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WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 Minister  of  the  Scottish  National  Church,  Crown  Court, 
 Covent  Garden. 
 
 THE  CHURCH  BEFORE  THE  ELOOD. 
 
 New  Edition,   handsomely   bound    and   gilt,   in  /cap.   8vo. 
 price  9s. 
 
 "  For  a  well-considered,  and  at  the  same  time  eloquent  exhibition  of  the 
 fundamental  principles  deduced  from  the  history  of  primeval  humanity,  we 
 confidently  refer  the  reader  to  the  present  work,  with  a  full  conviction  that  he  will 
 not  consult  it  in  vain.  In  a  series  of  chapters  which  are  marked  by  an  easy 
 flowing  style,  these  questions  are  incidentally  discussed  with  a  force  and  clearness 
 that  cannot  but  be  effectual  in  arming  many  with  efficient  arguments  against  an 
 insinuating  infidelity,  and  in  building  them  up  in  their  holy  faith." — Morning 
 Herald. 
 
 "  The  result  of  deep  thought  and  reading  of  a  most  varied  character.  "We  do 
 not,  in  the  '  Church  before  the-Flood,'  miss  any  of  the  earnest  as  well  as  elegant 
 rhetoric  by  which  Dr.  Cumming's  previous  volumes  are  distinguished.  At  the 
 same  time  many  deep  and  interesting  problems  are  treated  in  a  manner  that 
 brings  them  within  reach  of  numerous  minds  and  degrees  of  capacity."—  The 
 Britannia. 
 
 "  It  is  certainly  written  with  great  completeness,  beauty,  and  lucidity.  The 
 volume  may  be  read  with  profit  by  all  professing  Christians." — Church  and  State 
 Gazette. 
 
 "  A  series  of  Lectures  on  the  hook  of  Genesis,  in  which  the  chief  events  recorded 
 *n  that  interesting  portion  of  holy  writ  are  explained  and  commented  upon  in 
 Dr.  Cumming's  usual  clear  and  attractive  style.  We  have  derived  much 
 pleasure  from  the  perusal  of  the  Book,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that  all  its  readers 
 will  be  equally  gratified,  and,  we  trust,  instructed." — Morning  Advertiser. 
 
 "  The  truly  Catholic  spirit  pervades  every  one  of  its  pages.  A  large  amount 
 of  highly  poetical  imagery  will,  as  usual,  be  met  with  in  the  elucidation  of  the 
 learned  Doctor's  very  difficult  subject ;  but  this  only  serves  to  supply  inducements 
 to  the  general  reader  to  persevere,  to  whom  eloquence  may  he  made  useful,  under 
 Providence,  to  his  best  interests." — Bell's  Messenger. 
 
 "This  last  publication  is  well  fitted  to  sustain  the  high  reputation  of  its  author. 
 As  the  title  indicates,  it  comprises  all  the  leading  events  in  the  course  of  the 
 sacred  narrative,  which  bore  on  the  early  development'of  the  purposes  of  divine 
 grace.  It  is  formed  somewhat  on  the  plan  of  Jonathan  Edwards'  History  of 
 Redemption.  But  the  filling  up  is  entirely  Dr.  Cumming's,  and  that  is  marked 
 by  all  that  variety  and  richness  of  illustration,  as  well  as  those  attractive  elegances 
 of  style,  which  characterise  all  the  works  of  this  popular  author.  There  is  one 
 excellence  which  distinguishes  this  volume,  and,  in  our  opinion,  stamps  it  with 
 peculiar  interest  and  value,  and  that  is,  that  while  it  traverses  ground  on  which 
 many  able  writers  have  recently  shed  the  lights  of  archaeological  inquiry,  oriental 
 illustration,  and  theological  learning,  Dr.  Cumming  has  adapted  the  strain  of 
 his  exposition  to  the  present  state  of  religious  opinion — meeting  the  new  and 
 Proteus  forms  which  infidelity  and  error  have  assumed  in  our  time.  The  volume 
 is  learned,  eloquent,  and  withal  thoroughly  pervaded  by  a  healthy  evangelical 
 spirit.  We  heartily  commend  this  work  to  the  attention  of  our  readers."— 
 Glasgow  Constitutional. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  YIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
 1.  9.  53. 
 
DR.  GUMMING  ON  THE  TESTAMENT. 
 
 SABBATH  EVENING  READINGS   ON 
 ST.  MATTHEW; 
 
 By  the  Rev.  John  Cumming,  D.D. 
 
 Now  complete  in  cloth,  with  Frontispiece,  5s. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The  first  volume  of  these  Sabbath  Evening  Readings  is  now 
 before  the  public.  The  Author  is  truly  thankful  at  hearing  of 
 the  very  extensive  demand  for  the  Weekly  Numbers  of  which  it 
 is  composed.  He  has  made  additions  to  the  expositions  larger 
 and  more  numerous  than  he  first  intended,  but  these  are  calcu- 
 lated, he  believes,  to  impart  additional  instruction,  interest,  and 
 light. 
 
 These  comments  are  slightly  critical,  but  sufficiently  explana- 
 tory of  difficult  passages,  to  enable  the  ordinary  reader  to  ascer- 
 tain with  the  least  possible  obstruction  the  mind  of  the  Spirit. 
 They  may  prove  useful  to  schools,  Scripture  readers,  families  far 
 off  from  an  edifying  and  instructive  ministry,  to  travellers,  and 
 many  others,  who  have  neither  time,  nor  talent,  nor  taste,  to  in- 
 vestigate learned  and  elaborate  works.  The  reason  why  these 
 expositions,  and  those  that  will  follow,  appear  in  numbers,  is  the 
 Author's  desire  to  reach  and  benefit  the  poor. 
 
 IN   THE   SAME   SERIES. 
 
 THE  BOOK  OE  REVELATION ; 
 
 Complete.     Second  Edition.  7s.  (Sd. 
 
 ST.  MARK.     Now  Publishing  in  Numbers. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
Second  Edition,  Published  this  day,  fcap.  cloth,  price  2s.  6d. 
 
 THE  FINGER  OF  GOD. 
 
 BY  THE  EEV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 "  It  deals  with  subjects  on  which  true  Christians  now  have  not  two 
 opinions,  and  on  which  the  most  opposite  of  the  most  ultra  of  parti zans  ought 
 not  to  disagree.  *  *  *  It  therefore  addresses  itself  to  a  wide  class,  and  it  is 
 evidently  intended  for  all  professing  Christians,  irrespective  of  denomina- 
 tion."— Church  and  State  Gazette. 
 
 "  A  work  which  well  proves  that  the  author  can  be  eloquent  upon  other 
 topics  besides  those  of  the  Romish  Controversy  and  Apocalyptic  Interpreta- 
 tion. Indeed,  for  our  own  part,  we  like  him  better  on  a  subject  like  the 
 present.  There  are  some  truly  eloquent  and  graceful  passages  in  the  little 
 volume  before  us,  which  must  commend  themselves  to  every  reader." — 
 Critic. 
 
 "  A  work  not  of  great  magnitude,  but  of  great  interest.  This  work  will 
 amply  repay  perusal.  Notwithstanding  occasional  evidences  of  rapid  com- 
 position, it  contains  many  instances  of  great  beauty  of  thought." — Church  of 
 Scotland  Review. 
 
 "  A  little  volume  which  abounds  in  beauties  both  of  thought,  style,  and 
 illustration." — The  Church  Journal. 
 
 "Eloquent,  demonstrative,  and  useful." — Wesleyan  Methodist  Magazine. 
 
 LECTURES  AT  EXETER  HALL. 
 
 THE  ROMISH  CHURCH  A  DUMB  CHURCH; 
 
 Or,  A  Challenge  to  Cardinal  Wiseman  to  give  hi  3  Church's 
 Interpretation  of  any  one  Chapter  in  the  Bible.  By  Rev. 
 John  Cumming,  D.D.     Price  Ad. 
 
 THE  NEW  CREED  OF  ROME  and  the  OLD 
 
 CREED  OF  ENGLAND.  A  Lecture  by  Rev.  R.J.  McGhee, 
 A.M.  Rector  of  Holywell,  Hunts.     Price  Ad. 
 
 THE  CRIMES  OF  THE  MADIAI; 
 
 Or,  The  Use  of  Scripture  in  the  Romish  Church.     A  Lecture 
 by  Rev.  John  Cumming,  D.D.     Price  8c?. 
 
 THE   CHURCH  OF  ROME  proved  unable  to 
 
 justify  the  SACRIFICE  OF  THE  MASS,  from  Hebrews  X., 
 Or,  the  IDOLATRY  OF  THE  WAFER,  from  Isaiah  XLIV. 
 A  Lecture  by  Rev.  R.  J.  McGhee,  A.M.  Rector  of  Holywell, 
 Hunts.     Price  6d. 
 
 CANON  LAW;  or,  the  Canonical  Punishment 
 of  the  Madiai.  A  Lecture  by  Rev.  John  Cumming,  D.D. 
 Price  6d. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
 Sold  at  S,  Exeter  Hall. 
 
NEW  WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 EXPOSITORY    READINGS     FROM     THE 
 BOOK  OF  REVELATION; 
 
 Being  a  short  and  continuous  Commentary  on  the  Chapters 
 or  Lessons  read  on  Sunday  Evenings,  in  the  Scottish 
 National  Church,  Crown  Court,  Covent  Garden. 
 
 Second  Edition,  foolscap  Svo.,  price  7  s.  Qd.,  neatly  bound. 
 
 WELLINGTON ; 
 
 A  Lecture.    New  and  Enlarged  Edition,  with  Valuable 
 
 Additions. 
 Foolscap,  cloth  gilt,  price  Is.  Qd. 
 
 "  The  Lecture  is  characterised  by  all  the  author's  vigour  of  language,  pic- 
 turesqueness  of  style,  and  aptness  of  illustration ;  and  though  the  theme  be 
 now  somewhat  a  worn  one,  he  has  treated  it  in  a  way  that  gives  it  freshness,  and 
 heightens  the  interest  which  it  cannot  fail  to  inspire  in  every  reader." — Morning 
 Advertiser. 
 
 "  Of  all  the  works  written  on  the  death,  and  reviewing  the  life,  of  the  deceased 
 hero,  this  alone  bears  the  character  of  permanency.  Its  beauty,  fulness  of 
 detail,  richness  of  language,  and  general  correctness,  deserve  to  make  it  a 
 standard  work." — Church  unci  Shite  Guzette. 
 
 THE  PSALTER  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 
 
 Written  by  St.  Bonaventure.  Translated  from  the  last 
 Erench  Edition  of  1852,  and  carefully  compared  with  the 
 Latiu. 
 
 Published  this  day,  price  2s.  in  cloth. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 FORESHADOWS  : 
 
 Or,  Lectures  on  our  Lord's  Miracles  and  Parables,  as 
 Earnests  of  the  Age  to  come. 
 
 Fifth  Thousand.     In  Two  Volumes  uniformly  printed,  price  9s. 
 each,  bound  and  gilt. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 "  It  has  been  the  design  of  the  author,  in  these  Lectures, 
 to  set  forth  as  fully  as  possible  the  redemptive  character 
 of  the  miracles  of  our  Lord;  in  other  words,  to  show  that 
 they  were  not  mere  feats  of  power,  or  proofs  of  Divine 
 beneficence,  but  installations  of  the  future  age  j — specimens 
 on  a  smaller  scale  of  what  will  be  realized  when  the  pre- 
 diction of  the  last  two  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse  shall 
 have  become  actualized  in  full  and  lasting  fact." 
 
 Notices  of  the  First  Series. 
 
 "  There  is  a  novelty  and  freshness  about  this  method  of  presenting 
 an  almost  forgotten  truth,  combined  with  a  copiousness  of  illustra- 
 tion which  constitutes  the  great  charm  of  Dr.  Cumming's  pulpit 
 labours,  and  which  will  doubtless  secure  for  the  volume  before  us  an 
 extensive  circulation." — Bell's  Messenger. 
 
 "  As  we  follow  the  gifted  author  in  his  contemplations,  we  are 
 unceasingly  dissatisfied  with  that  barren  view  which  would  restrict 
 the  notion  of  a  miracle  to  a  deviation  from  the  course  of  nature. 
 *  *  *  This  volume  has  much  to  recommend  it  to  the  reading  and 
 thinking  public,  and  will,  beyond  all  doubt,  rapidly  secure  a  high 
 place  in  the  general  estimation." — Morning  Herald. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 APOCALYPTIC  SKETCHES; 
 
 Or,  Lectures  on  the  Book  of  Revelation,  delivered  in 
 Exeter  Hall,  and  Crown  Court  Church.  New  Editions, 
 revised  and  corrected  by  the  Author,  with  Index,  &c. 
 
 Twelfth  Thousand.  In  two  Vols,  price  9s.  each,  cloth  gilt ; 
 or  13s.  morocco  elegant. 
 
 "  These  Lectures  were  begun  in  Exeter  Hall,  during  the  period  occupied  in 
 the  enlargement  of  the  Church  of  which  the  Lecturer  is  the  Minister  Not  a 
 few  were  then  afraid  that  the  Author  might  be  led  into  rash  and  questionable 
 theories  in  investigating  a  subject  confessedly  beset  with  difficulties ;  but,  by 
 the  blessing  of  God,  and  the  exercise  of  caution  and  prayerful  study,  all  has 
 ended  more  than  satisfactorily.  The  unprecedentedly  large  masses  of  persons  of 
 every  denomination,  and  of  no  denomination  at  all,  who  overflowed  the  spacious 
 hall  in  which  they  were  delivered,  and  the  growing  attention  excited  in  the 
 minds  of  these  audiences,  and  the  saving  and  very  striking  impressions  made  on 
 unconverted  minds  by  the  means  of  the  solemn  truths  they  heard,  are  all  signs 
 and  tokens  that  call  for  humble  gratitude  to  God. 
 
 "  Numerous  requests  were  made  for  their  publication.  A  short-hand  writer 
 was  therefore  engaged,  who  took  a  verbatim  report  of  every  Lecture.  These 
 reports  the  Author  has  now  corrected ;  and  trusts  that  the  work  will  be  found  a 
 substantial  summary  of  his  Discourses  on  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  his  earnest 
 prayer  that  these,  and  all  his  labours,  may  redound  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
 good  of  souls." 
 
 "  The  fervent  piety,  subdued  and  reverent  reasoning,  careful  thought  and 
 expansive  charity,  which  prompt,  guide,  control,  and  vivify  the  whole,  prove  its 
 author  one  of  those  gifted  teachers  whom  it  is,  indeed,  a  "privilege  to  hear." — 
 Morning  Advertiser. 
 
 LECTURES  ON  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES 
 OF  ASIA  MINOR. 
 
 Forming  a  Third  Series  of  Apocalyptic  Sketches,  illus- 
 trated by  Wood  Engravings  representing  the  present  state 
 of  the  Apostolic  Churches. 
 
 In  one  handsome  Volume,  price  9s.  cloth  gilt ;  or  13s.  morocco 
 extra. 
 
 "  There  is  a  striking  and  happy  admixture  from  beginning  to  end,  of  the 
 practical  with  the  experimental;  of  the  doctrinal  witli  the  experimental  and 
 practical.  The  volume,  as  a  whole,  exhibits  a  fine  specimen  of  popular 
 preaching,  free,  flowing,  pictorial,  and  eloquent,  indicating  a  man  who  has  read 
 much,  thought  much,  and  is  a  very  keen  observer." — British  Banner. 
 
 "  These  Lectures  are  written  in  a  strong,  nervous  style,  which  cannot  fail  to 
 recall  the  living  man  to  those  who  have  heard  Dr.  Cumming  in  the  pulpit,  or  on 
 the  platform." — Weekly  Chronicle. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 PROPHETIC  STUDIES ; 
 
 Or,  Lectures  on  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
 
 Sixth  Thousand.     Uniform  with  the  above,  in  one  handsome 
 Volume,  price  9s.  cloth  gilt ;  or  13s.  morocco  extra. 
 
 OCCASIONAL  discourses, 
 
 New  Edition,  in  2  vols,  price  4s.  each,  cloth  gilt. 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 FALLEN  HUMANITY. 
 
 SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 THE  PLACE  OF  SAFETY. 
 
 THE   DEATH    OF    CHRIST    THE 
 
 LIFE  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 
 THE  TWO  CHARACTERS. 
 THE  ONLY  SOURCE  OF  SUCCESS. 
 ROYAL    RESPONSIBILITY   AND 
 
 REWARD. 
 POSTHUMOUS  INFLUENCE. 
 THE  RIVER  OF  GOD. 
 PULPIT  FAITHFULNESS. 
 GOD'S  DELIGHT  IN  HIS  OWN. 
 
 FALLING  LEAVES. 
 
 THE  ROYAL  EXCHANGE. 
 
 SAFETY  IN  PERILS. 
 
 AUTUMN  THOUGHTS. 
 
 GOD'S  MIGHTY  ACTS. 
 
 LIBERTY. 
 
 EQUALITY. 
 
 FRATERNITY. 
 
 THE  REVOLUTIONISTS. 
 
 THE  TRUE  CHARTER. 
 
 THE  TRUE  SUCCESSION. 
 
 PSALM  FOR  THE  DAY. 
 
 THANKSGIVING. 
 
 HEROINES    OF   THE   MISSIONARY 
 ENTERPRISE; 
 
 Or,  Sketches  of  Prominent  Female  Missionaries.    By 
 Daniel  C.  Eddy.     Edited  by  Dr.  Cumming. 
 
 Second  Edition,   in  foolscap   8vo.  price   2s.  Qd.  cloth,  gilt 
 edges. 
 
 "  This  is  a  book  for  the  many,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  a  great  favourite,  especially 
 with  the  sex  whose  virtues  and  labours  it  records."— British  Banner. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTEB  ROW. 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 SALVATION. 
 
 A  Sermon  preached  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Craithie, 
 Balmoral,  before  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  on  Sunday, 
 Sept.  22,  1850. 
 
 Eighteenth  Thousand,  price  Sixpence. 
 
 THE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 
 
 Two  Lectures  delivered  at  Manchester. 
 In  Svo.  price  One  Shilling. 
 
 CHRISTIAN  PATRIOTISM ; 
 
 Or,  the    Claims   of  Home  and  Country    to    Christian 
 Consideration.    An  Essay. 
 
 Svo.  sewed,  price  2s. 
 
 DIVINE  DEALING  AND  HUMAN  PRE- 
 PARATION. 
 
 Two  Sermons,  preached  on  the  Day  of  Humiliation,  1849. 
 Svo.  price  One  Shilling. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  k  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 THE  COMMUNION  TABLE; 
 
 Or,  Communicant's  Manual  :  a  plain  and  practical  Exposi- 
 tion of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
 
 New  Edition,  in  foolscap,  price  3s.  cloth. 
 
 OUR  FATHER; 
 
 A  Manual  of  Family  Prayers  for  General  and  Special 
 Occasions,  with  Short  Prayers  for  Spare  Minutes,  and 
 Passages  for  Reflection. 
 
 Fifth  Edition,  in  foolscap  Svo.  price  2>s.  cloth,  with  gilt 
 edges. 
 
 "  IS  CHRISTIANITY  FROM  GOD  ?  " 
 
 A  Manual  of  Christian  Evidences  for  Scripture  Readers, 
 Sunday  School  Teachers,  City  Missionaries,  and  Young 
 Persons. 
 
 Ninth  Edition,  foolscap  Svo.  cloth,  price  3s. 
 
 "  We  never  read  a  work  of  this  description  with  so  much  satisfaction.  It  is  a 
 work  of  the  utmost  value." — Ecclesiastical  Times. 
 
 "It  is  drawn  up  with  much  care,  clearness,  and  earnestness." — Aberdeen 
 Journal. 
 
 "  The  topics  contained  in  this  volume  are  treated  with  intelligence,  clearness, 
 and  eloquence." — Dr.  Vaughan's  Review. 
 
 "  As  a  popular  compendium  of  Christian  Evidence,  we  thoroughly  recommend 
 this  volume." — Nonconformist. 
 
 "  It  bears  the  impress  of  a  clear  and  vigorous  understanding.  Dr.  Cumming 
 has  done  great  service  to  the  cause  of  divine  revelation  by  the  publication  of 
 it." — Church  of  England  Journal. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  YIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D.^ 
 
 DAILY  FAMILY  DEVOTION; 
 
 Or,  Guide  to  Family  Worship.  Each  part  contains  Tour 
 Sheets,  or  thirty-two  quarto  pages,  handsomely  printed  in 
 a  Wrapper. 
 
 Now  publishing,  in  Monthly  Numbers,  at  Is. 
 
 INFANT  SALVATION; 
 
 Or,  All  Saved  who  Die  in  Infancy.     Specially  addressed 
 to  Mothers  mourning  the  Loss  of  Infants  and  Children. 
 
 Fourth  Edition,  foolscap  Svo.  cloth,  gilt  edges,  price  2s. 
 
 THE  BAPTISMAL  FONT ; 
 
 An  Exposition  of  the  Nature  and  Obligations  of  Christian 
 Baptism.     With  an  Appendix. 
 
 Third  Edition,  foolscap,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  price  2s. 
 
 "  Distinguished  at  once  by  eloquence,  compactness,  and  learning." — Christian 
 Witness. 
 
 A  MESSAGE  FROM  GOD ; 
 
 Or,  Thoughts  on  Religion  for  Thinking  Men. 
 Third  Edition,  foolscap  Svo.  cloth,  gilt  edges,  price  2s. 
 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE  &  CO.  25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
WORKS  BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  CUMMING,  D.D. 
 
 LECTURES  FOR  THE  TIMES ; 
 
 Or,  Illustrations  and  Refutations  of  the  Errors  of  Romanism 
 and  Tractarianism. 
 
 New  Edition,  in  foolscap,  cloth,  price  6s. 
 
 "  In  these  Lectures  Dr.  Cumming  gives  the  fullest  scope  to  all  his  high 
 powers.  Careful  research,  acute  argument,  brilliant  illustration,  graphic 
 description,  eloquent  appeal,  all  unite  in  enriching  and  embellishing  his  pages, 
 alluring  the  most  indifferent  to  read,  and  compelling  the  most  prejudiced  against 
 his  views  to  pause  and  consider." — Edinburgh  Ecclesiastical  Review. 
 
 "  Dr.  Cumming  exhibits  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  subject,  great  powers 
 of  reasoning,  and  a  wish  to  proceed  to  a  right  conclusion.  The  volume  is  both 
 interesting  and  instructive,  and  it  unquestionably  deals  with  matters  of  the 
 highest  importance,  in  which  all  mankind  are  deeply  and  permanently  inte- 
 rested."— Newcastle  Courant. 
 
 ROMISH  MIRACLES. 
 
 A  Lecture  delivered  in  the  Town  Hall,  Birmingham,  on 
 Tuesday,  December  16,  1851. 
 
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 NOTES  ON  THE  CARDINAL'S  MANIFESTO; 
 
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 VOL.  I. 
 
New  Edition,  Uniform, 
 
 LECTURES  ON  THE  PARABLES; 
 
 /nrming  tip  famir  Mnm 
 
 OF 
 
 FORESHADOWS. 
 
 BY  THE  REV.   J.  GUMMING,  D.  D. 
 
FRONTISPIECE 
 
 Water  made  Wine. 
 
 P.  1. 
 
FORESHADOWS; 
 
 LECTURES  ON  OUR  LORD'S  MIRACLES, 
 
 i&msis  nf  ttjE  3gi  to  Cmnr. 
 
 THE  REV.  JOHN'CUMMING,  D.  D. 
 
 MINISTER    OP   THE   SCOTCH    NATIONAL    CHURCH, 
 CROWN    COURT,    COVENT    GARDEN. 
 
 AUTHOR    OF    "APOCALYPTIC    SKETCHES,"    "LECTURES    ON    DANIEL,"    ETC. 
 
 Neto  IStntton,  tot'tfj  illustration*. 
 
 LONDON: 
 ARTHUR  HALL,  VIRTUE,  AND  CO., 
 
 25,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 
 
 SOLD    BY 
 
 J.  F.  SHAW,  SOUTHAMPTON  ROW,   RUSSELL  SQUARE. 
 
 PATON  AND  RITCHIE;  J.  MENZIES,  EDINBURGH. 
 
 JOHN  ROBERTSON,  DUBLIN. 
 
 1853. 
 
JOHN    CHILDS    AND    SON,     BUNGAY 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO    THE    SIXTH    THOUSAND. 
 
 This,  and  the  other  volume,  forming  what  the 
 author  has  called  "  Foreshadows,"  or  hints 
 and  intimations  drawn  from  the  Parables  and 
 Miracles  of  the  things  of  the  age  to  come, 
 were  not  in  their  earliest  editions  as  correct 
 in  all  respects  as  so  important  a  subject  ne- 
 cessarily demands.  The  author  has  therefore 
 carefully  examined  the  whole  contents  of  these 
 two  volumes,  and  has  introduced  many  new  and 
 useful  corrections  and  additions.  He  has  also 
 added  to  the  work  on  the  Parables  several 
 subjects  omitted  in  former  editions,  such  as 
 "  The  Lost  Sheep,"  "  The  Prodigal  Son,"  and 
 others.     Some  of  the  incidents  in  these  volumes 
 
VI  PREFACE. 
 
 have  also  been  very  beautifully  illustrated  by 
 wood  engravings  of  great  artistic  excellence, 
 which  will  be  found  in  their  proper  places. 
 Altogether  the  author  thinks  his  work  will  now 
 prove  as  instructive  and  useful  to  his  readers  as 
 it  has  been  interesting  to  himself. 
 
 September,  1853. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE  PAGE 
 
 I.  WATER    MADE    WINE      ....             1 
 
 TL  THE   nobleman's   SICK   SON       .           .             34 
 
 III.  THE    SOLDIER'S    SICK  SERVANT         .  .          68 
 
 IV.  THE    DISCIPLES   IN    THE    STORM  .                97 
 V.  THE    SORROWING    SISTERS       .             .             .130 
 
 VI.  THE    LORD    AND    GIVER   OF    LIFE           .             159 
 
 VII.  THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE         .             .188 
 
 VOL  LONELY    THANKFULNESS    .             .             .             215 
 
 IX.  MATERNAL    LOVE             .             .             .             .241 
 
 X.  THE    CALMER   OF    THE    STORM    .             .             266 
 
 XI.  BETHESDA   AND    ITS    BLESSINGS      .            .       294 
 
 XH.  THE    FISHERMEN         ....             326 
 
 Xin.  NATURE  SITTING  AT  THE  FEET  OF  JESUS      356 
 
 XIV.  NATURE  SITTING  AT  THE  FEET  OF  JESUS     385 
 
Vlll  CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE  PAGE 
 
 XV.  THE    RESTORED    SON       .             .  .             .413 
 
 XVI.  THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER  .             .             438 
 XVn.    CREATIVE    GOODNESS                .  .            .      462 
 
 XVIII.     THE    BLIND    MAN        ....  490 
 
 XIX.    THE    WITHERED    HAND             .  .             .524 
 
 XX.    ELOQUENT    NATURE               .  .             .             551 
 
LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 WATER   MADE    WINE    . 
 THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON     . 
 THE   DISCIPLES   IN    THE    STORM     . 
 THE    SORROWING    SISTERS 
 BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS    . 
 THE    FISHERMEN     . 
 THE    RESTORED    SON     . 
 ELOQUENT    NATURE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 .       34 
 
 97 
 
 .  130 
 
 294 
 
 .    .326 
 
 413 
 
 .  551 
 
LECTURES. 
 
 LECTUBE  I. 
 
 WATER    MADE    WINE. 
 
 And  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee , 
 and  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there :  and  both  Jesus  was  called, 
 and  his  disciples,  to  the  marriage.  And  when  they  wanted 
 wine,  the  mother  of  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  They  have  no  wine. 
 Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee  ? 
 mine  hour  is  not  yet  come.  His  mother  saith  unto  the  serv- 
 ants, Whatsoever  he  saith  unto  you,  do  it.  And  there  were 
 set  there  six  waterpots  of  stone,  after  the  manner  of  the  pu- 
 rifying of  the  Jews,  containing  two  or  three  firkins  apiece. 
 Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Fill  the  waterpots  with  water.  And 
 they  filled  them  up  to  the  brim.  And  he  saith  unto  them. 
 Draw  out  now,  and  bear  unto  the  governor  of  the  feast.  And 
 they  bare  it.  When  the  ruler  of  the  feast  had  tasted  the  water 
 that  was  made  wine,  and  knew  not  whence  it  was :  (but  the 
 servants  which  drew  the  water  knew;)  the  governor  of  the 
 feast  called  the  bridegroom,  and  saith  unto  him,  Every  man 
 at  the  beginning  doth  set  forth  good  wine ;  and  when  men 
 have  well  drunk,  then  that  which  is  worse  :  but  thou  hast 
 kept  the  good  wine  until  now.  This  begirming  of  miracles 
 did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  manifested  forth  his  glory  ; 
 and  his  disciples  believed  on  him. — John  ii.  1 — 11. 
 
 I  have  undertaken  this  series  of  lectures,  on  the 
 miracles  ■wrought  bv  our  Lord.  Each  of  these  is 
 
2  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 full  of  instruction.  I  have  selected  the  present, 
 because  it  is  the  first,  and  not  on  any  other 
 ground,  or  because  of  any  peculiar  appropriate- 
 ness in  it. 
 
 I  will  preface  each  of  my  lectures  by  some  in- 
 troductory remarks  on  some  branch  of  the  evi- 
 dence that  may  be  adduced  from  the  miracles. 
 In  my  first  I  will  give  a  brief  exposition  of  what 
 is  meant  by  a  miracle,  and  notice  how  a  miracle 
 is  defined  and  designated  throughout  the  word 
 of  God. 
 
 There  are  three  great  expressions  by  which 
 miracles  are  designated — the  first,  a  "  miracle," 
 or  "wonder;"    the  second,  a  "sign;"    and  the 
 third,  a  "  power."      Very  often  our  translation 
 renders  the  same  original  word,  tvvafiet?,  in  the 
 plural — works,  powers,  miracles  ;    but  this  is  a 
 rather  loose  way  of  translating  it :  each  word  is 
 perfectly  clear  and  well  defined,  wherever  it  is 
 employed.     The  first  epithet  is  that  of  "  won- 
 der."     This   presents    the   miracle   in    one    of 
 its  aspects,  but  in  its  weakest  and  poorest  aspect, 
 and  implies    simply  the  impression  which  the 
 performance  of  a  miracle  may  make  upon  the 
 senses  of  him  that  sees  it.    It  merely  implies  that, 
 by  the  act  just  witnessed,  wonder,  awe,  amaze- 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  3 
 
 ment  is  created;  all  that  it  is  designed  in  this  cha- 
 racter to  do  is  to  break  the  slumber  of  the  senses, 
 to  disturb  the  continuity  of  apathy,  and  to  rouse 
 man  to  a  perception  of  a  presence  greater  and 
 mightier  than  himself.  Hence,  the  very  first 
 result  of  the  performance  of  a  miracle  is,  the  ar- 
 rest of  the  attention,  the  awakening  of  the  thought 
 of  those  that  are  present,  and  in  the  midst  of 
 whom  the  miracle  is  done. 
 
 The  second  name  given  to  a  miracle  is  a  higher 
 and  more  expressive  one — a  "  sign."  All  signs 
 are  not  miracles,  but  all  miracles  are  signs.  A 
 sign  means  a  substance.  Wherever  we  say 
 there  is  a  sign,  we  imply  that  there  is  something 
 that  is  signified.  When,  therefore,  a  miracle  is 
 performed,  it  is,  in  this  light,  a  sign  of  the  pre- 
 sence of  God.  As  a  wonder,  it  startles  ;  as  a 
 sign,  it  teaches ;  the  one  strikes,  the  other  speaks  ; 
 and  hence,  a  miracle  is  not  only  startling  to  the 
 senses,  but  it  is  significant  and  instructive  to  the 
 mind :  in  other  words,  it  not  only  creates  awe, 
 amazement,  arrest,  but  it  conveys  meaning  and 
 instruction,  the  chiefest  point  of  which  is,  that 
 men  may  here  trace  the  finger,  the  foot-prints, 
 and  the  marks  of  Deity. 
 
 The  third  name  by  which  a  miracle  is  known 
 
 B   2 
 
4  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 in  Scripture  is,  a  "  power."  The  word  is  some- 
 times rendered  "  works/'  sometimes  "  mighty 
 works,"  and  sometimes  it  is  rendered  "  powers  ;" 
 and  it  is  so  called,  because  a  miracle  is  the  ma- 
 nifestation of  power ;  not  necessarily  of  a  greater 
 power  than  is  already  manifested  in  creation,  as 
 I  shall  explain,  but  the  manifestation  of  that 
 power  in  a  new  formula,  in  an  unexpected  shape, 
 in  a  way  in  which  we  have  not  seen  it  so  mani- 
 fested before,  and  which,  therefore,  is  more 
 completely  fitted  to  arrest  the  mind. 
 
 Let  me  show  you  how  these  three  names  can 
 be  applied  to  the  miracle  which  I  have  now 
 read.  First,  I  said  a  miracle  is  called  a  wonder. 
 At  the  tenth  verse  of  this  chapter,  we  read  of  the 
 sense  of  wonder  in  the  mind  of  the  chief  person 
 at  the  feast.  "  And  he  saith,  Every  man  at  the 
 beginning  doth  set  forth  good  wine ;  and  when 
 men  have  well  drunk,  then  that  which  is  worse  : 
 but  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until  now." 
 "  There  is  some  mysterious  change,"  he  says ; 
 "  this  is  a  new  phenomenon ;  I  am  astonished, 
 surprised ;  something  more  than  usual  is  here." 
 The  "  power  "  of  the  miracle  was  felt  when  that 
 which  was  water  blushed  into  wine,  as  the  Lord 
 looked  upon  it.     The  miracle  was  also  a  "  sign," 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  5 
 
 for  it  was  so  full  a  manifestation  of  the  glory  of 
 Jesus,  that  it  is  said,  "  His  disciples  believed  on 
 him."  You  have  thus  the  three  characteristics 
 of  a  miracle  embodied  in  that,  the  account  of 
 which  I  have  now  read. 
 
 Now  a  miracle  itself  is  not  a  mere  action,  or  a 
 mere  operation  of  nature,  and  yet  it  need  not 
 imply  any  more  power  than  is  already  put  forth 
 in  creation.  For  instance,  in  casting  a  handful 
 of  wheat  into  the  soil,  and  making  it  grow  up 
 till  it  produces  two  or  three  bushels,  there  is  as 
 much  power  of  God  manifested  as  there  is  in 
 making  a  few  loaves  grow  into  a  few  thousand. 
 There  is  the  same  power  exerted  in  making  a 
 seed  cast  into  the  soil  grow  up  into  many  seeds, 
 as  there  is  in  making  one  loaf  grow  into  many 
 loaves.  The  difference  between  what  we  call  a 
 natural  thing  and  what  God  pronounces  a  mira- 
 culous thing,  is  not  so  much  the  extent  of  power 
 that  is  manifested,  as  the  manner  of  the  manifest- 
 ation of  that  power.  Thus  we  read  in  the  Epistle 
 to  the  Romans,  that  the  invisible  things  of  God 
 "  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things 
 that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  God- 
 head." So  that  all  creation,  we  are  told,  in  its 
 action,  as  clearly  intimates  and  proves  the  power 
 
FORESHADOWS. 
 
 of  God  as  any  miracle,  strictly  and  properly  so 
 called,  could  prove  it.  But  where  is  the  dif- 
 ference, you  ask,  between  a  miracle  and  the 
 natural  laws,  as  they  are  called,  or  operations  of 
 nature  ?  I  answer,  one  difference  arises  from  the 
 new  and  strange  formula,  shape,  mode,  or  man- 
 ner in  which  that  power  is  put  forth.  Another 
 difference  arises  from  the  fact,  that  the  miracle  of 
 the  seed  cast  into  the  earth  growing  into  many 
 bushels,  is  a  miracle  occurring  every  year,  and 
 witnessed  by  every  individual  upon  earth ;  but 
 the  miracle  of  one  loaf  being  multiplied  into  ten, 
 twelve,  or  twenty,  is  a  thing  that  occurred  only 
 once,  and  was  witnessed  by  a  few ;  and  to  that 
 few  only,  and  by  their  testimony  to  others,  is 
 that  miracle  addressed.  The  water  coming  from 
 the  clouds,  and  descending  from  springs  and 
 rocks,  proves  abundantly  the  power  of  God- 
 That  the  ocean  should  be  a  mighty  cistern,  that 
 the  sand  and  the  rocks  of  the  earth  should  con- 
 stitute so  many  perfect  filters,  that  the  water 
 should  be  constantly  supplied  through  these  for 
 us  to  drink,  that  the  steam  which  evaporates  from 
 the  sea  should  shape  itself  into  clouds,  and  meet- 
 ing with  cold  currents  of  air,  should  become 
 condensed,  and  fall  in  the  shape  of  prolific  and 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  7 
 
 fertilizing  showers ;  all  this  is  an  evidence  of  the 
 power  of  God — as  great  evidence  of  that  power 
 as  one  conld  possibly  have.  But  the  water 
 turned  into  wine  is  not,  as  I  have  said,  the 
 manifestation  of  a  greater  power,  bnt  it  is  the 
 manifestation  of  the  same  power,  relieving  the 
 monotony  which  has  dulled  the  impressiveness 
 of  the  former  ;  lifting,  as  it  were,  the  veil  behind 
 which  God  works,  enabling  us  to  see,  not  dead 
 laws  which  the  philosopher  owns,  but  a  living 
 hand  put  forth  on  the  springs  of  nature,  control- 
 ling, originating,  and  creating  all.  Thus,  then, 
 the  water  from  the  clouds,  falling  upon  the  soil, 
 ascending  the  trunk  of  the  vine,  and  ultimately 
 issuing  in  grapes,  and  those  grapes  passing  into 
 wine,  is  one  process,  and  in  every  stage  of  this 
 process  God's  power  is  manifested ;  but  when 
 God  turns  water  into  wine,  all  that  he  does  dif- 
 ferently is  to  shorten  the  process.  The  ordinary 
 process,  is  that  the  water  in  the  sea  should  rise 
 into  the  cloud,  then  fall  from  the  cloud  in  co- 
 pious showers,  give  refreshment  to  the  vine  and 
 fertility  to  the  earth,  develop  itself  in  sap,  in 
 blossom,  in  grapes,  in  fermentation,  in  wine — 
 this  is  the  long  process  ;  the  short  process  is, 
 the  water  turning  into  wine   at  Christ's  word; 
 
8  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 but  it  is  equally  Christ  in  both;  it  is  equally 
 Divine  power  in  both,  only  we  have  got  so 
 accustomed  to  the  long  process,  that  we  say 
 it  is  the  natural  thing,  and  are  so  little  accus- 
 tomed to  the  short  process,  that  the  senses  are 
 startled  and  the  mind  is  awakened.  The  differ- 
 ence is  here  too — that  in  the  one  case  we  see  a 
 succession  of  continuous  causes,  and  in  the  other 
 we  see  the  actor  come  forth  himself,  lay  aside 
 the  machinery  by  which  he  has  acted  heretofore, 
 and  in  one  word  say,  "  Let  this  water  be  wine;" 
 and,  recognising  its  Creator  and  its  God,  it  be- 
 comes so. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  a  miracle  is  not,  as  some 
 have  tried  to  show,  contrary  to  nature.  Never 
 accept  this  definition  of  it,  because,  as  I  shall 
 show  you  in  subsequent  lectures,  Strauss,  one  of 
 the  most  subtle  and  most  able  infidels  of  modern 
 times,  (but  who,  I  rejoice  to  say,  has  been  re- 
 plied to  by  his  own  countrymen,  JSTeander,  Tho- 
 lock,  and  many  others  whose  genius  and  piety 
 are  unquestionable,)  has  laid  hold  of  this,  and 
 tried  to  do  great  mischief  by  it.  A  miracle  is 
 not  a  thing  against  nature,  but  something  above 
 and  beyond  what  we  call  nature.  For  instance, 
 when  we  read  of  our  Lord's  healing  the  sick,  and 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  9 
 
 in  other  instances  raising  the  dead,  we  hear  it 
 said  this  is  contrary  to  nature.  It  is  no  such 
 thing.  We  call  it  contrary  to  nature,  because 
 we  think  that  sickness  is  natural.  Sickness  is  not 
 natural ;  it  is  an  unnatural  thing  ;  it  is  a  discord 
 in  a  glorious  harmony ;  it  is  a  blot  upon  the  fair 
 creation  ;  it  is  most  unnatural ;  and  was  never 
 meant  originally  to  be.  When  we  see  our  Lord 
 raising  the  dead,  we  say  it  is  unnatural ;  yet  it  is 
 not  so,  because  death  is  the  unnatural  thing,  and 
 the  natural  thing  is  putting  an  end  to  death,  and 
 bringing  back  everlasting  and  glorious  life. 
 Thus,  then,  the  healing  of  the  sick  and  the 
 quickening  of  the  dead  are  not  contrary  to  na- 
 ture, but  the  perfection  of  nature ;  it  is  the 
 bringing  back  of  nature  to  her  pristine  state  ;  it 
 is  restoring  the  primeval  harmony ;  it  is  the 
 evidence  of  ancient  happiness,  and  the  augury  of 
 future ;  it  is  the  demonstration  to  us  that  all  the 
 prophecies  that  describe  the  glorious  paradise 
 that  is  to  be  are  possibilities  :  and  hence,  every 
 miracle  of  our  Lord  was  a  flower  snatched  from 
 the  paradise  that  is  to  be,  a  tone  of  the  everlast- 
 ing jubilee  sounding  in  the  depths  of  the  human 
 heart;  a  specimen  of  that  new  Genesis,  under 
 which  there  shall  be  no  more  sickness,  nor  sor- 
 
10  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 row3  nor  trial,  but  wherein  former  tilings  shall 
 have  passed  away,  and  all  things  shall  be  made 
 new.  Therefore  a  miracle  is  not  contrary  to 
 nature,  but  it  is  the  expansion,  the  perfection, 
 the  ennobling  of  nature,  it  brings  nature  back  to 
 what  it  was.  And  that  teaches  us  what  I  think 
 I  ought  to  impress,  that  we  ought  never  to  be 
 satisfied  with  this  world,  as  if  it  were  what  it  was 
 meant  to  be  ;  it  is  all  out  of  course ;  and  it  al- 
 ways seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  the  physician 
 is  carrying  forward,  as  it  were,  the  work  that 
 Christ  does  perfectly ;  that  he  is  here  as  a  testi- 
 mony to  us,  that  the  great  Physician  will  one  day 
 do  perfectly  what  his  earthly  agent  does  imper- 
 fectly. And  so  with  every  other  curative  pro- 
 cess that  goes  on ;  it  is  an  augury  and  foretaste 
 of  the  perfection  that  will  be ;  it  is  a  testimony 
 that  nature  has  gone  wrong,  and  an  earnest  that 
 nature  will  yet  be  put  right  by  nature's  Lord. 
 
 But  besides  all  this,  a  miracle  is  something 
 more ;  it  is  an  addition  of  a  new  and  a  nobler  law 
 to  the  law  that  previously  was ;  it  is  not  the  de- 
 struction of  any  existing  law,  but  it  is  super- 
 adding to  that  law  a  more  perfect  and  glorious 
 one.  Thus,  when  I  raise  my  arm,  the  power  of 
 gravitation   ought  to   make   that   arm  instantly 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  11 
 
 fall ;  but  when  I  keep  that  arm  up  it  is  not  by 
 the  destruction  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  but  it 
 is  the  superadding  of  a  higher  law,  the  great  law 
 of  life.  So,  we  can  conceive  that  when  Christ 
 does  a  miracle,  it  is  not  the  extinction  of  that 
 which  is  really  a  right  law,  but  it  is  the  bringing 
 from  heaven  a  nobler  law,  to  be  superadded  to, 
 and  render  more  glorious,  the  law  that  is.  I 
 will  not  dwell  longer  upon  this  subject  at  pre- 
 sent, but  reserve  a  portion  of  my  remarks  upon 
 it  for  next  lecture.  I  proceed,  therefore,  at 
 present  to  unfold, the  illustration  and  the  in- 
 stance of  what  I  have  said  in  that  beautiful 
 miracle,  the  first  that  Jesus  performed,  in  Cana 
 of  Galilee. 
 
 Before  I  enter  upon  this  miracle  clause  by 
 clause,  let  me  notice  how  graciously  Christ  be- 
 gins his  career  of  miracles  and  mercies.  The 
 day  begins,  not  with  a  burst  of  meridian  splen- 
 dour, but  its  dawn  peeps  from  behind  the  hills, 
 tinges  the  sea  with  its  beautiful  and  rosy 
 colours,  and  then  shines  more  and  more  "  unto 
 the  perfect  day."  So  rose  softly,  beautifully, 
 and  progressively  the  Sun  of  righteousness. 
 His  first  miracle  was  not  a  miracle  of  tremen- 
 dous power,  but   one  of  quiet  and  gentle  be- 
 
12  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 neficence.  The  Saviour's  first  miracle  dawned 
 in  the  form  of  a  nuptial  benediction  upon  a 
 young  couple,  beginning  the  journey,  and  about 
 to  attempt  the  battle  of  life.  He  heightened  do- 
 mestic joys  before  he  went  forth  to  mitigate 
 domestic  sorrows.  He  began  rejoicing  with 
 them  that  do  rejoice  before  he  went  on  his  pil- 
 grimage to  "  weep  with  them  that  weep."  Jesus 
 sympathized  first  with  the  happy  before  he  went 
 forth  to  succour  the  miserable  and  the  unhappy. 
 And  who  was  it  that  so  sympathized  ?  Who  was 
 it  that  had  a  heart  thus  opened  to  the  softest  and 
 most  responsive  sympathies  ?  He  on  whose  soul 
 there  pressed  the  load  of  a  world's  transgressions. 
 He  who  saw  a  long  and  rugged  road  before  him, 
 and  at  the  end  of  that  road  the  cross  to  which  he 
 should  be  nailed.  He  whose  spirit  was  thus 
 heavy  with  the  prospect  of  coming  agony, 
 could  yet  pause  in  that  rough  road,  and  step 
 aside  to  that  little  cottage  in  that  sequestered 
 hamlet,  to  show  that  whilst  he  could  expiate  a 
 world's  sins,  he  would  recognise  the  remains  of 
 Eden  happiness  and  Eden  bliss  even  in  the 
 humblest  and  poorest  of  mankind.  And  it  is  at 
 such  a  time,  let  me  add,  such  a  time  of  happiness 
 and  joy,  as  that  which  is  described  at  the  mar- 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  13 
 
 riage  feast  of  Cana,  that  we  need  the  presence  of 
 our  Lord.      Hence    I    must  correct  a  very  com- 
 mon misapprehension.     When  we  are  placed  in 
 affliction,  or  trial,  when  we  have  lost   the  near 
 and  the  dear,  or  when  our  property  has  been 
 swept  away,  at  such  a  time  we  are  very  willing 
 to  say,  "  This  is  God's  doing  ;  "    but  is  it  not 
 strange,  when  joyful  things  come,  and  bounding 
 hearts  testify  that  they  have  come,  when  pros- 
 perity sheds  its  splendours  upon  us,  and  hope 
 draws  us  forward  to  scenes  of  increasing  hap- 
 piness, that  we   then   think  "  this  is  our  own 
 doing "  ?    If  we  are   in  affliction,  we  begin  to 
 pray,    I  speak  of  Christians,   but  strange  that  in 
 prosperity  we  should  never  think  of  beginning 
 to  praise.     Does  it  not  indicate  the  original    sin 
 of  our  hearts,  that  we  associate  God  and  wrath 
 together,  instead  of  associating  God  with  every 
 thing  that  is  beautiful  and  holy,  beneficent  and 
 bright?     "We   come  to   think  Christianity  is   a 
 capital  thing  for  burials,  but   that    it   will    do 
 bridals  no  good  at  all ;  we  come  to  suppose  that 
 the  gospel  is  most  appropriate  when  we  weep, 
 but  that  it  is  not  fit  to  be  put  in  the  same  cate- 
 gory with  rejoicing.     My  dear  friends,  you  mis- 
 take it ;    it  sweetens  and  sanctifies,  not  saddens, 
 
14  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  happiest ;  and  it  sustains,  and  cheers,  and 
 strengthens  the  sorrowful  and  the  suffering.  It 
 was  more  needed  at  the  marriage -feast  of  Cana 
 in  Galilee  than  it  was  at  the  death-bed  of 
 Lazarus.  It  is  as  much  needed  to  sweeten  and 
 to  sanctify  our  joys  as  it  is  to  mitigate  and 
 diminish  our  sufferings  and  our  sorrows.  Let 
 us  then  ask  the  presence  of  a  Saviour  at  sick- 
 beds and  funerals,  but  let  us  also  ask  the  pre- 
 sence of  a  Saviour  at  marriages  and  at  festivals  : 
 let  us  pray  that  he  may  be  present  when  the 
 cup  is  empty,  or  filled  with  gall ;  or  when  the 
 cup  is  full  and  overflows,  and  the  trembling 
 hand  can  scarcely  hold  it  steadily. 
 
 I  notice  in  this  parable,  that  our  Lord  came 
 not  to  destroy  society,  but  to  descend  into  its 
 depths,  and  sweeten,  and  cement,  and  sanctify 
 it.  He  came  not  like  the  Goth  to  raze,  or  like 
 the  Socialist  and  the  Communist  to  disorganize, 
 but,  like  the  Christianity  of  which  he  is  the 
 Alpha  and  the  Omega,  to  illuminate,  to  in- 
 spire, and  to  sanctify.  He  did  not  come  to 
 build  in  the  wilderness  a  huge  convent  for  all 
 Christians  to  withdraw  from  the  world  and  dwell 
 in,  but  he  did  better  ;  he  came  to  uphold,  to 
 sanctify,  and  sweeten  human  life,  human  joy,  and 
 
WATER    MADE   WINE.  15 
 
 human  sorrow;  lie  came,  not  to  put  an  end  to 
 common  life,  but  he  came  to  bring  the  gospel 
 into  its  hidden  recesses  and  its  deepest  depths, 
 to  make  all  its  paths  beautiful,  all  its  voices 
 harmony.  Christianity  does  not  call  upon  you 
 who  are  tradesmen  to  shut  up  your  shops,  but  to 
 be  Christian  shopmen  ;  it  does  not  call  upon  you 
 not  to  marry,  but  to  marry  in  the  Lord  ;  nor  to 
 lay  aside  your  titles,  as  a  recent  denomination 
 does,  but  to  be  Christian  peers  and  peeresses  ;  it 
 does  not  call  upon  you  to  detach  yourselves  from 
 society,  in  order  to  avoid  its  evil,  but  to  go  into 
 the  midst  of  society,  and  meet  its  hostility,  mas- 
 ter its  evils,  and  make  it  reflect  the  glory,  the 
 beneficence,  and  the  goodness  of  God.  Hence, 
 the  first  act  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  was  not 
 isolation  from  society,  but  going  right  into  the 
 heart  of  society,  beginning  at  its  root  and  centre, 
 in  order  to  bless,  to  beautify,  and  make  it  good. 
 We  gather,  too,  from  this  parable,  that  our 
 Lord  (and  this  is  perhaps  cne  of  the  most  remark- 
 able proofs  of  his  prescience,  or,  in  other  words, 
 of  his  Divinity)  had,  in  many  things  that  he  said 
 and  did,  an  ulterior  reference.  Thus  what  he 
 said  about  the  virgin  Mary,  as  I  will  explain  to 
 you,  had  a  clear  ulterior,  practical  reference.  So 
 
16  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 had  also  the  fact  that  his  first  miracle  was  per- 
 formed at  a  wedding.  He  knew  that  a  section 
 of  his  professing  church  would  rise  which  would 
 say  that  marriage  is  prohibited  in  some,  and  that 
 celibacy  is  a  holier,  purer,  and  nobler  state. 
 All  this  is  destroyed,  neutralized,  swept  away, 
 by  the  fact  that  the  marriage  instituted  in  Para- 
 dise has  been  reconsecrated  in  Cana  of  Galilee. 
 I  allege,  therefore,  that  there  is  not  a  holier 
 thing  on  earth  than  the  domestic  roof,  and  there 
 is  not  a  more  divine  nook  of  humanity  than  a 
 Christian  family. 
 
 Mary  introduces  the  miracle  which  Jesus  was 
 about  to  perform  by  the  simple  remark,  "  They 
 have  no  wine."  We  read  that  "  there  was  a  mar- 
 riage in  Cana  of  Galilee ;  and  the  mother  of 
 Jesus  was  there  :  and  both  Jesus  was  called,  and 
 his  disciples,  to  the  marriage.  And  when  they 
 wanted  wine,  [or,  literally  translated,  "  when  the 
 wine  began  to  fail,"  ]  the  mother  of  Jesus  saith 
 unto  him,  They  have  no  wine." 
 
 Perhaps  I  should  explain  that  Cana  of  Galilee 
 was  a  few  miles  north-east  of  Nazareth,  a  place 
 that  was  most  familiar  to  our  Lord,  and  situated 
 between  Nazareth  and  the  Lake  or  Sea  of  Gen- 
 nesareth.     It  is  described  bv  a  modern  traveller 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  17 
 
 (the  site  of  it  being  perfectly  well  ascertained, 
 and  even  its  name  retained)  as  a  pretty  Turkish 
 village,  gracefully  situated  on  two  sides  of  a  hol- 
 low of  fertile  land,  with  surrounding  hills,  and 
 covered  with  oaks  and  olive  trees.  It  is  still  a 
 small  village,  but  the  mosque  is  there  instead  of 
 the  Christian  temple. 
 
 Mary  states  then  the  fact  which  led  to  the  per- 
 formance of  this  miracle  :  "  They  have  no  wine." 
 Some  have  been  anxious  to  ascertain  why  she 
 said  so.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  couple 
 that  were  married  were  Mary's  own  immediate 
 relatives,  and  that  she  felt  for  their  poverty. 
 The  virgin  Mary  was  a  poor  sinner  by  nature, 
 and  became  a  saint,  not  by  the  fact  that  she  was 
 the  mother  of  the  Lord's  humanity,  but  by  the 
 fact  that  she  was  a  subject  of  the  sanctifying 
 power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  Mary  had 
 the  pride  of  humanity,  the  vanity  of  a  weak  wo- 
 man, and  she  thought  and  felt  that  poverty  was 
 a  shame,  and  that  wherever  there  was  poverty, 
 there,  if  possible,  it  should  be  hidden.  And  yet 
 the  holy  gospel  teaches  us  that  poverty  is  beau- 
 tiful, that  the  gospel  came  first  to  the  poor  ;  and 
 certainly  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  like  the  sun 
 in  the  firmament,  sends  his  beams  into  the  case- 
 
18  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ment  of  the  poor  man's  cottage  as  fully  as  into 
 the  oriel- window  of  the  great  man's  hall.  Mary 
 fancied  poverty  was  a  shame,  and  she  says  to  the 
 Saviour,  "  They  have  no  wine."  Perhaps,  too, 
 she  meant  by  that,  "  we  had  better  not  stop  ;  the 
 wine  they  have  is  so  little,  it  will  not  serve  the 
 company  that  are  already  come,  and  perhaps  we 
 had  better  retire,  and  not  draw  upon  that  which 
 is  already  altogether  insufficient."  At  all  events, 
 it  is  plain  that  it  was  a  sense  of  poverty  that 
 caused  Mary  to  make  the  remark. 
 
 Notice  our  Lord's  reply  :  "  Woman,  what 
 have  I  do  with  thee?"  The  Roman  Catholic 
 church  has  exhausted  all  its  ingenuity  and  talent, 
 and  has  written  much,  in  order  to  show  that  this 
 does  not  mean  what  it  means.  And  many  other 
 divines  have  imitated  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
 in  this  respect  with  other  parts  of  the  Bible.  It 
 is  plain  that  in  the  answer  of  our  Lord  there 
 was  no  disrespect.  The  word  u  woman,"  in 
 fact,  in  ancient  Greek,  yvvai,  is  equivalent  to 
 "  lady."  To  prove  this,  you  have  only  to  read 
 the  words  used  on  the  cross,  "  Woman,  behold 
 thy  son ;"  an  expression  of  respect  mingled  with 
 affection.  The  words  "  what  have  I  to  do  with 
 thee?"  seem  to  us  Protestants,  when  we  read 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  19 
 
 our  Protestant  Bibles,  to  denote  that  Jesus  had 
 required  no  partnership  in  his  sufferings,  and 
 could  have  no  partnership  in  the  expressions  of 
 his  mighty  power.  But  the  Roman  Catholic 
 church  has  translated  it,  "  Woman,  what  is  to 
 thee,  and  to  me  ? "  which  is  utterly  unintelligible ; 
 it  conveys  no  meaning  at  all.  The  Greek  words 
 are,  t«  epol  ical  aol  (what  to  me,  and  to  thee)  ? 
 and  every  one  who  knows  the  elements  of  the 
 Greek  grammar,  knows  that  this  is  an  idiom, 
 that,  like  all  other  idioms,  it  has  its  peculiar  sig- 
 nification, and  that  literally  translated  into  our 
 tongue,  it  means,  "  What  have  I  to  do  with 
 thee  ?"  or,  "  What  hast  thou  to  do  with  me?" 
 Among  other  passages  in  which  the  same  words 
 occur,  I  may  name  Judges  xi.  12  ;  1  Kings  xvii. 
 18  ;  2  Kings  ix.  18  ;  Mark  v.  7.  I  might  enu- 
 merate ten  different  parts  of  the  Bible,  speaking 
 of  the  Septuagint  version  of  the  Old  Testament 
 and  the  Greek  New  Testament,  in  which  the 
 words  T6  ejuol  ical  aol  occur  ;  five  times  in  the 
 singular,  and  in  the  plural  five  times  more.  I 
 have  looked  at  every  one  of  these  instances  in 
 the  Roman  Catholic  Bible,  and  I  find  that  nine 
 times  the  words  are  translated  exactly  as  we 
 translate  them,  but  in  the  tenth  instance  (John 
 
 c  2 
 
20  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ii.  4)  they  are  rendered,  "  What  is  to  thee,  and 
 to  me?"  Certainly  this  looks  suspicious — that 
 the  Roman  Catholic  church  should  pursue  the 
 same  interpretation  which  we  adopt  in  nine  cases, 
 and  only  in  the  tenth  should  deviate,  and  assume 
 a  new  and  strange  translation.  Can  we  be  called 
 uncharitable,  if  we  suspect  that  she  felt  that,  as 
 she  would  not  bring  her  worship  up  to  the  height 
 of  God's  word,  she  would  dare,  in  her  awful 
 blindness,  to  bring  down  God's  word  to  the  level 
 of  her  worship. 
 
 It  is  plain  to  us,  then,  that  our  Lord  here 
 taught  a  very  great  lesson — that  Mary  had  no 
 partnership  in  his  glory,  nor  might  have  any 
 share  in  his  extraordinary  sorrow  ;  that  even  the 
 tears  of  a  weeping  mother  might  not  mingle  with 
 the  shed  blood  of  a  dying  and  atoning  Son ;  that 
 he  must  tread  the  wine-press  alone,  and  that  not 
 even  a  mother  must  be  with  him  to  participate  in 
 his  agony,  or  to  lay  claim  to  a  single  gleam  of 
 that  glory  which  exclusively  belongs  to  him. 
 Does  not  this  seem  prophetic  ?  Does  it  not  seem 
 to  imply  that  some  portion  of  his  church  would 
 rise  in  which  Ave  Marias  should  supersede  the 
 more  glorious  ascription,  "  Abba,  Father,"  and 
 the  intercession  of  a  glorified  saint  should  be 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  £1 
 
 made  to  take  the  place  of  the  intercession  of  the 
 glorious  and  the  almighty  Son  ?  I  will  give  you 
 a  remarkable  instance  of  this.  The  present  pope 
 of  Rome  has  issued,  on  the  subject  of  the  imma- 
 culate conception,  an  encyclical  letter  from 
 Gaeta,  where  he  was  lately  a  prisoner  and  an 
 exile.  To  show  how  true  is  the  Apocalyptic 
 description,  "  They  repented  not  of  their  sins 
 and  their  blasphemies/'  I  will  read  what  the 
 present  pope  has  written,  and  what  was  read 
 in  the  course  of  1849  in  every  Roman  Catho- 
 lic church  throughout  the  world.  "  We  also 
 (says  Pope  Pius  IX.)  repose  all  confidence  in 
 this — that  the  blessed  Virgin,  who  has  been 
 raised  by  the  greatness  of  her  merits  above  the 
 choirs  of  angels  up  to  the  throne  of  God,  and 
 has  crushed,  under  the  foot  of  her  Son,  (the  head 
 of  the  old  serpent,)  and  who,  placed  between 
 Christ  and  the  church,  fall  of  grace  and  sweet- 
 ness, has  ever  rescued  the  Christian  people 
 from  the  greatest  calamity,  from  the  snares  and 
 attacks  of  all  her  enemies,  taking  pity  on  us  with 
 that  immense  tenderness  which  is  the  habitual 
 outpouring  of  her  maternal  heart,  to  drive  away 
 from  us,  by  her  instant  and  all-powerful  pro- 
 tection before  God,  the  sad  and  lamentable  mis- 
 
22  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 fortunes,  the  cruel  anguish,  the  pains  and  anxie- 
 ties which  we  suffer,  and  turn  aside  the  scourges 
 of  Divine  wrath  which  afflict  us  by  reason  of  our 
 sins,  to  oppose  and  divert  the  frightful  streams 
 of  evil  with  which  the  church  is  assailed  on  all 
 sides."  The  pope  continues  to  say,  "  You  know 
 perfectly  well,  venerable  brethren,  [addressing 
 the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  prelates  of  the 
 Romish  church  throughout  the  world,]  that  the 
 foundation  of  our  confidence  is  in  the  most  holy 
 Virgin,  since  it  is  in  her  that  God  has  placed 
 the  plenitude  of  all  good,  in  such  sort,  that  if 
 there  be  in  us  any  hope,  if  there  be  any  spiritual 
 health,  we  know  that  it  is  from  her  we  receive 
 it,  because  such  is  the  will  of  Him  who  willed 
 that  we  should  have  all  by  the  instrumentality  of 
 the  Virgin  Mary."  Such  are  the  deliberate 
 sentiments  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  literally  translated 
 from  the  Latin,  which  I  have  now  before  me. 
 
 I  have  said  then  that  this  clause,  "  What  have 
 I  to  do  with  thee  ?  "  is  prophetic  ;  and  certainly 
 it  is  so.  But  our  Lord  gives  a  reason  for  what 
 he  said,  and  adds,  "  mine  hour  is  not  yet  come." 
 I  do  not  think  that  the  expression  "  hour  "  here 
 is  used  in  that  solemn  sense  in  which  it  is  used 
 in  another  portion  of  the  gospel,  where  our  Lord 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  23 
 
 exclaims,  "  Father,  the  hour  is  come."  The  word 
 may  be  rendered  fairly  and  justly  "  opportu- 
 nity ; "  and  all  that  our  Lord  seems  to  me  to 
 teach  by  the  expression  is  simply  this :  "  The 
 moment  for  me  to  perform  the  miracle  is  not  yet 
 arrived ;  the  wine  only  begins  to  fail,  I  will  Avait 
 till  it  is  exhausted  :  if  some  of  the  wine  remain 
 in  the  vessels  the  impression  I  desire  to  produce 
 by  the  miracle  may  be  dissipated;  they  might 
 say  it  was  the  wine  that  was  left,  and  not  wine 
 instantly  created  by  my  mighty  power ;  therefore, 
 Mary,  wait ;  you  do  not  know,  you  must  not  in- 
 terfere ;  I  know  the  moment  when  it  will  be 
 most  for  the  good  of  the  creature,  and  most  for 
 the  glory  of  me." 
 
 It  is  said,  "  And  there  were  set  six  water-pots 
 of  stone,"  or,  as  it  might  be  translated,  "  water- 
 jars  of  stone."  I  cannot  but  notice  here  a  hidden 
 feature  that  shows  the  perfect  reality  of  the  story. 
 When  a  story  is  concocted,  you  may  detect  points 
 in  it  which  will  show  that  it  is  a  fiction,  that  it 
 does  not  cohere.  Now  these  water-pots  of  stone 
 were  large  jars  which  were  brought  in  to  every 
 festival,  and  the  guests  drew  water  out  of  them 
 for  the  washing  of  their  hands  before  they  sat 
 down  to  their  meal.     The  order  was  given,  "  Fill 
 
24  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  water-pots  with  water  ;  "  and  this  shows  that 
 the  guests  must  have  washed  their  hands,  and  that 
 the  water  was  nearly  drawn  out  of  the  vessels  ; 
 they  were  quite  full  at  the  beginning,  and  it 
 must  have  been  towards  the  close  of  the  festival 
 that  our  Lord  wrought  the  miracle,  and  replen- 
 ished the  jars  with  wine.  It  was  said  at  the  be- 
 ginning that  the  wine  began  to  fail  at  the  close  of 
 the  feast,  and  it  is  shown  by  the  water  being  ex- 
 hausted from  the  water-pots  that  it  was  so.  We 
 have  evidence  in  all  this  of  consistency,  or  under 
 current  of  coherency,  that  demonstrates  it  was 
 not  a  fiction,  but  an  actual  transaction  —  a 
 fact.  To  indicate  still  more  the  force  of  the 
 miracle,  I  may  mention,  that  if  our  Lord  had 
 created  the  wine  in  the  wine  bottles  that  had 
 been  exhausted,  they  would  have  said,  "  It  is 
 not  new  wine,  but  it  is  the  old  wine,  which 
 escaped  our  observation."  Or  if  he  had  told  them 
 to  pour  water  into  the  vessels  that  had  been 
 emptied  of  wine,  and  had  then  changed  it,  the 
 guests  would  have  said,  "  It  is  only  water  fla- 
 voured by  the  remains  of  the  wine  that  was  in  the 
 vessels  previously."  But  here  were  the  serv- 
 ants who  took  the  water-jars,  and  poured  water 
 into  them,  and   knew  that   it  was   water  ;    in 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  25 
 
 fact  that  the  vessels  were  not  used  for  holding 
 wine  at  all,  and  therefore  there  could  be  no  de- 
 ception. It  is  added,  too,  in  a  subsequent  part 
 of  the  miracle,  that  the  servants  who  drew  the 
 water  knew  whence  it  came  ;  they  poured  it  into 
 the  jars,  they  saw  that  it  was  water,  and  that 
 nothing  but  water  was  there.  Thus,  there  was 
 such  a  preparation  as  must  have  incontestably 
 demonstrated  the  reality  of  the  miracle  perform- 
 ed. If  our  Lord  had  told  them  to  bring  jars 
 from  a  distance,  and  place  them  there,  it  might 
 have  been  said  that  it  was  by  some  sleight  of 
 hand,  or  by  some  preconcerted  arrangement; 
 but  the  jars  were  there  as  was  usual  at  every 
 Jewish  festival,  and  he  bade  the  servants  fill 
 them  with  water,  that  there  might  be  no  possi- 
 bility of  mistake ;  he  then  spake  the  word,  and 
 the  water  was  turned  into  wine. 
 
