they do not despair. Emotion is uncertain 
 and changeable; regeneration }s radical and 
 permanent. The one is the brightness of rain- 
 bows on the gloom of clouds ; the other is the 
 solid rock. What God does is well done. The 
 Spirit's work in regeneration does not need to 
 be repeated. There is no re-regeneration. 
 
 Again. As regeneration is not a matter of 
 feeling, neither is it a matter of will. It is 
 not a determination to live a different life, or 
 
156 Regeneration. 
 
 do certain good works. It is not a change 
 of opinion in regard to Christ, or in regard to 
 any truth. 
 
 It is a change not by the will of man, but by 
 the will of God, of the whole man — of the intel- 
 lect, the sensibilities and the will. When 
 Christ stood with His chosen in the house of 
 Jairus, and said to his dead daughter, "Arise," 
 He spoke not to the head nor the hand only, 
 but to every part of the body, and to every 
 faculty of the mind. All that the maiden was 
 before she died, she was after Christ raised her 
 from the dead. So, as in Adam, the whole 
 man died; in Christ, by the Spirit's power, the 
 whole man is regenerated. 
 
 He does not stand in all respects where 
 Adam stood before the Fall. The new life may 
 be very weak. He is but a babe in Christ. 
 His spiritual movements may be as uncertain 
 as the motion of a child learning to walk, and 
 he may have many falls. His growth may be 
 slow, but the seed is planted, the life is there, 
 and the same Spirit which gave will nourish 
 and bring it to perfection. 
 
 Still again, regeneration is not mere im- 
 provement — not a simple mending of the old 
 nature, but a new nature. It is a new birth — 
 a new heart, the beginning of a new spiritual 
 life. Whereas we were blind, now we see; 
 
Regeneration. 157 
 
 whereas we were spiritually dead, now we live. 
 As Paul expresses it, "We walk in newness of 
 life." Again he says: "I live, yet not I, but 
 Christ liveth in me." These expressions teach 
 the truth taught by our Savior in the words, 
 "Ye must be born again." 
 
 Mcodemus was a conscientious Pharisee. He 
 expected salvation by ceremonial obedience. 
 He was probably strict in observing all the 
 traditional requirements of his day, and was 
 ready for any task Christ might impose: to 
 fast oftener, or say longer prayers ; to bring his 
 body more in subjection. He is a type of 
 those in every age who would make them- 
 selves better before God, and to this end are 
 full of resolutions, and pious works and pen- 
 ances. Christ does not condemn these. He 
 simply declares them insufficient. "Ye must 
 be born again." The old nature does not furnish 
 even a foundation upon which to rest hopes 
 of recovery and life. A new life must begin. 
 The old heart is depraved ; there must be a new 
 heart. Our own righteousness is as a robe of 
 rags — it can not be patched, nor retrimmed, nor 
 made over. We must have the entirely new 
 robe of Christ's righteousness. 
 
 This is the teaching of all Scripture. What 
 must I do to be saved? I have evil habits; 
 must I give them up ? You certainly should ; 
 
158 Regeneration. 
 
 but that does not secure salvation. Must I 
 join the Church? or observe any particular 
 form ? or do certain good works ? These are 
 not the answer. " Except a man be born again 
 he can not see the kingdom of God." 
 
 But how is the new birth secured? If it is 
 of God, and not of myself, what am I to do? 
 Must I simply wait until the Spirit moves 
 upon my soul, and begets in me the image of 
 Christ? By no means. The Savior did not 
 leave Mcodemus and does not leave us help- 
 less and in darkness, touching a matter so im- 
 portant. He passes naturally in His discourse 
 from the work of the Spirit to His own work 
 and that of His Father, and to the duty of men. 
 "God so loved the world that he gave his only 
 begotten son that whosoever belie veth in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilder- 
 ness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted 
 up, that whosoever believeth in Him should 
 not perish, but have eternal life." How can 
 you secure this new birth? Believe in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and you have it. Regener- 
 ation is the beginning of that everlasting life 
 which is in this chapter four times promised to 
 those who believe. It is a part, also, whether 
 specially named or not, of every promise of 
 salvation. When Paul and Silas said to the 
 
Regeneration. 159 
 
 jailer, "Believe and thou shalt be saved," they 
 promised salvation from its beginning to its 
 end ; from the new birth to the perfect image 
 of Christ in glory. ■ 
 
 Christ's direction to Nicodemus, and the an- 
 swer of Paul and Silas, are practically one and 
 the same. They are the Church's answer to 
 all who seek salvation. 
 
 We preach no severe ritual nor complicated 
 creed; we simply lift up Christ as Moses lifted 
 the serpent, and say, "Believe in Him and be 
 baptized," as the seal of a new birth by the 
 power of the Spirit. 
 
 But is this the whole of a Christian life? 
 Nay ; it is simply the beginning. When seed 
 are sown, we look for growth. So now we ex- 
 pect first the blade, then the ear, and after- 
 ward the full corn in the ear. If the blade does 
 not appear, we have doubt as to the character 
 of the seed; and so, if there is no manifest fruit 
 of the Spirit in a spiritual life, we question 
 whether such life has really begun. The fruit 
 of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
 gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temper- 
 ance. Those who have been born again cultir 
 vate these. They strive to root out all opposed 
 to them. They that are Christ's crucify the 
 flesh, with the affections and lusts. 
 
 My friends, if " we live in the Spirit, let us 
 
160 Regeneration. 
 
 walk in the Spirit"; that is, if we are Christians, 
 let us live like Christians ; if we have trusted 
 in Christ, and are born of God, let us grow in 
 grace and in the knowledge and image of 
 God. 
 
 An orthodox belief in the doctrine of regen- 
 eration will not save one. He may believe 
 himself regenerated, and so, sure of eternal 
 life, when he is, in reality, dead in sin. His 
 belief — his self-deception — is his greatest dan- 
 ger. The boatman who thinks himself an- 
 chored, when he is loose and floating upon a 
 rapid current, is in all the more danger because 
 of his mistake, and is fortunate if he sees his 
 case before the rapids or rocks are reached. 
 We do well occasionally to examine the anchor 
 of our hope, and to assure ourselves that it 
 does reach within the vail. 
 
 The doctrine of the new birth is to the Chris- 
 tian a sure anchor. He knows that the Spirit 
 which has "begun a good work will carry it 
 on;" that a life which is hid with Christ in 
 God is safe. 
 
 When, however, one finds that he is drift- 
 ing, he knows that the rope over his bow is 
 not fast to an anchor ; so, those in love with 
 sin may at least suspect that the Spirit's work 
 is not begun, and that they are still in their 
 sins. To them, as to all who have not ac- 
 
-Regeneration . 161 
 
 ceptecl Christ, come the words of the text, 
 "Ye must be born again." They are followed 
 closely by the plain direction, "He that believ- 
 eth on the Son hath everlasting life." 
 11 
 
XIV. 
 SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 "But grow in grace." — 2 Peter iii. 18. 
 
 /CHILDHOOD, youth and maturity are beau- 
 tiful in their times ; but the beauty of the 
 first must give place to the second, and that to 
 the third. The bud can not remain a bud, nor 
 the child a child. They must develop. This 
 is the rule of Nature. 
 
 There are exceptions. The growth of a child, 
 for instance, is checked. It increases in years, 
 but in size is still a babe. The exceptions are 
 so rare that persons will pay an admittance to 
 see Tom Thumb or others like him. He does 
 not seem to them an unfortunate, because his 
 misfortune is turned to a money advantage. 
 But consider the disadvantage and the real 
 misfortune of one who must face the world 
 and win his way with only a child's size and a 
 child's strength. 
 
 A dwarfed body is less a misfortune than a 
 dwarfed mind. Consider the condition of one 
 who in intellect is always a child ; who grows 
 
 (162) 
 
Sanctif cation. 163 
 
 in size and in physical strength, with no corre- 
 sponding development of mental power. The 
 idiot is more to be pitied than the dwarf. 
 
 Carry this thought farther and consider the 
 condition of one who, with a sound, growing 
 body and mind, makes no spiritual develop- 
 ment. There are dwarfs who are such spirit- 
 ually ; and these are found not in the ranks of 
 the unregenerate, but among those who have 
 believed and are born of the Spirit. Indeed, 
 such spiritual dwarfs are more common than 
 the little men and women of the shows. We 
 may see them in our churches and homes, and 
 some of us, perhaps, in the privacy of our 
 closets. 
 
 The law of the spiritual world, like that of 
 the natural, is growth. As the child increases 
 in strength of body and mind, so the soul born 
 of God should grow in grace and in knowledge. 
 Regeneration is not the whole of Christianity. 
 Childhood is only the beginning of life. The 
 first step, indeed, is important. We must take 
 it before we take the second. The soul must 
 be justified by faith; must believe in Jesus 
 as the only Savior, and submit to Him. This 
 belief and submission mark the time of its 
 new birth ; henceforth it is to grow. 
 
 One of our hymn writers says : 
 
164 Sanctification. 
 
 "Where is the blessedness I knew 
 When first I saw the Lord ?" 
 
 The words contain a true idea, but we are apt 
 to misunderstand them. The first flash of 
 Christ's love, the first sense of forgiven sin, 
 are, indeed, things never to be forgotten; but 
 they are not the end of Christian life, nor the 
 perfection of Christian effort. Poets sing of 
 Love's young dream; but love grown strong 
 with age is equally real, and, though it may 
 be less fresh, is no less truly beautiful. The 
 love of a new-born soul is sweet and tender, 
 but it does not surpass nor compare with that 
 more enlightened love which comes with truer 
 convictions of sin and mercy, as the eyes of 
 the soul are opened. That any Christian sighs 
 for the joy of his first faith, is because he has 
 not advanced. The appetite of the full-grown 
 man is not satisfied with the food of an infant, 
 neither can the growing Christian be satisfied 
 with the thoughts and feelings and hopes of 
 his Christian childhood. He studies the char- 
 acter of God. He sees new beauties in Christ. 
 He realizes his own sinfulness. He becomes 
 more humble, more zealous and more faithful. 
 Thus each day brings new blessings, and he 
 does not long for the past. We often sing 
 of the blessedness we knew; and I am not 
 certain but that the popularity of the hymn 
 
Sanctif cation. 165 
 
 argues a low state of spirituality. Christians 
 truly awake are more inclined to praise than 
 to lamentation. We ought not to long for past 
 blessedness, but to press forward, realizing and 
 still hoping for fullness of joy. The apostle 
 bids us, " Rejoice in the Lord," to "rejoice 
 evermore;" and again he says, "Rejoice;" 
 but such rejoicing is only possible when the 
 soul grows in grace. To be conscious of in- 
 creasing sin, of unfaithfulness and lack of pure 
 desire, and yet rejoice, is as impossible as for 
 the Jews to sing songs of mirth by the waters 
 of their captivity, in Babylon. 
 
 The command of the text, "Grow in grace," 
 is in harmony with the whole- teaching of Scrip- 
 ture. "And now, brethren," says the apostle, 
 " I commend you to God, and to the word of 
 his grace, which is able to build you up." 
 Again: "I beseech you, brethren, that ye in- 
 crease more and more." And, again, the offi- 
 cers and work of the Church are given "for the 
 perfecting of the saints," that they may be no 
 longer children, tossed to and fro, and carried 
 about by every wind of doctrine ; but that they 
 may develop into perfect men and women, hav- 
 ing the measure of the stature of the fullness 
 of Christ. 
 
 Growth in grace is not an indefinite, dreamy 
 longing for imaginary goodness. It is before us 
 
166 Sanctifi cation. 
 
 as an end clear and well defined, if we take the 
 pains to understand it. It becomes more and 
 more perfectly understood as we strive for it, 
 just as the profession one has chosen in life be- 
 comes more clear as he educates himself. 
 
 This growth is not the development of some 
 good thing in the soul. It is the growth of 
 the soul itself. It is according to a plan and in 
 imitation of a Model. The Christian who 
 would grow has a perfect Pattern of holiness, 
 and strives to be holy, even as that Pattern is. 
 In Christ Jesus "dwelt all the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily." "He was full of grace and 
 truth." He "knew no sin, neither was any 
 deceit found in his mouth." He was a man of 
 like passion with us, yet without sin. 
 
 The Bible everywhere makes Him the Model 
 according to which we are to grow. Peter says, 
 "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our 
 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The one 
 clause explains the other. As we increase in 
 the true knowledge of Christ, we grow into His 
 likeness, and this is growth in grace. Again 
 and again we are bidden to let the mind of 
 Christ be in us — to do even as He did — to "be 
 careful to walk even as He walked; " and it is 
 only as we obey these commands that we ful- 
 fill the injunction, "Grow. in grace." 
 
 But the question rises, Can we obey this 
 
Sanctijication. 167 
 
 command? Can a plant hasten or hinder its 
 own growth? Are we not bound by fixed 
 rules, and will we not work these out either 
 for evil or good? Does not the growth of 
 a flower depend on the sun? and do we not 
 depend on the influence of God's Spirit ? Yea, 
 verily; but a flower is rooted in its place. It 
 can, at most, send out its roots a little farther 
 or push its blossom up a little higher. We 
 may chose our own places, and dwell either in 
 the light or shade. We may have or not have 
 refreshing showers and dews of grace. 
 
 Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit. 
 Without that Spirit, the soul can no more 
 grow than a plant can grow without soil, rain 
 or sunshine ; but with it we may, by grace, be 
 "renewed in the whole man after the image 
 of God, and enabled more and more to die 
 unto sin, and to live unto righteousness." It 
 is our duty, then, as we have the power, to seek 
 the sanctifying influence of God's Spirit, and 
 to use whatever means He places within our 
 reach. 
 
 We are to guard against danger on either 
 hand ; to be neither self-confident nor timorous ; 
 to recognize God's infinite sovereignty, and our 
 own power of choice and responsibility for its 
 exercise. God is sovereign ; He does influence 
 all things ; but He has given man a will, and 
 
168 Sanctijication. 
 
 that will is free. He can choose the right or 
 the wrong. He can obey the leadings of the 
 Spirit or he can disobey them. The same free 
 agency by which a sinner accepts or refuses 
 Christ's offer of mercy, leads the converted 
 man to obey or disobey the Word of God. 
 Two children may be converted at the same 
 time and under the same circumstances. One 
 may be always a child spiritually, and the 
 other may be a strong, active, growing Chris- 
 tian. The difference is not in any particular 
 external duty that they perform, but in the 
 earnest heartiness with which they receive and 
 obey the Spirit. One lives in the shade, the 
 other in the sunshine. One is led by the Spirit ; 
 the other is drawn away, and enticed and en- 
 tangled by a bondage from which he could be 
 free. 
 
 We grow in grace through the influence of 
 God's Spirit ; but this influence is through 
 means, and these means are within the reach 
 of all. Let no one be misled by the idea that 
 he must wait for the Spirit to come from some 
 far-off place and breathe upon his feeble faith, 
 that it may live. "What saith the Scripture? 
 The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and 
 in thy heart: that is the word of faith." The 
 Spirit causes Christians to grow, through the 
 Scriptures. Our Savior prayed, "Sanctify 
 
Sanctifi cation. 169 
 
 them through thy truth: thy word is truth;" 
 and in His prayer we have a direction not to 
 be misunderstood. 
 
 If we would grow in grace, we must study 
 the Bible. It alone is able to make wise unto 
 salvation and unto sanctification. "Where 
 withal [says the Psalmist] shall a young man 
 cleanse his way. By taking heed thereto, ac- 
 cording to thy word." The Spirit of God 
 makes the reading and preaching of His Word 
 effectual, not only in the conversion of sinners, 
 but also in strengthening His saints and build- 
 ing them up in faith. " The commandment of 
 the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." 
 "Moreover, by them is thy servant warned." 
 " Search the Scriptures : for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life, and they are they [said 
 Christ] which testify of me." "Moreover, breth- 
 ren, I commend you to God and to the word 
 of his grace, which is able to build you up." 
 The Spirit does not speak of Himself, but of 
 Christ. He, therefore, uses the Bible, which 
 tells of Christ, and through it we are to grow 
 in grace. 
 
 The Bible should be the Christian's daily 
 bread. The child, to grow in size and strength, 
 must have good food and enough of it. So the 
 Christian must feed upon the Word ; more- 
 over, he must feed with appetite. The child 
 
170 San ct iji 'cat ion. 
 
 that finds no pleasure in three meals a day, 
 needs medicine or exercise more than food. 
 So the Christian who does not find God's Word 
 sweet to the taste, should look for the cause of 
 his distaste. 
 
 The Word also must be digested. It is not 
 enough to read. The truth must be applied. 
 It is not reading, but thinking, that makes a 
 man wise. "0 how I love thy law: it is my 
 meditation day and night," should be the feel- 
 ing of every child of God. 
 
 This love should lead both to the private and 
 public study of God's Word. Neither of these 
 can be neglected without loss. Hence, we find 
 injunctions to search the Scriptures, and to for- 
 sake not the assembling of ourselves together. 
 You can not, as a rule, grow in grace if your 
 Bible is covered with dust, or if your place in 
 the house of God is empty. If you desire the 
 likeness of Christ, read the Bible regularly, 
 with prayer and meditation, and let the same 
 prayer and meditation prepare you regularly 
 to worship God and feed on His Word in the 
 sanctuary. If faith, at first, cometh by hearing, 
 and hearing by the Word of God, the same 
 hearing and Word must be the food of faith. 
 
 We have noted the fact that exercise is nec- 
 essary to a proper bodily appetite. The 
 same is true in spiritual things. There can be 
 
Sanctif cation. 171 
 
 no growth in grace without the exercise of 
 Christian graces. The apostle Paul testified 
 this as his experience. That he might have 
 " a conscience void of offense," it was necessary 
 to "exercise" himself thereto; and in writing 
 to Timothy, he cautioned him to exercise him- 
 self unto godliness, 
 
 The truths of Christianity are delightful to 
 one who constantly endeavors to obey them. 
 He can read with zest; but to one who yields 
 to sin, and drifts willingly upon the current of 
 his natural desires, they are wormwood and 
 bitterness. The Bible has no attraction to the 
 Christian who persists in sin. To open it, is 
 to meet reproof upon every page. It has at- 
 tractions for and doeth good to the upright in 
 heart — that is, to such as strive to grow in the 
 grace which it teaches. 
 
 Exercise is, moreover, necessary to strength 
 as well as to symmetry and efficiency. In the 
 physical system it not only gives appetite, di- 
 gestion and the vigor of health, but it strength- 
 ens the particular parts which are exercised. 
 Here is a German prisoner. Years of close 
 confinement, in a dark, cramped cell, have told 
 not on his general health alone, but on each 
 particular muscle of his body. His lower limbs 
 have had no exercise, and refuse to carry him 
 more than a few yards at a time. He has 
 
172 Sanct if cation. 
 
 neither lifted, nor pulled, nor struck with his 
 arms, and they are as feeble as those of the 
 child upon whom the prison-doors closed so 
 long ago. Every muscle is there, but each is 
 weak because it has not been used. There are 
 Christians very much like him. A spiritual 
 dissection would show that they are renewed 
 souls. Faith would be found perfect, but no 
 larger than a grain of clover seed. Hope 
 might be better developed. A microscope 
 might be required to detect the presence of 
 love to God and men. Why are these graces 
 so weak ? Why are they only so partially de- 
 veloped in so many of us? One answer is, 
 The want of exercise. We have not used them ; 
 at least, not as we should. We are to be doers 
 of the word, and not hearers only. "If any 
 man be not a forgetful hearer, but a doer also, 
 this man shall be blessed." 
 
 Apply this thought to the various parts of 
 our spiritual body. Hope is the eye of the 
 soul. It should see beyond the things of time 
 and sense, and be filled with the beauties of 
 Him whom, not having seen with the natural 
 eye, we love, and of the place He has prepared 
 for us. It is because the eye of hope is not 
 exercised, that so many of us are spiritually 
 near-sighted. To any one whose hopes are 
 more in this world than in heaven — who has 
 
Sanctification. 173 
 
 bright visions of earthly joy, with only faint 
 glimpses of the glory beyond— let me say, 
 This part of the sermon is for you. For 
 " Grow in grace ; " you may read " Grow in the 
 hope set before you." But how shall I grow? 
 As an answer, we make application of the 
 truth already declared. By the prayerful 
 study of the Bible, and particularly of those 
 passages which treat of our future home. By 
 study, also, of Him Who, for the joy that was 
 set before Him, endured the cross. 
 
 Faith is the arm and hand of the soul. By 
 faith we lay hold on Christ as our Savior. 
 If our faith is weak, let us grow in it by exer- 
 cise; and thereto let us read the promises. 
 The promises are the life of faith. Let us, by 
 the Spirit's aid, also study Him Who, in the 
 confidence of faith, could say to God: "I know 
 that thou hearest me alway." Prayer bright- 
 ens not only the shield of faith, but all the 
 Christian armor. The exercise of faith strength- 
 ens not only faith, but every grace. 
 
 Love is the heart of the soul. He that 
 would grow in grace, must grow, above all else, 
 in love, the chiefest of all graces. God is love. 
 Christ is love. He that loveth, is born of God; 
 and growth in love is growth in the image of 
 God. We are urged to increase in the grace 
 of liberality, but liberality is only the fruit of 
 
1 74 Sa notification . 
 
 the more embracing grace of love. Liberality 
 jDromotes love ; so do all acts of kindness and 
 all labors for the good of souls. I beseech you, 
 brethren, that ye grow in love, by the exercise 
 of love to God and man. "I beseech you [in 
 the language of God's Word] that ye increase 
 more and more" in the sum of all the Chris- 
 tian graces. That you may thus increase, study 
 the Bible, and maintain communion with Him 
 Who loved us and gave Himself for us. We 
 must seek, in our study, the aid of God's 
 Spirit, not only because our efforts without it 
 will be in vain, but for our encouragement. 
 How can we imitate so perfect a Model ? The 
 very command to "grow in grace" implies our 
 weakness. We can not, at once, attain the per- 
 fect symmetry and fullness of Christ. We 
 must recognize our weakness, and that sancti- 
 fication is a continued work, requiring contin- 
 ued effort and help. The child does not, in a 
 day or a year, grow to the size and take up 
 the work of a man. Christ's image in us is 
 to become more and more perfect. A piece of 
 metal in the polisher's hand is not at once 
 changed from rough to smooth. The surface 
 changes gradually. What was at first dull and 
 uneven, begins to give back, here and there, a 
 reflection. Its brightness increases, until the 
 whole piece is a mirror, receiving and giving 
 
Sanctification. 175 
 
 back the light of the sun. Christians are to 
 reflect the light of Christ, Who is the Sun of 
 righteousness. The rays may, at first, be dim. 
 His image reflected in them may be imperfect, 
 but if they grow in grace it becomes more and 
 more clear. We have this comfort: By the 
 grace of God, it shall one day be perfect. We 
 shall see Him face to face, and we shall be like 
 Him. 
 
 A word, in conclusion, to those who have not 
 taken even the first step of the Christian life, 
 and who find an excuse for themselves in the 
 weakness of Christians : It is true that many 
 of us do not grow in grace as we should. We 
 are, therefore, very poor models for your imi- 
 tation. You may be just as good as many of 
 us, and yet have nothing to boast of. There 
 is a perfect Model. The Lord Jesus Christ is 
 chiefest among ten thousand, and one alto- 
 gether lovely. I offer Him as an Example, 
 but, first of all, as a Savior. 
 
XV. 
 REVIVAL. 
 
 11 Lord, revive thy work." — Habakkuk iii. 2. 
 
 TTEESE words are part of what is described 
 in the preceding verse as a prayer of 
 Habakkuk. They have a place in the j^rayers 
 of all praying people. David prayed, "Wilt 
 thou not revive us again, that thy people may 
 rejoice in thee?" Isaiah prayed, "0 that thou 
 wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou woulclest 
 ome down." Paul prayed and urged others 
 to pray with him, that by the will of God they 
 might be refreshed together. 
 
 These petitions are one. We know them by 
 heart, and in our public and private prayers 
 borrow their language to express our desire 
 that the Lord would visit us. Scarcely a 
 prayer is offered in our devotional meetings 
 which does not embody this desire. Our hope 
 for the Church is in revival. If we believe 
 what we say one to another, nothing would de- 
 light us more; and even with sufficient dis- 
 count from our prayers and assertions to 
 
 (176) 
 
Revival. 177 
 
 cover formality and thoughtlessness, there is a 
 conviction that revival is necessary and a 
 longing for it. 
 
 What is a revival? The word literally 
 means a bringing to life of that which was 
 dead. We should not, perhaps, speak of the 
 Church as dead. It never dies ; but it does 
 decline and become cold and sluggish. The 
 word describes a condition of carelessness in 
 regard to spiritual things; of formality in 
 worship; of conformity to the world, and of 
 little anxiety for the conversion of souls. 
 Revival means the opposite of these. It 
 means increased interest in spiritual things; 
 earnestness in worship ; conformity to the will 
 of God, and zeal for the conversion of souls. 
 A time of revival is a time of repentance and 
 of new consecration to God. Christians have 
 clearer views of their own sinfulness and of 
 God's justice, as well as of His love. They 
 have clearer views also of the clanger to which 
 sinners are exposed. Knowing the terror of 
 the Lord, and constrained by the love of Christ, 
 they are anxious for the salvation of others. 
 
 The Church has its times of revival and its 
 times of coldness. We wonder at the latter, 
 and are disposed to ask why the true spirit of 
 devotion and zeal does not always prevail. 
 The question may be answered. Indeed, one 
 12 
 
178 Revival. 
 
 answer will lead to another until the whole 
 truth is told. 
 
 The Church is made up of j)eople, who, though 
 converted, are still imperfect ; who have passions 
 and appetites ; who are exposed to the tempta- 
 tion of the Evil One, and do not always realize 
 the danger around them. That they, under 
 certain circumstances, should become cold and 
 worldly, is as natural as that a thinly-dressed 
 and poorly-fed person should become chilled 
 in a chilly atmosphere. The Church's sur- 
 roundings are not favorable to warmth and 
 sanctification and zeal. The air is cold, and it 
 is insensibly affected by it. 
 
 Of course, God, who has placed His Church 
 in an inhospitable clime, has provided for its 
 comfort. He has not left His people without 
 necessary spiritual food, or in ignorance of the 
 things necessary to their growth and enjoy- 
 ment. Our Savior prayed for, and j^romised the 
 Comforter to abide forever with His people, to 
 teach them all things, and to bring to their re- 
 membrance whatsoever He had said unto them. 
 Afterward He prayed, "While I was with 
 them in the world, I kept them." "Holy 
 Father, keep through thine own name those 
 whom thou hast giA r en me." " Sanctify them 
 through thy truth; thy word is truth." 
 
 These and other passages of Scripture teach 
 
Revival. 179 
 
 that the Holy Spirit is the power by which 
 God's people are to be kept, and, when cold, 
 to be revived, and that He uses the truth as 
 Christ taught it, and as it is written in the 
 Scriptures, as His instrument, "Wherewithal 
 shall a young man cleanse his way ? By taking 
 heed thereto according to thy word." " Where- 
 with shall a church cleanse her way? By 
 taking heed according to the truth of God." 
 "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
 word of God." The central advice of Paul's 
 Epistle to Timothy is, "Preach the word; 
 be instant in season, out of season; re- 
 prove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering 
 and doctrine." 
 
 The apostle's plan for promoting spirituality 
 and Christian activity was by the preaching of 
 the truth. He recognized the Scriptures as 
 the power of God unto salvation, and unto 
 sanctification, and as profitable for doctrine, for 
 reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
 eousness, that the minister might be perfect, 
 thoroughly furnished unto every good work, and 
 that the Church might be revived. 
 
 The history of revivals under the Old Dis- 
 pensation, as well as under the New, is an en- 
 dorsement of this plan. The leaders in great 
 movements which have strengthened the 
 Church, used the Word of God as their instru- 
 
180 Revival. 
 
 ment. Moses rehearsed to the children of 
 Israel their law, with which they were already 
 familiar, explaining and exhorting. His ser- 
 mons are now a part of the Scripture. Nehe- 
 miah and Ezra, with the Levites, carried on a 
 protracted meeting, reading and explaining 
 the law to the people day after day, from morn- 
 ing until midday. The result was that the 
 children of Israel confessed their sins, and 
 separated themselves from idolaters and kept 
 the Sabbath day. In other words, they were 
 wonderfully revived. The most noticeable 
 thing in the revival at Pentecost, excepting, of 
 course, the presence of the Spirit, was the ser- 
 mon of Peter, which, we are expressly told, 
 was the means of so many conversions. It 
 was "when they heard this that they were 
 pricked to the heart and said, Men and breth- 
 ren what shall we do?" It has been so in the 
 great revivals of modern times. The faithful 
 preaching and faithful study of the truth have 
 built up the Church. The Word of God does 
 not return void, but accomplishes the desired 
 result. 
 
 How, then, is the Church to be revived? 
 Let God's people give themselves to prayer 
 and to the study of His word ; to private study 
 as well as to attention in the sanctuary. Such 
 study and prayer will result, by God's blessing, 
 
Eevival. 181 
 
 in increased spiritual vitality, and so, will en- 
 able them to overcome the dangers surround- 
 ing them. They will be convinced, to quote 
 from a narrative of our General Assembly, 
 "that a state of indifference to spiritual things 
 is a great offense in the sight of God ; that it is, 
 indeed, the very core of depravity." God re- 
 bukes lukewarmness in the most unmeasured 
 terms. "Woe to them that are at ease in 
 Zion." To all who, like the Laodiceans, are 
 lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, He says, "I 
 will spew thee out of my mouth." 
 
 Prayerful study will lead to humility, and 
 to increased dependence upon the Holy Spirit 
 and earnest petition for His help. Such peti- 
 tions will not be in vain. "Ask, and it shall 
 be given you." "If ye, being evil, know how 
 to give good gifts unto your children, how 
 much more shall your Heavenly Father give 
 the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Him? " It 
 becomes those who preach and those who hear 
 to be earnest in prayer. The sword of the 
 Spirit is sharpened by prayer. The apostles 
 sought relief from certain duties (the serving 
 of tables), that they might give themselves 
 continually to prayer and to the ministry of 
 the Word. Paul asked the prayers of his breth- 
 ren that the Word of the Lord might have 
 free course. 
 
182 BevivaL 
 
 If those who received directly from Christ's 
 lips the promise of the Spirit, and witnessed 
 its fulfillment on the clay of Pentecost, needed 
 to give themselves to prayer, much more do 
 we. Our hope of revival is in faithful, earnest 
 prayer. The divinely ordained preaching of 
 the Gospel will fail without it. As the canvas 
 does not carry a ship forward without the 
 wind, neither is the Church revived without 
 the breath of God; and when there is "none 
 that stirreth himself up to take hold on God," 
 He hides His face. God will be inquired of 
 to revive His people. 
 
 The beginning of the great revival in Cin- 
 cinnati in 1828, was in an agreement among 
 Christians to spend the twilight of each day in 
 prayer for God's blessing. The spirit of prayer 
 and of dependence is revival. Such a spirit is 
 not consistent with sloth or carelessness or 
 penuriousness or pride or open sin. On the 
 contrary, it is earnest and obedient. It brings 
 the tithes into the storehouse. He who has it 
 already grows in grace. The Church in 
 which it prevails can not be a cold Church. It 
 may have special outpourings of the Spirit, 
 with great numbers of conversions at the same 
 time, or it may see the work of the Lord steadi- 
 ly prosper in its midst, until there seems no 
 room for further blessing. 
 
Revival. 183 
 
 A revival, according to the modern idea, is 
 a religious excitement, with special services 
 and ceremonies, often under the direction of a 
 a specially chosen evangelist. It lasts three 
 or four weeks, and is remembered during the 
 rest of the year, and often for several years, 
 with thanksgiving. Many of us are praying 
 for such a revival. May the Lord grant it. 
 But much more may we desire the abiding 
 presence of the Holy Ghost — a continued life 
 which does not need reviving. We are war- 
 ranted by Christ's words in praying that the 
 Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, may 
 abide with us. Shall we be satisfied to ask 
 only for brief visits ? Because of the hardness 
 of our hearts, we are satisfied with what is but 
 as a drop to the ocean compared with the full- 
 ness we might have. 
 
 The revival, according to the modern idea, 
 is made necessary by our failure to use the 
 means ordained of God for our spiritual ad- 
 vancement. Evangelists and special services 
 and the inquiry room make up, in part, for our 
 neglect of the stated means of grace. 
 
 What the Church most needs is attention to, 
 vigorous use of, and greater confidence in, 
 these ordinary means. I would emphasize 
 the latter thought. There should be a con- 
 stant expectation of blessing, and this should 
 
184 Revival. 
 
 lead to constant effort. There should be: 
 regularity at church, earnestness in studying 
 God's Word, fervency in prayer and zeal for 
 the conversion of souls. To be blessed, the 
 Church must expect a blessing. Both minis- 
 ter and peoj:>le must look for fruit, not at some 
 j)ossible revival in the future, but week by 
 week. Have we any such expectation? Are 
 we disappointed because no one was converted 
 through the preaching or teaching last Sab- 
 bath ? Are we looking for any special results 
 of our work this Sabbath ? 
 