 Let  me  notice  the  remark  of  the  governor  of 
 the  feast.  "  When  the  ruler  of  the  feast  had 
 tasted  the  water  that  was  made  wine,  and  knew 
 not  whence  it  was,  (but  the  servants  which  drew 
 the  water  knew,)  the  governor  of  the  feast  called 
 the  bridegroom,  and  saith  unto  him,  Every  man 
 at  the  beginning  doth  set  forth  good  wine  ;  and 
 when  men  have  well  drunk,  then  that  which  is 
 
26  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 worse :  but  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until 
 now."  Many  Christians  have  been  perplexed 
 by  the  expression  "  when  men  have  well  drunk/' 
 as  if  it  meant  drinking  to  excess  at  a  festival  con- 
 secrated by  the  Saviour's  presence.  It  really 
 means  no  such  thing.  It  does  not  describe  what 
 took  place  at  the  festival ;  the  governor  of  the 
 feast  does  not  speak  of  the  company  over  which 
 he  presided,  but  he  describes  what  is  the  common 
 practice  at  the  common  festivals  of  worldly  men, 
 where  they  present  the  best  wine  first,  and 
 after  the  taste  has  been  blunted  by  drinking  a 
 sufficient  quantity  of  it,  the  inferior  wine  is  intro- 
 duced, and  from  their  blunted  taste  they  are  un- 
 able to  appreciate  the  difference.  The  governor 
 of  the  feast  makes  the  remark,  not  the  Saviour  ; 
 and  he  does  not  describe  what  took  place  under 
 his  eyes,  but  what  usually  and  notoriously  took 
 place  among  others ;  therefore  there  need  be  no 
 misapprehension  of  the  morality  of  the  miracle, 
 as  if  it  implied  that  our  Lord  sanctioned  by  his 
 presence  (which  he  did  not,  and  which  no  re- 
 mark made  by  any  one  concerned  in  the  miracle 
 can  in  the  least  indicate)  drinking  to  excess. 
 
 But  it  has  been  objected  by  one  of  the  Ger- 
 man infidels,  that  our  Lord  did  not  show  a  deep 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  27 
 
 sense  of  the  danger  of  wine  when  he  created  at 
 this  feast  so  excessive  a  quantity — some  hundred 
 gallons — by  an  act  of  omnipotent  power.  Would 
 not  this  objection  apply  to  every  vintage  ?  If 
 God  gives  a  plenteous  vintage,  you  would  not 
 say,  This  is  a  temptation  to  men  to  drink  to 
 excess.  There  was  no  more  temptation  to  drink 
 to  excess  from  his  filling  many  large  water-jars, 
 than  in  his  being  pleased  to  give  the  sun-beams 
 and  rain-drops  that  make  an  abundant  vint- 
 age. The  secret  of  temperance  is  not  in  the 
 cellar,  but  in  the  heart  of  the  landlord  of  the 
 wine-cellar.  A  Christian  man  will  not  become 
 intoxicated  if  he  drinks  from  a  cask ;  a  drunk- 
 ard will  become  intoxicated  if  he  drinks  from  a 
 bottle.  It  is  not  in  the  quantity  before  you  that 
 the  element  of  temperance  is,  but  in  the  grace  of 
 God  that  has  been  planted  in  your  hearts.  Now 
 it  does  seem  to  me,  without  the  least  expression 
 of  disrespect  towards  those  who  differ  from  me, 
 that  if  God  had  designed  that  men  should  be  uni- 
 versally what  is  called  tee-total— that  is,  should 
 not  taste  wine,  or  any  thing  that  has  the  least 
 alcoholic  element  in  it,  he  would  have  prohibited 
 the  growth  of  the  vine,  and  rendered  ferment- 
 ation absolutely  impossible,  because  if  there  were 
 
28  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 no  fermentation  there  could  be  no  alcoholic  ele- 
 ment generally.  But  he  has  not  done  so  ;  he 
 does  give  the  vintage,  and  he  does  give  the  fruit 
 of  the  vine  ;  he  has  created  fermentation  just  as 
 truly  as  he  has  created  vegetation ;  therefore,  it 
 seems  to  me  that  temperance  is  to  arise,  not  from 
 the  absence  of  wine,  but  from  the  presence  of 
 Christian  principles,  and  that  we  are  to  be  sober 
 because  it  is  a  Christian  duty,  and  not  by  insu- 
 lation from  all  the  elements  for  being  the  re- 
 verse. It  does  appear  to  me  that  character  is 
 perfected,  not  by  being  placed  beyond  the  reach 
 of  temptation,  but  by  being  placed  within  the 
 reach  of  it,  and  there  gloriously  triumphing  by 
 the  grace  of  God  over  all  its  suggestions  and  its 
 temptations. 
 
 It  is  remarkable,  (and  I  submit  it  to  those  who 
 differ  from  me,)  that  our  Lord  ministered  not  to 
 supply,  as  you  perceive,  a  necessity,  but  to  add 
 an  enjoyment.  I  admit  teetotalism  has  done 
 much  good,  and  I  recognise  the  perfect  liberty  of 
 every  man  to  adopt  it  who  is  satisfied  that  it  will 
 do  good.  I  would  not  say  one  word  against 
 the  Teetotal  Society,  because  they  have  done 
 good,  and  I  pray  that  they  may  do  more :  but 
 while  they  claim  the  liberty  of  holding  their  sen- 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  29 
 
 timents,  I  must  not  shrink  from  the  duty  of 
 expounding  what  is  plainly  God's  word.  Most  of 
 the  letters  of  complaint  I  receive  are  upon  three 
 great  topics,  — first,  capital  punishment ;  second- 
 ly, teetotalism ;  and  thirdly,  war.  .  I  candidly 
 say,  that  if  I  could,  by  a  wish,  substitute  the 
 arbitration  of  peace  for  the  unsheathing  of  the 
 sword,  I  would  do  it;  but  it  is  not  what  we 
 would  like,  but  what  we  are  driven  to  tolerate 
 and  to  have.  So  in  reference  to  drunkenness. 
 If  I  could,  I  would  make  every  man  sober; 
 but  my  prescription,  if  you  will  allow  it,  is 
 not  a  mechanical  change,  but  a  moral  revo- 
 lution in  the  unregenerate  and  unsanctified 
 heart.  {i  But  there  is  danger,"  you  say,  "in 
 wine."  So  there  is,  and  there  is  danger  in  other 
 things ;  there  is  danger  in  tampering  with  the 
 word  of  God ;  there  is  danger  in  reading  the 
 Bible  in  the  light  of  teetotalism,  instead  of 
 reading  teetotalism  in  the  light  of  the  Bible ;  for 
 we  may  depend  upon  it,  whenever  a  man  begins 
 to  adopt  another  mode  of  life  than  that  which 
 the  Saviour  gave,  he  soon  begins  to  adopt  another 
 rule  of  faith  than  that  which  the  Bible  affords. 
 Let  us,  therefore,  be  jealous  of  the  glory  of  God  ; 
 and  let  us  not  shrink  from  faithfully  expounding 
 
30  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 what  seems  to  be  the  mind  and  spirit  of  God. 
 And  so  I  may  speak  with  reference  to  capital 
 punishments,  on  which  subject  I  receive  many 
 remonstrances.     I   say  I  abhor  them,  I  shrink 
 from   them,  I  wish    society    could   do  without 
 them ;  but  I  cannot  conceal  from  myself  plain 
 facts,  and  I  may  reply  to  some  of  the  notes  I 
 receive  by  alluding  to  them :  It  is  said  that  the 
 stronghold  of  all  that  advocate  capital  punish- 
 ments (remember,  I   do  not  advocate  them,   I 
 deplore    the    deep    and    terrible    necessity  for 
 them)  is  in  the  text,  "Whoso  sheddeth  man's 
 blood,  by  man    shall   his   blood  be    shed."     I 
 made  the  remark  that  arose  from  the  chapter 
 in  which  the  text  occurs,  that  here  is   distinct 
 permission,  at  least,  to  the  civil  magistrate  to 
 put  to    death  the   murderer.     I    said  this  was 
 not    the   Levitical   law,   because   it   was    given 
 before  the  law  of  Levi  was  in  existence.     The 
 objection  of  one  correspondent  is  this, — that  God 
 did  not  take  away  Cain's  life,  when  Cain  com- 
 mitted murder.     I  answer  :  Perfectly  true  ;  but 
 what  God  does  in  his  sovereignty  is  one  thing, 
 and  what  God  enjoins  in  his  word  upon  us  is 
 quite    a    different   thing.     God   ever   tries    the 
 mildest  means  before  he  has  recourse  to  more 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  31 
 
 terrible  ones.  Well,  he  tried  the  mild  means  ; 
 he  desired  it  to  be  seen  if  sparing  the  murderer 
 would  put  an  end  to  murder.  And  what  took 
 place  ?  At  the  end  of  two  thousand  years,  the  earth 
 was  filled  with  i(  violence/'  a  word  that  means 
 murder,  cruelty,  rage ;  and  then  God  enacted  a 
 severer  law,  that  is,  "Whoso  sheddeth  man's 
 blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed."  I  can- 
 not get  over  this.  It  is  not  my  prejudices  that 
 influence  me.  I  feel  I  am  here  the  interpreter 
 of  that  word,  the  glory,  the  perfection,  the 
 beauty  of  which  shine  forth  more  and  more.  I 
 must  bring  all  my  likes  and  dislikes,  all  my 
 preferences  and  prejudices,  to  God's  law  and 
 to  God's  testimony ;  I  dare  not  say  what  is  not 
 here,  I  will  not  shrink  from  saying  what  is  here. 
 A  few  have  left  my  congregation  because  I  will 
 not  be  a  teetotaller.  I  have  no  liking  to  wine; 
 I  can  do  without  it  as  freely  as  any  of  you ; 
 but  what  my  Lord  consecrated  by  tasting,  I  will 
 not  pronounce  unholy ;  what  he  has  set  a  pre- 
 cedent of  using,  I  too  feel  that  I  may  use  in 
 moderation ;  and  thus  I  teach,  whether  you  like 
 it  or  dislike  it.  I  am  placed  in  this  pulpit,  not 
 to  preach  to  your  prejudices,  or  to  echo  your 
 opinions,  but  to  proclaim,  as  responsible  at  the 
 
32  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 judgment  bar  of  God,  what  is  true,  and  that,  by 
 God's  grace,  I  am  determined  to  persevere  in 
 doing. 
 
 I  therefore  gather  from  this  passage,  to  return 
 to  the  subject  before  us,  that  wine  is  lawful, 
 that  it  is  not  unholy ;  that  the  temperate  use  of 
 it  is  legitimate ;  that  its  employment  as  a  medi- 
 cine is  right.  I  have  tried  the  teetotal  system, 
 and  literally  and  truly  it  did  not  suit  me ;  I  have 
 tried  the  other  system,  I  use  but  do  not  abuse 
 it,  and  I  find  I  am  stronger  and  can  do  more 
 work,  enjoy  better  health,  and  put  forth  greater 
 energy.  I  must,  therefore,  put  my  experience 
 against  an  opposite  experience.  I  never  drank 
 to  excess  in  my  life,  and  I  hope  none  of  you 
 do.  Nothing  can  be  more  degrading  to  a 
 human  being  than  drunkenness  ;  nothing  can 
 be  more  disgraceful  to  a  Christian  man  than 
 excess.  The  great  law,  the  beautiful  law,  is, — 
 the  time  is  short :  it  remains  for  them  that  marry 
 to  be  as  though  they  married  not,  for  them  that 
 sell  as  though  they  sold  not,  and  them  that  buy 
 as  though  they  bought  not ;  thus  using  the 
 world,  and  not  abusing  it,  for  the  fashion  of 
 this  world  speedily  passeth  away. 
 
 Thus  I  have  tried  to  expound  this  miracle. 
 
WATER    MADE    WINE.  33 
 
 The  issue  of  it  was,  that  Christ's  glory  shone  forth 
 in  it,  shone  forth  as  the  Lord  of  creation,  and  as 
 the  Lawgiver  to  his  creatures ;  and  what  I  pray 
 may  be  the  issue  of  the  exposition  of  it  is,  that 
 you  shall  admire  his  power,  be  charmed  with  his 
 mercy,  believe  in  his  sacrifice,  rest  upon  his  in- 
 tercession, and  anticipate  that  blessed  day  when 
 the  marriage  festival  shall  not  be  that  of  a  poor 
 couple  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  but  when  the  bride- 
 groom shall  be  the  Lord  of  glory,  and  all 
 redeemed  saints  shall  constitute  his  chosen  and 
 his  beautiful  bride,  and  the  marriage  supper  of 
 the  Lamb  shall  come,  and  we  too  shall  be  among 
 those  who  have  made  themselves  ready.  Then 
 it  will  be  seen  that  this  bridal  miracle  in  Galilee 
 was  a  foreshadow  of  that  great  act  at  the  restor- 
 ation of  all  things,  in  which  Jesus  says,  (i  Be- 
 hold, I  make  all  things  new." 
 
LECTURE  II. 
 
 THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON. 
 
 So  Jesus  came  again  into  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  he  made  the 
 water  wine.  And  there  was  a  certain  nobleman,  whose  son 
 was  sick  at  Capernaum.  When  he  heard  that  Jesus  was 
 come  out  of  Judaea  into  Galilee,  he  went  unto  him,  and  be- 
 sought him  that  he  would  come  down,  and  heal  his  son  :  for 
 he  was  at  the  point  of  death.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him, 
 Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders,  ye  will  not  believe.  The 
 nobleman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  come  down  ere  my  child  die. 
 Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Go  thy  way;  thy  son  liveth.  And  the 
 man  believed  the  word  that  Jesus  had  spoken  unto  him,  and 
 he  went  his  way.  And  as  he  was  now  going  down,  his  serv- 
 ants met  him,  and  told  him,  saying,  Thy  son  liveth.  Then 
 inquired  he  of  them  the  hour  when  he  began  to  amend.  And 
 they  said  unto  him,  Yesterday  at  the  seventh  hour  the  fever 
 left  him.  So  the  father  knew  that  it  was  at  the  same  hour, 
 in  the  which  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thy  son  liveth  :  and  him- 
 self believed,  and  his  whole  house.  This  is  again  the  second 
 miracle  that  Jesus  did,  when  he  was  come  out  of  Judaea  into 
 Galilee John  iv.  46 — 54. 
 
 My  last  lecture  was  on  the  first  miracle  per- 
 formed by  Jesus,  at  the  marriage  in  Cana  of 
 Galilee.  I  then  showed  how  gently  the  power 
 of  the  gospel  dawned  upon  a  world  that  needed 
 
The  Nobleman's  Sick  Sc 
 
 P.  34. 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  35 
 
 it;  how  Christ  came  to  perform  a  miracle  to 
 sanctify  a  wedding  festival,  before  he  came  to 
 do  a  miracle  that  was  to  sweeten  all  but  a  funeral 
 bereavement.  It  is  very  clear  that  the  gospel 
 teaches  humanity,  in  all  its  varied  phases,  to  go 
 to  Christ.  Is  any  man  afflicted  ?  What  is  he 
 to  do  ?  To  despair  ?  No,  but  to  pray.  Is  any 
 man  merry  ?  What  is  he  to  do  ?  Be  extravagant  ? 
 No,  but  to  praise.  Thus  our  prayers,  our  sor- 
 rows, and  our  joys  equally  lead  us  to  Jesus  ;  our 
 smiles  and  our  tears,  our  sweets  and  our  suffer- 
 ings, all  the  heights  and  depths,  the  lights  and 
 shadows  of  human  experience  lead  the  child  of 
 God  to  him  who  can  add  new  beauty  to  the  one, 
 and  communicate  sustaining  strength  and  com- 
 fort to  the  other. 
 
 I  also  noticed  in  my  last  lecture,  that  Jesus 
 wrought  a  miracle  to  provide,  not  for  an  absolute 
 necessity,  but  a  luxury.  The  wine  failed,  and 
 Jesus  wrought  a  miracle,  by  producing  more  than 
 a  sufficient  quantity ;  he  turned  the  water  into 
 wine.  I  inferred  from  this  the  fact  that,  whether 
 it  be  expedient  to  drink  wine  or  not,  it  is  not  sinful 
 to  do  so ;  that  certainly  wine  is  not  condemned 
 and  reprobated  in  Scripture  as  an  unchristian 
 thing.  Whether  it  be  a  poisonous  thing,  I  suppose 
 
 D   2 
 
36  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 people's  experience,  with  that  of  medical  men, 
 will  show;  but  whether  it  be  an  unscriptural 
 thing,  common  sense,  with  the  Bible  open,  can 
 surely  judge.  If  it  be  an  unscriptural  thing, 
 Christ  had  not  wrought  a  miracle  in  order  to 
 supply  it.  It  has  been  urged,  that  the  quantity 
 of  wine  created  by  Christ  must  have  been  cer- 
 tainly a  very  tempting  thing.  Might  he  not,  it  is 
 asked,  have  supplied  just  as  much  as  the  necessi- 
 ties of  the  company  required  ?  According  to  the 
 statement  given,  he  supplied  some  ninety  or  a 
 hundred  gallons.  I  answered,  there  is  no  more 
 temptation  to  a  sober  man  to  be  intoxicated  when 
 he  drinks  from  a  cask  than  when  he  drinks  from 
 a  wine-glass.  The  secret  of  temperance  is  not  in 
 the  wine-cellar,  but  in  the  landlord;  it  is  not  in 
 what  the  man  has,  but  what  the  man  is  ;  it  is  not 
 circumstances  that  make  a  man  sober,  but  the 
 grace  of  God.  Here  is  the  grand  mistake.  People 
 are  constantly  supposing  that  holiness  and  hap- 
 piness depend  upon,  and  result  from,  something 
 outward;  while,  in  truth,  they  depend  on,  and 
 spring  from,  something  inward.  The  world's 
 prescription  is  to  change  the  bed,  God's  is  to  heal 
 the  patient ;  the  world's  prescription  is  to  give 
 man  something  which  man  has  not,  or   to  take 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SOX.  37 
 
 away  from  man  something  which,  man  has ; 
 God's  prescription  is  to  make  man  what  man  is 
 not.  Put  a  sober  man  amid  all  the  wine  that 
 Spain  can  produce,  and  he  will  be  a  sober  man 
 still ;  put  a  drunkard  any  where,  and  he  will  be 
 a  drunkard  still.  It  is  the  grace  of  God,  and 
 that  alone,  that  can  make  men  sober,  righteous, 
 and  godly  in  this  present  world,  looking  for  that 
 blessed  hope,  the  glorious  appearing  of  Jesus 
 Christ  our  God  and  Saviour. 
 
 I  also  prefaced  my  last  exposition  by  a  few 
 remarks  upon  the  nature  of  miracles.  I  en- 
 deavoured to  show  that  a  miracle  is  not  some- 
 thing which  contradicts  all  the  laws  and  ordi- 
 nances of  creation,  but  something  rather  which 
 supplements  them;  but  supplements  them  so 
 gloriously  and  sublimely,  that  we  can  feel 
 and  see  that  creation's  Lord  is  present.  The 
 miracle,  for  instance,  that  Jesus  did  when  he 
 turned  water  into  wine,  was  not  in  contradiction 
 to  the  laws,  as  they  are  called,  of  nature,  but  the 
 most  beautiful  and  triumphant  completion  of 
 them.  The  ordinary  law  is,  that  the  rain-drops 
 and  the  dew-drops  shall  fall  upon  the  vine-leaVes 
 and  blossoms,  and  upon  the  vine-roots  and  fibres, 
 and  that  these  rain-drops  and  dew-drops  absorb- 
 
38  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ed,  shall,  by  a  process  that  requires  a  year  to 
 mature  it,  be  converted  into  generous  wine.  The 
 difference  between  the  dew-drops  and  rain-drops 
 falling  upon  the  vine,  and  being  turned  into 
 grape-juice,  and  that  fermented  into  wine,  and 
 the  miracle  wrought  by  our  Lord,  when  he 
 turned  water  in  a  minute  into  wine,  was  not  a 
 difference  of  kind,  but  simply  a  difference  in 
 time.  What  it  usually  takes  a  year  to  produce, 
 it  took  Christ  a  minute  to  produce  ;  the  evidence 
 of  creation's  Lord  being  present  amid  creation's 
 product,  was  in  the  speed  and  instancy  of  a  pro- 
 cess which  it  usually  takes  months,  or  a  year,  to 
 achieve.  You  have,  therefore,  in  the  miracle, 
 not  a  discord  introduced  into  creation's  harmony, 
 but  heaven's  harmony  come  down  to  creation's 
 discord ;  you  have  a  pre-libation,  as  it  were,  a 
 foretaste  of  that  glorious  epoch,  when  all  things 
 that  are  wrong  by  sin  shall  be  righted,  and  the 
 world,  as  it  began  with  paradise  in  its  morning 
 beauty,  shall  close  and  merge  in  paradise  in  its 
 meridian  glory. 
 
 I  will  preface  the  miracle  to  which  I  now  call 
 your  attention  by  a  few  additional  remarks  on 
 the  nature  of  miracles. 
 
 First.  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  a  miracle  not  of 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  39 
 
 God  ?  Is  it  possible,  or  have  we  reason  to  be- 
 lieve from  Scripture,  that  any  power  hostile  in  its 
 principles  to  Deity,  can  produce  a  supernatural 
 thing  ?  Do  we  read  in  Scripture  of  mere  jug- 
 glery, or  do  we  read  of  supernatural  feats,  done 
 by  supernatural  power,  as  allies  to  Satan's  king- 
 dom, and  antagonisms  to  Christ's  ?  I  believe  the 
 latter  :  whether  it  be  so  or  not,. you  can  judge  by 
 what  I  state.  And  here  I  must  state  what  it  is 
 always  humbling  to  any  one  to  state,  that  on  this 
 I  have  seen  reason  to  alter  my  opinion ;  I  find 
 I  have  not  altered  a  conviction  upon  any  one 
 vital,  essential  principle,  but  upon  subordin- 
 ate things  I  have  changed,,  and  probably  I 
 may  do  so  again.  I  trust  we  all  grow  wiser 
 as  we  grow  older.  No  man  should  be  ashamed 
 to  say,  "I  have  altered  my  mind  since  I  ob- 
 tained more  light."  That  man  must  be  per- 
 fectly wretched  who  is  constantly  looking  be- 
 hind him  to  see  that  he  does  the  deed  to-day 
 in  perfect  harmony  with  the  deed  done  years 
 ago,  and  that  he  holds  the  opinion  to-day  which 
 dove-tails  exactly  with  the  opinion  he  held  five 
 years  ago.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  con- 
 sistency, but  to  accept  the  truth  as  God  reveals 
 it,  and  act  accordingly.     I  have   stated  that  I 
 
40  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 thought  the  miracles  performed  by  the  magicians 
 in  Egypt  to  be  jugglery.  I  was  perplexed,  and 
 felt  difficulties  in  reconciling  all  the  details  of 
 their  performance  with  this  opinion.  I  found 
 this  interpretation  was  held  by  many  eminent 
 men  who  were  very  competent  and  judicious  cri- 
 tics. I  have  discovered  that  another  opinion  has 
 been  held  by  equally  learned  men,  and  by  those 
 who  seem  to  be  equally  competent  judges,  name- 
 ly, that  these  miracles  performed  by  the  magi- 
 cians of  Egypt  were  not  mere  legerdemain,  not 
 mere  shams,  but  that  they  were  feats  of  power 
 performed  by  supernatural  influence,  and  meant 
 to  rival  and  eclipse  the  deeds  that  omnipotent  be- 
 neficence performed  by  the  hand  of  Moses.  This 
 seems  to  me  the  truth.  God  says,  "  Against 
 the  gods  of  Egypt  will  I  execute  judgment/' 
 Now  the  word  translated  "gods,"  might  through- 
 out Scripture,  in  the  New  Testament  certainly, 
 be  rendered  "  demons."  These  demons  are  sup- 
 posed to  be  fallen  spirits,  but  the  heathens 
 imagined  that  they  were  the  spirits  of  glorified 
 heroes.  Here  the  term  seems  so  applied  as  to 
 convey  that  supernatural  agency  was  concerned 
 in  enabling  these  magicians  to  attempt  to  rival, 
 and  to  endeavour  to  eclipse,  the  feats  that  Moses 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  41 
 
 and  Aaron  did.  And  we  shall  see  that  this  is  the 
 more  probable,  if  we  remember  the  fact  that  the 
 whole  religion  of  Egypt  was  an  emanation  from 
 the  evil  one.  It  had  its  priests,  its  prophets,  and 
 its  emissaries,  charged  and  commissioned  by  the 
 evil  one,  while  the  religion  of  Israel  was  an 
 inspiration  from  God,  the  Holy  One,  having 
 for  its  priests,  its  ministers,  and  its  messengers, 
 Moses  and  Aaron,  and  all  the  people  of  God. 
 The  collision  that  was  commenced  at  paradise 
 has  been  carried  on  ever  since.  Supernatural 
 powers  are  at  this  moment  engaged  in  battle. 
 The  woman's  seed  shall  bruise  the  serpent's 
 head,  but  it  is  after  conflict.  At  every  dawn 
 of  a  new  dispensation  on  the  part  of  God,  there 
 was  a  new  collision  between  the  powers  of  dark- 
 ness and  the  powers  of  light.  The  issue  was  in 
 every  instance  the  bruising  of  the  serpent's 
 head,  whilst  this  involved  the  injury  of  the  heel 
 of  the  "  woman's  seed." 
 
 Some  one  may  say,  "  But  does  it  not  look 
 something  approaching  to  puerile,  that  God 
 should  come  into  collision  with  Satan,  or  that 
 God's  agents,  commissioned  by  omnipotence, 
 should  come  into  contact  and  controversy  with 
 agents  that  might  now  and  must  ultimately  be 
 
42  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 crushed?"  You  might  just  say,  "  Why  does  God 
 suffer  sin  and  holiness  to  war  in  this  world  ? 
 Why  does  he  suffer  loyalty  and  rebellion  ?  Why 
 does  he  suffer  his  own  people  to  be  depressed 
 and  discouraged  at  times,  and  his  enemies  to 
 triumph  ? "  There  is  many  a  "  why  "  we  can  put, 
 when  we  cannot  give  an  answer  that  will  satisfy ; 
 but  it  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  it  is  so.  God 
 might  pronounce  a  word  at  this  moment  that 
 would  go  down  into  the  depths  of  creation,  and 
 rise  to  its  greatest  heights,  and  make  the  whole 
 universe  blossom  like  the  rose,  and  all  mankind 
 holy  and  happy.  But  he  does  not  do  so.  He 
 has  told  us  that  there  will  be  a  conflict  before 
 there  will  be  a  crown,  that  there  will  be  hot  battle 
 before  there  shall  be  the  prize :  he  has  com- 
 mitted his  cause  to  earthen  vessels,  that  the  ex- 
 cellency of  the  power  may  be  of  God  and  not  of 
 man. 
 
 At  the  incarnation,  which  was  a  second  epoch 
 in  the  history  of  God's  dealings  with  mankind, 
 we  discover,  what  we  do  not  find  before  to  the 
 same  extent,  demoniac  possessions,  as  if  to 
 prove,  that  whenever  God  has  a  great  work 
 of  good  in  the  world,  Satan  will  always  have  a 
 counter-work  of  evil.    Whenever  you  see  good 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  43 
 
 coin  circulated,  you  will  find  bad  coin  is  put 
 into  circulation.  Satan  does  not  directly  oppose 
 the  good,  but  he  gets  up  something  so  like  it 
 that  the  unsuspecting  may  be  deceived,  insnared, 
 and  destroyed.  When  Christ  came  into  the 
 world,  what  was  the  great  fact?  God  mani- 
 fested in  the  flesh.  And  what  was  the  great 
 work  that  Satan  set  up  as  a  counter-fact  ?  De- 
 mons took  possession  of  human  beings,  and  made 
 them  their  sport  and  their  prey.  I  do  not  be- 
 lieve that  these  demoniac  possessions  were  dis- 
 eases. The  language  of  our  Lord  is  utterly  in- 
 compatible with  such  a  view.  They  were  evil 
 spirits  that  took  up  their  habitations  in  the  hearts 
 of  men,  just  as  God  entered  into  humanity,  and 
 was  manifested  in  the  flesh.  It  is  also  worthy 
 of  notice,  as  corroborative  proof,  that  when  our 
 Lord  came  he  was  taken  into  the  wilderness, 
 and  there  he  openly  encountered  Satan.  I  can- 
 not believe,  with  the  German  Rationalists,  that 
 was  a  mere  dream,  or  eloquent  myth.  If  that 
 was  a  dream,  the  whole  Bible  is  a  dream ;  if 
 that  was  not  a  literal  historical  fact,  there  is 
 no  literal  historical  fact  in  the  Bible.  The 
 tendency  introduced  by  Origen  is  perpetuated 
 by  the  Rationalists  still — that  of  trying  to  make 
 
44  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 every  thing  a  myth ;  and  the  issue  of  it  will 
 be,  that  they  will  land  where  Berkeley's  scep- 
 ticism landed  him,  when  he  believed  that  he 
 himself  was  a  myth,  that  he  was  not  a  bodily 
 substance,  and  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as 
 matter  in  the  world.  We  thus  find  Satan,  the 
 moment  that  our  Lord  appeared  to  commence 
 his  ministry,  interposing  with  all  his  force,  com- 
 bining in  one  desperate  assault,  the  power,  and 
 genius,  and  resources  of  the  archangel,  with  the 
 malignity,  the  subtlety,  the  cunning  of  the  fiend ; 
 hoping  to  destroy  Jesus,  and  thus  to  arrest  the 
 final  blow  which  he  believed  was  brought  nearer 
 in  that  fact,  namely  —  that  the  woman's  seed 
 should  bruise  the  serpent's  head. 
 
 In  coming  down  to  the  dispensation  in  which 
 we  now  are,  we  shall  find  indications  given  by 
 the  Spirit  of  God,  that  there  will  be  super-human 
 feats  to  be  perhaps  witnessed  by  us,  and  that  right 
 speedily ;  for  our  Lord  himself  says,  "  For  there 
 shall  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and 
 shall  show  [not  the  mimickry  of,  but  shall  show] 
 great  signs  and  wonders,  insomuch  that,  if  it 
 were  possible,  they  shoidd  deceive  the  very 
 elect:"  showing  us,  that  none  but  God's  own 
 people  shall  escape  ;  that  such  shall  be  the  splen- 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  45 
 
 dour,  such  the  power,  such  the  attractions  of 
 the  deeds  they  shall  do,  that  all  who  have  but  a 
 name  to  live  by,  and  whose  names  are  not  written 
 in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  shall  be  deceived  and 
 ensnared  thereby.  We  read  in  the  Epistle  to 
 the  Thessalonians,  that  one  of  the  characteristics 
 of  the  great  antichrist  is,  "  coming  after  the 
 working  of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and 
 lying  wonders,  [not  pretended  wonders,  but 
 wonders  that  would  teach  and  inculcate  lies,] 
 and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness, 
 in  them  that  perish."  In  the  Apocalypse  (chap, 
 xiii.  13)  we  have  another  statement  of  the 
 same  kind,  where  one  of  the  beasts  is  said  to  do 
 "  great  wonders,  so  that  he  maketh  fire  to  come 
 down  from  heaven  on  the  earth,  in  the  sight  of 
 men ;  and  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth 
 by  means  of  those  miracles,  which  he  had  power 
 to  do  in  the  sight  of  the  beast."  We  have, 
 therefore,  plain  indications  that  super-human 
 deeds  will  be  done  in  defence  of  error  by 
 Satanic  agency.  Why  should  we  suppose  this 
 impossible  ?  We  admit  that  Satan  is  a  fallen  arch- 
 angel ;  once  the  highest,  the  brightest,  the  most 
 glorious  intelligence,  next  to  the  Deity,  that  we 
 know  of.     If  Satan  retains  the  archangel's  wis- 
 
46  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 dom,  (and  the  Bible  constantly  asserts  this,)  and 
 is  able  by  that  wisdom  to  originate,  concoct,  and 
 carry  on  things  in  this  world  that  are  full  of  the 
 most  subtle  deception  and  mischief,  why  should 
 Ave  refuse  to  admit  that  Satan  may  retain,  with 
 the  archangel's  wisdom,  the  archangel's  power, 
 and  do  feats  as  well  as  invent  schemes  which  are, 
 in  themselves,  super -human  —  signs,  and  won- 
 ders, and  lying  miracles? 
 
 But  you  say,  u  How  are  we  to  be  guided  ?"  I 
 do  not  now  enter  upon  the  intricate  question 
 how  a  miracle  is  to  teach,  irrespective  of  revela- 
 tion ;  I  merely  enter  upon  the  question,  how  we, 
 who  have  a  revelation,  are  to  receive  such  mira- 
 cles, should  they  come.  In  the  first  place,  a 
 miracle,  or  super-human  deed,  does  not  prove 
 that  the  man  who  does  it  is  from  God ;  it  simply 
 says,  "  You  must  listen  to  this  man;  he  is  a 
 spirit  from  hell,  or  a  spirit  from  heaven;  he 
 comes  armed  with  great  power,  he  tells  you 
 he  has  a  message  to  deliver,  and  you  are  bound 
 to  listen  to  the  man,  judging  not  of  the  mes- 
 sage by  the  miracle,  but  of  the  miracle  by 
 the  message,  and  of  both  by  the  word  of  God." 
 We  are  expressly  told  in  Deuteronomy,  xiii. 
 1,  2,  at  a  time  when  these  directions  were  still 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  47 
 
 more  important  than  they  can  be  to  us  now : 
 "  If  there  arise  among  yon  a  prophet,  or  a  dreamer 
 of  dreams,  and  giveth  thee  a  sign  or  a  wonder, 
 [to  confirm  his  mission,]  and  the  sign  or  wonder 
 come  to  pass  whereof  he  spake  unto  thee,  say- 
 ing, Let  us  go  after  other  gods,  which  thou  hast 
 not  known,  and  let  us  serve  them ;  thou  shalt  not 
 hearken  unto  the  words  of  that  prophet  or  that 
 dreamer  of  dreams  :  for  the  Lord  your  God 
 proveth  you,  to  know  whether  ye  love  the  Lord 
 your  God  with  all  your  heart  and  with  all  your 
 soul."  So  we  are  told  in  reference  to  the  whole 
 Bible,  "  If  any  man  shall  add  unto  these  things, 
 God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are 
 written  in  this  book."  Then  we  are  told  again, 
 that  "  God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers 
 manners  " — at  sundry  times,  before  the  flood, 
 during  the  days  of  the  patriarchs,  under  the  dis- 
 pensation of  the  law ;  in  divers  manners,  some- 
 times by  dreams,  sometimes  by  prophets,  some- 
 times by  types,  sometimes  by  direct  messages 
 from  heaven — "  spake  in  time  past  unto  the 
 fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days 
 spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son."  That  is  the  final 
 communication;  revelation  is  now  closed,  the 
 Bible  is  complete.     If  then  a  spirit  were  to  come 
 
48  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 on  earth,  and  turn  water  into  wine,  or  raise  the 
 dead  to  life,  in  my  presence,  and  if  he  were  to 
 say,  " I  do  so  because  you  ought  to  learn  that  it  is 
 lawful  to  worship  the  Virgin  Mary,"  or,  "that  the 
 doctrine   of  transubstantiation  is   true,"  or,  "I 
 have  another  book  to  add  to  the  Bible,"  I  would 
 reject   the  miracle  and  the  miracle-worker  to- 
 gether.  The  apostle  says,  "  If  we  or  an  angel  from 
 heaven  preach  unto  you  any  other  gospel  than  that 
 ye  have  received,  let  him  be  anathema."     Keep 
 close  to  the  Bible  then,  as  God's  complete  testi- 
 mony.   All  the  miracles  that  angels  from  beneath 
 can  work,  or  pretended  apostles  can  show,  will 
 not  make  me  believe  that  they  have  any  thing  ad- 
 ditional to  this  book,  or  accept  any  thing  contrary 
 to  this  book,  as  if  God  had  changed  his  mind, 
 and  were  about  to  give  us  a  new  or  contradictory 
 revelation.    Our  safety  is  within  the  boards  of  the 
 Bible ;  we  have  a  complete  and  sufficient  Bible. 
 The  Bible  has  not  grown  old,  as  they  say  in  Ger- 
 many—  humanity  has  not  outgrown  the  Bible. 
 Certainly  in  this  old  country  of  ours  we  believe 
 that    England's  Bible    is    England's   pole-star ; 
 and  that  therefore  we  have  peace,  loyalty,  and 
 love :   in  other  countries  they  believe  that  they 
 have  outgrown  the  Bible  ;   but  they  show  that 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN  S    SICK    SON.  49 
 
 they  have  outgrown  common  sense  at  the  same 
 time,  for  every  man's  hand  seems  to  be  against 
 his  neighbour,  and  his  neighbour's  hand  against 
 him. 
 
 There  is  a  distinction  of  great  importance  that 
 I  ought  not  to  overlook  here,  the  distinction  be- 
 tween a  discovery  and  a  revelation.  A  disco- 
 very is  what  man  can  make,  and  man  can  enlarge 
 and  improve  ;  a  revelation  is  what  God  alone  can 
 give,  and  man  cannot  add  to  nor  may  take  from. 
 When  Columbus  arrived  at  America,  he  made  a 
 discovery,  and  subsequent  visits  have  enlarged, 
 perfected,  and  extended  that  discovery;  but 
 when  God  completed  the  Bible,  he  made  a  reve- 
 lation ;  and  no  flight  of  ours  can  reach  the  height 
 from  which  it  came,  and  therefore  no  genius  of 
 ours  can  add  to  the  perfection  by  which  it  is  now 
 stamped  and  transparently  characterized. 
 
 All  true,  heavenly  miracles  have  this  one  grand 
 feature :  they  have  a  redemptive  character  ;  they 
 go  to  counteract  and  reverse  the  effects  of  the 
 fall.  If  we  try  every  miracle  performed  by 
 our  Lord  by  this  test,  we  shall  find  it  stand. 
 When,  for  instance,  Jesus  healed  the  sick,  raised 
 the  dead,  and  cured  the  leprous,  he  reinstated  the 
 subjects  of  these  diseases  in  the  place  in  which 
 
50  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 they  were  meant  to  be  when  God  created  them, 
 and  pronounced  them  "  very  good."  Again,  when 
 he  fed  the  thousands  with  a  few  loaves  and  fishes, 
 he  gave  an  instalment  of  the  reversal  of  the  curse 
 of  barrenness,  which  fell  upon  the  whole  earth 
 when  man  was  sent  forth  from  Eden  to  water  it 
 with  his  tears,  and  fertilize  it  with  the  sweat  of 
 his  brow.  And  when  he  walked  upon  the  yield- 
 ing waves,  and  beckoned  to  the  obedient  winds, 
 and  the  former  slumbered  at  his  feet  like  gentle 
 babes,  and  the  latter  came  to  him  like  his  own 
 hired  servants,  he  then  showed  that  he  was  crea- 
 tion's Lord,  about  to  retune  creation's  tangled 
 strings,  and  bring  it  back  again,  like  an  iEolian 
 harp,  to  its  ancient  order  and  perfection,  when 
 God's  Spirit  shall  sweep  over  it,  and  bring 
 out  glorious  and  inexhaustible  melody.  You 
 find  in  all  Christ's  works  and  miracles,  the 
 stamp  of  the  Redeemer, — the  evidence  of  re- 
 demptive power, — a  proof  that  a  new,  a  Divine, 
 a  beneficent  Being  is  touching  Nature,  and 
 bringing  her  back  to  what  she  was.  So  with 
 many  things  that  we  see  existing  now.  When 
 you  see  a  physician,  you  recognise  in  that  physi- 
 cian's presence  a  testimony  that  sin  has  diseased 
 humanity,  and  in  him  the  standing  exponent  of 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  51 
 
 man's  convulsive  effort  to  bring  things  back  to 
 what  they  were.  And  the  day  will  come,  I  believe, 
 when  all  this  restoration  will  be  realized,  when 
 Christ  shall  speak  that  glorious  word  which  shall 
 make  the  desert  rejoice  and  the  wilderness  blos- 
 som as  the  rose ;  when  there  shall  be  no  more 
 sickness,  nor  sorrow,  nor  trial,  but  the  former 
 things  shall  have  passed  away,  and  all  old  things 
 shall  have  become  new. 
 
 With  these  prefatory  remarks,  I  enter  upon 
 the  miracle  which  I  have  read  —  namely,  the 
 healing  of  the  nobleman's  son.  This  noble- 
 man, it  seems,  was  the  prime  minister,  or  head 
 steward,  or  satrap,  under  Herod,  a  person  there- 
 fore of  great  rank  and  dignity ;  but,  though  high 
 in  rank,  he  shared  in  the  common  humanity  of 
 us  all.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  a 
 nobleman  differs  from  a  commoner  in  any  thing 
 save  in  extrinsic  and  relative  position.  This 
 nobleman  felt  the  love  to  his  child  that  the  poor- 
 est person  in  Herod's  realm  felt ;  and  at  this 
 moment  our  beloved  queen  does  not  love  her 
 prince  or  her  princess  better  than  that  poor 
 ragged  mother  in  Drury  Lane  loves  the  little 
 babe  that  she  clasps  in  her  bosom,  and  can 
 scarcely  shield  from  the  summer's  heat  or  protect 
 
 E  2 
 
52  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 from  the  winter's  winds.  Underneath  all  the 
 pomp  and  splendour  and  noise  of  state  there  is 
 heard  the  great  under-tone  of  our  common  hu- 
 manity ;  amid  all  the  distinctions  and  the  differ- 
 ences, which  are  beautiful,  and  graceful,  and 
 strengthening  to  the  social  fabric,  there  yet  run, 
 cohering  together,  the  roots  of  our  common 
 nature,  the  traces  of  our  common  ruin,  and, 
 blessed  be  God,  sparkling  amid  these  the  hopes 
 of  our  final  restoration. 
 
 Greatness  of  rank  does  not  exempt  people 
 from  sickness  and  death.  Great  men  and  no- 
 blemen are  sometimes  tempted  to  believe  so. 
 One  thinks  a  battalion  of  bayonets  around  him 
 can  give  him  safety ;  another  thinks  that  the 
 splendour  of  equipage,  a  readiness  of  ministry 
 and  wealth  and  innumerable  resources,  can  keep 
 out  sickness.  It  is  a  great  mistake ;  experi- 
 ence shows  it  to  be  so ;  there  are  sick-beds  in 
 palaces,  and  there  are  aching  temples  upon  beds 
 of  down ;  many  a  time  when  a  poor  man  goes 
 to  his  work  with  a  merry  heart,  and  with  few 
 thorns  and  cares  to  pierce  it,  the  head  that  has 
 a  coronet  or  a  crown  on  it  aches  all  the  day 
 long,  and  has  little  rest  by  night.  The  rich, 
 instead  of  being  the  least  exempt,  are  the  most 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  53 
 
 exposed.  The  loftiest  trees  are  first  rent  by 
 the  lightning,  and  the  highest  pinnacles  are  first 
 smitten  by  the  thnnder-bolt. 
 
 This  nobleman,  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  land, 
 had  a  sick  son,  and  so  far  was  placed  on  a  level 
 with  the  poorest  and  meanest  in  the  land.  That 
 sick  son  was  his  greatest  mercy.  God  makes 
 sickness  and  illness  in  our  families  contribute  to 
 our  common  good.  If  this  nobleman's  son  had 
 not  been  sick,  that  nobleman's  soul  had  never 
 found  a  Saviour.  It  is  thus  that  God  makes  what 
 we  think  the  most  painful  experience  the  pioneer 
 of  the  greatest  happiness,  even  eternal  happiness 
 and  joy.  It  is  thus  that  the  leech  is  applied;  it 
 feeds  itself  at  our  expense,  but  the  physician 
 stands  by,  and  overrules  it  for  our  safety  and 
 future  health.  For  such  ends  God  sends  sickness 
 into  the  cradle,  affliction  into  the  family.  At  times, 
 when  the  sky  is  overshadowed,  when  the  heart 
 droops,  and  the  hopes  fade,  we  begin  to  look  up  to 
 the  everlasting  hills  ;  and,  blessed  be  God,  many 
 a  one,  noble  and  ignoble,  has  learned  this  lesson 
 — that  what  prosperity  could  not  do  sickness  has 
 done,  and  that  the  full  cup  which  we  worship 
 has  been  mercifully  displaced  by  the  empty  cup, 
 
54  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 which  Christ  afterwards  filled  with  special  and 
 unspeakable  blessings. 
 
 Let  us  learn  also  from  this  parable,  that  it  is 
 possible  to  have  very  high  conceptions  of  Jesus, 
 and  yet  not  to  have  conceptions  of  him  high 
 enough.  This  nobleman  "  went  to  him  and  be- 
 sought him  that  he  would  come  down  and  heal 
 his  son ;  for  he  was  at  the  point  of  death." 
 He  believed  Jesus  had  power  to  heal,  but  he  be- 
 lieved it  was  limited  power,  that  it  was  restricted 
 to  personal  contact;  and  he  had  to  learn  that 
 Jesus  had  more  power  than  he  believed  him  to 
 possess,  by  the  happy  deliverance  of  his  son. 
 Jesus  replied  to  him  in  what  seemed  to  be  a  re- 
 buke, "  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders,  ye 
 will  not  believe."  This  was  to  teach  us  that  the 
 nobleman  was  driven  to  Christ  by  the  sense,  the 
 foreboding  sense,  of  the  loss  of  his  son ;  not  drawn 
 to  Christ  by  a  dear  and  beautiful  perception  of 
 the  blessings  that  Christ  had  to  give.  Yet,  mark 
 the  fact  :  Christ  nevertheless  received  him. 
 What  a  blessed  truth  is  this,  that  Christ  will  ac- 
 cept you,  if  drawn  to  him  by  a  sight  of  his  ex- 
 cellences and  mightiness  to  save ;  while  he 
 will  not  reject  you  if  you  are  rejected  by  all  the 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  55 
 
 world  besides,  and  come  to  him  as  a  last  re- 
 source for  mercy  and  forgiveness !  His  bosom 
 has  room  to  welcome  the  refugee  from  the  trials 
 and  sorrows  of  the  world,  as  well  as  the  refugee 
 from  the  condemnation  of  sin,  seeking  deliver- 
 ance and  acceptance  before  him. 
 
 The  nobleman  scarcely  listened  to  his  rebuke, 
 but  persisted  in  his  cry,  "  Come  down  ere  my 
 child  die."  He  was  so  overwhelmed  with  a 
 sense  of  the  suffering  of  his  child,  and  with  the 
 fear  of  that  child's  death,  that  he  scarcely  heard 
 the  rebuke.  How  true  to  human  nature  is 
 this  !  how  like  what  we  are  !  He  could  scarcely 
 listen  to  the  divine  lesson,  so  mighty  within 
 him  was  the  human  and  the  paternal  sym- 
 pathy. Herein  we  are  taught  the  secret  of 
 persevering  prayer.  This  nobleman  persevered 
 in  begging  so  hard  because  he  felt  so  deep  an 
 attachment  to  his  child.  The  secret  of  our  per- 
 severing in  seeking  blessings  from  God,  is  in  the 
 depth  of  our  sense  of  the  want  of  them.  To  say 
 to  people,  "  Pray  fervently,  pray  constantly,"  is 
 almost  to  waste  one's  words  ;  the  first  thing  is  to 
 convince  them  that  they  have  great  sins,  that 
 they  are  in  deep  peril,  that  relief  is  possible ; 
 then  bid  them  pray  fervently,  and  with  impor- 
 
56  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tunity.  The  nobleman  had  great  suffering  ;  the 
 fear  of  great  loss  overcame  all  obstructions,  and 
 brought  the  highest  man  in  the  realm,  who  had 
 all  eyes  fastened  on  him,  and  many  tongues  ready 
 to  deride  and  laugh  at  him,  to  Jesus,  the  carpen- 
 ter's son,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  because  he,  and  he 
 alone,  could  cure  and  restore  his  child. 
 
 Our    Lord   at   first   seemed   to   repulse    and 
 drive  him  away ;    but  at  the  very  time  that  he 
 seemed  to  reject  him,  he  was  preparing  to  do 
 what  he  requested.     This    teaches   us    another 
 lesson — that  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  Christ 
 withholds  an  answer  to  our  prayer  because  he 
 does  not  answer  that  prayer  always  in  the  way 
 that  we  wish.     Christ  answered  the  nobleman's 
 prayer,  but  not  in  the  way  that  the  nobleman 
 expected.     So  will  he  do  with  us.    We  hear  the 
 noise  of  what  we  think  an  approaching  doom, 
 and  lo !    it  is  the  first  tones  of  that  sweet  and 
 beautiful  voice  which  rung   so  musically  amid 
 the  storm  of  old,  "  Be  of  good  cheer ;  it  is  I,  be 
 not  afraid."     We  see  the  cloud  dark,  and  black, 
 and  ominous,  and  we  fancy  it  is  the  chariot  of 
 the  judgments  of  the  Lord ;    but  lo  !    it  is  only 
 sweeping  past  to  disclose  to  us  a  brighter  sun, 
 and  to  allow  us    to  bathe  in   the   beams  of  a 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  57 
 
 balmier  and  a  better  day.      For  Christ  immedi- 
 ately  added,  "  Go   thy  way,    thy  son    liveth." 
 What  was  true  then  is  so  now.     Christ's  word 
 spoken  at  Cana  provoked  its  echo  at  Capernaum  ; 
 sickness  recognised  in  it  the  healer  of  diseases, 
 fled  from  his  victim,  and  left  this  memorial  in 
 its  flight,  "Truly  this  was    the  Son  of  God." 
 Christ  is  now  in  his  holy  place,  and  we  are  upon 
 the  earth ;    but  if  his  word    could  travel    five 
 miles,  and  heal  that  nobleman's  son  on  that  dis- 
 tant sick-bed,  the  same  word  can  travel  from  his 
 throne  in  the  loftiest  heaven,  cleave  its  way,  un- 
 spent in  its  transit,  unweakened  by  the  distance, 
 and  go  into  the  sick  man's  heart,  into  the  dead 
 man's  grave,  into  the  guilty  man's  conscience, 
 and   into  the  sad   home's   loneliness,  and   into 
 the  matron's  agony,  and  leave  on  the  place  that  it 
 strikes  the  first  flower  of  paradise  regained,  and 
 kindle  in  the  heart  that  it  visits  the  first  rays  of 
 the   everlasting  day.     His  arm  is  not  shortened, 
 that  it  cannot  save  ;  his  word  is  not  less  mighty, 
 that   it  cannot   still   comfort.     He  is  what  He 
 was.     There  is  a    connecting  and  transmissive 
 wire    between   heaven   and    earth;    there    is    a 
 communication  with  the  skies  and  with  us.     Let 
 us  rejoice  that  it  is  thus  ;    and  let  us  feel  that 
 
58  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 along  that  electric  wire  that  knits  the  heart  of 
 our  Redeemer  to  us  his  children,  there  travel 
 instantly  all  his  sympathies  down  to  sanctify  us, 
 and  all  our  prayers  up  to  receive  an  answer  ex- 
 ceedingly abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask, 
 or  think,  or  desire. 
 
 What  adds  to  the  glory  of  this  miracle  per- 
 formed by  our  Lord  is  this — the  nobleman  was 
 brought  to  Christ  by  the  sickness  of  his  child. 
 We  find  that  the  miracle  had  a  double  effect. 
 The  same  word  that  cured  the  sickness  of  the 
 son,  cured  the  scepticism  of  the  father,  for  it  is 
 added,  "And  the  nobleman  believed."  This 
 teaches  us  the  great  lesson,  that  no  man  ever 
 interests  himself  in  the  welfare  of  another  with- 
 out receiving  a  reflex  blessing  in  doing  so.  I 
 have  read  of  a  mother  who  waited  upon  a  parish 
 minister  in  Scotland,  and  who,  on  seeking  ad- 
 mission to  the  Lord's  table,  complained  that  she 
 could  not  pray.  The  minister  said  to  her  :  "  You 
 have  an  only  child,  who  is  in  delicate  health 
 (which  was  the  fact) ;  go  home  and  pray  for  that 
 child,  and  come  to  me  next  week."  She  went 
 home  and  prayed  as  directed,  and  when  she  went 
 to  the  minister  the  next  week,  she  said,  "  I  have 
 been  praying  for  my  child,  and  in  doing  so,  I 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  59 
 
 have  learned  to  pray  for  myself."  It  will  be  so 
 with  you ;  if  you  try  to  do  good  to  others,  you 
 will  find  the  good  done  chiefly  to  yourself;  if 
 you  will  go  and  teach  in  a  Sunday  school,  you 
 will  find  you  will  be  taught  richly  and  dis- 
 tinctively yourself;  if  you  will  feed  the  hungry, 
 clothe  the  naked,  minister  to  the  wants  and  ne- 
 cessities of  the  poor,  you  will  find  a  reflex  influ- 
 ence that  will  make  you  feel  more  happy,  and 
 find  yourself  vastly  more  rich.  It  is  God's 
 great  law,  that  in  watering  others  we  shall  be 
 watered  ourselves.  Who  are  the  happiest  men  ? 
 Always  the  busiest  men.  We  shall  find  that 
 the  reason  of  all  that  miserable  feeling  which 
 people  do  not  know  how  to  get  over,  and  which 
 leads  them  to  play-houses,  operas,  balls,  and  all 
 the  "  broken  cisterns "  which  the  world  can 
 supply,  is  just  because  they  are  doing  nothing 
 good.  Begin  to  do  good,  and  you  will  begin  to 
 be  happy.  It  is  God's  great  ordinance,  and  man 
 cannot  reverse  it.  I  have  read  of  one  who  in 
 despair  and  under  derangement  had  resolved  to 
 commit  suicide  by  drowning  himself, — and  no 
 man  ever  does  so  who  is  not  deranged,  and  whose 
 responsibility,  therefore,  has  not  ceased, — and  as 
 he  went  to  do  so,  he  met  a  poor  miserable  woman 
 
60  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 in  rags  who  begged  a  halfpenny  from  him.     In- 
 stead of  that  he  gave  her  sixpence.     Her  face 
 glowed  with  delight,  and  she  thanked  him  in 
 snch  terms  that  it  went  to  the  very  depths  of  the 
 man's  heart.     "  Surely,"  said  he,  "  if  I  can  be 
 the  means   of  creating   such  happiness    in  one' 
 human  being,  God  has  something  more  for  me 
 to  do ;"  and  this  was  the  means  of  saving  his  life. 
 Learn  then  to  be  beneficent  men,  not  merely 
 benevolent  men.     We  have  plenty  of  benevolent 
 people,  who  wish  well;  but  what  we  want  is 
 beneficent  people,  who  do  well,  who  carry  their 
 wishes  out  into  practical  operation.    I  say,  God's 
 great  law  is,  that  we  shall  find  happiness  in  doing 
 good.     The  happiest  people  are  the  people  who 
 abound  most  in  good  works.     I  think  I  have 
 told  you  that  all  the  words  in  our  language  that 
 convey  happiness,  mean  coming  out  of  self,  doing 
 something  for  others, — "  transport,"  to  be  car- 
 ried beyond  one's  self ;  "  ecstasy,"  standing  out 
 of  one's  self,  and  the  like  :  every  word  denoting 
 the   intensest  happiness,  denotes  that  which  is 
 the  most  self-sacrificing,  doing  good  for  the  love 
 of  others. 
 
 I  may  notice  also  one  thing  remarkable  in  this 
 miracle ;   namely,  a  point  of  contrast  between  it 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  61 
 
 and  an  analogous  miracle,  related  in  Matt.  viii. : 
 "  And  when  Jesus  was  entered  into  Capernaum, 
 there  came  unto  him  a  centurion  beseeching  him, 
 and  saying,  Lord,  my  servant  lieth  at  home  sick 
 of  the  palsy,  grievously  tormented.  And  Jesus 
 saith  unto  him,  I  will  come  and  heal  him.  The 
 centurion  answered  and  said,  Lord,  I  am  not 
 worthy  that  thou  shouldest  come  under  my  roof : 
 but  speak  the  word  only,  and  my  servant  shall  be 
 healed."  Notice  here  the  contrast.  The  noble- 
 man came  and  asked  Christ  to  come  to  his  house 
 and  heal  his  son,  believing  that  unless  he  per- 
 sonally came,  his  son  could  not  be  healed.  This 
 centurion,  a  very  much  humbler  person,  came  to 
 our  Lord,  saying,  Speak  the  word  only,  you 
 need  not  come,  and  my  servant  shall  be  healed. 
 Jesus  in  the  one  case  spoke  the  word  where  he 
 was  asked  to  come,  but  did  not  come;  in  the 
 other  case  he  came,  where  he  was  asked  only  to 
 speak  the  word.  Is  there  any  lesson  taught  in 
 this  distinction  ?  It  may  be  this  perhaps — that 
 little  faith,  as  in  the  case  of  the  nobleman,  was 
 invigorated  into  great  faith  by  Jesus  not  going 
 as  he  wanted  him ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  cen- 
 turion his  humility  was  deepened  by  Jesus  con- 
 descending to  come  when  he  only  asked  him  to 
 
62  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 speak  the  word.  Perhaps  also  this  lesson  was 
 to  be  taught  us,  that  Christ  is  no  accepter  of 
 persons  ;  and  this  is  not  the  least  beautiful 
 feature  in  it.  A  nobleman  asks  the  Son  of  God 
 to  come  and  heal  his  son,  his  heir ;  a  duke  asks 
 him  to  come  and  heal  a  marquis.  Our  Lord 
 does  not  go,  but  speaks  the  word.  A  poor  ser- 
 geant in  the  army,  a  non-commissioned  officer, 
 asks  him  to  speak  only,  and  heal  his  domestic 
 servant,  and  Jesus  visits  that  servant  on  the  sick- 
 bed. This  precious  lesson  is  thereby  taught, 
 that  the  house  of  God  ought  to  be,  as  I  trust 
 it  will  be,  a  sequestered  nook  —  sequestered 
 from  ambition  and  conflict,  from  frivolity  and 
 folly,  in  which  the  rich  and  the  poor  shall 
 meet  together,  and  feel  that  the  Lord  is  the 
 Maker  of  them  all.  I  do  not  like  to  see  a  con- 
 gregation of  aristocrats  merely,  and  I  do  not  like 
 to  see  a  congregation  of  ragged  people  merely  ; 
 I  love  to  see  the  greatest  aristocrat  of  the  land 
 and  the  humblest  beggar  from  the  streets  listen- 
 ing to  the  same  gospel,  hearing  the  same  truths, 
 and  made  to  feel  that  they  have  points  of  iden- 
 tity lasting  like  the  stars,  but  points  of  dis- 
 tinction evanescent  as  the  morning  dew.  So 
 our  Lord  taught  that  in  the  house  of  God,  as 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  63 
 
 in  the  grave,  there  should  be  no  distinction  of 
 persons. 
 
 We  notice  next  the  interesting  fact,  that  the 
 servants  rushed  forth  to  tell  their  master  the  joyful 
 news  that  his  son  was  healed.  I  like  this  trait;  the 
 servants  did  not  feel,  as  they  are  too  much  taught 
 to  feel  in  this  commercial  capital,  that  they  are 
 hired  to  do  so  much  work,  and  when  they  have 
 done  this  work  to  think  there  is  not  a  point  of 
 contact  with  the  family  besides.  These  servants 
 sympathized  with  the  nobleman ;  they  felt  that 
 his  joy  was  their  joy,  his  happiness  their  happi- 
 ness, and  his  interest  their  interest. 
 
 The  nobleman,  not  expecting  an  instant  cure, 
 asked  the  question — and  this  brings  out  the 
 exquisite  truth  of  the  narrative — at  what  hour 
 his  son  began  to  amend.  He  expected  the  cure 
 would  be,  like  all  other  cures,  a  gradual  and 
 progressive  one.  When  the  servants  informed 
 him,  however,  he  learned  that  Christ  had  an- 
 swered his  prayer  far  above  what  he  thought. 
 His  query  was,  M  When  did  he  begin  to  amend  f  " 
 The  joyful  answer  was,  "The  fever  left  him." 
 And  he  found,  on  comparing  notes,  that  it 
 was  at  the  very  same  hour  at  which  Jesus  s^id, 
 fi  Go  thy  way,  thy  son  liveth."     Before,  he  be- 
 
64  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 lieved  in  the  possibility  of  a  special  act;  now, 
 lie  believes  in  Christ  his  glorious  Saviour  ;  and 
 not  only  himself  but  his  whole  house  believed. 
 This  son  was  under  his  roof;  he  was  ill  at  home ; 
 and  when  he  was  miraculously  cured,  the  whole 
 house,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  recognised 
 the  claims  of  Jesus,  accepted  the  good  news, 
 and  became  followers  of  the  Lamb  of  God ! 
 Whilst  noble  and  ignoble  are  on  a  level  in  the 
 sight  of  God,  yet  it  is  a  great  point  gained,  when 
 a  person  of  high  rank,  great  power,  extensive 
 influence,  is  brought  to  know,  and  love,  and  feel 
 the  gospel.  You  ask  why  ?  Because  he  occupies 
 a  loftier  pinnacle,  he  is  the  observed  of  all  ob- 
 servers ;  and  according  to  a  law  in  this  world, 
 the  example  of  those  who  tread  the  high  places  of 
 the  land  descends  with  rapid  power,  so  much  so 
 that  a  country  reflects  very  much  its  court ;  as 
 the  high  are,  the  humble  generally  become.  I 
 believe,  therefore,  that  on  the  aristocracy  of 
 the  land  there  rests  a  weighty  responsibility. 
 Therefore  I  rejoice  to  see,  in  the  present  day, 
 our  nobles  taking  the  chair,  and  appearing 
 on  the  platforms,  at  meetings  of  our  Sunday 
 schools,  day  schools,  and  ragged  schools,  and 
 advocating,  what   is   really  the   substance    and 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  65 
 
 the  sinews  of  our  strength  and  stability,  the 
 Christian  enlightenment  of  the  humbler  classes 
 of  society.  We  may  rest  assured,  if  the  lower 
 stratum  of  the  pyramid  becomes  disorgan- 
 ized, the  apex,  however  it  may  reflect  the  sun- 
 beams, will  soon  be  overturned.  The  safety  of 
 the  country  is  in  the  Christianization  of  the  great 
 masses  that  lie  below ;  and  those  noblemen  and 
 persons  in  the  highest  classes,  who  wish  to  learn 
 how  tottering  their  position  may  be,  should  oc- 
 casionally take  a  plunge  into  the  alleys  and  lanes 
 of  London,  and  they  will  see  how  much  is  to  be 
 done,  before  they  can  lay  their  heads  upon  their 
 pillows,  and  feel  that  they  are  secure;  before, 
 above  all,  they  can  stand  at  the  judgment-seat, 
 and  remember  they  have  done  what  they  ought 
 to  have  done. 
 
 In  the  next  place  we  learn,  from  the  study  of 
 this  miracle,  that  we  may  pray — and  here  is  a  very 
 precious  lesson — that  temporal  affliction  may  be 
 averted  from  us.  Is  there  any  one  present 
 who  feels  the  touch  of  death  is  upon  him, 
 that  the  cold  shadow  of  the  grave,  as  the  issue  of 
 some  lingering  disease,  begins  to  overcloud  and 
 darken  him?  It  is  not  forbidden  to  you,  my 
 brother,  my  sister,   to   pray   that  you    may  be 
 
 F 
 
66  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 healed.  Is  there  any  one  in  this  assembly  who 
 has  a  friend  labouring  under  some  lingering 
 disease,  a  son  or  daughter  drawing  near  to 
 the  gates  of  the  tomb  ?  It  is  not  forbidden  to 
 you,  it  is  not  unscriptural,  to  pray,  to  pray  fer- 
 vently, that  God  would  be  pleased  to  spare  that 
 son,  and  preserve  that  daughter,  and  keep  to  you 
 that  friend.  The  nobleman  so  prayed  for  his 
 son,  and  his  heart's  desire  was  answered.  Is 
 there  a  mother  here  whose  babe  is  dying  ?  Do 
 you  gaze  sadly  upon  its  fading  life — pronounced 
 to  be  so  by  the  skill  that  has  attended  it  ?  May 
 you  pray,  "  O  Lord,  spare  this  beautiful  flower, 
 this  memorial  of  departed  Eden;  let  it  not  be 
 blasted ;  we  would  gather  it  into  our  bosom  ; 
 we  would  tend  it,  water  it,  and  nurse  it,  a  little 
 longer  ;  spare  it,  O  Lord  "  ?  May  you  pray  so  ? 
 Who  will  forbid  you  ?  Not  Jesus,  for  he  prayed, 
 in  his  agony,  "  Father,  if  it  be  possible  let  this 
 cup  pass  from  me ; "  but  he  added,  what  I  trust 
 you  will  have  grace  to  add,  "  Not  as  I  will,  but 
 
 as  thou  wilt." 
 My  dear  brethren,  if  we  thus  bring  the  sicknesses 
 
 of  our  friends,  our  sons  and  daughters,  to  the  Sa- 
 viour, may  we  bring  especially  their  souls  to  him. 
 We  can  bring  their  spiritual  condition,  in  the 
 
THE    NOBLEMAN'S    SICK    SON.  67 
 
 sight  of  God,  to  the  Saviour  any  where.  Bring 
 your  children  to  Christ,  to  be  blessed  by  him ; 
 by  sympathy,  by  Christian  education,  by  love, 
 by  prayer,  and,  lastly,  by  your  example.  They 
 are  precious.  These  children  in  the  streets  are 
 not  weeds,  and  are  not  to  be  crushed  under  the 
 feet  of  the  thoughtless  traveller  ;  they  are  flow- 
 ers, faded  flowers,  I  admit,  soiled  and  injured 
 flowers ;  but  your  hand  may  replace  them,  raise 
 them,  and  nurse  them,  and  bring  them  below 
 the  beams  of  a  better  sun,  the  rains  of  a  better 
 influence,  and  they  will  bloom  again  like  flowers 
 of  Paradise.  So  we  shall  hasten  to  that  day  in 
 which  the  inhabitant  shall  not  say,  "  I  am  sick," 
 and  the  healing  of  the  nobleman's  son  shall 
 prove  a  faint  foreshadow  of  the  healing  of  all 
 that  is  diseased. 
 
 F  2 
 
LECTURE  III. 
 
 THE    SOLDIER'S    SICK    SERVANT. 
 
 And  when  Jesnswas  entered  into  Capernaum,  there  came  unto 
 him  a  centurion,  beseeching  him,  and  saying,  Lord,  my  serv- 
 ant lieth  at  home  sick  of  the  palsy,  grievously  tormented.  And 
 Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  will  come  and  heal  him.  The  cen- 
 turion answered  and  said,  Lord,  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou 
 shouldest  come  under  my  roof:  but  speak  the  word  only,  and 
 my  servant  shall  be  healed.  For  I  am  a  man  under  authority, 
 having  soldiers  under  me  :  and  I  say  to  this  man,  Go,  and  he 
 goeth;  and  to  another,  Come,  and  he  cometh;  and  to  my 
 servant,  Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it.  When  Jesus  heard  it,  he 
 marvelled,  and  said  to  them  that  followed,  Verily  I  say  unto 
 you,  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel.  And 
 I  say  unto  you,  That  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and 
 west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
 in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  But  the  children  of  the  kingdom 
 shall  be  cast  out  into  outer  darkness  :  there  shall  be  weeping 
 and  gnashing  of  teeth.  And  Jesus  said  unto  the  centurion, 
 Go  thy  way ;  and  as  thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it  done  unto 
 thee.  And  his  servant  was  healed  in  the  selfsame  hour.— 
 Matt.  viii.  5 — 13. 
 