 The reason so many Churches are cold is 
 that no warmth is expected. Christ does not 
 many mighty works with us because of our 
 unbelief. We do not expect great things from 
 God, and therefore we do not have them. "Ac- 
 cording to your faith be it unto you," is the as- 
 sertion of a far-reaching principle. The Church 
 which expects to simply keep along and meet 
 its expenses, will probably do so. The Church 
 which expects great blessings will prepare for 
 them and reach out for them. One will listen 
 for a sound of a going in the tops of the mul- 
 berry trees, while the other already hears the 
 sound as of a rushing, mighty wind, which 
 fills the whole house. One sees the heavens 
 as brass above it, while the other has its ves- 
 sels ready for the coming shower. The story 
 
Revival 185 
 
 is told a little girl, who, when the Church as- 
 sembled in a dry time to pray for rain, took 
 her water-proof with her. She had the wis- 
 dom of faith. Those who pray for showers of 
 blessing, should prove their faith by prepara- 
 tion, not that the droppings may be kept from 
 them, but that they may receive their full 
 share of the baptism. 
 
 The preparation involves reconsecration to 
 Christ. It involves faithfulness in every duty, 
 and co-operation in every good effort. A cer- 
 tain well-known evangelist declined to begin 
 meetings in a certain city until two pledges 
 had been given him. The ministers must 
 pledge themselves to attend every meeting and 
 take part as often as possible. A large 
 number of church-members must pledge them- 
 selves to "attend every meeting; to urge oth- 
 ers to attend; to talk with the inquirers; to pray 
 for a blessing; to take part in the services, and 
 especially, to sing with a vim." The city or 
 town in which ministers and other Christians 
 sign these pledges is revived at once. The 
 Church in which any large proportion of mem- 
 bers sign such a pledge to their pastor, can 
 have a revival without an evangelist, and if 
 the pledge is made perpetual and is kept, the 
 revival will be perpetual. 
 
 Nothing succeeds like success. Let it be 
 
186 Revival. 
 
 known that the members of a Church are 
 more than usually interested in its services, 
 and are anxious for the conversion of souls, and 
 the unconverted will begin to appear. Let a 
 revival begin inside of a church, and very soon 
 it will be seen outside. " Restore unto me the 
 joy of thy salvation ; and uphold me by thy free 
 Spirit: then will I teach transgressors thy 
 ways; and sinners shall be converted unto 
 thee." There should be, however, no need of 
 pledges. Those who have accepted Christ as 
 a Savior, have pledged themselves, not to a 
 few particular duties for a short time, but to 
 be faithful in all things. "Ye are not your 
 own ; ye are bought with a price, even the pre- 
 cious blood of the Son of God." The thought 
 of Christ's love should fill us with holy zeal, 
 and make our life a continual answer to the 
 prayer — "O Lord, revive thy work." 
 
 There is another point of view from which 
 this question may be studied. It is that of 
 persons outside the Church. These are liable 
 to two mistakes. 
 
 First, they may see only an excitement, with 
 excess, and perhaps folly, and may be led to 
 despise religion. To such we say : Take heed 
 what ye do. God's Word is before you. 
 Judge religion by it. Men may be guilty of 
 folly. It is able to make wise unto salvation. 
 
Revival. 187 
 
 The second error is a common one. Con- 
 scientious people, of religious training, base 
 hopes of their own conversion on some future 
 revival. They expect to be saved, and wish to 
 be saved, but their salvation waits on some 
 general outpouring of the Spirit. It is their 
 convenient season. It was this error which, 
 according to an experience recently published, 
 led a young man to make a journey of two 
 hundred miles that he might visit a place of 
 revival and be converted. 
 
 The answer to this error is in Scripture lan- 
 guage: "Say not in thine heart, Who shall as- 
 cend into heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ down 
 from above ;) or, Who shall descend into the 
 deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again from 
 the dead.) But what saith it? The word is 
 nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: 
 that is, the word of faith which we preach: 
 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the 
 Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 
 that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
 shalt be saved." 
 
 It is not necessary to go here or there, or to 
 seek the ministrations of any particular man, 
 or to wait any revival time. Now is the ac- 
 cepted time, and here is the accepted place, 
 and whosoever believeth shall be saved. 
 
XVI. 
 AT EASE m ZIOJN". 
 
 "Woe to them that are at ease in Zionf" — Amos vi. 1. 
 
 A MOS, the herdsman of Tekoa, was the 
 
 prophet of Israel's prosperous times. 
 Like many other men, called of God to im- 
 portant missions, he was trained in solitude; 
 for Tekoa was at the edge of the wilderness 
 south of Jerusalem, in a sandy and thinly- 
 settled region. 
 
 His appearance at the court of King Jeroboam 
 II. was a surprise. The people of Israel had 
 almost forgotten the name of Jehovah, and 
 thought of prophets only as a peculiar class 
 of men who had exercised power in time past. 
 Some of them may have remembered the ap- 
 pearance and words of Joel, but even to these 
 prophets were an extinct species. 
 
 Now, however, appears one whose words 
 mark him as a messenger from God. His 
 first prophecies are pleasant to their ears. 
 Woe to Damascus and Syria. Woe to Phil- 
 
 (188) 
 
At Ease in Zion. 189 
 
 istia. Woe to Edom, Amnion and Moab. 
 These were rival cities and countries. Woe 
 to them meant prosperity to Israel. They 
 could see with great complacency the cloud of 
 divine judgment gathering in the East; but 
 it was another thing to know that the storm 
 which would desolate Syria and Philistia and 
 Edom, would also sweep over Judah, and spend 
 the fierceness of its strength on Israel. They 
 would receive the prophet who said, Woe to 
 their enemies ; but stoned him who said, Woe 
 to themselves. 
 
 The prophecy of Amos suited the time when 
 it was uttered. Israel was prosperous. Its 
 borders had been extended; its government 
 was stable, and its people were secure. The 
 sins incident to seasons of prosperity were 
 common. Selfishness, dishonesty, fraud, op- 
 pression of the poor, corruption and idolatry 
 were unrestrained. 
 
 It was the mission of Amos to rebuke these 
 and call his nation to repentance ; but he called 
 in vain. The noise of trade was louder than 
 his voice. The tumult of human passion 
 drowned the conscience of those who heard. 
 The people went on with their idolatry and 
 selfish schemes. They sought not the house of 
 God ; they took bribes ; they turned aside the 
 poor from his right; they turned judgment to 
 
190 At Ease in Zion. 
 
 wormwood, and hated the man who rebuked 
 them. 
 
 Seeing this, Amos declared their punishment ; 
 but his words were an idle story. If they 
 heard at all, it was to mock. When he threat- 
 ened famine, they looked at their growing 
 grain. When he spoke of wars and captivity, 
 they told him of the mountains of Samaria, 
 their rampart against invasion. Prosperity 
 makes people incredulous. They are not easily 
 moved. Danger, seems far off. In Israel's 
 security she said, I shall never be moved. 
 Hence the utterance of the text : " Woe to them 
 that are at ease [who feel themselves secure] 
 in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Sa- 
 maria ! . . . That put far away the evil day ; 
 . . . that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch 
 themselves upon their couches, and eat the 
 lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the 
 midst of the stall ; that chant to the sound of 
 the viol ; . . . that drink wine in bowls, and 
 anoint themselves with the chief ointments: 
 but they are not grieved for the affliction of 
 Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive 
 with the first that go captive." 
 
 This prophesy stands, for all time, as God's 
 message to the Church when, in her tenrporal 
 prosperity, she forgets Him. It is His mes- 
 sage to every individual Christian, who, through 
 
At Ease in Zion. 191 
 
 prosperity, becomes selfish and negligent of 
 duty and careless as to the interests of His 
 kingdom. 
 
 Ease is the opposite of anxiety and of effort. 
 It means freedom from care and work. The 
 person "at ease in Zion" is the Christian who 
 is blind to the dangers of the Church, and does 
 nothing for her help; who simply drifts with 
 the Church when it drifts, and increases its 
 draft by his weight when it runs aground. 
 
 Rest is desirable, but rest at the wrong time 
 is indolence. Ease from anxiety is pleasant, 
 but at the wrong time it means danger. We 
 recognize this in our business, and are instant 
 in season and out of season, that it may not 
 suffer. The same interest and effort are de- 
 manded by our spiritual business, which should 
 be to build up the cause of Christ. 
 
 Some of us do not give this interest. Per- 
 haps all need more or less this warning against 
 "ease in Zion." As we study the prophet's 
 words, let each take the warning to himself, 
 in so far as his conscience tells him he needs it. 
 
 We are warned, first, against the ease of 
 insensibility, or of ignorance. We do not 
 know the needs or dangers of the Church. It 
 seems to be doing well enough. The cure for 
 this ease is study — not of books simply, nor of 
 doctrines; but of the condition of the Church, 
 
192 At Ease in Zion. 
 
 of the field — which is the world, and of the in- 
 strumentalities by which people are to be led to 
 Christ. We should know first our own imme- 
 diate part of the field. What is there to be 
 done for the advancement of Christ's cause in 
 your acre or mine? What is there in our 
 own personal lives which needs attention? 
 Have we, through prosperity or from any 
 other cause, become hardened to spiritual in- 
 fluences, or selfish or inclined to any sin? and 
 are we at ease in this condition? If so, woe 
 to us. The seed of sin will grow while we 
 sleep ; the poison of sin will spread while we 
 think only of its taste, and the punishment of 
 sin will come before its charms are fairly for- 
 gotten. Woe to them whose consciences do 
 not trouble them when they sin ; who can hear 
 God's law and break it, and hear it again with- 
 out repentance; who feel themselves swept 
 along by the current of sin, and yet rest at 
 ease upon their oars. 
 
 He who continues in sin because grace 
 abounds, is at ease through ignorance of him- 
 self, as well as of the method of divine grace. 
 The fact that a boat drifts, is proof that it is 
 not anchored ; the fact that one can be at ease 
 while in sin, should lead him to examine his 
 hope, whe.ther it is indeed an anchor to the 
 soul, sure and steadfast. 
 
At Ease in Zion. 193 
 
 After the study of his own condition and 
 hope, each one should familiarize himself with 
 his church, its failings and its needs. 
 
 In a church-trial, in which it was once our 
 misfortune to be a juryman, the complaint was 
 made against a father in Israel that " he liked 
 to run things." He admitted the charge. The 
 church was dear to him as the apple of his eye. 
 Its prosperity was his chief desire. He gave 
 it, without stint, time, money, prayers and 
 tears. If any one else would run things, he 
 would stand back ; but what no one else did, 
 he must do. Many churches suffer for lack of 
 just such a man. Their members "are at ease 
 in Zion." " They are not grieved for the afflic- 
 tions of Joseph." They are not troubled by the 
 necessities of the church. An hour's work in 
 time might save nine times nine hours in the 
 future. A few shingles properly put on might 
 save a ceiling, or, perhaps, a whole building. 
 Every one can see what should be done; but 
 no one does see, at least no one feels the re- 
 sponsibility. The spiritual condition is equally 
 neglected. The Sabbath-school perhaps is run 
 down or the prayer-meeting, or the young peo- 
 ple are straying, or some evil spirit prevails. 
 A word here and there would do great good, 
 but, in the ease of ignorance, most of. the peo- 
 ple feel no responsibility. Woe to the church 
 13 
 
194 At Ease in Zion. 
 
 where such feeling prevails. Woe to the 
 church which has no interest in missions; 
 which is not grieved for the ignorant super- 
 stition and sin of the heathen; which has no 
 zeal of God's house nor desire for his universal 
 kingdom. 
 
 There is also an ease of infidelity which is 
 akin to the ease of ignorance ; not the blank 
 infidelity of atheism, but the subtile doubt 
 wdiich pervades the life of an inactive Chris- 
 tian. This is like a mist which partially hides 
 the landscape. It obscures the doctrines and 
 the threats of Scripture. It says, "Since the 
 fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they 
 were." 
 
 The only cure for infidelity is effort. The 
 only way to throw off the languor of its ease, 
 is' to give the soul to His work Who is Himself 
 the Author and Object of faith. 
 
 Hand in hand with infidelity goes self-confi- 
 dence. This is the ease of the Pharisee who 
 praises God for a personal goodness no thicker 
 than varnish. It is the ease of the Laodiceans, 
 who fancied themselves rich and increased in 
 goods and in need of nothing ; when they were, 
 in truth, poor and miserable, and blind and 
 naked. It was the ease of the people of Israel 
 to whom Amos spoke. They were increased 
 in goods. They were rich, and with their riches 
 
At Ease in Zlon. 195 
 
 had come ignorance of God's Word, infidelity 
 and self-sufficiency. They neglected the serv- 
 ice of the sanctuary ; they oppressed the poor ; 
 they were intemperate, and, worst of all, they 
 were at ease in their own degeneracy. 
 
 Upon them, and upon those like them in 
 our day, the prophet pronounces woe. In their 
 case the prophecy was fulfilled, when they were 
 carried captive. In every case it will be ful- 
 filled ; for the woe is but the development of a 
 seed. It is not necessary that we sow iniquity, 
 in order to reap evil. While men slept, the 
 enemy came and sowed tares ; while we " are 
 at ease in Zion," the seeds of woe will be 
 dropped in a soil which is hungry for them. 
 
 These seeds must be reaped to our own sor- 
 row. The woe will be first a personal afflic- 
 tion ; for spiritual indolence is, in part, its own 
 punishment. It is a growing evil. As one 
 yields to it, it increases; blind eyes become 
 more blind, and hard hearts become more 
 hardened. Indulgence in sin begets ease, and 
 ease begets farther indulgence. The two are 
 invisible cords twisted together, which hold the 
 soul from God. 
 
 The only hope is in vigorous effort. Let 
 one interest himself in the church ; let him do 
 something for it, and the evil charm is broken. 
 The real living church is that in which ever 1 - 
 
196 At Ease in Zion. 
 
 member must give and work ; and it is better 
 to be jDressed a little too hard, than not to be 
 pressed at all. Prosperity is harder on the 
 soul than affliction. There is no better place 
 to develop the spiritual power of a Christian 
 man than in a church which requires all the 
 money and time he can afford. And there is 
 no more unfortunate place than a church wRlch 
 gives him nothing to do ; for the spiritual at- 
 mosphere of our world is below the freezing- 
 point, and a condition of ease is one of danger. 
 
 The woe is also on the family of him who is 
 at ease in Zion. To the Israelites who cared 
 not for the prosperity or affliction of Zion, the 
 prophet declared, " Thy sons and thy daughters 
 shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be 
 divided." God often visits the sins of the 
 fathers upon their children and upon their 
 grandchildren unto the third and fourth gen- 
 eration. 
 
 Parents who seek ease rather than useful- 
 ness, or who yield to sinful habits and do noth- 
 ing for the establishment of the church, leave 
 a bad legacy to their children. Their example 
 does not lead them to love the church. It does 
 not convince them of the reality of religion. 
 It does not beget respect for God's law or de- 
 light in His service. A prayer-meeting or a 
 Sabbath-school in which the father takes no 
 
At Ease in Zion. 197 
 
 interest, is not likely to prove a means of grace 
 to his children. On the contrary, they are apt 
 to imitate his carelessness, or to join hands 
 with the open enemies of the Church. 
 
 Were there no personal, spiritual benefits to 
 be obtained from active interest in the church, 
 such interest would yield a return to any father 
 and mother in its influence on their children. 
 
 I know a man, a stock-raiser, whose boys 
 are worthless drunkards. He was a good man, 
 a member of the church, but he was at ease 
 in religious matters. The church in his village 
 went down. He felt sorry, but made no strug- 
 gle for its life. He was more interested in 
 stables than churches. He was more anxious 
 about good food for his colts, than about the 
 spiritual food of his children. He roused him- 
 self suddenly to find that his ease and neglect 
 were visited upon his sons ; that left to them- 
 selves in a godless community, they had become 
 godless. He has repented of his neglect, and 
 brought forth fruits meet for repentance; but 
 the bowed head and sad face show that the 
 woe is heavy. 
 
 The woe is also on the community of those 
 who are at ease in Zion. The church referred 
 to illustrates this. After it ceased to have reg- 
 ular preaching, the prayer-meeting was kept up 
 and the Sabbath-school ; but by and by these 
 
198 At Ease in Zion. 
 
 stopped, and the church stood empty and des- 
 olate, until a storm came and it was blown 
 down. Thus, even the candlestick was re- 
 moved out of its place. The woe prophesied 
 by Amos upon them that are at ease in Zion 
 has come upon the town. "Behold the days 
 come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a 
 famine in the land : not a famine of bread, nor 
 a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of 
 the Lord. And they shall run to and fro to 
 seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find 
 it.'' As the old gray-haired man visits his 
 early home, he finds no church, nor any desire 
 for one. He remembers the time when a little 
 zeal and a few hundred dollars would have 
 saved the church, and blames himself that he 
 was at ease in Zion. 
 
 We all believe in the importance of Chris- 
 tian faithfulness and earnestness. If called as 
 judges to pass on the conduct of the Israelites, 
 we should condemn them. We should speak 
 of their formalism, and selfishness, and intem- 
 perance, and oppression of the poor, in terms 
 as severe as those used by the prophet Amos. 
 
 Perhaps if they could be called from their 
 graves to sit in judgment on us, they might 
 find something to condemn — some selfishness, 
 or formalism, or idolatry. I am sure they 
 would find some of us at ease in Zion. 
 
At Ease in Zion. 199 
 
 Could the prophet himself stand before us, 
 I am sure he would condemn such ease. Woe 
 to them that sin against knowledge. Woe to 
 them that are at ease, when the Church needs 
 their help. Woe to them that are at ease un- 
 der preaching — who can hear the Gospel and 
 not accept it, or the law and not keep it ; who 
 can sleep equally well on Sinai or Calvary. 
 This is the word which speaks to us from 
 his written prophecy. Let it ring in our ears 
 and arouse our hearts. Let it inspire us, as 
 Christians and as a church, to new devotion. 
 "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, Zion." 
 
 "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, 
 With all thy quickening powers ; 
 Kindle a flame of sacred love 
 In these cold hearts of ours." 
 
XVII. 
 PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 "The righteous also shall hold on his way; and he that hath clean hands 
 shall be stronger and stronger." — Job xvii. 9. 
 
 TT is plain that Job believed in the Persever- 
 
 
 ance of the Saints. These words, the utter 
 
 ranee of his saddest hours, express a faith 
 which could not be shaken. The same faith 
 in a succeeding chapter, exclaimed, "I know 
 that mv Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
 stand at the latter day upon the earth; and 
 though after my skin worms destroy this body, 
 yet in my flesh shall I see God." 
 
 Job was an example of the "perseverance of 
 the saints." All that Satan could do, did not 
 move him. Family, property, health, all that 
 he held dear, were taken away, yet he rejoiced 
 in God. 
 
 He was a believer in and an example also of 
 spiritual growth. Faith results not only in as- 
 surance of God's love, with peace and joy, but 
 in increase of grace and perseverance. These 
 are the benefits which accompany or flow from 
 
 (200) 
 
Perseverance. 201 
 
 the soul's union with Christ. They form 
 a crescendo of blessing. Assurance gives 
 peace, peace begets joy; but the assurance 
 would not be complete, nor the peace or joy 
 perfect, without increase and permanency. 
 Peace, which at any moment may end in war, 
 is not real. Joy, which expects misery at 
 every turn, has a sharp sting. The rejoicing 
 which Christians have in Christ would be in- 
 complete without the knowledge that one day 
 they shall be like Him, when they shall see 
 Him as He is; "that he which hath begun a 
 good work in them will perform it until the 
 day of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Like Job, we are comforted by the thought 
 that the righteous shall hold on his way. Like 
 David, we hope in God, whom we " shall yet 
 praise for the help of his countenance." And 
 like Paul, we are sure that nothing shall 
 " separate us from the love of God, which is 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 No doctrine of our faith is more comforting 
 than that of the "perseverance of the saints." 
 The doctrine is, that those who truly receive 
 Christ by faith, and are regenerated by the 
 Holy Ghost, will be saved ; that they will not 
 so backslide as to be finally lost. 
 
 This doctrine is found in the plainest offers of 
 the Gospel. It is a part of the covenant of grace. 
 
202 Perseverance. 
 
 " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved," was the direction given the 
 jailer. He that belie veth shall be saved, is 
 the promise of every GosjDel sermon. There 
 are no conditions save the one. We do not 
 say, Believe on Christ, and if you succeed in 
 living a consistent life you shall be saved ; but, 
 Believe, and you shall be certainly saved. 
 
 A covenant is made between God and the 
 sinner. The sinner is to trust Him. He is to 
 consecrate himself to Him. He is to rely only 
 upon Christ for his salvation. God, on the 
 other hand, is to give pardon, sanctification 
 and eternal life. To preach less than this, is 
 to preach less than the Gosj^el. To impose a 
 condition and say, " I shall be saved provided 
 I do not 'fall from grace,' " is to doubt the di- 
 vine promise. True, faith can not exj^ect less 
 than eternal salvation. It rests in perfect cer- 
 tainty on God's promise and on His unchange- 
 ableness. " They that trust in the Lord shall be 
 as Mount Zion, which can not be removed, 
 but abideth forever." 
 
 We call this doctrine the "perseverance of 
 the saints," but it might equally well be called 
 the "perseverance of the Lord," for it is in 
 divine faithfulness that the hope has its founda- 
 tion. Faith is not self-confident. It does not 
 say, " I shall persevere ; I shall keep the faith 
 
Perseverance. 203 
 
 and live a spotless life." On the contrary, it 
 says, "I am weak and liable to sin, but my 
 hope is in God. I trust in His persevering 
 grace. It turns for strength to these words of 
 our Savior: "I give unto them eternal life, 
 and they shall never perish. Neither shall 
 any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, 
 which gave them me, is greater than all, and 
 none is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
 hand." 
 
 It reads, also, with comfort the prayer of our 
 Savior, "Sanctify them through thy truth;" 
 and the assurances of the apostle to the He- 
 brews, "Wherefore he is able to save them to 
 the uttermost that come unto God through 
 him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession 
 for them." 
 
 The security of believers is plainly a part of 
 our Saviors theology. "My sheep hear my 
 voice and I know them, and they follow me, 
 and I give unto them eternal life, and they 
 shall never perish." Not life for six months, 
 or a year, or a quarter of a century, but for 
 eternity. There is assurance in the fact that 
 Christ knows His own. " The foundation of 
 God standeth sure, having this seal, The 
 Lord knoweth them that are his." As a shep- 
 herd knows his sheep and cares for them, lead- 
 ing and feeding them, and carrying the lambs 
 
204 Perseverance. 
 
 in his oosom, so does Christ His people. And 
 "they shall never 23erish." They may stray for 
 a time, as sheep do, but He will bring them 
 back, and they will follow Him. Such is the 
 promise. Neither shall any (man or devil) 
 pluck them out of His hand. Men may call 
 on Christ, and yet not be of His flock. At the 
 last day many shall stand without and knock, 
 saying, " Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he 
 shall answer and say, I know ye not whence 
 ye are," but to be known of Christ and written 
 in His book, is to be sure of heaven. 
 
 We do not simply believe this — we know it. 
 Resting on God's Word, it is absolutely sure. 
 Faith and assurance are simply different de- 
 grees of faith. Canon Ryle expresses the dis- 
 tinction when he says: " Faith is the root, and 
 assurance is the flower. Faith is that poor, 
 trembling woman who came behind Jesus in 
 the press and touched the hem of His garment. 
 Assurance is Stephen standing calmly in the 
 midst of his murderers, and saying, ' I see the 
 heavens opened, and the Son of man standing 
 on the right hand of God.' Faith is the anxious, 
 trembling voice, ' Lord, I believe ; help thou 
 mine unbelief.' Assurance is the confident 
 challenge, 'Who shall lay anything to the 
 charge of God's elect? ' " 
 
 But do not true Christians have this assur- 
 
Perseverance. 205 
 
 ance and lose it ? Did not David sin and go 
 down into the Yalley of Despondency? Is not 
 our faith variable as the mercury in a ther- 
 mometer, which is up one day and down 
 another? Yes, truly; but our unbelief does 
 not make the faith of God of none effect. 
 Our faith is as variable as our love or our 
 strength. We rest on the love and truth of 
 God. Christians may fall into sin. Through 
 the temptations of Satan and of the world, 
 their own corruption and neglect of the means 
 of grace, they may fall. They may incur God's 
 displeasure and grieve His Spirit. They may 
 lose their delight in holy things and take 
 pleasure in evil, and bring on themselves severe 
 punishments, but the grace of God will re- 
 strain them and reopen their eyes to truth and 
 duty. 
 
 Peter denied the Master three times, yet he 
 repented and was forgiven. Christ foresaw 
 His fall and recovery, and foretold it when He 
 said : " Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee, 
 that he may sift thee as wheat; but I have 
 prayed for thee." Even so now He prays for 
 His own. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth 
 our infirmities," "for the Spirit also maketh 
 intercession for us." This intercession, to- 
 gether with the promise of God, are an assur- 
 ance to every one born of the Spirit. If he is 
 
206 Perseverance. 
 
 regenerated and saved, he will not become un- 
 regenerate and lost. 
 
 This is true, not only because God's Word 
 says it, but from the very nature of the change 
 which we call regeneration. The soul can no 
 more be regenerated again and again than can 
 the body be born several times. To say that 
 the regenerated, backsliding soul must be re- 
 regenerated, is as illogical as to say that an 
 imperfect or homely child must be born over. 
 
 After the birth, a child must be nurtured 
 and brought to strength and self-dependence. 
 So, when the soul is born it must be nurtured. 
 Salvation does not mean simply entrance into 
 glory, though this is its consummation. It in- 
 cludes all the steps by which the Christian is 
 prepared for heaven. From the moment of 
 conversion he is led of the Spirit. He is 
 strengthened against temptation. Through 
 trials he is taught patience. Patience worketh 
 experience, and experience hope. Through 
 God's Word he is sanctified. Even his fail- 
 ures may be a means of blessing, begetting 
 meekness, poverty of spirit and holiness, and 
 so fitting him for the presence of God and the 
 enjoyment of His kingdom above. JMo doubt 
 David's sin was blessed of God to his sanctifi- 
 cation, and that Peter's denial of Christ was 
 the means of humbling him and preparing him 
 
Perseverance. 207 
 
 for his work. So the Christian, by the Spirit's 
 influence, increases in holiness. He falls and 
 rises again, and word of Job is fulfilled. 
 He not only "holds on his way," but grows 
 "stronger and stronger." 
 
 To the superficial thinker, this doctrine seems 
 contradicted by facts. I say seems, for there 
 is no real contradiction. Men profess faith, 
 and apparently stand well ; but by and by re- 
 turn to sinful ways, and die in sin. We are 
 limited, however, by ignorance. God knows 
 the heart and whether it really turns to Him. 
 We judge a profession, but can not be sure 
 that it is genuine. We may be convinced, and 
 receive a man to church-membership, and yet 
 be deceived. A hypocrite may have our con- 
 fidence, but his fall should not affect our faith. 
 The Apostle John describes such when he 
 said, " They went out from us, but they were 
 not of us; for if they had been of us, they 
 would have continued with us : but they went 
 out that they might be made manifest that 
 they were not all of us." That one who has 
 made profession and fallen away, dies in sin, 
 is simply proof that he never was regenerate. 
 He may have deceived, or been deceived, but 
 he was not at any time a converted man. 
 
 There is nothing in this doctrine to excuse 
 sloth or sin. Faith in Grod's purpose to bless 
 
208 Perseverance. 
 
 them that trust Him does not induce neglect 
 of duty. No regenerate man continues in sin 
 because grace abounds. On the contrary, he 
 is dead to sin. New desires move him. New 
 hopes and aims give direction to his life. Faith 
 must manifest itself in works. It is insepara- 
 ble from love, and Christ has said, "If ye love 
 me, ye will keep my commandments." The 
 renewed soul not only obeys, but grows in 
 obedience. The new desires, the obedience, 
 and the perseverance to the end, are the work 
 of one Spirit. It is God, Who changes the 
 heart, and strengthens the life, and Who will 
 perfect that which He has begun. 
 
 There is, however, always room for exhorta- 
 tion to be faithful, zealous and prayerful. There 
 are times when perseverance is difficult, when 
 prayer is hindered and faith weak. At such 
 times we need especially to trust in God, to 
 feed upon His Word and to be instant in 
 prayer. 
 
 There is in this doctrine no assurance or 
 comfort to those who live in sin. Such have no 
 reason to believe that they are converted. The 
 evidence of their lives is to the contrary. They 
 may remember a time when fear of punish- 
 ment moved them to seek pardon, or when 
 sentiments, which they mistook for faith and 
 love, led them to profess Christ ; but the fact 
 
Perseverance. 209 
 
 that these sentiments have lost their power, 
 leaves a presumption that they were spurious. 
 It is useless for those who love and yield to 
 sin, to expect help or salvation. As well might 
 a beggar talk of his profits from investment, as 
 for an unconverted man to discuss the per- 
 severance of the saints. With him it is not a 
 question of perseverance, but of obedience. 
 He may, at some time, have imagined himself 
 a Christian ; but the wise course is not to rely 
 on anything in the past which, to say the least, 
 may have been self-deception, but to turn as a 
 sinner to Christ and lay hold on the hope 
 offered in Him. 
 14 
 
XVIII. 
 PROVIDENCE. 
 
 "The Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in 
 working." — Isaiah xxviii, 29. 
 
 "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." — Jeremiah x. 23. 
 
 "Trust in the Lord ; . . . He shall direct thy paths." — Proverbs 
 iii. 5, 6. 
 
 «TN 
 
 the beginning God created the heaven 
 and the earth." "And God saw every- 
 thing that he had made, and, behold, it was 
 very good." Here ended the work of creation ; 
 for, in the next verse, we read: "Thus the 
 heavens and the earth were finished, and all 
 the host of them." And God rested from all 
 His work which He had made. The rest was 
 not that of idleness ; for where creation ended, 
 providence began. "Out of the ground made 
 the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleas- 
 ant to the sis:ht and good for food." Clouds, 
 too, were formed, and rain fell upon the earth. 
 "There went up a mist from the earth, and 
 watered the whole face of the ground." 
 
 These and other passages show that God the 
 Creator controls His creation. He did not 
 
 (210) 
 
Providence. 211 
 
 make the world, with other worlds and systems 
 of worlds, as a grand perpetual motion ma- 
 chine — a vast clock which would not run down, 
 but of its own power and without direction 
 would run on forever. The trees do not grow 
 simply because the first trees had seed; but 
 the Lord God causes every tree to grow. The 
 rain does not fall simply because, according to 
 law, its waters are drawn toward the sun, and 
 afterward seek their level on the earth; but 
 because "God sendeth rain." The sun does 
 not shine simply because God made it to do so 
 at the creation, but because He, since the crea- 
 tion, and now, causeth it to shine. 
 
 God's providence is as much a fact, and as 
 clearly proven, as His creation. "In his hand 
 [says Job] is the soul of every living thing. 
 Behold, he breaketh down; he shutteth up; 
 with him is strength and wisdom. Ask the 
 beasts of the field, and they shall teach thee: 
 and the fowls of the air, and they tell thee : or 
 speak to the earth, and it shall tell thee, and 
 the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 
 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they 
 dry up; he also sendeth them out, and they 
 overturn the earth." As the heavens declare 
 God's glory and the firmament His handiwork 
 — that is, His creation — so does all Nature tell 
 of His providence. Truly can we sing with 
 
212 Providence. 
 
 David, "The Lord is good to all : and his tender 
 mercies are over all his works. . . . The eyes 
 of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them 
 their meat in due season. Thou openest thine 
 hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living- 
 thing." 
 
 "God reigns on high, but ne'er confines his goodness to the skies; 
 Through the whole earth his bouDty shines, and every want sup- 
 plies. 
 His bountiful care what tongue can recite ? 
 It breathes in the air ; it shines in the light ; 
 It streams from the hills ; it descends to the plains, 
 And sweetly distills in the dews and the rains." 
 
 Truly God's works of providence praise 
 Him. These works are "his most holy, wise 
 and powerful preserving and governing all his 
 creatures and all their actions." His provi- 
 dence is the manifestation of His goodness; 
 not only of that which fills the earth with food, 
 but of the more wonderful goodness which 
 gave to the world a Savior. He is, indeed, 
 "wonderful in counsel and excellent in work- 
 ing." This providence was sung by David in 
 the Psalms oftener than any other theme. JS T o 
 subject has so filled the thought of Christian 
 poets, or is so fully expressed in hymn-books. 
 " Let everything that hath breath praise the 
 Lord." 
 
 "Oh ! for this love, let rocks and hills 
 Their lasting silence break." 
 
Providence. 213 
 
 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His 
 name. 
 