 I  will  preface  the  exposition  I  give  of  this  in- 
 teresting miracle  by  some  remarks  in  continu- 
 ation of  those  I  have  already  made  on  the  nature 
 of  the  miracles  of  our  Lord. 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  69 
 
 It  is  not  uninteresting  to  contrast  the  miracles 
 performed  by  our  Lord  with  those  performed  by 
 his  most  distinguished  servants  in  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment dispensation.  In  looking  at  the  miracles 
 performed  of  old,  and  prior  to  the  advent  of 
 Christ,  it  seems  as  if  they  were  done  with 
 greater  difficulty,  not  because  God  was  less 
 mighty,  but  because  his  omnipotence  was  not  so 
 largely  bestowed.  For  instance,  Moses,  in  re- 
 moving the  leprosy  of  his  sister,  wrestles  and 
 persists  in  prayer,  "  Heal  her  now,  O  God,  I 
 beseech  thee ; "  but  when  we  read  the  record 
 of  the  Saviour's  miracle  in  an  analogous  cir- 
 cumstance, we  find  simply  his  touch;  his  ac- 
 cents are,  "  Be  thou  clean,"  and  the  party  is  so. 
 Elijah  prays  long,  and  sends  his  servant  seven 
 times  before  the  rain  begins  to  appear ;  Christ 
 speaks,  and  the  winds  are  hushed,  and  the  waves 
 are  still.  Elisha,  with  great  effort,  and  after  par- 
 tial failure,  restores  the  life  of  the  Shunammite's 
 child ;  our  Lord  speaks  to  the  dead,  "  Come 
 forth,"  and  the  dead  come  forth  accordingly. 
 This  was  owing  partly  to  the  less  glorious  dis- 
 pensation ;  partly  to  the  greater  remoteness  from 
 that  day  when  the  earth  shall  be  restored,  and 
 all  its  discord  shall  be  reduced  to  harmony ;  and 
 
70  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 partly  to  illustrate   a  principle  which  pervades 
 the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  as  well  as  Genesis  and 
 the  Pentateuch,  namely,  that  Christ's  miracles 
 (and  this  is  a  very  important  and  striking  evi- 
 dence of  the  deity  of  Christ)  were  done  directly 
 by  himself,  while  the  miracles  performed  by  the 
 apostles  and  patriarchs  and  prophets  were  done, 
 as  acknowledged  by  themselves  in  fact,  in  vir- 
 tue of  a  delegated  power.     Thus,  for  instance 
 when  Moses  divided  the  Red  Sea,  "  Stand  still, 
 and  behold  the  salvation  of  God,  which  he  will 
 show  unto  you,"  he  referred  the  miracle,  whatever 
 it  might  be,  to  the  instant  power,  and  therefore 
 to  the  exclusive  glory,  of  God.    When  the  apos- 
 tles performed  miracles,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts 
 of  the    Apostles,   they  were    done    with    such 
 a  preface    as  the   following :  "  In  the  name  of 
 Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk,"  and 
 again,  "  Eneas,  Jesus  Christ  maketh  thee  whole." 
 But  when  Christ  performed  a  miracle,  he  said, 
 cl  I  will,  be  thou  clean ; "  and  again,  "  I  say  unto 
 thee,  arise."     Now  you  have,  in  the  very  pe- 
 culiar language  used  by  the  apostles  when  they 
 put  forth  miraculous  power,  proof  that  theirs 
 was  a  borrowed  power,  a  reflected  influence ;  but 
 when  Jesus  performed  the  miracles,  you  can  see 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  71 
 
 that  it  was  not  the  act  of  man,  but  the  touch 
 of  that  finger  that  created  the  stars,  and  wields 
 them  in  their  orbits,  and  that  made  all  things, 
 visible  and  invisible. 
 
 There  is  another  contrast  between  the  miracles 
 of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testament  perhaps 
 worth  noticing ;  it  is  this,  that  all  the  miracles 
 recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were 
 more  in  contact  with  external  nature ;  they  were 
 more  visible,  more  colossal,  and  if  I  might  use 
 the  expression  without  being  misconstrued — 
 more  gross  in  their  character.  It  was  the  rend- 
 ing earthquake,  the  fire  losing  its  power  to  con- 
 sume, the  wild  beasts  their  ability  to  devour — 
 great,  startling,  portentous  acts,  fitted  to  awe  and 
 subdue  the  senses  of  all  that  beheld  them.  But 
 when  we  look  at  the  miracles  of  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, we  find  they  are  neither  the  whirlwind  that 
 rushes  in  its  fury,  nor  the  earthquake  that  spreads 
 its  terrible  vibrations,  nor  the  fire  that  consumes 
 all  that  approaches  it,  but  the  "  still  small  voice," 
 — miracles  that  relate  more  to  man's  soid  than  to 
 man's  body,  and  occupy,  as  it  were,  a  loftier 
 sphere,  hold  communion  with  sublimer  things, 
 and  give  evidence  of  a  new,  and  nobler,  and 
 more  glorious  dispensation. 
 
7£  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 Having  made  this  contrast  between  the  mira- 
 cles recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  and  those 
 in  the  New,  I  may  also  contrast  the  miracles  of 
 the  New  Testament  with  the  pseudo  or  pretend- 
 ed miracles  ascribed  to  our  Lord  in  those  silly 
 legends  composed  in  the  second  and  third  cen- 
 tury, and,  by  courtesy,  called  the  New  Gospel, 
 such  as  what  was  called  "  The  Gospel  of  the 
 Infancy,"  and  "  the  Gospel  of  Nicodemus." 
 They  were  legends  concocted  in  cells,  and  palm- 
 ed, some  by  superstitious,  and  others  by  wicked, 
 persons  upon  the  world,  all  bearing  internal 
 and  external  evidence  of  their  utter  absurdity 
 and  forgery.  One  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of 
 their  absurdity,  an  indirect,  but  very  powerful 
 proof,  is  to  be  seen  in  the  miracles  they  record 
 as  performed  by  Jesus.  There  are  other  proofs 
 of  their  forgery,  such  as  their  making  allusion 
 to  facts  which  did  not  occur  till  centuries  after 
 they  were  written,  and  their  containing  things 
 that  are  positively  contradictory,  absurd,  and 
 ridiculous  ;  but  the  most  complete  proof  of  their 
 falsehood  is  in  an  investigation  of  the  miracles 
 which  they  ascribe  to  Jesus.  In  the  gospel  every 
 miracle  performed  by  Jesus  was  subordinated 
 to  some  great  truth  he  was  teaching,  or  associ- 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  73 
 
 ated  with  the  moral  and  spiritual  well-being  of  the 
 person  who  was  its  subject;  and  you  are  less 
 struck  with  the  miracle  than  with  the  worker  of 
 the  miracle.  Every  miracle  that  Jesus  did  with- 
 draws you  from  the  deed  of  beneficence  and 
 power,  and  surrounds  the  doer  of  it  with  a  halo 
 of  imperishable  and  refulgent  glory.  But  the 
 miracles  ascribed  to  Jesus  as  recorded  in  these 
 false  legends  which  I  have  alluded  to,  are  mere 
 portents,  they  are  fitted  to  make  people  stare,  and 
 wonder,  and  be  amazed;  they  are  more  like  the 
 deeds  of  a  magician  than  the  doings  of  the  Son 
 of  God.  You  cannot  conceive  a  more  complete 
 contrast  than  that  between  the  simple  and  grand 
 feats  of  power,  reflecting  glory  on  the  doer,  re- 
 corded in  the  Gospels,  and  the  silly,  puerile  por- 
 tents, influencing  merely  the  senses  of  the  reader, 
 recorded  in  what  have  been  called  the  "  pseudo- 
 gospels,"  written  afterwards.  We  may  notice,  too, 
 this  peculiarity ;  every  miracle  recorded  in  the 
 New  Testament  is  related  to  have  been  done 
 by  Christ  during  the  three  years  of  his  ministry ; 
 and  all  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  false  gospels 
 are  all  described  to  have  been  done  by  Jesus 
 when  he  was  an  infant.  The  grandeur  of  the 
 gospel  is,  that  it  speaks  of  nothing  but  what  con- 
 
74  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tributes  in  some  shape  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
 to  the  edification  of  the  church ;  the  peculiarity 
 of  these  legends  is,  that  they  speak  of  nothing  but 
 what  is  calculated  to  startle,  to  amaze,  or  to  make 
 the  beholder  stare  and  wonder.  You  have  in  them, 
 too,  a  direct  contradiction  to  what  is  expressly 
 stated  in  the  Gospel.  In  the  second  chapter  of  the 
 Gospel  of  St.  John  we  are  told  that  the  miracle 
 performed  at  the  marriage  feast  was  the  beginning 
 of  Christ's  miracles,  but  these  Gospels  record  mi- 
 racles said  to  have  been  performed  when  he  was  a 
 child  or  a  babe  ;  the  one,  therefore,  directly  con- 
 tradicts the  other.  There  is  also  this  peculiarity 
 about  the  miracles  ascribed  to  Christ  in  these  false 
 legends,  that  none  of  them  have  the  redemptive 
 and  restorative  character  of  the  miracles  of  Christ. 
 Every  miracle  that  Christ  did  seems  to  bring 
 nature  back  to  her  primeval  harmonies,  casting 
 out  the  disease,  the  discord,  the  intrusive  and  dis- 
 organizing elements  that  sin  introduced,  and 
 giving,  as  it  were,  an  earnest  and  a  foreshadow 
 of  that  blessed  day  when  all  sounds  shall  be 
 harmony,  all  lessons  shall  be  light,  and  all  affec- 
 tions shall  be  love. 
 
 Thus,  then,  we  see  the  position  that  the  mira- 
 cles in  the   New  Testament  occupy  with  refer- 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  75 
 
 ence  to  past  genuine  miracles  recorded  in  the 
 Old  Testament  Scripture,  and  with  reference  to 
 the  psuedo-miracles  subsequently  ascribed  to 
 Christ  in  legends  that  impiously  assumed  his 
 name.  Having  made  these  remarks,  I  will  turn 
 your  attention  now  to  the  miracle  immediately 
 before  us. 
 
 Jesus,  we  are  told,  had  entered  into  Capernaum, 
 and  a  centurion,  that  is,  a  subaltern  in  the  Roman 
 army,  approached  him,  anxious  for  the  health 
 and  recovery  of  his  servant  or  slave.  This  cen- 
 turion was  what  was  called  "  a  proselyte  at  the 
 gate,"  he  was  one  of  those  Gentiles  who  felt  the 
 worthlessness  of  heathenism,  the  absurdity  of  its 
 polytheistic  rites,  and  saw  in  the  doctrines  of 
 the  Jews,  interpolated  as  they  were,  mutilated 
 as  they  had  become,  a  response  to  what  was 
 deepest  and  most  earnest  in  his  heart ;  he  abjured 
 the  heathenism  which  could  not  satisfy  him,  and 
 cleave  to  that  living  religion  which  the  Pharisee 
 had  overlaid,  but  from  which  truth  still  broke  forth 
 in  much  of  its  primeval  purity  and  brightness. 
 He  was  of  the  same  class,  plainly,  as  the  centu- 
 rion spoken  of  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  :  "  Cor- 
 nelius, a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the  Italian 
 band;  a  devout  man,  and  one  that  feared  God 
 
76  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 with  all  his  house,  which  gave  much  alms  to  the 
 people,  and  prayed  to  God  alway."  Just  previ- 
 ous to  the  advent  of  Christ  there  were  many  of 
 these  proselytes  making  their  appearance,  and 
 one  can  see  in  their  development  the  commence- 
 ment of  a  great  process.  They  were  the  links 
 that  connected  the  Jew  with  the  Gentile  world  ; 
 they  were,  so  to  speak,  those  intermediate  persons 
 who  were  in  communion  with  the  Jew  upon  the 
 one  hand,  and  in  contact  with  the  Gentile  upon 
 the  other  hand ;  and  were  the  premonitory  signs 
 and  symptoms  of  that  great  fusion  of  the  human 
 family,  in  which  there  should  be  neither  Jew  nor 
 Gentile,  nor  Greek  nor  barbarian,  nor  bond  nor 
 free,  but  Christ  should  be  all  and  in  all.  They 
 were,  in  fact,  instalments  of  that  sublime  fel- 
 lowship which  knows  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile, 
 which  calls  no  man  clean,  or  unclean,  or  com- 
 mon, but  recognises  all  as  brothers  who  bear  the 
 stamp  and  the  superscription  of  a  Divine  and 
 heavenly  likeness. 
 
 It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  whenever  God  is 
 about  to  take  a  great  step  in  the  development  of 
 his  kingdom  upon  earth,  he  always  gives  pre- 
 liminary signs  of  its  approach.  The  great  fact 
 that  was  to   occur  when  Christ  came  was   the 
 
THE    SUBALTERN  S    SICK    SERVANT.  77 
 
 fusion  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  into  one  redeem- 
 ed family.     The  preliminary  foreshadows,  flung 
 back  upon  the  world  from  that  Sun  before  he 
 rose  above  the  horizon,  were  these  proselytes  at 
 the  gate— men  who  were  not  Jews  because  they 
 did  not  conform  to  all  the  rites  of  the  Jews,  and 
 who  were  not  Gentiles,  because  they  rejected  the 
 polytheistic  religion  of  the  Gentiles,  but  who  there- 
 fore constituted  the  connecting  links  and  bands 
 between  the  two,  and  the  pioneers  of  that  brighter 
 and  blessed  fellowship,  in  which  Jew  and  Gen- 
 tile should  be  lost  in  the  family  name,  "  Christ- 
 ian," and  Christ  should  be  all  and  in  all.     So  it 
 seems  to  me  that,  in  the  day  in  which  Ave  live, 
 we  have   the   preliminary   signs  of  some   great 
 fusion  about  to  take  place.     We  saw  that  before 
 the  fusion  of  Jew  and  Gentile  occurred,  we  had 
 all   these  premonitory  signs  and  foreshadows  ; 
 and  in  the    present  day  we  may  notice  going 
 on  processes  and  efforts  that  are  oft  disappoint- 
 ed, attempts  that  are  frequently  frustrated  and 
 broken,  to  make  all  mankind  feel  the  sympathies, 
 and  respond  to  the  touch,  of  a  common  and  a 
 glorious  brotherhood.     It  seems  to  me  that  all 
 the  discoveries  of  the  age  are  but  the  pioneers 
 and  preparations  for  this.     I  look  upon  the  tri- 
 
78  FORESHADOWS 
 
 umphs  of  steam,  the  rail-road,  and  the  electric 
 wire,  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851,  as  portions  of 
 that  great  net  which  is  being  cast  over  the  length 
 and  the  breadth  of  the  human,  family,  to  teach 
 all  mankind,  by  extinguishing  space,  shortening 
 time,  and  removing  obstructions  to  the  inter- 
 change of  the  sympathies  of  life,  that  a  day  comes 
 with  all  the  speed,  as  it  will  dawn  with  all  the 
 splendour,  of  the  lightning,  when  Scottish,  Eng- 
 lish, Irish,  European,  Asiatic,  African,  shall  lose 
 their  distinctive  denominational  names  in  that 
 name  which  was  pronounced  in  scorn,  if  pro- 
 claimed from  heaven,  at  Antioch,  but  which  will 
 be  sounded  in  the  everlasting  jubilee,  and  Christ 
 and  Christian  shall  be  all  and  in  all. 
 
 This  centurion,  then,  who  was  thus  te  a  prose- 
 lyte at  the  gate,"  came  to  Christ,  as  it  is  recorded 
 in  one  Gospel,  or  sent  to  Christ  by  his  friends, 
 as  it  is  recorded  in  another — and  what  one  does 
 by  his  representative  he  does  himself;  for  you 
 will  often  see  this  interchange  of  terms  used  in 
 the  New  Testament.  But  his  sense  of  unwor- 
 thiness  was  so  great,  that  he  said,  "  I  am  not 
 worthy  that  thou  shouldest  come  under  my  roof." 
 He  felt  that  Christ  was  a  high  and  a  holy  being, 
 and  that  he  was,  though  a  proselyte  and  a  wor- 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  79 
 
 shipper  of  the  true  God,  a  sinful  and  a  fallen 
 man,  and  therefore  he  says,  with  profound,  not 
 feigned,  humility,  "  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou 
 shouldest  come  under  my  roof."  He  that  ac- 
 counts his  house  unworthy  of  the  presence  of  so 
 great  a  Master,  has  that  humility  which  will  lead 
 Christ  to  account  his  heart  worthy  of  his  entrance 
 and  abiding.  Christ  sat  in  the  house  of  the  Pha- 
 risee ;  he  took  possession  of,  and  dwelt  in,  the 
 heart  of  the  Roman  soldier. 
 
 The  profession  of  this  centurion,  as  the  word 
 plainly  implies,  was  that  of  a  soldier.  Many 
 persons  think  that  soldiers  are  emphatically  sin- 
 ful and  criminal  persons,  and  that  the  very  ex- 
 istence of  a  soldier  ought  not  to  be.  Some  seem 
 to  think  that  to  suppose  that  a  soldier  can  be  a 
 Christian,  is  to  suppose  what  is  impossible  ;  and 
 that  to  think  that  there  can  be  any  heirs  of  the 
 kingdom  of  heaven  in  the  army,  is  a  stretch  of 
 charity  which  they  are  not  prepared  for.  Now 
 I  always  feel  that  that  is  not  charity  which  is 
 more  charitable  than  God,  but  the  very  reverse ; 
 it  is  delusion  and  deception.  You  will  find  in 
 the  New  Testament  Scriptures  some  of  the  most 
 illustrious  saints,  who  wore  the  uniform  and 
 wielded  the  weapons  of  Cresar.     I  shrink  from 
 
80  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 war ;  I  deplore  it  as  a  stern,  a  terrible,  an  awful 
 necessity ;  and,  if  I  could  by  a  touch,  or  by  the 
 offering  of  a  prayer,  I  would  turn  every  sword 
 into  a  ploughshare,  and  every  spear  into  a  prun- 
 ing hook.     I  would  reverse  the  process  of  the 
 modern  Romans,  in  1848,  and  would  turn  the  can- 
 nons into  church-bells,  and  make  them  the  min- 
 strels of  a  sweeter  and  a  far  more  holy  music  ;  I 
 would  turn  shot  into  rails,  and  men-of-war  into 
 merchantmen  in  every  harbour.     If  I  could,  I 
 would ;  and  I  pray  that  right  speedily  what  is 
 the  burden  of  a  thousand  prophecies  may  be  the 
 realization  of  delightful  and  glorious  facts.     But 
 the  question  is  not,  my  dear  friends,  Is  war  de- 
 sirable ?     We  are  all  agreed  that  war  is  a  most 
 undesirable  thing,  and  earnestly  would  we  all 
 pray  that  the   soldier   and  his  stern  profession 
 may  become  both  obsolete  together.     But  there 
 is     the    common- sense    view    of   the    question, 
 which  we  are  not   at  liberty  to  despise  ;    and 
 Christianity  is  the  highest  common  sense.     Sup- 
 pose now  that  we  were  to  disband  our  army  and 
 our  navy,  what  would  be  the  result  ?     If  other 
 nations  would  enter  into  a  compact  to  do  the 
 same,  and  if  we  were  sure  that  they  would  keep 
 to  it,  then  we  might  do  so  ;  but  if  they  will  not, 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  81 
 
 and  do  not,  but  girdle  us  around,  not  to  defend 
 but  to  destroy  us,  would  it  be  Christianity,  or 
 would  it  be  lunacy,  in  our  country,  to  disband 
 its  army  and  break  up  all  its  fleet  ?    If  all  Europe 
 were  Christian,  that  is,  if  the  millennium  were 
 come,  then,  of  course,  what  is  now   required 
 would  be  perfectly  expedient;  we  should  have 
 to    extinguish   all    our   police,    turn    jails   into 
 churches,  our  soldiers  into  missionaries,  and  we 
 should  need  neither  shot,  nor   sword,  nor   sa- 
 bre, nor  cannon;  and  the  nations  then  "would 
 learn  war  no  more."     But  the  millennium  is  not 
 come,  there  is  the  plain,  unequivocal  fact.     By 
 all  means  try  to  prevent  war.  Get  pirates,  thieves, 
 tyrants,  autocrats,  mobs,  fierce,  seditious  men, 
 to  arbitrate ;  but  the  sad  fact  is,  that  these  men 
 insist  upon  striking  first,  and  arbitrating  after- 
 wards.    If  they   would    arbitrate    before   they 
 strike — if  they  would  consider  and  discuss  before 
 they  draw,  it  would  be  well,  but  it  is  a  fact  that 
 they  do  not  so,  and  the  more  defenceless  you 
 are,  the  more  ready  they  are  to  strike.     It  does 
 seem  to  me,  with  all  deference  to  the  wisdom, 
 and  the  knowledge,  and  the  experience  of  those 
 that  know  better,  that  this  is  the  old  process,  that 
 has  failed  so  often,  of  trying  to  do  by  conven- 
 
82  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tionalism  that  which  can  only  be  done  by  Chris- 
 tianity, attempting  by  mechanical  arrangements 
 that  which  can  only  be  effected  by  spiritual  and 
 moral  means.  If  men  would  only  expend  in  the 
 spread  of  the  Bible,  in  extending  the  gospel,  in 
 contributing  to  missionary  societies,  in  praying, 
 "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  more  time  and  more 
 means,  they  would  do  more  to  render  war  un- 
 necessary than  by  any  other  process  that  has 
 been  tried.  In  the  beautiful  words  of  an  Ame- 
 rican poet,  written  when  he  looked  at  an  arsenal, 
 with  arms  piled  to  the  roof : — 
 
 "  This  is  the  arsenal.     From  floor  to  ceiling, 
 Like  a  huge  organ,  rise  the  burnish'd  arms  ; 
 
 But  from  their  silent  pipes  no  anthem  pealing, 
 Startles  the  villages  with  strange  alarms. 
 
 Ah  !  what  a  sound  will  rise,  how  wild  and  dreary, 
 When  the  death-angel  touches  those  swift  keys ! 
 
 What 
 
 Will  mingle  with  their  awful  symphonies  ! 
 
 Were  half  the  power  that  fills  the  world  with  terror, 
 Were  half  the  wealth  bestow'd  in  camps  and  courts, 
 
 Given  to  redeem  the  human  mind  from  error, 
 There  were  no  need  of  arsenals  and  forts ; 
 
 The  warrior's  name  would  be  a  name  abhorred, 
 And  every  nation  that  should  lift  again 
 
 Its  hand  against  a  brother,  on  its  forehead 
 Would  wear  for  evermore  the  curse  of  Cain. 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  83 
 
 Down  the  dark  future,  through  long  generations, 
 War's  echoing  sounds  grow  fainter,  and  they  cease 
 
 Like  a  bell,  with  solemn  sweet  vibrations ; 
 
 I  hear  once  more  the  voice  of  Christ  say,  "  Peace," 
 
 Peace !  No  longer  from  its  brazen  portals 
 
 The  blast  of  war's  great  organ  shakes  the  skies, 
 
 But  beautiful  as  songs  of  the  immortals, 
 The  holy  melodies  of  love  arise." 
 
 Such  we  know  will  be  the  end,  and  such  alone 
 are  the  means  by  which  it  can  be  accomplished. 
 Here  then  was  a  soldier,  and  yet  a  Chris- 
 tian ;  and  if  God  has  pronounced  him  clean, 
 shall  we  pronounce  him  unclean  ?  In  the 
 Gospel  by  St.  Luke  it  is  stated  that  the  soldiers 
 came  to  John.  I  am  stating  this  to  show 
 you,  not  that  war  is  beautiful,  but  that  being 
 a  soldier  is  not  sinful :  it  may  seem  superero- 
 gation, and  yet  it  is  not  so,  to  prove  this  in  the 
 present  day.  The  soldiers  came  to  John, 
 and  "  likewise  demanded  of  him,  saying,  What 
 shall  we  do  ?"  Did  he  say,  "  Your  very  pro- 
 fession is  a  crime,  abjure  it?"  No.  ({  He  said 
 unto  them,  Do  violence  to  no  man,  neither  accuse 
 any  falsely ;  and  be  content  with  your  wages." 
 Can  I  suppose  that  to  be  a  soldier  is  thereby  and 
 therefore  to  be  a  sinner,  or,  in  other  words,  that 
 war  is  lawful  in  no  circumstances,  when     John 
 
 g  2 
 
84  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 thus  spake  to  the  soldiers,  and  gave  them  his 
 command  and  guidance  ? 
 
 This  Christian  soldier  came  to  Jesus,  and  asked 
 him  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  his  sick  slave.  He 
 was  a  brave  man,  for  such  a  Roman  soldier  must 
 be ;  he  was  a  humble  man,  for  such  a  Christian 
 always  is ;  and  he  was  a  kind,  an  affectionate, 
 and  a  loving  man — such  the  choicest  of  humanity 
 is  ;  and  he  felt  an  interest  in  the  health  and  hap- 
 piness of  his  poor  sick  slave.  There  were  no 
 servants  in  ancient  times  in  the  sense  in  which 
 servants  are  regarded  now;  they  were  bought 
 and  sold  in  the  market ;  they  were  treated  by  the 
 heathens  with  a  consummate  disregard  of  every 
 instinct  and  feeling  of  humanity.  This  soldier, 
 feeling  such  a  deep  interest  in  the  well-being  of 
 his  slave,  is  on  the  one  hand  a  beautiful  trait,  and 
 creditable  to  him,  and  on  the  other  hand  it  is 
 significant  of  that  great  lesson  that  Christianity 
 teaches,  that  the  servant  and  the  master,  in  the 
 sight  of  God,  stand  upon  the  same  platform,  and 
 must  be  tried  at  the  same  tribunal. 
 
 When  he  drew  near  to  our  Lord,  he  ex- 
 pressed his  unworthiness  to  approach  him.  His 
 profession  as  a  soldier  served  him  with  argu- 
 ments as  a  Christian.     He  said,  "  I  am  a  man 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  85 
 
 under  authority."     At   first  sight  this  seems  a 
 strange  expression  :  one  would  have  thought  that 
 he  would  have  said,  "  I  am  a  man  having  au- 
 thority."     But  no,  he  argues  from  the  lesser  to 
 the  greater :  "  I  am  a  subaltern,  and  there  is  over 
 me  a  commanding  officer  (as  if  he  had  said,  '  I 
 am  a  lieutenant ') ;  and  if  I  who  am  but  a  subal- 
 tern, an  under-officer,  have  such  power,  that  I 
 can  say  to  this  soldier,  (  Take  up  that  position,' 
 and  to  that  soldier,  (  Be  sentinel  there,'  and  to 
 my  servant,  (  Do  this,'  and  he  doeth  it,  much 
 more,  surely,  thou,  who  art  the  commander  of  all 
 the  armies  of  the  skies,  and  the  ruler  of  all  the  in- 
 habitants of  the  earth,  hast  but  to  speak  the  word, 
 and  my  servant  then  will  be  instantly  healed." 
 His  idea  of  the  sovereignty  of  Christ  was  beauti- 
 ful and  grand.    The  leading  idea  in  the  soldier's 
 mind  was  his  profession,  and  that  profession  sup- 
 plied him  with  a  conception  of  the  grandeur  of 
 him  who  is  the  Autocrat  of  heaven  and  earth,  the 
 true  Imperator,  of  whose  authority  Coesarwas  but 
 an  imperfect  and  poor  shadow.  The  soldier  argues, 
 "  If  I  then,  as  a  subaltern,  have  so  much  power 
 that  every  man  is  subject  to  my  authority, — that, 
 in  virtue  of  the  discipline  that  prevails  in  the  Ro- 
 man army,  instant  obedience  is  rendered  to  every 
 
86  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 command,  —  then,  Lord  Jesus,  great  Saviour, 
 great  King,  speak  to  this  disease,  and  it  will  in- 
 stantly obey  thee ;  breathe  a  word  to  my  sick 
 slave,  and  he  will  rise  and  come  unto  thee  ; 
 thou  who  art  the  Lord  of  all  power  and  might, 
 thou  hast  but  to  say  the  word,  and  angels  will 
 come  and  execute  thy  will ;  or  wind,  and  wave, 
 and  water,  and  earth,  and  sky,  will  meet  to- 
 gether and  conspire  to  do  thy  behests."  We 
 are  thus  taught  how  one's  profession  may  often  be 
 made  serviceable  to  one's  Christianity  ;  and  how 
 lessons  may  be  gathered  from  all  the  sequestered 
 nooks  and  by-paths  of  domestic,  private,  and 
 professional  life,  which  will  cast  new  lustre  on 
 the  truths,  and  inspire  with  new  force  the  pre- 
 cepts, of  the  everlasting  gospel. 
 
 Jesus,  we  are  told,  admired  the  confidence  and 
 faith  of  the  centurion,  and  said  he  had  not  seen 
 "  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  What  does 
 this  teach  us  ?  That  Christ  is  pleased  the  most 
 when  we  put  the  most  confidence  in  him.  We 
 are  not  guilty  of  presumption  on  the  one  hand, 
 or  of  rash  and  daring  intrusion  on  the  other, 
 when  we  lay  much  upon  the  shoulder  of  Christ 
 for  him  to  bear  and  endure  for  us.  The  more  we 
 trust  him,  the  more  he  feels  he  is  honoured  by 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  87 
 
 tliat  trust.  Christ  is  not  angry  with  you  because 
 you  have  asked  too  much  of  him,  but  he  is 
 grieved  and  vexed  that  you  should  have  such 
 diffidence  in  his  love,  such  distrust  of  his  om- 
 nipotence, that  you  ask  too  little  of  him.  Ask 
 great  things,  and  he  will  give  you  great  things. 
 He  does  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 
 you  can  ask  or  think.  We  have  evidence  here 
 that  such  asking  is  not  presumption,  in  the  sim- 
 ple fact,  that  the  deepest  humility  and  the  great- 
 est faith  were  combined  in  this  Roman  soldier  of 
 whom  I  am  now  speaking. 
 
 We  read  that  our  blessed  Lord  heard  his  re- 
 quest, put  forth  his  power,  healed  his  slave,  and 
 restored  him  to  his  master ;  and  he  was  so 
 charmed  and  smitten  with  this  specimen  of  piety, 
 like  a  wild  flower  gathered  from  the  desert,  not 
 a  garden-flower  nursed  in  the  vineyard  of  Israel, 
 that  he  said,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  many  shall 
 come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  shall  sit 
 down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in 
 the  kingdom  of  God."  In  other  words,  he 
 teaches  us  that  there  are  Christians  where  we 
 suspect  not,  in  circumstances,  in  cities,  in  coun- 
 tries, and  in  shapes  where  the  natural  eye  can- 
 not see  them.     There  are  more  Christians  in  the 
 
88  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 world  than  bigotry  will  allow  on  the  one  hand, 
 and  there  are  fewer  Christians  in  the  world  than 
 latitudinarianism  is  pleased  to  think  on  the  other 
 hand.  The  eye  of  true  charity  can  see  Christ- 
 ians where  the  eye  of  the  world  can  see  none. 
 The  wings  of  love  can  cross  breadths,  and  the 
 feet  of  love  can  wade  through  depths,  and  find 
 trophies  of  the  power,  and  monuments  of  the 
 mercy  of  God,  unsuspected  and  unseen  by  the 
 multitude  of  mankind.  Our  Lord  says,  "  Many 
 shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west."  I  re- 
 joice in  the  prospect  that  the  numbers  of  the 
 saved  will  not  be  a  few.  The  whole  language  of 
 Christianity  is,  "  Many  shall  be  saved."  The 
 language  of  the  Apocalypse,  (chap,  vii.,)  so 
 beautiful  and  so  rich  with  thoughts  descriptive  of 
 the  future,  is,  "  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  great  multitude 
 which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and 
 kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before 
 the  throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with 
 white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands."  And  in 
 the  nineteenth  chapter  we  read,  "  And  I  heard, 
 as  it  were,  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as 
 the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of 
 mighty  thunderings,  saying,  Alleluia :  for  the 
 Lord  God   omnipotent  reigneth."     I   observed 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  89 
 
 in  my  Apocalyptic  Sketches,  that  this  alleluia, 
 the  first  Hebrew  word  in  Revelation,  is  the 
 Jewish  voice.  It  is  at  the  destruction  of  Baby- 
 lon, that  the  Jews  shall  return,  and  sing  "  Alle- 
 luia." And  I  may  mention  a  very  interesting 
 fact  —  that  the  Jews  were  seen  circulating  the 
 New  Testament,  and  selling  it  in  the  streets  of 
 Rome,  in  1848 ;  and  these  Jews,  although  they 
 did  not  believe  in  the  gospel,  were  actually 
 quoting  2  Thess.  ii.,  and  demonstrating  that  the 
 pope  is  the  antichrist,  and  that  the  Romans 
 had  better  not  let  him  come  back,  nor  have 
 any  thing  to  do  with  him ;  as  if  a  strong  fore- 
 shadow of  that  day,  when  the  voice  of  the 
 Jew  shall  join  with  that  of  the  Christian  at  the 
 destruction  of  Rome,  and  shall  say,  "  Alleluia ! 
 at  length  not  antichrist,  but  the  Lord  God  omni- 
 potent reigneth." 
 
 We  have  an  intimation,  then,  that  a  great 
 multitude  shall  come  from  the  east,  and  from  the 
 west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and 
 Isaac,  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  No- 
 tice here  the  identity  of  faith  and  the  identity  of 
 love.  Not  sect,  nor  rite,  nor  nationality  are  the 
 bonds  of  union  and  communion  with  each  other. 
 It  is  not  said  that  only  the  circumcised,  and  bap- 
 
90  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tized,  or  only  the  Jew  shall  come,  or  those  that 
 pronounce  the  same  shibboleth,  and  worship  in 
 the  same  form ;  but  it  is  said  that  many  from 
 the  north,  and  the  south,  and  the  east,  and  the 
 west,  shall  come,  and,  having  the  same  Lord, 
 the  same  faith,  the  same  hope,  the  same  joy, 
 shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
 Jacob.  This  teaches  us  what  is  the  true  bond  of 
 the  unity  of  the  church  of  Christ.  It  is  not  all 
 using  the  same  liturgy,  or  using  the  same  forms, 
 or  worshipping  in  the  same  manner,  or  worship- 
 ping in  the  same  place,  or  being  under  the  same 
 ecclesiastical  government ;  but  it  is  in  all  having 
 the  same  centre — Christ ;  the  same  Father,  whose 
 children  we  are  ;  the  same  Spirit,  whose  sancti- 
 fied subjects  we  are.  Christ  is  called  the  Hus- 
 band of  his  church.  li  Husband  "  comes  from 
 two  Saxon  words,  meaning  "  house-bond."  The 
 husband  is  the  house-bond,  and  Christ  is  the 
 great  house-bond  of  his  house — all  bound  and 
 knit  together,  finding  their  unity  in  subjection  to 
 and  in  communion  with  him. 
 
 Thus,  then,  men  of  all  classes,  of  all  castes,  of 
 all  forms  of  worship,  shall  sit  down  with  Abra- 
 ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob ;  men  of  every  clime, 
 the  African   from  his  burning  sand,  the   Lap- 
 
THE    SUBALTERN  S    SICK    SERVANT.  91 
 
 lander  from  his  everlasting  snows.  The  children 
 of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth,  who  met  once  in 
 the  ark,  shall  meet  in  Christ  the  true  Ark,  and 
 sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 
 Men  of  every  political  dynasty — the  accomplish- 
 ed royalist  and  the  stern  republican,  the  subjects 
 of  good  governments  and  the  victims  of  bad  ones, 
 shall  all  meet  together  in  heaven,  for  they  have 
 met  in  Christ ;  men  of  all  ranks,  from  all  circles, 
 degrees,  and  positions  in  social  life  ;  men  of  all 
 kinds  and  degrees  of  intellect — the  philosopher 
 and  the  peasant, 
 
 "  He  renown'd  for  ages  yet  to  come, 
 
 And  she  not  heard  of  half  a  mile  from  home," 
 
 shall  meet,  if  believers,  and  mingle  in  that  glori- 
 ous fellowship. 
 
 We  are  told  that  they  shall  sit  down  with 
 Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob :  that  indicates 
 perfect  repose,  perfect  rest,  the  sabbath  of  the 
 soul.  The  "  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people 
 of  God  "  will  have  then  begun  ;  the  soldier  from 
 the  field  of  battle,  the  sailor  from  the  restless 
 deck,  the  mourner  from  his  weeping,  the  martyr 
 from  his  flame  shroud — all,  gathered  together 
 by  the  attraction  of  their  common  Lord,   and 
 
92  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 pervaded  by  trie  sympathies  of  a  common  faith, 
 shall  sit  down  together  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
 and  Jacob. 
 
 Notice,  too,  the  dignity  of  it — they  "  shall  sit 
 down."  Servants  stand ;  kings  and  princes  sit. 
 God's  people  are  to  sit  on  thrones.  "  They  shall 
 be,"  says  the  apostle,  "  kings  and  priests  unto 
 Christ." 
 
 Another  idea  is  that  of  enjoyment.  It  will  be 
 a  festival — a  feast  for  the  imagination,  a  theme  for 
 the  intellect,  a  fete  for  the  heart ;  all  the  facul- 
 ties of  man's  soul  will  be  feasted  with  things 
 congenial  to  their  nature.  It  will  be  the  repose 
 which  all  humanity,  after  its  exile  and  its  weary 
 wanderings  below,  shall  feel  to  be  its  home  ;  and 
 in  which  home-born  joys,  like  swallows  under 
 a  roof,  shall  nestle  for  ever. 
 
 And  there  will  be  not  only  dignity,  and  rich 
 enjoyment,  and  true  rest,  but  there  will  be  recog- 
 nition of  each  other.  "  Sit  down  "  with  whom  ? 
 With  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  Can  we 
 sit  with  them,  and  not  recognise  them  ?  Shall 
 we  know  that  the  promise  is  performed,  if  we  do 
 not  actually  see  those  patriarchs,  and  feel  that  they 
 are  so?  I  hope  when  all  the  shadows  of  time  shall 
 have  ceased,  and  the  pulse  of  the  first  resurrec- 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  93 
 
 tion  shall  have  been  felt  by  the  sleeping  dust, 
 and  realized  by  the  glorified  spirits  of  the  re- 
 deemed of  God,  that  there  will  be  a  meeting  so 
 grand,  so  noble,  so  glorious,  that  the  imagination 
 of  the  brightest  poet,  even  in  his  happiest  ima- 
 ginings, has  never  conceived  it.  I  believe  I  shall 
 see  Adam  who  first  sinned,  and  was  also  first 
 saved,  and  hear  from  his  lips  the  story  of  Para- 
 dise lost,  and  Paradise  regained.  I  shall  see 
 Enoch,  and  learn  of  one  who  never  tasted  death, 
 but  passed  from,  the  life  that  now  is  to  the  eternal 
 world  without  having  waded  the  narrow  sea  that 
 flows  between.  I  shall  see  Noah,  and  hear  him 
 relate  the  story  of  the  ark, — what  he  felt,  what  he 
 hoped,  and  how  he  trembled,  how  gloriously  he 
 was  saved,  and  how  happy  he  now  feels.  I  shall 
 meet  with  Moses  the  great  prophet,  and  Aaron 
 the  great  priest,  with  John  the  evangelist,  and 
 with  Peter  the  apostle,  and  hear  each  tell  the 
 story  of  his  trials,  the  secret  of  his  triumphs,  and 
 the  happiness  he  now  feels  when  the  battle  is 
 won — when  the  palm  is  in  the  hand,  and  the 
 wreath  of  victory  twined  about  the  brow.  We 
 shall  see  things  that  are  now  unseen,  and  taste 
 joys  that  we  have  now  no  conception  of;  and 
 if  we  felt  all  the   grandeur   and   magnificence 
 
94  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  awaits  us  in  reversion,  I  do  believe  that, 
 in  the  case  of  the  children  of  God,  the  re- 
 luctance would  not  be  to  die,  but  to  live ; 
 and  that  oftener  would  this  cry  rise  from  the 
 very  depths  of  the  sanctified  heart,  "  Oh  that 
 I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  that  I  might  fly  away, 
 and  that  I  might  enter  into  that  rest,  and  be 
 with  God  for  ever !  "  It  is  because  we  are 
 so  long  accustomed  to  the  old  house,  and  so 
 acquainted  with  all  its  nooks,  its  recesses,  and 
 its  windings,  that  we  do  not  like  to  leave  it ;  but 
 if  we  could  only  gaze  upon  that  glorious  palace, 
 if  we  could  only  measure  its  splendid  halls  — 
 those  halls  where  the  altar  is  Christ,  where  the 
 floor  is  emerald,  and  the  dome  is  sapphire,  and 
 the  very  dust  is  diamond — I  am  sure  we  should 
 thirst  and  long  for  an  entrance  into  that  blessed 
 city,  which  hath  no  need  of  sun  nor  of  moon,  for 
 the  Lord  God  almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the 
 light  thereof. 
 
 It  is  nearer  than  many  of  us  think,  and  either 
 it  will  soon  come  to  us,  or  we  must  go  to  it ;  one 
 or  the  other  must  be.  If  we  are  now  the  people  of 
 God,  the  partition-wall  that  separates  it  from  us 
 becomes  thinner  every  day.  One  can  feel  the 
 pulses  of  that  great  heart  of  love  to  which  we 
 
THE    SUBALTERN'S    SICK    SERVANT.  95 
 
 shall  soon  draw  near ;  one  can  almost  hear,  in 
 rapt  moments,  the  first  notes  of  that  glorious 
 jubilee  in  which  we  shall  take  a  part.  We  stand 
 every  moment  on  the  verge  of  that  great  and 
 unsounded  sea.  Are  we  ready  to  set  sail  ?  Are 
 we  clothed  in  the  Redeemer's  righteousness  ?  Are 
 we  actuated  by  the  Redeemer's  spirit?  Have 
 we  the  humility  of  a  Christian  ?  Have  we  the 
 humility  of  the  soldier,  the  faith  of  the  soldier, 
 the  trust  of  the  soldier,  recorded  in  the  miracle  ? 
 How  is  it  that  any  one,  with  one  foot  in  eternity 
 and  the  other  in  time,  not  knowing  into  which 
 section  of  eternity  he  is  about  to  plunge,  there  to 
 be  for  ever,  can  remain  in  such  a  state  for 
 one  single  day  ?  Let  me  repeat  the  blessed 
 truth :  Salvation  now,  this  very  day,  for  the 
 guiltiest  of  us  all ;  instant  pardon,  glorious,  suffi- 
 cient pardon,  through  the  blood  of  Jesus,  for  the 
 chiefest  of  sinners.  My  dear  friends,  God's 
 great  grief  is,  if  I  may  use  such  language,  that  we 
 are  always  suspecting  him  to  be  a  hard  Egyptian 
 task-master,  instead  of  feeling  of  him,  and  flying 
 to  him,  as  to  our  Father.  Father,  go  home,  and 
 watch  the  babe  in  the  mother's  bosom,  and  see 
 where  it  finds  its  repose,  where  its  rest  and  its 
 confidence  are  ;  and  learn  that,  great  and  gifted 
 
96  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 and  celebrated  as  you  may  be,  it  is  only  when 
 you  can  become  like  that  little  babe,  and  feel 
 toward  God  as  that  infant  feels  to  its  mother, 
 that  you  will  be  a  true,  a  happy,  and  exalted 
 Christian. 
 
The  Disciples  in  the  Storm. 
 
 P.  97. 
 
LECTURE  IV. 
 
 THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM. 
 
 And  straightway  Jesus  constrained  his  disciples  to  get  into  a 
 ship,  and  to  go  before  him  unto  the  other  side,  while  he  sent 
 the  multitudes  away.  And  when  he  had  sent  the  multitudes 
 away,  he  went  up  into  a  mountain  apart  to  pray :  and  when 
 the  evening  was  come,  he  was  there  alone.  But  the  ship  was 
 now  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  tossed  Avith  waves  :  for  the  wind 
 was  contrary.  And  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  Jesus 
 went  unto  them,  walking  on  the  sea.  And  when  the  disciples 
 saw  him  walking  on  the  sea,  they  were  troubled,  saying,  It  is 
 a  spirit ;  and  they  cried  out  for  fear.  But  straightway  Jesus 
 spake  unto  them,  saying,  Be  of  good  cheer ;  it  is  I ;  be  not 
 afraid.  And  Peter  answered  him  and  said,  Lord,  if  it  be  thou, 
 bid  me  come  unto  thee  on  the  water.  And  he  said,  Come. 
 And  when  Peter  was  come  down  out  of  the  ship,  he  walked 
 on  the  water,  to  go  to  Jesus.  But  when  he  saw  the  wind 
 boisterous,  he  was  afraid ;  and  beginning  to  sink,  he  cried, 
 saying,  Lord,  save  me.  And  immediately  Jesus  stretched 
 forth  his  hand,  and  caught  him,  and  said  unto  him,  O  thou 
 of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  ?  And  when  they 
 were  come  into  the  ship,  the  wind  ceased.  Then  they  that 
 were  in  the  ship  came  and  worshipped  him,  saying,  Of  a  truth 
 thou  art  the  Son  of  God.— Matt.  xiv.  22—33. 
 
 I  beg   to    introduce    the  beautiful  miracle  re- 
 corded in  the  passage  I  have  read  by  some  ad- 
 
98  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ditional  prefatory  remarks  upon  the  nature  of 
 the  miracles  of  our  Lord.  I  have  prefaced  every 
 exposition  of  the  successive  miracles  of  Christ  by 
 remarks  on  their  nature  ;  and  I  come  now  to 
 that  point  of  discussion  which  is  of  some  import- 
 ance in  the  present  day,  namely,  are  miracles 
 still  continued  in  the  church  1  Ought  there  to  be 
 in  the  visible  church,  or  in  any  section  of  it 
 whatever,  power  to  do  miracles  ?  And  if  we  see 
 not  that  power  exercised,  is  it  a  sign  that  it  has 
 been  withdrawn  in  sovereignty,  or  is  it  a  proof  of 
 the  unfaithfulness  of  the  church  that  has  shorn  her 
 of  her  prerogative  ?  or  is  it  the  mind  of  God  that 
 there  should  be  no  miracles  in  the  visible  church 
 whatever,  and  that  there  is  neither  a  necessity 
 for  them,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  we  are 
 placed,  nor  power  to  do  them  in  those  who  are 
 either  the  teachers  or  the  pupils  in  the  church  of 
 Christ  ?  It  is  my  conviction,  founded  upon  fact 
 and  Scripture,  that  it  is  not  God's  mind  that 
 there  should  be  .now  miracles  in  the  church ;  that 
 from  the  nature  of  the  thing  it  could  scarcely 
 have  been  expected  that  there  should ;  and  that 
 while  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  mira- 
 cles were  required  at  each  successive  epoch  or 
 stage  in  the  progression  of  God's  purposes,  there 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  99 
 
 is  no  proof  that  they  were  meant  to  be  every- 
 day exhibitions  by  every  Christian. 
 
 In  noticing  the  miracles  of  the  Old  Testament 
 Scripture,  you  will  perceive  (and  this  is  pre- 
 sumptive evidence  that  they  were  not  meant  to 
 be  always  continued)  that  they  cluster  around 
 each  great  crisis,  or  epoch,  or  era ;  they  are  not 
 spread  over  the  whole  dispensation  as  every-day 
 things,  but  they  seem  to  cluster  into  masses,  to 
 occur  at  special  intervals,  or  on  specific  occa- 
 sions, when  there  was  a  great  crisis  at  which  the 
 interposition  of  omnipotence  was  necessary;  then 
 and  there  only  omnipotence  developed  itself. 
 For  instance,  we  find  that  at  the  establishment 
 of  the  kingdom  by  Moses  and  Joshua  miracles 
 were  done,  because  it  was  the  commencement  of 
 a  new  and  great  era.  So  at  the  reformation  of 
 the  kingdom  by  Elijah  and  Elisha,  miracles  were 
 again  exhibited ;  there  was  another  great  change 
 in  the  progression  of  God's  purposes,  a  new  and 
 more  startling  development  of  his  mind  to  man- 
 kind at  each  of  these  periods. 
 
 You  will  notice  now,  (and  I  think  this  will  be 
 a  sufficient  reply  to  those  persons  who  allege 
 that  it  is  want  of  faith  or  want  of  Christianity  that 
 makes  it  come  to  pass  that  there  are  now  no  mi- 
 
 H    2 
 
100  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 racles,)  that  the  most  distinguished  saints  of  the 
 Old  Testament  Scriptures  did  no  miracles.  This 
 alone  will  be  evidence  that  there  may  be  Chris- 
 tianity without  miraculous  power.  Abraham, 
 "  the  father  of  the  faithful/'  did  not  perform  one 
 miracle ;  yet,  who  can  doubt  that  he  was  a  dis- 
 tinguished Christian  ?  David  did  not  perform  a 
 single  miracle  ;  miracles  were  done  in  his  time, 
 but  not  by  him.  Daniel  performed  no  mira- 
 cle ;  it  is  true  miracles  were  done  around  him, 
 and  about  him,  but  not  by  his  instrumentality  in 
 any  sense  or  shape.  And  I  think  it  is  one  of 
 those  simple,  yet  striking  and  expressive  evi- 
 dences of  the  Divine  origin  of  the  Bible,  that  it 
 is  asserted  of  John  the  Baptist,  specifically  as- 
 serted, that  he  did  no  miracles.  Contrast  that 
 one  statement  with  the  legends  of  the  canonized 
 saints,  as  they  are  called,  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
 A  Roman  Catholic  saint  without  a  miracle  would 
 be  a  sun  without  rays,  a  star  without  light,  a 
 non-entity,  a  phenomenon.  There  is  something 
 inimitably  grand  and  beautiful  in  this,  that  while 
 of  all  the  pseudo-saints  it  is  constantly  said  that 
 they  did  miracles  of  all  sorts,  grotesque,  extra- 
 vagant, ridiculous ;  it  is  said  in  simple  terms, 
 without  assigning  any  reason,  of  John  the  Baptist, 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  101 
 
 that  he  did  no  miracles.  In  looking  at  past  dis- 
 pensations, then,  we  have  presumptive  evidence 
 that  miracles  were  not  to  be  of  every-day  occur- 
 rence, or  to  be  perpetuated  always. 
 
 There  is  evidence  of  this  also  from  analogy. 
 At  the  commencement  of  an  epoch,  or  at  the  first 
 development  of  a  kingdom,  or  at  the  creation  of 
 a  world,  you  may  expect  more  power  to  be  put 
 forth  than  at  the  continuance  of  it.  For  instance, 
 the  first  creation  of  the  world  required  more 
 power  than  the  continuation  of  the  world  does, 
 and  more  was  accordingly  developed.  The  con- 
 tinuance of  a  race,  too,  requires  perhaps  less  power 
 than  the  creation  of  that  race.  So  the  introduction 
 of  God  manifested  in  the  flesh  was  a  new  epoch 
 so  remarkable,  so  strange,  so  unexpected  by  the 
 mass  of  mankind,  that  you  might  expect  on  such 
 an  occasion  and  such  a  crisis  there  would  occur 
 miracles  to  attest  it.  What  is  a  miracle  ?  It 
 is  just  God's  omnipotence  becoming  a  pedestal 
 or  candlestick  on  which  to  plant  God's  truth ;  it 
 is  omnipotent  beneficence  coming  down  from 
 heaven,  pointing  to  a  doctrine,  or  specifying  a 
 person,  and  saying  the  one  is  of  God,  and  the 
 other  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  Now  that  at 
 such  a  crisis  a  miracle  should  be  done  was  na- 
 
102  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tural;  but  when  that  crisis  had  passed  away, 
 that  the  miracle  should  cease  is  no  less  natural. 
 When  the  fruit  is  ripe,  the  calyx  or  the  petals  that 
 surround  it  drop  away ;  when  the  building  is  well 
 founded  and  complete  the  scaffolding  is  taken 
 down.  It  is  so  with  miracles.  We  have  now  come 
 to  that  era  when  it  is  not  more  power  that  man 
 needs  to  see,  but  more  grace  that  man  needs  to  feel. 
 All  miracles,  I  would  notice  too,  that  have 
 been  performed,  or  pretended  to  be  performed, 
 since  the  apostolic  age  closed,  have  been  either 
 lying  legends,  interruptions  of  God's  harmony 
 by  Satan  himself,  or  they  have  been  gross,  pal- 
 pable deceptions.  Let  any  one  read,  for  instance, 
 the  life  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  or  St.  Francis  Xavier, 
 and  judge  for  himself.  One  of  the  ways  of  form- 
 ing a  higher  estimate  of  God's  book,  is  to  read 
 any  other  book  pretending  to  be  equal,  or  to  be 
 next  to  it.  The  contrast  is  so  vivid  and  striking 
 that  your  impression  would  be  more  and  more 
 confirmed  that  this  is  the  book  of  God.  Let  any 
 one  read  the  life  of  the  Lord  of  glory,  that  sim- 
 ple, sublime  biography,  which  has  four  penmen, 
 but  one  grand  original  to  draw  from,  and  then 
 let  him  read  the  life  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  or 
 Ignatius  Loyola,  or   St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  or 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  103 
 
 any  of  the  canonized  saints  of  the  Church  of 
 Rome,  drawing  each  after  him  a  long  string  of 
 grotesque  miracles  and  wonders — most  of  them  so 
 grotesque  that  they  must  make  a  rational  man 
 smile,  and  a  Christian  man  weep ;  and  he  will  see 
 at  once  what  wears  the  impress  of  God,  and  what 
 bears  the  stamp  of  the  lying  legends  of  man.  All 
 pretended  or  false  miracles  lead  you  to  wonder,  to 
 stare,  to  be  amazed  ;  every  miracle  that  Jesus  did 
 leads  you  to  see  beneficence,  to  learn  truth,  to  dis- 
 cover that  he  who  preached  the  one,  and  perform- 
 ed the  other,  was  indeed  God  manifested  in  the 
 flesh.  The  miracles  of  recent  times  lead  from  God, 
 the  miracles  of  Christ  lead  directly  to  God.  There 
 is,  besides,  this  difference,  that  the  miracles  of  the 
 New  Testament  are  guardedly  alluded  to ;  they 
 are  never  spoken  of  as  evidence  of  grace;  where- 
 as, if  we  read  the  accounts  of  the  miracles  per- 
 formed by  Romish  saints,  we  shall  see  that  they 
 are  always  quoted  as  evidence  of  their  sanc- 
 tity. What  is  the  great  evidence  that  a  person 
 ought  to  be  canonized  in  the  church  of  Rome  ? 
 That  he  has  done  miracles — this  is  an  evidence 
 of  his  sanctity.  Is  this  the  evidence  of  the  Bible 
 that  a  man  is  a  Christian?  The  very  contrary 
 is  its  declaration.     A  man  may  do  many  won- 
 
104  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 derful  works,  yet  Christ  may  say,  "  I  know 
 him  not."  He  may  speak  in  tongues,  and  have 
 not  charity.  Hence  the  apostle  Paul,  indicating 
 the  sublime,  moral,  and  spiritual  character  of 
 Christianity,  bids  men  not  to  covet  great  gifts  by 
 which  they  may  dazzle,  but  to  "  covet  the  best 
 gifts,"  that  is,  love ;  for  knowledge,  in  as  far  as  it 
 is  inspired,  is  gone,  and  power,  in  as  far  as  it  is 
 miraculous,  has  ceased,  but  love  abideth — "  now 
 abideth  faith,  hope,  and  love ;  but  the  greatest  of 
 these  is  love."  Covet  therefore,  not  the  gift 
 which  dazzles,  and  may  dazzle  you  to  ruin,  but 
 the  grace  that  sanctifies  you,  and  fits  you  for 
 eternal  happiness.  It  is  these  latent  points  in  the 
 character  of  the  gospel  that  bring  out  its  Divine 
 original,  and  show  in  the  Bible,  not  a  human  com- 
 position, bearing  all  the  traces  of  man's  dark 
 character,  but  a  Divine  gift,  bearing  on  it  the 
 image  and  superscription  of  God. 
 
 One  remark  more,  before  I  enter  upon  the 
 miracle  I  have  read.  The  continuancy  of  a 
 miracle  is  an  absurdity.  This  is  shown  by  what 
 I  said  about  our  Lord's  turning  water  into  wine. 
 The  present  law  is,  that  the  vine  shall  be  planted, 
 that  the  rain  shall  fall,  and  the  sun-beams  shine  ; 
 that  it  shall  grow  first  into  a  blossom,  and  then  bear 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  105 
 
 grapes,  that  these  shall  be  pressed  or  squeezed, 
 and  then  fermented  and  turned  into  wine.     All 
 that  Christ  did,  when  he  performed  the  miracle  at 
 Cana  of  Galilee,  was  to  shorten  the  process.    The 
 present  process  is  a  long  one,  requiring  twelve 
 months  for  its  completion ;   Christ  merely  com- 
 pressed the   twelve    months'    process    into    one 
 minute's  doing.     But  suppose  that  every  Chris- 
 tian in  this  congregation  could  turn  water  into 
 wine  by  simply  invoking  the  name   of  Jesus ; 
 suppose  that  every  man  could  do  it,  what  would 
 be  the  result  ?     Philosophers  would  immediately 
 enter  it  into  their  books  that  this  was  one  of  the 
 laws  of  nature.     There  is  nothing  more  miracu- 
 lous in  turning  water  into  wine  by  a  word  than 
 by  means  of  sun-beams  and  rain-drops.     I  ques- 
 tion, indeed,  if  what  we  call  the  natural  law  be 
 not  the  greater  and  more  striking  miracle.     But 
 why  does  the  one  seem  so  miraculous  ?    Because 
 it  is  the  unusual  thing.     If  the  two  were  inter- 
 changed, and  the  twelve  months'  process  were  to 
 come  once  in  a  hundred  years,  people  would  say 
 that  it  was  the  miracle ;  and  that  what  we  call  the 
 miraculous  process  was  the  natural  one.     What 
 was  a  miracle  when  done  first,  would  cease  to  be 
 a  miracle  by  being  done  every  day.     The  mira- 
 
106 
 
 FORESHADOWS. 
 
 cle  at  present  would  be  to  raise  a  dead  man  to 
 life ;  but  if  men  were  always  raised  as  soon  as 
 they  had  died,  it  would  cease  to  be  so  ;  it  would 
 be  the  natural  process,  and  by  becoming  a  great 
 law,  would  cease  to  be  the  vivid,  startling,  em- 
 phatic witness,  calling  man's  attention  to  great 
 truths  and  solemn  facts.  You  can  see,  there- 
 fore, that  the  demand  for  miracles  in  the  church 
 is  not  Scriptural.  To  those  persons  who  pretend 
 that  they  can  do  miracles  there  is  but  one  an- 
 swer :  "  Show  the  miracle,  and  then  we  will 
 believe."  It  is  not  what  the  church  should  have, 
 or  what  you  say  the  church  has,  or  what  you  say 
 you  can  do,  but  this  is  our  requirement,  do  it ;  a 
 miracle  is  an  appeal  to  the  senses ;  and  if  my  senses 
 testify  that  it  is  no  miracle,  no  pretensions  of 
 yours  can  satisfy  me  that  you  have  miraculous 
 power.  But  what  is  the  use  of  more  power  at  pre- 
 sent ?  "  If  they  believe  not  Moses  and  the  pro- 
 phets, neither  would  they  believe  if  one  rose  from 
 the  dead."  There  is  evidence  for  the  gospel  so 
 conclusive  that  no  miracle  can  strengthen  it.  Now 
 suppose  the  case  of  some  thoughtless,  heartless 
 person,  without  fear,  without  love,  fearing  neither 
 God  nor  man;  suppose  some  spirit,  a  depart- 
 ed relative,  were  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  appear 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  107 
 
 to  him,  and  reason,  in  the  sepulchral  tones  of  the 
 grave,  of  righteousness  and  temperance,  and 
 judgment ;  of  the  torments  of  the  lost,  of  the  joys 
 of  the  saved ;  that  person's  hair  would  stand  on 
 end,  his  heart  would  multiply  its  beatings,  his 
 whole  system  would  be  depressed  ;  he  would  be 
 startled  in  the  morning,  and  begin  to  pray,  if  he 
 never  prayed  before;  he  would  begin  to  feel,  to 
 think,  to  fear,  to  be  alarmed,  to  inquire  about  what 
 he  was  to  do  to  be  saved ;  but  day  after  day  the 
 impression  would  grow  weaker,  and  at  last,  when 
 he  had  got  fairly  into  the  world  again,  and  the 
 first  sharp  impression  had  been  blunted,  he 
 would  begin  to  say,  "  Well,  I  believed  it  was 
 so  and  so  that  appeared  to  me ;  I  wonder  if  it 
 was ;  was  it  a  delusio  visits  after  all  ?  It  may  have 
 been  something  I  had  eaten  that  disagreed  with 
 me,  the  nightmare — some  strange  fancy  that  went 
 across  my  mind ;  perhaps  it  was  no  miracle  after 
 all."  So  it  would  be  in  every  instance,  men 
 would  feel  awed  while  the  miracle  lasted ;  they 
 would  return  again  to  their  follies  when  the  mi^ 
 racle  had  ceased  to  make  its  impression.  We  do 
 not  want  power.  I  would  not  be  a  convert  to 
 Christianity  by  any  power  that  could  be  made  to 
 exert  its  pressure  upon  me.     Ruined  as  my  soul 
 
108  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 is,  it  must  be  won,  not  driven ;  and  weak  as  my 
 understanding  is,  it  must  be  convinced,  not  taken 
 by  storm ;  and  poor  as  my  heart  is,  it  must  be 
 made  to  love,  or  it  will  not  beat  in  unison  with 
 God's  mind  at  all.  Therefore,  I  want  no  miracu- 
 lous power  to  awe  me,  to  terrify  me,  to  force  me  ; 
 I  want  to  see  love  manifested  in  Christ,  that  I  may 
 love  him  who  loved  me ;  I  want  to  read  this 
 blessed  book,  and  study  it,  and  meditate  on  it, 
 and  to  come  to  the  conviction  upon  clear  grounds, 
 upon  conclusive  evidence,  that  it  is  God's  book  ; 
 and  then  I  shall  be  willing,  in  the  day  of  God's 
 power,  to  be  saved,  not  against  my  will,  but  in 
 the  full  exercise  of  all  my  faculties  and  powers. 
 
 So  far,  then,  I  have  proceeded  in  examining 
 recent  miracles,  and  contrasting  them  with  those 
 of  the  New  Testament.  Let  us  now  turn  our 
 attention  to  the  beautiful  miracle  recorded  in  the 
 14th  chapter  of  Matthew. 
 
 Its  facts  are  so  plain  that  nobody  can  mistake 
 them ;  few  need  them  to  be  explained.  There 
 are  often  passages  in  the  Bible  so  exquisitely 
 beautiful  and  simple,  that  I  have  no  doubt  men 
 of  taste  sometimes  say  to  themselves,  as  they  hear 
 or  read  my  attempts  to  explain  them,  "  I  wish 
 you  woidd  let  that  alone ;  it  is  your  touching  it 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  109 
 
 that  weakens  it ;  trying  to  explain  it  deteriorates 
 it;  it  is  so  simple,  so  expressive  in  its  lonely 
 grandeur,  that  it  speaks  with  the  greatest  power 
 when  it  is  left  to  speak  alone."  Still  there  are 
 lessons  we  may  draw  from  it ;  without  explain- 
 ing the  outward  miracle  we  may  draw  lessons 
 from  it  instructive  to  us  in  our  inner  experience. 
 
 It  is  said  that  Jesus  constrained  his  disciples 
 to  go  into  the  ship.  I  look  upon  the  ship  as  a 
 type,  a  symbol  of  the  whole  church — the  true 
 church  of  Christ ;  I  look  upon  the  disciples  in 
 it  as  a  great  symbol  of  Christ's  people  in  this 
 world ;  and  I  look  upon  Christ's  walking  on  the 
 waves,  and  coming  to  still  the  storm,  as  a  lesson 
 instructive  and  comforting  to  us.  We  notice, 
 that  Jesus  constrained  his  disciples  to  go  into 
 the  ship,  which  was  overtaken  by  the  storm. 
 We  are  never  to  run  into  affliction  unsent ;  it  is 
 as  sinful  to  run  into  affliction  that  we  have  no 
 business  with,  as  it  is  to  run  from  affliction  into 
 which  God  has  sent  us. 
 
 While  the  disciples  went  into  the  ship,  how 
 was  Christ  engaged?  He  was  praying  on  a 
 mountain-side  apart.  While  Christ's  people 
 suffer,  whatever  that  suffering  be,  Christ  himself 
 has  not  forgotten  them,  but  is  pleading  and  in- 
 
110  •  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 terceding  for  them  on  that  loftier  mount  where 
 he  makes  intercession  for  all  who  come  to  God 
 through  him. 
 
 It  was  after  the  disciples  had  seen  the  miracle 
 of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  that  Jesus  sent  them 
 forth  to  this  stormy  and  tempestuous  voyage. 
 Have  we  not  in  this  an  illustration  of  Christ's 
 dealings  with  his  people  still  ?  He  never  sends 
 his  people  into  the  furnace  till,  like  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abednego,  he  has  strengthened 
 them  to  bear  it.  He  does  not  send  them  to  suf- 
 fer trials  till  he  has  first  shown  what  his  power 
 and  sympathy  are.  He  fed  them  miraculously 
 with  loaves  and  fishes  before  he  sent  them  to 
 encounter  the  storms  and  waves  of  an  angry 
 and  tempestuous  sea.  We  thus  learn  this  bless- 
 ed lesson — that  no  Christian  goes  a  warfare  at 
 his  own  charges,  that  God  will  give  him  strength, 
 if  he  seek  it,  for  his  journey,  that  he  will  give 
 him  the  element  of  victory  for  the  battle,  that 
 he  will  first  manifest  to  him  the  riches  of  his 
 o-race.  He  will  then  send  him  into  trouble  in 
 order  to  test  his  confidence  and  trust  in  him. 
 