 God's providence, including the work of re- 
 demption, is too large a subject for a single 
 sermon. Let us, therefore, draw lines of divi- 
 sion, turning our thoughts to the care which 
 He exercises over His people in their ordinary 
 affairs; to the truth expressed by Jeremiah 
 when he said, "It is not in man that walketh 
 to direct his steps." 
 
 God's providence is a necessity. We may 
 deify humanity and boast of the triumphs of 
 mind, yet there is need of power greater than 
 anything we can wield. Not only do we 
 require the rain and sunshine; the seasons — 
 cold and heat, winter and summer ; the earth 
 with its soil, and the whole creation of God; 
 but these must be regulated and controlled by 
 an infinitely wise and loving Being. There is 
 no such thing as independence in man. He is 
 dependent, from the cradle to the grave, upon 
 a Providence which sustains him. He lives, 
 moves and has his being in God. If he sows 
 grain, Providence must guard and promote its 
 growth. He can not make the rain to fall, 
 nor hinder the early frost. He sows and reaps 
 and gathers into barns, yet Providence feeds 
 him. 
 
 Imagine yourself in a world of chance. 
 
214 Providence. 
 
 There is no controlling power. It was made 
 by a Divine hand, and — as one throws a stone, 
 caring not where it goes — was hurled by the 
 Almighty into space. It has its light and 
 darkness, its cold and heat; but these come 
 not at fit times and in right proportions, but 
 as it may happen. It has no orbit, but goes 
 as a comet. Wo! not as a comet; for comets, 
 though their years be counted in centuries, 
 have orbits, and are the subjects of law and 
 providence. It goes without orbit or law, 
 uncontrolled and uncared for. It had, when 
 created, trees and flowers as our world has, 
 and 'was peopled with living creatures. A 
 single day of chance destroyed them all. An 
 hour of the Arctic cold or furnace heat, possi- 
 ble in its wandering in space, made it a desert. 
 Man, if there were men upon it, could not di- 
 rect its course nor regulate its temperature, its 
 storms or its seasons. There is no such world. 
 The Providence which controls our earth con- 
 trols all suns and stars. There is no place in 
 the universe for chance. " If I ascend up into 
 heaven, or take the wings of the morning, and 
 dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth, even 
 there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right 
 hand shall hold me." 
 
 There is no place where God is not, or where 
 His providence does not rule. We simply 
 
Providence. 215 
 
 imagine such a world, that our minds may 
 grasp the thought of man's dependence. Think 
 *of a sailor alone in the midst of the ocean upon 
 a single plank. Think of one upon a piece of 
 earth, a meteorite, such as has come to our 
 earth from other planets ; a loose star, wander- 
 ing in space here and there ; and in them see 
 a picture of man helpless, as he would be, 
 without the over-ruling providence of God. 
 
 Man's weakness makes providence a neces- 
 sity. But suppose he were powerful enough to 
 control the world ; to bring storms and calm at 
 his will ; to regulate cold and heat, and mois- 
 ture ; would his need be any less ? God's provi- 
 dence is the exercise not of power alone, but of 
 wisdom; while man's need arises from igno- 
 rance, as well as weakness. 
 
 Let us try to regulate the rain, imagining 
 that our mandate will control the clouds. We 
 must have rain, says the farmer ; the earth is 
 dry ; my corn is withered, already in the higher 
 places it is dead. Give us rain. We must 
 have rain. Nay, says his neighbor, my wheat 
 is ripe ; it is harvest. We must have no rain. 
 Let us have rain, says the housewife ; the cis- 
 terns are empty. Way, says the builder, it 
 would hinder our work. He who would direct 
 the clouds must have more wisdom than falls 
 to the lot of men, or he will give when he 
 
216 Providence. 
 
 should withhold, and withhold when he ought 
 to give. A congregation said to their minister 
 that, as Elijah prayed for drought, and it was 
 dry; and then for rain, and the rain came; 
 so ought ministers with faith to open and 
 close the flood-gates of heaven. He assured 
 them that it could be done when they were 
 unanimous in asking it. He knew that they 
 would not unite in asking; and he was right. 
 There was always some one whose grass had 
 just been cut, or whose wheat was standing in 
 the field, or who must repair his house, or 
 whose roof leaked, or who wanted a clear day 
 for visiting or washing. 
 
 What is true of rain, is equally true of heat 
 and cold, or any other provision of God's prov- 
 idence. It is true of prosperity and adversity ; 
 of sickness and health; of life, of beauty, of 
 strength and influence. The power to control 
 would be nothing without wisdom to decide 
 between conflicting and equally important in- 
 terests. No man could regulate the providence 
 of Grod for any other than himself. 
 
 Farther than this, no one could be safely 
 trusted to exercise infinite power in his own 
 affairs. However strong he may be, it is not 
 in him to direct his steps. He lacks wisdom. 
 He does not know what is best. He may neg- 
 lect the greatest blessing, or choose the greatest 
 
Providence. 217 
 
 evil. A child may be wise in its own conceit, 
 and yet very foolish in fact. It loves dainties, 
 and would live upon them. The parents' wis- 
 dom refuses hurtful things. It enjoys the fields 
 and the sunshine, and the birds and flowers, 
 but takes no pleasure in books or school. The 
 parents know the evil of all play and no work. 
 The boy grows up and would regulate his own 
 affairs. He would spend money and live as 
 he thinks best. No, says the father, your wis- 
 dom is folly. You are not fit to be your own 
 master. You must study, or sit in an office, 
 or handle 'tools six days in the week. Such 
 confinement is bitter medicine to the boy, and 
 he rebels against it. 
 
 These illustrations teach a truth. We are 
 as children, and know not what is for our best 
 good. One has perhaps a life of toil, and cries 
 out again and again: "Oh, that I were rich!" 
 Had he power to direct his steps, he would 
 walk in paths of plenty ; but God sees dangers 
 which he does not see, and His providence 
 delivers him. Another has a burden of pain. 
 His cry is, " Oh, that I had health ! " Another 
 buries a child, and the light goes out of her 
 life. Another sees her child live to dishonor 
 both itself and her, and cries out: "Would 
 that it had died when a babe." Each would 
 have things other than they are. Each would, 
 
218 Providence. 
 
 like the child craving dainties or shrinking 
 from labor, direct his own steps and prepare 
 his own way. As the father must often cross 
 the child, and sometimes punish it ; so God, in 
 His providence, leads us by ways we know not 
 or do not approve. Could our eyes be opened 
 to the real clangers into which our plans would 
 lead, and to the wisdom and mercy of the 
 Providence which delivers us, all murmur- 
 ing would cease. Then, indeed, would we 
 rejoice in our sorrows, and be glad accord- 
 ing to the years wherein we have been 
 afflicted. 
 
 We can not thus see, but we can . believe ; 
 and, believing, rest in His promise and His 
 providence. Our faith naturally turns to the 
 Scripture, and appropriates passages which 
 tell of God's wisdom and love. "He doeth all 
 things well." " Shall not the Judge of all the 
 earth do right?" "The Lord is gracious and 
 merciful." " The Lord taketh pleasure in 
 them that fear him : in them that hope in his 
 mercy." "Happy is he that hath the God of 
 Jacob for his help ; whose hope is in the Lord 
 his God." It is not in us to direct our steps, 
 but we may rest in the knowledge that God 
 will direct them far better than we could. His 
 ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our 
 thoughts. For as the heavens are higher than 
 
Providence. 219 
 
 the earth, so are his ways and thoughts higher 
 than ours. 
 
 The truth, that God rules and that His provi- 
 dence is over all, should beget confidence and 
 contentment in Christian hearts. If He works 
 all things according to the counsel of His will, 
 and if we are His children, why need we be 
 troubled? If He directs our steps, may we 
 not walk boldly and in hope ? If there is no 
 want to them that fear Him, why need we go 
 mourning all our days? 
 
 We believe some truths which we do not 
 realize. The doctrine of God's providence is 
 such a truth. We know that the hairs of our 
 head are numbered, and that not even a spar- 
 row can fall to the ground without our loving 
 Father's knowledge; and yet we dream bad 
 dreams — waking dreams of loss, or pain, or 
 reproach; and our lives are a burden of fear. 
 This ought not so to be. True, "we know not 
 what a day may bring forth; " but on the other 
 hand, we know that all things work together 
 for good to God's people. 
 
 Our Savior, in teaching this truth, used two 
 illustrations. "Behold the fowls of the air: 
 for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor 
 gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father 
 feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 
 they?" "Consider the lilies of the field, how 
 
220 Providence. 
 
 they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 
 and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon 
 in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 
 these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass 
 of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is 
 cast into the oven, shall he not much more 
 clothe you." Shall God care for the sparrows 
 and the lilies, and not for His own children ? 
 Away with our unbelief, with doubt and corrod- 
 ing care, with fears about food and clothing — 
 fears which disturb the soul and hinder com- 
 munion with God. Unconverted men may be 
 troubled by shadows across the path. They 
 may be distressed by fears, and direct their 
 steps in the race for wealth, and fame, and 
 pleasure. "After all these things do the Gen- 
 tiles seek." " But your heavenly Father know- 
 eth that ye have need of all these things." 
 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: 
 for the morrow shall take thought for the things 
 of itself." 
 
 If we would be wise, let us heed the words 
 of the wise king — "Trust in the Lord, and do 
 good ; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily 
 thou shalt be fed." It is better to trust than 
 to worry, and better to do good than to fear 
 evil. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and 
 he shall direct thy paths." 
 
 The model Christian man is faithful in the 
 
Providence. 221 
 
 discharge of his duties to man as well as to 
 God. He is diligent in business; fervent in 
 spirit; serving the Lord. He prays, "Give us 
 this day our daily bread ; " and without distrust 
 labors to obtain it. In the midst of plenty, he 
 still trusts; for he knows that riches may take 
 wings and fly away, but that God's Word abid- 
 eth forever. If the worst comes ; if the labor 
 of the olive fails and the vine casts her fruit; 
 if the stall be empty and the fold deserted ; he 
 still trusts. For God's providence is as sure 
 in the time of sorrow as in joy. 
 
 The trouble with many of us is, as has been 
 said, that we fail to realize what we know to 
 be true. Our daily bread is given, but we fear 
 for to-morrow's supply, or for the year to come ; 
 or there is a terror of want in old age. This 
 fear is not confined to the poor. It is a skele- 
 ton in many homes. The man of thousands 
 dreads it no less than he who has only his daily 
 wages. It makes some men misers, and other 
 men slaves. It is a ghost that will not down 
 at any earthly command. Many a man, whose 
 income would keep him in plenty, sees it in 
 his dreams. You have seen it. Perhaps you 
 know the charm, the talisman, which will ban- 
 ish it. There is but one deliverance. "Trust 
 in the Lord, and -do good ; so shalt thou dwell 
 in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." 
 
222 Providence. 
 
 "Your heavenly Father knoweth that you 
 have need of these things." "In all thy ways 
 acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy 
 paths." 
 
XIX. 
 
 ANGELS. 
 
 "They came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, which 
 said that he ivas alive." — Luke xxiv. 23. 
 
 ASK your attention, not to the message 
 contained in this text, but to the messen- 
 ger — angel means messenger. 
 
 The women who sought Jesus early at the 
 sepulchre, and found Him not, received a mes- 
 sage from Him. They saw a vision of angels, 
 which declared His resurrection. So, before 
 Christ's birth, His coming was foretold to Mary 
 by an angel. So, also, other saints received 
 messages from heaven. From such visitations 
 we may learn much in regard to the nature 
 and work of angels. 
 
 And first we learn that there are angels, and 
 that they are real and living. Flesh and 
 blood are not the only realities, nor are people 
 of flesh and blood the only real people. The 
 population of the world, as given in censuses, 
 counts only these, but above and around, un- 
 seen and uncounted, are beings of another 
 
 (223) 
 
224 Angels. 
 
 order, with a different nature and different 
 duties. 
 
 As to their nature, they are created beings. 
 God, Who made the earth and man, made 
 them. They are, therefore, not to be wor- 
 shiped. There is one Creator, one G^d, by 
 whom are all things, and Who alone is to be 
 praised. "Let no man beguile you," said 
 Paul to the Colossians, "into the worshiping 
 of angels." When John fell down to worship 
 before the feet of an angel, he said, " See thou 
 do it not." 
 
 They are of various grades and ranks. 
 There is the archangel, or chief among them, 
 and there are angels that excel in strength. 
 
 As to their office and duties, they are, as we 
 have already said, messengers. To Abraham, to 
 Daniel, to the women, to John in Patmos, and 
 to many others, God sent them bearing mes- 
 sages of facts, promises or warnings. "An an- 
 gel spake unto me by the word of the Lord" 
 was the testimony of the old prophet in Bethel. 
 "He sent and signified it by his angel to his 
 servant John" is the introduction to the Rev- 
 elation. It is recorded that "the angel talked 
 with Zechariah," and "what the angel said, he 
 wrote." What is true of these books, is true of 
 others and of the entire Old Testament, which 
 is described as "the word spoken by angels." 
 
Angels. 225 
 
 They are not only messengers of God, but 
 ministers to man. In the Epistle to the He- 
 brews they are declared to be "ministering 
 spirits sent forth to minister to them that shall 
 be heirs of salvation." The apostle in these 
 words simply repeated what to the Hebrews 
 was a familiar truth, namely, that angels are 
 charged with the care of God's people, and 
 give them care and comfort. This doctrine 
 was a part of their theology. David had fully 
 declared it, and his words were as familiar and 
 precious to the Hebrews as they are to us. 
 "He shall give his angels charge over thee to 
 keep thee in all thy ways ; they shall bear thee 
 up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot 
 against a stone." "The ano-el of the Lord en- 
 campeth round about them that fear him, and 
 delivereth them." 
 
 How their power is exercised, or how often 
 we are kept from accidents, or from sin, by 
 their intervention, we do not know. How near 
 they may be we can not tell, nor how many 
 there are, nor how they move through space, 
 nor how they know our thoughts or our dan- 
 gers. 
 
 The Scriptures teach that they are numer- 
 ous. When the angel announced the birth of 
 Christ, " immediately there were with him a 
 multitude of the heavenly host " Christ spoke 
 15 
 
226 Angels. 
 
 of "more than twelve legions," and the Apostle 
 Paul of an "innumerable company of angels." 
 John said practically the same thing when 
 he declared in. his vision that "the number of 
 them was ten thousand times ten thousand and 
 thousands of thousands." 
 
 As more people have been buried in the 
 earth than are on the earth, so more may 
 move unseen than are seen. Men simply guess 
 when they fix the earth's }3opulation at thirteen 
 hundred million, and it is worse than useless 
 to figure on the angelic host. They are 
 enough for God's purpose, and man's need. 
 Could our eyes be opened, their number and 
 power would astonish us, as the servant of 
 Elisha was astonished when, in answer to the 
 prophet's prayer, the Lord opened his eyes 
 and he saw that "the mountain was full of 
 horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 
 We should have less fear for ourselves, and 
 for our children, and for the Church. But 
 these are a part of the invisible things which 
 we must see by faith. 
 
 For our comfort, however, we turn to the 
 Scripture record, and read how they have, in 
 time past, ministered to good people. Daniel 
 answered the king and said: "My God 
 hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' 
 mouths that they have not hurt me." When 
 
Angels. 227 
 
 Peter was come to himself, after his wonderful 
 escape from prison, he said, "Now I know of 
 a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel and 
 hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod." 
 
 These were real deliverances. In each case 
 the angel had power sufficient for the necessity. 
 How different are they from the pretended 
 calling of spirits in our day. Christian people 
 can have little sympathy with the rappings 
 and slate- writings, the table-tippings and throw- 
 ing about of musical instruments, of which 
 spirits are falsely accused. Spirits from the 
 better world, whether angel or redeemed, 
 would not be guilty of such folly. But we can 
 consistently believe in the ministry of angels, 
 and, though in our experience there may have 
 been no such great deliverances as those re- 
 corded, our confidence may be a support very 
 secure in the ordinary duties and dangers of 
 life. 
 
 After our Savior's fast, angels came and 
 ministered unto Him. So, oftentime, their 
 ministry is a healing after trial, a help to re- 
 covery from temptation, and, perhaps, from 
 sin. Much of their help is spiritual. They 
 interest themselves in our conversion and sanc- 
 tification. There is joy, we are told, in heaven 
 over one sinner that repenteth. There is joy, 
 also, over saints who grow in grace. Herein 
 
228 Angels. 
 
 is an answer to a question which naturally 
 arises, in view of the suffering of which we see 
 so much. The highest care and help are spir- 
 itual. It is not God's will to deliver us at 
 once from all ill and pain, but by His mes- 
 sengers a better deliverance is brought. 
 
 A very beautiful passage bearing on the sub- 
 ject is the utterance of Christ in regard to chil- 
 dren: "I say unto you that in heaven there 
 angels do always behold the face of my Father 
 which is in heaven." Children are Gods care, 
 and their guardian angels have special favors 
 and powers. They do not keep them entirely 
 from sin or sorrow, but their influence is for 
 their good. 
 
 The idea that each person has one guardian 
 angel, which watches and cares for him from 
 childhood through youth to mature age, is 
 poetical rather than Scriptural. Yet no one 
 can say surely that it is not true. It grows 
 very naturally out of such passages as we have 
 quoted. It makes little difference, however, 
 whether the ministry be of one, or of many, 
 who succeed each other; the truth remains 
 that they are ministering spirits, sent of God 
 to minister to His people. 
 
 Their ministry does not end with this life. 
 The Bible represents them as caring for the 
 dead ; as taking the spirit, when it leaves its 
 
Angels. 229 
 
 clay, to its future blissful home. "It came to 
 pass that the beggar died, and was carried by 
 angels to Abraham's bosom." Let the thought 
 comfort us that, when believers die, whether 
 young or old, whether rich as Dives or poor as 
 Lazarus, the angels are ready to take the spirit 
 to its reward. 
 
 They are there also to care for the body, 
 whether it be buried in the earth or sea, or 
 not buried at all, but scattered by winds, they 
 know its place and guard it. 
 
 The Apostle Jude represents the archangel 
 Michael as contending with the devil for the body 
 of Moses, which he would have stolen from its 
 resting-place on Mount Nebo ; while the Savior, 
 speaking of the resurrection, represents angels 
 as gathering the dead — that is, their bodies— 
 from their graves. 
 
 The reference to Michael, and to his contest 
 with the devil, turns our thoughts to a less 
 pleasant side of the subject, There are not 
 only angels who do God's will and minister to 
 His saints, but others who are in rebellion, 
 and do only evil. These are described as 
 fallen, as "the angels which kept not their first 
 estate." 
 
 Chief among them is Satan, who, on account 
 of sin, was banished from heaven, as our first 
 parents were banished from Eden. He was 
 
230 Angels. 
 
 an angel of high rank, and his name, Lucifer 
 — associated in our minds with brimstone and 
 lire — was a name of honor. " How art thou 
 fallen from, heaven, Lucifer, son of the morn- 
 ing!" 
 
 I have read recently a newspaper discus- 
 sion, in which a so-called liberal paper ex- 
 presses surprise that "ministers of the Gospel 
 and Christian people should believe the de- 
 cayed fiction of a personal devil." We cer- 
 tainly do believe it, though it is far from a 
 "decayed fiction." Satan's existence and per- 
 sonality are inseparable. We can no more 
 think of an impersonal devil than of an imper- 
 sonal man. The Scriptures represent him as 
 talking, planning, seeking, coming, going, and 
 tempting. Things which could not be predi- 
 cated of a mere figure of speech. 
 
 A great deal of nonsense has been written 
 about Satan. He is represented with cloven 
 feet and horns and a dart-like tail. These rep- 
 resentations have no foundation in Scripture or 
 good sense. We do not know what he looks 
 like, though we do know that he is not always 
 hideous. He has appeared as an angel of light. 
 He no doubt appeared in pleasant form to 
 Christ in His temptation. Moreover, he was 
 to Him a personal devil; so he was to Eve. 
 To understand anything less, is to strain the 
 
Angels. 231 
 
 language in which these appearances are de- 
 scribed. 
 
 His names also indicate personality. He is 
 the Adversary, the Devil, the Wicked One, 
 the Tempter, the Old Serpent, the Prince of 
 this world, the Prince of Devils, etc. Some of 
 these indicate his character, purposes and 
 work. He is evil, and tempts to evil. His 
 delight is to lead men astray, and so bring 
 them into condemnation. Others represent 
 him as first among many of his kind — a ruler 
 of other devils or demons. These in the 
 Scriptures are called " legion,, for they are 
 many." 
 
 To what extent these have power to pass 
 from place to place, or to possess particular 
 people, we can not say. In Christ's day, they 
 were allowed to enter and afflict men and 
 women, and even children. Christ, who came 
 to destroy the works of the devil, cast them 
 out by a word, and has still power over 
 them. 
 
 Whether they now possess people exactly as 
 in olden times or not, they can work mischief, 
 and they do work it. Satan goeth about as a 
 roaring lion. He blinds men to the truth. 
 He desires them, that he may sift them as 
 wheat. He uses the world and the flesh as 
 snares for them. Men are tempted of him 
 
232 Angels, 
 
 when they are " drawn away of their own lust 
 and enticed." 
 
 Though we know nothing of Satan's appear- 
 ance, we do know something of his methods. 
 The temptations of Christ reveal his plan of 
 attack, while the Scriptures throughout warn 
 us and show the true plan of resistance. 
 
 It is said of General Yon Moltke that, hav- 
 ing studied French military tactics for years, 
 he knew in advance, and arranged to meet 
 every movement of the French armies in the 
 Franco-Prussian war. His knowledge of the 
 enemy's tactics gave him victory. We have 
 in God's Word not only the enemy's plan, but 
 God's plan of resistance. Surely in vain is 
 the net spread in the sight of any bird. Surely 
 in vain will Satan desire us, if we study God's 
 Word, and use it as Christ did — in our de- 
 fense. 
 
 To do this we must have that spiritual il- 
 lumination which comes only through faith. 
 Safety from a personal devil is in a personal 
 Christ. Through Satan came death, as the re- 
 sult of sin. In Christ is life. He has taken 
 the sting from death. Moreover, He is a 
 watchful intercessor. As He prayed for His 
 tempted apostle that his faith might not fail, 
 so He "ever liveth to make intercession for 
 us." 
 
Angels. 233 
 
 His mission to earth, His incarnation, life, 
 death and resurrection, are a mystery to angels. 
 We read that the angels desire to look into 
 them. We unite in their desire, and by faith 
 we hojoe one day to realize it, and to unite with 
 them in the praise of the Lamb. 
 
XX. 
 
 WORK 
 
 " We are laborers together with, God." — 1 Corinthians iii. 9. 
 
 TX70RK is the order of Nature. " In the 
 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, 1 ' 
 was the word of Jehovah to the first pair of 
 our race. "If any would not work, neither 
 should he eat," is the New Testament echo of 
 the same truth. Study "to do your own busi- 
 ness and to work with your own hands, as we 
 commanded you," was the exhortation of Paul 
 to the Corinthians. 
 
 Work is not a result of the Fall, as some 
 poetical thinkers have imagined. He takes a 
 low view of Paradise, and of the blissful estate 
 of our first parents, who thinks of a garden in 
 which they could walk, and sit, and dream 
 away an idle existence. "And the Lord God 
 took the man and put him into the Garden of 
 Eden to dress it, and to keep it." Woman was 
 made as a helpmeet for him. Together they 
 were to care for the Paradise which God gave 
 them for a home. 
 
 (234) 
 
Work. 235 
 
 Their labor was not a burden, but a joy. 
 The earth brought forth abundantly of every 
 good thing; there were no thorns in their Gar- 
 den, nor in their toil. They worked and were 
 not weary. Weariness and the sweat of the 
 face came, with the thorns and brambles, after 
 the Fall. The curse was not that they should 
 work, but that work should be a burden. It 
 has been, and is, and will be a burden upon 
 their children to the last generation; or, at 
 least, until that time prophesied by Isaiah, 
 when, the curse being removed, "instead of 
 the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead 
 of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree." 
 
 Even with the curse, however, work is not 
 an unmitigated evil. It serves a wise purpose. 
 There is that in the nature of man which de- 
 mands occupation. There are powers which 
 insist on exercise. The arm feels its strength, 
 and would use it. The mind finds no real joy 
 in sluggish rest. Just as the tender shoot from 
 the acorn pushes aside the clods, and strikes 
 upward for life and light; just as the sparrow 
 busies itself with its nest and the bee with its 
 honey — so man is impelled to labor. That 
 there are drones in the hive, and birds which 
 will not build, and worthless idlers among men, 
 does not disturb the general rule — that work 
 is the order of Nature and necessary to happi- 
 
236 Work. 
 
 ness. There are certain enjoyments impossible 
 without it. Appetite, good digestion and vig- 
 orous health depend on it. It is necessary 
 also to development or education. The desire 
 to be something among men, or to have what 
 men esteem good, demands effort. There is 
 no improvement without it. 
 
 All kinds of work, moreover, do not give 
 the same measure of profit or of education. 
 While one man's work educates him in one 
 direction, another's u in the very opposite. A 
 book-keeper, working year after year over 
 balances, troubled at times over trifling dis- 
 crepancies, becomes exact not only in figures, 
 but in life. A lawyer becomes logical, not only 
 in his treatment of cases, but in his life. One 
 whose work involves him with that which is 
 low and vicious, becomes himself low; while 
 he who works with the pure and good, feels 
 the influence of his surroundings. 
 
 This fact, perhaps, may help us to under- 
 stand God's design in appointing to His chosen 
 each a measure of spiritual work. "We are 
 laborers together with God." He hath chosen 
 us and ordained us that we should go and bring 
 forth fruit, not because our labor is necessary 
 to Him, but that it is necessary to us. We 
 require education in spiritual things. The 
 spiritual nature must be developed, and this 
 
Work. 237 
 
 development must come by God's grace through 
 effort. The mind must be taken from earthly 
 things and interested in heavenly things. One 
 can but be interested in that to which he 
 has given money or effort, for the giving or 
 effort identifies him with it. The Christian 
 who devotes time or money to his Master's 
 cause, thereby stimulating his interest, edu- 
 cates himself, in the highest sense. Hence, it 
 is not surprising that work should be urged as 
 a duty in the Word of God. The example of 
 Christ, Whose life was one of continual effort, 
 is commended to us. He said: "I must work 
 the works of Him that sent me, while it is day." 
 "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 
 He also commanded His disciples and His 
 people in all ages to spare no effort, but to 
 preach His Gospel to every creature. 
 
 The Church established by His disciples was 
 a working organization. He so designed it. 
 Appointing various officers, He gave to each 
 his office and work. There are, or should 
 be, no sinecures in the church; no positions, 
 which pay wages either in money or honor, for 
 which there is not a corresponding service. 
 The offices of the church and simple member- 
 ship are honorable. They are means of bless- 
 ing; but as is true everywhere, blessing and 
 duty are associated, and can not be separated. 
 
238 Work. 
 
 Notice the way in which this fact is set forth 
 in Scripture. The apostle, in writing to Tim- 
 othy, says: "If a man desire the office of a 
 bishop, he desire th a good work." We have 
 in our churches bishops, or elders, who labor 
 in word and doctrine; and others who rule. 
 We speak of them as ministers and elders. 
 The office is one of honor, and requires quali- 
 fications which are set forth by the apostle. 
 Yet the first thought in his mind, as he speaks 
 of it, is its work. 
 
 Writing in a subsequent Epistle, he speaks 
 of the work of an evangelist. There is no 
 reference to the honor, or dignity, or pay; but 
 emphasis is laid on the work. 
 
 In the ordinary affairs of life, work brings 
 success. Idleness insures failure. The most 
 useful men in business and society are not the 
 richest nor the wisest, but those who best ap- 
 preciate and meet their liabilities. The most 
 useful men in the ministry and eldership are 
 not those best educated or freest in speech and 
 prayer, but those most alive to the duties of 
 their position, and most anxious to glorify God. 
 
 It is sometimes said that men who, at college, 
 take the highest honors, are apt to fail in life. 
 This is not necessarily true, but it does often 
 so happen. The reason is, that high attain- 
 ments beget pride, which leads to idleness. 
 
Work. 239 
 
 He who trusts in ability or tact or knowledge, 
 rather than in work, runs great risk of failure. 
 What is true of the ministry or eldership, is 
 true of the other officers, and of all in the 
 church. The first deacons were appointed to 
 "serve." That is the word. There was a 
 special work to which the apostles could not 
 attend. "It is not meet that we should leave 
 the word of God to serve tables." They, there- 
 fore, chose out seven men of good report. 
 These attended to the temporal affairs of the 
 Church. They had sufficient to occupy them. 
 So the deacons in any church should find 
 enough work to balance all the honor their 
 office conveys. 
 
 This honor is no trifle. Indeed, it is no 
 trifle to serve even in the rank and file of the 
 Lord's host. The work is one to which our 
 Savior gave His life, which filled His infinite 
 heart, and will fill our lives and hearts if we 
 faithfully perform it. It is one in which we 
 are brought into the closest contact with Him. 
 We seek the same things He sought. Hence 
 it is that he who "is a doer of the work, this 
 man shall be blessed in his deed." 
 
 Of the great need of Christian work, it is 
 hardly necessary to speak. Souls are perish- 
 ing for lack of knowledge. The harvest is 
 white, and can not be gathered without labor. 
 
240 Work. 
 
 It can not be neglected without loss. Say ye 
 not, there are yet five months until winter, and 
 that winter is the harvest-time of the Church. 
 It is true that most of our churches are warm 
 in winter and cold in summer; that our revi- 
 vals come generally after the holidays ; but there 
 is no law for it, save the law of work. We are 
 accustomed to expect and work for a revival 
 just after the Week of Prayer. We expect 
 then to gather a harvest. That we sometimes 
 fail, is because we failed in the sowing. The 
 husbandman's labor is not all in the reaping; 
 he must prepare the soil and scatter the seed. 
 There are lands where no winter comes, but 
 where the husbandman may sow at any season. 
 So it should be in the church. Every day 
 there should be both sowing and reaping. Does 
 this impose too heavy a burden ? No Chris- 
 tian, viewing what Christ has clone for him, 
 and the importance of what Christ asks of him, 
 will say so. Particularly will he not murmur, 
 if his eyes are open to the good he may accom- 
 plish. "He that converteth a sinner from the 
 error of his way, shall save a soul from death." 
 For encouragement in work, we have the 
 assurance of God's help ; or, rather, the knowl- 
 edge that the work is His, and that we are 
 laborers together with Him. We have the 
 assurance which strengthened Zerubbabel in 
 
Work. 241 
 
 his hour of weakness: "Be strong, saith the 
 Lord, and work ; for I am with you, saith the 
 Lord of hosts." Our arms are weak; our judg- 
 ment is fallible. The work is beyond our 
 strength ; but with God all things are possible. 
 He who labors together with God, can not fail. 
 
 The question, however, is raised: Do we not 
 fail in many of our Christian undertakings? 
 Have we not labored for the salvation of souls, 
 and for the better observance of the Sabbath, 
 and for the overthrow of immorality? and have 
 not our labors come to naught? It may be so. 
 The blessing may, in God's wisdom, be delayed ; 
 or there may be no blessing. We read of some 
 who "ask, and receive not; because they ask 
 amiss." We may work and accomplish noth- 
 ing, because we work amiss. 
 
 In public work for better Sabbath observ- 
 ance, or for the overthrow of vice in any form, 
 I am satisfied that this is true. We depend 
 too much on talk — on ringing speeches and 
 fine sermons. Not long since, it was deemed 
 necessary to do something about the disregard 
 of our Sabbath laws. A meeting was called; 
 the house was crowded ; the speeches were fine ; 
 the enthusiasm was intense; the resolutions 
 were scriptural and bold. We congratulated 
 each other. We said, "This will have an effect." 
 Now as to the result. There was none. The 
 16 
 
242 Work. 
 
 ripple did not extend beyond the building ; and 
 why? For the same reason that a blank car- 
 tridge does no execution. The enthusiasm 
 spent itself and did not lead to real work. 
 Political parties understand the value of meet- 
 ings and speeches; but they do not depend en- 
 tirely on them, nor let them take the place of 
 the hand to hand work which tells. Christian 
 people should know that personal work is 
 necessary in reaching either individuals or 
 masses. 
 
 In the greatest of all work — the persuading 
 of souls — it is necessary to feel the pressing 
 importance of immediate salvation. This we 
 are prone to overlook. We teach and talk of 
 all manner of things, to the neglect of the one 
 great message. Some years ago a mill-dam, 
 in an Eastern State, which held up acres of 
 water, began to give way. The people in the 
 valley were about their duties, and knew not 
 their peril. A man, on a swift horse, dashed 
 down, warning every house. Imagine the 
 eagerness of that man; imagine his zeal; 
 imagine his message as he stops for an instant. 
 Does he speak of the weather, or the crops, or 
 business, or pleasure? Does he comment on 
 the geography of the valley? Does he note 
 the great reservoir above, and say: "It may 
 give way?" No! His cry is, "Escape for 
 
Work. 243 
 
 your life!" and such should be the word of 
 Christians who see the danger of souls. 
 