 I  may  notice  another  interesting  fact.  It  is, 
 that  Christ  always  proportions  his  trials  to  the 
 strength  and  progress  of  his  people.  I  might  illus- 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  Ill 
 
 trate  this' by  referring  to  the  8th  chapter  of  Mat- 
 thew, where  another  storm  is  spoken  of,  which 
 I  shall  notice  on  a  subsequent  occasion.  In  the 
 8th  chapter  of  Matthew  it  was  a  tempest  merely ; 
 here  it  was  a  tempest  contrary  to  them.  In  the 
 first  storm  Christ  was  in  the  ship,  though  asleep  ; 
 here  he  was  not  in  the  ship.  In  the  first  storm  it 
 was  day -light;  here  it  was  darkness.  In  the 
 first  they  were  near  the  shore ;  here  they  were 
 afar  off.  In  the  one  Christ  was  with  them ;  here, 
 in  the  other,  it  was  their  complaint  that  Jesus  was 
 not  yet  come.  So  we  learn  that  Christ  does  not 
 send  his  people  into  a  heavier  storm  till  he  has 
 accustomed  them  to  a  lighter  one,  that  as  they 
 grow  in  strength  he  increases  the  burdens  which 
 Christians  have  to  bear.  And  is  it  not  well  that 
 it  is  so  ?  The  question  is  sometimes  asked — 
 What  would  you  do  if  persecution  were  to  come, 
 and  you  were  called  upon  to  die  at  the  stake 
 rather  than  surrender  your  religion  ?  The  answer 
 is,  it  is  not  what  you  feel  now  that  is  to  be  the 
 test  of  what  you  are,  but  what  you  will  do  then. 
 When  God  suffers  martyr  times  to  be,  he  gives 
 martyr  strength  to  his  people  to  go  through 
 them ;  God  fits  his  people  for  the  crisis, — "  As 
 their  day  is,  so  shall  their  strength  be."  We  are 
 
112  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 not  to  speculate  how  we  shall  get  through  tlais 
 and  how  we  shall  get  through  that,  judging  from 
 our  present  strength  how  to  meet  our  future 
 trials ;  but  our  right  course  is  to  trust  in  the 
 Lord,  knowing  that  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for 
 you.  As  thy  day  is  thy  strength  shall  be." 
 What  a  childlike  position  is  this,  and  what  a  de- 
 lightful one — that  we  are  not  to  speculate  about 
 the  future  at  all,  but  to  see  that  we  now  trust 
 implicitly  in  our  Father. 
 
 I  may  notice,  too,  from  this  storm,  that  trials 
 and  afflictions  are  always  the  lot  of  the  people  of 
 God.  He  is  not  the  worst  Christian  who  has 
 most  trials,  but,  if  one  may  judge  at  all,  he  who 
 has  fewest.  "  Through  much  tribulation,"  says 
 the  apostle,  "  ye  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
 heaven."  "  In  the  world,"  says  our  Lord,  ec  ye 
 shall  have  tribulation."  This  is  the  great  law. 
 When  persons  are  in  affliction,  therefore,  they 
 should  not  think  it  strange,  "  as  though  some 
 strange  thing  had  happened  unto  them,"  but 
 feel  that  it  is  the  path,  the  journey,  the  road,  the 
 career,  chalked  out  for  them.  It  is  as  necessary 
 that  you  should  lose  that  money,  that  health,  en- 
 counter that  trial,  and  buffet  that  storm,  as  it  is 
 that  Christ  should   die  for  you,  and   that  you 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  113 
 
 should  believe  on  him.  Then  this  blessed  truth 
 will  always  comfort,  the  wave  that  reaches  the 
 highest  only  lifts  the  ship  nearest  to  the  sky; 
 the  wind  that  blows  the  fiercest  only  wafts  that 
 ship  more  speedily  to  the  shore  ;  and  the  light- 
 ning that  cleaves  the  skies  and  rends  the  atmo- 
 sphere serves  only  to  light  God's  ark  to  that 
 glorious  haven  where  it  shall  rest  upon  its  sha- 
 dow, and  in  the  enjoyment  of  perpetual  peace. 
 
 "Whilst  the  disciples  were  buffeting  the  storm 
 Jesus  was  praying  for  them  on  a  hill-side  un- 
 known to  them.  What,  we  may  ask  under  this 
 head,  is  it  that  Christ  prays  for  his  people  when 
 they  are  in  affliction  ?  No  doubt  it  is  first,  as  he 
 himself  has  indicated,  that  their  faith  fail  not. 
 "  Simon,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  thee,  that  he 
 may  sift  thee  as  wheat,  but  I  have  prayed  for 
 thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not."  I  think  there  is 
 something  exquisitely  beautiful  in  this,  that 
 Christ  does  not  wait  till  we  are  in  trouble,  and 
 then  pray  for  us  ;  but  that  he  prays  for  us  first, 
 and  afterwards  we  are  placed  in  trouble  :  "  I  have 
 prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not,  before 
 Satan  hath  got  liberty  to  sift  thee  as  wheat." 
 As  long  as  faith  remains,  let  the  storm  be  never 
 so  severe,  this  faith  is  still  "  the  substance  of 
 
114  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 things   hoped  for,  the    evidence  of  things    not 
 seen,"  the  victory,  therefore,  that  overcometh  the 
 world.    I  can  also  well  conceive  that  when  Christ 
 intercedes  for  his  people  in  trouble,  it  is  that  their 
 sins  may  be  forgiven.     There  is  no  storm  where 
 there  is  not  sin ;  there  is  no  storm  in  which  there 
 is  not  a  Jonah ;  there  is  a  reason  for  it ;  there 
 is  a  why  and  a  wherefore ;  and  if  we  are  Christ's 
 people,  it  will  be  his  intercessory  prayer  that  our 
 sins,  which  have  brought  the  affliction,  may  be 
 blotted  out,  and  then  the  affliction  will  be  either 
 removed,  or  will  be  made  the  chariot  that  wafts  us 
 more  speedily  to  glory,  and  honour,  and  immor- 
 tality.    I  can  conceive  that  another  subject  of 
 Christ's  intercessory  prayer  is  that  the  affliction, 
 whatever  it  is,  may  be  sanctified.   Of  all  dreadful 
 judgments,  unsanctified  afflictions  are  the  worst. 
 Those  persons  who  are  made  to  think  and  feel 
 seriously  under  great  losses,  and  then  by  and  by 
 think  as  they  did  before,  have  come  under  only 
 more  dreadful  judgments;  their  hearts  have  be- 
 come more  hardened,  and  their  prospects  of  feel- 
 ing the  power  of  the  gospel  are  fainter  and  fewer. 
 Another  part,  I  conceive,  of  Christ's  intercessory 
 prayer  must  be  that  we  may  not,  in  affliction,  use 
 unlawful  means  to  get  out  of  it.     When  persons 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  115 
 
 are  in  sore  perplexity,  in  circumstances  of  great 
 pecuniary  embarrassment,  how  many  are  the 
 temptations  in  the  commercial  world  to  do  some- 
 thing sinful,  something  unjust,  dishonest,  rash, 
 something  altogether  unchristian,  in  order  to 
 escape  from  the  present  overwhelming  pressure. 
 If  we  are  Christ's  people,  he  will  pray  for  us, 
 that  we  may  patiently  wait,  that  we  may  con- 
 stantly trust,  that  we  may  never  have  recourse 
 to  anything  he  has  forbidden,  in  order  to  escape 
 from  the  trial  in  which  he  has  placed  us.  Such 
 then  we  may  suppose  to  be  the  substance  of 
 Christ's  intercessory  prayer  for  his  people  in  the 
 midst  of  affliction. 
 
 You  may  notice  another  peculiarity  here.  It 
 is  said  that  the  disciples,  in  the  midst  of  the 
 storm,  rowed  onwards  till  the  fourth  watch  of  the 
 night.  What  does  this  teach  us  ?  That  duties 
 are  ours  in  all  circumstances,  however  difficult, 
 however  trying,  or  perplexing.  You  cannot 
 be  placed  in  any  illness  where  it  is  not  your 
 duty  to  get  the  best  advice  in  your  power  ;  you 
 cannot  be  plunged  into  any  perplexity  in  which 
 it  is  not  your  duty  to  use  every  available  element 
 to  escape  from  it.  It  is  a  law  in  God's  provi- 
 dential  dealings,  that   those  who  do    not   help 
 
 i  2 
 
116  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 themselves  in  sucli  matters  he  will  not  help. 
 Means  and  duties  are  ours,  the  issue  and  the  glory 
 of  our  deliverance  will  be  exclusively  God's. 
 
 It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  disciples  here 
 did  not  pray  —  we  do  not  hear  that  they  did 
 so.  Perhaps  they  were  too  overwhelmed  for 
 prayer  ;  yet  Christ  came'  to  them.  He  does  not 
 forget  us  when  we  forget  him;  he  does  not  fail  to 
 intercede  for  us  when  we  cease  to  look  to  him.  If 
 his  interest  in  us  were  always  contingent  on  our 
 felt  interest  in  him,  few  indeed  and  far  between 
 would  be  the  saved.  But,  blessed  be  his  name, 
 often  as  we  forget  him  he  forgets  not  us ;  he 
 restores  our  souls,  brings  us  back  by  his  chas- 
 tisement, and  preserves'  us  through  his  might, 
 and  to  his  glory.     How  consolatory  is  this ! 
 
 We  read  that  when  Christ  came  to  them,  he 
 came  walking  on  the  waves.  Moses  went  through 
 the  channels  of  a  divided  sea ;  Christ  marched 
 upon  the  bosom  of  the  undivided  sea,  turning  its 
 waves  into  a  pavement,  and  its  waters  into  a  pro- 
 menade, indicating  that  the  Land-lord  and  the 
 Sea-lord  of  the  universe  was  present  there,  and 
 that  nature  felt  that  he  was  so.  Does  not  this 
 teach  us  that  just  as  the  waves  of  the  sea  were 
 under  Christ's  feet,  so  all  difficulties,  all  trials 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  117 
 
 all  that  his  people  fear,  are  under  his  feet  still. 
 Sin,  death,  and  Satan  are  under  Christ's  feet; 
 they  are  conquered  foes;  death  has  been  de- 
 nuded of  its  sting,  the  grave  of  its  victory. 
 Satan's  head  is  bruised ;  all  are  under  Christ's 
 power,  trodden  down  as  the  pathway  on  which 
 he  marches  to  deliver,  not  standing  up  as  ob- 
 structions to  prevent  his  approach  to  us. 
 
 While  the  disciples  were  placed  in  great  trial, 
 indeed  almost  despairing ;  yet  the  glory  of  their 
 deliverance  made  them  forget  all  their  past  sor- 
 row and  trial.  So  will  it  be  with  Christ's  people 
 still.  Their  deliverance  will  be  so  glorious  that 
 they  will  think  nothing  of  the  storm  through 
 which  they  have  passed ;  the  better  land  will  be 
 so  beautiful  that  they  will  wonder  that  they  did 
 not  wish  to  reach  it  long  ago.  "  I  reckon,"  says 
 the  apostle — one  who  had  been  in  perils  by  sea, 
 and  in  perils  by  land,  and  had  been  also  in  the 
 third  heaven — "  I  reckon  [he  says,  from  expe- 
 rience, not  from  theory]  that  the  afflictions  of 
 this  present  life  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
 with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed." 
 
 Another  instructive  feature  of  the  miracle  is, 
 the  time  when  Christ  came  to  deliver  his  dis- 
 ciples.    The  ancient  division  of  the  night  was 
 
118  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 into  three  watches,  but  here  the  Roman  division 
 is  adopted,  which  was  into  four.     Christ  allows 
 them  to  struggle  in  the  storm,  to  get  only  half 
 across  the  sea ;  and  then  he  came  to  them  at  the 
 fourth  watch,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
 They  had  struggled  from  six  o'clock  the  previous 
 evening,  and  had  made  but  little  way.    Was  that 
 late  hour  the  best  time  for  him  to  come  ?  It  was  : 
 he  came  at  the  moment  when  it  was  most  for  his 
 glory,  and  best  for  their  good.     If  he  had  come 
 earlier,  they  would  not  have  felt  that  their  means 
 were  exhausted,  and  that  human  strength  was 
 weakness  ;  if  he  had  waited,  and  come  later,  they 
 would  have  been  plunged  into  despair,  or  over- 
 whelmed.    He  came  at  the  moment  when  man's 
 extremity  was  God's  opportunity,  and  man's  de- 
 liverance was  God's  glory.    And  so  it  will  be  in 
 all  the  afflictions  of  his  own  people.     I  have  no- 
 ticed in  another  part  of  my  exposition  that  they 
 used  means.     "  Toiling  and  rowing  "  is  the  lan- 
 guage of  one  of  the  evangelists.    I  have  said  that 
 it  is  our  duty  in  affliction,  whatever  the  affliction 
 be,  to  use  such  means  as  God  has  put  in  our 
 power.     If  Christ  were  God  only  he  would  not 
 sanction  the  use  of  means ;   if  Christ  were  man 
 only  he  would  use  nothing  but  means ;  but  be- 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  119 
 
 cause  he  is  God  and  man  he  uses  the  means, 
 and  gives  the  blessing  in  the  use  of  them ;  and 
 oftener  is  his  glory  more  developed  in  blessing- 
 means  which  are  feeble  than  in  working  against 
 means  that  are  strong,  or  without  means  altoge- 
 ther. The  blowing  of  horns  led  to  the  downfal 
 of  Jericho — means  very  inadequate,  yet  means. 
 Gideon's  lamps  led  to  the  victory  of  the  three 
 hundred  men — means,  yet  seemingly  very  worth- 
 less. The  apostles  triumphed  by  means  that 
 looked  very  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
 grandeur  of  the  world  around  them.  Sense  pro- 
 nounces means  to  be  inadequate  ;  faith  will  not 
 idolize  them,  but  will  use  the  means,  and  look 
 to  God  for  the  blessing.  What  will  you  do, 
 when  there  are  no  means  left,  when  you  are  in 
 such  trouble,  in  such  affliction,  in  such  over- 
 whelming depression,  that  there  is  no  way  of 
 escape  upon  the  right  hand  nor  upon  the  left, 
 when  there  is  nothing  that  you  can  do  ?  You  are 
 just  to  do  as  God  told  his  people  to  do  before. 
 The  Israelites  said,  when  Pharaoh  was  behind 
 them  and  the  Red  Sea  before  them,  "  Be- 
 cause there  were  no  graves  in  Egypt,  hast 
 thou  taken  us  away  to  die  in  the  wilderness  ? 
 Wherefore  hast  thou  dealt  thus  with  us,  to  carry 
 
120  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 us  forth  out  of  Egypt  ?  Is  not  this  the  word  that 
 we  did  tell  thee  in  Egypt,  saying,  Let  us  alone, 
 that  we  may  serve  the  Egyptians  ?  For  it  had 
 been  better  for  us  to  serve  the  Egyptians,  than 
 that  we  should  die  in  the  wilderness.  And 
 Moses  said  unto  the  people,  Fear  ye  not,  stand 
 still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord  which  he 
 will  show  to  you  to-day ; "  and  the  sea  divided, 
 and  left  a  path  across  its  mighty  waters.  And  so 
 should  it  be  with  us.  When  you  are  in  such 
 tribulation  that  you  can  see  no  possibility  of 
 escape,  in  such  perplexity  that  you  do  not  know 
 how  to  get  out  of  it,  then  is  the  time  to  stand 
 still ;  not  to  stand  still,  and  look  at  your  own 
 shadow,  or  trust  in  your  own  wisdom,  but  stand 
 still,  and  learn,  and  pray,  and  see  the  salvation 
 of  the  Lord,  which  he  will  show  you. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  when  Christ  comes  to  his 
 people,  how  often  do  his  people  mistake  him ! 
 It  is  said  here,  that  when  Jesus  went  to  his  dis- 
 ciples in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night,  they 
 "  saw  him  walking  on  the  sea,  and  were  troubled, 
 saying,  It  is  a  spirit."  The  Jews  had  a  popular 
 belief,  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  visited  their 
 relatives  long  after  death  ;  and  in  this  instance 
 they  thought  a  spirit  of  some  departed  one  was 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  121 
 
 coming  to  them.  Why  did  they  misapprehend 
 it  ?  They  had  known,  and  seen,  and  heard  Jesus 
 before.  When  people  are  in  very  great  trouble, 
 they  generally  look  at  what  way  they  think  it 
 possible  for  them  to  escape,  and  if  they  do  not  see 
 deliverance  coining  in  that  one  way,  they  leap 
 to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  no  escape  at  all. 
 These  poor  discirnes  thought  there  was  but  one 
 way  of  escape  from  the  storm — that  was  to  reach 
 the  other  side ;  and  when  Christ  came  to  deliver 
 them  by  a  new  and  unexpected  way,  they  misap- 
 prehended him,  and  forgot  what  he  had  said  of 
 himself — that  his  way  is  in  the  whirlwind,  and 
 his  path  in  the  great  waters,  that  his  ways  are 
 not  as  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts. 
 But  there  is  another  reason :  when  there  is  sin  in 
 the  conscience  there  is  always  disturbance  in  the 
 heart,  and  misapprehension  in  the  eye.  What 
 is  it  that  makes  cowards  of  us  all  ?  Sin  within 
 us  ;  and  whenever  affliction  comes  to  a  man  who 
 lives  in  sin,  as  sure  as  that  man  lives  he  will  see 
 his  sin  in  the  affliction ;  and  even  when  deliver- 
 ance is  come,  he  is  so  convinced  of  his  demerit 
 that  that  deliverance  he  misconstrues,  and  be- 
 lieves it  to  be  only  a  more  desolating  form  of  the 
 deserved  judgments  of  God.  So  with  these  poor 
 
■>& 
 
 122  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 disciples.  They  were  conscious  of  great  sins,  and 
 when  the  deliverer  came  they  looked  at  him 
 through  the  medium  of  those  sins,  and  expected 
 only  a  destroyer.  Thus  it  is  said,  "  they  were 
 afraid." 
 
 But  how  beautifully  does  our  Lord  reply  to 
 them, "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  That  voice  which 
 sounded  so  musical  upon  the  streets  of  Jerusalem 
 — which  had  spoken  such  words  of  power,  in 
 turning  a  few  loaves  into  many  —  which  had 
 been  sweeter  than  a  mother's  to  her  firstborn 
 one  —  that  voice  rose,  and  rung  out  its  own 
 peculiar  melody  amid  the  roar  of  the  winds 
 and  the  noise  of  the  sea-waves,  and  carried 
 consolation  to  their  drooping  hearts  — "  It  is 
 I,  be  not  afraid."  Their  sorrow  was  instantly 
 turned  into  joy,  their  faith  into  absolute  assur- 
 ance ;  and  they  were  perfectly  happy.  But 
 there  is  more  than  this.  Strange  it  is  that  we 
 need  not  only  to  know  doctrines,  but  we  need 
 grace  to  enable  us  to  make  suitable  deductions 
 from  them.  Many  people  pride  themselves  on 
 their  reason,  others  on  their  memory,  others  on 
 their  imagination  ;  but,  in  dealing  with  God's 
 word,  all  three  will  go  wrong  if  not  guided  by 
 God's  Spirit.    The  inference,  for  instance,  of  one 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    STORM.  123 
 
 man,  from  the  fact  of  the  shortness  of  life,  the 
 certainty  of  death,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the 
 epoch  of  it,  is,  "  Let  us  eat,  drink,  and  be 
 merry,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  Here  is  a  false 
 conclusion  from  true  premises.  The  believer 
 draws  a  right  conclusion  from  the  same  premises 
 when  he  says,  "  Therefore,  let  us  weep  as  though 
 we  wept  not,  marry  as  though  we  married  not, 
 rejoice  as  though  we  rejoiced  not,  using  the 
 world  as  not  abusing  it,  for  the  fashion  of  it 
 passeth  away."  So  when  Christ  here  spoke  so 
 beautifully  amid  the  sea-waves,  and  to  the  tossed 
 and  tempest-struck  ship,  "  It  is  I ;"  if  he  had 
 said  nothing  more,  they  would  have  said,  "  He  is 
 come  to  sink  us  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea."  He 
 therefore  helps  their  reason  to  draw  a  right  con- 
 clusion, as  well  as  informs  their  understanding  of 
 the  right  doctrine;  "It  is  I,"  therefore ',  he  says, 
 "  be  not  afraid."  There  is  something  very  beau- 
 tiful and  very  delightful  in  this  to  a  Christian, 
 "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  Wherever  Christ  is, 
 there  fear  is  an  unnatural  thing  ;  wherever 
 Christianity  is,  there  "  not  afraid  "  is  the  legiti- 
 mate conclusion ;  wherever  God's  grace  is  in  the 
 heart,  that  heart  ought  to  bound  with  present  or 
 expected  joy.    Hence,  as  I  have  repeatedly  said, 
 
124  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  more  we  see  and  know  the  Saviour  the  more 
 happy  we  shall  be.  Christianity  is  good  news. 
 The  voice,  "  It  is  I/'  is  the  key-note  of  a 
 thousand  hymns  of  joy,  and  gratitude,  and 
 thanksgiving,  and  praise.  Wherever  Christ  is, 
 there  is  peace  and  happiness. 
 
 Now,  my  dear  friends,  are  you  placed  in  cir- 
 cumstances of  trial,  circumstances  of  dire  and 
 overwhelming  affliction,  or  distress  of  any  kind  ? 
 Hear,  in  the  depth  of  it,  a  still,  small,  but  beau- 
 tiful voice,  "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  Are  you 
 in  sickness,  under  the  wasting  ravages  of  disease, 
 anticipating  a  grave  rather  than  a  cure?  Are 
 you  pained  and  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  what 
 is  before  you — by  the  sufferings  that  are  within 
 you  ?  Dear  brethren,  it  is  not  chance,  it  is  not 
 accident,  it  is  not  a  random  occurrence,  to  be  ex- 
 plained by  secondary  causes.  Hear,  in  the  midst 
 of  that  sickness,  around  that  sick  bed,  the  blessed 
 truth,  "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  Are  you  mourn- 
 ing and  deploring  the  loss  of  those  that  are  near 
 and  dear  to  you  ?  Hark !  there  is  sounding  from 
 the  grave  in  which  you  deposit  their  dead  dust, 
 "  It  is  I ;"  and  read  upon  that  tombstone,  in  the 
 coming  fore-light  of  the  resurrection  morning, 
 "  Be  not  afraid."     When  that  day  comes,  that  a 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    ST011M.  125 
 
 new  voice  shall  pierce  the  heights  and  depths  of 
 the  universe,  and  shall  ring,  as  with  trumpet- 
 sound,  through  the  homes  of  the  living  and  the 
 sepulchres  of  the  dead ;  and  when  the  dead  dust 
 gathering  together  from  every  nook,  and  cranny, 
 and  corner  of  the  wide  world,  and,  becoming  ani- 
 mate and  vocal,  shall  shout,  "  We  come,  we 
 come,"  responsive  to  the  terrible  summons — then, 
 brethren,  it  is  " I  "  that  summons  you  to  the  first 
 resurrection ;  it  is  "  Be  not  afraid  "  that  is  the 
 utterance  of  him  who  is  to  be  your  Judge.  And 
 this  shall  be  your  memorial,  or  rather  your  new 
 song,  "  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in 
 this  first  resurrection."  Here,  then,  is  the  secret 
 of  all  peace,  the  spring  of  all  happiness,  to  know 
 that  Christ  is  in  the  trouble,  that  Christ  has  sent 
 the  trial,  and  that  he  is  overruling  it  for  his  glory. 
 We  read  that  the  disciples  received  Jesus  into 
 the  ship,  (I  do  not  touch  upon  Peter  walking  on 
 the  waters,)  and  immediately  the  wind  ceased. 
 What  is  the  secret  of  happiness  then  ?  Christ  in 
 the  heart.  It  is  when  Christ  is  in  the  heart  its 
 life,  when  Christ  is  in  the  conscience  its  legisla- 
 tor, when  Christ  is  in  the  understanding  its  light, 
 that  harmony  takes  the  place  of  discord,  sunshine 
 of  cloud,  and  happiness  of  misery  and  woe.    You 
 
126  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 may  rest  assured  of  this,  all  experience  is  proving 
 it,  all  facts  attest  it,  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
 as  happiness  by  any  mechanical  arrangements 
 we  can  make ;  it  can  only  be  secured  by  a  liv- 
 ing possession  of  the  living  Christ  in  the  hearts 
 of  believers.  Christ  in  the  heart  will  give  peace ; 
 Christ  in  the  home  will  light  it  up  with  new 
 radiance ;  Christ  in  a  nation  will  give  its  throne 
 new  stability,  and  its  people  new  peace ;  and 
 Christ  in  the  wide  world  will  diffuse  around  a 
 millennium,  just  as  the  sun  shoots  around  him 
 rays  of  heat  and  glory. 
 
 I  must  add,  that  this  stilling  of  the  storm  was, 
 on  Christ's  part,  an  earnest  of  that  universal 
 calm  which  will  be  when  he  whose  right  it  is 
 will  come.  I  have  noticed,  I  think,  before  this 
 interesting  feature  in  all  the  miracles  of  Christ — 
 that  they  are  essentially  redemptive  in  their  char- 
 acter. I  explained  that  every  miracle  that  Christ 
 did  was,  not  like  Loyola's,  or  Xavier's,  or  Liguo- 
 ri's,  a  wild,  arbitrary  display  of  power,  but  one  of 
 the  fore-lights  of  the  restoration  of  all  things,  an 
 earnest  of  what  shall  be.  When  he  healed  the 
 sick,  for  instance,  that  was  an  earnest  and  a  fore- 
 taste of  a  sickless  state;  when  he  stilled  the 
 waves  and  the  storm,  it  was  an  earnest  of  the 
 
THE    DISCIPLIS    IN    THE    ST011M.  127 
 
 perfect  calm  tliat  shall  be ;  and  when  he  raised 
 the  dead,  it  was  the  first-fruits  of  the  first  resur- 
 rection. And  I  may  notice  this  most  interesting 
 fact,  that,  just  in  proportion  as  men  grow  Christ- 
 like in  character,  they  become  Christ-like  in 
 power.  I  believe  that  greater  skill  in  medicine, 
 greater  attainments  in  science,  greater  loyalty 
 among  our  people,  are  all  associated  by  an  indis- 
 soluble law  with  greater  grace  in  men's  hearts. 
 It  is  in  the  most  Christian  lands  that  famine  is 
 the  least  felt,  and  that  the  few  loaves  are  multi- 
 plied most  into  the  many.  It  is  in  Christian 
 lands,  too,  that  man  gains  the  greatest  supremacy 
 over  nature  around  him.  What  monarch  rules 
 the  waves  ?  The  monarch  that  rules  by  the  grace 
 of  God — "  Dei  gratia,'''  as  the  humblest  of  our 
 coins  tell.  What  monarch  is  admiral  of  the  seas  ? 
 The  monarch  that  is  most  Christian.  In  pro- 
 portion as  Christianity  spreads,  you  see  medical 
 skill,  military  power,  (as  far  as  it  is  defensive,) 
 naval  power,  scientific  knowledge,  spreading  too. 
 The  fact  is,  Christianity  is  a  glorious  tree;  and 
 science  and  literature  and  power  are  the  para 
 site  plants,  that  twine  around  it,  draw  their 
 nutriment  from  it,  depend  for  support  and  en- 
 durance on  it.     This  is  a  most  delightful  fact, 
 
128  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  just  as  a  country  becomes  Christian,  that 
 country  excels  in  lordship  over  disease,  over  sea, 
 and  land,  and  science,  and  literature,  and  phi- 
 losophy. If  you  were  now  to  institute  a  com- 
 parison between  the  nations  of  the  earth,  you 
 would  find  that  the  land  that  has  most  Christian 
 light  in  it,  has  the  most  science,  literature,  phi- 
 losophy, poetry,  and  genius  in  it  too.  I  believe 
 medicine  is  a  science  constantly  progressing ; 
 and  I  have  no  doubt  that,  as  we  become  more 
 Christian,  there  will  be  more  control  over  dis- 
 ease. I  look  upon  the  discovery  of  vaccin- 
 ation as  only  a  shadow  of  the  great  fact  of 
 Christ's  healing  diseases ;  and  upon  every  bril- 
 liant discovery  in  medicine,  (and  many  brilliant 
 ones  have  been  made  lately,)  as  a  fore-light  of 
 that  day  when  there  shall  be  no  sickness,  nor 
 death,  nor  any  more  sin.  I  believe  there  is  a 
 deeper  and  more  intimate  connexion,  underlying 
 what  we  see,  between  grace  in  the  heart,  and 
 light  in  the  intellect,  and  power  over  all  that  is 
 around  us,  than  many  generally  suppose.  If 
 this  lesson  could  be  impressed  upon  us — that 
 they  that  are  richest  in  grace  shall  be  mightiest 
 also  in  power — we  might  gain,  perhaps,  another 
 step  towards  that  glorious  consummation,  when 
 
THE    DISCIPLES    IN    THE    ST011M.  129 
 
 Christ  shall  reign  in  every  heart,  and  be  all  and 
 in  all. 
 
 The  result  of  this  miracle  was  that  the  disciples 
 worshipped  Christ.  That  should  be  the  result  of 
 its  study  to  us.  Have  you  been  delivered  from 
 affliction  ?  Worship  Christ.  Have  you  been  pros- 
 pered in  the  world  ?  Worship  Christ.  Have  you 
 escaped  a  watery  grave  ?  Have  you  been  saved  in 
 a  railway  accident  ?  Have  you  been  spared  in 
 circumstances  of  imminent  danger  ?  Have  you 
 been  recovered  from  disease  ?  Be  thankful  for 
 the  physician's  skill,  for  the  medicine's  power  ; 
 but  look  beyond  the  physician,  and  above  the 
 medicine,  and,  like  the  disciples  who  were  de- 
 livered from  the  storm,  worship  Jesus. 
 
LECTURE  V 
 
 THE    SORROWING    SISTERS. 
 
 Now  a  certain  man  was  sick,  named  Lazarus,  of  Bethany,  the 
 town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha.  (It  was  that  Mary 
 which  anointed  the  Lord  with  ointment,  and  wiped  his  feet 
 with  her  hair,  whose  brother  Lazarus  was  sick.)  Therefore 
 his  sisters  sent  unto  him,  saying,  Lord,  behold,  he  whom  thou 
 lovest  is  sick.  When  Jesus  heard  that,  he  said,  This  sick- 
 ness is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son 
 of  God  might  be  glorified  thereby.  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha, 
 and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus.  When  he  had  heard  therefore 
 that  he  was  sick,  he  abode  two  days  still  in  the  same  place 
 where  he  was.  Then  after  that  saith  he  to  his  disciples,  Let 
 us  go  into  Judaea  again.  His  disciples  say  unto  him,  Master, 
 the  Jews  of  late  sought  to  stone  thee  ;  and  goest  thou  thither 
 again  ?  Jesus  answered,  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the 
 day  ?  If  any  man  walk  in  the  day,  he  stumbleth  not,  because 
 he  seeth  the  light  of  this  world.  But  if  a  man  walk  in  the 
 night,  he  stumbleth,  because  there  is  no  light  in  him.  These 
 things  said  he  :  and  after  that  he  saith  unto  them,  Our  friend 
 Lazarus  sleepeth ;  but  I  go,  that  I  may  awake  him  out  of 
 sleep.  Then  said  his  disciples,  Lord,  if  he  sleep,  he  shall  do 
 well.  Howbeit  Jesus  spake  of  his  death  :  but  they  thought 
 that  he  had  spoken  of  taking  of  rest  in  sleep.  Then  said  Jesus 
 unto  them  plainly,  Lazarus  is  dead.  And  I  am  glad  for  your 
 sakes  that  I  was  not  there,  to  the  intent  ye  may  believe ; 
 nevertheless  let  us  go  unto  him.  Then  said  Thomas,  which 
 is  called  Didymus,  unto  his  fellow  disciples,  Let  us  also  go, 
 
The  Sorrowing  Sisters. 
 
 P.  130. 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  131 
 
 that  we  may  die  with  him.  Then  when  Jesus  came,  he  found 
 that  he  had  lain  in  the  grave  four  days  already.  Now 
 Bethany  was  nigh  unto  Jerusalem,  about  fifteen  furlongs  off; 
 and  many  of  the  Jews  came  to  Martha  and  Mary,  to  comfort 
 them  concerning  their  brother.  Then  Martha,  as  soon  as  she 
 heard  that  Jesus  was  coming,  went  and  met  him  :  but  Mary 
 sat  still  in  the  house.  Then  said  Martha  unto  Jesus,  Lord, 
 if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  But  I 
 know,  that  even  now,  whatsoever  thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  God 
 will  give  it  thee.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Thy  brother  shall  rise 
 again.  Martha  saith  unto  him,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise 
 again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day.  Jesus  said  unto 
 her,  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the  life  :  he  that  believeth  in 
 me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  :  and  whosoever 
 liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.  Believest  thou 
 this  ?  She  saith  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord  :  I  believe  that  thou  art 
 the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  which  should  come  into  the  world. 
 And  when  she  had  so  said,  she  went  her  way,  and  called 
 Mary  her  sister  secretly,  saying,  The  Master  is  come,  and 
 calleth  for  thee.  As  soon  as  she  heard  that,  she  arose  quickly  ? 
 and  came  unto  him.  Now  Jesus  was  not  yet  come  into  the 
 town,  but  was  in  that  place  where  Martha  met  him.  The 
 Jews  then  which  were  with  her  in  the  house,  and  comforted 
 her,  when  they  saw  Mary,  that  she  rose  up  hastily  and  went 
 out,  followed  her,  saying,  She  goeth  unto  the  grave  to  weep 
 there.  Then  when  Mary  was  come  where  Jesus  was,  and 
 saw  him,  she  fell  down  at  his  feet,  saying  unto  him,  Lord,  if 
 thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  When  Jesus 
 therefore  saw  her  weeping,  and  the  Jews  also  weeping  which 
 came  with  her,  he  groaned  in  the  spirit,  and  was  troubled, 
 and  said,  Where  have  ye  laid  him  ?  They  said  unto  him, 
 Lord,  come  and  see.  Jesus  wept.  Then  said  the  Jews,  Be- 
 hold how  he  loved  him  !  And  some  of  them  said,  Could  not 
 this  man,  which  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  have  caused 
 that  even  this  man  should  not  have  died  ?  Jesus  therefore 
 again  groaning  in  himself  cometh  to  the  grave.  It  was  a  cave, 
 and  a  stone  lay  upon  it.  Jesus  said,  Take  ye  away  the  stone. 
 Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,  saith  unto  him, 
 Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh :  for  he  hath  been  dead  four 
 
 k  2 
 
132  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 days.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if 
 thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ? 
 Then  they  took  away  the  stone  from  the  place  where  the 
 dead  was  laid.  And  Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  said,  Fa- 
 ther, I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  heard  me.  And  I  knew 
 that  thou  hearest  me  always :  but  because  of  the  people  which 
 stand  by  I  said  it,  that  they  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent 
 me.  And  when  he  thus  had  spoken,  he  cried  with  a  loud 
 voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth.  And  he  that  was  dead  came 
 forth,  bound  hand  and  foot  with  graveclothes :  and  his  face 
 was  bound  about  with  a  napkin.  Jesus  saith  unto  them, 
 Loose  him,  and  let  him  go.  Then  many  of  the  Jews  which 
 came  to  Mary,  and  had  seen  the  things  which  Jesus  did,  be- 
 lieved on  him.  But  some  of  them  went  their  ways  to  the 
 Pharisees,  and  told  them  what  things  Jesus  had  done. — John 
 xi.  1—46. 
 
 I  have  read  what  may  seem  a  long,  but  what 
 must  appear  to  you  all  a  beautiful,  account  of 
 one  of  the  greatest  and  most  impressive  miracles 
 wrought  by  our  Lord,  namely,  the  resurrection 
 of  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  It  will  be  impossible 
 to  enter  upon  the  part  which  is  strictly  the  ac- 
 complishment of  the  miracle  in  this  lecture.  It 
 will  be  sufficient  to  dwell  upon  some  of  those 
 exquisite  touches  of  true  poetry,  of  deep  senti- 
 ment, of  instructive  religion  which  immediately 
 precede  the  actual  miracle.  Often  what  accom- 
 panies the  miracle  is  as  beautiful  and  impressive 
 as  the  miracle  itself;  for,  in  the  whole  history  of 
 Jesus,  each  act  of  power  is  set  and  embosomed 
 
THE    SOB  ROWING    SISTERS.  133 
 
 in  many  acts  of  goodness,  like  the  full  ripe  fruit 
 amid  the  leaves  and  petals  that  surround  it. 
 We  may  enjoy  the  fragrance  of  the  last  before 
 we  gather  and  feed  upon  the  preciousness  of  the 
 first. 
 
 In  looking  at  what  is  recorded  as  introductory 
 to  the  immediate  miracle,  we  find  one  great  fact  : 
 first,  that  suffering  is  the  lot  of  all :  there  is  no 
 exception.  Sorrow  enters  the  heart  that  is 
 bounding,  and  death  smites  the  heart  that  is 
 breaking:  there  is  none  exempt.  God's  people 
 and  they  that  are  not  are  subject  to  suffering. 
 We  may  not  trace  out  who  are  the  Lord's  people 
 by  their  outward  sufferings  ;  we  can  onlv  trace 
 this  by  their  inward  and  moral  character.  Often 
 the  greatest  sufferer  is  the  greatest  saint.  Fre- 
 quently God's  hand  lies  the  heaviest  where 
 God's  heart  overflows  the  most  with  benefices  I 
 sympathy,  and  love. 
 
 Let  us  notice  where  this  miracle  was  done. 
 It  was  in  a  town  called  Bethany,  but  it  is 
 distinguished  by  one  characteristic  feature ;  it 
 was  the  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha. 
 There  is  something  beautiful  in  this  allusion. 
 I  have  no  doubt  that  Bethany  had  given  birth 
 to  some  heroes,  poets,  statesmen,  philosopher 
 
134  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 and  that  if  you  had  asked  some  Rabbi  what 
 was  the  greatest  glory  of  Bethany,  he  would 
 have  pointed  to  some  tall  tapering  spire,  some 
 exquisite  specimen  of  architectural  grandeur, 
 or  he  would  have  unfolded  the  page  that  con- 
 tains the  name  of  some  great  poet  who  was 
 born  in  it,  or  illustrious  hero  who  bled  and 
 suffered  for  his  country.  But  these  charac- 
 teristics are  all  restricted  to  this  world.  The 
 sounds  of  the  fame  of  heroes,  poets,  and  phi- 
 losophers, are  spent  before  they  reach  the 
 skies,  but  the  sigh  of  the  broken  heart  is  heard 
 in  heaven  louder  than  the  seven  thunders ;  the 
 simple  petition  of  a  contrite  spirit  rises  to  God 
 swifter  than  an  angel's  wings  can  clip,  and  rises 
 higher  than  an  archangel's  pinions  can  soar.  In 
 the  light  of  heaven  what  we  call  great  things  are 
 pressed  into  little  space,  and  what  man  calls  lit- 
 tle things  are  seen  to  be  mighty  because  moral, 
 and  associated  with  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
 salvation  of  immortal  souls.  So  here  the  only 
 trace  in  the  history  of  Bethany  that  had  its  re- 
 flection beside  God's  throne  was  this  :  that  two 
 Christian  females  were  natives  of  it.  It  was  not 
 the  town  of  the  hero,  the  statesman,  the  poet, 
 but  the  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha, 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  135 
 
 These  two  fair,  fragrant,  and  fragile  flowers  were 
 in  the  sight  of  God  the  fairest  things  in  Bethany. 
 But  the  eye  of  man  does  not  see  it  so,  and  the 
 ear  of  man  does  not  hear  it  so.  It  needed  Chris- 
 tianity to  teach  us  what  is  one  of  the  most  elo- 
 quent lessons  on  its  glorious  page :  that  physical 
 grandeur,  even  when  it  is  sublimest,  is  mean  and 
 poor,  and  that  moral  glory  is  alone  great  and 
 enduring.  These  two  living  temples  were  more 
 glorious  than  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  These 
 two  obscure  saints  gave  a  character  to  the  town 
 where  hero's  exploits,  and  poet's  hymns,  are  un- 
 noticed and  unknown,  and  where  alone  it  is  im- 
 portant to  be  either  noticed  or  known.  Bethany, 
 the  town  of  Mary  and  her  sister  Martha !  May 
 it  not  be  so  still  ?  We  speak  of  London  as  dis- 
 tinguished for  the  birth  of  many  great  ones ;  we 
 refer  to  Edinburgh,  or  Dublin,  or  Paris,  as  il- 
 lustrious for  some  other  great  fact  or  feature ; 
 but  perhaps  these  great  cities^  when  spoken  of  in 
 the  language  of  the  ransomed  that  are  about  the 
 throne,  are  quoted  as  distinguished  by  facts  that 
 have  no  credit  in  the  newspaper  column,  and  no 
 eclat  in  the  parliaments  of  this  world,  but  which 
 alone,  amid  all  that  seems  magnificent  in  the  his- 
 
136  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tory  of  those  capitals,  are  recollected  and  mooted 
 in  heaven  in  glory. 
 
 It  is  said  that  it  was  "  that  Mary  which  anoint- 
 ed the  Lord  with  ointment  and  wiped  his  feet 
 with  her  hair,  whose  brother  Lazarus  was  sick." 
 This  record  seems  the  fulfilment  of  what  is  ex- 
 pressly stated  in  one  of  the  previous  Gospels.  It 
 is  said  of  this  very  Mary,  in  the  26th  of  Matthew, 
 "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Wheresoever  this  gospel 
 shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall 
 also  this,  that  this  woman  hath  done,  be  told  for 
 a  memorial  of  her."  How  very  striking  is  this  ! 
 Who  would  have  ventured  to  give  this  pro- 
 phecy ?  Were  some  person  in  this  congregation 
 to  do  some  deed  of  Christian  beneficence,  and 
 were  I  to  say,  Wherever  the  gospel  is  preached 
 throughout  the  whole  world  this  fact  shall  be 
 mentioned,  men  would  smile  incredulously  at 
 my  enthusiasm,  and  all  would  feel  that  it  was 
 extremely  improbable  that  my  prediction  would 
 be  fulfilled.  Well,  Jesus  had  here  no  outward 
 glory,  nothing  that  could  impress  the  senses  of 
 mankind,  and  yet  he  enunciates  it  as  an  abso- 
 lute prediction,  not  a  probable  conjecture,  that 
 wheresoever  the   gospel    should    be    preached 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  137 
 
 throughout  the  whole  world,  there  this  act  of 
 Christian  sympathy  should  be  recorded.  It  is  now 
 recorded  in  John,  it  sounds  from  every  pulpit,  it 
 is  contained  in  every  Bible ;  the  prophecy  has 
 swelled  into  absolute  and  universal  performance. 
 We  see  that  Jesus  knew  the  end  and  the  begin- 
 ning, and  the  impression  becomes  not  more  deep, 
 but  more  transparent,  that  Je^us  is  what  he 
 professed  to  be,  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
 God. 
 
 But  by  whom  was  this  act  of  beneficence  re- 
 corded ?  Not  by  Mary  herself.  It  is  one  thing 
 to  sound  one's  own  fame ;  it  is  another  to 
 let  others  do  it:  it  may  be  right  in  others  to 
 do  it;  it  would  be  wrong  in  ourselves.  And 
 yet  there  is  a  distinction.  Some  are  so  sensi- 
 tive that  they  are  literally  afraid  that  the  left 
 hand  should  know  what  the  right  hand  doeth. 
 It  is  possible  to  err  in  that  direction.  Others 
 are  so  vain-glorious  that  they  cannot  give  a 
 guinea  without  having  an  advertisement  to  an- 
 nounce it.  It  is  possible  to  hit  what  is  neither 
 the  one  nor  the  other ;  to  let  our  good  deeds  "  so 
 shine  before  men,  that  they  seeing  our  good 
 works  may  glorify" — not  us — there  is  the  dif- 
 ference, not  us,  but  "our  Father  which  is  in 
 
138  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 heaven."  He  that  does  the  act  from  the  right 
 motive,  and  makes  known  the  act  from  the  same 
 motive,  does  what  is  Christian  in  both.  And  it 
 is  important  that  men  should  know,  and  be  made 
 to  feel,  that  wherever  God's  grace  subdues  the 
 heart,  there  the  hand  that  was  clenched  is  relax- 
 ed ;  the  soul  that  was  narrow  is  enlarged,  and  man 
 feels,  for  the  first  time  in  his  experience,  that 
 God's  grace  has  made  him  a  saint,  and  that  that 
 saintship  should  lead  him  to  be  instantly  a  servant. 
 Let  me  notice  another  feature  here.  When 
 Lazarus  was  sick,  sharing  in  the  common  ca- 
 lamity of  his  kind,  and  Mary  and  Martha 
 saw  and  deplored  his  sufferings,  they  did  what  is 
 a  precedent  for  us  to  do  in  kindred  or  analogous 
 circumstances.  "  Therefore,"  in  the  third  verse 
 it  is  said,  "his  sisters  sent  unto  Jesus,  saying, 
 Lord,  behold,  he  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick." 
 What  they  did  physically  we  may  do  as  really, 
 but  spiritually,  and  it  is  not  true  that  they  could 
 draw  closer  to  Jesus  when  he  walked  the  streets 
 of  Bethany,  than  we  can  do  living  in  the  midst 
 of  a  great  city.  He  is  near  to  the  humble 
 heart  as  he  was  to  Mary  in  Bethany.  The  arm 
 that  raised  the  dead  from  his  slumbers  is  not 
 paralysed.     The  voice   that   rang  through   the 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  139 
 
 chambers  of  the  grave  is  not  hushed.  Jesus 
 is  still  equally  near,  is  armed  with  the  same 
 power;  and,  blessed  be  his  name,  his  heart 
 overflows  with  the  same  tender  and  touching 
 sympathy.  Sisters,  when  your  brother  is  sick, 
 parents,  when  your  dear  babes  are  ill,  you  go, 
 and  it  is  right  you  should  go,  and  ask  the 
 physician  of  the  greatest  skill  and  the  greatest 
 experience  to  help  you.  The  means  are  yours, 
 and  the  man  who  undervalues  or  despises  the 
 means,  undervalues  and  despises  the  ordinances 
 of  God.  But  when  you  thus  have  recourse  to 
 the  physician  that  may  err,  and  to  the  medicines 
 that  may  fail,  let  me  ask  if  you  have  recourse  to 
 that  Physician  who  sends  the  sickness,  fixes  the 
 hour  of  its  continuance,  and  has  resolved  what 
 shall  be  the  glorious  end  to  which  that  sickness 
 shall  contribute  ?  Strange  that  we  should  try  all 
 the  cisterns  of  man,  and  never  think  of  having 
 recourse  to  the  fountain  of  Deity.  And  yet,  my 
 dear  friends,  I  believe  that  we  may  ask  of  God, 
 when  we  need  them,  temporal  blessings  just  as 
 freely  as  we  may  ask  spiritual  blessings.  Does 
 not  Jesus  himself  set  the  example,  when  he  said, 
 "  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from 
 me  "  ?  Is  there  some  mother  whose  babe  is  in  the 
 
140  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 agonies  of  death  ?  May  not  that  mother  say, 
 "  Blessed  Saviour,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup 
 pass  from  me.  This  frail  but  beautiful  blossom 
 thou  hast  given  me  I  would  tend  a  little  longer ; 
 this  beloved  and  dear  one  I  would  cherish  in 
 my  bosom  a  few  years  more.  Lord,  spare  it,  if  it 
 be  thy  will "  ?  Who  will  forbid  her  thus  to  pray  ? 
 Not  Jesus  ;  for  he  taught  us  so  to  pray  :  "  If  it 
 be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me.  Yet  not 
 my  will,  but  thy  will  be  done."  These  sisters  so 
 felt,  for  they  addressed  the  Saviour  in  the  lan- 
 guage that  indicated  the  want  that  was  nearest, 
 deepest,  dearest.  "  Therefore  his  sisters  sent 
 unto  Jesus,  saying,  Lord,  he  whom  thou  lovest  is 
 sick." 
 
 Notice  another  touching  trait  in  this.  I  fancy 
 if  I  had  been  one  of  the  train  that  went  to  Jesus 
 for  relief,  and  if  the  relative  had  been  mine,  in 
 my  ignorance  I  would  have  said,  "  Lord,  he 
 who  has  done  much  to  make  known  thy  name — 
 he  who  has  suffered  much  for  thy  sake — he  who 
 loves  thee  most  truly,  dearly,  deeply,  is  sick ;  " 
 and  I  should  have  thought,  in  my  ignorance, 
 that  to  plead  what  he  had  suffered  and  done  for 
 Jesus  would  have  been  the  straight  way  to  get 
 Jesus  to  relieve  the  suffering.    That  would  have 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  141 
 
 been  human ;  but  Mary  was  taught  by  him  who 
 was  the  true  teacher,  to  press  another  motive,  to 
 present  another  plea,  far  more  eloquent  and 
 effective  than  that  which  I  have  mentioned.  The 
 sisters  did  not  say,  "  He  who  loves  thee " — 
 but,  "  He  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick."  What  is 
 the  great  basis  of  all  our  appeals  to  Christ? 
 Not  our  love  to  him,  but  his  love  to  us.  Our 
 love  to  him  is  too  frail,  and  evanescent,  and  flick- 
 ering to  be  the  basis  for  petition ;  but  his  love  to- 
 ward us — that,  like  some  of  those  springs  amid 
 the  blue  hills  of  the  north,  is  much  too  deep  ever 
 to  be  frozen  by  winter's  cold,  and  too  over-lapped 
 and  overshadowed  by  surrounding  crags  to  be 
 evaporated  by  the  summer's  heat — that  love 
 which  loved  us  from  the  first,  and  loves  us  to  the 
 last,  and  flows  with  undiminished  stream — is  the 
 basis  on  which  we  can  stand — the  strong  plea 
 that  we  can  present.  Mary  knew,  what  we 
 know,  that  to  touch  that  spring  was  to  touch  a 
 chord  that  vibrated  in  the  Saviour's  heart,  and 
 awoke  the  sympathy  that  was  deepest,  in  behalf 
 of  her  sick  and  suffering  brother — ts  He  whom 
 thou  lovest  is  sick."  This  was  her  most  success- 
 ful plea. 
 
 She  did  not  say,  "  Lord,  come  and  help  him." 
 
142  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 This  omission  is  very  fine.  The  thoughts  that 
 underlie  every  simple  remark  in  this  chapter  are 
 rich  and  full;  and  give  evidence  that  no  ordinary 
 teaching  was  here.  She  does  not  say, "  Lord,  he 
 whom  thou  lovest  is  sick,  do  come  and  cure  him;" 
 but  she  felt  that  the  simple  intimation  "he  is 
 sick,"  and  a  plea  and  a  statement  based  upon  the 
 great  fact  that  Christ  loved  him,  was  all  that  was 
 required :  "  He  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick ;  I 
 leave  that  fact  with  thee,  blessed  Jesus ;  thou 
 knowest  what  is  best ;  it  rests  with  thee  to  carry 
 that  sickness  to  its  issue,  an  issue  that  shall 
 glorify  thy  name,  and  do  good  and  occasion 
 happiness  to  me  and  my  brother." 
 
 There  is  yet  another  trait.  Mary,  and  Mar- 
 tha, and  Lazarus,  were  bosom  friends  of  Jesus 
 — for  Jesus,  let  us  never  forget,  was  a  man.  I 
 believe  our  great  fault  in  modern  times  is,  that 
 we  so  think  of  Jesus  as  God,  that  we  do  not 
 sufficiently  think  of  him  as  a  man ;  but  it  is  just 
 as  important  that  we  should  feel  the  truth  of  his 
 real,  but  infinitely  sinless  humanity,  as  that  we 
 should  feel  the  truth  of  his  real,  glorious,  and 
 eternal  Divinity.  Now  Jesus  was  a  man.  What 
 I  love  that  is  pure  he  could  love.  He  had  his 
 friends — his   bosom   friends.       There    is    not   a 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  143 
 
 sympathy  that  nestles  in  the  heart  of  a  saint,  that 
 Jesus  had  not  in  all  its  purity ;  there  is  not  a 
 sorrow  that  hangs  like  a  cloud  over  the  broken 
 and  wounded  spirit  of  a  believer,  that  Jesus  had 
 not  hanging  over  his ;  there  is  not  one  pang  we 
 are  conscious  of,  sin  excepted,  which  had  not  its 
 echo,  and  has  not  its  echo  still,  in  the  bosom  of 
 our  great  High  Priest ;  "  for  we  have  not  a  High 
 Priest  who  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of 
 our  infirmities,  but  one  who  was  in  all  points 
 tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin." 
 
 Mary,  knowing  that  Jesus  was  a  friend,  might 
 have  said,  "  My  brother  Lazarus  is  sick."  If  you 
 recollect,  Mary  sat  at  his  feet,  and  Martha  min- 
 istered unto  him ;  and  theirs  was  the  home  he 
 frequently  went  to.  She  might,  then,  have 
 argued,  "  My  brother  is  sick ;  I  know  thou 
 lovest  him,  and  that  therefore,  for  my  sake,  thou 
 wilt  come  and  heal  my  brother."  But  she  did 
 not  say  so.  She  had  renounced  what  we  need  to 
 renounce  —  our  own  self,  our  good  self,  our 
 righteous  self,  our  honest  self,  our  family  self; 
 and  to  feel  that  in  us  there  is  no  fulcrum  on 
 which  we  can  lay  the  stress  of  that  lever  which 
 will  lift  our  wants  to  God,  and,  retracing  its  arc, 
 bring  doAvn  blessings  from  his  throne.     Never 
 
144  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 shall  we  rise  to  the  loftiest  dignity  till  we  feel 
 that  we  have  been  snnk  to  the  deepest  hu- 
 miliation and  abasement.  It  is  the  humble  that 
 God  exalts ;  it  is  the  hungry  that  God  sends  not 
 empty  away. 
 
 This   home    of  Mary    and    Martha   was    the 
 home  where  Jesus  was  in  the  habit  of  resting 
 his  wearied  frame,  and  seeking  that  refreshment 
 and  finding  that  hospitality  which*  was  as  need- 
 ful to  strengthen  him  for  the  toils  of  the  week, 
 as  it  is  needful  to  strengthen  us.     Weariness, 
 and  hunger,  and  thirst  were  his,  and  he  never 
 supplied  the  demand  of  any  of  them  by  a  miracle 
 whilst  ordinary  means  were  adequate  to  do  so. 
 One  would  have  thought  that  if  there  was  but 
 one  home,  and  that  home  in  Bethany,  where  that 
 aching  head  could  rest,  and  that   grieved  and 
 wearied  heart  could  beat  in  stillness — one  would 
 have  thought  that  if  there  was  one  home  upon 
 earth  that  would  be  overshadowed  with  the  all- 
 encompassing  pinions  of  God — if  there  was  one 
 hearth  in  Palestine  whose  flame  would  never  be 
 shaded,  and  around  which  home-born  joys,  like 
 swallows,  would   nestle    amid  the  rafters,   and 
 flutter  perpetually — that  if  there  was  one  abode 
 upon  earth  where  no  sickness  should  pierce,  no 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  145 
 
 wants  be  felt,  and  death  himself  should  be  an 
 exile,  it  would  have  been  that  home  in  Bethany 
 where  Jesus  went  so  often,  and  whose  inmates 
 and  tenantry  were  the  friends  of  his  bosom,  and 
 the  ministers  continually  to  his  wants.  But  into 
 that  home  sickness  did  enter.  But  here  even  is 
 felt  a  difference— sickness  enters  the  unconverted 
 man's  home  armed  with  wrath;  it  enters  the 
 Christian's  home  winged  with  mercy  and  love. 
 The  issue  of  the  sickness  showed  that  what  was 
 felt  to  be  pain  was  sent  in  love,  for  it  ended 
 in  greater  glory  to  Jesus,  and  in  greater  happi- 
 ness to  them  all. 
 
 But  it  teaches  us  also  this  lesson — not  to  judge 
 of  men's  characters  by  what  betides  them.  You 
 hear  of  some  frightful  catastrophe  that  falls  upon 
 a  home,  or  a  nation,  or  a  capital,  and  you  pro- 
 nounce that  home,  that  nation,  that  capital,  to 
 have  great  crimes.  You  do  wrong.  You  are 
 not  to  say  that  it  was  more  guilty -than  we. 
 "  Think  ye  that  those  eighteen  on  whom  the 
 tower  of  Siloam  fell  were  sinners  above  all  men. 
 I  tell  you,  nay ;  but  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall 
 all  likewise  perish." 
 
 Notice,  in  the  next  place,  from  the  fourth  verse 
 of  this  chapter,  the  end  which  underlies  all  the 
 
1 46  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 dispensations  of  God,  the  great  end  he  has  in 
 view  in  sending  them.  "When  Jesus  heard 
 that,  he  said,  This  is  not  a  sickness  unto  death, 
 (that  is,  final  death,)  but  for  the  glory  of  God, 
 that  the  Son  of  God  might  be  glorified  thereby." 
 Sometimes  you  see  in  families  afflictions  which 
 you  cannot  explain.  You  see  in  one  the  first- 
 born cut  down  by  a  stroke  ;  in  another,  trouble 
 follow  upon  the  footsteps  of  trouble,  till  all  God's 
 waves  and  billows  seem  to  go  over  it — the  father 
 a  Christian,  the  mother  a  Christian,  the  home 
 holy,  their  exercises  Christian,  their  deeds  bene- 
 ficent, and  yet  all  of  them  the  subjects  of  unpre- 
 cedented and  consuming  suffering.  You  do  not 
 know  what  to  make  of  it ;  you  cajmot  understand 
 it ;  but  there  is  an  end  we  cannot  see — the  suffer- 
 ing is  "  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of  God 
 may  be  glorified  thereby."  A  Scottish  Christian 
 ought  to  recollect  the  first  part  of  his  catechism, 
 "  Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God,"  the  most 
 magnificent  definition  that  I  know,  "  and  then 
 to  enjoy  him  for  ever."  We  must  be  thankful ; 
 we  must  acquiesce,  and  feel  that  if  our  health 
 fails  to  give  God  glory,  it  is  well  that  our  sick- 
 ness does ;  if  our  prosperity  does  not  give  him 
 glory,  it  is  well  that  our  losses  and  our  adversity 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  147 
 
 do.  We  are  here  to  be  ministers  of  his  glory. 
 May  he  afflict  us  or  prosper  us ;  but  may  he 
 glorify  his  own  name,  that  his  Son  may  be  glori- 
 fied thereby.  Very  beautifully  does  Mr.  Evans 
 say  in  a  book  which  I  would  recommend  to  you, 
 the  fragments  of  his  preaching  or  of  his  ministry, 
 I  forget  the  precise  title,  "  0  Lord,  fashion  me, 
 polish  me,  cut  me,  any  way  that  thou  pleasest ; 
 but  by  me  glorify  thyself!  " 
 
 The  remark  of  Jesus  must  have  satisfied  Mary 
 of  his  omniscience,  his  sympathy,  and  know- 
 ledge ;  for  if  a  physician  is  called  in  to  you,  if 
 he  understands  the  disease,  and  shows  that  he 
 understands  it,  your  confidence  in  him  is  in- 
 creased. When  Mary  applied  to  Jesus,  and 
 when  Jesus  told  her  the  nature  of  the  disease, 
 the  issue  and  the  results  of  it  also,  her  confi- 
 dence in  him  must  have  been  complete.  Christ 
 sees  the  disease  of  every  soul ;  he  understands 
 the  "  sin  that  doth  most  easily  beset  us ;"  he 
 penetrates  all  veils,  goes  through  every  prejudice, 
 disentangles  every  passion,  and  detects  where 
 the  sin  is  that  is  the  cause  of  our  defalcation, 
 where  the  disease  is  that  blights  and  withers  our 
 Christianity  at  the  very  root.  Is  it  no  consola- 
 tion to  feel  that  Christ  knows  what  we  are,  what 
 
 l  2 
 
148  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 is  best  for  us,  and  the  prescription  that  will  cure 
 us  ?  You  may  rest  assured,  that  when  you  are 
 visited  with  losses,  trials,  afflictions,  bereave- 
 ments, that  it  is  as  necessary  (some  may  doubt 
 this ;  it  is  easily  stated,  but  very  difficult  to  feel) 
 that  you,  parent,  should  have  lost  that  son,  that 
 you,  son,  should  have  lost  that  parent,  as  that 
 Christ  should  come  from  heaven  and  die  upon 
 the  cross  for  you.  There  is  a  "  needs-be  "  in 
 the  calamity  that  is  sorest ;  there  is  an  absolute 
 necessity  in  the  blow  that  strikes  the  heaviest. 
 This  is  consolatory.  But  remember  who  it  is 
 that  strikes  the  blow.  The  hand  that  was  nailed 
 to  the  cross  will  never  strike  in  wrath,  but  only 
 in  love,  in  sympathy,  and  in  mercy.  Thus,  then, 
 both  sisters  were  assured  that  the  sickness  was 
 "  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  the  Son  of  God 
 might  be  glorified  thereby." 
 
 We  read  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  verses,  "  Now 
 Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus. 
 When  he  had  heard  therefore  that  he  was  sick, 
 he  abode  two  days  still  in  the  same  place  where 
 he  was."  This  seems  to  startle  us.  It  seems 
 like  a  disappointment,  and  at  the  first  blush  it 
 appears  like  cruelty,  that  knowing  that  the  friend 
 whom  he  loved  was  sick,  and  feeling  that  the 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  149 
 
 hand  that  he  had  but  to  stretch  out  could  cure 
 him,  and  hearing  these  sisters,  whom  he  also 
 loved,  pleading  for  him,  that  he  abode  "  two  days 
 in  the  same  place  where  he  was,"  as  if  his  heart 
 had  lost  its  sensibility,  as  if  his  ear  had  become 
 heavy,  and  his  arm  shortened  that  it  could  not 
 save.  How  do  we  explain  this  ?  By  our  own 
 experience.  You  are  placed  in  affliction,  and 
 you  pray  that  it  may  be  removed.  Day  dawns  on 
 day,  and  the  sickness  still  gnaws  the  heart,  wastes 
 the  strength,  consumes  our  beauty  like  a  moth, 
 and  we  fancy  that  Christ  does  not  hear,  that  God 
 has  forsaken  us,  and  that  our  God  has  forgotten 
 us.  You  mistake ;  Christ  does  not  say  that  he  will 
 answer  the  first  petition.  "  Seek,"  he  says,  "  and 
 ye  shall  find ;"  but  continue,  "  ask,  and  ye  shall 
 obtain  ;"  and  continue  still,  "  knock,  and  it  shall 
 be  opened  to  you."  He  has  promised  an  answer, 
 but  the  when,  and  the  where,  and  the  how,  his 
 own  wisdom  and  love  will  determine.  So  here 
 he  had  promised  that  the  sickness  should  not  be 
 "  unto  death,"  but  that  it  should  be  "  for  the 
 glory  of  God ;"  yet  he  tarries  two  days,  and  does 
 not  come  to  deliver.  Our  affliction  deepens, 
 our  sufferings  grow  heavier,  the  cloud  becomes 
 blacker,  we   pray  for   mitigation,   we    ask    for 
 
150  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 healing,  for  mercy,  for  sympathy,  for  interpo- 
 sition. All  is  still,  but  the  cure  is  being  pre- 
 pared; the  voice  is  about  to  utter,  "  Come  forth ;" 
 and  what  seems  delay  is  only  a  momentary  sus- 
 pension of  the  relief  that  is  needed,  in  order  to 
 nourish  and  strengthen  our  faith,  and  increase 
 our  confidence  and  hopes  in  waiting  for  the 
 Lord. 
 
 Beautifully  it  is  said  in  another  part,  "  Our 
 friend  Lazarus  sleepeth ;  but  I  go  that  I  may 
 awake  him  out  of  sleep."  Lazarus  was  dead, 
 but  he  says  still,  "  Our  friend  Lazarus."  Death 
 snatches  the  protege  from  his  protector,  the  child 
 from  the  parent,  the  parent  from  the  child, 
 friend  from  friend,  brother  from  brother,  but 
 even  death  cannot  sunder  the  tie  that  knits  the 
 meanest  saint  to  the  Lord  of  glory.  It  is  true  of 
 the  slumbering  dust  of  a  saint,  that  it  belongs  to 
 the  friend  of  Jesus.  The  mother  upon  earth, 
 whose  child  is  in  heaven,  can  still  say,  "  My 
 babe  sleepeth ;"  and  the  child  on  earth,  whose 
 parent  is  beyond  the  skies,  can  say,  "  My  pa- 
 rent" still.  Those  ties  outlast  the  grave ;  they 
 receive  new  strength,  and  are  covered  with  a 
 new  glory  before  the  throne.  The  church  in 
 heaven  is  not  another  and  different  body  from 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  151 
 
 the  church,  on  earth ;  they  constitute  one  glorious 
 community,  the  one  militant,  the  other  triumph- 
 ant; the  one  drinking  from  the  fountain,  the 
 other  from  the  river  that  flows  from  that  foun- 
 tain, which  is  in  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 
 "  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth." 
 
 This  symbol  is  used  to  denote  that  which  of 
 all  things  we  dread  and  deprecate  —  death. 
 He  calls  death  a  sleep.  Now  I  do  think  (and 
 I  have  often  said  so)  that  of  all  unnatural 
 things,  of  all  things  that  are  repulsive,  of  all 
 things  that  are  most  abhorrent  to  our  feelings, 
 death  is  the  most  so.  Man  was  never  made 
 to  die  ;  he  was  never  meant  to  die.  No  !  death 
 is  not  God's  creation,  but  sin's  doing.  Sin  is 
 not  God's  making  ;  whoever  made  it,  or  from 
 whatever  quarter  it  came,  God  made  not  sin ;  it 
 is  a  blot  upon  his  workmanship  ;  it  is  the  jar  in 
 the  harmony  of  the  universe ;  it  is  a  stain  upon 
 what  was  made  good,  and  bright,  and  beautiful. 
 Death  is  not  God's  child,  but  sin's ;  and  it  is 
 right  that  we  should  hate  and  dislike  it,  and 
 shrink  from  it.  But  when  touched  by  the  cross, 
 and  the  sin  that  is  the  parent  of  it  is  forgiven, 
 death,  which  is  the  child,  is  transformed  from 
 being  the  executioner  that  drags  the  culprit  to 
 
152  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 his  punishment,  into  the  minister  that  leads  and 
 guides  the  believer  to  his  happy  and  his  lasting 
 home.  Hence  the  Christian's  death  is  called  by 
 the  beautiful  epithet  "  sleep."  This  is  not  a  new 
 one.  We  read,  that  "  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus 
 will  God  bring  with  him;"  "  I  would  not  have 
 you  ignorant  concerning  them  that  are  asleep." 
 It  is  a  favourite  expression,  and  an  expression 
 that  is  peculiar,  in  all  the  riches  of  its  meaning, 
 to  Christianity  itself.  I  have  no  doubt,  that  to 
 the  aged  man  who  is  the  child  of  God,  and 
 who  falls  asleep  in  Jesus,  death  is  no  suffering. 
 It  is  a  glorious  spirit,  that  has  laid  aside  the 
 shackles  of  mortality  that  it  might  unfurl  its 
 bright  wing  (and  it  was  the  splendour  of  the 
 departing  wing  that  told  us  an  angel  had  been 
 with  us) ;  it  is  only  the  removal  of  the  re- 
 straints that  kept  it  to  the  earth,  that  it  might 
 soar  until  it  should  sing  among  the  seraphim 
 beside  the  throne  of  God.  The  part  that  is 
 the  man,  is  not  that  which  you  see ;  we  are  so 
 much  the  creatures  of  sense,  that  we  see  certain 
 features  and  hear  certain  tones,  and  we  say, 
 "  These  make  up  the  man ;  "  and  when  he  is 
 gathered  to  his  grave,  we  say  our  friend  is  gone. 
 It  is  not  so.  What  is  the  body  ?  It  is  no  more  to 
 
THE   SORROWING    SISTERS.  153 
 
 the  soul  than  the  instrument  is  to  the  musician. 
 God  has  placed  me  in  this  material  world — and 
 I  need  something  to  enable  me  to  come  into  con- 
 tact with  it ;  I  need  the  apparatus  of  the  senses, 
 which  is  that  which  you  see.  You  only  see  the 
 machinery,  you  do  not  see  the  living  power  that 
 works  the  machinery :  when  the  machinery  is 
 worn  out,  as  it  must  be,  it  is  laid  aside  in  the 
 grave  to  rest  awhile,  until  God  shall  rebuild,  re- 
 store, and  re-beautify  it.  The  man  that  thinks, 
 that  feels,  that  knows,  that  loves,  has  only  left 
 the  old  ruined  house  to  awake  amid  the  glories 
 of  the  sky,  and  to  wait  for  "  a  house  not  made 
 with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 
 
 Thus  death  is  sleep  ;  but  it  is  not  unconscious- 
 ness— do  not  take  up  that  notion.  Absent  from 
 the  body  is  present  with  the  Lord.  "  To  me," 
 says  the  apostle,  "  to  live  is  Christ,  to  die  is 
 great  gain."  The  thief  upon  the  cross  was  ad- 
 dressed, "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Pa- 
 radise." Therefore  while  death  is  sleep,  it  is 
 not  the  suspension  of  consciousness,  of  life,  of 
 thought. 
 
 But  this  simile  teaches  that  there  is  enjoyed 
 by  death,  as  I  will  explain  more  fully,  perfect 
 repose.     We  sleep  at  night  in  order  to  recruit 
 
154  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 our  exhausted  energies,  and  to  prepare  us  for 
 new  toils  and  tasks  that  are  before  us  on  the 
 morrow.  Death  is  just  sleep  in  as  far  as  sleep 
 involves  the  idea  of  refreshment,  rest,  and  re- 
 pose. The  soldier  of  the  cross  has  "  finished 
 the  good  fight,"  and  now  wears  the  laurel  beside 
 the  throne ;  the  labourer  has  done  his  day's 
 work,  and  he  now  rests ;  the  traveller  has  fin- 
 ished his  journey,  the  Christian  his  conflict, 
 and  wearied,  they  have  entered  into  "  the  rest 
 that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God."  "  They 
 rest  in  their  beds,  each  one  walking  in  his  up- 
 rightness." They  rest ;  "  yet  they  rest  not  day 
 nor  night,"  saying,  "  Glory,  and  honour,  and 
 blessing  unto  the  Lamb." 
 
 In  sleep  also  there  is  security.  When  we  lie 
 down  to  sleep,  we  are  satisfied,  after  fastening 
 all  means  of  access,  that  we  are  secure ;  we 
 could  not  sleep  unless  we  were  satisfied  that  we 
 were  safe  from  the  thief,  the  robber,  and  the 
 assassin.  So  when  the  believer  sleeps,  he  enters 
 into  a  state  of  perfect  security.  The  doors  that 
 shut  the  saint  in  shut  all  intruders  out.  They 
 that  are  there  never  go  out,  they  are  perfectly 
 secure. 
 
 The  next  idea  that  sleep  implies  is,  restoration. 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  155 
 
 We  go  to  sleep,  expecting  to  rise  in  the  morning 
 refreshed.  Even  so  Jesus  died,  and  rose  again ; 
 and  "  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
 with  him,"  that  is,  at  the  morning  of  the  resur- 
 rection. "  As  for  me,"  says  David,  u  I  shall  be- 
 hold thy  face  in  righteousness.  I  shall  be  satisfied 
 when  I  awake  with  thy  likeness."  "  They,"  says 
 Daniel,  "  that  sleep  in  the  dust  shall  awake,  some 
 to  everlasting  life." 
 
 What  a  different  picture  does  this  give  us  of 
 the  grave  !  The  whole  of  1  Cor.  xv.  may  be 
 inscribed,  and  by  the  eye  of  faith  will  be  seen 
 to  be  inscribed,  upon  the  tombstone  of  every  son 
 of  God.  The  grave  i*  but  the  resting-place  ;  it 
 is  the  land  where  God's  seed  is  sown ;  it  is 
 the  vestibule  to  glory.  In  a  few  years — cer- 
 tainly a  few  years  to  the  oldest,  and  it  may  be  a 
 few  to  the  youngest,  those  ties  that  keep  us  be- 
 low shall,  if  we  are  the  people  of  God,  be  re- 
 moved, and  there  shall  be  a  gathering  together 
 which  shall  consummate  alike  our  glory,  our 
 happiness,  and  our  peace. 
 
 Beautifully  therefore  (without  entering  upon 
 the  subject  further)  does  Jesus  say,  "Thy  bro- 
 ther shall  rise  again."  Sister,  thy  brother  shall 
 rise  again ;   father,  thy  child  shall  rise  again ; 
 
156  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 child,  thy  father  shall   rise   again;    friend,  thy 
 friend  shall  rise  again.      They  whose  dust  is  in 
 graves  that  man  has   never  dug  —  they  whose 
 sleeping  ashes  are  in  the  deeps  of  the  desert  sea, 
 with  the  cold  sea-weeds  about  them,   and  the 
 chimes  of  the  ocean's  waves  for  their  requiem 
 — they  whose  grave  is  in  the  desert,  whose  wind- 
 ing-sheet is  the  barren  and  scorching  sand — they 
 that  sleep  in  the  stony  chambers  of  the  pyra- 
 mids, or  under  their  shadows — they  who  have 
 been  scattered  by  wind  and  wave  to  the  four  ends 
 of  the  earth,  or  whose  bones  are  bleaching  upon 
 the  barren  Alps  —  shall   all  hear   the  sound   of 
 the  last  trumpet ;  and  tiie  king  shall  obey  as 
 quickly  as  the  beggar.     The  dust  that  is  in  an- 
 cient urns  shall  be  warmed,  and  every  man  shall 
 come  to  receive  his  righteous  sentence  "  accord- 
 ing to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  whether  they 
 have  been  good,  or  whether  they  have  been  evil." 
 The  monument  of  bronze  shall  not  keep  back  the 
 prince;    the  green  turf  shall  not. keep  back  the 
 beggar.    The  very  dust  beneath  our  feet  shall  be 
 quickened,  and  all  shall  rise  again.  "  Blessed  and 
 holy    is  he    that  hath    part  in  the  first   resur- 
 rection." 
 
 Brethren,  are  you  Christians !     Are  you  the 
 
THE    SORROWING    SISTERS.  157 
 
 people  of  God?  That  is  the  question  of  ques- 
 tions— a  question  that  becomes  more  instant, 
 urgent,  eloquent  every  day.  Scenes  strange 
 and  solemn,  as  I  have  told  you,  are  opening  on 
 us;  circumstances  throughout  the  whole  world 
 indicate,  like  petrels,  the  coming  storm.  If  ever 
 there  was  present  a  crisis,  or  an  epoch  in  the 
 world's  history,  when  men  should  at  least  have 
 one  sure  and  fast  foot-hold,  that  revolution 
 shall  not  shake,  nor  dire  judgment  destroy,  it 
 is  the  day  in  which  our  lot  is  cast.  My  dear 
 friends,  seek  the  Saviour ;  open  your  hearts  to 
 the  entrance  of  his  blessed  gospel :  for  every  soul 
 that  is  without  God  is  without  excuse.  Every 
 man  who  is  not  a  Christian  has  no  reason  for  ^ot 
 being  so  except  that  he  will  not.  But  I  am  in- 
 stantly checked,  when  I  think  of  urging  you  to 
 be  Christians,  by  the  thought — "  Is  Christianity 
 a  nauseous  and  unpalatable  thing,  that  I  must 
 ask  men  to  take  that  which,  all  the  instincts  of 
 their  nature  recoil  against  ? "  My  dear  friends,  it 
 is  "  good  news,"  it  is  the  pardon  of  the  greatest 
 sin ;  it  is  the  acceptance  of  the  greatest  sinner ; 
 it  is  joy  to  the  broken  heart ;  it  is  hope  to  the 
 mourning  heart ;  it  is  the  panacea  for  all  ills,  the 
 prescription  for  all  diseases ;    it  is  the  entrance 
 
158  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 into  joys  below,  and  into  yet  fuller  joys  at  the 
 right  hand  of  God,  and  pleasures  for  evermore. 
 I  wonder  that  any  man  can  have  one  happy  pulse 
 in  his  heart  or  one  sweet  moment  in  his  rest  who 
 is  not  a  Christian.  I  wonder,  too,  that  any  man 
 should  be  depressed,  discouraged,  or  fear,  or  be 
 alarmed,  who  knows  that  when  all  things  are 
 moved,  he  has  "  a  house  not  made  with  hands  ;  " 
 and  that  when  the  mountains  are  cast  into  the  sea, 
 and  the  earth  shakes  with  the  swelling  thereof, 
 he  can  say  to  his  throbbing,  his  palpitating,  his 
 anxious  heart,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  it  is 
 God.  He  will  be  exalted  among  the  nations,  he 
 will  be  exalted  in  the  earth." 
 
LECTURE  VI. 
 
 THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE. 
 
 And  when  she  had  so  said,  she  went  her  way,  and  called  Mary 
 her  sister  secretly,  saying,  The  Master  is  come,  and  calleth 
 for  thee.  As  soon  as  she  heard  that,  she  arose  quickly,  and 
 came  unto  him.  Now  Jesus  was  not  yet  come  into  the 
 town,  but  was  in  that  place  where  Martha  met  him.  The 
 Jews  then  which  were  with  her  in  the  house,  and  comforted 
 her,  when  they  saw  Mary,  that  she  rose  up  hastily  and  went 
 out,  followed  her,  saying,  She  goeth  unto  the  grave  to  weep 
 there.  Then  when  Mary  was  come  where  Jesus  was,  and 
 saw  him,  she  fell  down  at  his  feet,  saying  unto  him,  Lord,  if 
 thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died.  When  Jesus 
 therefore  saw  her  weeping,  and  the  Jews  also  weeping  which 
 came  with  her,  he  groaned  in  the  spirit,  and  was  troubled, 
 and  said,  Where  have  ye  laid  him  ?  They  said  unto  him, 
 Lord,  come  and  see.  Jesus  wept.  Then  said  the  Jews,  Be- 
 hold how  he  loved  him  !  And  some  of  them  said,  Could  not 
 this  man,  which  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  have  caused 
 that  even  this  man  should  not  have  died  ?  Jesus  therefore 
 again  groaning  in  himself  cometh  to  the  grave.  It  was  a  cave, 
 and  a  stone  lay  upon  it.  Jesus  said,  Take  ye  away  the  stone. 
 Martha,  the  sister  of  him  that  was  dead,  saith  unto  him, 
 Lord,  by  this  time  he  stinketh :  for  he  hath  been  dead  four 
 days.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if 
 thou  wouldest  believe,  thou  shouldcst  see  the  glory  of  God  ? 
 Then  they  took  away  the  stone  from  the  place  where  the  dead 
 was  laid.     And  Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  said,  Father,  I 
 
160  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 thank  thee  that  thou  hast  heard  me.  And  I  knew  that  thou 
 hearest  me  always  :  but  because  of  the  people  which  stand  by 
 I  said  it,  that  they  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And 
 when  he  thus  had  spoken,  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus, 
 come  forth.  And  he  that  was  dead  came  forth,  bound  hand 
 and  foot  with  graveclothes :  and  his  face  was  bound  about 
 with  a  napkin.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Loose  him,  and  let 
 him  go.  Then  many  of  the  Jews  which  came  to  Mary,  and 
 had  seen  the  things  which  Jesus  did,  believed  on  him.  But 
 some  of  them  went  their  ways  to  the  Pharisees,  and  told  them 
 what  things  Jesus  had  done.  Then  gathered  the  chief  priests 
 and  the  Pharisees  a  council,  and  said,  What  do  we  ?  for  this 
 man  doeth  many  miracles.  If  we  let  him  thus  alone,  all  men 
 will  believe  on  him  :  and  the  Romans  shall  come  and  take 
 away  both  our  place  and  nation.  And  one  of  them,  named 
 Caiaphas,  being  the  high  priest  that  same  year,  said  unto 
 them,  Ye  know  nothing  at  all,  nor  consider  that  it  is  expedi- 
 ent for  us,  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  people,  and  that 
 the  whole  nation  perish  not.  And  this  spake  he  not  of  him- 
 self :  but  being  high  priest  that  year,  he  prophesied  that  Jesus 
 should  die  for  that  nation  ;  and  not  for  that  nation  only,  but 
 that  also  he  should  gather  together  in  one  the  children  of  God 
 that  were  scattered  abroad.  Then  from  that  day  forth  they 
 took  counsel  together  for  to  put  him  to  death.  Jesus  there- 
 fore walked  no  more  openly  among  the  Jews ;  but  went 
 thence  unto  a  country  near  to  the  wilderness,  into  a  city  called 
 Ephraim,  and  there  continued  with  his  disciples.  And  the 
 Jews'  passover  was  nigh  at  hand  :  and  many  went  out  of  the 
 country  up  to  Jerusalem  before  the  passover,  to  purify  them- 
 selves. Then  sought  they  for  Jesus,  and  spake  among  them- 
 selves, as  they  stood  in  the  temple,  What  think  ye,  that  he 
 will  not  come  to  the  feast  ?  Now  both  the  chief  priests  and 
 the  Pharisees  had  given  a  commandment,  that,  if  any  man 
 knew  where  he  were,  he  should  show  it,  that  they  might 
 take  him. — John  xi.  2S — 57. 
 
 We  have  studied  the  previous  part  of  this  im- 
 pressive and  interesting  miracle.    I  come  now  to 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  161 
 
 its  end — to  that  crowning  act  by  which  it  was  so 
 gloriously  closed  :  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus. 
 I  need  not  say  that  every  verse  might  be  the 
 basis  of  a  sermon ;  but  it  is  sometimes  expedient 
 and  highly  useful  that  we  should  look  at  passages 
 as  wholes,  and  not  break  them  into  fragments,  in 
 order  to  build  on  every  fragment  the  superstruc- 
 ture of  an  appeal,  an  argument,  or  an  address. 
 
 On  the  present  occasion,  therefore,  I  will  inci- 
 dentally examine  the  whole  of  the  narrative  I 
 have  read.  In  the  28th  verse,  we  read  that  Mar- 
 tha hears  the  sound  of  joy  in  the  very  words  that 
 Jesus  had  uttered  :  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
 the  life."  What  he  intends  to  do  with  her  brother 
 she  evidently  knows  not;  but  joy  she  evidently 
 felt,  and  because  of  the  prospect  of  some  good  he 
 was  about  to  achieve  for  her ;  and  with  that  beau- 
 tiful and  unselfish  characteristic  by  which  the 
 people  of  God  ought  always  to  be  distinguished, 
 she  is  resolved  not  to  have  a  monopoly  of  the  joy. 
 She  desires  to  share  it  with  her  sister  Mary .  She 
 therefore  runs  to  her  secretly,  and  whispers  in 
 her  ear  the  missionary  sentiment  which  this 
 female  evangelist  so  joyfully  conveyed :  "  The 
 Master  is  come,  and  calleth  for  thee."  To  be 
 missionaries  is  the  duty,  yea,  rather  the  privilege, 
 
 M 
 
162  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 of  us  all :  the  sister  to  her  sister,  the  female  to 
 her  friends,  as  well  as  the  minister  upon  the 
 distant  isles  of  the  ocean,  and  amid  the  untrod- 
 den deserts  of  Africa.  It  is  a  most  erroneous, 
 nay  a  popish,  idea  that  we  are  merely  to  con- 
 tribute a  sovereign  a  year  to  send  out  a  mission- 
 ary to  India  or  Africa,  and  that  we  are  excused 
 by  that  gift  from  doing  any  thing,  or  saying  any 
 thing,  or  attempting  any  thing,  to  spread  the 
 gospel  in  our  own  immediate  neighbourhood. 
 The  true  idea  of  missions  is,  that  man,  the  moment 
 he  is  made  a  Christian,  becomes  a  missionary ;  the 
 unction  of  the  saint  is  thus  expended  in  the  duties 
 and  the  sacrifices  of  the  servant.  And  it  is  the 
 feature,  the  grand  ennobling  feature,  of  the 
 gospel,  that  he  that  drinks  deepest  of  its  living 
 water  thirsts  most  to  diffuse  it.  You  may  estimate 
 the  depth  of  a  man's  Christianity  by  the  extent  of 
 what  he  does,  or  gives,  or  sacrifices,  or  suffers, 
 to  spread  it.  There  may  be  selfishness  among 
 statesmen,  there  may  be  selfishness  among  lite- 
 rary men,  but  there  can  be  no  selfishness  among 
 those  who  are  truly  Christians  ;  for  the  very  law 
 of  the  economy  they  belong  to  is,  that  God  gives 
 us  the  largest  blessings,  that  we  may  diffuse  them 
 the  most  largely  around  us. 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  163 
 
 Mary,  we  read,  runs  immediately  to  Jesus  as 
 her  sister  invited  her,  and  repeats  the  words 
 which  had  been  spoken  before  by  Martha,  (ver. 
 32,)  "  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here  our  bro- 
 ther had  not  died."  You  recollect,  when  Martha 
 first  met  Jesus,  and  told  him  of  her  brother's 
 sufferings,  and  then  of  her  brother's  death,  that 
 she,  too,  gave  utterance  to  the  same  sentiments  : 
 "  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here  my  brother  had 
 not  died."  What  does  this  show  ?  That  it  had 
 been  a  frequent  fire-side  remark.  These  two  sis- 
 ters had  often  said,  as  they  wept  together  over  the 
 hearth,  and  gazed  upon  the  flame  that  reflected 
 no  longer  its  light  upon  the  face  that  they  loved, 
 and  as  their  tears  fell  fast  on  the  stone  no  longer 
 trodden  by  a  brother,  "  If  Jesus  had  been  here, 
 Lazarus,  our  brother,  had  not  died."  And  so 
 deeply  had  this  sentiment  taken  possession  of  their 
 hearts,  that  Martha  utters  it  in  one  place  as  the 
 feeling  that  was  uppermost  in  her  mind,  and  Mary 
 is  no  sooner  introduced  to  Jesus  than  she  too 
 gives  utterance  to  the  same  sentiment.  But  it 
 was  not  a  just  remark.  It  indicated  faith,  and 
 yet  want  of  faith.  It  was  as  fixed  a  point  that 
 Jesus  should  not  be  at  the  bedside  of  the  dy- 
 ing Lazarus,  as  it  was  that  he  should  stand  at 
 
 M    2 
 
164  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  grave  of  the  dead  Lazarus.  The  "  ifs  "  of 
 man  are  the  decrees  of  God.  We  say  "  if,"  but 
 that  "  if  "  is  as  fixed  as  the  final  close  of  the  fact 
 to  which  it  refers.  And  hence,  in  the  remarks 
 we  make  about  our  relatives,  we  often  say, "  Ah  ! 
 if  I  had  only  taken  that  course ;  if  I  had  only  done 
 this  ;  if  I  had  only  sent  for  that  physician  ;  if  I 
 had  only  had  recourse  to  this  medicine,  how  dif- 
 ferent would  it  have  been  !  "  But  all  these  ifs 
 are  part  of  the  steps  by  which  the  relative  rose 
 from  earth  to  glory,  and  were  just  as  needful, 
 and  as  decreed,  every  one  of  them,  as  that  he 
 should  fall  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  live  for  ever.  I 
 am  not  a  fatalist,  yet  I  believe  in  the  sovereignty 
 of  God.  What  is  the  meaning,  what  is  the  end, 
 above  all  the  comfort  of  the  doctrine  of  elec- 
 tion ?  It  is  not  intended  to  modify  what  we  do 
 now.  God's  election  is  not  our  rule  of  life.  It 
 is  God's  written  word.  But  when  facts  have 
 taken  place  over  which  we  had  no  control, 
 when  we  have  lost  the  near  and  the  dear  that  we 
 loved,  then  election  comes  in  with  all  its  real  and 
 blessed  consolations,  and  tells  us  :  This  was  not 
 an  accident ;  this  was  not  a  chance,  a  hap-hazard 
 occurrence,  but  it  was  just  as  fixed  as  God's 
 own  throne,  and  Tio  power  on  earth  could  have 
 made  it  otherwise. 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  165 
 
 The   Jews,  we   read,   followed   Mary  to   the 
 tomb.     "  When  Jesus  therefore  saw  her  weep- 
 ing, and  the  Jews  also  weeping  which  came  with 
 her,  he  groaned  in  the  spirit,  and  was  troubled." 
 These  Jews  went  to  the  tomb  in  the  exercise  of 
 a  humane  sympathy :    they  went  to  sympathize 
 with  Mary ;    but  God  sent  them  to  be  witnesses 
 to  a  miracle  that  was  to  teach  souls.      Man  pur- 
 sues his  own  ends,  chalks  out  his  own  path,  and 
 acts  under  the  impulse  of  his  own  motives ;  but 
 over  every  man,  from  the*  highest  that  sits  upon 
 the  throne,  to  the  meanest  that  barely  lives  in 
 the  wretched   attic,  there  is  a  controlling  hand 
 guiding,  over-ruling,  directing  all  to  his  glory, 
 and  to  the  most  beneficent  designs.     So  those 
 Jews  took  their  own  way,  and  went  on  their  own 
 errand  ;  but  they  were  afterwards  used  by  God, 
 as  the  narrative  shows,  to  make  known  to  the 
 Pharisees  the  fact  that  one  was  raised  from  the 
 dead,  and  that  Jesus  was  therefore  the  Son  of 
 God. 
 
 An  expression  occurs  in  this  verse  which  I 
 may  notice  :  Jesus  "  groaned  in  the  spirit." 
 This  is  an  unfortunate  translation;  it  is  not 
 positively  correct,  and  our  translators  in  other 
 passages  have  not  so  rendered  it.     It  denotes  not 
 
166  FORESHADOWS 
 
 groaning  in  spirit,  but  properly,  being  indig- 
 nant. The  idea  of  indignation  (I  do  not  know 
 by  what  other  word  I  could  well  express  it)  is 
 implied  in  the  word  which  is  here  translated 
 "  groaned  in  spirit."  We  have  the  very  same 
 phrase,  for  instance,  in  Mark  xiv.  5,  where  the 
 disciples  say,  "  For  it  might  have  been  sold  for 
 more  than  three  hundred  pence,  and  have  been 
 given  to  the  poor.  And  they  murmured  against 
 her."  That  is  the  very  same  word  in  the 
 original.  It  also  occurs  in  other  passages, 
 with  shades  of  translation,  all  of  them  conveying, 
 and  involving,  and  implying,  the  idea  of  indigna- 
 tion.. But  most  persons  who  have  examined  it, 
 and  probably  noticed  this  idea,  have  been  per- 
 plexed by  the  thought,  What  could  Jesus  be 
 indignant  at  ?  Why  should  there  be  indignation 
 felt  in  the  bosom  of  the  Son  of  God  ?  I  may  state 
 in  answer,  in  the  first  place,  that  anger  is  not  sin. 
 It  is  right  to  be  angry  when  the  occasion  demands 
 it ;  only  "  let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your 
 wrath;"  because  anger  long  continued  issues 
 in  malice,  malice  in  revenge,  and  revenge  in  mur- 
 der. Therefore  the  passion  should  be  nipped 
 in  its  sinless  state,  before  it  assumes  its  sinful 
 and  wicked  development.    Here  the  indignation 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  167 
 
 was  perfectly  sinless.  We  read  in  other  passages, 
 "Jesus  was  angry,  being  grieved  at  the  hardness 
 of  their  hearts ;"  and  in  this  place  that  he  was 
 filled  with  indignation.  But  still  the  question 
 arises,  At  what  was  this  indignation  ?  What  was 
 its  cause  ?  I  have  no  doubt  there  was  a  cause, 
 and  I  think  the  circumstances  in  which  Jesus 
 stood  afford  the  explanation.  He  called  before 
 his  mind  the  havoc  that  sin  had  made  from  the  be- 
 ginning till  that  moment.  Jesus  heard  the  groan- 
 ings  of  nature  for  two  thousand  years  with  awful 
 depth  and  intensity.  He  saw  sweep  before  him 
 the  solemn  procession  of  disease,  and  death,  and 
 famine,  and  pestilence.  He  beheld  the  graves 
 of  the  aged,  and  the  tombs  of  the  young  ;  and  he 
 recollected  that  this  earth,  now  so  blasted,  was 
 once  made  so  beautiful ;  and  he  was  indignant, 
 righteously  indignant  at  the  havoc  sin  had  made, 
 and  at  the  momentary  triumph  that  Satan  had 
 obtained.  The  source  of  his  indignation  there- 
 fore was  in  the  circumstances  in  which  he  stood ; 
 and  it  reveals  and  unveils  to  us  that  blessed 
 truth,  that  Jesus, 
 
 "  Though  now  ascended  up  on  high, 
 Yet  bends  on  earth  a  brother's  eye." 
 
168  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 When  lie  looks  down  upon  this  earth,  he  has  no 
 pleasure  in  the  pains,  the  sins,  the  sufferings, 
 and  the  penalties  of  his  people  —  in  heaven 
 he  still  groans  or  grieves  over  them ;  and  he, 
 too,  anticipates  with  joy  (for  "he  shall  see  of 
 the  travail  of  his  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied  ") 
 that  blessed  day  when  all  sickness  shall  depart 
 like  a  morning  mist;  when  death  shall  be  de- 
 stroyed ;  when  the  grave  shall  be  swallowed  up 
 in  victory ;  and  this  once  fair,  and  then  yet 
 fairer,  earth  shall  bask  in  a  sunshine  that  shall 
 never  be  shaded  by  clouds,  and  all  its  inhabitants 
 shall  swell  that  glorious  anthem  in  which  there 
 shall  be  no  discord,  and  of  which  there  shall  be 
 no  suspension,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  to  receive 
 honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing,  and  thanks- 
 giving for  ever  and  ever." 
 
 But  this  suggests  to  us  a  lesson  as  we  pass. 
 If  Jesus  was  so  indignant  at  the  havoc  that  sin 
 had  made,  have  we  any  sympathy  with  the  spirit 
 of  Jesus  ?  Do  we  lament  it  ?  do  we  grieve  at  it  ? 
 And  if  we  grieve  at  it,  do  we  have  recourse  to 
 the  means  and  prescriptions  of  his  word,  to  meet, 
 to  neutralize,  and  to  remove  it  ?  The  evidence 
 that  we  sympathize  with  him,  is  the  fact  that  we 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  169 
 
 co-operate  with,  him  in  the  modes  for  its  removal 
 that  he  himself  has  pointed  out. 
 
 It  is  also  added  in  another  text,  what  has  been 
 called  the  shortest  text  in  the  Bible — that  while 
 Jesus  was  indignant  at  what  he  saw,  indignant 
 at  these  spoils  of  the  enemy,  "  Jesus  wept." 
 It  was  an  anger  that  was  mingled  with  intense 
 agony  of  spirit,  and  sorrow.  It  may  be  that  he 
 wept  as  a  friend  over  a  friend ;  for  we  can  never 
 forget  that  Jesus  as  man  touched  our  humanity 
 at  every  point.  He  was  a  Friend,  and  had  his 
 friends,  and  reciprocated  the  emotions  of  one  of 
 not  the  least  beautiful  affections  —  friendship. 
 When  Jesus'  friend  was  dead,  it  may  be  that,  as 
 a  friend,  Jesus  wept.  But  no  doubt  there  was 
 more  than  that  feeling  in  it ;  for  if  he  was  angry 
 at  the  havoc  which  he  saw,  and  which  was  the 
 result  and  the  creation  of  sin  which  he  did  not 
 make,  which  is  a  blot  and  stain  upon  that  fair 
 world  that  was  originally  made  so  beautiful, 
 there  was  also  sorrow,  painful  sorrow,  at  all 
 that  he  witnessed.  He  was,  we  are  told,  "a 
 man  of  sorrows."  I  know  no  expression  in  the 
 Bible  charged  with  intenser  meaning  than  that 
 phrase,  "  a  man  of  sorrows,"  steeped  in  sorrow, 
 saturated  as  it  were  with  sorrow.     These  tears 
 
170  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 r 
 
 that  fell  from  his  eyes  were  but  the  faint  outward 
 manifestations  of  an  ocean  of  sorrow  within,  that 
 we  can  neither  gauge,  nor  conceive,  nor  fathom. 
 "  Jesus  wept."  What  a  mixture  in  this  miracle 
 of  the  sympathy  of  man  and  of  the  majesty  of 
 God  !  Do  you  ask  me,  "  Is  Jesus  man?"  I  point 
 to  his  tears  !  Do  you  ask  me,  "  Is  Jesus  God  ?" 
 I  point  to  his  words,  "Lazarus,  come  forth."  Do 
 you  ask  me  what  he  is  ?  I  answer,  man,  as  I  am, 
 sin  excepted ;  knowing  all  my  weaknesses,  my 
 sorrows,  my  sufferings  ;  deeply,  richly,  closely 
 sympathizing  with  them  all ;  and  yet,  in  addi- 
 tion to  this,  God,  able  to  deliver  me  from  the 
 sorrows  with  which  he  sympathizes,  and  which 
 he  alone  can  mitigate  and  remove.  Blessed  be 
 God  for  such  a  Saviour  !  How  blessed  are  they 
 that  know  such  a  joyful  sound  !  What  a  prize  is 
 the  Bible  ;  what  a  blessing  is  Christianity ;  what 
 a  bright  hope  may  be  ours !  And  what  a  contrast 
 must  there  be  in  the  death  of  a  Christian  to  the 
 death  of  one  who  either  knows  not,  or,  if  he  knows, 
 despises,  the  gospel.  I  heard  lately  of  the  awfully 
 sudden,  indeed  almost  instant,  death  of  one  who 
 was  notorious  for  publishing,  printing,  and  cir- 
 culating the  most  wicked,  atheistic,  blasphemous 
 works  that  ever  disgraced  the  British  press.    He 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  171 
 
 died  with  the  hardened  feelings  with  which  he 
 lived.  How  very  awful !  Yet  we  are  not  called 
 upon  to  judge.  We  must  see  and  be  silent ;  but 
 this  we  know,  and  are  bound  to  proclaim,  that 
 the  death-bed  that  is  not  illuminated  by  that 
 rainbow  that 
 
 "  Spans  the  earth,  and  forms  a  pathway  to  the  skies," 
 
 must  be  a  dark  and  a  dreary  one  indeed.  And 
 if,  my  dear  friends,  you  wish  to  have  in  this 
 world  the  richest  joy,  drink  deep  into  Christi- 
 anity :  if  you  want  to  make  sure  in  the  world  to 
 come  of  the  brightest  prize,  grasp  most  firmly 
 that  cross  which  alone  is  worth  glorying  in ;  and 
 which,  every  day  that  one  lives,  appears  in 
 greater  beauty,  and  comes  home  to  our  hearts 
 with  greater  preciousness.  I  only  wonder  (not  at 
 you  so  much  as  at  myself)  that  Ave  so  lightly,  so 
 inadequately,  feel  those  truths.  I  often  marvel 
 that  we  can  hear  these  things  without  being 
 thrilled,  and  rapt  in  ecstasy  by  them ;  for  sure 
 I  am  such  words  never  sounded  on  the  ears  of 
 the  heathen ;  and  if  they  had,  they  would  have 
 risen  in  ecstasy,  and  the  very  slave  would  have 
 leaped  with  delight  notwithstanding  his  chains. 
 The  Jews  exclaimed,  as  they  saw  Jesus  weep- 
 
172  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ing,  "  Behold  how  he  loved  him  !  "  This  was 
 their  construction :  they  meant  that  he  loved 
 Lazarus  as  a  friend,  and  no  doubt  it  was  true  ; 
 but  there  was  a  higher  sense  also  in  which  it 
 was  true.  "  Behold  how  he  loved  him !  "  What 
 do  all  the  sufferings,  the  sorrows,  the  agony,  the 
 bloody  sweat,  the  cross  and  passion  of  our  Lord, 
 speak  to  us  but  this  truth,  "  Behold  how  he 
 loved  us?"  In  the  manger,  and  on  the  cross, 
 we  read  these  words,  "  Behold  how  he  loved 
 us  ;"  and  loved  us,  not  because  we  loved  him, 
 but  he  loved  us,  and  therefore  we  love  him ; 
 not  because  we  had  done  any  thing  good,  but  he 
 loved  us  in  spite  of  our  sins ;  and,  blessed  be  his 
 name,  if  we  are  his,  he  will  also  save  us  in  spite 
 of  our  sins.  My  dear  friends,  if  God  did  not 
 often  save  us  in  spite  of  ourselves,  we  never 
 should  be  saved  at  all ;  and  when  we  go  to  him, 
 and  pray,  we  are  to  draw  near  to  him,  not  be- 
 cause we  deserve — God  forbid,  and  we  are  not 
 to  be  driven  back  because  we  dis-serve  ;  but  we 
 are  to  go  to  him  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  a 
 thousand  sins,  and  say,  in  the  face  of  all,  and  in 
 the  midst  of  all,  in  that  still  small  voice  which 
 shall  be  heard  above  the  seven  thunders  in 
 heaven,  "  Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven." 
 
THE    LORD   AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  173 
 
 "  Behold  how  he  loved  him  ! "  Others, 
 again,  argued  this  way,  "  Could  not  this  man 
 that  did  these  miracles — that  opened  the  eyes  of 
 the  blind,  have  caused  that  this  man  should  not 
 die  ?  "  Of  course  he  could.  They  admitted 
 that  he  had  opened  the  blind  man's  eyes,  and 
 they  argued  most  logically  that  he  might  surely 
 have  quickened  the  dead  man's  heart.  The  one 
 was  just  as  possible  as  the  other  ;  and  if  he  had 
 power  to  do  the  one,  why  not  have  the  power  to 
 do  the  other  ?  They  argued  correctly  enough, 
 but  too  hastily ;  just  as  we  do  sometimes.  We 
 often  rush  to  conclude  when  we  see  the  begin- 
 ning of  a  thing ;  but  we  must  see  the  beginning 
 and  the  end  in  order  to  form  a  right  conclusion. 
 If  they  had  waited  with  a  little  more  patience, 
 they  would  have  seen  Lazarus  coming  forth  from 
 the  tomb ;  and  would  have  learned  that  this 
 man  that  could  open  the  blind  man's  eyes,  could 
 quicken  the  dead  man's  dust ;  and  that  he  was, 
 what  they  doubted,  alike  a  light  to  lighten  the 
 blind,  and  the  life  to  quicken  the  dead. 
 
 We  read  again  that  Jesus  approached  the 
 grave,  and  again  groaned  in  himself.  His  in- 
 dignation came  again.  I  do  not  wonder  at  it. 
 When  we  see  the  dead,  some  of  us,  who   are 
 
174  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 nervous,  are  shocked,  and  some,  who  are  not  so, 
 take  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  Others  feel  pity, 
 sorrow,  pain,  compassion.  Rarely  do  we  feel 
 indignation — indignation  at  what  caused  all,  and 
 is  the  source  of  all.  Jesus  now,  when  he  saw 
 death,  (shall  I  use  the  expression  and  not  be 
 misconstrued,)  was  shocked  at  it,  grieved  at  it. 
 Death,  I  repeat,  is  the  most  unnatural  thing, 
 and  the  more  one  thinks  of  it,  the  more  horrible 
 does  it  appear — that  this  excellent  frame-work, 
 made  originally  to  live  for  ever,  to  bloom  in 
 amaranthine  beauty,  never  to  have  a  grey  hair, 
 or  a  wrinkle,  or  a  stiff  joint,  or  a  deaf  ear,  or  a 
 darkened  eye  ;  once  so  beautiful  and  so  good 
 that  it  was  like  God  himself — that  this  exquisite 
 thing,  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  should 
 become  so  decayed  that  the  dearest  one  must 
 bury  it  out  of  sight.  What  hath  sin  done  !  how 
 is  the  gold  become  dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold 
 changed !  But,  what  has  Jesus  done,  who  can 
 enable  us  to  look  upon  that  dead  face,  and  on 
 that  tomb,  and  say,  O  death !  where,  notwith- 
 standing all  this,  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave  !  where 
 is  thy  victory  ?  To  gaze  upon  the  crowded  burial- 
 ground,  to  feel  it  true  of  every  saint  that  sleeps 
 there,  "  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  175 
 
 victory,   even  here,   through   Jesus  Christ  our 
 Lord ; "  this  is  Christianity.    We  read  here,  too, 
 in  this  interesting  passage,  that  they  evidently 
 went  to  a  distant  place  to  the  grave.     It  is  quite 
 plain  from  the  statement  that  they  rose  and  fol- 
 lowed her,  saying,  "  She  goeth  unto  the  grave  to 
 weep  there ;"  and  from  what  we  read  at  the  thirty- 
 eighth  verse,"  Jesus,  therefore,  again  groaning  in 
 himself,  cometh  to  the  grave  ;  it  was  a  cave,  and  a 
 stone  lay  upon  it."  All  these  words  imply  that  the 
 grave  was  not  in  the  city.     We  boast  very  much 
 of  our  being  the  civilized  people  of  the  nine- 
 teenth century ;  in  fact  it  is  the  great  boast  of 
 the  day,  that  science  has  enabled  us  to  do  tilings 
 that  the  ancients  never  dreamed  of.     One  thing, 
 however,  science  has    not  done.      Among  the 
 ancient  Greeks  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a 
 burial-place  within  a  city ;   in  the  time  of  the 
 ancient  Jews,  too,  such  a  thing  as  a  grave  within 
 the  walls  of  Jerusalem  was  not  known.     It  is  one 
 of  those  habits  that,  with  all  our  science,  we  seem 
 most  sedulously  to  cherish ;  yet  a  habit  in  itself 
 more  unsuitable,  in  its  origin  more  superstitious, 
 in  its  effects  more  pernicious,  I  do  not  know. 
 The  origin  of  it  was  this :    In  Roman  Catholic 
 times,  while  the  good  habits  of  the  heathen  in 
 
176  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 this  respect  had  passed  away,  people  came  to  be- 
 lieve that  the  church  was  not  merely  a  sacred 
 place,  but  that  it  was,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  the 
 sacrifice  and  merit  of  the  Saviour ;  and  in  old 
 Roman  Catholic  churches  you  will  aWays  find 
 the  rich  sacerdotal  and  noble  men,  buried  either 
 under  the  altar,  or  some  where  near  it ;  and  you 
 will  find  the  other  graves  crowding  around  the 
 altar  in  order  to  get  within  its  sanctifying  influ- 
 ence. This  was  the  origin  of  the  grave-yard 
 around  churches.  I  admit  that  a  great  deal  of 
 beautiful  sentiment  may  arise  from  it;  I  feel 
 that  the  "  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard,"  by 
 Gray,  is  extremely  beautiful ;  but  facts  tell  us 
 that  such  churchyards  are  extremely  pernicious, 
 and  otherwise  answer  no  good  purpose.  They 
 had  their  origin  only  in  superstition ;  and  I  think 
 in  the  nineteenth  century,  in  this  particular,  we 
 may  just  fall  back  into  the  first,  and  do  what 
 ought  to  have  been  done  years  ago — form  ceme- 
 teries far  outside  our  cities,  and  henceforth  on  no 
 consideration  within  them. 
 
 Martha,  it  is  plain,  thought  that  the  body  had 
 gone  completely  to  corruption.  There  was  no 
 evidence  that  it  really  was  so ;  it  was  only  her 
 individual  impression;   and  she  said  so  to  our 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  177 
 
 Lord.  We  then  read,  "  Jesus  lifted  up  his  eyes 
 and  said,  Father,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  heard 
 me.  And  I  knew  that  thou  hearest  me  always  ; 
 but  because  of  the  people  which  stand  by,  I  said 
 it,  that  they  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 
 Now  these  words  seem  liable,  at  first,  to  miscon- 
 struction ;  as  if  they  meant  that  Jesus  might  ask 
 and  not  be  answered ;  or  as  if  they  implied  that 
 he  was  only  a  petitioning  creature,  and  not  also 
 "  the  mighty  God."  But  you  will  see  that  the 
 words  are  to  be  construed  from  the  circumstances 
 under  which  they  were  uttered.  The  Jews  argued 
 that  the  power  that  he  exercised  was  a  power 
 from  beneath.  They  said  it  was  by  Beelzebub 
 that  he  cast  out  devils :  this  was  one  of  their 
 great  accusations.  Our  Lord  therefore,  in  ad- 
 dressing the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of 
 Jacob  on  this  occasion,  showed  them  by  his  ad- 
 dress to  God,  that  the  power  he  exercised  was 
 a  power  that  came  from  God,  and  therefore  we 
 hear  him  saying  here,  "  But  because  of  the 
 people  which  stand  by  I  said  it,  that  they  may  be- 
 lieve that  thou  hast  sent  me  ;  that  they  may  see 
 in  me  one  who  does  these  works  of  greatness  by 
 a  power  that  is  Divine,  and  that  in  that  prayer 
 they  may  have  a  foretaste  of  my  mediatorial  and 
 
178  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 intercessory  work  before  the  throne."  Then  we 
 read,  "  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  cried 
 with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth."  This 
 was  the  voice  of  the  trumpet.  You  recollect 
 reading  of  the  trump  of  the  archangel.  We 
 are  all  in  the  habit  of  talking  of  angels  and  arch- 
 angels, but  there  is  only  one  archangel  men- 
 tioned in  the  New  Testament,  and  I  suspect  that 
 archangel  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  means, 
 literally,  chief  messenger ;  as  when  we  read  of 
 angels  we  might  render  the  word  messengers. 
 In  the  sentence,  "  I  send  my  messenger,"  the 
 word  might  have  been  rendered  (t  angel."  This 
 voice  that  sounded  in  the  tomb  of  Lazarus  was 
 the  first  note  of  the  trump  of  the  archangel ; 
 and  an  earnest  of  that  period  when  those  words, 
 "  Come  forth,"  shall  go  down  into  nature's  depths, 
 and  rise  up  to  nature's  heights,  and  receive  a  mag- 
 nificent response.  There  is  not  an  atom,  not  a 
 disintegrated  atom  of  the-  dust  of  the  dear  dead 
 we  have  left  in  their  resting-places,  that  shall  not 
 hear  the  voice  of  Him  that  made  it.  We  shall  rise, 
 and  this  corruptible  shall  put  on  incorruption,  and 
 this  mortal  immortality  :  and  death  shall  be  swal- 
 lowed up  in  victory.  We  need  not  keep  our  dead 
 near  the  church,  as  if  the  church  could  do  them 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  179 
 
 good ;  it  matters  not  where  they  are.  True,  one 
 likes  to  see  a  place  set  apart  where  their  ashes 
 may  rest ;  but  it  is  really  matter  of  very  little 
 consequence  whether  we  are  devoured  by  the 
 fishes  of  the  deep,  or  by  the  beasts  of  the  forest ; 
 or  whether  the  sand  of  the  desert  be  our  wind- 
 ing-sheet and  the  song  of  the  ocean's  waves  our 
 requiem.  It  matters  little.  Every  particle  shall 
 hear  the  voice  and  trump  of  the  archangel,  and 
 we  shall  meet  again  in  circumstances  of  beauty, 
 of  blessedness,  and  of  joy,  which,  if  we  knew 
 and  felt  as  we  might,  would  make  one  frequently 
 say,  "  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  that  I, 
 too,  might  be  there  and  be  at  rest." 
 
 Lazarus  heard  the  voice,  and  came  forth.  Here 
 I  may  pause  to  notice  how  this  explains  (for  I 
 gather  the  lessons  as  I  pass)  the  importance  of 
 speaking  to  dead  souls.  Some  persons  say,  Why 
 preach  to  a  man  who  is  dead  in  sins,  when,  from 
 its  very  condition,  his  soul  cannot  hear  you  ? 
 You  might  as  well  have  said  to  Jesus,  "  Why 
 speak  to  the  dead  man  Lazarus."  Ours  is  the 
 duty  to  address  every  one,  but  the  Lord  has  the 
 power  to  make  that  address  of  use. 
 
 Jesus  said,  "  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go." 
 What  does  this  teach  us  ?  First,  the  loosing  of  him 
 
 n  2 
 
180  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 was  to  let  them  see  that  it  was  truly  a  miracle, 
 that  there  might  be  no  carping ;  and,  secondly, 
 that  Christ  never  does  for  man  what  man  can  do 
 for  himself.  Christ  saves  us  not  in  indolence, 
 but  he  saves  us  from  indolence  ;  and  any  man 
 who  will  plead,  "  I  cannot  read,  I  cannot  pray, 
 I  cannot  go  to  church  till  God  draw  me,"  is 
 either  deceiving  me,  or  deceiving  himself.  You 
 can  do  many  things,  and  it  is  no  excuse  to  say, 
 "  I  cannot  do  this,  and  I  cannot  do  that,  till  God 
 first  move  me."  I  say,  rise,  pray,  hear,  read; 
 and  if  any  man  will  do  Christ's  will,  he  shall 
 know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God. 
 
 One  fact  I  must  not  omit  to  notice  here — that 
 in  the  records  of  the  coming  forth  of  Lazarus, 
 there  is  nothing  said  about  any  disclosures  made 
 by  him  in  reference  to  the  unseen  world.  There 
 have  been  many  idle  stories  founded  on  this 
 miracle.  With  many  of  the  ancient  Fathers  and 
 writers,  when  they  get  any  hint  from  the  fu- 
 ture world,  the  first  thing  discussed  is  the  ac- 
 count of  what  the  person  saw,  and  what  he 
 heard,  and  what  he  was,  and  how  he  felt.  Now 
 the  grand  silence  which  is  here  preserved  is,  to 
 my  mind,  an  indirect  and  latent  evidence  of  the 
 truth  of  this  story.      Lazarus  says  nothing  of 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  181 
 
 the  other  world ;  all  is  silence.     Christ  alone  tells 
 us  afterwards  what  awaits  us  in  the  future.  How 
 did  the  Jews  act  upon  this  occasion  ?     We  see 
 that,  instead  of  being  convinced  and  converted, 
 they  were  only,  or  seemed  to  be,  exasperated 
 and  roused  the  more.     They  ran  and  told  the 
 Pharisees  and  the  scribes.     They  argued  in  this 
 way  :  "  If  we  let  this  man  alone,  then  the  Romans 
 will  come  and  take  away  our  nation."    They  rea- 
 soned: «  This  man  pretends  to  be  a  king,  and  if 
 we  let  him  have  his  way,  Caesar  will  come  and  de- 
 stroy us ;  because  we  thereby  show  that  we  cease 
 to  be  a  province,  and  assume  to  have  a  dynasty 
 and  sovereignty  of  our  own."     What  a  remark- 
 able illustration  have  we  here  of  the  great  fact 
 that  the  very  thing  which  they  thought  would 
 avert  the  destruction  of  their  nation,  was  just  the 
 very  thing  that  brought  clown  the  thunder-bolts 
 of  God's  righteous  judgments  upon  them.    They 
 argued  that,  if  they  left  him  alone,  it  would  be 
 the  means  of  their  nation  being  destroyed.    They 
 did  not  let  him  alone.    They  slew  him  to  save  the 
 nation,  and  this  deed  was  the  cause  of  their  nation 
 being  scattered  throughout  the  earth.    The  hio-h 
 priest  of  that  year,  a  bold,  bad  man,  (qualities  that 
 you  will  find  occasionally  developed  in  the  case  of 
 
\ 
 
 182  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 great  criminals,)  dared  to  give  utterance  to  a 
 sentiment  which  all  felt.  When  there  is  a  great 
 crowd,  a  revolution  brewing,  or  something  of  that 
 kind,  there  is  generally  found  a  vague  sentiment 
 floating  in  a  thousand  breasts,  waiting  for  an 
 interpreter.  What  makes  the  orator,  the  leader, 
 the  man  that  turns  up  a  celebrated  hero  ?  His 
 having  the  boldness  to  give  utterance  to  the 
 sentiment  that  all  feel,  but  which  none  else 
 have  the  courage  to  express.  This  was  the 
 case  with  Caiaphas:  he  gave  utterance  to  the 
 sentiment  that  they  had  not  the  cruel  courage 
 to  express.  He  says,  "  (  Ye  know  nothing  at 
 all ;'  you  are  a  people  of  no  understanding,  and 
 no  skill ;  listen  to  me.  You  do  not  (  consider 
 that  it  is  expedient  for  us  that  one  man  should 
 die  for  the  people ;' '  he  meant,  "  It  is  expe- 
 dient we  should  put  this  man  to  death,  and  get 
 rid  of  him — i  that  one  man  should  die  for  the 
 people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not.'  ' 
 Thus  he  dared  to  suggest  the  death  of  Jesus,  as  the 
 great  panacea  for  the  cure  of  their  ills ;  the  only 
 means  of  securing  the  constancy  and  continuance 
 of  their  nation.  In  other  words,  he  was,  like 
 many  modern  men,  a  man  of  expediency;  he  only 
 thought  of  expediency.     There  are  two  classes 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  183 
 
 of  men  we  meet  with  in  this  world :    some  men 
 who  never  will  move  unless  their  foot  can  be 
 upon  a  principle,  a  fixed  principle,  a  great  truth  • 
 and  whose  whole  conduct  shall  take  its  shape,  its 
 tone,  and  direction,  and  colouring,  from  the  prin- 
 ciple they  stand  on,  or  the   truth  they  grasp ; 
 and  there  are  other  men  who  are  not  acquainted 
 with  principles,  who  are  not  much  troubled  with 
 a  conscience,  who  have  no  great  truths  to  stand 
 upon ;  and  they  merely  calculate  chances.    They 
 look  around,  and  before,  and  above,  and  beneath 
 (or  rather,  not  above,  but  every  where   else) , 
 and  they  say,  "  If  this  is  done,  this  will  be  the 
 result."     They   suppose   that  men    are   exactly 
 like  a  number  of  pieces  upon  a  draft-board,  and 
 that  they  have  only  to  calculate  the  forces  and 
 anticipate  the  sure  movements,  and  the  result  will 
 be  so  and  so  ;  forgetting  that  they  have  corrupted 
 wills  to  deal  with,  and  that  they  have  a  reigning 
 God  whom  they  have  omitted  from  their  calcu- 
 lations, and   that  so  great  an   omission  vitiates 
 all.     We    shall    find,    that   what   is    true,    and 
 just,  and   holy,  is  always  expedient ;  and  what 
 is  not  holy,  not  true,  not  just,  may  be  vastly 
 plausible,    fall    of  promise,    very    significant    of 
 good,  yet,  in  the  end,  most  inexpedient.     The 
 
184  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 highest  duty  is  the  highest   expediency.      All 
 experience  proves  that  it  is  so.     But  it  is  added 
 here,  when  Caiaphas  made  use  of  those  words, 
 "  And  this  spake  he  not  of  himself;  but  being- 
 high  priest  that  year,  he  prophesied  that  Jesus 
 should  die  for  that  nation."     Then  John  adds, 
 (not  Caiaphas,)  "  And  not  for  that  nation  only, 
 but  that  also  he  should  gather  together  in  one 
 the  children  of  God  that  were  scattered  abroad." 
 It  is  very  remarkable,  that  Caiaphas  should  have 
 here  prophesied.     It  is  an  instance  of  what  are 
 called  unconscious  prophecies ;  and  many  such 
 have  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  church,  and 
 of  the  world  before.      So  Balaam,  a  bad  man, 
 prophesied.      And  not  merely  have  prophecies 
 been  uttered  in  the  shape  of  predictions  of  what 
 will  be,  but  I  believe  all  facts  that  ever  have 
 occurred  are  not  only  results  of  the  past,  but  are 
 also  prophets  and   seers,  and  earnests   of  what 
 will  be.    Take  an  instance  :  Pilate  wrote,  "  Jesus 
 of  Nazareth,    the    King    of  the    Jews."      The 
 Jews  said,   "  Why,  this  is  just  asserting  what 
 we  deny.     Say  that  he  said,  I  am  the  King  of 
 the  Jews  ?"   What  did  Pilate  reply  ?    "  What  I 
 have  written  I  have  written."     Did  he  say  that 
 of  himself?  No,  God  taught  him  to  say  so;  and 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  185 
 
 when  he  said  so  he  uttered  an  unconscious 
 prophecy,  just  as  here  the  high  priest  uttered  an 
 unconscious  prophecy.  So  the  purple  robe,  the 
 sceptre,  and  the  crown  of  thorns  which  they  put 
 upon  Jesus — what  were  these  ?  They  were  facts, 
 history  says :  they  were  prophecies  an(j  types, 
 our  experience,  enlightened  from  the  word  of 
 God,  says.  The  name  Caiaphas  is  merely  a 
 Hebrew  modification  of  the  same  word  applied 
 to  Peter  :  Cephas,  a  rock.  There  must  be  some- 
 thing significant  in  this,  that  the  last  high  priest, 
 as  if  he  were  the  last  type  of  the  true  High 
 Priest,  should  be  called  (in  mockery,  if  I  might 
 use  the  word)  a  rock ;  but  a  rock  that  was  soon 
 to  be  shaken  and  moved.  There  is  something 
 striking  in  this,  that  just  as  the  priesthood  of 
 Levi  passed  away,  never  to  be  resuscitated,  the 
 Urim  and  Thummim,  the  lights  and  perfections 
 on  his  breast,  should  be  suddenly  illuminated 
 with  an  unearthly  glory;  so  that  as  a  candle, 
 before  it  goes  out,  gives  its  brightest  flame, 
 the  priesthood  of  Aaron,  as  it  passed  away  and 
 perished  for  ever,  gave  forth  a  dying  splendour 
 that  indicated  it  was  over,  and  the  true  High 
 Priest  was  come.  So  now,  in  the  present  day, 
 facts  that  are  taking  place  around  us,  are  not 
 
186  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 bare  naked  facts,  but  significant.  Every  fact 
 that  occurs  is  a  rehearsal  of  a  greater  fact  that 
 will  be.  The  fall  of  Tyre,  of  Nineveh,  and  of 
 Babylon,  all  facts  in  history,  are  yet  declared 
 distinctly  to  have  been  prophecies  too.  And  all 
 that  has  taken  place  in  1848  on  the  continent  of 
 Europe,  is  just  a  rehearsal  of  what  will  take  place 
 on  a  yet  larger  scale,  and  with  more  terrific  and 
 tremendous  results,  by  and  by. 
 
 All  things  indicate,  as  I  have  said,  that  we  are 
 passing  into  the  last  days.  I  am  more  and  more 
 confirmed  in  this  conclusion ;  we  shall  hear 
 and  experience  soon  such  things  as  have  not 
 been  known  upon  earth  before.  Never  was 
 there  a  day,  in  which  I  solemnly  believe  every 
 one  was  more  called  upon  to  make  ready.  The 
 sailor,  when  he  hears  the  first  whistling  of  the 
 storm  amid  the  shrouds,  begins  to  put  his  vessel 
 in  trim,  and  prepare  her  to  brave  the  storm. 
 Should  we  not  also  learn  a  lesson  from  the  signs  of 
 the  times,  and  be  ready,  knowing  not  what  a  day 
 may  bring  forth  ?  This  we  do  know,  and  with  this 
 I  conclude  my  lecture,  that  he  died — what  the 
 priest  prophesied  in  his  ignorance — he  died — 
 what  the  evangelist  added  from  his  light — that 
 he  might  "  gather  together  in  one  the  children 
 
THE    LORD    AND    GIVER    OF    LIFE.  187 
 
 of  God  that  were  scattered  abroad."  Christ 
 is  the  great  magnet,  the  great  centre  of  at- 
 traction, the  great  source  and  bond  of  union, 
 and  of  unity.  "  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and 
 worthy  of  all  acceptation,"  of  all  men,  at  all  times, 
 and  in  all  circumstances,  "  that  Jesus  Christ  came 
 into  the  world  to  save  sinners,"  of  whom  you,  I, 
 may  be  the  chief;  he  came  to  save  us,  even 
 us ;  not  because  we  are  sinners,  but  in  spite  of 
 our  sins ;  not  because  we  deserved  it,  but  in 
 spite  of  what  we  deserve. 
 
LECTURE  VII. 
 
 THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE. 
 
 And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  was  in  a  certain  city,  behold  a 
 man  full  of  leprosy :  who  seeing  Jesus  fell  on  his  face,  and 
 besought  him,  saying,  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me 
 clean.  And  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  touched  him,  saying, 
 I  will  :  be  thou  clean.  And  immediately  the  leprosy  de- 
 parted from  him.  And  he  charged  him  to  tell  no  man  :  but 
 go,  and  show  thyself  to  the  priest,  and  offer  for  thy  cleansing, 
 according  as  Moses  commanded,  for  a  testimony  unto  them. 
 —Luke  v.  12—14. 
 
 The  disease  called  the  leprosy  is  one  which  it 
 is  not  possible,  perhaps,  accurately  to  describe ; 
 nor  is  it  necessary  to  do  so.  Its  physical  charac- 
 teristics and  symptoms  belong  to  the  province 
 of  the  physician,  not  to  the  discourse  of  the 
 minister  of  the  gospel.  I  take  this  disease, 
 which  so  often  occurs,  in  reference,  or  allusion, 
 or  judgment,  throughout  the  Scripture,  to  be  the 
 great  typical  and  teaching  disease.  It  was  se- 
 lected from  the  rest  of  those  diseases  to  which 
 humanity  has  been  subject,  not  because  it  was 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE.  189 
 
 the  worst  of  them,  but  in  order  that  it  should  be 
 a  type,  and  symbol,  and  teacher  of  that  more 
 dreadful  disease  which  has  overspread  the  soul, 
 the  wages  of  which  is  death,  and  the  issue  of 
 which  is  everlasting  banishment  from  the  pre- 
 sence of  God. 
 
 All  diseases  are  unnatural,  monstrous,  horri- 
 ble. Man  was  never  made  to  be  diseased,  nor 
 was  he  meant  to  die.  Yet  there  is  no  such  phe- 
 nomenon on  earth  as  a  perfectly  healthy  man : 
 there  is  no  such  state.  The  instant  we  are  born 
 such  seeds,  and  germs,  and  elements  of  disease 
 are  in  us,  as  must  eventually  bring  us  to  the 
 grave  5  the  instant  man  sinned,  that  moment 
 death  seized  upon  him.  What  is  disease  itself? 
 It  is  death  in  its  beginning.  Disease  is  to  death 
 just  what  the  acorn  is  to  the  oak ;  it  is  the  first 
 germ  that  contains  all  the  rest.  All  diseases  are 
 the  exponents  of  an  inward  derangement ;  they 
 are  the  echoes,  heard  without,  of  a  disorganiza- 
 tion that  is  going  on  within.  And  this  disease, 
 called  the  leprosy,  was,  as  I  have  said,  selected 
 not  because  it  was  the  worst,  but  to  be  a  sort  of 
 awful  sacrament,  as  it  were,  of  that  death  to 
 which  sin,  the  counterpart  of  the  leprosy,  leads  • 
 and  to  teach  us  that  a  universal  plague,  worse 
 
190  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 than  pestilence,  famine,  and  sword,  has  fallen  on 
 all  humanity ;  and  that  there  is  but  one  mode  of 
 deliverance  from  it,  that  mode  which  was  con- 
 summated on  the  cross,  and  is  preached  in  the 
 Bible,  and  enunciated  by  every  faithful  minister 
 of  the  gospel. 
 
 This  disease,  from  its  typical  nature,  to  which 
 I  must  refer  by  and  by,  was  called  by  the  Jews 
 the  "  finger  of  God  ; "  by  others  of  them  it  was 
 called  "  the  stroke,"  from  the  way  in  which  they 
 were  struck  by  it.  It  first  attacked  a  man's 
 house,  it  is  said ;  next,  his  clothing  ;  and  lastly, 
 his  person  :  and  it  was  to  be  healed,  mark  you, 
 (and  here  was  its  typical  nature,)  not  by  the  phy- 
 sician's prescription,  but  by  the  priest's  treat- 
 ment. In  this  respect  it  is  singled  out  and 
 made  to  differ  from  all  other  diseases,  and  there 
 fore  it  is  what  I  have  called  it — a  typical  and  sig- 
 nificant disease. 
 
 In  the  case  of  the  leprosy,  it  was  not  always 
 the  guiltiest  that  were  its  victims ;  just  as  in  the 
 case  which  I  explained  in  reading  the  chapter 
 this  morning,  it  was  not  always  the  guiltiest  who 
 were  most  punished ;  although  when  special  sins 
 were  committed  against  the  theocracy,  that  is,  the 
 personal  government  of  Israel  by  God  himself, 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE.  191 
 
 we  find  that  this  disease  was  almost  always  the 
 judgment  that  was  inflicted.  This  was  the  case 
 of  Gehazi,  who  sinned  so  grievously  against  God, 
 that  he  went  forth  "  a  leper  white  as  snow."  You 
 recollect  also  the  case  of  Uzziah,  who,  when  he 
 touched  the  ark,  was  smitten  with  leprosy.  These 
 were  especially  sinful  persons  visited  with  a 
 special  judgment ;  but  in  the  case  of  other  per- 
 sons, we  do  not  know  why  they  were  visited.  In 
 the  case  of  the  leprous  man  before  us,  we  cannot 
 say  why  he  was  afflicted.  It  is  the  foolish  ques- 
 tion that  was  asked  of  old,  and  is  asked  still, 
 "  Who  hath  sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that 
 he  was  born  blind  ? "  They  were  right  in  tracing 
 the  affliction  to  sin ;  wrong  in  supposing  that  in 
 this  dispensation,  where  there  is  special  individual 
 suffering,  there  is  therefore  special  individual 
 guilt.  Our  Lord  says,  in  Luke,  (and  this  is 
 a  proper  corrective  of  people's  notions  still,) 
 "  Think  ye  that  those  eighteen  upon  whom  the 
 tower  of  Siloam  fell  and  slew  them,  think  ye  that 
 they  were  sinners  above  all  men?"  Human  na- 
 ture is  apt  to  think  so.  Strange  it  is,  there  is  a 
 lingering  sense  in  the  depths  of  man's  heart  of 
 the  connexion  between  sin  and  punishment  that 
 he  never  can   get  rid  of;   but  he  manifests  it 
 
192  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 wrongly,  and  applies  his  jndgment  indiscreetly, 
 when  he  assumes  that  the  eighteen  who  were 
 made  the  victims  of  a  signal  punishment  were 
 sinners  above  all  men.  When  yon  see  one  man 
 smitten  down  by  the  sword,  another  dropping 
 down  by  disease  of  the  heart,  another  by  some 
 epidemic,  you  are  not  to  say,  <(  That  man  was 
 evidently  the  guiltiest ;  he  was  a  very  great  sin- 
 ner, because  he  is  singled  out  for  a  special  judg- 
 ment." The  lesson  you  are  to  learn  is  this,  "  Ex- 
 cept ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 
 
 I  may  notice  in  the  next  place,  that  there  is 
 no  evidence  that  the  leprosy  was  what  is  called 
 infectious.  I  say  there  is  no  evidence  in  the 
 Bible  that  it  could  be  communicated  from  one 
 person  to  another  by  contact.  On  the  contrary, 
 we  find  that  the  Levitical  priests,  whose  duty  it 
 was  minutely  to  examine  its  symptoms,  and  pro- 
 nounce upon  its  existence  or  its  removal,  touched 
 the  person,  and  never,  in  any  one  instance, 
 caught  the  disease.  Where  the  Levitical  laws 
 were  not  binding,  persons  infected  with  leprosy 
 moved  with  others,  and  took  their  place  in  so- 
 ciety. Here  was  the  commanding  officer  of  a 
 great  army,  Naaman,  the  Syrian,  who  laboured 
 under   the  disease,  and  yet  lived  in  no  separ- 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE.  193 
 
 ation.       Persons  lived  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty 
 years    under    the    leprosy,    mixing   with   man- 
 kind, and   discharging  the   duties  of  their   re- 
 spective offices.     Gehazi,  when  smitten  with  it, 
 approached  the  king  of  Israel,  and  there  was  felt 
 no  fear  that  the  disease  would  be  communicated. 
 And  you  will  recollect,  where  the  law  of  Moses 
 was  binding,  the  sojourner  and  the  stranger  in 
 the  midst  of  Israel  was  not  under  the  laws  in 
 this  matter  to  which  the  Israelite  was  subject, 
 but  might  freely  mix  with  the  people,  although 
 he  might  be  smitten  with  leprosy.      All  these 
 facts    thus    teach  us  that  this  disease  was  not 
 infectious.     Perhaps   no   disease  is   so.     And  I 
 believe  that  as  light,  and  science,  and  real  wis- 
 dom grow  among  mankind,  they  will  come  to  dis- 
 cover that  these  books  of  Moses,  with  which  the 
 infidel  has  made  so  much  merriment,  are,  after 
 all,  not  merely  exponents  of  the  highest  and  most 
 sublime   divinity,  but   are  also   pharmacopoeias 
 for  prescriptions  far  more  precious  than  at  pre- 
 sent we  are  disposed  to  admit.      It  may  yet  be 
 discovered  perhaps,  (and  experience  seems  more 
 and  more   to   confirm   it,)  that   in  the  case  of 
 diseases   which  have   long  been   thought   con- 
 tagious there  is  no  contagion  at  all,  and  that  it 
 
194  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 needs  some  vile  churchyard,  or  some  vault  below 
 the  floor  on  which  the  living  are — or  some  un- 
 drained  neighbourhoods,  or  excess  of  eating  and 
 drinking,  or  destitution  of  raiment,  of  food,  or 
 of  drink — to  be  conductors  of  the  otherwise  in- 
 nocuous diseases  ;  just  as  the  lightning  will  play- 
 in  all  its  splendours  innocently  in  the  skies,  un- 
 til it  find  a  conductor  to  carry  it  down  in 
 order  to  smite  some  one,  and  number  him  with 
 the  dead.  It  may  be  with  our  worst  diseases  as 
 with  the  lightnings  in  the  clouds,  that  there 
 must  be  a  conductor  in  order  to  carry  down 
 either.  I  believe,  however,  in  the  present  day, 
 — and  I  rejoice  to  see  the  feeling,  for  Christian- 
 ity ministers  to  and  contemplates  the  well- 
 being  of  the  body,  as  well  as  the  salvation  of 
 the  soul,  —  that  efforts  are  being  made  exten- 
 sively to  diminish  these  conductors  of  disease. 
 I  was  informed  by  a  physician  what  I  can  con- 
 firm from  experience,  that  few  have  any  idea 
 of  the  awful,  brutalized,  impure  physical  state 
 in  which  the  poor  are ;  so  much  so  that  I  fear 
 the  efforts  of  our  city  missionaries  and  our 
 tract-distributors  will  all  be  sadly  valueless 
 till  something  is  done  to  mitigate  the  physical 
 suffering,  and  raise  the  domestic    condition    of 
 
THE  GREAT  TYPICAL  DISEASE.      195 
 
 our  poor  at  least  to  a  level  with  the  dogs  in 
 many  a  nobleman's  kennel,  who  are  far  better 
 cared  for,  and  far  more  generously  treated.  You 
 need  not  be  informed  that  that  which  brings 
 down  the  heaviest  judgments  of  God  upon  a 
 land,  is  that  land's  neglect  of  the  poor.  I  do 
 hope  that  every  individual  who  has  and  to 
 spare,  and  who  knows  where  the  poor  are — 
 not  rogues,  impostors,  and  vagabonds,  who  al- 
 ways will  make  poverty  a  stalking-horse  on  which 
 to  prosecute  their  iniquitous  designs — will  seek 
 them  out  and  minister  to  them.  It  is  a  great 
 luxury  to  do  so.  Help  them,  cheer  them,  en- 
 courage them  ;  and  we  shall  do  more  in  this 
 way  for  the  Christianization  of  the  land,  by 
 such  pioneering  efforts,  than  we  are  at  first  dis- 
 posed to  anticipate.  I  believe  that  the  gin-shops 
 would  very  extensively  be  closed  if  we  could 
 only  raise  the  physical  condition  of  the  poor. 
 What  makes  them  crave  after  alcohol,  and  drink 
 to  excess,  is  their  frightful  physical  depression. 
 Teetotal  societies  would  not  be  wanted,  and 
 many  a  chemist's  shop  would  be  closed,  if  the 
 poor  people  could  only  get  clean  houses,  pure 
 water,  and  good  food  to  live  upon.  Encourage 
 them,  minister  to  them,  comfort  them,  and  so  you 
 
 o  2 
 
196  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 will  arrest  disease  that  may  in  turn  scathe  your- 
 selves ;  for  if  the  poor  are  left  to  be  great  suffer- 
 ers, it  will  be  seen  that  the  rich  will  suffer  also  ; 
 and  it  is  well ;  we  are  thankful  that  it  is  so.  If  suf- 
 fering did  not  reach  the  healthy,  they  would  never 
 sympathize  with  those  who  suffer.     Minister  to 
 the  poor,  and  feel  that  this  is  a  commission  and 
 a  ministry  that  God  has  given  you.     My  dear 
 friends,  we  are  all  passing  rapidly  to  that  state 
 into  which  our  money  and  our  resources  cannot 
 sro  with  us.     He  that  is  rich  toward  God,  and 
 lays  up  treasure  in  the  skies,  will,  as  a  Christian, 
 have    the    greatest  peace  below,  and  the  most 
 cordial  welcome  above :  for,   "  Inasmuch  as  ye 
 did  it  unto  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye 
 did  it  unto  me." 
 