 Such is the cry with which I would reach 
 any who have not found safety in Christ. 
 Escape for your lives. A worse danger than 
 the rush of mighty waters is upon you. Flee 
 from the wrath to come. There is no hope 
 but in Christ. 
 
XXI. 
 
 WORK AND REWARD. 
 
 "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall re- 
 ceive a reward." — 1 Cor. iii. 14. 
 
 uT^HE laborer is worthy of his hire." This 
 -*- is the Scripture statement of a univers- 
 al law. That the laborer will sooner or later 
 receive the reward of his labor is, in substance, 
 the promise of the text. 
 
 The promise is primarily to ministers. If 
 they preach sound doctrine, beginning with 
 the foundation doctrine of Christ and Him 
 crucified, their work shall abide, and they shall 
 receive a reward, possibly in this life, but if 
 not, then certainly in the next. We may ap- 
 ply it, however, to all who seek the salvation 
 of men, and so labor together with and for 
 God. If they are faithful in following the di- 
 rections given for their labor, their work will 
 abide and they will receive payment. 
 
 There is nothing selfish in the Gospel, nor 
 does it appeal to selfish motives in thus placing 
 before us the idea of reward. It is not con- 
 (244) 
 
Work and Reward. 245 
 
 trary to our vow of consecration, nor inconsist- 
 ent with a controlling desire for God's glory, 
 that we expect and take pleasure in the hope 
 of personal blessings, to be bestowed as pay- 
 ment for our labor. God places this hope be- 
 fore His people as an incentive to faithful 
 effort. Moses chose to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God, because "he had respect unto the 
 recompense of reward." Christ, "for the joy 
 that was set before him," endured the cross. 
 Christians have been strengthened in their 
 race by hope of the crown to be obtained. 
 Man's chief end is, indeed,- to glorify God, but 
 with this is very closely associated "to enjoy 
 him forever." 
 
 In the verses which precede the text, and 
 in the text itself, God's workmen are repre- 
 sented first as husbandmen, planting seed, 
 and afterward as builders. They are build- 
 ing a church upon a . foundation which God 
 Himself has laid. The corner-stone of this 
 foundation is the Lord Jesus. Upon Him "all 
 the building, fitly framed together, groweth in- 
 to an holy temple of the Lord;" in Whom, 
 also, Christians "are builded together for an 
 habitation of God through the Spirit." The 
 illustration was a favorite with the Apostle 
 Paul. Let us study it as he develops it here 
 and in other Epistles. 
 
246 Work and Beward. 
 
 First, our building must have a foundation. 
 This we find ready laid for us. We come to 
 it as the bricklayers or carpenters come to a 
 foundation upon which the stone-masons have 
 put their last touches. 
 
 The foundation of this foundation is the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. He is underneath the apostles 
 and prophets. He is the sure corner-stone. 
 Other foundation can no man lav than that is 
 laid. It is according to divine specifications, 
 and these are in harmony with the specifica- 
 tions according to which we are to do our work. 
 We have nothing to do with it except to build 
 upon it. We can not change it to suit our 
 ideas of a proper religion. We can not modify 
 it to suit our theories or desires. 
 
 A scientific man must take the facts of sci- 
 ence as his foundation. He may classify these 
 facts, and on them build general laws, but he 
 can not change them. So in religion. The 
 facts are established and are unchangeable. 
 The central fact is, that " God so loved the 
 world that he gave his only begotten son that 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life." All that the 
 prophets taught, and all that the law typified 
 before Christ came, were but the digging and 
 the preparation of the place for this corner- 
 stone, which had been prepared from eternity. 
 
Work and Reward. 247 
 
 The stone was laid firmly and squarely and 
 for all time. It can not be moved. If we 
 would labor for the glory of God, or the good 
 of men, we must base our belief, our teaching, 
 and our lives on the truth that Christ died for 
 the salvation of men, that He is the only hope 
 of a lost world, and that whosoever believeth 
 on Him shall be saved. There is no promise 
 of reward to him whose work for the salvation 
 of men is based on any other foundation than 
 this. 
 
 Second. Our work on the building of the 
 Lord must be according to specifications. The 
 foundation is laid, "but," says the apostle, "let 
 every man take heed how he buildeth thereon." 
 
 Let every man, first, take heed that his 
 building stands squarely on its foundation — 
 that there is nothing in his teaching or his life 
 which is out of plumb, or which projects be- 
 yond the divinely-established lines. 
 
 Let every one, second, take heed that the 
 material he uses is honest; that he does not 
 dishonor a true foundation by a rotten build- 
 ing; that his doctrines are sound, his motives 
 pure, and his love unfeigned. 
 
 Let every one, third, take heed that he gives 
 full time ; that he is not slothful in the Lord's 
 business, but that he is instant in season and 
 out of season at the work to which he is called. 
 
248 Work and Reward. 
 
 The apostle emphasizes the need of good 
 material in the building, that is of sound doc- 
 trine and pure motives. If any man build on 
 the foundation of good material gold, silver, 
 precious stones, or of poor material, wood, hay 
 and stubble, let him not be deceived; a time 
 of trial will come, and his reward will depend 
 on the character of his work. 
 
 He who has faithfully taught and lived the 
 doctrine of God's Word, shall receive his re- 
 ward. His work shall stand. But he who 
 has neglected his plain specifications, and has 
 taught error, giving only the wood, hay and 
 stubble of human theories, shall see his work 
 burned up, just as the herdsmen or gardeners 
 who, in olden times, built themselves shelters 
 of boards or branches, covered with straw, saw 
 them fall before the fires which swept their 
 fields in hot weather. 
 
 The unfaithful Christian, who knows Christ 
 as his Redeemer, and is built upon Him, but 
 whose life is inconsistent; whose affections are 
 on sinful things, is building a temple which 
 will not stand. He will be saved, for salva- 
 tion depends upon Christ ; and his faith, though 
 weak, is genuine; but his work will be burned 
 up. He will be saved, yet so as by fire ; that 
 is, as a man who escapes from a burning house 
 with nothing but his life. • 
 
Work and Bernard. 249 
 
 He, on the other hand, who has been faith- 
 ful, will receive a reward. He will not enter 
 heaven as a fugitive escaping from the destruc- 
 tion of his home, but will have abundant en- 
 trance. Salvation is of grace, and comes by 
 faith; yet the rewards of heaven are to vary 
 according to our faithfulness. When Christ 
 comes, it will be to u give every man according 
 as his work shall be." "If any man's work 
 abide, he shall receive a reward above that 
 which he receives who is barely saved, but 
 whose work is burned." 
 
 It is manifest that Christians are not only 
 to build each his individual temple to the 
 Lord, but that together they are to raise a com- 
 mon temple to the praise of His mercy. How 
 are we to build this temple, which is the Church 
 of God? How can we help the Church? 
 
 First. By preaching the Word; by telling 
 men of Christ and His salvation, and by urg- 
 ing them to begin building themselves upon 
 the only true foundation. It is not for the 
 ministry alone to preach the Word of God. 
 They are indeed set apart to a formal official 
 work, but to every one who hears the Gospel 
 is committed the duty of declaring it. Per- 
 forming this duty, they are building the tem- 
 ple <3f the Lord. They may build in their Sab- 
 bath-school teaching. The scholars are living 
 
250 Work and Reward. 
 
 stones which they may fashion for a place in 
 the wall. They may build in their missionary 
 organizations as effectively as the daughters 
 of Shallum helped to build the walls of Jeru- 
 salem. They may build in their families. 
 Their children are to be trained in the nurture 
 of the N Lord, and so fitted and polished for their 
 places in the temple. They may build in 
 their business, in social life, in their plans. 
 Old and young, even little children, may lead 
 souls to Christ. All who love the Lord may 
 help build up His Church. 
 
 They may teach everywhere by their exam- 
 ple. There is no more effectual worker than 
 the man who lives the Gospel. Every consist- 
 ent Christian is a living sermon. A certain 
 minister was wont to explain his success, under 
 God, in a long pastorate, by referring to two 
 men and two women who emphasized his 
 preaching by their pious lives. One of these, 
 when asked as to their minister's success, said 
 he was a "very godly man." "His life em- 
 phasized his preaching." All can not preach 
 from the pulpit, but all may emphasize the 
 Word. They may thus be living witnesses, 
 known and read, and by their example may 
 turn men to Christ. 
 
 God sometimes uses feeble instruments for 
 the accomplishment of great things. He may 
 
Work and Reward. 251 
 
 bless the work of an humble disciple, to the 
 salvation of many souls. Often the poor, bed- 
 ridden and ignorant, speak words which lead 
 to Christ those afterward blessed in the min- 
 istry, or in other Christian work. It was the 
 exhortation of a poor woman which led Charles 
 Wesley to Christ. She was, through him, 
 the means of saving multitudes. She knew 
 not the importance of her feeble effort. So we 
 sow seed, not knowing which shall prosper ; or 
 build, not knowing the divine plan. 
 
 Imagine a faithful workman, as he cuts cedar 
 on Mount Lebanon for the house of the Lord, 
 or shapes and polishes the stone given him. 
 He knows not what place it is to fill, or whether 
 his labor will be seen or hidden, but he is 
 faithful. Imagine him, again, at the dedica- 
 tion of the temple. He stops as his eyes rest 
 on familiar lines. His face lights with a proper 
 pride — this is his work. He has made a pillar 
 for the house of God. Many a Christian 
 labors, as he labored, in darkness, fashioning, 
 or, perhaps, doing rough work — quarrying the 
 stone which will afterward be a pillar in the 
 Lord's Church. 
 
 The rewards of Christian faithfulness may 
 be expected partly in this life and partly in 
 the next. He is rewarded here who is con- 
 scious of having done his duty. Said a builder 
 
252 Work and Reward. 
 
 to me, pointing to a new house: "I bid too 
 low on that house, and lost $500; but it's worth 
 that to know that I kept the contract and did 
 honest work." He is rewarded who knows 
 that his actions are pleasing to God. He has 
 a reward in the assurance that God loves and 
 approves him. To a dutiful child the parent's 
 approval is better than a prize. To a loving 
 wife or husband, love returned is better than 
 a fortune. So the Christian has a reward in 
 the assurance of God's love, the peace of con- 
 science, and the joy in the Holy Ghost, which, 
 by the divine blessing, follow his faithful- 
 ness. 
 
 He has also a reward in the success of the 
 work committed to him. Whether he plants 
 or reaps, whether he preaches or only prays, the 
 triumphs of the Gospel are his triumphs. 
 Christian parents see their children converted, 
 and living consistent Christian lives. Is not 
 this a reward? Can you figure its value in 
 dollars and cents? Christian brothers and 
 sisters see those they love turned from ways 
 which lead to death, and brought into the lib- 
 erty of the children of God. This is to them 
 full measure, pressed down and running over. 
 Those who love the Church see its triumphs 
 at home and in heathen lands. This pays them 
 principal and interest over and over again 
 
Work and Reward. 253 
 
 for their prayers, efforts and gifts to home and 
 foreign missions. 
 
 But this is not all. There are rewards in 
 the life to come. He who has made God's 
 glory his chief end, will see that glory. He 
 who has labored for the salvation of men, will 
 see their salvation. He who has been faithful 
 to his King, shall see Him on the throne— 
 the King of kings and Lord of lords. He 
 who has gloried in the Cross, will glory in the 
 Crown. 
 
 Moreover, he who has suffered together 
 with Christ, will also be glorified with Him. 
 When the King triumphs, His subjects tri- 
 umph with Him. When Christ appears, then 
 shall we also appear with Him in glory. 
 
 The servants who had been faithful in the 
 few things committed to them, were made 
 rulers over many things. So the Savior prom- 
 ised to His disciples that they should sit on 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 
 So, also, He says to each of us, "Be thou faith- 
 ful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life." 
 
 The apostles frequently spoke of the Chris- 
 tian's reward as a crown. Paul said, "I have 
 fought a good fight, I have finished my course, 
 I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid 
 up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 
254 Work and Reward. 
 
 Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
 that clay: and not to me only, but unto all 
 them also that love His appearing." James 
 spoke of the crown which the Lord "had 
 promised to them that love him." And Peter 
 said, " When the chief Shepherd shall appear, 
 ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth 
 not away." 
 
 We may suppose that there will be differ- 
 ences in these crowns. Some will be very 
 plain, while some will be brilliant with jewels. 
 Some will have few and some many, according 
 to that the wearer hath done for Christ. " They 
 that be wise [to win souls] shall shine as the 
 brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn 
 many to righteousness as the stars for ever 
 and ever." Every soul led to Christ will be a 
 star in the crown, and a joy to all eternity. 
 
 He that planteth may not here eat the fruit 
 of his labor, and he that reapeth may not real- 
 ize the value of his harvest ; but in God's time, 
 he that planteth and he that reapeth shall re- 
 joice together. 
 
 He that builds here, may build in darkness ; 
 but in the light of heaven his work will be 
 made manifest that it is wrought in God, and 
 he shall have his reward. As he has built for 
 God, God also has built for him. He shall 
 possess a mansion in the Father's house. 
 
XXII. 
 
 THE BIBLE. 
 
 "The entrance of thy words giveth light." — Psalm cxix. 130. 
 
 A S the eye without the sun, or the mind with- 
 
 out knowledge, so the natural heart is in 
 
 darkness. As a candle, taken into a dark room, 
 
 lightens it; so the entrance of God's Word 
 
 gives light. 
 
 At the creation, God, Who said, Let there be 
 light, breathed into man's nostrils, and man 
 became a living soul ; possessed of a life like 
 the Divine, capable of knowing and reasoning, 
 and of worship and communion with the Al- 
 mighty. Had there been no Fall, nothing 
 would have been needed to aid or urge this 
 communion. God's law was written in the 
 hearts of our first parents. They required no 
 revelation of His character and will. As in 
 the new Jerusalem there is no temple, nor need 
 of the sun or moon, but the glory of God is 
 the light thereof; so Adam, in Eden, worshiped 
 in the brightness of God's presence. With the 
 Fall came darkness. Driven from God, and 
 
 (255) 
 
256 The Bible. 
 
 controlled by a nature hostile to Him, man 
 passed into eclipse ; the heart was darkened, 
 and the age of spiritual gloom began. 
 
 The condition of our race, after the Fall, is 
 well described as "darkness." Satan is called 
 "the Prince of darkness." His kingdom is 
 "the kingdom of darkness," and his triumph 
 "the hour of the powers of darkness." Men 
 are said to have "the understanding darkened, 
 being alienated from God through the ignorance 
 that is in them, because of the blindness of 
 their hearts." They are represented as search- 
 ing after God, if haply they might feel after 
 Him, and find Him, though He is not far from 
 any one of them; just as a blindfolded person 
 feels for those about him. 
 
 The blindness is, of course, not that of the 
 natural eye, nor of the mind, but of the heart. 
 It is the want of that sense by which man sees 
 and knows God as the infinitely holy, the all- 
 wise, all-powerful and all-glorious Jehovah. 
 
 There were wise men among the children of 
 Adam in the earlier generations — men of strong- 
 minds, philosophers, strategists, architects and 
 rulers. There were teachers of morals and 
 makers of religions. There were men who 
 strove in their wisdom to know God, who, with 
 all their wisdom, were in darkness. The mind 
 is able to do the work it was designed to do, 
 
The Bible. 257 
 
 but it is limited. A microscope may be per- 
 fect and have great power, but it does not show 
 the stars. So the mind, darkened by sin, can 
 not compass the Divine character and will. 
 
 If men are to know God, God must reveal 
 Himself. If they are to know His will and 
 the way of His salvation, He must enlighten 
 them. He did thus give light at a very early 
 hour of our night. Even in Eclen, when the 
 judgment of expulsion was pronounced, He 
 declared His plan. "The seed of the woman 
 shall bruise the serpent's head." A descend- 
 ant of Eve was, by suffering, to overturn 
 Satan's power. This was a glimmer of light 
 at the very beginning of darkness. 
 
 The plan of salvation and God's character 
 were more plainly declared to Abraham and 
 the children of Israel. He spake in times 
 past unto the fathers by the prophets. He 
 spake in the ceremonial law, the types and 
 shadows of which, though dimly understood, 
 told of a fuller and plainer revelation ; and, in 
 latter days, He spake by His Son, who came, 
 according to promise, to die and rise again for 
 the salvation of men. 
 
 The story of salvation through a Redeemer, 
 
 as written in the Scripture, is a light, and its 
 
 entrance giveth light. God is light, and in 
 
 Him is no darkness. Christ is the light of 
 
 17 
 
258 The Bible. 
 
 the world. The Bible is a light to the feet 
 and a lamp to the path. God was revealed in 
 Christ, and Christ was and is revealed in the 
 Scriptures. They testify of Him. "When, 
 in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom 
 knew not God, it pleased God by the foolish- 
 ness of preaching to save them that believe." 
 The darkness which cursed our race in Adam 
 was dispelled, and the blindness of all who 
 would open their eyes cured, when Christ, the 
 Sun of righteousness, arose with healing in 
 His beams. He is the light of the world. 
 As He is revealed in the Scriptures, they are 
 a light to all who will open their eyes to see 
 in them the image and will of God. "The 
 people that walked in darkness have seen a 
 great light ; they that dwell in the land of the 
 shadow of death, upon them hath the light 
 shined." 
 
 These passages mean more than that the 
 Bible is an instructive book. They bring be- 
 fore us the one purpose for which it was given. 
 This was not that we mie'ht have an accurate 
 account of the creation, or a reliable history of 
 the Jews, or a book of morals. These things 
 are simply incidents. The purpose was that 
 God might reveal Himself, and His love, and 
 His plan of salvation in Christ Jesus. He 
 who studies the Bible without recognizing this 
 
The Bible. 259 
 
 truth, is like a man who, in an orchestra, plays 
 an instrument tuned above or below the com- 
 mon pitch. He may play every note accu- 
 rately, but his performance will be a discord. 
 
 The Bible is made up of many books by 
 many writers, but it is a unit. From the be- 
 ginning to the end, Christ is its theme. It is 
 a light, but it is so only because Christ is light 
 and is in it. In a like sense, Christians are 
 the light of the world, when Christ is in and 
 shines from them. Their light is imperfect, 
 because they are imperfect; but God's law is 
 perfect. Isaiah saw in it a brightness which 
 banished even the shadow of death — a great 
 light to them that walked in darkness. David 
 found it all he needed — a light to his feet and 
 a lamp to his path. 
 
 What the Bible was during the days of old, 
 when first given, it still is to every seeker after 
 truth. Without it he walks in darkness. He 
 gropes after salvation, but "knoweth not whither 
 he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded 
 his eyes." Ignorant of the way and uncertain 
 of its end, he starts at every sound. His own 
 imagination feeds his fears. The cloud which 
 shrouds his future is full of threatening. God 
 is a terror. 
 
 To such an one comes the Bible, and its 
 coming- gives light. God is revealed as a God 
 
260 The Bible. 
 
 of love. The future, though not fully disclosed, 
 is glorious beyond human comprehension; 
 while every step of the way is plain, so that 
 the most ignorant one need not err or lose his 
 direction. 
 
 The Bible is a light in any community or 
 land to which it finds entrance. The darkness 
 which prevailed among heathen nations in 
 David's day was no more dense than may still 
 be found. There are habitations of cruelty, 
 of ignorance and idolatry; but the lines about 
 these are more and more closely drawn. Na- 
 tion after nation has received the Scriptures, 
 and by their light has taken its place in the 
 ranks of civilization. The Bible is the great 
 civilizing power. Aside from its light concern- 
 ing God and duty, it incidentally works won- 
 ders in scientific, historical and literary fields. 
 
 The value of Bible light to those who study 
 ancient history can not be overestimated. Even 
 more important is the literary fact that the 
 Bible has been translated into more than one 
 hundred languages which before had no books 
 nor even an alphabet. Missionaries, that they 
 might give men the Scriptures, have reduced 
 their languages to writing. The entrance of 
 God's Word has given to these nations all the 
 light they have. 
 
 The same is true, though it may not be so 
 
The Bible. 261 
 
 readily admitted, of leading civilized nations. 
 Luther's translation is the foundation of Ger- 
 man literature. Great Britain was a heathen 
 land, until the foundations of her civilization 
 were laid by Christian missionaries. They gave 
 her the Bible, and with it the light by which 
 she has attained her high place among nations. 
 We can not separate Christianity from her 
 civilization. The Pilgrim Fathers brought the 
 Bible to our shores. Its light is reflected in 
 our Constitution and laws, though, as some 
 think, without due credit. Our foundations 
 were not laid in darkness ; but carefully, and 
 by the light of God's truth, every stone was 
 put in its place. 
 
 There are some who deny this — who deify 
 human reason, or human systems of thought 
 or government. The French revolutionists 
 worshiped liberty. Her entrance, with frater- 
 nity and equality, were to give light and civil- 
 ization. Darkness and terror resulted. 
 
 This is an age of thought, and the entrance 
 of exact science will, as some think, give light. 
 It has, so far, not appeared. A liberal league 
 promised a different and higher civilization 
 than that of God's Word; but its light was 
 darkness, and its morality so immoral that its 
 chief champion announced its dissolution. 
 
 Some may be ready to deny the connection 
 
262 The Bible, 
 
 between the Bible and our civilization. They 
 may point to communities in which infidelity 
 and prosperity go hand in hand, and to individ- 
 uals who, though moral and useful, are not be- 
 lievers in the Word of God. There are such 
 cases. G-od's Word may find entrance and may 
 give light. This light may work its blessed 
 results, and men may afterward deny its power. 
 Nations and smaller communities have their 
 morning, noon and evening. They sometimes 
 have a long twilight after the sun has gone. 
 The influences of Christianity remain after men 
 deny its power, just as an engine keeps its 
 speed for a little while after the steam is shut 
 off. They have a religious momentum, and 
 this gives a Bible morality, even after the 
 Bible itself is disregarded. So men may en- 
 joy the light which, in a Christian land, falls 
 upon them and in which they live, and yet not 
 realize its blessed mission. As the rain falls 
 and the sun shines on the evil as well as the 
 good, so, in Bible lands, the light blesses many 
 who do not recognize its power. One says: 
 " I believe in honesty between man and man. 
 It is better than preaching." Another says: 
 "Live peaceably with your neighbors; be in- 
 dustrious, more charitable and law-abiding." 
 Such appreciate the rays which stream from 
 the Bible, without knowing their source. But 
 
The Bible. 263 
 
 for the entrance of God's Word, these rays 
 would not pierce the natural darkness. 
 
 Heathen philosophers have written of hon- 
 esty, and purity, and charity ; but their light has 
 been like that of a match lighted in the dark- 
 ness and storm. In no heathen land have these 
 principles gained power over the popular mind. 
 In Christian lands they are so taught by Chris- 
 tian ministers and writers and parents, that 
 every man feels their influence. He can no 
 more escape from it than from the air he 
 breathes. This fact accounts for unbelieving 
 moralists and philanthropists, to whom ration- 
 alism points. They are found in Christian 
 lands. Modern heathenism has no such char- 
 acters. Were such men found in heathen 
 Africa, an argument might be rested on them ; 
 but as things really are, we might as well praise 
 the light and deny the sun, as to praise hon- 
 esty, purity and charity, while denying the 
 Bible. 
 
 Christian missions not only prove that the 
 entrance of God's Word gives light, but fur- 
 nish ground for a comparison of Christianity 
 with human methods of civilization. Chris- 
 tianity points to the Sandwich Islands, to Mad- 
 agascar, to Liberia, to South Africa, and other 
 lands upon which the Sun of righteousness has 
 risen. Their civilization is of the Bible ; but 
 
264 Tim Bible. 
 
 we search the map in vain for territories civil- 
 ized by any other means. Infidelity does no 
 mission work. It may shine and even dazzle 
 our eyes in the full noon of Christianity, but it 
 makes no entrance and gives no light to the 
 dark places of the earth. 
 
 The boast is made, however, that though 
 the Bible may have done much in the past, it 
 has "had its day" and is "losing its influence." 
 An association of liberal thinkers has lately 
 affirmed as much with great positiveness. The 
 statement may certainly be classed as "import- 
 ant, if true; " but is it true? We turn to the 
 published report of the American Bible Society 
 to find that its issues amount to more than one 
 million and a half copies annually of the Bible, 
 in whole or in part. Each year's issue exceeds 
 that of the previous year. That for 1884 was 
 over eighteen hundred thousand. Does any 
 other book, however new or interesting, circu- 
 late one-fourth or one-tenth this number of 
 copies? The American Bible Society is the 
 largest of our American Bible publishing estab- 
 lishments; but other houses print and circulate 
 the Scriptures. 
 
 These figures indicate that God's Word is 
 is not losing, but gaining in influence. It cer- 
 tainly is gaining not only in America, but in 
 other lands, The interest taken in Bible re- 
 
The Bible. 265 
 
 vision and an increased circulation in Great 
 Britain prove this. Moreover, the work of 
 translation goes on. Each year announces that 
 lands hitherto in darkness have received the 
 lio-ht of God's truth. 
 
 In spite of such facts, infidels tell us that the 
 Bible is "behind the times" — that it is "not 
 suited to the wants of our generation." There 
 have always been, and until the millennium will 
 be, men to talk just so. The Bible, though 
 suited to their need, is not suited to their de- 
 sires. It condemns them. It is plain-spoken. 
 It condemns sin, It shows the only way of 
 salvation through a crucified Savior. It can 
 no more fall behind the times than can the 
 laws of arithmetic. It can no more cease to 
 dispel darkness than the rays of the sun can 
 cease to lighten. It can no more become un- 
 suited to our needs than the pure air, suited to 
 Adam in Eden, can be unsuited to his children. 
 
 It is a book for every age, and for all peoples. 
 It is a book for children. There never was a 
 child of a healthy mind to whom its stories 
 were, or would not have been, a pleasing and 
 profitable study. A prominent skeptic says, 
 "It is a book for women." So it is! No book 
 ever did so much for woman; but it is also a 
 book for men. It teaches the truest manhood, 
 in opposition to the law of our lower nature — 
 
266 The Bible. 
 
 the law of brute force. It is a book for the 
 old. It is a book for everybody. It does that 
 which nothing else can do. Its entrance gives 
 light to souls darkened by sin. By it the Spirit 
 sanctifies those who believe. Its promises com- 
 fort those who are in distress, and strengthen 
 those who are ready to fall. Neither science 
 nor philosophy can take its place. The diffi- 
 culty with philosophy is, that it shows the evil 
 without the remedy. "Chemistry," as some 
 one has said, "never silenced a guilty con- 
 science. Mathematics never healed a broken 
 heart. All the sciences in the world never 
 soothed a dying pillow. No earthly philosophy 
 ever gave hope in death." 
 
 Man may reason out the fact that he is a 
 sinner, but only God's Word can give him 
 light and hope. That Word is not and can 
 not be "behind the times;" neither is it "los- 
 ing its influence," nor "unsuited to the wants of 
 our generation." 
 
 We have the Bible ; let us not shut our eyes 
 to its blessings. It is to be read and obeyed. 
 A feast is not brought in costly dishes to be 
 looked at and taken away; no more is God's 
 Word put in costly binding for the place of 
 honor and neglect upon our center tables. "Thy 
 word is a light unto my feet, and a lamp unto 
 my path." There are lanterns which may be 
 
The Bible. 267 
 
 closed so that no ray of light escapes, or opened 
 so that a stream of light is thrown far ahead 
 upon the path. So with the Bible. Closed 
 and unstudied, it is a dark lantern; opened, 
 studied and obeyed, its light is clear and full. 
 It is able to make us wise unto salvation, and 
 to thoroughly furnish us unto all good works. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 TRADITION. 
 
 " Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your 
 tradition." — Matt. xv. 6. 
 
 /~\UR Savior was a positive preacher. Though 
 mild and gentle, full of sympathy and 
 ready with help, He made no compromise with 
 wrong. For the repentant sinner He had 
 only love and forgiveness, but for the unre- 
 pentant stern reproof. He knew men thor- 
 oughly. Their weaknesses were as plain to 
 Him as if written with ink. He needed not 
 that any should tell Him of subtlety or hypoc- 
 risy, or of heartlessness in devotion. He 
 was particularly severe in condemning the 
 ritualism of His time. It deserved condemna- 
 tion. It was a religion of form without piety ; 
 of prayers and fastings without humiliation ; of 
 outward obedience without the obedience of the 
 heart; of oppression and idleness; of sackcloth 
 and vanity. 
 
 In the early part of His ministry, the scribes 
 and Pharisees attended His preaching, and, had 
 He followed their beaten track, would have 
 
 (268) 
 
Tradition. 269 
 
 been His disciples ; but contempt for their pre- 
 tentions, and reproof of their hypocrisy, drove 
 them from Him. "I say unto you that except 
 your righteousness exceed the righteousness of 
 the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven." Such 
 teaching made them His enemies. They sought 
 to take Him in His talk, or to convict Him of 
 sin before the people. 
 
 The opening verses of the chapter from 
 which our text is taken, are an account of such 
 an attempt. Some of the learned scribes and 
 Pharisees in Jerusalem had made a startling 
 discovery. His disciples did not always wash 
 their hands before eating. They told it to 
 each other, and repeated it. They questioned 
 the detectives who brought the news: "Can it 
 be proved on them? This will stop His 
 tongue. We shall hear no more of whited 
 sepulchres. Let us go at once and confront 
 Him, and let the people know what results fol- 
 low His teaching." 
 
 And so they came. They had a case against 
 Him according to their books, for tradition was 
 law, and it was the tradition of the elders that 
 a man must clip his fingers in water, or have 
 water poured on them before taking a bite of 
 food. The ceremony was equivalent to grace 
 before meat. To eat without this finger-bowl 
 
270 Tradition. 
 
 exercise was as bad as with some people in our 
 day to eat with a knife, or for a Mahommedan 
 to eat with a Christian. Religious teachers 
 were expected to keep, not only the law of 
 Moses, but the tradition of the elders, with all 
 its requirements as to the baptism of cups and 
 tables and hands. % 
 
 They stand up before Him, and the multi- 
 tude know that a controversy is at hand. 
 " Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition 
 of the elders?" Our Savior had little respect 
 for tradition. He believed, of course, in clean- 
 liness, and perhaps for this reason does not de- 
 fend the disciples for their neglect of rules 
 more scrupulous than necessary. He sees the 
 opportunity to contrast tradition and true re- 
 ligion, hence His answering question : " Why 
 do ye transgress the commandment of God by 
 your tradition?" He illustrates His question 
 by the Fifth Commandment. 
 
 According to this Commandment, children 
 must honor their parents. Such honor may 
 mean simple obedience and love, or it may 
 mean care and support. The man whose mother 
 is old and poor, must not see her dependent on 
 charity while he has abundance. God's law 
 makes him her natural guardian. To honor 
 mother and father under such circumstances, is 
 to feed and clothe and care for them. This 
 
Tradition. 271 
 
 Commandment was law to the Jews, but tradi- 
 tion came to the aid of such as were without 
 natural affection. 
 
 The devout Pharisee, with pious face and 
 broad phylacteries, could stand with his poor 
 parents in the synagogue and say, "It is a gift, 
 by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by 
 me;" or, in other words, "I dedicate to relig- 
 ious purposes what otherwise might go to your 
 support." After this he was free. He might 
 have money, and they might beg. Tradition 
 excused and applauded his violation of the 
 law. The Savior put this in a true light 
 when He said, "Thus have ye made the com- 
 mandment of God of none effect by your tradi- 
 tion," "and [he added] many such like things 
 ye do." 
 
 The Commandments were Ten ; tradition was 
 thousands. The education of a Jew was in 
 these traditions. Skillful in interpreting them, 
 he could go round every command, violating it 
 both in letter . and spirit without loss of repu- 
 tation for piety. 
 
 It was our Savior's mission to teach that 
 piety is obedience to the letter and spirit of 
 God's law. The great mass of tradition which 
 had accumulated since the day of Ezra He 
 treated as rubbish, which must be swept from 
 the law just as He afterward swept the tables 
 
272 Tradition. 
 
 of the money-changers, the pigeon cages, and 
 other merchants' furniture from the temple. 
 This tradition was the religion not of the Phari- 
 sees and scribes only, but of the whole Jewish 
 nation. Many devout men and women con- 
 scientiously kept the traditions of the elders 
 and forgot the law, just as some ritualistic 
 souls may keep fast days and offer prayers and 
 go through ceremonies, forgetting their spir- 
 itual meaning. 
 
 Even the disciples were blinded by the tra- 
 ditions of their people. The Apostle Peter, at 
 one time, came to Christ with the question, 
 "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against 
 me and I forgive him? till seven times?" 
 Seven was a sacred number. It was, accord- 
 ing to tradition, that, after forgiving an offender 
 seven times, the pious Jew was free from all 
 obligations. According to some, he need onlv 
 forgive five times. Peter asked the Savior for 
 His rule. The answer set forth the law, 
 which is love, in opposition to all such mathe- 
 matical tradition: "Not until seven times, but 
 until seventy times seven." 
 