 But  if  this  disease  was  not  contagious,  why,  it 
 may  be  asked,  were  there  those  severe  regula- 
 tions respecting  it  ?  The  person  who  was  a  leper 
 was  to  have  his  lips  covered,  to  keep  his  hand 
 upon  his  mouth,  his  garments  rent  and  torn  ; 
 and  he  was  to  cry,  the  moment  any  one  ap- 
 proached him,  "  Unclean,  unclean."  Why  so  ? 
 Superficial  readers  say  it  was  because  the  dis- 
 ease was  contagious.  I  believe  it  was  because 
 the  disease  was  significant.  The  leper  was  meant 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE.  197 
 
 to  be  a  parable  of  death — to  be,  in  a  sensuous 
 dispensation,  in  which,  outward  symbols  were 
 made  the  vehicles  of  spiritual  and  inner  truths, 
 a  voice  sounding  in  the  depths  of  the  wilderness, 
 "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  Separation  from 
 the  healthy,  which  was  part  of  the  law  of  the 
 leper,  was  not  because  the  disease  was  contagious, 
 but  because  it  was  typical  or  significant — and  was 
 meant  to  teach  that  sin  is  the  great  separating 
 element.  When  Jesus  was  crucified,  he  was 
 crucified  without  the  camp.  Our  sins  were  laid 
 upon  him ;  and  as,  by  imputation,  he  was  the 
 greatest  sinner,  and  so  he  suffered  for  our  sins, 
 and  in  our  stead,  without  the  camp.  It  is  said  of 
 the  New  Jerusalem,  that  nothing  that  defileth  shall 
 enter  it,  and  that  all  polluted,  diseased  things  shall 
 be  outside.  Sin  is  the  great  rending,  splitting, 
 separating  element ;  it  separates  man  from  man, 
 and  it  separates  man  from  God.  It  has  made  a 
 chasm  between  heaven  and  earth  so  wide  and  so 
 deep,  that  it  needed  God  in  our  nature  to  span 
 it,  and  make  a  path-way  back  again  to  the  skies. 
 All  the  laws  of  the  leper  were  designed  to  teach 
 us  these  great  and  important  lessons  in  reference 
 to  sin.  If  you  wish  to  see  the  history  of  the  po- 
 sition and  treatment  of  the  leper,  read  at  your 
 
198  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 leisure  the  loth,  14th,  and  15th  chapters  of  the 
 book  of  Leviticus,  where  you  will  find  a  full 
 description  of  the  whole. 
 
 Then  the  cure  of  the  leper  was  remarkable. 
 It  was  not  a  cure  to  be  achieved  by  medicine  or 
 by  sanitary  treatment,  although  perhaps  these 
 were  employed,  (for  God  is  a  God  of  means,  and 
 such  means  are  right  in  their  place,)  but  it  was  to 
 be  healed  by  special  ecclesiastical  or  spiritual 
 rites.  There  were  chosen  two  birds  ;  one  was  to 
 be  slain,  and  the  other  was  to  be  dismissed ;  the 
 hyssop  was  to  be  dipped  in  the  blood  of  the  slain 
 bird,  and  sprinkled  on  the  leper.  This  will  ex- 
 plain the  beautiful  expression  of  David,  (Psalm 
 li.,)  "Purge" — or  cleanse — "me  with  hyssop;" 
 that  is,  the  hyssop  thus  dipped  in  the  blood  of 
 the  slain  bird,  without  shedding  of  blood  there 
 bein£  no  remission  of  sins.  As  that  blood  was 
 sprinkled  upon  the  leper,  and  the  man  was  then 
 pronounced  clean,  so  David,  looking  through  the 
 outward  symbol  to  the  inner  and  spiritual  truth, 
 says,  "  Cleanse  me  with  hyssop ;  yea,  Lord,  wash 
 me  in  that  blood  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin, 
 of  which  the  sacrifice  of  that  bird  was  but  the 
 faint  and  the  imperfect  type." 
 
 Thus,  we  see  this  disease  was  cured  by  cedar, 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL   DISEASE.  199 
 
 and  hyssop,  and  scarlet,  and  a  sacrifice  espe- 
 cially appointed  for  that  purpose.  And  this 
 confirms  the  view  I  have  taken,  that  it  was  a  type 
 significant  of  what  sin  is,  and  what  the  issues  of 
 sin  are,  and  how  it  may  be  put  away. 
 
 The  fact   that   Jesus  healed  this   disease,  is 
 evidence   that  he  sustained   no  ordinary  office 
 or  character.      He  did  not  heal  it  by  that  mira- 
 culous virtue,  by  exerting  which  he  healed  the 
 ordinarily  diseased ;    but  he  assumed,  in  heal- 
 ing it,  to  be  the  great  High  Priest,  the  antetype 
 of  him  whose  priesthood  was  about  to  pass  away. 
 iWhen  John  asked  for  evidences  that  Christ  was 
 the  Messiah,  we  read  that  one  of  the  evidences  (/ 
 given,  and  not  the  least  expressive,  was,  "  The 
 lepers  are  cleansed."     That  was  not  a  reference 
 to  his  power,  nor  to  his  mercy,  but  evidence  f , 
 that  the  Aaronitic  priesthood  was  passing  into  I) 
 the  true  priesthood,  and  the  rites  of  Levi  merg- 
 ing into  the  realities  of  the  glorious  gospel. 
 
 When  the  leper  approached  Jesus,  he  used 
 the  very  humble,  yet  very  trustful  language, 
 "  If  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean." 
 That  leper  saw  in  Christ  more  than  a  mere  healer 
 of  disease  by  miraculous  power.  He  knew  quite 
 well  that  leprosy  was,  if  I  might  so  speak,  an  ec- 
 
200  FORESHADOWS: 
 
 clesiastical  disease — that  it  could  only  be  cured 
 by  ecclesiastical  prescription,  or  by  Divine  power. 
 When,  therefore,  he  asked  Jesus  to  cure  his 
 leprosy,  he  recognised  him  not  only  as  omnipo- 
 tent, and  able  to  heal  the  disease,  but  as  a  priest 
 in  Israel,  able  to  minister  to  that  peculiar  form 
 of  disease  which  the  priest  alone  was  to  deal 
 with.  You  will  notice  too,  when  the  leper  came 
 to  Jesus  no  claim  was  expressed  upon  his  sym- 
 pathy ;  he  uttered  not  a  word,  that  indicated  his 
 feeling  that  he  had  a  title  to  his  favour ;  he  ap- 
 proached him  with  all  the  abasement  of  a  sinner, 
 as  we  should  do  ;  and  yet  with  all  the  confidence 
 of  a  son,  as  we  may  also  do.  A  soul  that  sees  its 
 sin,  and  that  sin  deadly,  and  sees  in  Jesus  a 
 Saviour,  and  that  Saviour  willing  and  able,  is  not 
 to  be  repelled  or  restrained  from  approaching 
 him.  As  the  leper  in  this  case  trampled  down 
 the  Levitical  law,  which  forbade  him  to  touch 
 any  body,  and  ran  to  Jesus ;  so  we  are  to  trample 
 down  all  obstructions,  and,  as  the  greatest  of 
 sinners,  come  at  once,  in  spite  of  our  sins,  into 
 contact  with  the  greatest  Saviour,  and  obtain  ab- 
 solution, forgiveness,  and  remission. 
 
 Persons  argue,  and  argue  most  foolishly,  that 
 they  may  not  go  to  Christ  with  confidence  be- 
 
THE  GREAT  TYPICAL  DISEASE.      201 
 
 cause  they  are  sinners.  It  is  because  you  are 
 sinners  that  you  may  go  ;  it  is  as  sinners  that 
 you  are  invited ;  and  it  is  in  spite  of  your  sins 
 that  you  are  to  take  courage ;  in  fact,  you  will 
 never  taste  what  the  freedom  and  the  fulness  of 
 the  gospel  are,  till  you  feel  that  the  greatest  sin 
 that  has  stained  your  history  in  the  past,  may 
 this  very  moment,  on  simple  application,  be 
 blotted  out  and  remembered  no  more  against 
 you,  through  that  blood  which  cleanseth  from 
 all  sin. 
 
 Jesus  treated  the    Levitical   law  just  as  the 
 leper  treated  it ;    it  was  no  obstruction  to  the 
 exercise  of  his  power  and  goodness.      It  is  said 
 he  touched  the  leper.      If  it  was   contrary  to 
 the  Levitical  law  for  the  leper  to  go  to  Jesus, 
 it  was  just  as  contrary  to  the  Levitical  law  for 
 Jesus  to  touch  the  leper.      This  fact  that  Christ 
 touched    the    leper    is    a    gleam    of    an    inner 
 and  a  hidden   truth,  that   He  was   more    than 
 man.     If  Jesus  had  been  a  mere  man,  to  have 
 touched  the  leper  would   have   been   to  defile 
 himself;    but  he  was  more  than  man,  and  did 
 not,  therefore,  defile  himself,  but  cured  the  leper 
 of  his  leprosy.  The  sun  that  shines  in  the  firma- 
 ment   casts    his    beams    upon    all   that  is  pol- 
 
202  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 luted  on  the  earth  below,  but  retains  unscathed 
 his  own  purity  and  splendour.  Infinite  health 
 could  come  into  contact  with  disease,  and  not  be 
 diseased  ;  infinite  and  eternal  life  could  come 
 into  contact  with  death,  and  neither  be  tainted 
 nor  die.  The  fact  therefore  that  Jesus  touched 
 the  leper,  and  when  he  did  so,  cured  him, 
 is  the  evidence  that  He  was  more  than  man, 
 the  mighty  God,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  And,  my 
 dear  friends,  is  Christ  dead?  Has  he  ceased  to 
 be  ?  No.  We  do  not  see  him,  but  he  no  less 
 lives ;  we  do  not  hear  him,  but  he  no  less 
 reigns  ;  because  he  is  beyond  the  horizon  of  our 
 vision  he  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  our  prayers, 
 he  has  neither  ceased  to  hear  prayer,  nor  to 
 answer  it.  He  is  just  as  able  to  keep  you  from 
 disease  as  he  is  to  cure  disease.  We  may  ask 
 him  to  do  so.  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe 
 that  we  ought  to  pray  for  temporal  blessings. 
 He  has  thus  taught  us  :  "  Give  us  this  day  our 
 daily  bread."  You  may  ask  for  temporal  bless- 
 ings ;  and  if  they  are  for  his  glory,  and  to  your 
 greatest  good,  they  will  be  given  to  you;  if 
 not,  then,  "  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  even 
 as  it  is  done  in  heaven,"  should  be  the  utter- 
 ance of  our  hearts. 
 
THE    GREAT    TYFICAL    DISEASE.  203 
 
 When  the  patient  was  cured,  Jesus  said  to 
 him,  "  See  that  thou  tell  no  man,  but  go  and 
 show  thyself  to  the  priest."  What  was  meant  by 
 this  ?  If  the  man,  the  instant  he  was  cured,  had 
 blazoned  it  abroad,  the  priest  would  have  heard 
 of  it ;  he  would  have  looked  upon  him,  and  out 
 of  spite  and  malice  (sins  by  which  the  priests  and 
 Pharisees  were  deeply  stained  at  that  moment) 
 he  would  have  said,  "  There  is  no  cure ;  the 
 man  is  labouring  under  leprosy  still."  But  when 
 the  man  went  quietly,  and  showed  himself  to  the 
 proper  appointed  officer,  the  priest,  not  knowing 
 who  made  the  cure,  pronounced,  from  his  own 
 inspection,  that  the  man  was  clean.  Thus  there 
 was  the  voice  of  an  enemy  testifying  that  the 
 finger  of  God  was  in  the  cure  of  that  man's 
 leprosy.  And  thus  all  the  miracles  of  Jesus  will 
 stand  the  test  of  all  his  enemies  ;  and  I  may  add, 
 what  is  equally  true,  that  all  the  words  of  Jesus, 
 all  that  are  contained  in  this  book,  will  stand 
 all  ordeals,  and  survive  all  opposition,  and  come 
 forth  from  all  examinations,  only  bearing  a 
 brighter  and  more  vivid  signature  that  they  are 
 the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  teaching 
 of  the  Son  of  God. 
 
 Have  any  of  you  been  cured  of  sin  ?    Have 
 
204  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 any  of  you  had  your  sins  forgiven  ? — it  is  not 
 presumption,  but  piety,  to  feel  so  : — then,  my 
 dear  friends,  you  are  called  upon  to  go  and  act. 
 Our  forgiveness  is  not  the  ultimate  result,  but 
 only  the  preface  to  a  future  life  of  devotedness, 
 of  service,  of  activity.  Go  and  do,  is  the  direc- 
 tion to  every  one  that  is  healed.  First  the  cure, 
 then  consistent  conduct ;  first  the  forgiveness  of 
 our  sins,  then  obedience.  And  mark  the  beau- 
 tiful force  of  such  obedience.  When  an  unfor- 
 given  man  tries  to  do  God's  will,  he  does  it  as  a 
 person  hired  tries  to  do  the  work  which  he  is  en- 
 gaged to  do  in  order  to  earn  the  wages  promised 
 him ;  he  works  as  a  slave,  and  has  the  feelings 
 of  a  slave,  but  when  a  person  is  forgiven  he  goes 
 and  does  God's  will,  not  in  order  to  obtain 
 something,  but  because  he  has  obtained  all.  The 
 first  works  as  a  slave,  the  second  obeys  as  a  son. 
 The  first  does  it  in  bondage,  cringes,  and  shrinks 
 in  the  presence  of  a  task-master ;  the  latter  walks 
 as  a  son  in  the  sunshine  of  a  father's  love,  hold- 
 ing communion  and  fellowship  with  one  who 
 delights  to  bless  him  and  to  do  him  good.  Go 
 you  then,  my  dear  reader,  do  justly,  love  mercy, 
 and  walk  humbly  with  God.  Go  and  tell  what 
 great  things  God  has  done  for  you.     Go   and 
 
THE  GREAT  TYPICAL  DISEASE.      205 
 
 devote  your  energies  to  every  cause  for  which 
 those  energies  may  be  fitted,  and  for  which  you 
 can  spare  them;  not  to  be  justified,  but  because 
 you  are  justified;  not  to  reach  forgiveness,  but 
 because  you  have  obtained  forgiveness  ;  and  you 
 will  do  so  then  with  joyful  emotions,  an  elastic 
 footstep,  and  a  bounding  heart.  So  much  for 
 the  history  of  this  cure.  Let  me  now  draw 
 three  practical  lessons  from  all  I  have  stated. 
 
 We,  too,  are  the  subj  ects  of  a  disease  far  more 
 terrible  than  leprosy.  That  disease  is  described 
 by  Isaiah,  when  he  says,  "  The  whole  head  is 
 sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint.  From  the  sole 
 of  the  foot  even  to  the  head  there  is  no  sound- 
 ness in  it ;  but  wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putri- 
 fying  sores :  they  have  not  been  closed,  neither 
 bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  ointment." 
 We  were  shapen  in  sin,  (this  terrible  disease,) 
 we  were  brought  forth  in  iniquity  (this  worse 
 than  Gehazi's  leprosy) ;  its  sting  is  poison,  its 
 wages  is  death.  The  house  is  infected,  and  the 
 inhabitants  too  ;  the  garment  is  infected,  and  the 
 wearer  too ;  the  world  is  infected,  and  all  that 
 dwell  therein.  A  miasma  far  more  terrible  than 
 all  the  plagues  that  have  visited  humanity,  creeps 
 through  every  home,  nestles  in  every  heart,  in- 
 
206  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 fects  every  soul,  taints  every  thought,  pollutes 
 every  conscience,  and,  unless  we  are  delivered 
 from  its  terrible  poison,  the  issue  of  it  must  be 
 everlasting  misery  and  estrangement  from  God. 
 In  the  next  place,  no  human  being  can  atone 
 for,  or  cleanse  from,  this  terrible  disease.  The 
 Jew  felt  it  in  his  temple ;  the  Gentile  is  con- 
 scious of  it  in  his  pagoda ;  and  in  both  temple 
 and  pagoda,  from  the  earliest  moment  of  the  fall, 
 Jew  and  Gentile,  the  one  by  Divine  light  and 
 the  other  by  human  light,  have  been  trying  if 
 they  could  propitiate  him  against  whom  their 
 consciences  tell  them  they  have  sinned,  and  draw 
 down  from  God  those  blessings  which  their  own 
 hearts  assure  them  they  have  justly  forfeited. 
 But  no  atonement  man  can  make  is  adequate  to 
 remove  it.  The  prophet  says,  and  says  justly 
 and  expressively,  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come  be- 
 fore the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the  high 
 God  ?  Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt  - 
 offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old  ?  Will  the 
 Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with 
 ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?  Shall  I  give  my 
 first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my 
 body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ? "  All  these  are 
 vain,  and  utterly  profitless.     No  moral,  eccle- 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL   DISEASE.  207 
 
 siastical,  or  sacramental  rite  can  cleanse  us ; 
 all  the  tears  that  penitence  ever  shed  cannot 
 cleanse  us  ;  all  the  sufferings  that  martyrs  ever 
 endured  at  the  stake  cannot  cleanse  us  ;  all  we 
 can  pay  or  promise  can  never  cleanse  us.  The 
 dye  is  too  deep  for  aught  human  to  expunge  it, 
 the  guilt  is  too  high  for  aught  that  man  can  do 
 to  reach  it.  "  By  deeds  of  law  no  flesh  can  be 
 justified."  This  plague  none  but  a  priest,  the 
 High  Priest  who  is  in  heaven,  can  heal  and 
 remove. 
 
 And  this  leads  me,  therefore,  to  announce  that 
 blessed  truth,  which  is  the  very  music  and  glory 
 of  the  gospel,  that  "  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a 
 fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David,  and  to 
 the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for 
 uncleanness."  If  we  are  all  the  victims  of  this 
 great,  wasting,  moral  plague,  if  nothing  we  can 
 pay,  or  procure,  or  promise,  or  suffer,  or  do,  can 
 sweep  it  away,  how  blessed,  how  welcome  are 
 these  tidings,  that  the  Lamb  of  God  taketh  away 
 — not  took  away,  not  will  take  away,  but  taketh 
 away — the  sins  of  the  world ;  conveying  to  us 
 this  bright  idea,  that  every  moment  there  is  a 
 transfer  of  our  sins  to  him  who  takes  them  awav 
 into  a   land  of  forgetfulness   for   ever  !     How 
 
208  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 blessed  to  such  sin-convinced  and  plague -smitten 
 persons  is  this  glorious  passage,  "  The  blood  of 
 Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  [not  once  did  cleanse,  and 
 now  has  lost  its  efficacy ;  not  will  one  day  cleanse 
 when  we  are  more  worthy  of  it;  but  now,]  cleans- 
 eth  from  [not  this  sin,  or  that  sin,  or  little  sin,  if 
 such  there  be,  but  it  cleanseth  from]  rt//sin!"  and 
 its  virtues  are  lasting  as  the  wants  of  humanity ; 
 its  efficacy  is  a  present  efficacy.  Throw  your  hope 
 upon  this  blessed  truth,  that  the  blood  of  Jesus 
 cleanseth  from  all  sin.     Plead  at  the  mercy-seat 
 this   fact,  that  he   that  knew  no  sin  was  made 
 sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
 ness of  God  in  him.     Just  as  God's  wrath  settles, 
 and  lights,  and  fastens  with  a  consuming  and  cor- 
 roding power  upon  every  soul  that  is  not  sprinkled 
 with  that  blood,  so  sure  God's  love,  and  mercy, 
 and  peace  settle  and  fasten  with  saving  power 
 upon  every  soul  that  is  sprinkled  with  that  pre- 
 cious blood.    But  what  is  it  to  be  sprinkled  with 
 it  ?     Not  to  be  literally  so.     The  soldiers  who 
 pierced   the   side  of  Jesus    on   the  cross  were 
 sprinkled  literally  with  his  blood,  but  they  were 
 not  one  whit  better  for  that.     To  be  sprinkled 
 with  this  blood  is  to  believe  God's  testimony 
 about  it.     It  is  just  to  say  this  to  God,  "Oh! 
 
THE    GREAT    TYPICAL    DISEASE.  209 
 
 my  God,  the  plague  is  in  my  heart,  consuming, 
 wasting,  sinking  me  to  the  depths  of  hell ;  and, 
 if  left  so,  I  must  perish  for  ever.  And  oh  !  my 
 God,  thou  hast  told  me  that  Jesus  died  for  all 
 that  believe,  that  he  endured  the  curse  for  all 
 that  rest  on  him.  I  believe,  O  Lord,  what  thou 
 hast  told  me — the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth  from 
 all  sin ;  I  believe  thy  love  can  lighten  where  that 
 blood  is,  and  thy  wrath  cannot  scathe  where  that 
 blood  is.  Lord,  I  ask  of  thee  to  give  me  thy 
 peace,  to  bestow  upon  me  thy  mercy,  and  shed 
 down  upon  me  thy  forgiveness,  for  no  reason  in 
 the  wide  universe,  in  me,  or  out  of  me,  or  about 
 me,  but  for  this  reason  alone,  that  Jesus  died 
 that  I,  a  poor  sinner,  might  live."  If  you  say 
 so,  and  feel  so  from  the  very  depth  of  your 
 heart,  there  is  no  truth  in  the  Bible  if  you  are 
 not  forgiven ;  there  is  no  truth  in  Christianity  if 
 God  does  not  pardon  you.  He  himself  says, 
 "  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
 opened  unto  you;  ask,  and  ye  shall  obtain." 
 The  gospel,  my  dear  reader,  is  good  news ;  and 
 not  good  news  for  to-morrow,  but  good  news  for 
 to-day.  And  the  good  news  are  these — that  he 
 that  believcth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  eternal 
 life.     The  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 
 
210  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 The  Lamb  of  God  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
 world.  I  am  convinced  and  persuaded  that  no 
 man  who  thus  feels  and  thus  prays  will  ever 
 perish. 
 
 In  closing  my  remarks,  let  me  allude  once  more 
 to  what  I  touched  upon  in  a  previous  lecture  in 
 this  work — the  great  truth,  that  whilst  individu- 
 als, conscious  of  individual  sin,  are  seeking  that 
 the  blood  of  the  Lamb  may  sprinkle  individual 
 consciences,  how  beautiful  it  would  be  if  the 
 whole  nation  would  get,  as  the  Israelites  of  old 
 got,  within  the  threshold,  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 
 being  sprinkled  upon  that  threshold  without ; 
 and  pray  that  God  would  remember  them  ac- 
 cording to  his  covenant  and  his  loving-kindness, 
 and  have  mercy  upon  them,  and  spare  them ! 
 
 This  leads  me  also  to  notice  what  I  have 
 seen  as  professed  philosophy — but  which  is  the 
 very  essence  of  infidelity  —  in  some  of  the 
 papers,  in  very  few  of  them,  I  believe,  but 
 in  two  certainly,  where  they  argue  that  the 
 existing  epidemic*  in  the  atmosphere  is  a  law 
 of  the  world.  Perhaps  only  philosophers  know 
 that  the  word    "law"  means  a  great   fact — a 
 
 gj 
 
 The  epidemic  of  1849. 
 
THE  GREAT  TYPICAL  DISEASE.      211 
 
 thing  that  must  be,  a  thing  that  always  is.     They 
 argue  that  the  existence  of  disease  in  the  air  is  a 
 great  law,  just  as  much  as  that  the  wind  blows, 
 the   rain   falls,    rivers    roll,    stones    fall    to   the 
 ground ;  and  that  it  being  a  great  law,  it  is  most 
 absurd  for  a  nation  to  pray  that  God  would  be 
 pleased  to  remove  that  which  is  necessary,  and, 
 with   some    small    evil,    is    nevertheless    doing 
 gigantic  good.     Suppose  now  that  it  is  a  law. 
 Whence  did  this  law  come  ?    Did  God  make  the 
 atmosphere  originally  in  such  a  condition  ?     We 
 know  he  did  not.      Disease  arose  from  sin ;    it 
 is  a  child  of  sin.     But  surely  to  acknowledge 
 our  sin,   and  seek  forgiveness  of  it,  may  lead, 
 notwithstanding  all  the  boasts  of  proud  philoso- 
 phy, to  its  removal  notwithstanding.     If  it  be  a 
 law  that  there  shall  be  a  certain  taint  in  the  atmo- 
 sphere, there  is  another  law  that  these  literary 
 philosophers  forget,  namely,  that  conscious  weak- 
 ness, in  its  sufferings,  always  feels  an  instinctive 
 impulse  to  appeal  to  omnipotent  power  for  de- 
 liverance.    If  the  one  be  recognised  as  a  law, 
 why  not  recognise  the  other  as  such  ?     Instead, 
 therefore,    of  the  first  law  being    a  reason  for 
 trampling  on  the  second,  the  recognition  of  the 
 first  should   be  received  by  true  philosophers, 
 
 p  2 
 
212  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 and  will  be  received  by  true  Christians,  as  only 
 contemporaneous  with  the  practice  and  observance 
 of  the  last,  which  is,  to  seek  deliverance  from 
 him  who  is  mighty  to  save.  But  amid  all  this 
 jargon  about  the  laws  of  nature,  I  beg  to  re- 
 mark, there  is  an  old-fashioned  book,  commonly 
 known  by  the  name  of  the  Bible,  not  an  unknown 
 book  in  this  land,  however  little  it  may  be  known 
 in  some  newspaper  offices ;  and  that  book  tells 
 us — words  we  have  often  heard,  and  that  dying 
 saints  have  delighted  in,  and  have  had  their 
 hearts  kindled  with  the  first  rays  of  glory  radi- 
 ant from  its  pages — "  Is  any  man  afflicted  ?  Let 
 him  pray."  That  is  a  law.  "  Seek,  and  ye 
 shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  to 
 you ;  ask,  and  ye  shall  obtain."  Why,  that  is  a 
 law  too.  If  the  first  be  a  law,  that  there  shall 
 be  a  taint  in  the  atmosphere,  as  they  say,  then 
 the  last  is  not  only  a  law,  but  an  express  obliga- 
 tion, privilege,  and  commandment;  and  it  is 
 their  duty,  therefore,  if  they  will  observe  the 
 first,  not  to  neglect  and  despise  the  second.  But 
 they  say,  "  Can  you  expect  that  God  will  work 
 a  miracle  ?"  You  will  recollect  that  I  explained 
 the  nature  of  a  miracle  in  the  case  of  the  water 
 being  turned  into  wine.     Ordinarily,  the  vine 
 
THE  GREAT  TYPICAL  DISEASE.      213 
 
 produces  grapes,  and  the  grapes  are  turned  into 
 wine  ;  but  Jesus  did  in  a  minute  what  it  takes  a 
 twelvemonth's  process  to  do  in  ordinary  circum- 
 stances. The  tree  is  planted,  the  rain  and  dews 
 fall,  the  grapes  grow  and  are  pressed,  and  the 
 juice  is  fermented,  and  thus  turned  into  wine. 
 Jesus  only  shortened  the  process,  and  turned  the 
 water  by  his  look  into  wine.  I  believe  miracles 
 are  wrought  now  just  as  truly  as  they  were 
 wrought  then ;  only  we  have  got  so  accustomed 
 to  atheistic  philosophy,  that  what  is  God's  finger 
 we  call  in  our  proud  and  vaunting  wisdom 
 f(  great  laws,"  "  vast  phenomena,"  that  we  must 
 not  meddle  with,  or  dare  to  touch.  But  here 
 may  be  the  difference.  When  Jesus  wrought  a 
 miracle  in  curing  the  leper,  he  did  so  visibly, 
 before  men's  eyes  ;  but  may  he  not  work  miracles 
 still,  only  not  before  our  eyes  ?  The  whole  dif- 
 ference may  be  that  the  miracle,  instead  of  being 
 done  by  Jesus  on  this  lower  floor,  is  still  done 
 by  him  in  the  upper  sanctuary.  The  process  by 
 which  he  removes  disease  we  cannot  explain  ; 
 but  the  fact  that  he  answers  prayer  we  rejoice  to 
 know ;  and  no  infidelity  shall  be  able  to  take  it 
 from  us.  The  instincts  of  nature  are  often 
 nobler    in  their  wreck    than  the    inductions  of 
 
214  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 modern  philosophy.  Let  a  mother  hear  the 
 wind  whistle,  and  see  the  waves  roll  with  tem- 
 pestuous fury,  and  let  her  know  that  her  first- 
 born, and  her  only  son,  is  in  the  frail  bark  that 
 is  tossed  upon  the  billows ;  let  that  mother  see 
 the  ship  struggling,  and  wrestling,  and  creaking, 
 amid  the  terrible  waves,  do  you  think  she  would 
 be  persuaded  by  the  philosophy  of  newspapers 
 not  to  pray  to  God  to  preserve  her  child  ?  All 
 the  instincts  of  her  nature  would  rise  and  pray, 
 "  Oh  God,  save  my  child."  And  these  instincts 
 are  the  highest  philosophy  when  they  are  sus- 
 tained and  confirmed  by  the  word  of  God.  Then, 
 my  dear  friends,  cast  the  sceptic  newspaper  to 
 the  dogs ;  pity  the  poor  editor  who  writes  such 
 nonsense,  and  tries,  under  the  garb  of  philoso- 
 phy, to  avert  national  humiliation  and  national 
 prayer.  Cleave  to  this,  that  God  does  hear 
 prayer. 
 
LECTURE  VIII. 
 
 LONELY    THANKFULNESS. 
 
 And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  went  to  Jerusalem,  that  he  passed 
 through  the  midst  of  Samaria  and  Galilee.  And  as  he  en- 
 tered into  a  certain  village,  there  met  him  ten  men  that  were 
 lepers,  which  stood  afar  off :  and  they  lifted  up  their  voices, 
 and  said,  Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy  on  us.  And  when  he 
 saw  them,  he  said  unto  them,  Go  show  yourselves  unto  the 
 priests.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  they  went,  they  were 
 cleansed.  And  one  of  them,  when  he  saw  that  he  was 
 healed,  turned  back,  and  with  a  loud  voice  glorified  God, 
 and  fell  down  on  his  face  at  his  feet,  giving  him  thanks  :  and 
 he  was  a  Samaritan.  And  Jesus  answering  said,  Were  there 
 not  ten  cleansed  ?  but  where  are  the  nine  ?  There  are  not 
 found  that  returned  to  give  glory  to  God,  save  this  stranger. 
 And  he  said  unto  him,  Arise,  go  thy  way  :  thy  faith  hath 
 made  thee  whole. — Luke  xvii.  11 — 19, 
 
 In  my  last  lecture  I  explained  the  nature, 
 or  rather  the  moral  and  spiritual  significance, 
 of  the  disease  which  is  here  alluded  to.  1 
 did  so  in  commenting  upon  the  cure  of  the 
 leper,  whom  Jesus  healed,  and  then  sent  to  the 
 priest  to  show  himself,  that  he  might  have  the 
 attestation  of  the  priest  that  it  was  a  cure,  and 
 
£16  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  the  ordinance  of  God,  as  long  as  it  stood, 
 might  be  thereby  honoured.  The  physical  dis- 
 ease has  all  but  disappeared  from  the  earth ;  its 
 spiritual  and  moral  significance  as  the  type  of 
 sin,  as  I  explained  before,  remains,  and  is  in- 
 structive still.  If  the  leprosy  has  passed  away 
 like  the  types  of  Levi,  the  spiritual  disease  of  sin 
 remains  coeval  with  the  existence  of  humanity ; 
 and,  blessed  be  God,  not  wider  than  the  cure 
 that  can  thoroughly  remove  it. 
 
 We  read  on  the  last  occasion  of  one  leper  ;  on 
 the  present  occasion  we  read  of  ten.  These  ten 
 were  a  mixed  company  ;  there  was,  at  all  events, 
 one  thankful  Samaritan,  and  there  may  have 
 been  more  Samaritans,  though  thankless,  and  as- 
 sociated in  spirit,  as  in  person,  with  the  Jews. 
 Let  us  recollect  that  the  Jew  and  the  Samaritan 
 were  the  bitterest  antagonists.  The  one  professed 
 to  be  a  churchman,  the  other  assumed  to  be  a 
 seceder.  This  was  not  probably  the  proper 
 modern  explanation  of  their  position,  but  cer- 
 tainly modern  antipathies  are  the  nearest  possible 
 approach  to  the  antipathies  that  existed  between 
 the  Jew  and  the  Samaritan ;  for  they  held  even 
 exclusive  dealing :  "  the  Jews  have  no  deal- 
 ings with  the    Samaritans."      This   group,  we 
 
LONELY   THANKFULNESS.  217 
 
 find,  are  together — two  hostile  parties  constitut- 
 ing one  company  apparently  without  murmur, 
 protest,  or  dispute,  or  expression  of  the  enmity 
 they  felt,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express,  on  other 
 and  different  occasions.  Now  what  can  be  the 
 explanation  of  their  present  concord  ?  Our  Lord 
 could  not  meet  the  Samaritan  woman  without 
 her  reviving  the  old  exasperating  controversy, 
 whether  in  this  mountain  or  in  that  men  should 
 worship  ;  but  on  this  occasion,  strange  to  say, 
 the  ten  lepers,  Jews  and  Samaritans,  had  no 
 quarrel  about  where  they  should  worship,  but 
 seem  to  have  prayed  in  one  litany  for  the 
 blessing  which  they  felt  they  must  obtain.  What 
 was  the  reason  ?  Perhaps  it  is  this — that  parties 
 who,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  are  full  of  ex- 
 asperating feelings,  of  ill-will,  animosity,  pride, 
 exclusiveness,  want  of  forbearance,  are,  beneath 
 the  heat  and  pressure  of  a  common  calamity, 
 fused  into  one,  and  made  to  forget  in  judgment 
 what  they  will  not  forego  in  love — the  deep  and 
 rankling  sense  of  their  common  quarrels  and  dis- 
 putes. A  sense  of  common  danger  buries  all 
 disputes.  Let  a  storm  overtake  the  gallant  ship ; 
 let  the  passengers  have  been  at  daggers-drawn 
 in  the  cabin   a  few  hours    before ;    when   the 
 
218  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 masts  bend  before   the    gale,  and  her   timbers 
 creak,    and    a    watery    grave    threatens    every 
 soul,  they  all  forget  their  quarrels,  and  try  to 
 co-operate  for  deliverance.    Let  the  storm  come, 
 with  thunder,  lightning,  hail,  and  rain  ;  and  we 
 shall   find  churchman   and  dissenter,  tory  and 
 whig,  Jew  and  Gentile,  all  rush  into  one  shelter, 
 so  thankful  for  a  covert  from  the  storm  that  they 
 forget  they  had  been  fighting  only  hours  before. 
 The  knowledge  of  this,  then,  is  the  explanation, 
 perhaps,   of  the  fact   that    Jew  and   Samaritan 
 were  here  present  in  peace.    And  may  it  not  be, 
 that  the  severe  epidemic  that  has  overflowed  the 
 land,  and  smitten  great  masses  of  the  people,  has 
 been  sent  not  only  for  the  reasons  which  I  speci- 
 fied on  a  previous  sabbath,  but  also  to  make  men 
 forget,  beneath  the  pressure  of  a  dire  calamity, 
 what  they  would  neither  forget  nor  forgive  amid 
 the  enjoyment  of  great  blessings.     I  grieve  that 
 there  should  be  any  feeling  among  Christians 
 that  should  require  such  judgment  in  order  to 
 eradicate  it.  Esau  and  Jacob,  who  quarrelled  so 
 bitterly   in   their  prosperity,  when  their    aged 
 father  died  met  over  his  body,  and  mingled  their 
 tears  together  in  mutual  sympathy  and  earnest 
 forgiveness.      Thus  God  sometimes  drives    to- 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  219 
 
 gether  by  the  scourge  those  who  will  not  be 
 drawn  together  by  the  attractions  of  his  mercy. 
 If  any  man,  then,  have  quarrelled  with  another 
 — if  there  be  any  churchman  now  who  is  very 
 bitter  to  dissenters,  or  any  dissenter  who  is  very 
 bitter  against  churchmen,  remember  that  one 
 of  the  duties  which  every  judgment  God  sends 
 inculcates,  is  to  be  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one 
 another,  even  as  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  hath 
 forgiven  us.  It  is  to  teach  all  to  pray,  and  pray 
 as  none  ever  prayed  it  before,  "  Forgive  us  our 
 trespasses,  O  our  Father,  even  as  we  forgive 
 them  that  trespass  against  us." 
 
 These  ten,  we  read,  as  one  man,  "  stood  afar 
 off."  This  was  duty.  I  explained  this  to 
 be  the  position  that  the  leper  was  bound  by  the 
 law  of  the  land  to  assume  ;  not  that  the  disease 
 was  contagious,  but  that  it  was  significant  or 
 typical  of  the  great  separation  that  sin  makes. 
 Thus  they  stood  afar  off.  This  the  law  of  the 
 leper  still  teaches  us,  and  was  meant  to  teach 
 the  Jew  in  a  sensuous  economy,  in  which  ma- 
 terial things  were  made  mirrors  of  spiritual 
 and  moral  truths,  that  sin  is  the  great  separating, 
 rending,  splitting  element.  It  is  this  that  keeps 
 us  far  off  from  God,  and  far  off  from  each  other. 
 
220  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 Nations  are  separated  by  seas,  and  languages, 
 and  deserts ;  and  these  languages,  which  we 
 spend  our  youth  in  acquiring,  are  evidences  of 
 the  sin  and  rebellion  of  man  against  God. 
 Churches  are  separated  by  forms,  ceremonies, 
 protests,  contendings,  wrestlings,  as  they  call 
 them,  for  things  which  they  deem  significant, 
 but  which,  when  looked  at  in  the  right  light, 
 are  too  paltry,  and  in  some  respects  worthless. 
 Individuals  are  separated  by  place,  by  feeling, 
 by  estrangement,  by  fear,  by  dread,  from  one 
 another  ;  and  all  are  separated  from  God  ;  till  at 
 length  the  points  of  repulsion  between  man  and 
 man,  and  man  and  God,  grow  more  numerous 
 and  powerful  than  the  points  of  attraction  that 
 should  bind  us  into  one  brotherhood,  and  all 
 into  one  family,  with  God  our  Father.  These 
 lepers  stand  afar  off;  and  they  tell  us,  as  they 
 stand,  that  sin  has  made  us  afar  off;  and  re- 
 mind us,  by  contrast,  of  the  blessed  truth,  that 
 we  who  were  afar  off  are  made  nigh  through  the 
 blood  of  the  covenant  in  Christ  Jesus. 
 
 The  lepers,  however,  though  standing  afar  off, 
 prayed.  Beautiful  is  this  truth ;  there  is  no 
 distance  from  God  to  which  sin  can  drive  us  by 
 its  centrifugal  force,  which  the  voice  of  prayer 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  221 
 
 cannot  span ;  there  is  no  chasm  between  God 
 and  us  which  the  feet  of  love  cannot  wade,  and 
 which  the  wing  of  love  cannot  cross.  It  matters 
 not  how  deep  we  have  fallen,  or  how  distant 
 we  have  been  driven ;  the  silent,  half-choked, 
 half-suppressed  cry,  "  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a 
 sinner,"  will  span  that  chasm,  and  cross  that 
 depth,  and  be  heard  in  God's  ear  louder  than  the 
 thunders,  and  sound  the  most  musical  tone  amid 
 the  hosannas  and  hallelujahs  of  the  blessed;  for 
 there  is  no  shout  in  heaven  more  joyful  or  more 
 beautiful  than  when  an  angel  cries,  or  Jesus  pro- 
 claims, "  Behold,  he  prays."  May  I  not  say, 
 if  judgments  have  led  us  to  pray,  how  sanctified  ! 
 If  fear  for  the  safety  of  the  poor  casket  has  made 
 the  jewel  think  of  the  Bock  from  which  it  was 
 struck,  and  to  which  it  may  be  united,  how 
 blessed  has  that  judgment  been  ! 
 
 When  these  lepers  prayed,  they  showed  that 
 they  felt  their  misery.  No  man  prays  for  de- 
 liverance till  he  feels  danger :  no  one  seeks  a 
 cure  tills  he  feels  a  disease.  It  is  a  strange  con- 
 trast between  sin  in  the  soul  the  moral  disease 
 and  the  leprosy,  or  any  other  disease  of  the  body,' 
 that  the  worse  the  bodily  disease  the  more  one 
 feels  it,  but  the  worse  the  spiritual  disease  the 
 
222  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 less  one  feels  it.  In  the  spiritual  disease  insen- 
 sibility is  the  evidence  of  the  greatest  peril.  No 
 man  is  so  bad  as  he  who  says  in  his  heart,  "  I  am 
 rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  in  need  of 
 nothing ;"  for  it  is  of  that  very  man  that  God 
 utters  or  registers  the  verdict  in  heaven,  "  Thou 
 knowest  not  that  thou  art  poor,  and  wretched, 
 and  blind,  and  miserable,  and  in  need  of  all 
 things."  A  deep  sense  of  sin  is  one  of  the  best 
 evidences  of  a  true  interest  in  the  grace  of  God, 
 and  in  the  salvation  of  the  gospel.  We  do  not 
 say  that  men  are  to  desire  their  sin  should  be 
 great,  but  that  their  sense  of  their  sinfulness 
 should  be  deeper,  more  poignant,  more  real. 
 Whenever  there  is  a  deep  sense  of  sin  created  in 
 the  sinner's  heart,  there  is  the  best  evidence  that 
 the  Spirit  of  God  has  begun  that  work  which 
 he  will  consummate  in  his  own  good  time. 
 
 With  one  voice,  then,  they  prayed  that  Jesus 
 would  have  mercy  upon  them,  expressing  their 
 cure  by  the  word  mercy.  There  is  skill  in  the 
 cure  of  disease,  and  there  may  be  attention,  for  all 
 of  which  we  are  to  be  thankful ;  but  in  the  cure 
 of  every  disease  there  is  also  mercy.  We  need 
 mercy,  to  forgive  the  sin  which  is  the  root  of 
 suffering;  and  it  is  the  end  of  mercy  to  heal  the 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  £23 
 
 disease  which  is  only  the  expression  and  product 
 of  that  sin. 
 
 Jesus,  on  this  occasion,  bade  them  go  to  the 
 priest,  and  show  themselves.  Now,  this  was 
 just  reversing  the  process  that  he  pursued  on  a 
 previous  occasion.  In  the  case  of  the  leper,  on 
 which.  I  last  commented,  Jesus  first  cured  the 
 man,  and  then  bade  him  go  and  show  himself 
 to  the  priest.  How  can  we  explain  what  seems 
 conflicting  ?  What  would  be  contradiction  in  the 
 case  of  an  ordinary  man,  who  can  only  judge  of 
 inner  feeling  by  outer  acts,  is  perfect  harmony 
 in  the  case  of  Jesus,  whose  eye  could  penetrate 
 the  depths  of  the  heart  and  conscience,  and  see 
 what  mode  of  treatment  was  the  best  for  the 
 patient  who  was  placecl  in  his  hand.  He  saw, 
 truly,  that  whilst  one  mode  might  be  most 
 useful  in  one  case,  it  would  yet  be  the  most 
 useless  in  another  case.  I  appeal  to  every  one's 
 experience.  All  men  are  not  brought  to  a  know- 
 ledge of  the  gospel  in  the  same  way.  And  the 
 great  risk,  I  think,  of  what  is  called  experi- 
 mental preaching ;  the  highest  and  holiest  and 
 purest  eloquence,  proceeding,  as  it  does,  from 
 the  depths  of  a  deep  acquaintance  with  the  mind 
 of  God,  and  a  rich  experience  of  the  gospel  of 
 
224  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 Christ — the  risk,  I  say,  of  such  preaching,  in  or- 
 dinary hands,  is  that  the  minister  sets  up  the  mode 
 of  his  own  conversion  as  a  standard  and  model  by 
 which  others  are  to  be  converted.  This  should 
 not  be.  God  convinces  one  in  one  way,  and 
 another  in  another  way.  One  man  he  pardons 
 on  his  first  appeal,  and  gives  him  a  deep  and 
 joyous  sense  that  he  is  forgiven ;  another  man  he 
 allows  to  grope  in  darkness,  to  be  oppressed  by 
 doubts,  and  overwhelmed  with  fears,  and  to 
 have  at  times  a  sense  of  deep  despondency, 
 approaching  to  absolute  despair ;  but  both  men, 
 the  one  by  a  straight  line,  and  the  other  by  a  cir- 
 cuitous and  zig-zag,  but  equally  divine  line,  are 
 being  brought  to  Jesus  for  forgiveness  and  ac- 
 ceptance before  him.  Let  us  then  learn  that  no 
 man's  conversion  to  God  ought  to  be  set  up  as  a 
 type  or  model  of  every  other  man's  ;  each  must 
 take  mercy  from  Christ  in  the  shape  in  which  he 
 is  pleased  to  bestow  it.  Each  must  be  satisfied 
 to  rest  in  God,  and  never  to  prescribe  to  God. 
 I  believe  that  one  cause  of  our  disquiet  is,  that  we 
 think  that  because  God  does  not  come  to  us  in 
 the  way  we  have  laid  down,  therefore  he  does 
 not  come  to  us  at  all ;  or  that  because  he  does 
 not  give  us  now  what  others  obtain  at  the  same 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  225 
 
 moment,  and  under  the  same  circumstances,  there- 
 fore he  has  forgotten  or  forsaken  us.  This  is  just 
 imitating  the  conduct  of  Naaman  the  Syrian.  It 
 is  said  of  him,  "  Elisha  sent  a  messenger  unto 
 him,  saying,  Go  and  wash  in  Jordan  seven 
 times,  and  thy  flesh  shall  come  again  unto  thee, 
 and  thou  shalt  be  clean."  Now  this  prescrip- 
 tion was  in  all  outward  respects  just  as  im- 
 probable and  unlikely  to  cure  him  as  "  Go  and 
 show  thyself  to  the  priest."  What  did  Naaman 
 say  ?  "  Naaman  was  wroth,  [like  many  a  person 
 still,]  and  went  away  and  said,  Behold,  I  thought 
 he  will  surely  come  out  to  me,  [that  is,  the  pro- 
 phet,] and  stand,  and  call  on  the  name  of  the 
 Lord  his  God,  and  strike  his  hand  over  the  place, 
 and  recover  the  leper."  He  went  with  his  mind 
 pre-made  up  to  undergo  a  certain  treatment ;  and 
 if  he  did  not  become  the  subject  of  that  treatment, 
 he  augured  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  cure. 
 Then  he  added  :  "  f  Are  not  Abana  and  Pharpar, 
 rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the  waters  of 
 Israel  ? '  This  prophet  is  not  only  adopting  a 
 new  process,  which,  to  me,  seems  empiricism,  but 
 is  actually  slighting  my  country,  and  putting  up 
 his  Jordan,  that  river  in  which  the  Jew  glories, 
 in  comparison   with    our    splendid  Abana   and 
 
 Q 
 
226  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 Pharpar,  which  are  at  least  as  full,  and  rich,  and 
 beautiful.  If  I  am  to  wash,  therefore,  and  be 
 clean,  may  I  not  wash  nearer  home,  and  save  the 
 long  journey, — wash  in  better  water,  and  thus 
 be  cured  ?  "  "  So  he  turned,  and  went  away  in  a 
 rage."  Now  the  servants,  who  had  that  rare  gift, 
 common  sense,  (and  Christianity  is  common 
 sense  in  its  highest  manifestation,)  "  came  near, 
 and  spake  unto  him  and  said,  My  father,  if  the 
 prophet  had  bid  thee  do  some  great  thing,  would- 
 est  thou  not  have  done  it  ?  How  much  rather, 
 then,  when  he  saith  to  thee,  Wash  and  be  clean  ? " 
 How  true  is  such  philosophy !  If  a  minister  or 
 priest  Avere  to  bid  some  go  and  make  a  pilgrimage 
 to  Edinburgh,  Dublin,  or  Petersburgh,  or  Paris, 
 or  Rome,  and  wear  hair-cloth  girdles  or  iron 
 spikes,  and  then  tell  them  their  sins  would  be 
 forgiven — if  he  were  to  bid  them  do  some  great 
 things  like  these,  you  would  do  them  at  once. 
 "  How  much  rather,  then,  when  he  saith  unto 
 thee,  Wash  and  be  clean  ? "  Is  it  not  the  strange, 
 but  painful,  experience,  that  we  can  induce  a 
 man  to  sleep  with  nettles,  or  wear  hair-cloth,  or 
 fast  as  long  as  we  like,  in  order  to  obtain  for- 
 giveness, far  more  easily  than  persuade  him  to 
 renounce   a  cherished   lust,  give  up  a  beloved 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  227 
 
 passion,  put  confidence  in  God,  and  do  God's 
 bidding-  under  all  circumstances  ?  So  true  is  it 
 that  human  nature,  whether  it  wash  in  the  Jor- 
 dan, or  in  Abana  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damas- 
 cus,— whether  personated  in  Naaman,  the  Syrian, 
 or  in  us,  the  sinners,  is  the  same  human  nature, 
 till  transformed  by  the  touch  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
 and  so  made  to  see  things  at  another  angle,  and 
 to  understand  them  in  a  very  different  light. 
 
 When  the  ten  lepers  were  told  to  go  and 
 show  themselves  to  the  priest,  they  proved  by 
 their  obedience  that  they  had  great  confidence 
 in  him  who  gave  them  the  commission,  for  they 
 instantly  rose,  we  are  told,  and  went.  They 
 knew  that  the  priest  could  not  heal  them,  the 
 law  being  that  he  could  only  pronounce  whether 
 they  were  clean  or  not.  I  think  I  have  already 
 remarked  in  some  former  lecture,  that  we  have, 
 in  this,  some  light  cast  upon  the  assumed  pre- 
 rogative of  the  priests  of  Rome,  and  of  certain 
 priests  who  are  going  towards  Rome,  both  of 
 whom  profess  to  have  the  power  of  forgiving  sins 
 judicially.  It  is  stated  in  Leviticus,  that  the  priest 
 shall  cleanse  the  leper,  and  they  have  argued  that, 
 by  parity  of  reason,  the  modern  priests  may  par- 
 don sin.    Certainly,  if  to  cleanse  the  leper  means 
 
 q  2 
 
228  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  the  priest  could  cure  the  leper,  the  analogy 
 would  seem  conclusive,  and  the  modern  priest 
 might  fairly  and  logically  infer  that  he  too  might 
 pardon  sin.  But  the  word  translated  "  cleanse," 
 is  only  the  Hebrew  form,  as  is  explained  in 
 parallel  and  contiguous  passages,  fox  pronouncing 
 clean.  The  power  that  the  priest  had  was  not 
 to  cleanse  the  leper,  but  only  to  examine  him, 
 and  say,  "  He  is  clean,"  or  "  He  is  not  clean." 
 The  Hebrew  word  for  pronouncing  clean,  is 
 "cleanse."  We  read,  "Ye  shall  pronounce 
 him  unclean."  In  the  Hebrew  it  is,  e<  Ye  shall 
 unclean  him."  The  literal  translation  of  the 
 one  passage  is,  "  Ye  shall  cleanse  him,"  and 
 of  the  other,  "  Ye  shall  uncleanse  him."  In  the 
 one  clause,  however,  our  translators  have  given 
 the  meaning  instead  of  the  word  itself;  and  if 
 they  did  it  in  one  clause,  they  ought,  by  the  same 
 paraphrase,  to  have  given  the  meaning  in  the 
 other.  The  modern  minister  of  the  gospel,  then, 
 has  no  power,  implied  in  this  illustration,  to 
 forgive  sin.  This  one  thing  he  can  do,  how- 
 ever, and  so  can  the  layman  too,  if  he  sees  evi- 
 dences of  love  and  faith,  he  can  comfort  him 
 that  is  in  doubt,  perplexity  of  mind,  and  fear,  by 
 assurances,  not  from  any  oracle  within  him,  but 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  229  - 
 
 from  God's  word  without  him,  that  such  a  one 
 gives  evidence  of  forgiveness,  and  may  take  the 
 hope,  the  comfort,  and  the  joy  of  it  too. 
 
 These  lepers  knew  that  the  priest  could  only 
 pronounce  clean  or  unclean,  but  still  they  went. 
 Christ's  word  is  the  secret  of  all  possible 
 virtue.  Every  precept  of  Jesus  is  two-thirds 
 of  it  a  promise.  A  command  from  the  lips 
 of  Jesus  assumes  a  different  formula  from  a 
 command  from  Mount  Sinai.  The  command 
 from  Sinai  is,  "  Thou  shalt,"  and  "  Thou  shalt 
 not ; "  but  the  command  of  Jesus,  "  Blessed  are 
 the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God ; " 
 here  is  the  benediction,  or  the  preface :  "  the 
 pure  in  heart,"  this  is  the  command :  "  they 
 shall  see  God,"  this  is  the  promise.  Thus,  his 
 command  has  a  benediction  for  its  preface,  and 
 a  promise  for  its  peroration,  or  close.  That  the 
 command  might  not  cause  terror  in  those  to 
 whom  it  is  addressed,  he  makes  a  blessing  in- 
 troduce it  and  a  promise  seal  it.  Thus,  Christ's 
 commands  are  two  thirds  promises. 
 
 The  lepers  heard  His  command,  and  gave  in- 
 stant obedience  ;  and  it  is  said,  "  as  they  went 
 they  were  cleansed."  This  teaches  us,  that  if  any 
 man  will  do  Christ's  will,  he  shall  know  of  the 
 
230  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  him.  If  I  now 
 address  any  reader  who  does  not  see  fully,  as 
 I  think  I  see,  and  as  I  think,  by  God's  grace, 
 I  could  teach  him  to  see,  that  this  blessed  book 
 is  God's  book,  I  would  say,  just  act  up  fully  to 
 the  light  you  have,  and  pray  for  more,  and  you 
 will  never  be  left  in  darkness.  Let  any  one  act 
 up  to  the  light  that  he  now  has,  and  be  fervent 
 in  prayer  for  more  light,  and  such  a  one  will 
 not  be  abandoned  to  darkness.  It  is  no  excuse 
 to  say,  you  have  not  light,  when  you  arc  not 
 walking  in  what  you  have.  Act  up  to  what  you 
 have,  and  wait  upon  God  for  more ;  and  see  if 
 he  does  not  honour  your  obedience  to  the  light 
 you  possess,  by  giving  the  light  that  you  are 
 anxious  to  obtain. 
 
 The  lepers  were  cured  as  they  went.  We 
 have  evidence  here  of  the  deity  of  Christ.  The 
 air  they  breathed  became  the  vehicle  of  his 
 power ;  the  distance,  as  it  lengthened  between 
 them  and  Jesus,  was  spanned  by  his  almighty 
 goodness;  his  mercy  followed  its  objects,  and 
 neither  missed  them  in  its  transit,  nor  misappre- 
 hended them  in  its  application.  "  And  as  they 
 went  they  were  cured."  And  is  this  Christ  the 
 same  this  year  that  he  was  in  the  year  32  ?    No 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  231 
 
 doubt  of  it.  His  power  is  not  parted  with  by  bis 
 ascent ;  nor  is  in  tbe  least  spent  in  its  daily  pas- 
 sage to  tbe  earth,  but  operates  its  miracles  still. 
 "  Laws  of  nature/'  is  but  atheistic  phraseology 
 for  ordinances  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  at 
 this  moment  he  has  but  to  touch  the  upper  strata 
 of  the  air  that  we  breathe,  and  the  under  strata 
 and  currents  of  air  shall  be  restored  to  their 
 virgin  purity  and  to  their  Eden  health ;  he  has 
 but  to  speak  the  word,  and  all  battle,  and  all 
 sword,  and  famine,  and  pestilence,  shall  be  swept 
 from  the  world,  and  the  earth  shall  put  on  her 
 coronation  robes  and  her  primal  glory,  and  si- 
 lently praise  him  who  has  transformed  her  by  his 
 touch,  and  made  her  what  she  is.  But  if,  as  they 
 say,  we  are  not  to  expect  miracles, — if  in  the 
 cure  of  disease  God  does  not  alter  the  air,  may 
 he  not  suggest  lessons  to  the  physician  ?  I  be- 
 lieve the  physician  to  be  a  divine  officer ;  I 
 believe  medicine  to  be  a  divine  ordinance ;  I 
 believe  it  to  be  the  yearning  efforts  of  man  to 
 brinsr  back  nature  to  what  Adam  found  her 
 before  he  sinned.  The  physician  is  continued, 
 by  a  succession  that  shall  not  cease,  as  the  tes- 
 timony of  what  once  was,  what  now  is,  and 
 what  will  again  be,  when   the  great   Physician 
 
232  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 shall  heal  all,  and  put  into  the  springs  of  nature 
 that  pure  and  precious  branch  which  shall 
 sweeten,  and  purify,  and  sanctify  them  all.  May 
 not,  then,  he  who  could  thus  heal  at  a  distance 
 —  to  whom  space  was  no  obstruction  —  who 
 could  say,  Go,  thy  son,  or  thy  daughter,  liveth 
 — may  he  not,  at  this  moment,  when,  as  I  told 
 you  in  my  Apocalyptic  Sketches,  the  seventh 
 vial  is  poured  into  the  air — graciously  breathe 
 into  the  physician's  mind  a  prescription  that 
 will  heal  where  healing  efforts  are,  during  the 
 existing  epidemic,  perfectly  paralysed  ? 
 
 Thus,  God  may  breathe  into  the  surgeon's  or 
 physician's  mind  a  new  thought,  or  he  may  touch 
 the  air  and  impregnate  it  with  new  healing. 
 In  either  case  it  is  God.  "We  may  and  ought 
 to  ask  for  temporal  blessings  :  Christ  teaches  us 
 to  do  so,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
 Why  not,  "  Give  us  health  ?  "  We  need  not  only 
 bread,  but  health  to  eat  it.  Every  one,  there- 
 fore, should  pray  that  God  would  be  pleased  to 
 give  us  health  and  safety  and  strength ;  and  not 
 pray  for  ourselves  only,  as  if  we  were  selfishly 
 seeking,  but  for  the  numbers  of  poor  who  suffer ; 
 and  show  thus  that  we  sympathize  with  them. 
 The  virtue  is  not  in  what  we  eat,  but  in  the 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  283 
 
 blessing  that  accompanies  it.  The  cure  is  not  in 
 the  prescription,  but  in  the  prescriber.  "  As 
 they  went  they  were  cured." 
 
 The  very  first  emotion  in  the  hearts  of  these 
 ten  lepers  ought  to  have  been  gratitude  aaid  joy. 
 These  ten  men,  I  say,  ought,  the  instant  they 
 were  cured,  to  have  returned  and  thanked  their 
 Benefactor  ;  this  should  have  been  their  instinc- 
 tive emotion ;  but,  strange  to  say,  nine  snatched 
 at  the  blessing,  but  went  away  and  forgot  the 
 Blesser ;  one  took  the  blessing  and  ran  instantly 
 to  him  who  had  given  it,  and  burst  forth  into 
 adoring  gratitude  and  praise.  And  how  did 
 Jesus  reply  to  him  ?  "  Go  thy  way,"  he  said, 
 "  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee."  The  poor  man 
 was  so  charmed  with  the  blessing  that  he  was 
 riveted  to  the  spot  in  the  presence  of  his  Bene- 
 factor. I  have  no  doubt  the  man  felt,  "  This  is 
 such  a  change,  such  an  evidence  of  power,  that  I 
 will  cleave  to  the  skirts  of  this  great  and  Divine 
 man's  robes,  so  that  every  body  in  the  world 
 shall  see  what  he  has  done  for  me,  what  change 
 he  has  operated  upon  me ;  and  thus  all  will  be- 
 lieve him  to  be,  what  I  know  he  is,  the  Messiah. 
 But  Jesus  said,  "Go  thy  way ;  this  is  not  what 
 I  want ;  your  home  is  empty,  you  are  needed 
 
234:  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 there  ;  your  shop  is  empty,  you  are  needed  there ; 
 your  place  is  vacant,  you  are  needed  there  :  go 
 thy  way;  fulfil  the  functions  that  God  in  his 
 providence  has  given  you  ;  be  a  Christian  trades- 
 man, a  Christian  senator,  a  Christian  shopkeeper, 
 a  Christian  soldier  or  sailor ;  and  thus  you  will 
 glorify  me  more  than  by  cleaving  to  me  in  this 
 way,  and  saying  how  much  I  have  done  for  you. 
 And  who  is  this  man,  so  thankful?  Surely 
 this  must  have  been  a  rabbi ;  surely  some  one 
 whose  trumpet  sounded  in  every  synagogue,  and 
 whose  phylactery  was  the  brightest  and  broadest 
 amid  the  worshippers ;  surely  it  was  covered 
 with  texts,  and  the  wearer  almost  canonized  as  a 
 saint  in  Israel.  You  know  well  it  was  not.  The 
 Jew  had  the  pure  ordinances,  the  pure  liturgy, 
 the  pure  Bible,  the  right  temple,  and  the  right  hill 
 to  build  it  on ;  the  Samaritan  accepted  but  the 
 Pentateuch,  or  the  Five  Books  of  Moses,  wor- 
 shipped on  the  wrong  hill,  (Gerizim,)  and  was 
 guilty  in  his  alienation  and  separation  from  the 
 true  Israel ;  and  yet  this  Samaritan  was  the 
 Christian ;  the  nine  Jews  showed  that  they  were 
 no  Christians  at  all.  It  is  possible  to  use  the  purest 
 form,  and  not  to  pray  at  all;  it  is  possible  to  be 
 orthodox  in  our  creed,  and  yet  not  to  be  Chris- 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  2S5 
 
 tians ;  it  is  quite  possible  to  be  raised  to  heaven 
 in  the  enjoyment  of  the  loftiest  privileges,  and 
 to  sink  into  the  depths  of  hell  by  reason  of  our 
 misuse  and  abuse  of  those  privileges.  It  is  not 
 the  privilege,  but  our  use  of  it,  that  is  of  value. 
 The  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  written  especially 
 for  the  Jew ;  and  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  which, 
 with  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  (as  every  one 
 knows  who  is  acquainted  with  the  original,)  is 
 the  product  of  a  highly  educated  mind,  was 
 written  for  the  Gentile.  Mark  the  design  of 
 it.  The  Jew  was  humbled  by  the  thought  that 
 nine  Jews  were  unthankful;  and  the  Gentile, 
 for  whom  this  Gospel  was  more  especially  de- 
 signed, was  encouraged,  and  drawn  to  Jesus,  by 
 this  blessed  instance  of  the  Samaritan  being  ac- 
 cejjted  while  the  Jews  were  rejected. 
 
 Thus,  the  Samaritan  glorified  God,  and  thank- 
 ed the  Saviour  for  the  great  blessing  he  had 
 experienced.  And  we  read  that  his  coming  to 
 thank  him  for  a  temporal  mercy  was  made  the 
 occasion  of  his  receiving  a  spiritual  mercy;  for 
 Jesus  added,  "  Go  thy  way,  thy  faith  hath  saved 
 thee."  Here  is  a  spiritual  added  to  a  temporal 
 blessing.  But  it  may  be  asked,  Is  faith  a  Sa- 
 viour?    Certainly  not.     Yet  in  Scripture  every 
 
236  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 one  must  have  noticed  that  the  same  things  are 
 attributed  to  faith  that  are  attributed  to  the  Sa- 
 viour himself.  Why  is  this  ?  The  explanation 
 is  simple.  Christ  is  the  refuge ;  faith  runs  to 
 the  refuge.  Our  faith  saves  us  in  this  sense — 
 that  the  refuge,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  would 
 be  useless  if  I  did  not  run  to  it.  Christ  is  the 
 living  bread ;  faith  eats  that  bread.  It  is  my 
 faith,  in  that  sense,  that  nourishes  me,  because 
 in  vain  there  is  bread  if  I  do  not  eat  of  it. 
 Christ  is  the  medicine,  the  physician,  the  cure  ; 
 faith  goes  to  him,  applies  to  him,  accepts  him. 
 Faith  saves  me,  because  in  vain  there  is  medi- 
 cine in  the  druggist's  shop,  if  it  is  not  taken  by 
 the  patient  who  suffers.  Christ  saves  us  meri- 
 toriously ;  faith  saves  us  instrumentally.  Christ 
 is  the  Saviour ;  faith  the  hand  that  seizes,  the  feet 
 that  run,  the  eye  that  looks,  the  ear  that  hears, 
 the  heart  that  clings.  Thus  our  faith  saves  us. 
 Let  us  then  learn  this  blessed  lesson — that  if  we 
 are  thankful  for  the  mercies  that  we  have,  we 
 may  expect  new  mercies  to  come.  I  believe  God 
 honours  a  thankful  man,  as  he  honours  also  a 
 happy  man ;  and  that  he  does  not  honour  mur- 
 muring, thankless,  complaining,  and  dissatisfied 
 men.     If  our  sins  should  humble  us,  our  mercies 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  237 
 
 should  make  us  thankful.  Sins  can  never  be 
 over-punished;  mercies  can  never  be  over-ac- 
 knowledged. In  our  sorest  sufferings  we  have 
 reason  to  be  silent ;  in  our  least  mercies  we  have 
 reason  to  be  thankful.  I  believe  that  he  who  is 
 an  unthankful  possessor  of  mercies  will  not  be  a 
 long  possessor,  or  a  quiet  possessor.  God  treats 
 your  mercies  as  the  bee  treats  the  flower.  The 
 bee  gathers  its  nutriment  from  the  flower ;  and 
 the  flower,  instead  of  being  injured  by  the  bee's 
 application  to  it,  is,  as  the  botanists  will  tell  you, 
 positively  benefited  and  nourished.  We  are  to 
 receive  the  blessing,  but  the  tribute  God  exacts 
 from  us  is  the  tribute  of  thanksgiving  and  praise. 
 If  our  cup  runs  over,  it  is  that  the  overflowing  of 
 it  may  reach  those  that  need  it,  and  that  in  the 
 brightness  of  it  we  may  see  the  face  of  him  that 
 filled  it. 
 