 Frequently during His ministry, it was 
 necessary to reprove the worship of tradition, 
 and to impress the binding character of the 
 law. "In vain do ye worship, teaching for 
 doctrines the commandments of men?" 
 
Tradition. 273 
 
 By the "commandment of God" in the text, 
 the Savior referred to the Fifth Commandment, 
 In another place He referred to the whole law, 
 as contained in the Ten Commandments. This 
 law, as reduced by Him. to two commands, 
 was, and is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy strength, and with all thy 
 mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." The tra- 
 dition, according to which one could be ac- 
 counted pious, and yet not love God nor his 
 parents nor his neighbor, was hateful to Christ. 
 God's law was to Him the one only rule of 
 life. Were He on earth to-day, this rule would 
 still be His guide, and whatever violation of it 
 tradition or custom tolerates would meet His 
 condemnation. 
 
 We are as much the creatures of tradition 
 as the Jews of old. We do not use the word, 
 but are obedient to the same thino-. We call 
 it public opinion, or propriety, or even law. 
 We have creeds and forms and customs and 
 maxims and rules of business and of etiquette, 
 constituting a body of tradition by which, often- 
 times, the law of God is made void. 
 
 The first table of the law requires us to love 
 God ; to have no higher aim nor hope than His 
 glory ; to seek first His kingdom and righteous- 
 ness. We might readily point out the princi- 
 18 
 
274 Tradition. 
 
 pies adopted by Christians, as well as others, 
 which are rules of life, and which practically 
 make void the law. Tradition makes success 
 in business a chief end of life. It praises the 
 fortunate ; it draws its skirts from the unfortu- 
 nate. Its maxims pay no respect to God's law, 
 but on the contrary, make it void. Each one 
 may carry out this thought for himself. It 
 might be profitable to sit down with paper and 
 pen and write a list of those things which, 
 though sustained by public opinion, custom or 
 worldly wisdom, are contrary to God's law, 
 which amount to idolatry, or Sabbath-violation, 
 or profanity. 
 
 The greatest danger which threatens the 
 Church is from formalism, which is simply 
 another name for tradition. The Church has 
 its creed, service and ordinances. These are 
 important, but they are not religion. They 
 are the shell. The kernel is love to God, faith 
 in His mercy, and consecration to Him. It 
 happens sometimes that a beautiful shell when 
 cracked yields only dust. So it is possible to 
 attend church and hear preaching, and sing 
 and pray, with no spirit of devotion. It is 
 even possible to take the communion in a 
 formal way. Ritualism is not wholly confined 
 to ritualistic churches. Our form of worship 
 is not showy, but it may be used in a formal, 
 
Tradition, 275 
 
 heartless way. Idolatry is the same, whether 
 the idol is of gold or plaster of Paris. So form- 
 alism makes void God's service and the law in 
 which it rests, though the ritual be ever so 
 simple. 
 
 Tradition in the Church may call itself 
 orthodoxy, and be very fair to view, yet very 
 dangerous. It is important that the Church 
 be orthodox. A creed is necessary, and mem- 
 bers of the Church should know their creed. 
 It is well to teach children the catechism ; but 
 knowledge does not save. To know a form of 
 words is nothing, if the truth they contain be 
 not received. We, as a Church, have, as we 
 should have, great respect for our Confession of 
 Faith and catechism. Like other good things, 
 however, this respect may be excessive and 
 dangerous. I occasionally talk with persons 
 educated in our own Church, or in our mother, 
 the Scotch Church, who lay great stress on 
 their familiarity with the catechism. After 
 the straitest sect of our religion they are Pres- 
 byterians. Orthodoxy is their religion, yet 
 they give no evidence of true piety. It is pos- 
 sible to lay such stress on the mere form of 
 words, that the meaning is lost, and so the 
 spirit of the law is made void. 
 
 The Jew gloried in the fact that "he had 
 Abraham to his father." This was a distinc- 
 
276 Tradition. 
 
 tion which, in His eyes, covered a multitude of 
 sins. There are men like Him in our day, 
 who take pride in a godly ancestry. Their 
 fathers and mothers are the salt of the earth. 
 The traditions of their family are all religious. 
 This fact they regard as in some way an atone- 
 ment for their personal neglect of Christ. 
 Pious parents are a blessing; but when their 
 faithfulness is an excuse for coldness, or 
 covetousness, or selfishness, or unbelief, or 
 when the catechism they teach takes the place 
 of religion, the law of God is made void. 
 
 The second table of the law, like the first, 
 means love. " Thou shalt love thy neighbor." 
 Obedience to parents, respect for life and prop- 
 erty, chastity and contentment, rest all on one 
 foundation — love. The spirit of the law is 
 love. Christ applied this in the Fifth Com- 
 mandment. At twenty-one the boy becomes 
 the man. He is his own master ; yet he is not 
 free, either from the letter or spirit of the 
 Fifth Commandment. He may see his own 
 sons pass the voting age, yet he is bound to 
 love and honor his parents. Gray hairs even 
 do not release him from duty. 
 
 We may in like manner apply the Sixth 
 Commandment. As applied by our Savior, 
 this forbids anger. It commands forgiveness 
 and peace. Jewish tradition reads : " Thou 
 
Tradition. 277 
 
 shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy." 
 Modern tradition follows the same rule. It 
 recognizes forgiveness as a good thing, but 
 limits it, and the limit is far below the "seven 
 times which Peter named in his question. 
 Public opinion does not require us to forgive 
 one who grievously offends seven times. Christ's 
 law is not seven times, but seventy times seven, 
 and let no one attempt to figure out the multi- 
 plication, for the question is not one of mathe- 
 matics, but of love. The meaning is, " Thou 
 shalt love thine enemy. Bless them that curse 
 you; do good to them that despitefully use you 
 and persecute you," for this is God's law. 
 Whatever tradition, or custom, or public opin- 
 ion says contrary to this, is wrong. The voice 
 of public opinion is very often the voice of 
 Satan. 
 
 In our friendships and social intercourse, no 
 less than in our quarrels, we are subject to 
 tradition. According to God's law, love should 
 overcome all distinctions; but the claims of 
 our circle are stronger than the Word of 
 God. We enter into the plans and hopes and 
 fears of a few people who know and sympathize 
 with us. We visit them, and they us. If 
 they are in distress, we feel under certain obli- 
 gations to them. With the great mass of 
 Christian people we have little sympathy and 
 
278 Tradition. 
 
 less association. If one now and then is forced 
 by poverty to ask aid, we give, though not 
 always liberally. A repetition of the claim 
 does not give us pleasure. We are apt — follow- 
 ing the way of the world — to give more ad- 
 vice and complaint and, perhaps, reproof, than 
 relief. We are ready to quote the world's 
 maxims and avail ourselves of the world's ex. 
 cuses. Thus is the law of love made of none 
 effect. This law makes the interest of every 
 Christian identical with our own. "Whoso 
 hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother 
 have need, and shutteth his bowels of compas- 
 sion from him, how dwelleth the love of God 
 in him?" Let us not love in word only, but 
 in deed and truth. 
 
 The rules of society, though not written, are 
 very generally recognized as binding, and not 
 infrequently are a hindrance in Church work. 
 Many ladies keep an account of their calls as 
 accurate as a merchant's ledger. They can 
 tell who owe them and whom they owe. They 
 pay their debts according to the custom of 
 society, and the law of love is ignored. That 
 law, if followed, would make the Church a 
 family, in which brothers and sisters count each 
 other's society a joy, rather than a debt to be 
 paid, or a medicine to be taken in exact doses. 
 
 One of the comforts of home is freedom from 
 
Tradition. 279 
 
 restraint and ceremony. Parents and children, 
 as well as relatives and intimate friends, throw 
 off the bonds of custom, and act naturally from 
 mutual love. So it should be in the Church— 
 the family of our Heavenly Father— the house- 
 hold of faith. His children should recognize 
 the law of love to Him and to all men, as above 
 tradition or ceremony. That a brother is poor 
 or sick, does not free us from obligation; on 
 the contrary, as the feeble or deformed child 
 in the family receives double love, so should 
 we be tender with these feeble ones. That a 
 sister neglects to return call for call, should 
 only remind us of our own obligation. 
 
 We need frequent reminders that we are not 
 under society's customs, but under God's law, 
 and that no tradition either of society or busi- 
 ness can make the law void. 
 
 Above all, let there be no mistake concern- 
 ing our duty to God. Let no tradition of men 
 divert us from the one way of salvation. Be- 
 lief in Christ, the obedience of faith, is our ful- 
 fillment of the law. 
 
XXIV. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 "Thou shalt meditate therein." — Joshua i. 8. 
 
 TXTRITERS on health say that our genera- 
 *^ tion is one of dyspeptics. We live 
 under high pressure and have scarcely leisure 
 to eat. Moderation, not in quantity, but in 
 the manner of eating, and in the speed with 
 which we go from the table to work, would 
 promote digestion, and increase our comfort 
 and efficiency. 
 
 What eating and digestion are to the body, 
 reading and meditation are to the mind. The 
 great eater is not necessarily strong, neither is 
 the greater reader necessarily wise. There are 
 young ladies and gentlemen who take a book a 
 day from the library, but with all their reading 
 learn very little. The books which do us good 
 are those we digest. There is little profit in 
 the careless reading even of profitable books. 
 The great Bible reader may be anything but 
 a healthy Christian. One chapter studied for 
 (280) 
 
Meditation. 281 
 
 an hour may yield more meat than will be 
 found in twenty chapters in an hour's hasty 
 reading. 
 
 God's message to the children of Israel, by 
 the mouth of Joshua, established the true 
 method of Bible study. "This book of the 
 law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but 
 thou shalt meditate therein day and night; 
 that thou mayest observe to do according to 
 all that is written therein." 
 
 Simply reading the Bible is not obedience. 
 "These words which I command thee shall be 
 in thine heart" — that is, Thou shalt think of 
 them — "when thou sittest down, and when thou 
 walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, 
 and when thou risest up." Paul's advice to 
 Timothy was: "Meditate on these things; 
 give thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting 
 may appear." 
 
 Our age and Christianity claim to be very 
 practical. We believe in activity — in work 
 rather than in thought. Our sermons must be 
 short and pointed ; our prayer-meetings must 
 have variety; our prayers must be specific; 
 our Sabbath-schools and revival services must 
 be according to the models of certain success- 
 ful workers. We must have five or six Bible 
 expositions a day at conventions. We must 
 read the Bible through every year, and be able 
 
282 Meditation. 
 
 to recite the Golden Texts at the end of each 
 quarter. 
 
 This is all good ; but it may, like our hur- 
 ried way of doing business, lead to evil. We 
 have no time for quiet thought. The Sabbath- 
 school lessons, moreover, are prepared for us 
 by good and wise men. We can simply read 
 them over and meet our classes. If we would 
 find a Bible text, the concordance enables us 
 to turn to it without delay. Any question of 
 Bible history or geography may be settled at 
 once by the lesson leaves, or commentaries, or 
 Bible dictionaries. Would we have an illustra- 
 tion? there are books full of them. We do not 
 feel the need of close study. Why should we 
 go into our closets for what our libraries will 
 furnish? Why spend hours in thought over 
 that which we can learn from books in as many 
 minutes? A little thought will show good 
 reasons, not for throwing aside commentaries 
 and other helps, but for using them only as 
 helps ; for making them aid, rather than take, 
 the place of Christian meditation. 
 
 And, first, religious meditation is necessary 
 to knowledge of the Bible. Things easily got- 
 ten are easily lost. The college boy who uses 
 translations and keys may recite well, but he 
 learns little. There is no excellence in any- 
 thing without work. That which is learned 
 
Meditation. 283 
 
 without study is quickly forgotten. Dr. Thomas 
 E. Thomas, whose preaching many remem- 
 ber, would not use a concordance. If he wished 
 a particular text, he looked for it in the Bible 
 until he found it. Once found, he knew where 
 it was, and did not need to look for it again. 
 
 Hasty students may think it folly to spend 
 time in seeking what a concordance would 
 instantly give; but time so spent made Dr. 
 Thomas one of the best Bible scholars in the 
 Church. So the same hasty students may de- 
 clare against spending time in the study of 
 passages whose interpretation we can find in 
 lesson leaves or in books; but time so spent 
 gives true and enduring knowledge. 
 
 Again. Religious meditation is necessary to 
 spiritual growth. The Spirit may sanctify 
 through the Word hastily read, but He more 
 frequently uses the Word read and digested. 
 We are in danger, through lack of meditation, 
 of a dyspeptic type of Christianity. Paul 
 directed Timothy to "meditate, that his pro- 
 fiting might appear." A mark of the godly 
 man described in the First Psalm is: "In his 
 law doth he meditate day and night." A secret 
 of the godly character of the patriarch Isaac 
 is found in these words: "And Isaac went 
 out to meditate in the field at the even-tide." 
 It was probably his custom. 
 
284 Meditation. 
 
 The word rendered meditation in this and 
 other passages is sometimes very properly ren- 
 dered prayer and communication. Religious 
 meditation is communion with God, and can 
 not be separated from prayer. Indeed, a cer- 
 tain writer calls it the nurse of prayer; and 
 another the mother of prayer. In meditation, 
 the soul dwells on the divine character ; on the 
 love, justice and fatherhood of God; on the 
 atonement of Christ ; on the work of the Spirit. 
 It sees the beauty of the divine character, and 
 insensibly grows into its likeness. It dwells on 
 the commands of the Bible. "I will meditate 
 [said the Psalmist] in thy precepts." "0 how 
 I love thy law; it is my meditation all the 
 day." The soul dwells also on the works of 
 God — on creation and providence. "I medi- 
 tate on all thy works ; I muse on the works of 
 thy hands." It dwells, also, on the duty it 
 owes to God to keep His commandments, both 
 in the letter and spirit; to repent of sin; to 
 grow in grace, and to render a willing service. 
 It obeys the direction of the wise man, ''Pon- 
 der the path of thy feet." It dwells on the 
 promises with unspeakable joy. Meditation 
 gives reality to the promises. It gives a fore- 
 taste of heaven's joy. Jerome calls it his " par- 
 adise ; " and another writer "the portal through 
 which we enter glory." Basil speaks of it as 
 
Meditation. 285 
 
 "a treasury where all the graces are locked 
 up." "By meditation," says Bishop Hall, "we 
 find secret enemies in our souls, and drive them 
 out. We learn to use all good means, and add 
 light to our knowledge, heat to our affection, 
 and life to our devotion. We see our Savior 
 with Stephen; talk with God, as did Moses; 
 and with Paul are caught up into the third 
 heaven. 
 
 Religious meditation is necessary, also, to 
 usefulness. The efficient Christian is the think- 
 ing Christian. He may not be so radical as 
 some. He may not be prompt with his expe- 
 rience, nor so much before the people in public 
 work ; but his zeal will be according to knowl- 
 edge. He will be a safe counselor and leader. 
 The Church suffers from the leadership of men 
 who mean well, but act without thought ; or 
 whose meditation is according to the rules of 
 worldly prudence, rather than upon the Word 
 of God. Good causes often suffer from blows 
 struck when the iron is cold, or without calcu- 
 lation as to their effect. 
 
 The men who have left the best marks on 
 the Church have been meditative men — not 
 dreamy and sluggish, but men who mingled 
 meditation and active effort in proper propor- 
 tions. Some one says, " That the men for the 
 day are men of action, but the men for the 
 
286 Meditation. 
 
 years are men of thought." Under such men 
 the Church has prospered. 
 
 They have been prepared for their leadership 
 sometimes by long periods of retirement, which 
 gave opportunity for meditation. Moses was 
 fitted for his great work by forty years in the 
 wilderness. Elijah and John the Baptist had 
 like seasons of solitude. Luther had oppor- 
 tunities for meditation in the monastery, and 
 John Knox in the French galleys. The Savior, 
 also, prepared for His work first by thirty years 
 of comparative retirement and by forty days 
 in the wilderness, and afterward by frequently 
 withdrawing from His disciples to solitary 
 places. The oft-repeated statements of the 
 Gospels, that He withdrew to a solitary place, 
 or to a mountain, or to a desert place, show 
 His estimate of religious meditation. 
 
 But some active Christian worker will say, 
 May not meditation be excessive? May we 
 not make the mistake of the old Essenes and 
 of the monks of the Middle Ages, who did 
 nothing but meditate ? who lived in caves and 
 monastic cells? May Ave not neglect active 
 duties? Two extremes are to be avoided. 
 Meditation must be a means, rather than an 
 end. It must be a preparation for active effort. 
 It will be such to him whose heart is right, 
 and who in the true spirit studies the Word of 
 
Meditation. 287 
 
 God. The Scriptures give no countenance to 
 the idea of a monastic life. They justify no 
 man in robbing the world of labor, either phy- 
 sical or mental. They give no countenance to 
 that type of Christianity which puts medita- 
 tion in the place of Christian work. The di- 
 rection of the text is, "Thou shalt meditate 
 therein." What for? Simply to improve the 
 mind or the heart? Simply because medita- 
 tion is pleasant? Far from it. "Thou shalt 
 meditate therein day and night, that thou may- 
 est observe to do according to all that is writ- 
 ten therein." 
 
 The true Christian studies God's Word with 
 a purpose, and that purpose is to learn how he 
 may best serve God and benefit his fellow-men. 
 The service of such an one will be more effect- 
 ive than that of the student who studies all 
 the time from love of study, or that of the 
 restless spirit always on the rush from love of 
 bustle. 
 
 The Christian should have his time for medi- 
 tation. Those who can take it will find the 
 evening, Isaac's time, well chosen. The day's 
 work is done, and the cares of business can be 
 dismissed. The time of meditation will be a 
 bar to keep these cares from hours of rest and 
 quiet home enjoyment. It will clear the con- 
 science and sweeten sleep. 
 
288 Meditation, 
 
 No one, however, need confine himself to a 
 particular time. The closet of Scripture is not 
 necessarily a place with a real door which may 
 be shut. We may enter it in our offices or 
 parlors, and shut the door by a thought as eas- 
 ily as we shut our eyes. In the intervals of 
 business, and whenever there is opportunity, 
 our thoughts can turn to God's commands and 
 promises. 
 
 The lover may have a set time to write to 
 and think of his beloved, but his thoughts will 
 not be confined by hours or minutes. They 
 will turn to her at every opportunity. So he 
 who loves God will think of and delight in 
 Him. He will find meditation not only a duty, 
 but a pleasure. He will "meditate day and 
 night." He can say, "My soul shall be satis- 
 fied when I remember thee upon my bed, and 
 meditate on thee in the night watches." 
 
 Many persons waste time in unprofitable 
 thought. They build castles in the air. They 
 lie awake at night to imagine themselves heroes 
 or heroines in wonderful transactions. They 
 dream of plans which can not be realized, and 
 would be unsatisfactory if they could. This 
 day-dreaming is not all clone by children, nor 
 by young and romantic people. It is largely 
 a matter of habit, and many who know its folly 
 yield to it. 
 
Meditation. 289 
 
 Some waste time, in which they might make 
 a living, in imagining the road to wealth. Some 
 take their business and household troubles to 
 bed and dream of them before and after they 
 are asleep. Some go over and over the griev- 
 ances they have against their fellows, and toss 
 about in restless, sleepy anger. 
 
 The effect of such thoughts is unhealthy to 
 body and mind. It would be better to spend 
 spare moments during the day and wakeful 
 moments at night on some precious promise, 
 or in contemplation of Christ. This would 
 quiet, and refresh, and improve the mind. It 
 would be a means of sanctification. 
 
 It would also be, as we have seen, a pleasure. 
 Those who have tried it can say with the 
 Psalmist, "I will be glad in the Lord; my 
 meditation of him shall be sweet." It increases 
 our acquaintance with and love for Him who 
 is chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether 
 lovely. It prepares us for heaven, and is a 
 foretaste of heaven. 
 
 My friends, the sermon is done, so far as the 
 preaching is concerned. It remains for you to 
 to make practical application by meditation. 
 Have you a set time for religious meditation, 
 for private Bible study and devotion ? Some 
 answer, No. Some admit that they do not 
 take the pleasure they should in such exercise. 
 19 
 
290 Meditation. 
 
 The remedy is in obedience to the command 
 of the text. Prayerful study of God's Word 
 will beget desire, and desire will be satisfied 
 in communion with God. 
 
XXV. 
 
 THE SANCTUARY. 
 
 "How amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts!" — Ps. lxxxiv. 1. 
 
 TMAGINATION is not always a safe guide, 
 yet it may be profitable to follow its lead- 
 ing in the study of this text. 
 
 We are with David, the poet king, the writer 
 of this Psalm. He is not in Jerusalem. We 
 see no palace nor crown nor scepter. The 
 scene is in the wilderness, and the king is a 
 wanderer, with only a few faithful followers. 
 Nor is this all. He knows that sorrow of 
 which the poet wrote, "How sharper than a 
 serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." 
 His son, his loved and cherished Absalom, is 
 author of his distress. Absalom rules in Jeru- 
 salem, and David hides, with a price on his 
 head, in the mountains. 
 
 It is to times of sadness and distress that 
 the world owes many of its choicest writings. 
 The "Pilgrim's Progress" was written in a 
 jail. So the harp of David gave its sweetest 
 sounds in the wilderness. We can suppose 
 (291) 
 
292 The Sanctuary. 
 
 that as the Psalmist lay with his eyes to the 
 stars, and his thoughts beyond on the God 
 Who made them, he conceived such Psalms 
 as the Nineteenth — "The heavens declare the 
 glory of Grod and the firmament showeth his 
 handiwork." At such times, too, his thoughts 
 went back to Jerusalem, and to the services of 
 the tabernacle, in which he had taken delight. 
 How even appreciated blessings brighten as 
 they take their flight, How delightful were 
 the hymns, the prayers, and the sacrifices to 
 one who could no longer hear and take part in 
 them. What could be more natural than the 
 outburst of this Psalm, "How amiable are thy 
 tabernacles, Lord of hosts! " "My soul long- 
 eth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the 
 Lord." "When shall I come and appear be- 
 fore God?" 
 
 The word amiable means lovable, or lovely 
 and beloved. The tabernacles were the place 
 of worship. The temple was not yet built. 
 They were the different apartments of the 
 tabernacle of Moses. Put into modern words 
 the Psalmist's thought is this: "How delight- 
 ful to me is the Church of God. I long — I am 
 hungry for its services. Oh, when will this 
 wandering cease? when shall I again go to the 
 house of God?" 
 
 That the child of God should love God's 
 
The Sanctuary. 293 
 
 house is as natural as that children should love 
 their homes. It is his home. God is indeed 
 everywhere, and the soul may find Him where 
 it will, yet is He especially present in His 
 sanctuary. There prayer is made and praise 
 is sung, and there His ministers speak His 
 Word. 
 
 It is God's command that the place of His 
 " honor " be honored. His ancient people were 
 to associate in their affection His house and 
 His day. Twice He commanded them, "Ye 
 shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my 
 sanctuary; I am the Lord." His people in 
 every age reply, " I have loved the habitation 
 of thy house, the place where thine honor 
 dwelleth." It is to them a spiritual home. 
 
 Home love is a growth. Families that move 
 often, disturb its development. So the love of 
 God's house is strongest where time allows its 
 roots to fix themselves. He who moves about 
 from church to church, or leaves his pew 
 empty to run after novelties, has little of it. 
 On the other hand, those born in the Church 
 and raised in it, love it with increasing affec- 
 tion. Their seats are never empty. Their 
 hearts are always in the service. They are 
 glad when it is said, "Come, let us go up to 
 the house of the Lord." With the Psalmist 
 they say, "How amiable are thy tabernacles, 
 
294 The Sanctuary. 
 
 Lord of hosts ! " When long hindered from 
 attendance, they feel their loss, and are home- 
 sick for the service. "My soul longeth, yea, 
 even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord." 
 They remember its stones ; even these, with 
 its boards, its seats, pulpit and ornaments, are 
 precious. No entertainment, no amusement is 
 so delightful as its services. No place has 
 such attractions. "I had rather be a door- 
 keeper in the house of my God than to dwell 
 in the tents of wickedness." I had rather be 
 sexton and live in the church than dwell in a 
 palace without Church privileges. 
 
 "O Lord of worlds above, 
 
 How pleasant and how fair, 
 The dwellings of Thy love, 
 Thine earthly temples are. 
 To Thine abode my heart aspires 
 With warm desires to see my God. 
 
 Christians should cultivate the love of God's 
 house. There is room also for praiseworthy 
 ambition and pride in its outward and inward 
 appearance. "See, now," said David, "I dwell 
 in a house of cedar, but the ark of God clwell- 
 eth in curtains," or in a tent. This thought 
 led to the building of the temple. " Lo, I dwell 
 in a palace, but I worship God in a poor place," 
 has led men again and again to build suitable 
 churches, or to repair and beautify as appeared 
 necessary. 
 
The Sanctuary. 295 
 
 It is not reasonable that people in good cir- 
 cumstances should live in fine houses and have 
 fine furniture, while their houses of worship 
 are mean structures. Shall they clean house 
 in the spring and leave their church uncleaned? 
 Shall they paint and upholster and repair, 
 while the church is dingy and in decay ? Shall 
 their lawns be smooth and their flower-beds 
 well kept, while weeds and wild grass disfig- 
 ure their churchyard? Shall they put their 
 money in bonds, while mortgages or floating 
 debts encumber the church? The house of 
 God should be as fine, or finer, and as neat 
 and well kept, as the homes of those who wor- 
 ship in it, and it should be out of debt. Stran- 
 gers should be welcomed to a place not inferior 
 to the company-rooms of those who receive 
 them. The rich and poor should meet together 
 and feel that they have common rights in His 
 house, Who said: "The glory of Lebanon 
 shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree 
 and the box together, to beautify the place of 
 my sanctuary." 
 
 Children should be taught to love the Church, 
 and to interest themselves in its care. They 
 will thus be more readily interested in its serv- 
 ices, and accept the truths preached. The 
 seeds of an early affection thus planted will 
 bear fruit to God's glory. Moreover, the early 
 
296 The Sanctuary. 
 
 recollection will be a delight. I know that 
 many persons joke on this subject. They tell 
 of enforced church attendance ; of long sermons, 
 stiff seats and aching backs ; of Sabbath as a 
 dull and dreary day. Such talk is on a par with 
 the standard joke about mothers-in-law. There 
 may be vicious and unreasonable mothers-in- 
 law, so there may be families where Sabbath 
 is a torment, but they are the exception. 
 
 My experience is probably that of most 
 Christians. The day was one to be remem- 
 bered with pleasure. True, we kept it accord- 
 ing to the Commandment. There were no 
 plays, we ate cold dinners and attended church 
 and read good books and studied the cate- 
 chism. Among my early recollections, there 
 are none pleasanter than those of the Sabbath 
 and of the church. The old church has been 
 torn down and a new one stands in its place ; but 
 it does not matter. I have a picture of it. I can 
 see its steep stairs, its stiff seats and its pre- 
 tending pulpit, and the picture is a continual 
 pleasure. 
 
 The comeliness or lovableness of the Church 
 is not in its building. We love it because 
 it is the place of prayer and praise; the 
 place where God's honor dwells. So we 
 love the forms of the service, but these forms 
 may take the place of worship, and devotion 
 
The Sanctuary. 297 
 
 be lost in ritualism. So the Church, its 
 buildings and its temporal prosperity may inter- 
 est some who have no love for its worship. 
 It is possible to make the Church an idol, and 
 give to it the affection which should be God's. 
 Its creed may take the place of religion and 
 its rules that of faith. 
 
 The child of G-od loves the Church because 
 it is God's house, and the worship because it 
 is His worship. He delights in both because 
 God is in them — because it is his Father's 
 house. 
 
 "Home 's not merely four square walls, 
 Though with pictures hung and gilded ; 
 Home is where affection reigns, 
 Filled with shrines the heart has builded." 
 
 So the Church is not merely four walls with 
 roof and pulpit and pews and a steeple. 
 It is the place where God is worshiped in 
 love, and where every heart is a shrine for 
 His praise. It is amiable and lovely be- 
 cause God is love and is in the midst. Its 
 prayers are delightful because offered in His 
 ear Who delights to answer. Its songs arc 
 the praises of our Redeemer. Its sermons 
 are the story of His salvation. 
 
 Every one should have a church home, and 
 should worship there. Regular habits are im- 
 portant in spiritual as well as temporal mat- 
 
298 The Sanctuary. 
 
 ters. Eating one day at one restaurant and 
 another day at another is apt to make 
 one dyspeptic. So running after pulpit nov- 
 elty is, spiritually, unhealthful. Every one 
 should, when it is possible, eat at his own table 
 and worship at his own church. Moreover, 
 spiritual as well as temporal food should be 
 taken regularly. We go to the table at the 
 23roper time as a matter of course ; so we should 
 go to church. 
 
 Christians have in every age dedicated their 
 churches to the worship of God. Boards of 
 trustees simply hold them, according to the 
 forms of law, for Him. How shall their trust 
 be administered for His glory? Shall they 
 have service twice on Sabbath and close the 
 house for the week? or shall it be opened for 
 every good purpose ? There is a growing dis- 
 position on the part of church officers, especially 
 in cities, to close their sanctuaries against 
 everything but the formal worship of God. 
 There is reason for this tendency, but it should 
 not carry us too far. The sanctuary may be 
 made to glorify God on week days as well as 
 on the Sabbath. Churches central to popula- 
 tion should be rallying points for every good 
 cause. Benevolent societies and charitable 
 associations may be helped, and in turn may 
 help the church. Their proper use of the sane- 
 
The Sanctuary. 299 
 
 tuary will better fulfill the spirit of its dedica- 
 tion than the most solemn idleness. 
 
 The loveliness of the Church may be mani- 
 fest in the increase of Christian sociability, 
 and no better centre for this sociability can be 
 found than the church building. I believe in 
 church sociables and in various entertainments 
 for old and young. It may not be possible for 
 the Church to furnish all the entertainment its 
 youth require, but the nearer it can do this, 
 the better both for the youth and for itself. 
 The best protest against sinful folly is the pro- 
 vision of something hotter. Healthful amuse- 
 ment may be the means of honoring God and 
 of saving souls. It may keep people from in- 
 iquity and lead them to Christ. Moreover, 
 the old and young should be acquainted with 
 and interested in each other. Of course there 
 are bounds which must be observed in the 
 social intercourse and amusements of the 
 Church. There are social leaders who must 
 be held in check. Churches are sometimes 
 turned into variety shows, and lotteries are 
 run in the interest of missions or Sabbath- 
 schools. Church fairs are not always con- 
 ducted fairly. Could our Savior in bodily 
 presence attend some in which the modern 
 contrivances for obtaining money are in opera- 
 tion, He would say as to the traders in the 
 
300 The Sanctuary. 
 
 temple, "Take these things hence." His 
 words, however, would not condemn legitimate 
 amusement, nor prove that properly conducted 
 fairs may not promote His glory. 
 
 It is the fashion of some who see only the 
 abuses, or who hold unwarranted views of 
 the sacredness of church buildings, to class 
 fairs and similar entertainments as abomina- 
 tions in the holy place. I have no sympathy 
 with such sweeping condemnation. There is 
 nothing in the brick and mortar of our 
 churches, nor in the service of dedication, to 
 shut out healthful entertainment or honest 
 effort to raise money for good causes. Church 
 fairs may be a means of good. The fact that 
 feeble congregations need the ' money they 
 bring, and that missionary societies increase 
 their receipts by them, is the least argument 
 in their favor. They bring together the peo- 
 ple of the congregation, and often the people 
 of various congregations. They interest old 
 and young together in the work of the Master. 
 Even children are given something to do, and 
 are so identified with the Church. Where 
 funds are to be raised for missions, they are 
 interested in missions, and not infrequently are 
 impressed as to their own Gospel privileges 
 and duties. The fact that abuses are possible, 
 and that dissensions arise, should only lead to 
 
The Sanctuary. 301 
 
 care on the part of those who direct the work 
 of the Church. 
 
 If we would rightly use the sanctuary, we 
 must remember its character, and avoid what 
 is evil, or has the appearance of evil, as well 
 as all that is irreverent or calculated to destroy 
 serious thoughts. We can not feel the true 
 loveliness of the Church if we forget the God 
 Who is in the midst of her. We can not be 
 truly blessed in the sanctuary service if we for- 
 get that its chief object is the glory of God. 
 We can not enter into that service with proper 
 spirit until we have, first of all, given the serv- 
 ice of our hearts. 
 
 The true way to use the Church and to honor 
 God is, first of all, to trust His Word, and ac- 
 cept the salvation He offers in Christ. "Of 
 Zion," says the Psalmist, " it shall be said, This 
 and that man was born in her." Of our Zion we 
 say, "I was born there." The sanctuary in which 
 we were led to Christ is to us an amiable taber- 
 nacle — a place to love. We are earnest and 
 zealous for its welfare. Our love for it is one 
 with our love to Christ, and constrains faith- 
 fulness to Him. As we see others who have 
 no hope in Christ, it constrains the desire, 
 Would that they, too, may be born there, that 
 by the Spirit's power they may become mem- 
 bers of the household of faith and heirs of 
 blessing in the upper and better sanctuary. 
 
XXVI. 
 PRAISE. 
 
 "It is good to sing praises unto our God." — Psalm cxlvii. 1. 
 
 "VTO command of God's Word is so often re- 
 peated as the command to praise Him. 
 The words, "Praise ye the Lord," occur more 
 than twenty times in the Psalms alone. There 
 are also exhortations to 'sing unto Him," to 
 "praise Him in song," to "sing of mercy and 
 judgment." 
 
 There are calls to praise Him in solo, 
 "Praise the Lord, my soul;" and in the 
 chorus of the congregation, "Praise God in 
 his sanctuary." "In the midst of the congre- 
 gation will I praise thee." "Let everything 
 that hath breath praise the Lord." There 
 are exhortations to use suitable instruments. 
 "Praise him with the sound of the trumpet." 
 "Praise him with the psaltery and harp." 
 "Praise him with the timbrel and dance." 
 "Praise him with stringed instruments and 
 organs." " Praise him upon the loud cymbals." 
 Like exhortations, enough to fill the time of a 
 sermon, might be found. 
 (302) 
 
Praise. 303 
 
 The history of sacred music begins where 
 creation began. The angels, the first creatures 
 of God's hand, worshiped Him. "To thee 
 cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts." It is 
 not recorded that Adam and Eve sang in Par- 
 adise; but, of course, they did, for the joys of 
 Eden could not be separated from song. The 
 mouth is always full of music when the heart 
 is full of love. It is recorded that "the morn- 
 ing stars sang together, and all the sons of 
 God shouted for joy." Their song was one of 
 praise for the goodness which made man in 
 the divine image, and gave him a perfect earth 
 for his home. 
 
 The first sacred songs were songs of praise ; 
 and, we may add, the best sacred songs are still 
 songs of praise. The masters of music are 
 those whose works best realize the idea of 
 worship. There are, indeed, magnificent min- 
 ors — confessions of sin and pleading prayers 
 for the favor of Gocl; but the wealth of the 
 greatest musical minds has spent itself in Te 
 Deums and glorias, and jubilates and magni- 
 ficates; in ascriptions of praise to Gocl; in 
 adoration of His power — "King of kings and 
 Lord of lords;" and of His holiness and 
 mercy. 
 
 The great songs of the Jewish people were 
 
304 Praise. 
 
 songs of thanksgiving. The songs of Moses, 
 and Deborah, and Miriam, are recitations of 
 God's doings, and full of praise. Their melodies 
 have not been preserved, but the words them- 
 selves suggest movements full of joy. The 
 songs of David and of Asaph are the perfection 
 of praise. When King Hezekiah commanded 
 to sing praises unto the Lord with the words 
 of David and Asaph the Seer, they sang praises 
 with gladness. The account .given of their 
 service in Second Chronicles, opens the doors 
 of the temple at Jerusalem, and admits us to 
 its worship, which, so far as its music is con- 
 cerned, surpasses anything in modern times. 
 There is a vast orchestra of Levites with cym- 
 bals, psalteries, harps and other instruments, 
 the sounds of which are now unknown. Then 
 there is a responding orchestra of priests with 
 trumpets ; there is a vast company of singers, 
 and the whole congregation of Israel to swell 
 the sound. And when the burnt-offering began, 
 then the song of the Lord also began, with 
 trumpets and with the instruments ordained 
 by David. And the congregation worshiped, 
 and the singers sang, and the trumpeters 
 sounded ; and all this was continued until the 
 burnt-offering was finished. " And they sang 
 praises with gladness." The atmosphere of 
 the whole ritual was one of praise. The cym- 
 
Praise. 305 
 
 bals, and timbrels, and harps, and organs, and 
 trumpets, and stringed instruments, with the 
 voices of the multitude, and the dance or sway- 
 ing of the bodies to and fro, in time to the 
 music, are a picture of hearty joy and thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 The early Christian Church has left little 
 record of its music, beyond the fact that it had 
 hymns of praise. Christ and His disciples 
 sang a hymn at the institution of the Supper. 
 The disciples admonished each other "with 
 psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, sing- 
 ing with grace in their hearts to the Lord;" 
 and Paul and Silas, in prison, sang praises to 
 God. It is not impossible nor improbable that 
 some of these songs were handed clown from 
 parents to children, and from congregation to 
 congregation, until the time of Gregory, and 
 were his inspiration in the musical work which 
 has perpetuated his name. It is pleasant to 
 believe, as we sing such tunes as "Olmutz," or 
 the arrangement of the Lord's Prayer as it is 
 in our Hymnal, that the early fathers and, pos- 
 sibly, the apostles and the men and women 
 who met with them, made melody to God r 
 using these same tunes. If they, and other 
 tunes, with their hymns, from the earliest col- 
 lections of sacred music, are an index, the sing- 
 ing of the Early Church was largely a recita- 
 20 
 
306 Praise. 
 
 tion of God's judgment and mercy, mingled 
 with some prayer and much praise. 
 
 Some have supposed, from the language of 
 the apostle in the Epistle to the Colossians, 
 that psalms and hymns and spiritual songs 
 were the medium of instruction. They may 
 have been so, but the apostle's words do not 
 necessarily affirm it. We may read the pas- 
 sage : " Let the word of God dwell in you richly 
 in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one 
 another. In psalms and hymns and spiritual 
 songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the 
 Lord." The direction in regard to the music 
 in religious service was that it should be "with 
 grace in the heart" and "to the Lord." The 
 music of God's house may be a means of spir- 
 itual instruction, but that is not its first design. 
 Singing, like prayer, should be "to God, and 
 not to the congregation." It should be largely 
 the expression of praise. 
 
 Praise to God is the best form of worship, 
 the most unselfish and acceptable service of 
 the heart. It is not second either to prayer or 
 preaching in the programme of the sanctuary. 
 Indeed, if there be a difference, it is the 
 principal thing. It is the expression of that 
 grace and sanctification which prayer and 
 preaching are designed to promote. It is 
 the heart's best obedience of the command to 
 
Praise. 307 
 
 glorify God. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth 
 me." 
 
 It is the soul's best preparation for its heav- 
 enly work. The service of eternity is to be a 
 service of praise. There will be no preaching, 
 for the time of ignorance will be past. There 
 will be no need of prayer, for our longings will 
 be satisfied ; but of praise there shall be no 
 end. So long as God lives and the redeemed 
 remember His mercy, they will sing His praise. 
 
 The Church on earth should make much of 
 that which is to hold so high a place in the 
 Church above. Every Christian should regard 
 praise in the sanctuary as a part of his spirit- 
 ual duty. The preaching office is committed to 
 chosen men. Comparatively few lead in public 
 prayer, but all are to sing. Praise is the one 
 part of the service in which all the congre- 
 gation audibly join. In order to true praise, 
 the congregation must sing both with the spirit 
 and the understanding, and with grace in the 
 heart. 
 
 To this end, the hymns and tunes should be 
 wisely chosen. "I will sing [said David] of 
 mercy and judgment." Hymns which declare 
 the mercy of God, which adore His holiness 
 and the love which sent His Son to be the 
 Savior of men, which magnify Him or entreat 
 His favor, are true expressions of worship. So 
 
308 Praise. 
 
 are recitals of Christian experience and ex- 
 pressions of faith and love. Oar hymn-books 
 abound in such hymns. It is a matter of re- 
 gret that, mingled with them, are poetical dis- 
 courses and arguments in rhyme — some of 
 them excellent, but not suitable for use in the 
 praise of the sanctuary. Almost every great 
 conflict through which the Church has passed 
 has left its legacy of such poems. They are 
 valuable, but belong rather to the theology of 
 the Church than to its hymn-books. 
 
 The best Church hymns are the doxologies 
 — not those alone which are put under that 
 head at the end of the book, but all which, in 
 their spirit, ascribe and call on others to ascribe 
 praise to God. The hymn most commonly used 
 in the ancient Jewish service was, "Praise the 
 Lord, for he is good ; for his mercy endureth 
 forever." The singing of, "Praise God from 
 whom all blessings flow," by the congregation 
 standing at the beginning or close of a service, 
 is an appropriate worship, and one in which 
 no person in the congregation should fail to 
 take part. A more direct and even better 
 form of doxology is found in the words, " Glory 
 be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the 
 Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is 
 now, and ever shall be, world without end." 
 
 In the public worship of God, we are liable 
 
Praise. 309 
 
 to two mistakes, either of which detracts from 
 the service of praise. 
 
 The first is neglect of the service. Churches 
 having good organs and choirs are more apt to 
 err in this regard than those less blessed; but 
 the neglect is not less wrong on that account. 
 A church able to afford it should have a good 
 instrument and a good precentor or choir. God 
 demands of His people the best they have. If 
 the best voices in a congregation are unim- 
 proved and inaccurate, and if the best instru- 
 ment they can buy is a tuning-fork, He will 
 accept their praise ; but if there are good voices 
 and skilled players on instruments, they are 
 called to lead the worship. They are called, 
 also, to that preparation which will enable them 
 to do it well. The musical service of God's 
 ancient people is, in this regard, a model for 
 us. They sought the best effects of a grand 
 orchestra and chorus. The perfection of their 
 training was such that, when all the Levites, 
 playing on instruments, and an hundred and 
 twenty priests with trumpets, and a vast choir 
 and congregation, took part in the music, their 
 time and harmony were so perfect that it was 
 as one sound. The effect was marvelous ; pleas- 
 ing to men and acceptable to God. " It came 
 to pass [says the record] that when they lifted 
 up their voice, with the trumpets and cyni- 
 
310 Praise. 
 
 bals and instruments of music, and praised the 
 Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy 
 endureth forever ; that then the house was filled 
 with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand 
 to minister: for the glory of the Lord had 
 filled the house of God." 
 
 The second mistake to which we are liable 
 is the cultivation of music to the exclusion of 
 praise. There can not be too much cultivation. 
 The service can not be too perfect; but it is 
 possible to make cultivation an end rather than 
 a means, and so to glorify art instead of God. 
 Those who lead in the songs of the sanctuary 
 should have, above everything else, the spirit 
 of worship. With this spirit, the more culti- 
 vation the better. 
 
 It must be remembered, moreover, that the 
 congregation is to worship. God's praise de- 
 mands the herp of every voice. " Let every- 
 thing that hath breath praise the Lord." It 
 demands, also, a certain cultivation in every 
 worshiper. Christians should know the hymns 
 and tunes of the Church. They should follow 
 their leaders as accurately as possible, both in 
 time and tone; and should correct, as far as 
 possible, the defects in their own singing. 
 
 Consciousness of defects should keep no one 
 from a part in the service. It may be that 
 some should heed the advice given by a pious 
 
Praise. 31J 
 
 woman to her husband, to "Sing softly before 
 the Lord." Some, too, should remember that 
 we are praising in time and not in eternity ; 
 and that musical notes, like other notes, should 
 be met promptly. But the service has less to 
 fear from discords than from rests. A note 
 had better be a little too loud, or a little out of 
 chord or time, than not to be at all. When 
 men are called to praise the Lord, anything 
 is better than silence. 
 
 Old people are often conscious of failing 
 voices, but the service is not complete with- 
 out the voices of the old. People of good 
 ears and poor voices are conscious that the 
 artistic effect of the music is better when 
 the choir is left to itself; but artistic effect, 
 though important, is not the important thing. 
 There is abundant opportunity for the choir to 
 praise with artistic effect in the voluntaries. 
 
 The young sometimes fail to take part in the 
 service. They do not know the hymns. Un- 
 fortunately, the singing-books generally used 
 in Sabbath-schools are no help in training chil- 
 dren for the Church. We teach our children 
 to pray and to read the Bible. We should also 
 teach them to praise. This should be done 
 both in the home and in the Sabbath-school. 
 The family in which there is no singing at 
 family worship, neglects an important part of 
 
312 Praise. 
 
 the service, and one which might be a means 
 of blessing to the children as well as to those 
 who are older. The Sabbath-school which sings 
 only modern children's hymns is, at least, a 
 partial failure. Our children should be taught 
 the hymns and tunes of the Church, and in the 
 sanctuary their voices should be heard in praise. 
 Something more is necessary than cultiva- 
 tion of the voice and mere singing of words. 
 All religious service must be from the heart. 
 There is no praise without the spirit of praise, 
 and this spirit is possible only to those who 
 know the goodness of God and have experi- 
 enced His grace. To such praise is a pleasant 
 duty ; and as their views of holiness and mercy 
 are enlarged, they enter more heartily into the 
 service of the sanctuary, singing with grace in 
 their hearts to the Lord. This grace in the 
 heart will cover a multitude of blemishes. 
 Without it, the most perfect music is discord- 
 ant and out of place. Cultivate this grace by 
 a study of God's goodness and by consecration 
 to Him ; and let your voice be heard in His 
 praise, wishing only that it were worthier. 
 Thomas Fuller expressed the feeling of many, 
 when he said of his weak and imperfect praise : 
 "Hadst Thou given me a better voice, I would 
 praise Thee with a better voice. Now what 
 my music wants in sweetness, let it have in 
 
Praise. 313 
 
 sense, singing with the understanding; yea, 
 create in me a new heart wherein to make 
 melody." With him we may praise God, hop- 
 ing for the time when, with new voices, we shall 
 join the choir above in the song that never 
 ends. 
 
XXVII. 
 THE MESSENGER'S CRY. 
 
 " Prepare ye the way of the Lord." — Matt. iii. 3. 
 
 TN studying the plan of salvation, one meets 
 many strange things. First of all, it is 
 strange that there should be a plan of salva- 
 tion. God's infinite love to sinners, and the 
 method of its manifestation, are mysteries to 
 human reason. It is strange that the plan 
 should not only bring God to earth, but should 
 make Him a partaker of our nature. It is 
 strange that He should be "a man of low 
 estate;" that His parents should be poor; that 
 He must work for His living, and be despised 
 and rejected by men. All this is strange. 
 
 Had men devised the plan, it would have 
 been different. They would have sent the 
 choir of angels with their heavenly announce- 
 ment, not to a few shepherds on a lonely hill- 
 side, but to Jerusalem and to Rome, to the 
 high priest and to the emperor. The song 
 would have rung through the temple and the 
 palace of the Caesars, and the message would 
 C314) 
 
The Messenger's Cry. 315 
 
 have been such as kings send to kings. They 
 would not have written, " Ye shall find the babe 
 wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a man- 
 ger." Their sign would have been, " Ye shall 
 find the babe wrapped in soft clothing, with 
 velvet and embroidery, in a cradle of ivory, 
 with curtains of silk." 
 
 We have so often heard the story of Bethle- 
 hem, that it is commonplace. Let us imagine 
 the feeling of one who, for the first time, hears 
 that the King's Son, the Prince of heaven, 
 came to earth, and that for His love to men 
 He humbled Himself. Let us look with such 
 an one at the lowly stable, and at the Savior's 
 lowly bed. Truly great is the beginning of 
 the mystery of godliness. Truly the story is 
 strange, and the sign by which the shepherds 
 were to know the infant king was a strange 
 sign. 
 
 The Savior's introduction to His ministry 
 was no less strange than His birth. It had 
 been prophesied that God's messenger should 
 be sent before His face to prepare the way be- 
 fore Him. John the Baptist was this messen- 
 ger. He came according to promise, preach- 
 ing in the wilderness of Judea. His message 
 was : " Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make 
 straight in the desert a highway for our God." 
 He was a strange forerunner for a king. His 
 
316 The Messengers Cry. 
 
 clothing was coarse camel's hair. His words 
 were not those of a courtier. His manners 
 were not those of a royal ambassador. He 
 went not into the city to be received and hon- 
 ored by the authorities. His home was in the 
 wilderness. He ate what he could get. He 
 slept where he happened to be when night 
 came. His preaching was : "Repent! repent! 
 repent!" Yes, he was a strange forerunner 
 to a king, and brought a strange message. 
 
 I once witnessed the entrance of a king into 
 an assemblage of the great ones of the earth. 
 Before him came forerunners — men dressed in 
 gorgeous uniforms. They were the six royal 
 heralds, and their message, delivered not in 
 words, but with the sound of trumpets, was: 
 "The king comes — make way for the king!" 
 and the people made way, standing with un- 
 covered heads and answering, "Long live the 
 king!" Had man planned the ministry of 
 Christ, it would have been with some such pro- 
 gramme. It would have begun with pomp 
 and splendor, and even with such exaggerations 
 as are found in the sacred books of heathen 
 religions. The people of our Savior's day 
 would have welcomed a kino; who came with 
 trumpeters before him, and with a train of serv- 
 ants and soldiers, with bands and banners. That 
 was what they expected. Moreover, they were 
 
The Messenger s Cry. 317 
 
 inclined to forms and ceremonies, and would 
 have shouted their welcome from one hilltop 
 to another until all Palestine knew his coming 
 and glory. 
 
 Yes, John the Baptist was a strange fore- 
 runner for a k'ng; but when Ave look more 
 closely at him, and at his message, and at the 
 Savior Whom he announced, our wonder 
 ceases. 
 
 We note his poverty, but his King also was 
 poor. He became so for our sake. He wan- 
 dered in the desert. His King was like him 
 — homeless. His clothing was coarse, but it 
 befitted the doctrine he preached. That doc- 
 trine of repentance was and is the introduction 
 to salvation by faith. It was the one thing 
 needed to prepare a corrupt, formal, unbeliev- 
 ing nation for the coming Messiah. A great 
 show of ambassadors, with forms and ritual, 
 would have pleased them, but it was not what 
 they required. Pomp and trumpets and a 
 procession may prepare the way for a sover- 
 eign who is to sit on an earthly throne, but 
 only repentance can prepare for Him Whose 
 mission is to save from sin. 
 
 To preach this repentance, and thus prepare 
 the way of the Lord, was John's mission, and 
 it was a glorious mission. It distinguished him 
 above all other men. It was in the mind of 
 
318 The Messengers Cry. 
 
 his father, Zacharias, when he said to him, 
 " Thou shalt be called the prophet of the High- 
 est." It was in the mind of Christ when He 
 said, " I say unto you, Among them that are 
 born of women there hath not risen a greater 
 than John the Baptist." 
 
 Notice, however, the closing words of His 
 statement: "Nevertheless, he that is least in 
 the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." 
 He that is least under the New Dispensation has 
 a greater mission than that of John. His dis- 
 tinction was, that he announced the coming of 
 Christ and preached repentance as a prepara- 
 tion for His coming. The humblest Christian 
 in this New Dispensation is a forerunner to 
 herald His second coming. Every Christian, 
 with the Church as a body of Christians, is 
 charged with the message which John preached 
 in the wilderness: "Prepare ye the way of 
 the Lord." John preached: "Repent ye, for 
 the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We 
 preach : " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven 
 is come." And the King, though He is now 
 in heaven, is coming again. 
 
 We have no special illumination as John 
 had, but we have God's Word and Spirit, and 
 by this Word and Spirit we say, "Jesus 
 Christ will come again." Hear the testimony: 
 "While they [the disciples at the time of our 
 
The Messenger's Cry. 319 
 
 Lord's ascension] looked steadfastly toward 
 heaven as he went up, two men stood by them 
 in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of 
 Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 
 This same Jesus which is taken up from you 
 into heaven shall so come in like manner as 
 ye have seen him go into heaven." The 
 Apostle Paul testified: "The Lord shall de- 
 scend from heaven." Christ Himself promised 
 His disciples, "I will come again." And in 
 the last verse before the closing benediction of 
 the Bible, He repeated the promise, saying, 
 "Surely I come quickly." 
 
 We believe His words. We know that they 
 are true, and that He will come. Yes, Jesus 
 Christ will come, and He will come as a King. 
 There will be no lowly babe in the manger ; no 
 suffering mother crowded out of the inn, and 
 wondering at the story of strange shepherds. 
 He will not come in weakness and to suffer, 
 but in power and to reign. Shepherds and 
 wise men will not need to ask signs that they 
 may know Him, for every eye shall see Him, 
 and they also which pierced Him. When ? We 
 can not tell. That is God's secret. It may be 
 soon, or after centuries. We are to be ready. 
 "He shall [the Bible tells us] descend from 
 heaven with a shout and with the voice of the 
 archangel and with the trump of God. As 
 
320 The Messenger's Cry. 
 
 the lightning cometh out of the east and shin- 
 eth even to the west, so shall his coming be." 
 Yes, our King is coming with ten thousand 
 times ten thousand of His saints. It is His 
 right to reign, and He is coming to His king- 
 dom. 
 
 Knowing this truth, the Church and every 
 individual Christian, man, woman and child, 
 has the commission as a herald to proclaim it, 
 to preach repentance and faith, and to say, 
 "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." 
 
 His way is not now prepared. The world is 
 not ready for His appearing. I am not sure 
 that His Church is ready, though w T e do pray 
 for it. iEsop has a fable of an old man who 
 begged continually that death would come and 
 take him from his trouble, but who cried in 
 dismay when death answered his call. We 
 may thoughtlessly pray the Lord to hasten 
 His appearing, when that appearing would 
 strike us as the vision of angels at first struck 
 the shepherds with dread, Were the trump 
 to sound during the coming week, some would 
 be roused from selfish plans, some from dis- 
 honesty, some from sensual thoughts, and some 
 from open violations of God's law. Some 
 would realize that the way in their hearts 
 needs preparation. 
 
 Many Christians are ready for the coming 
 
The Messenger's Cry. 321 
 
 of Christ ; many others arc not. To the half- 
 hearted, the negligent, the selfish, the uncon- 
 secrated, I give John's message, "Prepare ye 
 the way of the Lord." Prepare it in your 
 own hearts by repentance, by faith, and by 
 new consecration. Prepare it in the Church, 
 by faithful attendance to all the duties of re- 
 ligion, by work for Christ in the prayer-meeting 
 and in the Sabbath-school and among the 
 poor. Prepare it in society by efforts to over- 
 come vice in every form and place. Were 
 our King to come now, and to march with his 
 hosts through our streets, many a man and 
 woman would start with affright, and drop the 
 implements of evil trade ; many business signs 
 would come down. An immense traffic in sin 
 would suddenly end. Many a gaudy adver- 
 tisement of indecency would turn to ashes, 
 at the glance of holiness. 
 
 The way of the Lord needs much prepara- 
 tion. The Sabbath must be better observed; 
 intemperance must be overcome ; vice must be 
 checked ; peace and honesty and chastity must 
 prevail. To bring about these results is the 
 work of the Church and of each individual 
 Christian. How are we to do this? By pure, 
 correct lives ; each one must personally avoid 
 sin ; by earnest continued effort to obtain 
 good laws and to force their enforcement, and 
 21 
 
322 The Messenger s Cry. 
 
 by trust in God, Who has converted people as 
 wicked as any, and can do so again, and Who 
 has promised His help to those who do their 
 duty. 
 
 The duty of the Church is not done when its 
 cry reaches its own people, nor even when sin- 
 ners around hear and heed the call. Its voice 
 is to reach beyond the boundaries of our 
 civilization. It has a wide mission. Its duty 
 is limited only by the circumference of the 
 earth. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord. 
 Make straight in the desert a highway for our 
 God." Christ is King, not over Europe and 
 America only, but over Africa and Asia and 
 the islands of the sea, A highway in the 
 desert means dominion over the waste places 
 of the earth. "I shall give thee the heathen 
 for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
 of the earth for thy possession." "He shall 
 reign from pole to pole with supreme, un- 
 bounded sway." "Every knee shall bow to 
 him." His way must be prepared everywhere. 
 The Church as His herald must go to the 
 dark places of the earth — to the waste places 
 of heathenism — to the abodes of horrid cruelty. 
 The great rivers of China must bear His mis- 
 sionaries and their message, that its 400,000,- 
 000 may prepare the way in their land. In 
 India and .Siam and Persia, and in the heart 
 
The Messenger's Cry. 323 
 
 of the Dark Continent, where Livingstone died, 
 the Gospel must be preached. It must be 
 preached alike to educated and uneducated 
 heathen, to Confucians and Buddhists and Ma- 
 hommedans and fire-worshipers and voodooists 
 and fetich worshipers and cannibals. 
 
 There are difficulties to overcome, of course. 
 Road-building requires wisdom and work. 
 Embankments must be cast up; rocks must 
 be blasted and taken away. The prophet saw 
 all this when he wrote, "Go through, go 
 through the gates ; prepare ye the way of the 
 people ; cast up, cast up the highway ; gather 
 out the stones ; lift up a standard for the peo- 
 ple. " Gates which for centuries have been 
 shut, are open. China opened her gates at 
 first but a little, then wider, and now, by treaty, 
 they are thrown wide open. Japan, too, and 
 other nations are open, and the Church hears 
 the command, "Go through, go through the 
 gates; prepare ye the way; gather out the 
 stones." Overthrow superstition and false re- 
 ligions, and the evils which an unchristian 
 civilization has introduced. The opium traffic 
 is a stone in the King's way. It must be re- 
 moved. So must idolatry in every form, and 
 sensuality. The Church's mission is to gather 
 them out ; to open the way of salvation, and to 
 lift up everywhere a standard; to proclaim 
 
324 The Messenger s Cry. 
 
 unto the end of the world, "Behold, thy salva- 
 tion cometh " 
 
 This mission involves not only wisdom and 
 work, but prayer and money. " The workman 
 is worthy of his hire." Missionaries who 
 gather out the stones and cast up the way and 
 carry the standard, must eat and be clothed ; 
 hence the Church, while it sends men to cry, 
 "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," also orders 
 collections, that they may be sustained. We 
 announce these as for foreign missions. We 
 might put the notices in this form: "A collec- 
 tion to make straight in the desert a highway 
 for our God." 
 
 Great undertakings often fail because they 
 are so great People see the difficulties and 
 are discouraged, but there is no reason for dis- 
 couragement in preparing God's way. Isaiah, 
 who foresaw the mission of John and of the 
 Church, and gave the watchword, "prepare," 
 Saw the perfection of the work. " Every valley 
 shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill 
 shall be made low: and the crooked shall be 
 made straight and the rough places plain : and 
 the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all 
 flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken it." Yes, God's mouth has 
 spoken it, and repeated it and emphasized it 
 and sworn to it. Christ shall come and shall 
 
The Messenger s Cry. 325 
 
 reign. He is to be King over all the earth. 
 India and China, and Africa, and Greenland, 
 and the Cannibal Islands and all islands, are 
 to acknowledge Him. His sway is to be wide 
 as the world. 
 
 Not only have we God's Word for this, but 
 the signs of the times indicate it. I know 
 some Christians are despondent, and that many 
 have no faith in missions ; but the facts are as 
 full of encouragement as God's Word is full of 
 promise. The redemption of the Sandwich 
 Islands and of Madagascar, the opening of 
 China, the wonderful revivals in India, the in- 
 crease in Christian liberality, should all 
 strengthen our faith and add to the zeal with 
 which we prepare the Lord's way. Father 
 Gavazzi, the Italian patriot and preacher, said: 
 " I think I shall have everything I want before 
 I die. So many of my hopes are realized, so 
 many of my dreams have come true, that I 
 despair of nothing." So may the Christian 
 say as he reads the promises of God, "So 
 many have been fulfilled, I despair of nothing." 
 Having such faith, we should with ever increas- 
 ing zeal prepare the way of the Lord. 
 
XXVIII. 
 CHRISTIAN UNITY. 
 
 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, 
 that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast 
 sent me." — John xvii. 21. 
 
 f~YUR subject is Christian unity. The text is 
 ^^ a part of Christ's intercessory prayer, and 
 is emphasized by repetition. Three times, 
 within the space of as many verses, He prays 
 that His disciples may be one. 
 
 Sin is the seed of dissension and strife. Be- 
 fore sin came, all was peace. The leopard 
 in Eden could lie down with the kid, and the 
 lion could eat straw like the ox. Adam and 
 Eve had no controversies. They were of one 
 heart and one mind, as well as of one flesh ; 
 so made by the Creator, who pronounced the 
 divine formula of their marriage. 
 
 The tempter began his evil work by ques- 
 tionings and contradictions. These were the 
 first sin and the beginning of discord. They 
 brought forth fruit bearing seed after their own 
 kind, speedily and in great abundance. Not 
 (326) 
 
Christian Unity. 327 
 
 only did men become enemies of God, but their 
 hearts were turned against each other. Adam 
 and Eve no longer walked in a loving embrace. 
 Words of crimination and self-excuse were 
 heard. "The woman gave me of the tree; 
 she is at fault." Thus speedily did the first 
 bud of selfishness, a weed which has since filled 
 the earth, appear above the soil in Paradise. 
 
 Yery soon there was a murder. " Cain rose 
 up against Abel his brother, and slew him." 
 Then as men multiplied, the earth "was filled 
 with violence." Then came Babel, with its 
 confusion of tongues and divisions of race, 
 which remain to this day. The normal condi- 
 tion of our fallen race is one of strife, in which 
 every man is to promote his own interest, to 
 defend his own views and avenge his own in- 
 dignities. The highest type of man in the 
 Middle Ages, and in many lands to-day, is the 
 man of war. 
 
 Christ came preaching a Gospel of peace. 
 "Ye have heard that it hath been said by them 
 of old times, An eye for an eye, and a tooth 
 for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist 
 not evil: but if any man will smite thee on 
 the right cheek, turn to him the other also." 
 "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 
 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless 
 
328 Christian Unity. 
 
 them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
 you, and pray for them which despitefully use 
 you, and persecute you." The Spirit of Christ 
 is a spirit of humility and unselfish love. Chris- 
 tians are to cherish this spirit toward all men ; 
 particularly is it to influence them in their treat- 
 ment one of another. 
 
 The Early Church accepted the Word of the 
 Lord. Men said, "Behold, how these brethren 
 love one another." Love gave them a common 
 interest. They sold their possessions, and had 
 ;all things common. They were " one," as Christ 
 had prayed they might be. 
 
 The best of lovers, however, do not always 
 agree. Peter and Paul had a misunderstand- 
 ing, and went different ways. Paul and James, 
 preaching the same Gospel, emphasized differ- 
 ent doctrines; and very soon there were divi- 
 sions of sentiment among* the churches. These 
 were the result, perhaps in part, of pride, jeal- 
 ousy and ambition ; but they resulted, also in 
 part, from honest convictions as to doctrine and 
 duty. The Church, at a very early date, was 
 divided into denominations or sects. It is still 
 so divided, and probably will be until men shall 
 see face to face. 
 
 It is common to denounce such divisions as 
 sinful, and a hindrance to the fulfillment of 
 our Savior's prayer for unity. In so far as 
 
Christian Unity. 329 
 
 they come of human pride and lust, they are 
 certainly thus sinful and a hindrance ; but in 
 so far as they come of conscientious convictions, 
 they are, as I verily believe, approved of God. 
 The work of Luther, and of those who, with 
 him, planted themselves on the doctrine of 
 justification by faith, can not be declared sin- 
 ful ; though it was the beginning of a denomin- 
 ation. The work of Knox, and of the Scotch 
 divines after him, who contended for the King- 
 ship of Christ, was the seed of several denom- 
 inations, which have with them, to this day, 
 the seal of God's blessing. The followers of 
 John Wesley have a like seal upon their sepa- 
 ration and labor. We may say that divisions 
 are an incident of our weakness and imperfec- 
 tion, and that sin is the cause. We may go 
 farther and say, that in every division one party 
 must be wrong; but this does not justify the 
 condemnation of any man or of any Church. 
 
 If denominations are sinful, who is to say 
 where the sin rests ? We stand on our own 
 Confession and Government, which we believe 
 scriptural. Shall we, therefore, declare our 
 Episcopal and Methodist friends sinners, be- 
 cause they walk not with us? Such declara- 
 tion would itself be sinful. No sect, however 
 sure of its ground, has the right to unchurch 
 any other evangelical body. It is not given to 
 
330 Christian Unity. 
 
 any man or body of men to fix limits to the 
 Church of God, and to say, We are the Church 
 — as distinct from others. The Church is the 
 kingdom of Christ, and comprises all, of what- 
 ever nation or sectarian name, who believe in 
 Him. It is one Church, one household of faith, 
 one family of God. 
 
 As in the families of earth there are children 
 of different features and intelligence, and of 
 various opinions and affinities, so in the family 
 of God there are men of different minds. More- 
 over, the varied circumstances in which they 
 are placed, cause them to take varied views of 
 truth; and those who believe alike associate 
 with each other, and call themselves by dis- 
 tinctive names. One Church is led by the 
 controversies which have vexed it to empha- 
 size a particular doctrine, and another another 
 doctrine ; and often one may feel called to utter 
 its protest against the errors of the other. There 
 have been grievous family quarrels in the house- 
 hold of faith ; but these are not a necessary re- 
 sult of denominational separation, though they 
 come, perhaps, from the same original cause. 
 There are fewer of these bitter quarrels than 
 of old. Christians are more content to hold 
 their differences in love, to agree to disagree. 
 In this respect, we are approaching the ideal 
 of the Savior's prayer. 
 