 Let  me  gather  one  or  two  lessons  from  this. 
 First,  it  is  possible  to  receive  temporal  blessings 
 from  God,  and  yet  none  for  the  soul.  Do  not 
 conclude,  therefore,  that  because  it  is  well  with 
 you  in  your  temporal  estate,  it  is  necessarily  well 
 with  you  in  your  spiritual  state.  In  the  next 
 place,  adversity,  tribulation,  and  affliction  make 
 those  friends  and  brothers  who  formerly  were 
 
238  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 enemies.  We  find  there  were  here  Jew  and 
 Samaritan  together ,  when  suffering  a  common 
 calamity.  But  it  is  still  possible  to  be  as  those 
 described  by  God  himself,  "  They  poured  out 
 their  prayer  when  under  my  chastening  hand, 
 but  afterwards  they  forgot  me."  Read  some  of 
 the  Psalms,  and  you  will  see  how  often  the  Jews 
 were  delivered,  and  how  often  they  forgot  their 
 deliverer. 
 
 Let  me  apply  this.  Of  those  who  have  been 
 spared  in  the  epidemic,  that  so  severely  smote 
 our  country  so  very  recently,  how  many  are 
 there  who  will  not  be  a  whit  more  spiri- 
 tual, more  devoted,  more  thankful !  Think  of 
 this. 
 
 God  expects  thankfulness  for  the  benefits  we 
 receive.  Christ  said,  "Ten  have  got  benefits; 
 where  are  the  nine  ?  "  So  he  said,  "  Lo,  these 
 three  years  I  came  seeking  fruit  from  this  fig- 
 tree,  and  I  find  none."  So  he  says  of  his  vine- 
 yard, "  I  looked  for  grapes,  and  it  brought  forth 
 wild  grapes."  God  looks  at,  and  counts,  and 
 weighs  the  privileges,  the  opportunities,  the 
 means,  the  money,  the  influence,  the  blessings 
 that  we  have;  and  he  watches  for  the  use  we 
 make  of  them ;  he  waits  for  gratitude  to  acknow- 
 
LONELY    THANKFULNESS.  239 
 
 ledge  them,  and  for  a  good  use  to  be  made  of 
 them. 
 
 Let  me  next  draw  this  lesson  —  that  what 
 your  conscience  shows  to  be  right,  when  that 
 conscience  is  enlightened  by  God's  word,  you 
 must  not  hesitate  to  do  because  many  do  the 
 very  opposite.  Nine  laughed  at  the  idea  of 
 returning  to  thank  their  Benefactor.  No  doubt 
 they  reasoned,  as  some  newspapers  reason  on 
 other  benefits  :  (i  It  is  a  change  in  the  weather  ; 
 it  is  a  finer  climate  we  have  got  into ;  no  doubt, 
 in  going  to  the  priest,  we  have  eaten  some- 
 thing that  has  agreed  with  us  ;  or  it  is  good  ex- 
 ercise Ave  have  taken;  it  is  a  "great  law;" 
 there  is  a  change  in  the  air,  the  weather  has  be- 
 come colder,  or  warmer ;  and  as  for  the  idea 
 of  returning  and  thanking  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
 why,  the  thing  is  absurd."  And  I  have  no 
 doubt  that  the  priests,  and  scribes,  and  Pharisees, 
 and  rulers  of  the  land  agreed  with  them,  and 
 laughed  at  and  made  excellent  fun  of  that  pious 
 Samaritan,  who  felt  the  weather  and  its  sunshine 
 as  they  did,  but  returned  amid  all  the  weather, 
 and  saw  that  there  was  present  in  his  cure  the 
 touch  and  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  of  life,  the 
 Healer  of  disease,  the  Fountain  of  health.       In 
 
240  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 these  times  we  must  not  mind  standing  alone. 
 If  nine  thousand,  or  nine  millions,  should  go  the 
 wrong  way,  we  must  still  go  the  right  way. 
 We  must  learn  to  be  a  peculiar  people  ;  we 
 must  not  mind  being  scoffed  at ;  we  must  not 
 care  if  newspapers  turn  us  into  ridicule,  if 
 the  Avhole  world  should  mock  at  us.  Hold  by 
 your  duty ;  fix  your  hearts  upon  what  is  right, 
 and  true,  and  holy ;  and  if  the  multitude  laugh 
 at  you,  pity  them,  and  pray  for  them.  "As  for 
 me,"  let  your  answer  be,  "  I  will  serve  the 
 Lord." 
 
LECTURE  IX. 
 
 MATERNAL    LOVE. 
 
 Then  Jesus  went  thence,  and  departed  into  the  coasts  of  Tyre 
 and  Sidon.  And,  behold,  a  woman  of  Canaan  came  out  of 
 the  same  coasts,  and  cried  unto  him,  saying,  Have  mercy  on 
 me,  O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David ;  my  daughter  is  grievously 
 vexed  with  a  devil.  But  he  answered  her  not  a  word.  And 
 his  disciples  came  and  besought  him,  saying,  Send  her  away, 
 for  she  crieth  after  us.  But  he  answered  and  said,  I  am  not 
 sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  Then 
 came  she  and  worshipped  him,  saying,  Lord,  help  me.  But 
 he  answered  and  said,  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's 
 bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs.  And  she  said,  Truth,  Lord  : 
 yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their  masters' 
 table.  Then  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  O  woman, 
 great  is  thy  faith  :  be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.  And 
 her  daughter  was  made  whole  from  that  very  hour. — Matt. 
 xv.  21—28. 
 
 In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark,  where  the  parallel 
 passage  occurs,  and  in  which  the  same  miracle  is 
 related,  we  read  that  our  Lord  would  hare  no 
 man  know  it,  when  he  arrived  at  the  coasts  of 
 Tyre  and  Sidon ;  but  the  more  he  seemed  to 
 conceal  himself,  the  more  he  became  known.     It 
 
242  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 was  indeed  impossible  that  such  light  should  be 
 buried  in  a  world  of  darkness,  that  so  great  a 
 Physician  should  be  unnoticed  in  a  world  of  sick- 
 ness, that  the  very  Fountain  of  life,  that  over- 
 flowed with  life,  should  not  be  approached  where 
 it  was  unsealed  in  a  land  where  death  revelled 
 and  spread  around  him  the  trophies  of  his  all 
 but  almighty  power.  His  name  was  as  ointment 
 poured  forth,  and  its  perfume  penetrated  all 
 obstructions,  and  diffused  itself  over  the  length 
 and  breadth  of  the  land.  So  will  it  be  with  true 
 Christians  in  their  measure.  Christianity  cannot 
 be  hidden.  To  say  one's  Christianity  is  hidden, 
 is  equivalent  to  saying  that  there  is  none.  If  you 
 live,  life  will  develope  itself;  if  grace  be  within 
 you,  that  grace  will  show  itself.  Hide  the  sun, 
 and  conceal  the  stars,  and  you  may  hide  the  life 
 and  the  love  of  God    existing  in  your  hearts. 
 
 This  woman,  who  appealed  to  Christ,  was 
 a  Canaanite,  or  a  Syro-phenician,  and  there- 
 fore, of  course,  a  Gentile.  Her  nation's  his- 
 tory was  dotted  with  judgments  from  the  Lord; 
 its  guilt  had  risen  to  heaven  and  cried  for 
 vengeance,  and  corresponding  retributions  had 
 lighted  upon  it;  but  in  spite  of  all  the  guilt 
 which  cleaved   to  her  land,  in  spite  of  all  the 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  243 
 
 estrangement  which  she  inherited,  as  a  Canaan- 
 ite,  from  a  country  stained  with  infamy  and  sin, 
 in  spite  of  her  own  deep  sense  of  personal  de- 
 merit, she  rushed  to  him  under  whose  wings  the 
 guiltiest  sinner,  seeking  forgiveness,  may  nestle, 
 and  in  whose  blood  the  greatest  sin  may  be 
 washed  away.  She  fled  to  him,  in  spite  of  her 
 sins  that  drew  her  back,  and  would  have  plunged 
 her  into  despair,  and  sought  forgiveness.  I  may 
 notice  that,  the  difference  between  a  conviction 
 of  sin  that  is  saving,  and  a  conviction  of  sin  that 
 is  damning,  is  this— that  the  conviction  of  sin 
 which  is  from  beneath  leads  one  to  despair  ;  on 
 the  other  hand,  the  conviction  of  sin  that  God's 
 Spirit  implants  carries  us  on  the  wings  of  an 
 irresistible  impulse  to  a  Saviour's  presence,  there 
 to  pray  and  wait  till  these  sins  are  forgiven. 
 
 This  woman's  prayer  is,  in  these  words, 
 "  Have  mercy  on  me,  for  my  daughter  is  vexed 
 with  a  devil."  This  state  was  not  bodily  sickness, 
 or  epilepsy,  but  literally,  truly,  an  evidence  that 
 one  of  Satan's  fallen  spirits,  that  accompany  him 
 and  act  wr#him,  inhabited  and  kept  possession 
 of  the  woman's  soul.  One  reason  that  confirms  this 
 opinion,  is  the  fact — that  where  God  has  a  work 
 of  any  kind  in  the  world,  Satan,  ever  active,  ever 
 
 R    2 
 
244  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 watchful,  sets  up  a  counterpart  to  it ;  wrier  ever 
 he  sees  God's  coin  in  currency,  he  circulates  his 
 own  forged  and  false  coin.  Thus  we  find,  that 
 when  Moses  did  miracles,  Pharaoh  and  those 
 that  were  with  him  had  their  mimicry  of  them. 
 When  God's  prophets  prophesied,  Satan's  false 
 prophets  predicted  too  ;  and  when  God  became 
 incarnate,  or  manifest  in  the  flesh,  the  devil 
 made  an  effort  to  mimic  it,  and  in  his  measure 
 was  incarnate,  or  manifest  in  the  flesh,  too.  And 
 now  that  we  are  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit, 
 in  which  the  Spirit  of  God,  directly  influencing 
 the  heart  and  making  men  Christians,  is  the 
 grand  characteristic,  we  shall  see  Satan  also 
 plunging  people  into  fanaticism,  scepticism,  and 
 monstrous  delusions,  so  that,  if  it  were  possible, 
 he  would  deceive  the  very  elect,  by  his  mimicry 
 of  God's  work.  It  is  evident  that  demoniac 
 possessions  were  but  one  step  in  Satan's  pro- 
 gression, and  one  among  many  proofs  of  his 
 constant  mimicry  of  God.  That  these  were 
 literally  and  strictly  demoniac  possessions  is 
 evident  from  this — the  demons  spo©  to  Christ ; 
 they  left  one  person,  and  took  up  their  habita- 
 tion in  another  person;  they  asked  questions; 
 they  deprecated  judgment;    and  all  the  laws  of 
 
MATERNAL   LOVE.  245 
 
 fair,  honest,  common-sense  interpretation  must 
 lead  you  to  believe  that  they  were  literally  fallen 
 •spirits  that  took  up  their  abodes  in  fallen  man. 
 I  do  not  believe  there  are  demoniac  possessions 
 in  that  sense  now ;  but  I  do  believe  that  there  is 
 Satanic  influence  in  the  great  crimes  that  occa- 
 sionally stain  our  land ;  and  that  these  great 
 crimes  are  suffered  in  the  providence  of  God, 
 just  to  lead  us  to  see  how  the  world  would  be- 
 come a  pandemonium,  and  men  would  become 
 like  devils,  if  God's  restraining  grace  were  with- 
 drawn, and  man  and  Satan  left  to  work  it  out 
 upon  a  world  which  sin  has  so  stained  and 
 marred. 
 
 Her  prayer,  then,  was,  <c  Have  mercy  on  me, 
 for  my  daughter  is  vexed  with  a  devil."  How 
 beautifully  is  developed  here  a  mother's  affection 
 to  her  child.  She  seeks  mercy  for  herself,  be- 
 cause her  daughter  is  vexed  with  a  devil :  she  thus 
 identifies  herself  with  her  daughter;  what  would 
 be  deliverance  to  the  one  would  be  mercy  to  the 
 other.  She  bare  her  daughter's  burden,  as 
 Christians  are  still  taught  to  bear  each  other's 
 burdens;  or  perhaps  she  thought — rightly  or 
 wrongly  it  is  not  for  me  to  say — that  her  own 
 sins  had  brought  this  judgment  on  her  daughter ; 
 
246  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 perhaps  from  a  superstitious  feeling,  such  as  that 
 manifested  by  the  disciples,  when  they  asked, 
 "  Who  hath  sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that 
 he  was  born  blind  ? "  She  may  have  thought  that 
 her  daughter  was  thus  vexed  because  she  herself 
 had  so  sinned. 
 
 But  let  us  learn  the  lesson  that  her  appeal 
 teaches.  Her  tribulation  led  her  to  her  Saviour. 
 As  it  is  true  of  sin,  so  also  of  afflictions — for 
 the  affliction  that  leads  us  from  God  deeper 
 into  the  world  for  its  opiates,  its  stimulants,  or 
 its  follies,  is  unsanctified ;  but  the  affliction — 
 national,  domestic,  or  personal  —  that  leads  us 
 to  Jesus  that  he  may  forgive  it  first,  and  sanc- 
 tify us  next,  is  a  visitation  for  which  we  shall 
 have  to  bless  God  throughout  eternity  :  it  has  an 
 apostle's  mission,  and  it  has  in  it  the  superin- 
 tendence of  an  apostle's  Lord. 
 
 Our  Lord,  we  are  told,  when  he  heard  the 
 woman's  appeal,  "answered  her  not  a  word." 
 This  was  unusual ;  it  startled  the  poor  petition- 
 er ;  she  had  heard  of  his  infinite  beneficence; 
 she  had  seen  the  miracles  which  streAvcd  his 
 path ;  and  she  could  not  understand  how,  if  others 
 had  applied,  and  Almighty  Beneficence  had  re- 
 sponded to  their  appeal,  that  she    should  apply, 
 
MATERNAL   LOVE.  247 
 
 and  silence,  which,  in  her  judgment,  was  equi- 
 valent to  a  refusal,  should  be  all  the  reception 
 she  could  obtain.  Many  times,  in  our  experi- 
 ence, we  cannot  explain  God's  proceedings  ; 
 many  a  time  we  have  to  trust  where  we  cannot 
 trace  ;  many  a  time  we  must  wait  and  wonder,  and 
 wonder  and  wait ;  but  just  as  often,  after  we  have 
 long  wondered  and  long  waited,  a  still  small 
 voice  comes  from  the  oracles  of  heaven,  "  Stand 
 still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  God."  Be  not  rash 
 to  judge  God.  Do  not  construe  rapidly,  lest  you 
 misconstrue.  Behind  a  frowning  cloud  he  often 
 hides  a  smiling  face. 
 
 "  The  bud  may  have  a  bitter  taste, 
 But  sweet  will  be  the  flower." 
 
 Let  us  wait.  The  woman  no  doubt  felt  deeply 
 discouraged,  but  she  did  not  despair.  Though 
 Christ  was  silent  she  persisted  still ;  so  much  so . 
 that  "  his  disciples  came  and  besought  him,  say- 
 ing, Send  her  away :  for  she  crieth  after  us." 
 At  the  first  blush  one  would  say,  "  Here  are 
 the  disciples  pleading  for  her.  How  good  these 
 men  must  have  been  !  how  sympathizing  thus  to 
 interpose  and  plead  ! "  But  it  was  not  love  that 
 made  them  say  so.     "  Send  her  away."     Why  ? 
 
248  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 "  Give  her  what  she  wants,  and  send  her  away ; " 
 — because  she  is  needy,  because  she  is  faint? 
 No,  but  "because  she  crieth  after  us."  Just  so 
 it  is  with  mankind.  When  a  very  importunate 
 beggar  comes  after  them,  they  fling  him  sixpence, 
 not  out  of  love  to  the  beggar,  or  pity  for  his  sor- 
 rows, but  in  order  to  get  rid  of  him — one  of  the 
 most  inhuman  methods  of  giving  what  is  popu- 
 larly called  "  charity "  that  one  can  possibly 
 adopt.  If  we  cannot  give  sixpence,  give  a  kind 
 word,  say  something  encouraging  or  comforting  ; 
 and  whenever  we  do  give  let  the  kindness  of 
 our  words  be  at  least  equal  to  the  amount  of  our 
 gift.  The  disciples,  then,  out  of  selfishness,  not 
 sympathy — out  of  self-love,  not  love — wished 
 to  send  her  away,  saying,  she  torments  us  ; 
 she  is  interfering  with  our  comfort ;  "  she  crieth 
 after  us."  But  Jesus  did  not  answer  the  dis- 
 ciples according  to  their  wish,  any  more  than  he 
 did  the  woman  according  to  hers ;  but  "  he  an- 
 swered and  said,  I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost 
 sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  Of  course,  this  is 
 true,  because  Christ  said  it ;  but  what  is  the  ex- 
 planation of  a  statement  which  seems  to  us  at 
 first  somewhat  contradictory  ?  The  explanation 
 lies    in    this — that  his  personal  ministry  had  a 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  249 
 
 specialty  in  it;  it  was  restricted  almost  exclu- 
 sively to  Judsea :  but  that  this  was  not  the  ulti- 
 mate design  of  his  gospel  is  plain  from  his  last 
 words,  "  Go  ye,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
 them  [or,  literally,  go  and  disciple  all  nations, 
 baptizing  them]  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the 
 Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost."  In  another  place  he 
 says,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world ;  "  showing  that  his 
 mission  was  to  be  commensurate  with  the  world. 
 The  meaning  then  of  the  expression,  "  I  am  not 
 sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
 Israel,"  is,  plainly,  that  his  personal  ministry  was 
 restricted,  for  great,  wise,  and  righteous  ends,  to 
 the  land  of  Judsea.  Almost  all  his  miracles  were 
 done  there  ;  almost  all  his  bright  and  beautiful 
 and  precious  discourses  were  preached  there; 
 his  birth  was  there,  his  life  was  there,  and  his 
 death  was  there  :  and  those  instances  of  Gentiles 
 tasting  of  his  goodness  which  are  here  and  there 
 scattered  over  his  life  and  ministry  were  but  fore- 
 shadows of  what  will  be  —  earnests  and  first- 
 fruits  of  the  great  future.  It  was  to  teach  the 
 Jew,  that  whilst,  in  compliance  with  the  purposes 
 of  Heaven,  his  personal  ministry  was  to  be  re- 
 stricted to  the  land  of  Judaea,  when  that  minis- 
 try was  done,  the  Spirit  should  be  poured  out, 
 
250  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 to  be  bounded  only  by  the  bound-lines  of  hu- 
 manity, and  be  carried 
 
 "  From  sea  to  sea,  and  shore  to  shore, 
 Till  suns  should  rise  and  set  no  more." 
 
 The  woman  however,  when  she  heard  this  re- 
 mark made  by  our  Lord  to  his  disciples,  was  not 
 discouraged :  for,  it  is  said,  "  she  came  and  wor- 
 shipped him."  I  do  not  know  that  that  was  re- 
 ligious worship  ;  I  think  it  must  have  been  the 
 respect  she  had  to  a  great  and  superior  being. 
 "  Lord,"  (or  Master,)  she  said,  "  help  me."  The 
 more  she  was  repulsed,  the  closer  she  crept  to 
 him  ;  the  more  he  seemed  to  treat  her  petitions 
 with  indifference,  the  more  intensely  she  charged 
 that  petition  with  the  expression  of  her  sorrow, 
 her  sympathy,  and  her  wants.  At  last  Christ 
 speaks.  But  if  his  silence  damped  her  feelings, 
 his  speech  must  have  discouraged  her  still  more. 
 He  said,  "  Is  it  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread, 
 and  cast  it  to  the  dogs  ?"  No  doubt  this  was  a 
 proverbial  expression  used  among  the  Jews,  to 
 denote  a  sense  of  their  national  superiority  and 
 greatness  over  other  nations  ;  but,  whether  or 
 not  the  Jews  were  regarded  as  nationally  God's 
 adoption,  they  were  the  children  of  Abraham  by 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  251 
 
 profession,  and  their  responsibility  was  to  be  so 
 really  and  truly.  Our  Lord,  then,  adopts  the 
 phrase — which  does  not  imply  that  he  called  the 
 Gentiles  dogs,  and  the  Jews  children — and  speaks 
 in  words  which  that  G  entile  had  been  accustomed 
 to,  "  Why,  you  know,  it  is  an  -aphorism  which 
 you  have  heard,  that  it  is  not  meet  to  take  the 
 children's  bread,  and  cast  it  to  the  dogs."  It  is  a 
 curious  fact,  worth  stating,  and  rather  remark- 
 able, that  throughout  the  whole  Bible  the  nobler 
 qualities  of  the  dog  are  never  referred  to,  but  only 
 his  worst  qualities.  I  do  not  know  why  it  is.  We 
 know  that  the  dog  has  some  of  the  noblest  quali- 
 ties of  any  animal,  but  in  Scripture  the  frequent 
 illustration  is  drawn  from  his  baser  ones.  The 
 Gentiles  were  called  by  the  Jews  dogs  ;  and  you 
 recollect  one  said,  "  Is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he 
 should  do  such  a  thing?"  Our  Lord  says,  then, 
 "  If  the  children  are  entitled  to  bread,  it  is  not 
 meet  to  take  it  from  them,  and  cast  it  to  the 
 dogs."  This  was  enough  to  daunt  any  one  ;  but 
 so  rooted  in  her  heart  was  confidence  in  him,  and 
 so  ardent  was  her  attachment  to  her  child,  that 
 she  turned  the  very  repulse  that  Jesus  uttered  in- 
 to a  reason  for  approaching  him  yet  more  closely 
 and  confidentially,  and  pleading  more  eloquently 
 
£52  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 with  him      She  draws,  in  fact,  an  argument  in  her 
 favour  from  what  seemed  against  her  ;  with  the 
 ready  wit  that  deep  feeling  ever  generates,  she 
 made  what  would  have  been  a  dissuasive  into  a 
 persuasive.      The  ear  of  love  hears  what    the 
 ear  of  the  ordinary  man  cannot ;  and  her  ear  and 
 her  heart  heard  an  under-tone  of  "  yea  "  in  the 
 loud-spoken  accents  that  breathed  only  "nay." 
 She   argues,  therefore,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  I 
 admit  I  am  a  Gentile;    I  admit  I  am  called  a 
 dog ;    nay,  I  will  assume  that  I  am  really  what 
 the  proverb  calls  me ;    but  this,  instead  of  ex- 
 cluding me  from  food,  is  an  argument  for  giving 
 me  food.     Is  it  not  the  experience  of  humanity, 
 that  if  the  children  sit  round  the  table  and  eat, 
 the  dogs  come  and  lie  down  beside  them,  and 
 get  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  table  ?  I  do  not 
 ask  a  child's  place ;  but  give  me  the  dog's  place, 
 and  I  am  content.     It  is  a  law  that  the  dog  shall 
 have  food  as  well  as  the  child ;  therefore,  blessed 
 Master,  your  argument,  your  remark,  your  ap- 
 plication of  this  proverb,  only  teaches  me  that  I 
 am  within  the  reach  of  thy  mercies,  not  without 
 them."      Just  as  the  poor  prodigal  said,  "  Make 
 me  a  hired  servant,  if  it  be  only  under  thy  roof, 
 and  not  a  son."      Thus  she  says,    "  Call    me  a 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  258 
 
 dog,  but  give  me  a  dog's  portion,  and  I  shall  be 
 abundantly  satisfied." 
 
 We  too  must  learn,  in  using  the  promises  of 
 Scripture  and  turning  them  into  prayer,  fully  to 
 admit  the  truth  of  all  that  God  says ;  and  even 
 from  his  frowns,  his  chastisements,  his  judg- 
 ments, fetch  new  arguments,  and  point  new  ap- 
 peals for  mercy  and  forgiveness.  And  does  God 
 call  this  presumption?  No.  We  may  call  it  so, 
 but  he  never  does.  He  waits  to  be  gracious  ;  he 
 longs  to  hear  a  people's  prayer,  that  he  may  let 
 loose  upon  that  people  showers  of  benedictions. 
 
 How  did  the  woman  succeed  then  ?  Just  as 
 all  ever  do  who  may  imitate  her  example.  She 
 conquered.  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh 
 the  world — one  might  add,  that  overcometh  God 
 — even  our  faith.  Jacob  wrestled  with  the  angel 
 of  the  covenant  a  whole  night,  and  Jacob  over- 
 came ;  and  he  was  called  Israel,  because  he  had 
 prevailed  with  God.  You  say,  "  How  can  prayer 
 have  such  power?"  It  has  no  power  in  itself. 
 The  brass  serpent  on  the  pole  had  no  virtue  in 
 itself;  but  if  God  is  pleased  to  command  it,  it  is 
 ours  to  pray,  and  his  to  give. 
 
 The  thought  here  suggests  itself — how  was  it 
 that  this  woman  was  so  differently  treated  from 
 
254  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 others  in  almost  similar  circumstances  ?  To  one 
 lie  offered  mercy  before  it  was  asked ;  to  another, 
 he  complied  with  the  request  the  moment  it  was 
 made;  but  to  this  woman  he  gave  repulse  upon 
 repulse.  And  why  ?  He  knew  each  man's  case, 
 and,  like  a  skilful  physician,  he  adapted  himself 
 to  each  man's  (if  you  will  allow  the  word)  idio- 
 syncracy.  He  knew  the  tenacity  of  her  faith 
 before  he  tried  it.  And  he  knew  Abraham's 
 faith  before  he  tried  Abraham ;  he  knew  quite 
 well  (and  this  meets  the  infidel's  objection)  that 
 Abraham  would  not  be  obliged  to  sacrifice  the 
 child,  but  that  his  confidence  in  God  would 
 triumph  and  prevail.  He  knew,  therefore,  that 
 having  such  tenacity  of  faith  to  deal  with,  he 
 might  teach  a  lesson  to  us  who  read  the  glory, 
 whilst  he  was  trying  the  strength  of  that  woman's 
 faith  upon  the  shores  of  Canaan. 
 
 It  is  interesting  also  here  to  remark,  that  we 
 have  throughout  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
 great  strength  of  the  woman's  faith.  In  the  case 
 of  the  paralytic,  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark, 
 we  find  faith  or  confidence  in  the  Lord  breaking 
 through  all  physical  obstructions.  When  they 
 could  not  come  nigh  unto  him  for  the  press,  they 
 uncovered  the  roof  where  he  was ;  and  when  they 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  255 
 
 had  broken  it  up,  they  let  clown  the  bed  wherein 
 the  sick  of  the  palsy  lay.  We  have  also  in  the 
 case  of  blind  Bartimeus,  who  came  to  Christ  that 
 he  might  recover  his  sight,  an  instance  of  faith 
 overcoming  hostile  obstructions  thrown  in  his 
 way  by  those  who  were  near  the  Saviour.  Many 
 charged  him  that  he  should  hold  his  peace,  but 
 Bartimeus  cried  the  more,  "  Have  mercy  on  me, 
 thou  Son  of  David."  But  in  the  case  of  the 
 woman,  we  have  an  instance  of  faith  overcoming 
 obstructions,  not  physical,  as  those  of  the  para- 
 lytics were,  not  personally  hostile,  as  those  of 
 Bartimeus  were,  but  obstructions  apparently  in 
 Christ  himself.  Well,  therefore,  and  truly  did 
 he  say  to  her,  "  Great  is  thy  faith  ;  be  it  unto 
 thee  as  thou  wilt." 
 
 Now  let  us  draw  one  or  two  lessons  from  the 
 whole  of  this  miracle.  This  woman,  we  have  said, 
 was  an  inhabitant  of  Canaan,  a  Syro-phenician,  a 
 Gentile,  not  within  the  Jewish  covenant.  There 
 are  Christian  brethren,  where  we  think  not, 
 and  oft  see  not;  there  are  believers  in  the 
 worst  of  circumstances,  Christians  in  the  most 
 unpromising  of  all  communions  ;  there  are  gems 
 in  the  depths  of  the  sea  which  have  never  re- 
 flected the  sunshine  ;    there  are  flowers  in  the 
 
256  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 untrodden  desert ;  there  are  Christians  in  hea- 
 thendom ;  there  are  Protestants  in  the  midst  of 
 the  papal  apostacy;  unknown,  are  weak  things 
 that  will  yet  be  monuments  of  God's  power,  and 
 defective  things  that  will  yet  be  the  trophies  of 
 God's  strength.  Let  us  not  judge  according 
 to  sense,  but  judge  righteous  judgment ;  and 
 rejoice  that  there  will  come  to  God,  and  sit 
 down  with  Abraham,  with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob, 
 from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  from  the  north 
 and  from  the  south,  strangers  to  us,  and  also  to 
 communions  within  whose  walls,  in  our  bigotry 
 and  exclusiveness,  we  imagined  there  was  exclu- 
 sive salvation. 
 
 Let  us  also  draw  the  lesson — a  very  import- 
 ant one — that  afflictions  bring  those  to  the  Sa- 
 viour whom  prosperity  would  keep  away.  This 
 woman's  child,  suffering  under  a  terrible  judg- 
 ment, was  the  means  of  this  woman's  applying  to 
 a  Saviour  for  acceptance  for  herself,  and  cure 
 for  her  child.  We  know  quite  well,  when  we 
 have  lost  some  near  and  dear  one,  how  it  dims 
 the  glory  of  this  world.  Never  does  man  feel 
 money  to  be  so  utterly  worthless  as  when  he  is 
 labouring  under  the  deep  pain  of  some  great, 
 sorrowful  bereavement.      These  things  are  sent 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  257 
 
 just  to  dim  the  world's    sheen,  to    darken   the 
 world's  glory,  to  weaken  the  world's  attractions. 
 Sorrow    washes     away  from  the  eye  the  films 
 that  intercept  the  light  of  the   countenance  of 
 God.    Affliction  is  the  furnace  into  which  we  are 
 thrown,  that  the  oxides  contracted  in  this  world 
 may  be  burned  off,  and  that  on  the  pure  gold 
 that  remains  there  may  be  struck  the  image  and 
 reflected  the  likeness  and  the  glory  of  our  God. 
 He  has  sharp-cutting  tools — the  sword,  the  pes- 
 tilence, the  noisome  beast,  and  the  famine.  These 
 cutting  tools  and  files  he  uses  for  polishing  his 
 own  jewels  ;  and  those  very  jewels  that  he  means 
 to  reflect  his  glory  most  brightly,  and  that  he 
 deems  the  most  precious  in  his  cabinet,  are  those 
 on  which  these  rough  tools  will  be  oftenest ;  and 
 the  brighter  the  ultimate  lustre,  the  longer  will 
 the  workman  be  in  polishing.  Many  a  one,  there- 
 fore, will  say  in  heaven,  what  perhaps  he  cannot 
 now  say,  "  It  was  good  for  me  that  I  have  been 
 afflicted."      Let  us  not  forget  that  the  evidence 
 that  an  affliction,  or  judgment,  national,  social,  or 
 personal,  has  been  sanctified  to  us,  is  what  it 
 leaves  behind — not  what  we  feel  now,  precious 
 as  that  is,  but  what  it  leaves  behind.    We  know 
 when  the  storm,  and   the  wind,  and   the   rain 
 
£58  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 burst  upon  your  garden  in  winter,  all  the  effect 
 is  seen  in  pools,  decaying  leaves,  fragments  of 
 wreck,  and  wide  disorder,  with  no  intervening 
 hope,  at  that  moment,  of  a  change  ;  but  when 
 the  storm  comes  in  summer,  in  showers  and  heavy 
 rain,  it  falls  upon  the  flowers,  the  trees,  and  the 
 leaves ;  and  it  is  no  sooner  over  than  the  sun 
 breaks  forth  again,  and  the  flowers  look  only 
 more  beautiful  for  the  bath  which  they  have  en- 
 joyed. So  fall  afflictions  on  those  to  whom 
 they  are  not,  and  on  those  to  whom  they  are 
 sanctified.  In  the  case  of  those  to  whom  they 
 are  not  sanctified,  they  are  the  winter  storms  that 
 leave  but  wreck,  and  misery,  and  chaos  ;  but 
 to  those  to  whom  they  are  blessed  they  are  as 
 the  summer  storm  that  beautifies,  not  blasts,  the 
 vegetation  on  which  it  falls.  Bereavement,  and 
 affliction,  and  judgment,  make  the  thoughtless 
 think,  and  the  prayerless  pray,  and  the  thinking 
 think  more  deeply,  and  the  praying  pray  more 
 fervently ;  till  all  add,  as  an  expression  of  their 
 blessed  experience,  "  It  was  good  for  me  that  I 
 was  afflicted." 
 
 We  learn  another  lesson.  The  spiritual 
 and  temporal  prosperity  of  all  with  whom  we 
 are    associated   by   ties    of   relationship,  neigh- 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  259 
 
 bourhood,  country,  kith,  or  kin,  should  be  most 
 dear  to  us,  and  should  be  borne  upon  our  hearts 
 when  we  draw  near  to  God.  This  woman 
 brought  her  daughter  to  the  Saviour  along  with 
 herself.  The  help  me  is  associated  with  help 
 her.  She  fulfilled  the  royal  law  of  bearing  one 
 another's  burdens.  We,  too,  should  fulfil  the 
 royal  law  in  another  formula,  "  Thou  shalt  love 
 thy  neighbour  as  thyself." 
 
 This  is  not  all.  True  Christians  do,  and 
 may,  and  will  meet  with  many  discouragements 
 in  prayer.  Some  say  to  me,  "  I  cannot  pray  as 
 I  could  wish ;  when  I  attempt  to  pray,  doubts, 
 distractions,  wanderings,  come  into  my  mind, 
 and  perplex  me."  Let  me  instruct  you  that,  if 
 you  could  pray  as  you  could  wish,  you  would 
 not  be  in  the  church  militant,  but  in  the  church 
 triumphant ;  if  you  were  what  you  would  be,  this 
 would  not  be  grace,  but  glory.  Thus  these  are 
 evidences  of  grace — not  your  doubts,  and  your 
 distractions,  but  your  sense  of,  and  sorrow  for, 
 them.  He,  therefore,  who  has  learned  from  his 
 prayers  that  he  has  never  prayed  as  he  should, 
 and  camiot  now  pray  as  he  would,  has  been  taught 
 a  precious  lesson,  for  it  Avill  humble  him,  and 
 lead  him  to  pray  for  that  strength  which  is  made 
 
 s  2 
 
860  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 perfect  in  weakness,  and  for  that  aid  which  ex- 
 alts the  lowly,  and  abases  only  the  proud. 
 
 Another  lesson  that  we  may  draw  from  this 
 interesting  miracle  is,  that  the  people  of  God  are 
 to  persevere  in  prayer.  God  does  not  say,  "  Ask 
 once,  and  I  will  give  ; "  he  says,  u  Ask,  and  ye 
 shall  obtain ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  (an 
 intenser  expression,)  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
 you."  God  has  not  said  that  you  shall  have  an 
 answer  after  you  have  prayed  once,  twice,  or 
 thrice ;  he  has  merely  promised  to  give  an 
 answer.  It  is  yours  to  pray,  and  to  persist  in 
 prayer — not  long  prayer,  not  many  words,  but 
 the  deep,  fervent  utterance  of  a  heart  that  feels 
 deeply  and  prays  truly — God  will  answer  that 
 prayer  sooner  or  later.  So  it  was  with  this 
 woman :  she  was  repulsed  once,  twice,  thrice, 
 but  she  persisted ;  she  had  perseverance ;  and, 
 at  last,  she  found  that  the  stream  that  had  been 
 only  banked  up,  in  the  end  burst  forth  from  its 
 channel  and  overflowed  in  more  glorious  abund- 
 ance. She  felt,  what  you  will  feel,  that  the 
 blessing  you  have  long  asked  for,  and  which  has 
 been  long  delayed,  will  at  length  come  down 
 exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  you  can 
 ask,  or  think,  or  desire.    Persist,  then,  in  prayer  ; 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  561 
 
 pray  always,  and  not  faint.  Hear  what  the 
 apostle  says,  that  men  should  "  pray  always  ; " 
 that  men  should  "'*'  pray  at  all  times : "  that  men 
 should  "pray  without  fear  or  doubting;"  that 
 they  should  "  pray  every  where ; "  that  they 
 should  pray  u  with  all  perseverance."  And  pray 
 for  what  ?  "  "Whatsoever  things  ye  have  need 
 of."  Now  whatever  be  the  sorrow  that  lies 
 nearest  any  heart  in  this  assembly,  whatever  be 
 the  burden  that  is  heaviest,  whatever  be  the  suf- 
 fering that  is  most  pungent  and  poignant — prav 
 that  that  may  be  removed.  It  is  right,  it  is  duty, 
 it  is  privilege.  Some  say,  "  I  don't  know  if  it  be 
 good  for  me  that  it  should  be  removed."  That 
 is  not  your  business ;  it  is  God's.  What  God 
 asks  is  that  we  shall  disclose  to  him  our  deep 
 wants,  whatever  these  wants  may  be  :  leaving  to 
 him  to  determine  in  his  wisdom  what  is  best 
 and  most  expedient  for  us.  If  you  do  not  ask 
 temporal  blessings,  you  are  saying  that  the  bless- 
 ings of  the  footstool  are  not  worth  having.  But 
 is  not  health  an  inestimable  blessing  ?  Is  not 
 *'•'  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  but  food  convenient 
 for  us,"  an  inestimable  blessing  ?  Is  not  pro- 
 tection and  preservation  from  danger  a  blessing  ? 
 Ask  these  things,  then,  that  he  would  feed  you 
 
262  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 with,  daily  bread,  that  lie  would  save  you  from 
 "  the  terror  by  night,  and  the  arrow  that  flieth 
 by  day;"  that  he  would  keep  you  under  his 
 feathers  ;  that  he  would  give  you  all  good  things. 
 Mother,  pray  for  the  child;  child,  pray  for 
 the  mother  ;  healthy,  pray  for  the  sick ;  ask 
 temporal  blessings,  ask  them  fully,  as  children 
 of  a  Father;  and  when  you  ask  them,  do  not 
 trouble  yourself  with  thinking,  "  I  am  afraid  to 
 ask,  because  I  do  not  know  whether  it  will  be 
 good  for  me."  You  are  thus  intruding  into 
 God's  seat:  you  must  leave  with  him  to  deter- 
 mine whether  it  be  good  for  you.  It  is  for  you 
 to  lay  bare  your  aching  heart,  and  its  deep 
 wants,  in  the  presence  of  your  Father  ;  and  you 
 will  find  what  peace  and  comfort  there  is  in  the 
 thought,  "  I  have  told  him  what  I  feel  honestly 
 to  be  the  want  that  is  deepest ;  I  leave  it  with 
 him  who  knows  all  things  completely,  to  give  it 
 when  and  how  he  pleases,  or  to  withhold  it  when 
 it  seems  to  him  most  expedient.  I  believe  we 
 have  many  wrong  views  of  prayer.  We  ask 
 things,  and  doubt  whether  it  is  right  to  ask  them 
 or  not.  Ask  everything  you  honestly  believe 
 you  have  need  of.  Leave  it  to  God,  and  he  will 
 withhold  as  his  wisdom  may  see  to  be  most  ex- 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  263 
 
 pedient.  Do  not  intrude  into  God's  province ; 
 take  the  supplicant's  part ;  for  "  v/liatsoever  things 
 ye  have  need  of"  you  are  to  ask  for;  you  are  to 
 pray  " in  all  things."  "Is  any  man  afflicted? 
 Let  him  pray.  Is  any  man  merry  ?  Let  him 
 sing  psalms."  Let  every  thing  bring  you  to 
 God;  and  tell  your  heavenly  Father  of  all  the 
 wants  you  feel,  that  he  may  relieve  them.  Not 
 that  prayer  is  necessary  because  God  needs  in- 
 formation of  what  you  want.  He  knows  it ;  but 
 it  is  his  law,  it  is  his  arrangement,  that  whatever 
 you  want  you  are  to  tell  him  of  it,  and  he  will 
 give  it  exceeding  abundantly.  And  if  he  give  you 
 not  that  very  thing  which  you  ask,  he  will  give 
 you  something  ten  times  better ;  he  will  never 
 give  you  worse  than  you  ask,  but  always  better. 
 "  If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
 unto  your  children,  how  much  more  will  your 
 heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
 that  ask  him."  Do  not  think  that  God's  delay 
 is  unwillingness :  his  willingness  is  infinite ;  his 
 unwillingness  is  seeming,  his  willingness  is  real ; 
 his  seeming  unwillingness  is  to  make  you  do  as 
 the  Canaanite  woman  did — persevere ;  his  will- 
 ingness waits  to  bestow  more  than  we  can  ask 
 or  think.     Do  not,  then,  argue,  as  some  have 
 
264 
 
 FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ignorantly  and  sceptically  argued,  that  God 
 knows  what  we  want,  and  that  if  he  is  determined 
 to  give  it,  he  will  give  it  without  prayer ;  and 
 that  if  he  is  determined  not  to  give  it,  it  is  of  no 
 use  to  pray  for  it.  That  is  atheism.  We  are, 
 my  dear  friends,  to  feel  satisfied  that  God,  in  his 
 decrees  and  eternal  purposes,  has  resolved  to 
 give  to  prayer  what  he  is  resolved  not  to  give 
 without  prayer.  Prayer  may  be  one  of  the 
 wheels  on  which  his  purposes  move  to  perform- 
 ance. It  is  his  law — a  law  that  we  are  under, 
 and  that  we  are  to  receive — that  if  we  ask  not 
 we  shall  not  obtain ;  and  it  is  his  law,  equally  ex- 
 plicit, that  if  we  ask  we  shall  obtain.  All  that  he 
 requires  of  you  is  the  unfeigned,  earnest,  sincere, 
 persevering  disclosure  of  all  your  wants — your 
 little  wants,  and  your  great  wants :  for  do  not 
 think,  as  some  think,  of  his  providence,  that  it 
 takes  care  of  kings,  but  does  not  condescend  to 
 beggars — that  it  takes  care  of  empires,  and  not  of 
 atoms — that  it  takes  care  of  the  leviathan,  but 
 not  of  the  emmet  or  the  fly.  God's  providence 
 embraces  all  things — rises  to  the  greatest,  and 
 descends  to  the  minutest — is  in  the  disclosures 
 of  the  microscope,  as  well  as  the  discoveries  of 
 the   telescope.     So   with   reference   to   prayer: 
 
MATERNAL    LOVE.  265 
 
 God  hears  prayer  for  little  things    as  well  as 
 for  great  things;  and  little  things  may  be  the 
 hinges  on  which  great  ones   turn.     Therefore, 
 the  lesson  that  I  would  again  repeat,  is,  what- 
 soever ye  want  or  need,  ask  and  pray  for,  at  all 
 times,  every  where — lifting  up  holy  hands,  no- 
 thing doubting  that  the  hearer  of  prayer  will 
 hear,  and  answer.     So  our  experience  on  earth, 
 and  our  retrospect  for  glory,  will  equally  prove 
 that  we  never  sincerely  and  earnestly  prayed  in 
 vain. 
 
LECTURE  X. 
 
 THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM. 
 
 And  when  he  was  entered  into  a  ship,  his  disciples  followed  him. 
 And,  behold,  there  arose  a  great  tempest  in  the  sea,  insomuch 
 that  the  ship  was  covered  with  the  waves :  but  he  was  asleep. 
 And  his  disciples  came  to  him,  and  awoke  him,  saying,  Lord, 
 save  lis  :  we  perish.  And  he  saith  unto  them,  Why  are  ye 
 fearful,  0  ye  of  little  faith  ?  Then  he  arose,  and  rebuked  the 
 winds  and  the  sea ;  and  there  was  a  great  calm.  But  the 
 men  marvelled,  saying,  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that 
 even  the  winds  and  the  sea  obey  him  ! — Matt.  viii.  23 — 27. 
 
 Many  of  the  miracles  on  which  I  have  lectured 
 have  related  to  the  diseases  of  the  body,  to  which 
 Christ  was  the  great  Physician ;  and  the  death  of 
 that  body,  to  which  he  had  proved  himself  the 
 life.  This  miracle  relates  not  to  disease  or  to 
 death  in  the  experience  of  man,  but  to  another 
 of  the  effects  of  sin,  the  storms  and  tempests,  or 
 disharmony  of  nature,  of  which  he  alone  is  the 
 queller,  and  from  which  he  alone  will  one  day 
 retrieve  her. 
 
 It  appears  that  Jesus,  as  stated  in  the  record 
 
THE    CALMER.    OF    THE    STORM.  267 
 
 of  the  miracle  here  given,  went  into  a  ship. 
 Never,  certainly,  did  the  waves  of  the  sea  bear 
 a  more  precious  burden ;  never  had  ship  con- 
 structed by  man  a  more  glorious  passenger ;  it 
 was  the  glory  of  that  sea  that  its  bosom  bore 
 him ;  it  was  an  honour  to  those  winds  that  they 
 were  permitted  to  waft  him ;  for  it  was  not  one 
 that  had  shared  with  them  in  nature's  shock,  but 
 one  who  made  it  holy, — for  "  all  things  were 
 made  by  him," — and  came  to  right  it,  for  he  is 
 the  great  Redeemer  of  all  things. 
 
 It  appears  that  when  he  was  in  this  ship,  a 
 storm  arose.  The  sea,  commonly  called  so,  is  a 
 large  loch  or  lake ;  it  was  inland,  but  of  great 
 extent ;  and,  like  all  inland  seas,  as  one  may  be 
 aware,  subject  to  tempestuous  hurricanes,  that 
 rushed  down  the  mountain  gorges  unexpectedly, 
 and  very  frequently  buried  large  vessels  in  its 
 waters.  It  appears  that  one  of  these  gales  or 
 storms  smote  the  ship  in  which  Jesus  and  his 
 disciples  were.  The  fishermen,  or  the  sailors, 
 plainly  felt  it  to  be  no  common  or  ordinary 
 storm,  by  the  very  fact  that  they  appealed  to  him 
 for  deliverance.  A  sailor  will  never  take  foreign 
 help  as  long  as  he  has  a  muscle  that  he  can  use, 
 or  a  rag  of  canvass  that  he  can  hoist,  or  an  effort 
 
268  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  his  skill,  his  genius,  or  his  physical  powers 
 can  have  recourse  to.  Whenever  a  sailor  has  re- 
 course to  foreign  help  on  the  sea,  it  is  generally 
 evidence  that  he  has  given  up  all  for  lost.  These 
 men  were  accustomed  to  storms  and  tempests, 
 and,  no  doubt,  would  not  have  appealed  to  Jesus 
 for  miraculous  deliverance  unless  they  had  been 
 fully  conscious  that  human  strength  was  weak- 
 ness, human  skill  was  folly,  and  that  without 
 such  interposition  all  was  hopeless. 
 
 We  gather  from  these  facts  that  the  presence 
 of  Christ,  near  and  dear  to  his  people,  does  not 
 exempt  them  from  affliction.  Christ  has  promised 
 to  conduct  us  to  an  everlasting  and  glorious 
 haven ;  but  he  has  not  promised  that  we  shall 
 also  have  a  fair  wind,  a  smooth  sea,  and  a  de- 
 lightful and  serene  passage.  The  passage  may 
 indeed  be  tempestuous,  but  the  haven  will  cer- 
 tainly be  reached ;  and  often  the  storm  by  the 
 way  is  a  necessary  element  in  that  process  by 
 which  we  are  fitted  for  the  enjoyment  of  the 
 haven  that  is  before  us.  No  one  so  enjoys  the 
 calm  harbour  as  the  long  tempest-tossed  sailor  ; 
 no  one  so  enjoys  his  home  as  the  weary  traveller 
 who  has  come  many  a  mile  to  reach  it ;  and  the 
 Christian  will  find  heaven   not  to  be  the  less 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  269 
 
 sweet,  but  the  more  so,  that  he  has  buffeted 
 many  a  wind,  passed  through  many  a  storm,  and 
 often  felt  thoroughly  persuaded  that  there  was 
 no  hope  or  deliverance  for  him.  He  shall  then 
 find  these  tempests  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
 with  the  glory  that  is  to  be  revealed ;  he  will 
 then  discover  that  each  trial  was  just  as  neces- 
 sary for  him  as  that  Christ  should  have  died  for 
 him  ;  and  instead  of  being  a  random  accident  in 
 disturbed  nature,  it  was  a  messenger  sent  from 
 on  high  to  help  him  on  his  journey,  without 
 whose  help  he  might  never  have  reached  the 
 end. 
 
 Jesus,  it  is  said,  in  the  midst  of  the  tempest 
 which  he  and  his  disciples  shared,  was  asleep  on 
 the  stern,  or  hinder  part  of  the  ship.  Jonah  once 
 slept  in  his  ship,  in  the  midst  of  a  storm ;  but 
 his  sleep  was  the  result  of  the  opiate  of  a  dead 
 and  benumbed  conscience.  Jesus  slept  in  the 
 storm,  but  his  sleep  was  because  of  a  pure,  an 
 innocent,  and  holy  conscience.  Jonah  was  the 
 cause  of  the  storm  in  which  he  was ;  Jesus  was 
 the  queller  of  the  storm  in  which  he  was.  One 
 was  a  fugitive  from  God ;  the  other  was  a  mes- 
 senger of  God,  coming  to  do  God's  work,  and 
 gather  in  God's  people,  and  glorify  God's  name. 
 
270  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 And  may  we  not  see  from  all  this,  that  the  church 
 of  Christ,  and  the  people  of  God,  may  very  often 
 seem  to  be  almost  cast  off — the  winds  awake,  the 
 waves  arise,  as  if  some  evil  power  roused  the 
 one  and  lashed  the  other  to  their  utmost  fury ; 
 and  what  aggravates  their  state  and  magnifies 
 their  peril  is,  that  he  who  alone  can  quell  those 
 waves,  and  hush  those  winds,  is  asleep — and  in 
 fact  seems  not  to  regard  them.  It  was  in  such  cir- 
 cumstances that  the  believer,  in  the  Psalms,  called 
 out,  "  Hath  God  forgotten  to  be  gracious  ?  How 
 long  wilt  thou  forsake  me,  O  Lord  ? "  Yet  let 
 Christ  seem  to  have  forgotten  his  people — let 
 there  be  no  Divine  word  sent  from  the  sky,  an- 
 nouncing deliverance — let  there  be  no  rainbow 
 spanning  it,  intimating  that  the  storm  is  about  to 
 pass  away — let  there  be  no  prescription  dropped 
 from  above,  to  show  us  that  the  disease  is  about 
 to  be  healed — let  all  seem  desperate,  there  is  no 
 depth  into  which  man  can  be  plunged  in  which 
 he  should  not  pray,  and  there  is  no  depth  or 
 distance  from  God,  to  which  affliction  may  drive 
 him,  in  which  prayer  may  not  be  heard ;  for  it 
 was  when  the  storm  was  in  its  fury,  and  Jesus 
 was  asleep,  that  they  cried,  in  their  agony, "  Lord,  y 
 save  us.     Carest  thou  not  that  we  perish  ?"  And 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  271 
 
 yet  in  that  petition  of  these  poor  fishermen, 
 whilst  there  was  faith,  there  was  also  a  mixture 
 of  infirmity.  They  said,  "  Save  us  ;  we  perish." 
 They  thought  that  Christ  and  they  would  perish ; 
 but  how  impossible  is  that !  Christ,  and  his 
 people  whom  he  knows — some  of  them  born  and 
 re-born ;  others  of  them  born,  but  not  re-born ; 
 others  of  them  not  yet  born,  or  re-born;  some 
 circumcised,  and  others  uncircumcised ;  some 
 circumcised,  like  Abraham ;  some  baptized,  like 
 Paul,  but  not  circumcised ;  and  some  neither,  but 
 yet  chosen  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the 
 world,  the  members  of  his  living  body,  the  ransom 
 of  his  precious  blood ;  they  are  all  safe  as  if  they 
 were  already  in  heaven ;  for  he  himself  hath 
 said,  "  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  none 
 shall  be  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand." 
 
 The  Lord,  it  is  said,  when  appealed  to,  ad- 
 dressed the  men,  and  rebuked  them  gently  and 
 tenderly  for  weakness  :  "  O  ye  of  little  faith." 
 It  was  not  the  evidence  of  their  little  faith  that 
 they  appealed  to  Christ,  but  that  they  were  so 
 alarmed,  as  to  be  almost  overpowered  and  over- 
 whelmed by  that  alarm.  Then,  it  is  said,  he 
 arose  and  rebuked  the  winds.  AVhen  does  Christ 
 interpose  to  help  us  ?    Just  when  we  have  come 
 
272  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 to  learn  the  lesson  that  we  cannot  help  ourselves. 
 Never  does  a  Christian  know  what  strength  is 
 till  he  feels  what  his  utter,  entire  weakness  is  in 
 the  sight  of  God.  It  is  then  that  in  weakness 
 he  is  made  strong.  Have  we  not  had  something 
 to  transfer  the  illustration  of  the  miracle  to  an 
 analogous  case  ?  Have  we  not  had  something 
 like  this  in  our  recent  experience  ?  Just  at  the 
 time  that  the  late  epidemic  was  darkening  more 
 and  more  our  horizon,  the  registrar-general 
 wrote,  "  Now  we  can  see  light ;"  and  the  very 
 two  weeks  during  which  he  saw  light  were  the 
 darkest  of  all.  At  the  very  time  that  the  Times 
 paper  and  others  said,  "  Now  we  have  turned 
 the  corner,"  that  very  time  the  victims  fell  in 
 greater  numbers.  Nostrum  followed  nostrum ; 
 prescription  was  published  after  prescription, 
 till  men  were  more  likely  to  be  poisoned  by 
 men's  prescriptions  than  to  be  smitten  down 
 by  God's  pestilence.  There  was  cleansing, 
 watering,  flushing,  de-odorizing,  disinfecting, 
 shutting  up  pestilential  foci  (all  most  important 
 in  their  places,  and  it  is  only  a  pity  they  were 
 not  done  before);  every  effort  was  made,  yet 
 they  found  that  they  were  stopping  up  one  leak, 
 whilst  a  dozen  were  starting  out  besides.    There 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  273 
 
 was  great  faith  in  physicians,  great  faith  in  pre- 
 ventive measures,  but  little  faith  in,  and  scarcely 
 a  whisper  of,  an  appeal  to  him  who  kills  and 
 makes  alive  ;  till  at  length  the  multiplying  vic- 
 tims, mown  down  on  every  side,  began  to  teach 
 inn  his  helplessness.  The  conquering  epidemic 
 rode  from  the  lane  to  the  well-paved  street,  from 
 the  cellar  to  the  noble's  hall,  and  from  the  filthy 
 place,  where  they  said  its  habitat  was,  and  out 
 of  which  it  dared  not  come,  it  entered  the  most 
 splendid  drawing-rooms ;  it  touched  even  the 
 judicial  bench,  and  picked  out  its  victims  there ; 
 till,  in  short,  the  pestilence,  like  Death  upon  the 
 pale  horse  in  the  Apocalypse,  rode  forth,  con- 
 quering on  all  sides,  with  terror  in  his  van,  and 
 death  in  his  rear.  Then  men  saw  what  their 
 nostrums  and  specifics  were  worth — their  faith 
 in  man,  their  trust  in  physic ;  till  at  last  a 
 nation,  in  its  helplessness,  flung  all  behind  it, 
 and  rushed,  in  a  nation's  agony,  and  gave  utter- 
 ance to  a  nation's  prayers,  in  ten  thousand  tem- 
 ples, "  Lord,  save  us ;  we  perish."  And  the 
 Lord  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  stayed  the 
 plague,  and  "  there  was  a  great  calm."  God  has 
 been  teaching  us  first  to  feel  our  helplessness, 
 and  then  to  rejoice  in  our  deliverance. 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 FORESHADOWS. 
 
 Do  not  draw  from  what  I  say  any  inference 
 that  I  disapprove  of  all  the  efforts  that  have  been 
 made.  On  the  contrary,  I  am  one  of  those  who 
 believe  that  God  sent  this  judgment  just  to 
 teach  the  rich,  the  great,  the  noble,  of  all  ranks, 
 that  they  have  neglected  their  duties,  that  they 
 have  left  the  poor  to  starve,  or  to  live  and  to  be 
 housed  like  brutes,  instead  of  each  person  look- 
 ing round  his  hall,  his  park,  his  palace,  his  resi- 
 dence, remembering  that  if  God  has  made  him 
 more  rich,  it  is  that  some  very  poor  one  may  be 
 bettered ;  and  that  if  God  has  given  him  more 
 comforts,  it  is  that  those  who  have  none  may  get 
 some.     I  believe  that  this  is  one  of  the   srreat 
 
 o 
 
 lessons  to  be  gathered  from  the  judgment,  and  I 
 hope  it  will  not  be  forgotten.  At  the  same  time 
 it  does  seem  to  me,  while  we  have  been  taught 
 this,  we  have  been  taught  also  to  recognise  the 
 finger  of  God.  He  has  crowded  physicians,  and 
 skill,  and  talent,  and  prevention,  and  all  other 
 measures  into  one  humble,  lowly  place ;  and  from 
 the  graves  of  the  victims,  and  the  homes  of  the 
 spared,  the  weepers  because  of  lost  ones,  and  the 
 rejoicers  because  of  spared  ones,  have  learned 
 this  truth,  which  I  think  is  deeper  engraved 
 upon  our  country's  heart  than  ever  it  was  en- 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  £75 
 
 graved  before  —  that  we  are  saved  and  kept 
 healthy,  and  blessed,  and  prospered,  not  by 
 might  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
 Lord.  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wis- 
 dom, nor  the  physician  in  his  skill,  nor  the  states- 
 man in  his  policy  ;  but  let  him  that  glorieth  glory 
 only  in  the  Lord :  and  let  all  learn — what  we 
 have  forgotten — that  we  are  not  under  the  do- 
 minion of  those  contemptible  gods  of  the  Pan- 
 theon of  the  19th  century,  called  "  laws  of  na- 
 ture ; "  but  that  we  are  under  the  dominion  of 
 Him  who  reigns  in  heaven,  and  rules  amidst  the 
 inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and  who  turneth  the 
 hearts  of  kings  whithersoever  he  will.  These  are 
 noble  lessons.  If  we  have  learned  them,  as  I 
 trust  many  have,  we  shall  bless  God  for  the  pes- 
 tilence that  laid  so  many  below  the  ground 
 in  1849,  because  of  the  beneficent  and  precious 
 lessons  it  taught  to  so  many  who  yet  live. 
 
 Jesus  arose,  it  is  said,  and  rebuked  the  wind 
 and  the  wave.  The  Physician  rebuked  the 
 disease  ;  the  Creator  rebuked  the  storms  of  cre- 
 ation. Whether  the  word  "  rebuke,"  which  is 
 often  applied  to  the  miracles  of  Christ,  when  he 
 speaks  to  nature,  means  that  there  was  any  living 
 agency  concerned,  it  is  perhaps  difficult  to  say. 
 
 t  2 
 
276  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 It  seems  as  if  it  taught  us  that  storms  and  tem- 
 pests are  the  results  of  some  usurping  powers 
 that  have  come  into  the  world.  We  know  that 
 Satan  is  the  god  of  this  world ;  we  know  that 
 he  is  trying  to  grasp  the  sceptre  which  he  cannot 
 hold ;  and  that  he  intrudes  and  does  mischief 
 wherever  he  is  permitted,  and  has  power  to 
 do  so.  Whether  it  be  that  the  Lord  looked  upon 
 these  storms  as  the  mere  expression  of  a  ma- 
 lignant agency  beneath,  and  rebuked  the  evil 
 powers  because  of  what  had  taken  place,  I  can- 
 not say.  Perhaps  it  was  that  he  looked  upon 
 nature  as  his  own  child.  "  The  sea  is  his,"  says 
 the  psalmist,  "  and  he  made  it ; "  and  then,  when 
 he  spoke  to  the  winds,  they  folded  their  wings 
 and  slept  beside  him,  recognising  in  the  words  of 
 Jesus  the  voice  of  him  that  gave  them  their  cre- 
 ation and  their  commission  at  the  first ;  and 
 when  the  waves  heard  that  voice,  they  lay 
 like  babes  beside  a  mother,  gentle,  and  obedient 
 to  him  whose  is  the  sea,  and  whose  also  is  the 
 dry  land :  and  they  showed  how  truly  David 
 wrote,  when  he  sung  by  the  Spirit  of  David's 
 Lord,  "  Thou  rulest  the  raging  of  the  sea ; 
 when  the  waves  thereof  arise  thou  stillest  them." 
 And  how  beautifullv  the  same  David  wrote  in 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  277 
 
 another  place  :  "  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea 
 in  ships,  that  do  business  in  great  waters ;  these 
 see  the  works  of  the  Lord,  and  his  wonders  in 
 the  deep.  For  he  commandeth,  and  raiseth  the 
 stormy  wind,  which  lifteth  up  the  waves  thereof. 
 They  mount  up  to  the  heaven,  they  go  down 
 again  to  the  depths  :  their  soul  is  melted  because 
 of  trouble.  They  reel  to  and  fro,  and  stagger 
 like  a  drunken  man,  and  are  at  their  wit's  end. 
 Then  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble, 
 and  he  bringeth  them  out  of  their  distresses. 
 He  maketh  the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves 
 thereof  are  still.  Then  are  they  glad  because 
 they  be  quiet ;  so  he  bringeth  them  unto  their 
 desired  haven.  Oh  that  men  would  praise  the 
 Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  wonderful 
 works  to  the  children  of  men  !  " 
 
 What  Jesus  did  on  this  occasion  was  not,  let 
 me  remind  you,  as  I  have  done  before,  was  not 
 a  mere  miraculous  feat,  it  was  also  a  prophetic 
 fact.  No  act  of  Jesus  was  finished  when  it  was 
 done  ;  each  was  a  foreshadow  of  a  grand  result 
 yet  to  be.  All  things,  I  believe,  are  far  more 
 typical  than  we  think  them  ;  all  facts  are  preg- 
 nant with  effects  yet  more  glorious  than  we  see. 
 There  is  no  such  thing   as  a  dead  fact  ;    it   is 
 
£78  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 always  living  and  prolific ;  and  whatever  Jesus 
 did,  especially,  was  significant  of  something 
 yet  brighter  and  better  that  Jesus  will  do.  So 
 then,  the  fact  that  he  quelled  the  storm  is  only 
 an  earnest  of  that  better  day,  when  the  great 
 Peacemaker  will  come  forth  like  the  high  priest 
 from  the  holy  of  holies,  and  screw  up  creation's 
 strings  to  their  primeval  harmony,  bring  all 
 things  back  to  their  Eden  bliss,  give  the  wind 
 and  waves  and  sea  a  new  and  a  Divine  commis- 
 sion, recover  and  resume  the  sceptre,  expel  the 
 disturber,  reverse  the  curse,  strip  nature  of  her 
 ashen  garments,  in  which  she  has  wept  and 
 groaned,  a  penitent  and  a  sufferer,  and  put  on 
 her  coronation  robes,  her  bridal  apparel,  when 
 the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  shall  have  come ;  and 
 all  nature  shall  be  made  glad.  We  believe  that 
 this  will  be  so,  not  merely  from  this  fact  that  is 
 an  earnest  of  it,  but  because  the  Lord  Jesus 
 himself  has  expressly  said  so.  And  at  this  mo- 
 ment, as  in  the  past,  his  arm  is  not  shortened 
 that  it  cannot  save,  nor  his  ear  heavy  that  it 
 cannot  hear.  In  the  midst  of  storms  and  tem- 
 pests we  may  seek  of  him  a  calm  in  sorrow,  and 
 sickness,  and  suffering,  we  may  pray  for  help. 
 We  ought  to  ask  for  temporal  blessings  abso- 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  279 
 
 lutely,  as  we  ask  for  spiritual  blessings.  It  is 
 God's  part  to  determine,  in  his  wisdom,  what  he 
 will  give  and  what  he  will  withhold ;  it  is  our 
 part  simply  to  disclose  the  felt  and  the  deep 
 wants  of  our  soul,  and  ask  him  to  supply  them. 
 If  therefore  any  one  is  ill,  and  wants  help, 
 pray  for  it ;  if  any  of  us  be  poor  and  starving, 
 and  need  bread,  pray  for  it ;  if  any  of  us  have 
 a  relative  suffering  and  ill,  pray  for  his  recovery, 
 and  pray  in  faith ;  it  is  ours  to  pray  ;  it  is  God's 
 part  to  determine  what  he  will  give.  Do  not 
 say,  "  But  is  this  expedient  ?  Is  this  according 
 to  the  will  of  God  ? "  That  is  not  your  busi- 
 ness. Ask  what  your  conscience,  enlightened 
 by  God's  word,  shows  you  to  be,  or  that  seems 
 to  you  to  be,  good  ;  ask  what  you  really  need, 
 and  leave  it  with  God  to  give  or  withhold  as  to 
 him  may  seem  most  expedient.  He  authorized  us 
 to  seek  all  temporal  blessings,  when  he  taught  us 
 to  say,  "  Give  us  daily  bread ; "  he  enjoined  us  to 
 seek  all  spiritual  blessings,  when  he  taught  us  to 
 say,  "  Forgive  us  our  trespasses."  Temporal 
 blessings  are  the  blessings  of  the  footstool ;  spi- 
 ritual blessings  are  the  blessings  of  the  throne : 
 let  us  ask  both.  God  has  given  us  a  body  as 
 well  as  a  soul,  and  he  means  that  there  should  be 
 
280  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 provision  for  the  one  as  well  as  for  the  other. 
 Ask  for  both,  and  ask  in  faith ;  do  not  doubt ; 
 and  if  his  wisdom  do  not  always  give  you  the 
 precise  thing  that  you  ask,  his  goodness  will  give 
 you  a  better  thing,  exceeding  abundantly  above 
 all  you  can  ask  :  thus  his  name  will  be  glorified, 
 and  you  will  be  blessed. 
 
 It  is  on  these  accounts  that  I  again  refer  to 
 another  topic,  on  which  I  say  so  much  because  I 
 wish  that  it  may  be  sanctified,  and  never  for- 
 gotten. We  have  ourselves  had  evidence  that 
 God  answers  the  prayers  of  the  people.  We 
 see  how  rapidly  the  prevalent  epidemic  has  de- 
 creased ever  since  the  nation  began  earnestly  to 
 pray.  And  I  rejoice  to  say  that  the  public  news- 
 papers now  begin  to  show  a  holier  feeling  on  the 
 subject.  I  may  perhaps  be  pardoned,  if  I  read 
 a  short  extract  from  one  of  them,  which  has  been 
 most  refreshing  to  my  mind.  I  have  said  that 
 most  of  the  papers  were  asserting  this  cause, 
 and  that  cause,  and  that  no  doubt  the  cold 
 weather  would  abate  the  disease ;  yet  hot  weather 
 actually  came,  and  yet  there  was  a  decrease ; 
 but  one  paper  has  changed  its  tone — the  leading 
 paper  of  the  age,  and  remarkable,  not  for  origin- 
 ating public  feeling,  but — and  nothing  but  this 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  281 
 
 would  justify  my  reading  the  extract  here — for 
 being  the  exponent  of  it.  I  refer  to  it  (and  I  do 
 not  speak  disrespectfully  of  its  great  talent  when  m 
 I  say  so)  just  as  I  should  quote  the  weathercock, 
 not  as  the  cause  of  the  wind  blowing  in  a  certain 
 direction,  but  simply  as  the  evidence  of  it.  This 
 great  daily  paper,  after  battling  a  long  time  to 
 account  for  the  disease  on  every  principle  but 
 the  right  one,  and  hesitating  about  the  pro- 
 priety of  a  day  of  national  prayer,  at  last  writes 
 an  article  which  seems  to  compensate  for  all  the 
 mischief  it  has  done  ;  and  for  which  I  thank 
 God,  because  I  regard  it  not  as  the  expression  of 
 the  individual  writer's  feelings,  but  as  the  forced 
 utterance  of  what  the  writer  knows  to  be  the 
 nation's  heart,  the  popular  feeling,  the  universal 
 sympathy. 
 