Christian Unity. 331 
 
 That prayer was for unity. I use the word 
 as distinct from union. He would have His 
 people one in heart, and such oneness is pos- 
 sible even while they are divided by denom- 
 inational lines. Paul besought the Ephesiana 
 to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
 peace;" and the Colossians to "put on charity, 
 which is the bond of perfectness." His words 
 give us the true idea of a unity, in which each 
 Church, holding its own doctrines and order, is 
 one with every other in love and Christian 
 labor. This was the ideal of the prophet when 
 he said, "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and 
 Judah shall not vex Ephraim." 
 
 Such unity is more desirable than any formal 
 organic union. Indeed, in the present state of 
 religious knowledge, formal organic union of 
 all Churches would not be desirable, even if it 
 could be accomplished. It would be the min- 
 imum of faith. Every man must give up his 
 convictions on points which he regards as im- 
 portant. If divisions are sinful, or, at least, 
 show the world to be out of joint and ignorant of 
 the truth, such yielding of conscientious convic- 
 tions would hinder rather than help true unity. 
 The medicine would be worse than the disease. 
 
 Organic union will come, but not before the 
 millennium ; and until it does come, our duty, 
 as a Church, is to teach the truth as we under- 
 
332 Christian Unity. 
 
 stand it. Until then, it is the duty of our 
 Baptist and Methodist brethren to teach the 
 truth as they understand it. We can not unite 
 with them on any basis but our Confession of 
 Faith, and that they are not likely to accept. 
 Efforts to force union, only magnify differ- 
 ences and disturb unity. I knew a teacher 
 whose plan with quarrelsome children was to 
 rub their heads together until they kissed ; but 
 ordinarily the process excited anything but 
 friendly feelings, and many a quarrel which 
 would have been forgotten, had afterward to 
 be fought out. An aggressive movement in 
 favor of the interest of "organic Christian 
 union" is attracting some attention, particu- 
 larly in the East. It aims to unite all denom- 
 inations in one grand Church. Its plan is to 
 rub creeds together; to polish off the sharp 
 points of Calvinism and Arminianism, and to 
 make Christians see eye and eye. The results 
 of its work are a succession of ecclesiastical 
 controversies. Now and then there are unions, 
 but they do not come through discussion of 
 differences. When the Old School and New 
 School Churches tried to arrange a basis, they 
 failed. When they said, " We will simply unite 
 on the basis of our standards and of mutual 
 confidence and love," they came together as nat- 
 urally as lovers kiss. 
 
Christian Unity. 333 
 
 The difficulty with many efforts is, that they 
 begin at the wrong end of the work. Organic 
 union is to be reached through spiritual unity. 
 This unity prevails to-day more than in any 
 preceding age of the Church. Churches so 
 divide the mission-fields among them as not 
 to interfere with each other's work. Union 
 churches in small places are more and more 
 common. If common sense could, as some one 
 suggests, be Pope, with power to compel weak 
 churches in small places, by the persuasion of 
 love, to work in better harmony, it would help 
 the cause. Common sense and Christian cour- 
 tesy do more and more prevail. Union serv- 
 ices are fruitful of good. Ministers recognize 
 each other, and churches rejoice in each other's 
 success. We are glad that English Missions 
 have won such triumphs in Madagascar, and 
 that the Baptist brethren have reaped a har- 
 vest among the Telugus. Their triumphs are 
 the triumphs of the Cross, and the Cross is 
 above all our differences. 
 
 This brings us to another point — to the rea- 
 son with which Christ emphasizes His petition. 
 Let them be one; "that the world may know 
 that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, 
 as thou hast loved me." A united Church is 
 a strong Church. The disciples on the day of 
 Pentecost were with one accord in one place, 
 
334 Christian Unity. 
 
 and great numbers of people were converted. 
 When all denominations of Christians, holding 
 their various creeds, and yet dealing with others 
 in the spirit of love, give all their energies to 
 the salvation of souls, the prayer of Christ will 
 be fulfilled ; the world will know that Christ 
 came from God, and will be won to Him. 
 Christian unity is simply Christian love, and 
 love will conquer the world. 
 
 It may seem a step downward from these 
 things of world-wide importance to our own 
 personal privilege and duty, but charity or love 
 begins at home ; rather, it begins in the indi- 
 vidual heart. We are to promote the unity for 
 which Christ prayed, by cultivating its spirit 
 in our own breasts. Nothing is easier than 
 to find fault. Suspicions and criticisms are as 
 natural to the natural heart as weeds to a newly- 
 plowed field. There are few Christians of whom 
 some evil can not be said. The spirit of unity 
 does not look for defects. It thinketh no evil. 
 It is not easily provoked. It enters with full 
 sympathy into every plan for the salvation of 
 men. It does not, like one of old, ask: "Lord, 
 who is my neighbor? " or, " Who is my brother 
 or sister?" but regards every consistent mem- 
 ber of the Church as a member of the family. 
 Moreover, it goes beyond the boundary of the 
 Church Manual. Its sympathies are with weak 
 
Christian Unity. 335 
 
 churches and mission-schools, and with other 
 denominations, and with the whole work of the 
 Master. It does not necessarily approve the 
 ritualism of one Church, nor the sensational 
 extravagance of another, neither does it yield 
 its distinctive doctrines ; but it says, as Christ 
 Himself said, when the disciples forbade the 
 man who cast out devils, though he followed 
 not with them: "Forbid them not." He that 
 is not against Christ is with Him. 
 
 This spirit we ought to cultivate. And the 
 more we do cultivate it, the truer we are to our 
 distinctive principles; for without love our dis- 
 tinctive principles are a mockery. Some one 
 says, that "the man who loves his own wife 
 and children, is the man with whom you can 
 safely trust your wife and children, in case of 
 necessity." So he who loves his own church 
 most, loves and will promote the interests of all 
 churches, and vice versa, he who is interested 
 in the whole kingdom of Christ, will be a pillar 
 in his particular Zion. 
 
 Let us pray the prayer, "Thy kingdom 
 come." Let us pray it in the spirit of unity 
 and of love. May God bless every man who 
 loves, and every church that is devoted to, that 
 kingdom. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 A PECULIAR PEOPLE. 
 
 : 'Ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land." — Judges 
 
 n 
 
 9, 
 
 rpiIESE words are the declaration of a 
 divine policy. They were spoken to the 
 Jewish people at a critical point in their his- 
 tory. They had ended their wanderings in 
 the wilderness ; had taken Jericho and Jerusa- 
 lem ; had defeated many kings and tribes, and 
 were able, by God's blessing, to possess the 
 country. They were, however, still vexed with 
 the blindness which kept them forty years in 
 the wilderness. They were prone to forget 
 Grod, to tremble before their enemies, and to 
 depend on strategy and diplomacy rather than 
 on Him Whose power had so often saved 
 them. 
 
 There were worldly wise men among them 
 who saw the power of the Canaanites and 
 Philistines, and said, " Let us have treaties 
 with them, and live side by side with them." 
 In answer to these, the angel of the Lord re- 
 peats the command to make no treaties with 
 
 (336) 
 
A Peculiar People. 337 
 
 the heathen tribes, but to root them out, throw 
 down their altars and take their land. After- 
 ward the angel, speaking for God, says: "Ye 
 have not obeyed my word; therefore these 
 tribes shall be as thorns in your sides, and 
 their gods shall be as. snares unto you." 
 
 We notice, first, that the command of God 
 was reasonable. The children of Israel were 
 His people. He had made a covenant or 
 league with them to oive them the land. He 
 was able to fulfill His part in this covenant. 
 The land was His, and He could drive out the 
 heathen. They were His enemies. Their gods 
 were idols, and their worship was sin. The 
 children of Israel could not be faithful to God 
 while in league with His enemies. Therefore 
 He said to them, "Ye shall make no league 
 with any of these nations." There must be no 
 compromise. No altar of Baal can be spared. 
 The country promised to Abraham and his 
 seed, and given according to promise, must 
 know no service but that of the God of Abra- 
 ham. 
 
 Again. The policy set forth in the command 
 was safe. No other promised permanent se- 
 curity. The heathen tribes were cunning and 
 crafty, as ready to make leagues and to break 
 them as are the tribes of the Soudan. " They 
 shall be as thorns in your side," said the angel. 
 22 
 
338 A Peculiar People. 
 
 The Mahdi and his followers are not a worse 
 thorn to the British Government than were 
 these Canaanitish tribes afterward to the 
 children of Israel. Obedience to divine direc- 
 tion would have saved them and their children 
 and their children's children from sore evils. 
 
 Again. The divine policy was wise. It was 
 calculated to keep the nation from sin — par- 
 ticularly from the sin of idolatry. To tolerate 
 the Canaanites was to tolerate their altars and 
 groves and idolatrous worship ; to expose them- 
 selves and their children to the temptations of 
 this worship. The angel said, "Their gods 
 shall be a snare unto you." This truly came 
 to pass. The people became familiar with the 
 names and services of Baal and Ashtaroth. 
 As people nowadays flock to camp-meetings, 
 they flocked to the groves and high places of 
 idolatry. Their children were beguiled. Their 
 sons married heathen women and their daugh- 
 ters heathen men. Association with sin led 
 them to sin, and again and again the whole 
 nation was given over to idolatry. 
 
 Turn now to the last chapter of the book of 
 II. Chronicles and read the result : " Moreover, 
 all the chiefs of the priests and the people 
 transgressed very much, after all the abomina- 
 tions of the heathen." "Therefore he brought 
 upon them the king of the Chaldees, who 
 
A Peculiar Peojrte. 339 
 
 slew their young men with the sword and had 
 no compassion, and burnt the house of God 
 and carried the people captive." The cause 
 of the overthrow of Israel was idolatry, but 
 there are causes behind causes. Tracing the 
 disaster back to its beginning, their destruc- 
 tion began when they made leagues, contrary 
 to God's command, with the inhabitants of the 
 land. 
 
 The effect of the angel's message on the 
 people of Israel was very marked. "All the 
 people lifted up their voice and wept." They 
 also offered sacrifice to the Lord. It would 
 have been much better to reform and put 
 away their heathen wives and break down 
 their heathen altars. Obedience is better than 
 sacrifice, and reformation than weeping ; for, as 
 Matthew Henry says, their sin was "too deeply 
 rooted to be wept out." 
 
 The divine policy, as to the treatment of sin, 
 is the same in every age. The God of Adam, 
 Abraham, Israel and the Church of our Dis- 
 pensation is one God. He can not look upon 
 sin with the least degree of allowance. He 
 makes no compromise with it. He says to 
 His Church, as to the chosen nation of old, 
 "Ye shall make no league with the inhabitants 
 of the land." The command is as reasonable as 
 when spoken to the Jews. He had brought 
 
340 A Peculiar People. 
 
 them out of the land of Egypt and delivered 
 them from enemies and made a covenant with 
 them. So He has delivered His Church, and 
 covenanted with her. He has committed to 
 her His Oracles and the ministry, and has 
 promised and gives His Holy Spirit to instruct 
 and help her. He has testified His love to her 
 by a sacrifice, compared to which the olden sac- 
 rifices are as a dim twilight to the sun it pre- 
 cedes. He has made it her duty to uphold 
 His worship and honor His name. As the 
 Jews of old were His people, chosen to make 
 His name known among the heathen, so the 
 Church is chosen and ordained to perpetuate 
 and extend His worship. It is to be a light 
 shining in a dark place. To accomplish its 
 end it must be pure. God's people must be 
 devoted to Him and mindful of the covenant 
 He has established. This covenant can not 
 be broken unless they break it. God will be 
 faithful. He demands of them an individual 
 allegiance. They can not be in league with 
 Him and with His enemies, or even with those 
 who are indifferent to Him. 
 
 The world receives the Church very much 
 as the Canaanites and Hivites received the 
 children of Israel — sometimes in peace and 
 sometimes in war ; sometimes with open can- 
 dor and sometimes with guile. Men come, 
 
A Peculiar People. 341 
 
 perhaps, as the men of Gibeon came to Joshua. 
 They say: "We have heard of the fame of 
 the Lord thy God, now make a league with 
 us. We believe in religion, but you are too 
 strict. We would join you and co-operate, but 
 you must yield a little. These old doctrines are 
 too severe. An enlightened age demands modi- 
 fication. The doctrines of man's sin, of the 
 incarnation and of the need of regeneration are 
 hard sayings. The Church would prosper if 
 it preached the love of God and bridged these 
 hard places and made the way of salvation 
 easy. It could gain friends," they tell us, "by 
 softening its tone on the Sabbath question, or 
 on temperance." I have no doubt of it. There 
 are many who would make a league with the 
 Church, and put their names on her rolls, if 
 she would yield a little. 
 
 The worshipers of Baal were glad to sign a 
 league which allowed them to keep their altars. 
 So there are worshipers of Mammon who would 
 be in the Church if her requirements were less 
 exacting. But does it follow that the Church 
 would gain by compromise? The Bible and 
 history and common sense say, No. The divine 
 plan is, That as the Jews were a peculiar and 
 separate people, so the Church should be sepa- 
 rate. " Come ye out of the midst of her, my peo- 
 ple. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the 
 
342 A Peculiar People. 
 
 Lord. What fellowship hath light with dark- 
 ness? Let there be no league with iniquity." 
 
 Some in the Church, who are anxious for her 
 good, err in overestimating the obstacles in 
 her way and in underestimating her power. 
 They question whether it would not be better to 
 meet hostile scientists and philosophers on 
 some common ground; to concede some things 
 that they claim, and so gain co-operation. The 
 Bible idea is against this view. It reveals 
 God's plan, according to which His people are 
 to be separate, and to maintain His counsel in 
 its entirety. 
 
 But they say the Church needs this co-opera- 
 tion. It is making no progress, indeed, it is 
 losing, and concession is necessary. Some 
 would do for theology, what the Signal Service 
 does for science — foretell storms and other 
 dangers. These constitute what may be called 
 a Bureau of Spiritual Probabilities. They tell 
 us that unless the Church shifts ground, it 
 must lose influence; that "orthodoxy is 
 doomed;" that "the Church of the future will 
 be free from superstition;" that the Christian 
 doctrines of inspiration, of the Sabbath and of a 
 future life are to be modified, and that if the 
 Church would stand, she must recognize the 
 inevitable and adapt her doctrines to the spirit 
 of the age. 
 
A Peculiar People. 343 
 
 Such prophecies and advice are wonderfully 
 common of late, and are uttered very con- 
 fidently. Had those who made them the pres- 
 tige which the fulfillment of past predictions 
 has given the Signal Service, we might feel 
 some alarm ; but, as things are, we venture to 
 w T eigh probabilities and put our predictions 
 against theirs. 
 
 And first, there are no indications of a cold 
 wave. Our spiritual atmosphere is not as 
 warm as it might be, and changes may be ex- 
 pected, but they will be for the better rather 
 than for the worse. We judge this not alone 
 because God has promised good to His Church, 
 but from the signs of the times. The churches 
 are not drifting toward Infidelity; nor is 
 there reason to say that belief in God's words 
 will disappear. On the contrary, Bible study 
 and belief in the Bible are on the increase. 
 
 That orthodoxy and orthodox churches are 
 doomed, is talk without knowledge. The 
 churches which have evangelical creeds, and 
 hold to them, are the growing churches. Those 
 which are loose are losing ground. Universalism 
 is waning. Unitarianism is losing everywhere. 
 The evangelical churches are prosperous. And 
 if there is difference among them, those which 
 hold their doctrines most firmly are most pros- 
 perous. 
 
344 A Peculiar People. 
 
 The apostles of looseness receive in our day 
 more than their share of popular attention. 
 They are neither so many nor so mighty as 
 some suppose. Few cities have more than 
 one, and ordinarily they are average men. 
 They attract attention just as comets do. Peo- 
 ple who never think of the stars will look and 
 wonder at a stranger in the sky. Some years 
 ago there ministered in one of our large cities 
 a man of good attainments, whose doctrines 
 were those of other evangelical ministers. He 
 had an ordinary congregation, and was favora- 
 bly known in other churches, but had no name 
 or reputation above other ministers of the 
 city. By and by he made a departure. He 
 abandoned his church and the orthodox faith, 
 and began preaching in a theatre. He was 
 the sensation of the day. The papers were 
 full of him. 'The telegraph told people in all 
 parts of the land what he said. He went up 
 like a rocket, and — he came down. 
 
 His history has been repeated with different 
 actors in other cities. In each case the hero 
 gained a reputation which he could never have 
 gained by preaching evangelical truth. There 
 is more joy and more stir in our newspapers 
 over one minister who goes astray, or preaches 
 infidelity, than over ninety and nine who 
 preach sound doctrine. In the meantime, 
 
A Peculiar People. 345 
 
 however, the Church goes on with her work, 
 the ninety and nine preach, their people labor 
 and the cause advances. 
 
 The prophet who thinks orthodoxy doomed 
 because a few men, once in good standing in 
 the churches, have thrown off their bonds and 
 are teachers of another Gospel, reasons from a 
 very small premise to a very large conclusion. 
 Christian people need not be alarmed by such 
 predictions. Infidelity threatens great things, 
 but so it has threatened from the beginning. 
 We can wait for some demonstration. 
 
 An insane man once entered a crowded 
 church, and grasping two pillars of the gallery, 
 one on each side of the aisle, cried, " I will pull 
 these down and destroy you, as Samson did the 
 Philistine lords." There was a sensation, and 
 a panic was imminent, when the minister, 
 quietly waving his hand, said, "Let him try." 
 He did try, and that was the end of the sensa- 
 tion. Infidelity lays hold of the pillars of our 
 temple— the Sabbath, the Bible, the divinity 
 of Christ. Professors of probabilities say, "It 
 will pull them down." Let it try. Others 
 have tried, but our temple stands. It was 
 built by the Almighty, and i'vr,m its sure 
 corner-stone to its highest pinnacle it is secure. 
 Nothing could be more unwise or untrue to 
 God than to turn from His Word to com- 
 
346 A Peculiar People. 
 
 promise with modern theories and philoso- 
 phies. There are more of them than there 
 were of the Canaanitish tribes, and like those 
 tribes they are at strife among themselves. 
 Their doctrines are constantly changing. Like 
 wandering tribes they are here one day 
 and gone the next. "The word of our God 
 shall stand forever." This is the promise. 
 The command is: " Thou shalt make no league 
 with the inhabitants of the land." 
 
 One application of the text, therefore, is: 
 The Church should make no league with infi- 
 delity. It should not, in the slightest degree, 
 compromise any doctrine of God's Word. 
 
 Another is: The Church should make no 
 league with immorality. It should not toler- 
 ate in its members any iniquitous practice. 
 What was said as to the maintenance of sound 
 doctrine may be said also of discipline. 
 Those who are appointed to rule in the house 
 of God should make His Word their guide, 
 and should see that the immoralities of mem- 
 bers are not allowed to become thorns and 
 snares to the church, as the Canaanitish altars 
 and worship became to the Jews. 
 
 A third application is to individuals. Make 
 no league with any habit or desire or person 
 hostile to God. He is entitled to. allegiance and 
 to all our service. We can not serve Him 
 
A Peculiar People. 347 
 
 and compromise with sin. God said to Israel, 
 "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought 
 thee out of the land of Egypt. Thou shalt 
 make no league." He says to us, " I am the 
 Lord thy God. I have redeemed thee from 
 sin. Give me thine undivided heart." 
 
XXX. 
 NATIONAL. 
 
 "Happy is that people whose God is the Lord." — Psalm cxliv. 15. 
 
 HPHE verses immediately preceding the text 
 are a pen picture of prosperity. 
 
 " That our garners may be full, affording all 
 manner of store; that our sheep may bring 
 forth thousands and tens of thousands in our 
 streets; that our oxen may be strong to labor; 
 that there be no breaking in, nor going out; 
 that there be no complaining in our streets." 
 
 The picture represents our condition as a 
 people. Our garners are full. The East and 
 the West, and the North and the South, con- 
 gratulate each other and themselves on mutual 
 abundance. The earth brings forth plentifully. 
 There may be failures in one section or another, 
 but general failures are unknown. Each year 
 is a year of abundauce. Our herds and flocks 
 multiply. Our agricultural reports do not dis- 
 cuss the sufficiency of our product for bur need. 
 The question is, How many millions of surplus 
 can we sell abroad? Times may be hard by 
 
 (348) 
 
National. 349 
 
 contrast with other times, but not by contrast 
 with other lands. There are individual sorrows 
 and complaints; but the people as a people, 
 and the country as a whole, are blest. We 
 can rejoice with the Psalmist, and say: " Happy 
 is that people that is in such a case." 
 
 The Psalmist's picture, however, contains 
 more than agricultural prosperity. We see a 
 people at peace. There is no invasion nor 
 captivity; no breaking in nor going out; no 
 complaining nor groaning under burdens; no 
 slavery nor oppression. We are blessed with 
 culture and education. Our "sons are as plants 
 grown up in their youth ; and our daughters 
 are as corner-stones, polished after the simili- 
 tude of a palace." 
 
 These are the outlines of the picture, which 
 each may fill in, and shade and color according 
 to his desire and ability. One may dwell on 
 our just laws; another on our public schools; 
 another on the increase of population, or on 
 religious or civil freedom ; another may count 
 the acres of our public domains, or tell our 
 standing with the nations. All these help to 
 make up our prosperity, and all are reasons 
 for thanksgiving. It is profitable for us, upon 
 a set day each year, to study them, to sum 
 up, and set in order, and carefully weigh our 
 blessings. 
 
350 National. 
 
 We may fail to realize them, because they 
 are so great and so continuous. In the cen- 
 tury, since we became free, civil liberty and 
 freedom to worship God have become matters 
 of course. Like air and light, they are so 
 common that we scarcely think of them as 
 blessings. The same is true of peace; for, 
 though the lessons of our wars have not been 
 forgotten, time has so dimmed the recollection 
 that peace seems a natural condition rather 
 than a subject for special thanks. 
 
 We need some such exhortation as that given 
 the Jews at their feast of weeks: "Thou shalt 
 remember that thou wast a bondsman in 
 Egypt." The blessings of the present will be 
 more real when contrasted with evils that are 
 past. The bright spots in our picture will be 
 |brighter for the darkness behind them. Re- 
 membering their bondage and poverty, the 
 Jews could with more spirit and understand- 
 ing praise God for freedom and plenty. Re- 
 membering the Mayflower and her crew, who, 
 that they might be free to worship God, left 
 their homes and country, will help us to give 
 heartier thanks for greater freedom than they 
 ever dreamed of. Thoughts of our Revolution ; 
 of the price paid for our independence ; of our 
 pioneers and the sacrifices they made to lay 
 our foundations of other lands, where oppres- 
 
National. 3ol 
 
 sion, or riot, or famine prevail, will give reality 
 to our thanksgiving. 
 
 The fact that freedom and peace and plenty 
 are so common, does not make them less the 
 gifts of God, nor absolve us from gratitude. 
 Yet it is true, that what may be called the 
 "small favors of Providence" are thankfully 
 received, while others which go to make up 
 our very life are scarcely regarded. "What 
 do you most give thanks for?" I asked a pa- 
 tient in one of our hospitals. " For my eyes," 
 he said. He had been almost blind for a year, 
 but an operation had given him sight. We 
 have our eyes and use them so readily, that 
 sight is scarcely thought a thing to be thank- 
 ful for. 
 
 So other blessings, personal and national, 
 are overlooked, because of their very great- 
 ness and nearness and importance. If we were 
 blind for a year, or a slave, or persecuted, or 
 very poor for a year, Thanksgiving would mean 
 more to us than it ever meant before. One 
 season of the grasshoppers prepared the Kan- 
 sas farmers to give very earnest thanks for the 
 next year's corn crop. The failure of one ac- 
 customed mercy may give us also a lively ap- 
 preciation of other mercies. It was a very 
 thankful mother in Israel who wished her vis- 
 itors were both almost and altogether such as 
 
352 National. 
 
 she was, except a touch of the rheumatism. 
 She might have wished them even this, if its 
 pangs would lead them to look more thankfully 
 at the sum of their mercies. A touch of polit- 
 ical corruption may turn our thoughts to the 
 whole grand system under which we live. The 
 banishment of the Bible from our public schools 
 may increase our thankfulness that, neverthe- 
 less, we have the Bible and a Bible civilization ; 
 that in spite of trials and reverses, both per- 
 sonal and public, the sum of our blessings far 
 exceeds all we are called to suffer ; that these 
 blessings are indeed more in number than can 
 be counted, and that we may honestly bow our 
 heads to receive the benediction of the Psalm- 
 ist when he says: "Happy is that people that 
 is in such a case; yea, happy is that people 
 whose God is the Lord." 
 
 There is a natural connection between the 
 former and latter clauses of this text. We 
 may, without violence, read the one as an ex- 
 planation of or reason for the other. It was 
 because their God was the Lord that the He- 
 brews were blessed. They were His people. 
 He gave them their land and their laws. He 
 sent them peace and prosperity. When they 
 acknowledged Him, they were prosperous in- 
 deed. When they turned aside to strange gods, 
 curses came upon them. The promise was, 
 
National. 353 
 
 " Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with 
 the first-fruits of all thine increase; so shall 
 thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses 
 shall burst out with new wine." 
 
 The promise is one for all time. Acknowl- 
 edge the Lord, maintain His service, honor His 
 laws, and prosperity will be the result. This 
 is the testimony of history as well as of Scrip- 
 ture. The nation which fears God is blessed. 
 We, as a nation, illustrate this truth. From 
 the beginning, our God has been the Lord. 
 The fathers made laws and established a gov- 
 ernment in His fear. That some State Con- 
 stitutions do not mention His name is of small 
 moment, when every article and every by-law 
 declares the principles of His government. Our 
 nation was Christian from its birth, and this 
 fact explains the blessings which have attended 
 its growth. 
 
 These blessings are no mere accident, neither 
 are they an arbitrary arrangement of Divine 
 Providence. A sound philosophy underlies the 
 text. It is as natural that a God-fearing nation 
 should be blessed, as that a man who observes 
 proper sanitary regulation should have health. 
 Religion furnishes the best exercise, the best 
 tonic and the best food for a people. Men who 
 fear God will keep His law — not the first table 
 only, which concerns their relations with Him, 
 23 
 
354 • National. 
 
 but the second, which regulates their treatment 
 of men as well. They will not murder, nor 
 commit adultery, nor steal, nor lie, nor covet. 
 They will respect "the powers that be" as or- 
 dained of God, and will pay their taxes and 
 abide by their contracts. They will be indus- 
 trious, and charitable, and civil. 
 
 The fear of God is more than a formal ac- 
 knowledgment of His power and right. It is 
 not simply a worship. It is a systematic belief 
 and a life. It makes true men — in the family 
 and in the State. A God-fearing man is always 
 a safe man. His children, his wife, his business 
 partner, and his felloAV-citizens may depend 
 upon him. There are apparent exceptions in 
 the case of hypocrites, and real exceptions in 
 those who have piety without discretion ; but 
 the rule holds good. Happy is the family or 
 that business which has for its head one whose 
 God is the Lord! 
 
 Godliness is profitable not only to the godly 
 themselves, but to their associates. A commu- 
 nity of God-fearing people is a safe community 
 — an honest, quiet, industrious community. 
 A village or city in which the mass of the 
 people are church-goers is a desirable home, 
 and a good place in which to do business and 
 raise children. Speculators who lay out new 
 towns realize this, and are willing to give lots 
 
National. 355 
 
 for church purposes. They know that the es- 
 tablishment of a church will promote order, 
 draw a good class of settlers, and raise the price 
 of real estate. They bear testimony to the 
 truth that religion is a blessing, and that a 
 community is happy whose God is the Lord. 
 
 What is true of a village or city, is true of 
 the State. " Righteousness exalteth a nation." 
 "The throne is established by righteousness." 
 " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
 national wisdom." The nation that honors 
 God, God will honor. 
 
 Some one has declared the Book of Proverbs 
 to be the best business manual ever published. 
 It is also the best book of political economy. 
 It deals with the principles which underlie all 
 government, and develops the true idea of na- 
 tional prosperity. That prosperity comes from 
 obedience to the laws of God. A God-fearing 
 nation has in it the root of this prosperity, and 
 the sTowth is as natural as the flow of water 
 from the fountain, or the growth of a tree from 
 the seed. 
 
 The fact that prosperity is the result of right- 
 eousness, does not make it any less the gift of 
 God. "Promotion cometh neither from the 
 East, nor from the West, nor from the South ; 
 but God is the Judge." He putteth down one, 
 and setteth up another. He is Governor 
 
356 National. 
 
 among the nations. He rules in the armies of 
 heaven, and among the inhabitants of the 
 earth. 
 
 While we honor our forefathers, we give 
 praise and thanks to God for their labors and 
 for the civilization they established. We need 
 to recognize, also, our obligation to serve Him, 
 and so perpetuate this civilization and pros- 
 perity. We can not live on the faith of our 
 fathers. If we are to have continued prosper- 
 ity, it must be because our God is the Lord ; 
 because we worship Him, and keep His Sab- 
 baths, and observe His commandments. We 
 are too prone to glorify our fathers and our 
 institutions, and to feel that the next genera- 
 tion shall be as this and much more abundant. 
 
 Let us bear in mind that while we say with 
 David, "Happy is that nation whose God is 
 the Lord," the converse of this is equally true : 
 Unhappy is that nation whose God is not the 
 Lord. This truth finds expression in the lan- 
 guage of the prophet to Israel: "The nation 
 and kingdom that will not serve thee, shall 
 perish ; yea, those nations shall be utterly 
 wasted." Just as the principles of righteous- 
 ness are the salt of a nation to save it, so 
 unrighteousness is its destruction. The people 
 who forget God, violate His Sabbath, and seek 
 gain instead of godliness, are under a curse. 
 
National. 3o7 
 
 "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is 
 a reproach to any people." It debases, and, in 
 the end, will destroy. 
 
 Even though the nation be one which God 
 has signally blessed, as He has our own, yet 
 must it reap the reward of its sin. "At what 
 instant I shall speak concerning a nation, to 
 build and to plant it [said the Lord] ; if it do 
 evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice; 
 then I will repent of the good wherewith I said 
 I would benefit them." " If they will learn my 
 ways, they shall be built in the midst of my 
 people ; but if they will not obey, I will utterly 
 pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the 
 Lord." 
 
 These are very practical utterances. They 
 concern our national life. We have acknowl- 
 edged God to be the Lord ; our laws are founded 
 on His laws, and, as a result, He has exalted 
 ns. He hath not dealt so with any nation. 
 Our Fourth of July orators congratulate us, 
 not without reason, on the greatest, freest and 
 best land and government under the sun. But 
 we have seen changes, and greater changes are 
 not impossible. We still acknowledge God, 
 but the age is one of hurry and speculation. 
 There is great haste to be rich. We are in 
 danger of the sin of the ancient Samaritans, 
 who" "feared the Lord and served their own 
 
358 National, 
 
 gods." Covetousness is idolatry; appetite is 
 an idol ; wealth brings luxury, and luxury leads 
 to licentiousness, and oppression, and pride. 
 
 These are the rocks upon which other nations 
 have split. Read the history of ancient em- 
 pires. Remember that Assyria and the Baby- 
 lonish and Persian empires were powers equal 
 to any of modern times ; that their lands were 
 fertile, their armies powerful, and their re- 
 sources enormous. Babylon was built for 
 eternity; its walls and towers defied all Asia. 
 Nineveh, and Memphis, and Thebes were cities 
 of great strength ; but the places which knew 
 them, know them no more forever. Of Nine- 
 veh it was said : "I will dig thy grave, for thou 
 art vile;" and she was buried in the sands of 
 the Tigris. The prophecy against Babylon 
 was: "Because thou hast been proud against 
 the Lord, . . . therefore shall her young 
 men fall in the streets, and she shall never be 
 inhabited; but the wild beasts of the desert 
 shall lie there." Waste and desolate as she 
 has been for centuries, she is a fulfilled pro- 
 phecy ; a monument of God's government 
 among the nations, and a testimony that the 
 people which will not serve Him shall perish. 
 
 The thing that hath been, it is the thing that 
 shall be. I do not predict the destruction of 
 this land and the desolation of our cities ; but 
 
National. 359 
 
 only emphasize the truth, that the course which 
 worked destruction then, will work the same 
 destruction now. Our civilization is high and 
 our hopes are bright ; but let idolatry, in any 
 form, and immorality prevail, and before many 
 generations our descendants may gaze in won- 
 der at the monuments of to-day. 
 
 Let us give hearty thanks to God for His 
 wonderful goodness, for a goodly land, a pious 
 ancestry, and a century of prosperity. Let our 
 thanksgiving, also, be mingled with consecra- 
 tion. As for us, and (as far as our influence 
 goes) as for our nation, we will serve the Lord. 
 
XXXI. 
 
 COMMUXION. 
 
 "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another." 
 — Luke xxiv. 17. 
 
 TT was natural that Cleopas and his friend 
 *- should talk of Christ. Out of the abund- 
 ance of their hearts thev communed together, 
 and reasoned of His death and resurrection. 
 
 They were disheartened. They had trusted 
 Him as the Messiah — the Redeemer of Israel 
 — but He had been put to death. The story 
 of His resurrection filled them with wonder, 
 but they evidently did not credit it, for their 
 conversation had a minor tone. 
 
 The presence of a stranger who drew near 
 and walked with them did not divert their 
 thoughts nor cheer them. They were surprised 
 at his ignorance of matters which filled them 
 with wonder and sorrow. Who could he be, 
 and where could he have been during the past 
 three clays, not to know the things which had 
 come to pass in Jerusalem? 
 
 The subject which so absorbed these two 
 (360) 
 
Communion. 361 
 
 travelers is our subject. Out of the abundance 
 of our hearts we speak of the crucifixion, 
 "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a 
 prophet, mighty in deed and word before God 
 and all the people, and how the chief priests 
 and rulers delivered him to be condemned to 
 death and crucified him;" how he was buried 
 and the third day rose from the dead. 
 
 The subject is as fresh and full of interest 
 as on the afternoon of the resurrection day. It 
 is a subject for every age. It was the chosen 
 theme of David in the Psalms and of Isaiah 
 and all the prophets. It was the theme of the 
 apostles, and is the theme of discourse and 
 praise in heaven. When Christ was transfig- 
 ured, that the disciples might see His king- 
 dom, Moses and Elias talked with Him "of 
 his decease which he should accomplish at 
 Jerusalem," while John in his vision of heaven 
 tells us how ano-els and redeemed saints praise 
 the Lamb, saying, "Thou art worthy, for thou 
 
 wast slain." 
 
 What manner of communications are these 
 which we have one with another? A\ e an- 
 swer as did Cleopas: They are concerning 
 Jesus, the crucified and risen. There is 
 nothing sad in our tone, nor in our hearts. 
 The disciples were sad, for they trusted that 
 Christ should have redeemed Israel, and ( hnst 
 
362 Communion. 
 
 was dead. We know that He did redeem not 
 Israel only, but all, of every name and nation, 
 who accept His salvation. We know that the 
 tomb was empty, as Peter said, and that Christ 
 was raised from it by the power of God, as the 
 same Peter afterward declared. 
 
 These communications are natural to Chris- 
 tian people at all times, and especially so when 
 they sit at the communion table. As the Fourth 
 of July has memories of our Revolution, and 
 Decoration Day of our late war, so the sacra- 
 ment of the Supper commemorates Christ's 
 death. It is a memorial established by Him- 
 self to be observed by PI is people to all time. 
 "This do in remembrance of me, for as often 
 as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do 
 show the Lord's death till he come." Men 
 sometimes arrange beforehand for monuments 
 with inscriptions to be put over their graves 
 after they are gone. Our Savior provided this 
 monument. It is better than any marble 
 shaft or memorial building. Churches have 
 been built, have fallen and been rebuilt over 
 the supposed tomb where His body was laid, 
 but this remains. The Church of the Holy 
 Sepulcher will crumble to its fall, but this 
 ordinance will endure. Love is more enduring 
 than stone or bronze. 
 
 Moreover, a monument on the grave could 
 
Communion. 363 
 
 be visited by few people. Most of us will 
 never see the Mount of Olives or Calvary or 
 the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but we may 
 here raise when we will a monument, and put 
 on it the inscription, "Jesus of Nazareth, our 
 Savior, crucified, buried and raised again by 
 the power of God." 
 
 Christ's monument belongs not to any one 
 place. It may be raised in Jerusalem, or in 
 China, or in the heart of Africa. Where His 
 chosen take bread and wine according to His 
 appointment, their act is a memorial, and their 
 words are an epitaph or inscription of praise to 
 Him. 
 
 Let us study the ordinance as we would read 
 the writing on a memorial column. First there 
 is the name, "Jesus Christ, the Son of David; 
 born in Bethlehem of Judea ; died on Mount 
 Calvary the cruel death of the cross; age, 
 thirty-three years." 
 
 But this is not all. There are lines between 
 the lines. After His name we read the inter- 
 pretation. Jesus means Savior, and Christ 
 means the Anointed, the Messiah. We read 
 other names by which He was known, lie was 
 the Son of God and the Son of Man. lie was 
 the Word and the Word was with God and the 
 Word was God. "Immanuel" means God 
 with us. 
 
364 Communion. 
 
 With the announcement of His birth we 
 read the prophecies which pointed to Bethle- 
 hem, and established the time. With the 
 announcement of His death, we read also 
 a prophecy that He should be cut off, but 
 not for His own sin; that He should be 
 wounded for our transgressions, and bruised 
 for our iniquities ; that God so loved the world 
 as to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life ; that His love for man was so 
 great as to bring Him to the earth and sub- 
 ject Him to the death of the cross. 
 
 O for this love let rocks and hills 
 
 Their lasting silence break, 
 And all harmonious human tongues 
 
 The Savior's praises speak. 
 
 As in the inscriptions on other monuments 
 there are expressions of hope — after the history 
 of the past life there is the prophecy of a future 
 — so in this we have joyful assurances. These 
 are found in the words of Paul, repeated 
 wherever the ordinance is observed : " Till he 
 come." Ah! He is to come again! Bethle- 
 hem was not the beginning nor was Mount 
 Calvary the end. "I am he that liveth and 
 was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore." 
 The purple robe was put on Him in mockery, 
 but He wears the robe of a King. They 
 crowned with thorns, but He is crowned with 
 
Communion. 3G5 
 
 glory. They put a reed in His hand and 
 bowed the knee in mockery, and said, "Hail, 
 king of the Jews! " but now hath God "highly 
 exalted him, and hath given him a name 
 which is above every name ; that at the name 
 of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in 
 heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
 the earth ; and that every tongue should confess 
 that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God 
 the Father." 
 
 This is the manner of communication which 
 we have one with another. This is the memorial 
 — the monument which we raise in obedi- 
 ence to Christ's word, "Do this in remem- 
 brance of me." We show forth the Lord's 
 death till He come. What we do is in the 
 expectation that He will come a second time 
 without sin (that is, not as an offering for sin), 
 but unto salvation. 
 
 It is possible that in thus showing the death 
 of Christ we may teach more than we know. 
 Like the blind child who makes curious em- 
 broidery, we may not see the beauty of our 
 own work. Like Cleopas and his friend, we 
 may talk of Jesus and to Jesus, while our eyes 
 are so holden that we do not know Him. The 
 two disciples walked with Him to Emmaus. He 
 explained to them in all the Scriptures the 
 things concerning Himself; still their eyes were 
 
366 Communion. 
 
 holden, till they entered into the house, when 
 He was known to them in the breaking of 
 bread. 
 
 Our eyes, or rather our hearts, may be 
 holden from Christ. The cares of the world or 
 the trials of life, or even its trifles, may darken 
 the understanding. They may so absorb us 
 that we do not think of the service in which 
 our voices join. We may sit at the Lord's 
 Table, while our hearts are in the store or the 
 kitchen or society. God forbid that we should 
 do so. Let us open our eyes and our hearts to 
 Him Whose life and death we commemorate. 
 Who is our God and Savior. If we have 
 failed to realize His presence, may He at least 
 be known to us in the breaking of bread. 
 
 The Lord's death is commemorated or shown 
 forth, not for His people only, but for all. This 
 Supper is a witness to the world. I would 
 that all might see as we see the love of God 
 in Christ Jesus. I would that all might be- 
 lieve in Christ and have part in His salva- 
 tion. 
 
 Oh the mystery of human insensibility ! I 
 attended recently the funeral of one who gave 
 his life for others. When a fire was raging, 
 and a woman and child were in danger, he 
 went through the flames to their rescue. To 
 protect the child he took off his own clothing, 
 
Communion. 30 7 
 
 and wrapping this about it, carried it Through 
 the flames. The child and its mother were 
 saved, but he, after forty days of suffering, 
 breathed out his life. At the funeral the 
 woman wept, but the child, all unconsciously, 
 played in a merry, cunning way about the 
 room. No one restrained or blamed it. It 
 knew nothing of death nor of the cause of death. 
 When older the story will move its heart. 
 
 Like that child at the funeral we are in the 
 presence of death. The service is a memorial 
 of one Who died for us. Unlike the child, we 
 are old enough to know the meaninsr of the 
 service. Our eyes are not holden like the eyes 
 of a babe. Nothing but our own neglect and 
 insensibility prevents our realizing the mean- 
 ing of Christ's crucifixion and the obligation 
 under which it places us. 
 
 Let those who have not given their hearts 
 to Christ look on this memorial; this bread, 
 which represents a broken body, and this wine, 
 which is blood shed for them. Let them 
 think of the mercy of Christ and of His suf- 
 ferings and of His pleadings, and believe on 
 Him to the salvation of their souls. 
 
XXXII. 
 
 THE RESURRECTION". 
 
 "The Lord is risen" — Luke xxiv. 34. 
 
 T^HE story of our Savior's visit to earth may 
 be written in four chapters. The first tells 
 of His birth and youth; the second of His 
 work and teachings; the third of His death 
 and dying utterances, and the fourth of His 
 resurrection and return to glory. 
 
 No doctrine of the Bible is more important 
 than that of the resurrection. It is to other 
 truth what the signature and seal are to a title- 
 deed. When some in the Corinthian Church 
 doubted it, and said, "There is no resurrection 
 of the dead;" Paul showed the danger of the 
 error: "If Christ be not risen, then is our 
 preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." 
 The atonement was made when He died, but 
 the seal was placed upon it when He rose from 
 the dead. His work was done when He cried, 
 "It is finished." But it had been promised, 
 " Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither 
 wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corrup- 
 
 (368) 
 
The Resurrection. 369 
 
 tion." To the fulfillment of this, it was neces- 
 sary that He should rise from the grave. 
 
 Death did not prove His mission or Messiah- 
 ship, for death is the lot of men. Had He kept 
 His grave and returned to dust, our darkness 
 would be as deep as that which reigned for 
 three hours at the crucifixion. We should have 
 no hope of deliverance from sin and death. 
 But no ! " He rose ; He burst the bars of death ; 
 He captive led captivity ; He robbed the grave 
 of victory, and took the sting from death." 
 His resurrection was His triumph. It was the 
 proof of His mission, and the token that His 
 work was accepted of the Father. 
 
 We naturally expect so important a fact as 
 Christ's resurrection to be plainly stated and 
 fully proved in Scripture ; and so it is. 
 
 After the crucifixion, the body of Christ is 
 taken from the cross and buried. The grave 
 is a cave — the tomb of a rich man. The pro- 
 phecy is fulfilled— "He made his grave with 
 the wicked and with the rich in his death." 
 A great stone is placed at the mouth of the 
 cave, and sealed or cemented in its place. A 
 guard of soldiers is placed before it, and the 
 three clays pass away. Suddenly, very early 
 in the morning, as it begins to dawn toward 
 the first day of the week, there is a scene, 
 promised in the prophetic announcements of 
 24 
 
370 The Resurrection. 
 
 the tragedy, and yet unexpected and startling 
 to the Roman guards. "For, behold, there 
 was a great earthquake, and the angel of the 
 Lord descended from heaven, and came and 
 rolled back the stone from the door, and sat 
 upon it." 
 
 Well may the soldiers tremble. Their 
 hands seek their sword-hilts, but the swords 
 are not drawn. Their tongues fail them as 
 they would call a challenge. The grave they 
 guard is already open. The stone is removed, 
 and upon it sits a shape beautiful, yet terrible, 
 in the majesty of heaven. The angel cares not 
 for their swords and spears, or signs and coun- 
 tersigns. Calm and unmoved he gazes at them. 
 His countenance is like lightning, and his 
 raiment is white as snow. And for fear of him, 
 the soldiers shake and become as dead men. 
 
 Upon this wonderful scene come the women 
 with spices, no less sweet and precious, because 
 the body for which they were designed does 
 not need embalming. The stone they dreaded 
 is an angel's seat, but the face so terrible to 
 the soldiers, wears a look of love. "Fear not 
 ye." The enemies of Christ may fear, but 
 those that come in love are met with love. 
 "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, 
 which was crucified. He is not here : for he is 
 risen, as he. said. Come, see the place where 
 
The Resurrection. 371 
 
 the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his 
 disciples that he is risen from the dead." 
 
 This story of the resurrection is attested by 
 four reputable writers — the authors of the four 
 Gospels. There are, in their narration, many 
 things which incidentally prove its truth. The 
 fact that the grave was guarded is important. 
 The chief priests and Pharisees who asked a 
 guard, and Pilate who granted their wish, un- 
 intentionally gave the major premise of an 
 unanswerable argument for the friends of 
 Christ. They feared the theft of the body, 
 and made such theft impossible. Roman sol- 
 diers did not sleep on duty ; neither were they 
 likely to be frightened by grave-robbers. Had 
 the body lain in an unguarded tomb, the terri- 
 fied disciples might have spirited it away. Even 
 in an ordinarily guarded cemetery, it might 
 have been disturbed ; but the same divine wis- 
 dom which made Roman soldiers witnesses to 
 the death of Christ, made their presence at His 
 grave a witness to His resurrection. The de- 
 vices of men, like the wrath of men, thus praise 
 God. 
 
 The testimony of those who saw Jesus after 
 His resurrection is conclusive. He was seen 
 first of the women who came early to the sep- 
 ulcher. As they went to tell the disciples those 
 things which had happened, according to the 
 
372 The Resurrection. 
 
 command of the angel, "Jesus met them, say- 
 ing, All hail." They were competent witnesses. 
 They had known Him intimately; had heard 
 His words, and ministered to Him. They were 
 close to the cross with the captain of the sol- 
 diers when He died. They probably helped 
 take His body from the cross, and were by 
 when He was put in the grave. They knew 
 Him, as the dearest friends know each other. 
 Every feature was familiar; and when He 
 said, "All hail," "they came and held him by 
 the feet, and worshiped him." They were 
 competent witnesses. So were the two disciples 
 to whom Jesus joined Himself as they jour- 
 neyed, and to whom He was known in the 
 breaking of bread. So, also, were Simon Peter 
 and James and John, to whom He appeared. 
 The disciples were all competent witnesses. 
 They were intelligent, upright men. Their 
 testimony would be good in court. They knew 
 that He was both dead and buried. They knew 
 that He rose from the dead. They saw Him 
 again and again. They talked with Him and 
 handled Him. They ate with Him, and re- 
 ceived His commands and blessing. 
 
 There were other witnesses. Hundreds saw 
 Him alive after His death. The Apostle Paul 
 says: " He was seen of above five hundred breth- 
 ren at one time." He further challenged con- 
 
The Resurrection. 373 
 
 tradiction, declaring- to the Corinthians that the 
 greater part of these live hundred were alive, 
 and could speak what they had seen. That no 
 one contradicted him or called for the witnesses, 
 is significant. The case was too clear and con- 
 vincing. 
 
 The Acts of the Apostles and early Chris- 
 tians, no less than their words, are proof of the 
 resurrection of Christ. After the crucifixion, 
 the disciples were scattered and disheart- 
 ened. Yet almost immediately they appear at 
 Jerusalem at the national feast. They preach 
 not the crude speculations of imposters, nor the 
 fragmentary gospel of enthusiasts, but the story 
 of the Cross in its Jfullness ; the same story 
 which we preach in this Nineteenth Century— 
 " How that Christ died for our sins according 
 to the Scriptures; that he was buried, and that 
 he rose again the third day according to the 
 Scriptures." Their preaching was with power. 
 The learned, as well as the unlearned, felt it, 
 Doctors of the Jewish law and men skilled in 
 philosophy were convinced. Saul, of Tarsus, 
 was not aman to be caught with chaff, nor to 
 endure imposition. The message which wen 
 him was from heaven. There is no effect 
 without a cause. The cause, moreover, must 
 be sufficient. This new religion did not spring 
 full-formed and perfect from the brains of 
 
374 The Resurrection. 
 
 uneducated Jewish fishermen. So great a 
 superstructure must have a surer foundation. 
 The foundation was Christ — crucified and risen 
 again. 
 
 The study of Christ's character furnishes 
 proof of His resurrection. If we believe Him 
 to be God and sinless, and that He died, we 
 must believe that He rose from the dead. This 
 follows not only because He had promised to 
 rise, nor because prophecy demanded it, nor 
 because God had said He should "not see cor- 
 ruption;" but from a reason underneath and 
 deeper than these. It was not possible for the 
 Second Person of the Trinity to abide in the 
 grave. "Whom God hath raised up, having 
 loosed the pains of death ; because it was not 
 possible that he should be holden of it." He 
 could die, for death was the punishment of sin, 
 and "He bare the sins of many;" but when 
 the punishment was done, the grave could no 
 longer hold Him. The weight of a world's sin 
 bore Him down to hell. By virtue of His own 
 holiness, He rose again. The sinner bearing 
 his own sins would be as fixed in woe as a 
 stone, by its own weight, is held at the bottom 
 of the sea. Christ, freed from the burden, 
 must rise. Just as water seeks its level, and 
 as things lighter than air float in air ; so spirits, 
 pure and impure, seek their own sphere and 
 
The Resurrection. 375 
 
 companionship. Paul, at Thcssalonica, rea- 
 soned with the Jews, " opening and alleging 
 that Christ must needs have suffered and risen 
 again from the dead." His resurrection was 
 as necessary as His death. Faithfulness to 
 His promise made it necessary for Him to die. 
 His own deity made necessary and insured His 
 resurrection. 
 
 The doctrine of Christ's resurrection is one 
 of great comfort. He has overcome the grave, 
 both for Himself and for His people. "If in 
 this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of 
 all men most miserable ; but now is Christ 
 risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits 
 of them that slept." Under the Levitical law, 
 when the sickle was j)ut into the ripened grain, 
 the "sheaf of the first-fruits" was brought to 
 the priest, who waved it before the Lord. This 
 was done on the morrow after the Sabbath — 
 that is, on our Sabbath-day. It was an earnest 
 that the whole field should be reaped. Tin* 
 first sheaf was a promise of other sheaves to 
 follow. Christ is "the first-fruits from the 
 dead." His resurrection is the promise of 
 other resurrections. "Christ the first-fruits, 
 afterward they that are Christ's at His coin- 
 ing." "Because I live, ye shall live also." 
 Those who are Christ's are to rise as He rose; 
 
376 The Resurrection. 
 
 to be with Him where He is ; to behold His 
 glory, and to be like Him. 
 
 Even before the corruptible is put away, we 
 may have an earnest of future bliss. It is 
 given to God's saints to triumph in advance 
 over the King of Terrors. To meet him with 
 a smiling face. To say: "I know who thou 
 art, but thy sting is gone." To walk through 
 the valley of the shadow of death, yet fear no 
 evil. To enter the deep waters with faith 
 which sees the other shore. 
 
 It is sometimes our privilege to enter into 
 the joy of those whose vision is clearer than 
 our own, and to rejoice with them in the afflic- 
 tion which takes them from our sight. We are 
 not " ignorant concerning them that are asleep," 
 and we sorrow not as those that have no hope. 
 For "if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
 again, even so them, also, which sleep in Jesus, 
 shall God bring with him." Our dead are not 
 lost to us. Their bodies are, indeed, laid away, 
 but their dust is guarded by a watch more vig- 
 ilant than even the Roman soldiers who kept 
 the tomb of Christ. We know that God has 
 appointed a day in the which those that are 
 in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son 
 of man, and shall come forth — they that have 
 done good — unto the resurrection of life ; and 
 
The Resurrection. :$77 
 
 (we tremble at the thought) "they that have 
 done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." 
 
 Questions as to how the dead are raised, 
 when the resurrection is to be, and the nature 
 of the resurrection body — need not trouble us. 
 We may study them in the light of Scripture, 
 but our faith need not be shaken by the diffi- 
 culties they involve. We can not fathom the 
 mystery of natural life. We can not com- 
 prehend the principle or germ in the seed, 
 which is not quickened except it die ; but 
 which, being buried, has its resurrection first 
 in the blade, then in the ear, and afterward in 
 the full corn in the ear. Yet we may lay us 
 down in peace and sleep, confident that as the 
 grain of corn has its resurrection in the har- 
 vest; as all Nature has its resurrection from 
 the bleak death of winter ; and as Christ, after 
 His death and burial, was raised ; so shall we 
 also rise, by the power of God, from the dead. 
 A lesson of this sermon is, "Believe in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ." The joy and hope of the 
 resurrection are to those who know and trust 
 a crucified, risen Redeemer. 
 
 Another lesson is in the language of the 
 apostle to the Gentiles, "Therefore, my beloved 
 brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch 
 
378 The Resurrection. 
 
 as ye know that your labor is not in vain in 
 Lord." Having such a hope, let us be faithful. 
 Let us, moreover, learn and practice in our 
 daily life that song of praise which is to fill 
 eternity : 
 
 ' ' All hail, triumphant Lord ! 
 Who savest us with thy blood ; 
 Wide be thy name adored, 
 Thou rising, reigning God. 
 With thee we rise ; with thee we reign, 
 And glories gain beyond the skies." 
 
XXXIII. 
 HEAVEN. 
 
 •'Now we see through a glass, darkhj; but then face to face."— 1 Cor- 
 inthians xiii. 12. 
 
 THE eye is a more wonderful instrument 
 than the glasses which men have invented 
 to help it in its work. The ease with which a 
 landscape, or a star, or a companion's face is 
 pictured in it so that we see distinctly, is proof 
 of wider and greater skill than that of man; 
 yet the powers of the eyes are limited. There 
 are things within its range too bright for its 
 study It was not made to look at the sun 
 except through a medium or veil of protection. 
 The direct light of the sun would destroy it. 
 
 The mind is more wonderful than the eye. 
 Its range is not limited by distance or tune. 
 It discerns not only color and shape and beauty, 
 but reasons and truth. It knows cause and 
 effect, as well as right and wrong. It knows 
 present and past, and searches the earth and 
 the heavens. It makes discoveries, and prides 
 itself on its powers; yet its powers have a 
 (379) 
 
380 Heaven. 
 
 limit. There are things which it can no more 
 compass than the unaided eye can study the 
 sun. 
 
 The being and character of God are too great 
 for its powers. "No man hath seen God at 
 any time." No man with mortal eyes can see 
 Him. The faintest manifestations of His glory 
 have proved too much for eyes of flesh. Paul, 
 on the way to Damascus, fell to the earth. 
 Neither can the mind endure it. Peter and 
 James and John, when on the Mount of Trans- 
 figuration, were bewildered and knew not what 
 they did. A faint earnest of the glory of 
 heaven overcame them. 
 
 It is only through a medium that we can 
 know the Infinite — "the only begotten Son, 
 who is in the bosom of the Father; he hath 
 revealed him." Not in the full majesty of His 
 glory, but only in so far as men are able to 
 bear it. 
 
 The mysteries of religion are a study too 
 great for the mind. We look upon things in- 
 finite, as one studies the sun through a glass 
 which has been smoked. 
 
 The mind is finite, and God's works and 
 providences, though plain to superior intelli- 
 gences, are a mystery to it. God manifest in the 
 flesh was seen of angels, but men recognized 
 Him only by His works and by the testimony 
 
Heaven. 381 
 
 from heaven — things which they could see and 
 understand. The incarnation, the world's great 
 fact, with the whole plan of salvation, is under- 
 stood in heaven — the angels who sang at the 
 Savior's birth, who sustained Him and minis- 
 tered to Him, understand better than we, "the 
 great mystery of godliness." The work of 
 God's Spirit may be understood by the angels, 
 but it is to us as mysterious as the power 
 which causes the seed to open and the trees to 
 grow. It is not within the range of intellect. 
 We may feel the influence of the Spirit, and 
 be guided and sanctified by Him, but His work 
 is a mystery. 
 
 The same is true of the future life. Heaven 
 is the Christian's hope ; yet how little he knows 
 of its glory. The Bible promises him a better 
 country, but he can not survey it nor picture 
 its scenery. He is assured of a mansion, but 
 knows not its architecture. Descriptions are 
 given, but they are veiled in human language. 
 The tree and river of life ; the gates of precious 
 stones; the light without the sun; continued 
 day ; freedom from pain, from sin and death ; 
 the throne and the rainbow, and the King in 
 His beauty — though they tell of heaven, are 
 feeble expressions of its glory. They are il- 
 lustrations suited to our limited capacity. A 
 perfect picture of heaven could not be painted 
 
382 Heaven. 
 
 in human language, and would not be intelli- 
 gible to human minds. 
 
 What we know not now, we shall know here- 
 after. Our souls are in their childhood. They 
 w r ill one day understand things which are now 
 hidden. The veil will be removed, and we 
 shall know even as we are known. When we 
 were children, we talked and understood as 
 children. We now see that many childish 
 thoughts were foolish. Things are plain which 
 sorely puzzled us. Mysteries have vanished. 
 We have outgrown joys, sorrows, hopes and 
 fears. We have put away childish things. 
 So the soul will put away the things of its 
 childhood. It will understand things now hid- 
 den. The being of Grocl, the work of the Spirit, 
 and the joy of heaven, will no longer be veiled 
 and darkened. "Then, face to face," it shall 
 know the full enjoyment of God and of heaven. 
 "What I do [said the Savior], thou knowest 
 not now; but thou shalt know hereafter." 
 
 This is the Christian's hoj^e. It is his 
 comfort in time of trial. It strengthens him 
 against temptation. The world may be dark, 
 but he looks beyond. His life may be a bat- 
 tle with evil, but he sees victory and its re- 
 ward. His way may be hedged and rough, 
 but he journeys to a sure place — "to a land of 
 which the Lord hath said, I will give it thee." 
 
Heaven. 383 
 
 Our Savior, for the joy that was set before Him, 
 endured the cross, despising the shame. So 
 His followers, in" the hope of heaven, heir their 
 burdens, counting it a joy that they are allowed 
 to suffer with Him. 
 
 Unbelievers may doubt the value of this 
 comfort and strength. They may ask us to 
 demonstrate it and prove its value by figures, 
 as men prove earthly good. So we may ask a 
 child to prove its father's love, or demonstrate 
 the nature of its faith in him. We have no 
 just conception of heaven. No more has a 
 little child a true idea of its country or of lib- 
 erty. We can only say, We know in Whom 
 we believe. We know that God is true. We 
 know that if "our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
 God : a house not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens." 
 
 We can not demonstrate this hope by figures 
 or measure it in dollars and cents. " Eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
 into the heart of man, the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love him. But 
 God hath revealed them unto us by I lis Spirit. 
 They are spiritually discerned; and only those 
 who love the Savior, and are led by the Spirit, 
 can see them. Even they see but dimly. To 
 explain heaven to the unconverted, is like show- 
 
384 Heaven. 
 
 ing a rainbow to a blind man. No description 
 can supply the lack of sight. To explain it 
 even to the Christian, is like showing the same 
 rainbow to one who is near-sighted. He may 
 see nothing at all, or only a confusion of 
 colors, where the perfect eye sees a thing of 
 beauty. 
 
 The joy of heaven is in its holiness. There 
 is no wickedness there. " There shall in nowise 
 enter into it anything that defileth." He who 
 expects heaven, expects to be holy. Here there 
 is wickedness on every hand; and when we 
 would "do good, evil is present" with us. 
 There is a war in our members. As surely as 
 seed scattered by the wind springs up to vex 
 the husbandman, do sinful thoughts grow into 
 sinful acts. The bitterest moment of a Chris- 
 tian's life are those in which he realizes his 
 own unholiness. What can be more joyful 
 than the assurance of perfect triumph over self 
 and sin — of perfect holiness. We know that 
 when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. 
 
 Next to his own sin, nothing so tries the 
 Christian as association with sin. In David's 
 distress, "floods of ungodly men compassed" 
 him about. Other devout souls feel his sorrow. 
 In proportion to their own purity, they feel the 
 association with evil. They are tried by the 
 weaknesses of fellow-Christians, by their want 
 
Heaven, 385 
 
 of faith and hope and love, as well as by their 
 flagrant offenses. 
 
 The Christian's hope of heaven includes 
 hope for those about him; hope for sinners 
 that they will be converted, and for fellow- 
 Christians that they will be sanctified; and 
 that with him they will be made lit for man- 
 sions fitted for them in the Father's house. 
 
 It includes hope for those who have gone 
 before, and for those whom we must leave be- 
 hind us. The mother who has buried her child 
 expects to meet it again. Husbands and wives, 
 and brothers and sisters, are to see each other 
 there. Heaven is to be a place of reunion, and 
 the joy of meeting is to outweigh the sorrow 
 of parting; for our companionship will be free 
 from the stings of earth. As we think of our 
 loved ones, we remember their weakness, their 
 pains, the dark shadow of death, and our own 
 tears ; but in heaven there is no weakness, nor 
 pain, nor death, and God wipes away all tears. 
 
 Fitness for heaven is but the perfection of 
 the work which the Spirit does by the Word 
 in the hearts of Christians. As one grows in 
 grace, he grows in the graces. His faith and 
 hope and love increase. The greatest of these 
 graces is love. Its perfection is the sum of 
 Christian holiness and happiness. To be per- 
 fect in love is to be like God, for God is love. 
 
386 Heaven. 
 
 Even the imperfect loves of earth are a bless- 
 ing. The devotion of parents and children, or 
 husband and wife, are roses plucked from Eden, 
 reminders of the paradise which was lost and 
 the heaven to be attained. 
 
 Love to Grod is the highest exercise of the 
 soul. He is the chief object of love. Not only 
 will Christians be made perfect in love, but 
 their love will be satisfied ; for they shall see 
 and dwell with Grod. In His presence they 
 will find fullness of joy, and at His right hand 
 pleasures forevermore. 
 
 There is no dearer name to God's people 
 than the name of Jesus. And nothing in 
 heaven will give greater joy than the presence 
 of Jesus. We do not always love His name 
 and rejoice in His j^esence, but in our best 
 moments nothing is dearer or more desirable 
 than He. As Christians grow old, His love 
 becomes more real and His society more nec- 
 essary. He is with them oftener and longer. 
 They seek and find Him is hours of bereave- 
 ment and sickness, and His help never fails 
 them By communion with Him their vision 
 becomes more clear, yet there is between them 
 the veil. ►Sometimes, for an instant, this veil 
 seems to be lifted, and it is as if on a cloudy 
 day the heavens were suddenly cleared. The 
 peace of Grod, which passes all understanding, 
 
Heaven. 387 
 
 possesses them, and love fills the heart as sun- 
 light fills the air. Such moments are long to 
 be remembered. They are to the soul what 
 Bethany and the Mount of Transfiguration 
 were to the disciples, glimpses of heaven. 
 
 The central figure in all such visions is the 
 person of Jesus. He is the soul's delight ; 
 "the chiefest among ten thousand, and the one 
 altogether lovely." "Whom have I in heaven 
 but thee, and there is none upon the earth that 
 I desire besides thee." 
 
 "Jesus, the very thought of Thee 
 With sweetness tills the breasl ; 
 But sweeter far Thy face to see, 
 And in Thy presence rest." 
 
 Heaven is the presence of Christ. Fitness for 
 His presence is full salvation, and in Him every 
 longing of the believer's heart is satisfied. "I 
 shall be satisfied when I awake with thy like- 
 ness.*' kk I will behold thy face in righteous- 
 ness." 
 
 This was David's idea of heaven. Job knew 
 that his Redeemer lived, and thai he should 
 see His face. Paul desired to depart and be 
 with Christ, which is far better. John, in Pat- 
 mos, described the city, with its sea, its gates 
 and pavements, and angels and white-r 
 saints; but when Christ appeared, be saw only 
 His beauty. Their experienc ■ teaches us that 
 
388 Heaven. 
 
 to "see Christ's face in righteousness," to see 
 Him as He is, and to be like Him in holiness, 
 is heaven. 
 
 To obtain this heaven, we must first obtain 
 forgiveness of sin, through faith in Christ. 
 God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse 
 all who confess and trust. 
 
 It is necessary to cultivate, by the same 
 faith, the seed of holiness planted at regener- 
 ation by the Spirit. Just as sin, when it is 
 finished, bringeth forth death; so holiness is 
 life. The natural heart, following its own de- 
 vices, prepares its hell ; so the renewed heart, 
 led by the Spirit of God, prepares its heaven. 
 It educates itself in holiness. Its chief end is 
 the glory and enjoyment of God. Released 
 from the flesh, its desire is unchanged. It is 
 eternally the same, and is eternally satisfied. 
 
 The apostle closes his prophecy of future 
 bliss with these words, which may be read as 
 an addition to the prophecy or as an exhorta- 
 tion: "Now abideth faith, hope, charity; but 
 the greatest of these is charity." These graces 
 will abide and will be elements in the atmos- 
 phere of heaven. They are necessary, also, to 
 the soul's preparation for heaven. 
 
 May faith and hope and love abide with us. 
 Faith in Christ Who said: "I go to prepare a 
 place for you," and "I will receive you to 
 
Heaven. 389 
 
 myself;'' hope which feeds upon (rod's Word, 
 and patiently waits His appointed time; and 
 love which shows itself, according to our Sav- 
 ior's command, in obedience and consecration 
 to Him. 
 
 THE END.