 "  It  would  be  as  impossible,"  says  the  Times  of 
 Thursday,  September  27th,  "  to  exaggerate  the 
 sentiment  of  gratitude  which  is  felt  throughout 
 the  metropolis  at  the  abatement  of  the  pest  from 
 which  we  are  beginning  to  escape,  as  it  would  be 
 to  exaggerate  the  misery  which  its  further  con- 
 tinuance would  have  inflicted.  The  plague  is 
 stayed.  Death  strikes  with  a  feeble  and  fitful 
 hand  where  he  so  lately  smote  with  so  fearful  a 
 
282  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 force.  Terror  and  Despondence,  the  satellites  and 
 companions  of  Death,  are  flying  before  the  power 
 which  has  destroyed  the  gaunt  destroyer.  The 
 streets,  which  still  bear  the  aspect  of  mourning 
 and  sadness,  no  longer  witness  the  daily  insignia 
 of  mortality.  One  meets,  indeed,  in  every  place, 
 the  memorials  of  irreparable  losses,  and  the  tokens 
 of  lasting  grief,  [all  this  indicates  what  a  terrible 
 moment  we  have  passed  through] .  In  the  throng 
 of  the  Exchange,  in  the  great  thoroughfares,  in 
 the  crowded  streets,  we  jostle  against  those  who 
 have,  within  a  few  days,  lost  their  nearest  and 
 dearest  kin.  One  man,  a  week  ago  the  happy 
 husband  or  proud  father,  has  since  followed  wife 
 and  children  to  the  grave.  The  prattle  of  infancy 
 and  the  soft  accents  of  affection  have  been  sud- 
 denly hushed  in  a  thousand  homes.  A  havoc  has 
 been  wrought  in  innumerable  families  which  a 
 long  life  will  fail  to  repair.  But  the  plague  is 
 already  stayed  ;  and,  great  as  the  calamity  may 
 have  been,  it  is  slight  compared  with  what  old 
 traditions  and  modern  experience  taught  us  to 
 expect.  London  has  escaped  with  half  the  loss 
 sustained  in  Paris,  and  a  tithe  of  the  destruc- 
 tion which  ravaged  Moscow,  Petersburgh,  or 
 Delhi. 
 
THE    CALMER   OF    THE    STORM.  283 
 
 "  A  termination  almost  so  unhoped  for  has  filled 
 men's  hearts  with  gratitude.  They  recognise  in 
 the  mercy  that  has  arrested  the  hand  of  the  de- 
 stroying angel  the  salvation  of  this  country  from 
 all  those,  the  moral  and  material  ills,  which  have 
 ever  followed  in  the  train  of  great  pestilences. 
 Had  the  disease  remained  among  us  for  any  time 
 without  abatement,  experience  tells  us  it  could 
 hardly  have  remained  without  increase.  The 
 mortality,  which  had  risen  from  the  usual  weekly 
 average  of  nine  hundred  to  three  thousand, 
 would  not  have  remained  many  weeks  as  low  as 
 three  thousand.  Had  it  gone  on  in  the  same  ratio 
 of  increase,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  whole 
 districts  in  the  metropolis  and  its  suburbs  would 
 have  been  laid  bare  and  desolate.  True,  this 
 would  have  happened  among  the  abodes  of  the 
 very  poor.  But  would  the  consequences  of  the 
 affliction  have  been  restricted  to  those  spots  ? 
 Could  whole  families  have  been  plunged  in  de- 
 stitution, and  whole  parishes  have  been  desolated 
 by  panic,  in  the  offskirts  of  a  huge  city,  without 
 infecting  the  other  and  healthier  elements  of  so- 
 ciety ?  Impossible  !  Of  the  plague  which  has  al- 
 ready, we  trust,  spent  its  worst  malignity,  the 
 deaths  which  it  caused  were  not  the  sole  nor  the 
 
284  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 most  terrible  result.  The  great  historian  of 
 Greece  has  depicted  in  indelible  colours  the  moral 
 which  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  physical  pest. 
 We,  as  a  nation,  indeed,  may  not  be  in  the  same 
 state  as  that  refined  and  volatile  people  which 
 erected  altars  to  ( The  Unknown  God.'  But,  can 
 any  one  who  knows  anything  of  our  great  cities, 
 and  especially  of  our  greatest,  say  that,  were  a 
 pest  let  loose  with  unmitigated  violence  on  them 
 or  in  it,  the  mere  destruction  of  human  life  would 
 measure  the  havoc  and  the  calamity  endured? 
 Would  the  poorer  masses  of  our  population  go 
 untainted  by  that  same  utter  recklessness  of  all 
 save  present  gain  and  present  enjoyment — the 
 same  indifference  to  death  or  life — honour  or  dis- 
 honour— good  or  evil — which  poisoned  the  minds 
 of  the  Athenians  more  than  the  plague  destroyed 
 their  bodies  ?  The  historian  of  the  Great  Plague 
 of  London  bears  testimony  to  the  frightful  im- 
 morality, hardness  of  heart,  and  savage  reckless- 
 ness which  disputed  with  piety,  contrition,  and 
 repentance,  the  dominion  over  men's  minds.  In 
 our  age  the  vast  increase  of  population,  the  more 
 than  proportionate  increase  of  luxury  and  wealth 
 — the  great  contrast  of  conditions  and  fortunes, 
 have  all  raised  up  elements  of  discord,  conten- 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  285 
 
 tion,  and  bitter  strife,  which  were  unknown  in 
 De  Foe's  time,  but  which,  in  a  wide-spread 
 pestilence,  might  now  ferment  into  anarchy  and 
 ruin.  The  metropolis  could  not  have  suffered 
 alone.  It  would  have  infected  all  England.  We 
 have  escaped  these  evils.  We  have  escaped 
 panic.  We  have  escaped  anarchy.  We  have 
 escaped  national  convulsion  [what  grounds  of 
 gratitude]!  There  have,  doubtless,  been  great 
 suffering,  privation,  destitution,  and  despair  in- 
 flicted on  us.  There  have  likewise  been  much 
 hardness,  selfishness,  and  cruelty  elicited  by  it. 
 But,  still,  how  little  have  these  been,  compared 
 with  the  probable  and  almost  inevitable  conse- 
 quences of  a  heavier  and  wider  mortality !  " 
 But  I  wish  especially  to  refer  to  what  follows  : 
 "  And,  if  this  be,  as  we  believe  it  to  be,  the 
 case,  does  not  an  occasion  so  solemn  deserve  an 
 expression  of  sentiments  so  profound  ?  Should 
 there  not  be  some  public  and  universal  recogni- 
 tion of  the  Might  which  has  stood  between  the 
 living  and  the  dead — of  the  Mercy  which  has 
 spared  us  the  consummation  of  a  dreadful  chas- 
 tisement? We  know  that  there  are  men  who 
 refuse  to  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God  in  any 
 great  dispensation  of  His  providence, — to  whom 
 
286  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  material  world  are  but 
 the  casual  results  of  fortuitous  combinations,  or 
 the  inevitable  operations  of  undetected  laws. 
 Fortunately,  the  majority  of  mankind  have  not 
 concurred  in  ousting  the  Deitv  from  all  concern 
 in  the  world  which  he  has  made.  Most  men 
 still  feel  sensible  that  there  is  One,  omniscient 
 and  all-powerful,  who  directs  and  determines 
 the  issues  of  life  and  death  to  men  and  nations. 
 It  is  useless  to  talk  of  secondary  causes.  Second- 
 ary causes  are  but  the  instruments  which  the 
 Deity  chooses  to  employ.  Sickness,  famine,  and 
 death,  are  warnings  by  which  he  reminds  man- 
 kind of  their  weakness,  their  helplessness,  and 
 their  mortality.  Every  man  feels  this  in  his  own 
 family,  person,  and  circumstances.  The  sickness 
 that  hurries  a  favourite  child  or  an  affectionate 
 wife  to  an  early  grave  is  a  humbling,  but  effec- 
 tive, example  of  Divine  power  and  human  weak- 
 ness. The  palsy  that  prostrates  the  strong  man 
 in  the  full  flush  of  health  and  vigour — the  dis- 
 tress and  poverty  which  stun  the  rich  man  in  the 
 height  of  his  prosperity — these  are  but  second- 
 ary, often  tertiary  causes ;  they  may  often  be 
 traced  step  by  step  through  devious  but  connect- 
 ed consequences ;    but    each    man,  in   his   own 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  287 
 
 heart,  feels  them  to  be  the  indications  of  a  supreme 
 will  and  the  tokens  of  supreme  power.  And  when 
 these  befall  individuals,  the  prayer  is  put  up  in 
 an  earnest  confidence  that  He  who  has  inflicted 
 the  wound — though  he  may  not  heal  it — will  yet 
 temper  the  infliction  with  a  blessing. 
 
 "  Doubtless  the  cholera,  like  any  other  pheno- 
 menon, either  of  the  corporeal  or  the  mundane 
 system,  follows  certain  definite  and  ascertainable 
 laws.  So  does  typhus  fever,  so  do  hurricanes,  so 
 do  waterspouts,  so  do  thunderstorms,  so  do  earth- 
 quakes. But  the  laws  of  which  we  speak  are  but 
 a  convenient  phrase  to  express  the  will  of  the 
 great  Lawgiver.  He  who  made  can  abase, 
 modify,  suspend,  or  warp  them.  He  who  can 
 bid  a  plague  rise  in  the  East  may  direct  its 
 sinuous  course  so  as  to  baffle  the  observations  of 
 the  most  sagacious,  and  the  deductions  of  the 
 most  intelligent.  After  all,  when  we  have  ascer- 
 tained the  law,  we  are  nearly  as  helpless  as  we 
 were  before.  We  may  foresee  a  certain  number 
 of  cases  and  mitigate  a  certain  number ;  •  but  the 
 highest  degree  of  knowledge  which  we  attain  is, 
 that  we  know  but  little  about  them ;  and  our  ut- 
 most skill  is  baffled  by  contingencies  which  defy 
 
288  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 its  explanation.  One  fact  ever  appears  promi- 
 nent above  the  rest — that  we  are  in  the  hands  of 
 a  higher  Power. 
 
 "  And  this  is  a  merciful  dispensation.  With- 
 out such,  men  would  stagnate  into  a  moral  apathy, 
 and,  forgetting  the  existence  of  a  God,  would 
 forget  the  duties  which  he  has  enjoined.  It  is 
 by  these  visitations  that  men  are  reminded  that 
 they  are  weak.  But  they  are  also  reminded  that 
 they  are  accountable.  There  never  yet  was  a 
 great  national  affliction  without  some  previous 
 neglect  of  public  or  private  duties.  The  very 
 plague  which  has  visited  us  was  made  more  vio- 
 lent by  the  omission  of  kindly  acts,  and  the 
 neglect  of  beneficent  laws.  The  loss  of  life  and 
 the  loss  of  money  which  we  are  suffering  are 
 penalties  by  which  Almighty  Wisdom  punishes 
 the  delinquencies  of  governments  and  states. 
 Had  we  observed  the  duties  of  charity  and  jus- 
 tice more  than  we  have,  we  should  have  suffered 
 less  than  we  have.  Had  we  been  more  devout, 
 we  should  have  been  more  just  and  more  cha- 
 ritable. 
 
 "  Those  who  have  suffered  and  those  who  have 
 escaped  the  pestilence  of  this  year  will  need  no 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  289 
 
 exhortations  to  acts  of  individual  devotion  and 
 thanksgiving.  But  the  suffering  assumed  the 
 form  of  a  national  suffering  ;  the  deliverance  has 
 been  a  national  deliverance.  The  thanksgiving 
 should  be  national  also." 
 
 If  one  had  uttered  all  these  things  from  the 
 pulpit,  persons  would  have  taken  them  as  mere 
 common-place  observations.  Now,  however,  we 
 read  these  words  from  a  newspaper,  as  an  expon- 
 ent of  a  deep-rooted  public  sentiment ;  and  we 
 must  hear  it,  not  as  the  ordinary  common -places  of 
 theology,  but  as  the  solemn  conviction  of  those 
 who  are  not  generally  supposed  to  pay  such 
 deference  to  the  Bible  as  one  could  wish. 
 
 "  The  form  and  mode  of  it  we  do  not  under- 
 take to  prescribe.  But  we  are  confident  that 
 the  people  of  this  land  will  feel  it  their  duty  to 
 utter  a  solemn  and  public  expression  of  their 
 thanks  to  Him  who  has  heard  their  prayer  in  due 
 season  ;  and  that,  moreover,  they  will  not  forget 
 that  the  mere  expression  of  thanks,  solemnized 
 by  whatever  ceremonial  it  may  be,  will,  in  a 
 season  like  this,  be  but  a  poor  and  unworthy 
 homage  at  the  throne  of  Infinite  Justice.  There 
 is  a  sacrifice  which  should  be  performed.     The 
 
 u 
 
290  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 graves  of  our  cities  have  been  crowded  with  the 
 victims  of  greedy  speculation,  careless  legislation, 
 and  frigid  selfishness.  They  who  have  perished 
 have  for  the  most  part  perished  in  fetid  alleys, 
 noisome  and  pestiferous  houses,  vile  and  infec- 
 tious cellars,  the  structures  or  properties  which 
 were  owned  by  selfish  covetousness,  and  erected 
 by  selfish  indifference." 
 
 When  I  said  this,  it  was  thought  by  far  too 
 strong.  Now  that  a  newspaper  says  it,  that 
 knows  much  better  of  these  things,  it  is  admit- 
 ted to  be  true.     The  writer  continues  : — 
 
 "  Let  us  take  warning  from  our  past  stu- 
 pidity or  neglect,  and  not  mock  a  religious  so- 
 lemnity by  persisting  in  cruelty  and  apathy. 
 While  we  allow  the  houses  of  the  poor  to  be 
 
 mm 
 
 without  air,  light,  or  water,  while  we  taint  the 
 breath  of  the  living  with  the  exhalations  of  the 
 dead,  and  while  we  squabble  in  the  midst  of  a 
 destroying  pest  about  the  rights  of  vestries  and 
 commissions,  our  fast  will  be  but  an  impious 
 hypocrisy,  and  our  prayers  a  hideous  mum- 
 mery." 
 
 Then  this  splendid  article,  so  truly  Christian, 
 and  so  magnificent    in  its  conception  and    elo- 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  291 
 
 quence,  concludes  with  words  that  I  rejoice  to 
 see  in  a  newspaper,  and  for  which  we  should  be 
 unspeakably  grateful : — 
 
 "  '  Is  it  such  a  fast  as  I  have  chosen  ?  A  day 
 for  a  man  to  afflict  his  soul  ?  To  bow  down  his 
 head  as  a  bulrush,  and  to  spread  sackcloth  and 
 ashes  under  him  ?  Wilt  thou  call  this  a  fast,  and 
 an  acceptable  day  to  the  Lord  ?  Is  not  this  the 
 fast  that  I  have  chosen  ? — To  loose  the  bands  of 
 wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to 
 let  the  oppressed  go  free  ;  and  that  ye  break 
 every  yoke?'  " 
 
 This  is  so  much  like  what  most  ministers  have 
 said,  that  it  seems  as  if  there  were  a  universal 
 feeling  originating  in  all  minds  the  very  same 
 ideas,  and  that  the  press,  like  the  pulpit,  has 
 grown  prophetic.  And  of  what  does  this  give 
 evidence?  That  all  men  are  under  a  deep  and 
 solemn  feeling  that  the  judgment  has  been  so 
 far  sanctified.  I  trust  it  will  be  sanctified  yet 
 more ;  and  that  whilst  there  will  be  the  expres- 
 sion of  a  nation's  gratitude,  there  will  be  at  the 
 same  time  the  fast  that  God  has  chosen — the 
 undoing  the  heavy  burdens.  For  whilst  one 
 deplores  that  there  should  be  any  in  distress, 
 while  the  judgment  is  upon  us,  one  will  deplore 
 
 u  2 
 
292  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 yet  more  deeply  that  there  should  be  any  want 
 of  gratitude,  of  adoring  gratitude,  when  the 
 judgment  passes  away.  I  far  more  dread  lest, 
 after  deliverance,  we  should  bring  forth  no  fra- 
 grant fruits  of  gratitude,  than  that  during  the 
 judgment  we  should  not  pray  to  God  for  de- 
 liverance. I  trust  that  the  expression  of  public 
 feeling  and  public  sentiment  which  I  have  read 
 will  not  be  like  the  morning  cloud  and  the  early 
 dew,  but  that  it  will  last  for  many  days  to  come. 
 If  these  things  do  take  place,  I  have  great  hopes 
 for  our  country  still.  Every  thing  that  I  have 
 seen  about  this  judgment  leads  one  to  bless  God, 
 and  to  be  thankful ;  whilst  we  lament  the  gaps 
 it  has  made,  we  thank  him  for  the  moral  impres- 
 sion it  has  left  behind. 
 
 The  result  of  this  storm  was,  that  the  disciples 
 asked,  "  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that  the 
 winds  and  the  sea  obey  him?"  The  result  of 
 this  epidemic  will  be,  that  the  people  will  think, 
 "  What  God  is  this,  whose  finger  appeared  in 
 the  judgment,  whose  power  and  goodness  have 
 also,  as  acknowledged  in  the  vehicles  of  public 
 information,  appeared  in  the  repression  of  it?" 
 Let  us  bless  God  for  his  mercies ;  let  us  bless 
 him  for  his  judgments ;  let  us  praise  him  for  the 
 
THE    CALMER    OF    THE    STORM.  293 
 
 storm ;  let  us  praise  him  for  the  calm ;  let  us  see 
 
 him  in  all  things ;  let  us  see  him  teaching  the 
 
 minister  in  his  pulpit,   and    whispering  to  the 
 
 newspaper  editor  in  his  room ;  let  us  hear  him  in 
 
 all ;  let  us  recognise  him  in  all;  and  let  us  feel, 
 
 as  we  never  felt  before,  that  religion — true,  vital 
 
 religion,  is  the  only  thing  worth  living  for,  as 
 
 it  is  the  only  thing   in  which  we  can  happily 
 
 die* 
 
 *  These  remarks  were  made  in  the  autumn  of  1849,  during 
 the  epidemic,  the  subduing,  and  sanctifying,  and  suggestive 
 effects  of  which  are  now,  alas,  neither  so  deep  nor  so  general  as 
 one  once  ventured  to  hope. 
 
LECTURE  XI. 
 
 BETHESDA    AND   ITS    BLESSINGS. 
 
 After  this  there  was  a  feast  of  the  Jews ;  and  Jesus  went  up  to 
 Jerusalem.  Now  there  is  at  Jerusalem  by  the  sheep  market 
 a  pool,  which  is  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Bethesda,  hav- 
 ing five  porches.  In  these  lay  a  great  multitude  of  impotent 
 folk,  of  blind,  halt,  withered,  waiting  for  the  moving  of  the 
 water.  For  an  angel  went  down  at  a  certain  season  into  the 
 pool,  and  troubled  the  water  :  whosoever  then  first  after  the 
 troubling  of  the  water  stepped  in  was  made  whole  of  whatso- 
 ever disease  he  had.  And  a  certain  man  was  there,  which 
 had  an  infirmity  thirty  and  eight  years.  When  Jesus  saw 
 him  lie,  and  knew  that  he  had  been  now  a  long  time  in  that 
 case,  he  saith  unto  him,  Wilt  thou  be  made  whole  ?  The 
 impotent  man  answered  him,  Sir,  I  have  no  man,  when  the 
 water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the  pool :  but  while  I  am 
 coming,  another  steppeth  down  before  me.  Jesus  saith  unto 
 him,  Rise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk.  And  immediately  the 
 man  was  made  whole,  and  took  up  his  bed,  and  walked :  and 
 on  the  same  day  was  the  sabbath.  The  Jews  therefore  said 
 unto  him  that  was  cured,  It  is  the  sabbath  day:  it  is  not  law- 
 ful for  thee  to  carry  thy  bed.  He  answered  them,  He  that 
 made  me  whole,  the  same  said  unto  me,  Take  up  thy  bed, 
 and  walk.  Then  asked  they  him,  What  man  is  that  which 
 said  unto  thee,  Take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk  ?  And  he  that 
 was  healed  wist  not  who  it  was  :  for  Jesus  had  conveyed  him- 
 self away,  a  multitude  being  in  that  place.  Afterward  Jesus 
 findeth  him  in  the  temple,  and  said  unto  him,  Behold,  thou 
 
WF 
 
 SB 
 
 , 
 
 .Betnesda  and  its  Blessings. 
 
 P.  294. 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  295 
 
 art  made  whole  :  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  unto 
 thee.  The  man  departed,  and  told  the  Jews  that  it  was 
 Jesus,  which  had  made  him  whole.  And  therefore  did  the 
 Jews  persecute  Jesus,  and  sought  to  slay  him,  because  he 
 had  done  these  things  on  the  sabbath  day.  But  Jesus  an- 
 swered them,  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work. 
 Therefore  the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  because  he 
 not  only  had  broken  the  sabbath,  but  said  also  that  God 
 was  his  Father,  making  himself  equal  with  God. — John  v. 
 1—18. 
 
 At  what  feast  of  the  Jews  this  special  miracle 
 was  wrought  it  is  difficult  to  say ;  and  it  is  not 
 of  very  material  moment  that  we  should  be  able 
 to  determine.  The  feast  is  called  "  a  feast  of 
 the  Jews/'  that  is,  it  was  peculiar  to  the  Jews. 
 The  moment,  however,  that  Jesus  touched  it  by 
 his  presence,  that  moment  it  was  gone ;  for  he 
 was  the  end  of  all  types ;  he  was  the  substance 
 of  all  shadows :  and  just  as  the  shades  of  night 
 depart  when  the  sun  rises  above  the  horizon,  so 
 the  feasts  and  fasts  and  institutions  of  the  Jews 
 passed  away  the  moment  that  the  Sun  of  right- 
 eousness shone  upon  them. 
 
 Bethesda,  literally  translated,  means  the  house 
 of  mercy.  The  place  is  still  traditionally  pointed 
 out ;  and  in  most  books  upon  Palestine,  a  certain 
 pool  or  deep  well  is  alluded  to  as  the  pool  of  Beth- 
 esda ;  but  Robinson,  an  American  writer,  in  his 
 Biblical  Researches,  has  shown,  and  it  seems  to 
 
296  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 me  conclusively,  that  it  is  not  the  same  ;  and  that 
 we  do  not  know  where  it  was.  Nor  does  it  much 
 matter.  The  local  is  the  circumstantial  and 
 the  transient ;  the  moral  and  the  spiritual  lessons 
 of  Bethesda  endure  now  and  for  ever. 
 
 The  pool,  it  seems,  was  either  miraculously 
 impregnated  with  medicinal  virtue  after  an  angel 
 had  stirred  it,  or  it  was  permanently  endued  with 
 that  virtue,  so  that  every  one  that  stepped  into 
 it  after  it  had  been  stirred  by  the  angel,  was 
 healed  of  whatever  disease  he  had.  It  is  perhaps 
 a  distinction  without  a  difference  whether  it  was 
 permanently  medicinal,  or  made  temporarily  and 
 specially  so ;  for  the  high  and  true  view  of  na- 
 ture is  his,  who  sees  in  nature  One  above  it,  and 
 beyond  it,  and  superior  to  it.  We  speak  of 
 causes  and  effects ;  we  say  that  such  a  medicinal 
 virtue  is  the  cause  of  such  a  cure  ;  we  say  that 
 such  a  substance  is  the  cause  of  such  an  effect ; 
 whereas  when  we  have  so  spoken,  we  have  not 
 discovered  causes,  but  only,  to  use  the  language 
 of  philosophers,  sequences  of  phenomena,  when 
 we  parade  what  are  called  secondary  causes ;  and 
 in  each  sequence  is  developed  the  power,  the 
 presence,  and  the  energy  of  Deity.  A  cause 
 may  be  no  more  related  to  what  is  called  its  effect 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  297 
 
 than  one  link  in  a  chain  may  be  the  cause  of  the 
 link  that  succeeds  it :  the  one  follows  the  other, 
 but  the  one  is  not  necessarily  the  cause  of  the 
 other.  And  they  are  the  true  Christians  and  the 
 right  philosophers,  who  are  not  satisfied  with 
 tracing  link  after  link,  the  one  as  depending  on 
 the  other,  till  they  find  the  whole  chain  fastened 
 by  its  staple  to  the  throne  of  God  ;  and  see 
 God's  energy  and  power  transmitted  along  every 
 link,  and  explain  all  effects  by  the  fact  that 
 God  is,  and  works,  in  them  all. 
 
 It  appears  that  at  this  pool,  whether  its  virtues 
 were  permanently  healing  or  only  temporally  so, 
 there  were  multitudes  of  the  halt,  the  lame,  and 
 the  impotent.  It  reminds  one  of  our  modern 
 watering-places,  as  they  are  called.  What  are 
 Cheltenham,  Harrowgate,  Leamington,  but  mo- 
 dern Bethesdas?  What  are  the  multitudes  in  the 
 inns  that  are  there  but  crowds  of  impotent  folk, 
 and  blind,  and  maimed,  and  sick,  waiting  for 
 the  health  which  they  have  lost  ?  And  what  is 
 the  medicinal  virtue  in  these  wells  ?  The  in- 
 spiration, the  gift  of  the  goodness  of  God — as 
 much  so,  as  truly  so,  as  if  an  angel  had  left  the 
 skies,  descended  into  each,  and  had  given  them 
 all  their  healing  virtues. 
 
£98  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 In  this  crowd  that  surrounded  the  pool  of 
 Bethesda,  and  in  the  crowds  that  surround  mo- 
 dern Bethesdas,  if  such  I  may  venture  to  call 
 them,  we  have  a  suggestive  fact,  which  will  not 
 be  forgotten  at  the  judgment-day.  Men  who 
 have  lost  the  health  of  the  body  that  is  day  by 
 day  approximating  to  the  dust,  will  go  to  the 
 ends  of  the  earth,  if  peradventure  they  may  ob- 
 tain its  recovery ;  but  persons  who  know  they 
 have  lost  the  health  of  then  soul,  and  there- 
 by the  hopes  of  glory,  are  found  few  and  far 
 between,  if  we  take  the  nation  as  a  whole,  crowd- 
 ing those  true  and  lasting  Bethesdas,  the  sanc- 
 tuaries of  God  and  the  houses  of  prayer,  into 
 which  not  a  created  angel,  but  the  Angel  of  the 
 everlasting  covenant,  statedly  descends,  to  heal 
 the  broken  spirit,  and  bind  up  the  bleeding 
 heart ;  to  give  beauty  for  ashes,  and  the  opening 
 of  the  eyes  to  them  that  are  blind.  The  cause  of 
 this  contrast  may  lie  in  this  very  true,  but  very 
 painful,  fact,  that  if  we  have  bodily  disease  we 
 are  conscious  of  it,  and  in  proration  to  the 
 danger  or  the  poignancy  of  our  complaint  is  the 
 speed  and  the  sacrifice  which  we  make  in  order  to 
 get  a  recovery ;  but  it  happens  in  soul  diseases  that 
 that  man's  spiritual  state  is  the  most  dangerous 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  299 
 
 of  all  whose  insensibility  is  the  greatest  of  all : 
 so  that  no  man  is  so  far  gone  in  spiritual  disease, 
 as  he  who  has  the  least  consciousness  that  he  is 
 so,  or  who  congratulates  himself  with  the  fre- 
 quent remark,  "  I  am  rich,  and  increased  in 
 goods,  and  healthy,  and  have  need  of  nothing." 
 Hence  it  happens  that  man  needs  not  to  be 
 awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  danger  of  a  bodily 
 disease,  but  in  every  case  man  needs  to  be 
 awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  spiritual  disease. 
 There  went  to  Bethesda  men  who  felt  their  dis- 
 ease, and  wished  to  get  it  healed ;  we  come  to 
 the  house  of  God,  not  merely  feeling  our  dis- 
 ease, but  seeking  to  feel  it,  and  after  feeling  it, 
 to  pray  that  it  may  be  healed. 
 
 One  invalid  appeared  at  this  place  who  had 
 been  labouring  under  his  disease  thirty-eight 
 years — not  who  had  been  there  thirty-eight 
 years,  as  some  have  construed  it.  This  invalid 
 was  despised  or  jostled  aside  by  the  crowds.  It 
 is  a  strange  fact,  that  a  certain  amount  of  mis- 
 fortune does  make  men  sympathize  with  each 
 other ;  but  when  it  becomes  rapid,  terrible, 
 and  universal,  it  creates  an  intense  selfishness 
 in  all,  so  that  each  is  ready  to  tread  down  his 
 brother  in  order  to  find  a  rescue   and  deliver- 
 
300  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ance  for  himself.  This  poor  man  had  been  so 
 treated ;  the  greatest  sufferer  had  fared  the  worst 
 at  man's  hands.  On  him,  however,  Jesus  cast 
 his  eye.  The  deepest  affliction  upon  earth  has 
 ever  the  readiest  response  in  heaven ;  that  man 
 who  has  few  to  sympathize  with  him  here,  has 
 the  Lord  of  glory  most  assuredly  to  sympathize 
 with  him  there.  Jesus  cast  the  eye  of  his  pity, 
 not  upon  the  selfish  crowd  who  had  few  ail- 
 ments, which  their  strength  enabled  them  the 
 more  readily  to  use  the  means  of  removing,  but 
 first  on  the  greatest  sufferer,  and  to  that  sufferer 
 he  showed  the  greatest  mercy.  May  it  not  be 
 still  that  the  greatest  sinner  shall  find  accept- 
 ance with  Christ,  that  he  who  had  pity  on  the 
 greatest  sufferer,  will  not  put  from  him  the 
 greatest  criminal  that  seeks  from  him  that  for- 
 giveness which  man  cannot  give,  and  would  not 
 if  he  could,  but  which  God  rejoices  to  bestow 
 upon  all  that  ask  him  ? 
 
 Our  Lord,  then,  casting  his  eye  upon  the 
 sufferer,  asked  him  the  question,  "  Wilt  thou  be 
 made  whole?"  This  seems  a  superfluous  ques- 
 tion. Why,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the 
 poor  man  would  be  made  whole,  for  he  had 
 come  on  purpose,  and  had  waited  many  a  weary 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  301 
 
 day  to  be  so.  And  yet  Christ  never  spoke  a 
 superfluous  word,  nor  did  a  superfluous  deed. 
 There  was  a  reason  in  all  he  said,  and  a  neces- 
 sity for  all  he  did.  And  no  doubt,  the  question 
 that  he  put  here  was  meant  to  quicken  hopes 
 that  were  dead  in  the  poor  sufferer's  bosom  ;  to 
 revive  withered  feelings,  affections,  and  desires ; 
 and  to  create  in  the  desponding  man's  soul  a  pre- 
 sentiment of  approaching  cure,  and  cast  over  it 
 the  first  rays  of  that  sunshine  into  which  Christ 
 was  soon  to  introduce  him. 
 
 The  sick  man,  roused  by  this  question — and 
 nothing  so  delights  and  revives  a  sufferer  as  a 
 word  of  unexpected  sympathy  —  instantly  an- 
 swered, "  I  have  no  man  near  me  to  put  me  into 
 the  pool,  but  when  I  am  going  another  steppeth 
 down  before  me."  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Most 
 gladly  would  I  be  cured ;  I  have  been  looking 
 for  it,  and  waiting  for  it ;  but  I  have  the  misfor- 
 tune to  be  so  thoroughly  impotent  that  I  am  not 
 able  to  reach  the  pool,  and  others,  abler  and 
 stronger,  with  greater  patronage  or  with  greater 
 aid,  rush  in  first,  and  are  healed."  The  man 
 felt  that  there  was  no  healing  outside  Bethesda, 
 and  that  if  he  could  not  be  lifted  into  it,  he  could 
 not  be  healed ;  just  as  many  persons  think  there 
 
30£  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 is  no  virtue  extrinsic  to  the  ordinance.  Christ 
 works  ordinarily  by  means  of  ordinances,  but 
 the  Lord  of  the  ordinance  can  work  above  it5 
 without  it,  and  beyond  it.  His  grace  is  sove- 
 reign, and  it  descends  often  where  it  is  the  least 
 expected,  always  where  it  is  not  deserved.  Let 
 us  honour  him  by  drawing  near  to  him  in  the 
 use  of  his  ordinances  ;  but  let  us  honour  him  still 
 more,  when  these  ordinances  are  inaccessible,  by 
 feeling  perfectly  satisfied  that  he  can  work  with- 
 out them,  above  them,  and  beyond  them. 
 
 Now  if  Christ  had  been  mere  man,  he  would 
 have  lifted  the  impotent  person  from  the  spot  he 
 had  so  long  and  hopelessly  held,  and  would 
 have  placed  him  in  the  pool  of  Bethesda ;  but 
 he  did  not  do  so.  He  left  Bethesda  to  those 
 who  worshipped  it  as  the  whole  spring  of  their 
 recovery,  and  cured  the  impotent  man  by  that 
 word  which  was  more  healing  than  all  Beth- 
 esda's  waters  :  "  Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and 
 walk."  It  is  well  that  Christ  is  thus  sovereign  ; 
 it  is  glorious  to  Him,  and  it  is  also  good  for  us. 
 I  believe  that  were  there  a  specific  curative  power 
 in  every  medicine  for  specific  diseases,  the  mo- 
 ment that  that  medicine  was  applied,  and  pro- 
 duced its  effect,  one  result  would  invariably  occur, 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  303 
 
 men  would  worship  the  drug  as  their  god;  the 
 pharmacopoeia  would  supersede  the  Bible ;  the 
 chemist's  shop  would  be  more  sacred  than  the 
 Christian  temple ;  and  the  physician  would  be 
 another  iEsculapius,  worshipped  under  another 
 name  by  modern  idolaters.  But  God  inter- 
 poses, and  shows  us,  as  he  has  shown  us  that 
 there  are  diseases  beside  which  the  physician's 
 skill  is  paralysed,  medicinal  virtues  are  utterly 
 worthless,  and  where  even  the  atheist's  lips  must 
 give  utterance  to  the  Christian's  homage,  "  This 
 is  the  finger  of  God."  By  thus  teaching  us  that 
 the  virtue  that  heals  is  not  in  the  drug,  but  in 
 him  that  made  it,  he  Leads  us  from  resting 
 on  and  worshipping  the  things  that  are  seen, 
 to  look  up,  and  repose  our  souls,  and  wor- 
 ship the  invisible  God,  in  whom  we  live,  and 
 move,  and  have  our  being. 
 
 Christ,  then,  instantly  addressed  the  man : 
 "  Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  walk."  I  need  scarcely 
 explain  that  the  bed  was  a  sort  of  couch  on 
 which  the  man  lay,  and  which  could  be  folded 
 like  a  tent,  and  carried  away  by  him.  If  this 
 man,  when  Christ  said  to  him,  "  Arise,  take  up 
 thy  bed  and  walk,"  had  been  a  modern  theolo- 
 gian, he  would  first  have  introduced  the  ques- 
 
304  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 tion,  that  man  had  no  strength  of  his  own,  and 
 that  unless  he  would  give  him  strength  it  was 
 absurd  to  attempt  to  obey  the  order  that  Christ  had 
 issued.  Such  reasoning  is  alway  perilous,  very 
 often  mistaken.  The  man  however  reasoned  none, 
 but  instantly  obeyed  the  bidding  of  his  Lord ; 
 and  the  moment  he  made  the  effort,  that  moment 
 divine  strength  enabled  him  to  succeed.  Christ 
 says  to  you  and  me,  "  Pray,  repent,  live."  You 
 are  not  to  pause,  and  say,  "  I  cannot  obey  thy 
 command  till  thou  givest  me  divine  power ;  " 
 but  you  are  to  do  it,  and  the  very  disposition 
 that  prompts  you  to  do  it  is  the  vehicle  that  car- 
 ries to  your  heart  new  life,  and  to  your  limbs 
 new  strength,  and  to  the  whole  man  a  healthy,  a 
 vigorous,  and  a  Christian  tone.  The  grand  se- 
 cret of  Christianity  is,  instant  obedience  to  the 
 commands  of  God.  When  he  commands  a  duty, 
 he  always  gives  strength  to  do  it ;  when  he  sends 
 a  soldier  to  warfare,  he  never  does  so  at  his  own 
 charge;  and  as  our  day  is,  we  shall  always  find 
 our  strength  to  be. 
 
 The  Jews,  when  they  saw  this  cure,  instantly 
 objected  to  the  man  on  this  ground — that  he  was 
 carrying  his  couch  upon  the  sabbath  day,  urging 
 that  it  was  not  lawful  to  do  so.     It  was  not  zeal 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  305 
 
 for  the  sabbath  that  animated  them,  but  hatred  to 
 him  who  had  wrought  the  miracle.  These  Jews, 
 as  we  have  noticed,  (and  when  John  speaks  of  the 
 Jews  he  always  means  the  elders  and  principal 
 personages  among  them,)  were  watching  to  dis- 
 cover reasons  for  crucifying  the  Lord  of  glory. 
 Whatever  he  did,  however  beautiful,  beneficent, 
 and  good,  was  tortured  and  construed  by  their 
 wicked  ingenuity  into  a  reason  for  exciting  popu- 
 lar feeling  against  the  Redeemer.  Like  the 
 tarantula  spider,  which  sucks  poison  from  the 
 sweetest  roses,  these  Jews,  with  malignant  hearts, 
 drew  venomous  antipathy  to  Jesus  from  that 
 which  was  in  truth  the  highest  reason  for  ac- 
 cepting, adoring,  and  worshipping  him. 
 
 The  man's  answer  to  the  Jews  who  thus  cavilled 
 at  him  was  truly  admirable.  It  was  the  very 
 essence  of  that  rarest  sense — common  sense  : 
 "  The  man,  I  know  not  who  he  was,  that  made 
 me  whole,  the  same  said  unto  me,  Take  up  thy 
 bed  and  walk."  He  argued:  "  The  love,  the  pity, 
 the  power  that  healed  me  surely  would  not  have 
 bade  me  do  that  which  is  in  itself  sinful,  or  to  vio- 
 late the  sanctity  of  the  sabbath  day."  As  if  he  had 
 said,  "  The  power  that  has  been  put  forth  is  to  me 
 evidence  that  it  was  the  Lord  of  the  sabbath  that 
 
306  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 raised  me  from  my  weakness,  and  restored  me  to 
 life.  Such  a  Physician  (he  argued)  is  worthy  of 
 being  regarded  by  me  as  a  legislator ;  he  that 
 can  give  such  prescriptions  I  am  authorized  in 
 regarding  as  competent  to  give  precepts  that  I 
 am  to  obey  ;  I  regard  him,  therefore,  that  healed 
 me  of  my  disease,  as  my  master,  whose  behests 
 and  commandments  are  to  be  implicitly  received 
 by  me."  Is  not  this  the  feeling  in  every  rightly 
 constituted  Christian  mind  ?  He  who  has  par- 
 doned our  sins  is  he  whose  precepts  we  shall  de- 
 light to  obey  ;  he  whose  cross  has  been  to  us 
 our  glory  and  our  deliverance,  is  welcome  to 
 give  us  that  yoke  which  is  easy,  and  that  burden 
 which  is  light.  That  man  who  has  the  deepest 
 and  most  grateful  sense  of  Christ  as  his  sin-for- 
 giver,  will  ever  feel  the  deepest  obligation  to 
 Christ  as  his  legislator,  his  master,  and  his  Lord ; 
 and  he  has  no  right  sense  of  Christianity  or  of 
 its  Author,  who  imagines  that  his  deliverance 
 from  the  condemnation  of  sin  is  excuse  from  his 
 duty  to  obey  all  the  prescriptions  of  his  Lord,  or 
 a  warrant  to  cease  to  let  his  light  so  shine  before 
 men  that  they,  seeing  his  good  works,  might 
 glorify  his  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 
 
 We  gather  from  the  context  that  the  poor  man 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  307 
 
 went  immediately  to  the  temple.  How  beautiful 
 is  this  trait  in  his  character  !  He  sees  Divinity 
 in  his  cure ;  he  recognises  the  Lord  of  the 
 temple  in  the  restoration  he  has  experienced ;  and 
 instinctively,  after  reaping  so  gracious  a  bless- 
 ing, he  goes  to  that  holy  place,  that  there  he 
 may  openly,  before  the  world,  render  praise  and 
 thanksgiving  to  him  who  had  compassion  on  him, 
 and  delivered  him.  Do  you  do  so,  my  dear 
 reader,  when  you  are  healed  and  raised  from  the 
 bed  of  sickness  ?  When  you  thank  the  physi- 
 cian who  was  the  instrument,  do  you  not  often 
 forget  to  thank  God  who  gave  to  the  physician 
 all  his  skill,  and  communicated  to  the  medicine 
 all  its  virtue  ?  Let  us  never  forget,  that  our 
 being  raised  from  a  sick-bed  is  a  reason  for  our 
 going  to  the  temple,  and  presenting  in  the  temple, 
 in  the  midst  of  the  great  congregation,  praise 
 and  thanksgiving  to  him  who  blessed  the  means, 
 and  without  whose  blessing  all  the  medicine  that 
 could  have  been  prescribed  would  only  have  been 
 as  dust,  worthless,  and  without  virtue. 
 
 And  when  the  poor  man  went  to  the  temple, 
 was  he  disappointed  in  finding  him  who  was 
 justly  called  the  Lord  of  the  temple?  No,  for 
 we  read  that  Jesus  finds  him  there.     Never  did 
 
 x  2 
 
308  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 adoring  gratitude  draw  near  to  Christ  to  thank 
 him,  and  was  either  repelled  or  unheard.  Never 
 yet  did  a  sinner  seek  Christ,  and  miss  him.    Let 
 it  be  known  to   every  creature   on  earth,  that 
 never  did  man,  conscious  of  his  sin,   seek   by 
 earnest  prayer  the  forgiveness  of  the  Saviour, 
 and  experience  rejection,  or  lose  an  answer  to  his 
 prayer.     He  himself  has  committed  his  word  to 
 the  truth  of  this :    "  Seek,  and  ye   shall  find  ; 
 knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened."  "  He  never  said 
 to  the  seed  of  Jacob,  Seek  ye  my  face,  in  vain." 
 Mark  the  address   of  our  Lord  to  the  man 
 whom  he  had  cured,  "  Go,  and  sin  no  more,  lest 
 a  worse  thing  come  unto  thee."     Jesus  did  here 
 what  we  cannot  copy,  and  which  we  ought  not 
 to  attempt  to  copy ;  he  traced  the  connexion  be- 
 tween the  sufferings  of  thirty-eight  years  and 
 some    specific    sin  which    clung  to    that    man's 
 character  :  he  saw  at  one  glance  unrolled  before 
 his  eye  all   the  biography  of  the  man,  and  he 
 beheld  at  one  point  in  that  biography  eight  and 
 thirty  years  long  the  sin  which  had  been    the 
 prolific  parent  of  all  the  sufferings  he  had  en- 
 dured for  so  long  and  so  painful  a  period.     But 
 while  Christ,  who  saw  the  past,  the  present,  and 
 the  future,  could  thus  trace  the  connexion  be- 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  309 
 
 tween  the  special  sin  and  the  special  suffering, 
 we,  to  whom  the  past  is  often  perplexed  enough, 
 to  whose  eyes  the  present  is  partially  seen,  and 
 from  whom  the  future  is  sequestered  by  a  veil 
 that  we  cannot  penetrate,  are  not  warranted  in 
 pronouncing  that  special  suffering  is  the  result 
 of  a  special  sin ;  we  are  commanded  to  con- 
 clude, as  our  Saviour  taught  the  Jews  to  con- 
 clude, "  Think  ye  that  these  eighteen  men,  upon 
 whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell,  were  sinners 
 above  all  men  ?  I  tell  you  nay," — showing  that 
 if  in  one  instance  he  traced  the  connexion,  in 
 another  instance  he  showed  there  was  no  con- 
 nexion— "  I  tell  you  nay,  but  except  ye  repent, 
 ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  In  the  great  majority 
 of  cases,  we  are  called  upon,  where  we  cannot  see 
 clearly,  to  judge  with  the  greatest  caution,  always 
 with  the  greatest  charity ;  because  this  is  not  the 
 day  when  "justice  is  laid  to  the  line,  and  equity 
 to  the  plumb-line,"  or  when  each  individual  is 
 dealt  with  according  to  his  demerits.  That  day  is 
 to  come.  This  is  the  day  of  grace,  when  sin  is  for- 
 given: there  will  be  its  sequel,  the  day  of  judg- 
 ment, when  sin  will  be  punished.  But  while  all 
 this  is  perfectly  true,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
 many  a  man  suffers  in  his  old  age  for  the  sins  of 
 
310  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 his  young  days.  It  is  too  true  that  many  a  one 
 — his  own  conscience  the  faithful  and  infallible 
 interpreter — endures  in  his  later  years  the  penal- 
 ties of  the  sins  and  crimes  which  he  committed 
 in  his  earlier  days ;  and  very  often  too,  God 
 punishes  the  sinner  in  the  same  way  in  which  the 
 sinner  sinned.  Thus  Jacob,  the  deceiver,  is  pun- 
 ished by  being  deceived  himself;  thus  David, 
 who  violated  the  sanctities  and  the  purities  of 
 home,  was  punished  by  seeing  similar  sins,  and 
 feeling  analogous  penalties,  in  his  own  home. 
 And  many  a  one,  if  he  will  examine  himself — 
 whilst  neither  minister  nor  brother  is  to  pro- 
 nounce upon  him — may  see  in  his  sufferings,  as 
 in  a  bright  mirror,  the  sins  that  he  committed 
 either  in  the  light  that  he  had,  or,  without  the 
 light  that  was  competent  to  direct  him  in  the 
 days  of  his  youth.  But  each  man  is  to  ex- 
 amine himself;  no  man's  minister  or  brother  is 
 to  do  it  for  him.  The  apostle  says,  "  examine 
 yourselves;"  "examine  your  own  souls."  And 
 may  the  Spirit  of  God  lead  you  to  a  right  judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Another  thought  is  suggested  by  the  words  of 
 our  Lord,  "lest  a  worse  thing  come  unto  thee." 
 A  worse  thing.    Eight  and  thirty  years  of  suffer- 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  311 
 
 ing  on  his  bed,  inability  to  move  a  limb,  to  enjoy 
 the  scenes  and  festivities  of  social  life — why, 
 what  worse  thing  than  this,  one  might  ask,  could 
 possibly  happen  to  him  ?  That  remark  of  our 
 Saviour  is  like  the  lifting  of  a  nook  of  the  curtain 
 that  shrouds  from  us  the  awful  future  penalties 
 of  sin.  It  shows  that  sin  is  an  exceeding  great 
 evil,  and  that  thirty- eight  years  of  suffering  was 
 not  the  worst  and  sorest  penalty  that  is  paid  for 
 a  sin  committed  in  this  life. 
 
 The  man,  when  thus  acquitted  and  absolved, 
 instantly  went  forth  to  proclaim  the  glories  of 
 his  Physician ;  he  went  and  told  the  Jews 
 who  it  was  that  healed  him.  In  this  he  pre- 
 sents a  noble  precedent  for  us.  He  who  has 
 found  a  medicine  that  has  healed  his  disease  is 
 sure  to  go  and  tell  his  brother,  suffering  under 
 the  same  disease,  of  the  medicine  that  will  do 
 him  good  ;  so  the  man  who  has  found  a  Saviour 
 who  has  forgiven  his  sins  will  be  sure  to  run  and 
 tell  every  one  he  meets  that  there  is  forgiveness 
 with  God,  that  he  may  be  feared.  In  other 
 words,  we  are  made  the  saints  of  God,  that  we 
 may  become  the  servants  of  men.  He  that  re- 
 ceives from  on  high  the  unction  of  the  Christian, 
 feels  instantly  devolving  on  him  the  responsibili- 
 
312  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ties  of  the  servant.  No  man  is  a  Christian  who 
 is  not  a  missionary.  When  I  use  the  word  mis- 
 sionary, I  use  merely  what  expresses  the  duties 
 that  a  teacher  can  discharge  in  a  school,  that  a 
 father  ought  to  discharge  in  his  family,  and  that 
 any  one  may  discharge  by  proxy,  by  sending  mis- 
 sionaries to  distant  lands  and  heathen  climes  in 
 order  to  instruct  those  that  are  in  darkness. 
 Whatever  be  the  formula  in  which  missionary 
 zeal  expends  itself,  this  law  remains  ever  in  force3 
 — that  he  who  has  been  the  greatest  receiver  will 
 also  feel  bound  to  be  the  greatest  giver ;  and  hav- 
 ing received  so  great  a  mercy  as  salvation  from 
 his  Lord,  he  will  not  rest  until  all  within  the 
 reach  of  his  influence  shall  be  made  to  taste  of, 
 or  at  least  to  have  the  offer  of  that  mercy  too. 
 
 But  we  read  that  when  the  poor  man  went  and 
 told  the  Jews  of  the  great  Physician,  like  many  a 
 poor  missionary,  he  met  with  very  little  success. 
 He  could  not  help  this.  We  have  long  ago  learned 
 that  we  are  not  to  judge  of  duties  by  the  contin- 
 gent success  that  follows  them.  The  success  rests 
 with  God ;  the  duty  devolves  upon  us  :  ours  are 
 duties ;  his,  and  his  only,  are  the  issues.  We  must 
 be  no  more  discouraged  so  as  to  despair  when  we 
 fail  of  success,  than  we  must  be  encouraged  so  as 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  313 
 
 to  presume  when  we  meet  with  success.  We 
 must  still  cleave  to  the  duty,  when  all  seems  to 
 be  against  us,  just  as  we  do  when  all  seems  to  be 
 with  us ;  knowing  that  it  is  he  that  gives  the  bless- 
 ing, or  withholds  it  in  his  sovereignty,  who  has 
 called  upon  us  to  go  and  do  what  he  enjoins  us. 
 The  Jews  were  not  benefited  by  what  the 
 man  said  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  continued 
 their  cavils ;  they  shut  their  eyes  to  the  elo- 
 quent lesson  of  the  miracle,  and  opened  them 
 only  to  the  supposed  violation  of  their  super- 
 stitious notions  on  the  Jewish  or  Christian  sab- 
 bath. Our  Lord's  reply  was  a  conclusive  one  : 
 "  You  blame  me  for  working  a  miracle  on  the 
 sabbath  ;  you  blame  the  man  for  doing  my  bid- 
 ding, and  carrying  the  couch  on  which  he  lay, 
 like  a  trophy  of  his  cure,  upon  the  sabbath.  You 
 argue,  the  sabbath  is  the  holy  rest ;  (  Remember 
 the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy;'  on  that  day 
 there  shall  be  no  work,  (  neither  thy  man-serv- 
 ant, nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  the 
 stranger  within  thy  gates.'  You  argue  truly,  it 
 is  rest ;  but  you  misapprehend  what  the  nature  of 
 that  rest  is.  You  say,  that  God  rested  on  the 
 sabbath.  So  he  did  ;  bat  you  forget,  that  whilst 
 he  rested  on  the  sabbath,  he  ( worketh  hitherto,' 
 
314  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 and  just  as  he  worketh  hitherto, '  I  work.' "  As 
 if  he  had  said,  if  I  may  expand  his  sentiment, 
 "  Who  is  it  that  waters  the  fields  of  corn  upon 
 the  sabbath  morning  as  upon  the  Saturday  night  ? 
 Who  is  it  that  makes  the  grass  to  grow  in  sab- 
 bath sunshine  as  well  as  amidst  Saturday's  rains  ? 
 Who  is  it  that  hears  the  cry  of  the  raven  on 
 Sunday  morning,  and  feeds  it  ?  Who  is  it  that 
 keeps  up  the  pulsation  of  every  heart,  from  which, 
 if  God  were  to  withdraw  his  finger  for  a  moment, 
 each  heart  would  be  still,  and  life  would  instant- 
 ly depart?"  The  answer  is,  It  is  God.  ee  There- 
 fore (argues  our  Saviour)  God  works  upon  the 
 sabbath  just  as  he  works  upon  the  week-day. 
 e  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  also  work." 
 There  is  something  exquisitely  beautiful  in  this, 
 "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  also  work." 
 In  our  hospitals,  wards,  and  sick-rooms ;  in  the 
 broken  limb,  where  the  bone  is  gradually  united ; 
 in  the  severed  muscle,  where  a  mediatorial  sub- 
 stance, typical  and  significant  of  a  higher  medi- 
 ation, is  put  forth  that  rejoins  it ;  in  the  health 
 that  returns  to  the  withered  frame — we  read  in 
 all  these  sick-beds,  and  in  all  these  wards,  our 
 Father  working  hitherto,  on  Saturday  and  Sun- 
 day, and  on  all  the  days  of  the  week.      We  have 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  315 
 
 i 
 
 the  same  process  taking  place  in  our  hospitals 
 every  day  that  took  place  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda ; 
 only  in  our  hospitals,  sick-rooms,  and  wards, 
 God  uses  nurses,  medicines,  physicians  ;  while 
 in  the  case  of  the  pool  of  Bethesda  he  bade  them 
 all  stand  aside,  and  healed  without  them.  The 
 difference  was  in  the  time  of  the  cure,  not  either 
 in  the  author,  or  in  the  virtue  requisite  to  the 
 cure.  In  our  hospitals  and  wards  he  works  by 
 Bethesda — the  means ;  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda 
 he  worked  without  it,  and  above  it;  but  in  both 
 cases,  whether  Christ  heals  by  a  word,  or  by 
 a  medicine ;  whether  he  heals  by  moist  clay,  or 
 by  a  physician,  it  is  all  the  same — the  Healer 
 working  hitherto.  It  is  he  alone  who  healeth 
 our  diseases,  and  satisfieth  our  mouth  with  good 
 things ;  and  to  him,  as  did  the  impotent  man,  we 
 ought  still  to  give  the  praise,  the  honour,  and 
 the  glory. 
 
 But  while  thus  seeing  that  God  works  upon  the 
 sabbath,  let  us  recollect  that  his  works  are  in  keep- 
 ing with  the  spirit  of  the  sabbath — works  of  be- 
 neficence, of  goodness,  and  of  love.  So  our  rest 
 on  the  sabbath  is  not  a  rest  from  working,  but 
 only  a  rest  from  working  our  own  works.  It  is 
 like  the  rest  in  heaven :  it  is  said,  "they  rest;" 
 
31G  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 and  yet  it  is  said,  "  They  rest  not  day  nor  night, 
 giving  praise,  and  glory,  and  honour,  and  bless- 
 ing unto  the  Lamb,  and  to  him  that  sitteth  upon 
 the  throne  for  evermore." 
 
 This  reminds  me  of  what  has  been  long  threat- 
 ened in  our  land,  but  which  I  hope  will  not  take 
 place — that  the  post  office  is  to  be  opened,  or 
 at  least  partially  so,  upon  the  sabbath,  and  much 
 of  the  stir  and  bustle  and  toil  of  a  Saturday  to  be 
 exhibited  upon  that  day  which,  with  all  its  flaws 
 and  faults,  has  on  the  whole,  and  in  comparison 
 with  the  continent,  been  so  sacredly  observed  in 
 the  midst  of  us.  I  am  thoroughly  assured  of  the 
 accuracy  of  the  statement  made  by  the  chief  ma- 
 gistrate of  London,  at  a  meeting  over  which  he 
 presided,  that  if  the  letters  that  come  from  the 
 country  and  the  continent  are  to  be  carried 
 through  the  post  office  on  the  sabbath  day,  there 
 will  be  present  three  or  four  times  the  number 
 of  clerks.  But  what  is  a  clerk's  life  worth  ?  Who 
 cares  whether  it  be  twenty  or  thirty  years,  or 
 whether  he  die,  and  is  damned  for  ever  ?  This 
 is  the  feeling  of  avaricious  men,  who  are  prepared 
 to  screw  out  of  men's  muscles,  and  bones,  and 
 souls,  money,  money,  honestly  if  they  can,  but 
 money  still.     But  London  letters,  it  is  said,  are 
 
BETHESDA   AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  317 
 
 not  to  be  delivered  on  Sunday.  Through  let- 
 ters only  are  to  be  transmitted.  And  what  will 
 be  the  effect  of  this  ?  London  will  say  :  "  The 
 letters  that  arrive  on  Sunday  morning  are  trans- 
 mitted instantly  to  Liverpool,  while  our  let- 
 ters lie  in  the  post  office  till  next  day ;  Liver- 
 pool, therefore,  will  know  the  markets  twelve 
 hours  before  we  do.  It  is  not  fair  that  the  Liver- 
 pool merchants  should  be  better  off  than  we ; 
 let  us  have  our  letters  too."  The  nobleman  then 
 will  say,  "  If  the  merchant  has  his  letters,  why 
 should  I  not  have  mine  ?  "  And  the  tradesman 
 will  say,  "  If  the  merchants  and  gentry  have 
 their  letters,  why  should  I  not  have  mine?': 
 And  in  less  than  twelve  months  we  shall  have 
 hundreds  of  clerks  and  hundreds  of  postmen 
 employed,  the  post  office  working,  counting- 
 houses  open,  the  clerks  at  their  places,  and  the 
 correspondence  going  on  as  usual.  Surely,  after 
 the  recent  national  deliverance  that  this  great  na- 
 tion has  reaped  at  the  hand  of  God,  it  will  bring 
 down  the  most  awful  and  consuming  judgments  if, 
 in  its  national  character — and  I  care  not  who  hears 
 what  I  say — it  shall  thus  nationally  sin  against 
 the  Lord  of  the  sabbath,  that  sabbath  which  is 
 the  exponent   of    a  nation's   Christianity  more 
 
318  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 than  any  other  fact  that  I  can  quote  or  refer  to. 
 It  is,  incontestibly,  matter  of  history,  that  where- 
 soever the  sabbath  has  been  hallowed,  there 
 Christianity  has  nourished.  I  do  not  stop  to 
 inquire  whether  the  sabbath  be  the  product  of 
 Christianity,  or  Christianity  be  the  product  of 
 the  sabbath,  but  this  I  feel — that  the  sabbath  is 
 the  index  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  Christianity  in 
 the  midst  of  us.  Wherever  it  has  been  concluded 
 that  there  shall  be  no  sabbaths,  the  result  has 
 very  soon  followed — no  Christianity;  and  also, 
 as  France  can  testify  in  its  sanguinary  records — 
 no  God.  I  believe  that  Paris  has  suffered  more 
 from  the  exhaustion  of  its  sabbaths  than  ever  it 
 did  from  the  writings  of  Diderot  and  Voltaire ; 
 so  I  believe  that  Germany,  and  Vienna  espe- 
 cially, has  suffered  more  from  the  loss  of  its  sab- 
 baths than  from  all  the  sceptical  productions  of 
 the  great  Frederick.  In  the  present  day,  I  am 
 convinced  that  the  last  dying  effort  of  the  infidel 
 against  Christianity  is  to  be  made  in  this  direc- 
 tion. The  persecutor  of  Christians  and  of  Chris- 
 tianity does  not  see  any  prospect  of  being  able  to 
 use  successfully  his  ancient  weapons  against  the 
 gospel.  Past  experiments  have  all  failed ;  per- 
 secution has  been  felt  by  Satan  himself  to  have 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  319 
 
 been  one  of  his  grossest  blunders.  Christianity 
 rose  from  the  martyr's  fire  radiant  with  more 
 terrible  beauty.  And  the  more  that  Christians 
 suffered,  the  more  Christianity  spread.  The  in- 
 quisition is  not  likely  to  appear  a  production  of  the 
 19th  century;  auto-da-fes  are  not  at  all  likely  to  be 
 found  in  the  streets  of  London ;  and  the  sceptic's 
 only  experience  tells  him  that  weapons  of  reason- 
 ing, of  fact,  and  of  history,  and  evidence,  are 
 weapons  very  perilous  to  his  cause  ;  for  he  has 
 failed  in  the  use  of  them,  and  if  he  wield  the  same 
 weapons  he  will  signally  fail  again.  He  finds  that 
 open  siege  will  not  do,  that  open  assault  will 
 fail ;  and  therefore  he  now  attempts  sapping  and 
 mining ;  he  will  endeavour  to  introduce  into 
 popular  preference  the  love  of  whatever  is  cal- 
 culated to  make  the  sabbath  a  day  of  pleasure 
 and  of  pleasure-taking,  of  business  and  of  money 
 making,  a  day  of  spectacles,  and  tea-gardens, 
 and  military  reviews,  after  the  example  of  our 
 continental  neighbours  ;  he  sees  that  he  can  make 
 the  railway  and  the  steam-boat  far  more  powerful 
 weapons  of  assault  on  Christianity  than  any 
 weapon  taken  from  the  inquisition  or  from  the 
 arsenals  of  history,  reason,  or  fact  which  he  has 
 heretofore  employed.    Should  this  succeed,  fare- 
 
320  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 well  to  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  the  midst  of 
 us.  It  will  not  be  Christianity  that  will  suffer 
 by  the  loss  of  our  sabbath,  but  it  will  be  our 
 country  that  will  suffer ;  our  candlestick  will 
 then  indeed  be  removed,  and  other  lands  will 
 have  the  light  which  we  in  God's  mercy  have 
 received,  but  which,  by  our  ingratitude,  we  have 
 almost  extinguished. 
 
 This  mode  of  aggression  which  I  have  alluded 
 to  is,  I  feel,  less  justified,  or  rather  sanctioned, 
 at  the  present  day  than  at  any  other  time.  When 
 I  heard  of  the   railway,  and   of  the   wonderful 
 discoveries  of  steam  and  electricity,  I  thought, 
 "  Surely  this  will  furnish  stronger  reasons,  kindly 
 produced  in  the  providence  of  God,  for  hallowing 
 the  sabbath  than  ever  before."     Some  time  ago, 
 it  took,  at  the  greatest  possible  speed,  to  send  a 
 letter  to  the  capital  of  Scotland,  three  days ;  now 
 they  can  transmit  a  message  in  a  few  minutes, 
 and  send  a  letter  in  twelve  hours.     Surely,  in- 
 stead of  making  this  grand  discovery,  given  us 
 in  the  goodness  of  God,  a  new  reason  for  dese- 
 crating the  sabbath,  bestowed  by  the  grace  of  God, 
 it  ought  to  be  a  reason  rather  for  more  heartfelt 
 remembering  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 
 And   let  us  remember,   that   they  who  will 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  321 
 
 most  suffer  temporally,  I  do  not  say  spiritually, 
 will  be  the  poor  servants,  the  employed,  the  poor 
 man  in  every  shape   and  form.     Most  persons 
 well  know  the  law  of  what  is  called  political  eco- 
 nomy—that  the  more  labour  there  is  in  the  market, 
 the  less  pay  will  there  be  to  the  labourer ;  when 
 there  is  a  surplus  of  labour,  there  must  be  a  defi- 
 ciency in  the  payment  of  the  labourer ;  when  there- 
 are  few  labourers,  with  little  labour  in  the  market, 
 then  labour  will  meet  with  a  high  price.     Now, 
 throwing  a  seventh  day  into  the  labour  market 
 will  be  equivalent  to  introducing  a  seventh  por- 
 tion more  of  labourers  into  the  field;  and  the 
 consequence  will  be,  that  the  working  man  will 
 get  for  his  seven  days'  labour  probably  less  wages 
 than  he  now  gets  for  six ;  but  there  will  also  be 
 stamped  upon  him  the  brand  of  a  slave  through- 
 out the  remainder  of  his  life.     Surely  that  beau- 
 tiful  day  is   the    poor   man's   glory,  when    the 
 servant  is  free  from  his  master;  when  all  men 
 may  meet  together,  and  feel  the  ennobling  per- 
 suasion that  they  are  the  peers  of  God,  if  they 
 should  be  the  despised  plebeians  of  men  ;  that 
 beautiful   day  which  is   the   pearl  of  days,  the 
 queen,  as  it  were,  of  the  week;  that  place  of 
 sun-shine  which  seems  like  an  island  broken  off 
 
FORESHADOWS. 
 
 from  the  continent  of  heaven,  and  let  fall  into 
 the  midst  of  the  roar,  and  rush,  and  eddies  of 
 this  world's  traffic  ;  whereon  man  standing,  may 
 catch  a  glimpse  of  the  better  land,  and  may 
 hear  the  music  of  the  skies  ;  and  may  go  forth 
 from  his  sabbath-day's  refreshment  to  his  week- 
 day's work,  strong  to  serve  his  master,  glorify 
 his  God,  and  promote  the  cause  of  that  Master 
 which  is  thus  dearer  to  him  than  all  besides. 
 Part  with  your  cathedrals — architects  can  build 
 other  and  better  ones ;  but  part  not  with  your 
 sabbaths  :  part  with  any  thing,  however  pre- 
 cious it  may  be,  with  life  itself;  but,  as  patriots, 
 as  Christians,  having  received  your  sabbaths 
 from  your  fathers  in  all  their  beauty,  deter- 
 mine that  when  your  children  shall  stand  beside 
 the  graves  where  the  green  sods  cover  you,  they 
 shall  be  able  to  say,  as  they  recollect  your  me- 
 mory, "  If  our  fathers  did  not  increase  our 
 heritage,  they  did  not  diminish  it ;  but,  having 
 received  a  trust  sacred  from  their  fathers,  they 
 have  handed  it  down  to  their  children ;  they 
 have  laboured,  and  we  have  entered  into  their 
 labours." 
 
 I  am  convinced  that  so  good  men,  as  many  of 
 those  are  who  arc  now  in  power,  will  not  con- 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  323 
 
 sent  to  the  desecration  of  the  sabbath,  which 
 would  be,  perhaps,  the  greatest  calamity  they 
 could  inflict  upon  the  poor  man.  We  have 
 sinned  as  a  nation  already ;  God  grant  that  we 
 may  not  add  to  our  national  sins. 
 
 But  suppose  the  sabbath  were  thrown  into  the 
 crowd  of  the  week-days,  do  you  think  all  sense 
 of  our  need  of  such  a  day  would  perish  ?  No ; 
 the  sabbath  is  not  an  arbitrary  enactment,  but 
 a  physical  necessity,  an  element  in  our  very 
 nature  and  constitution.  Every  muscle  in  our 
 body  is  an  argument  for  the  sabbath ;  it  will 
 not  bear  to  be  all  the  year  fatigued  for  seven 
 days  in  the  week.  Our  very  cattle  furnish  an 
 argument  in  favour  of  the  sabbath.  The  man 
 who  wishes  to  get  the  largest  and  the  longest 
 work  from  a  horse,  knows  quite  well  that  he 
 must  give  him  a  seventh  portion  of  his  time  for 
 rest,  or  he  will  fail  to  serve  him  as  he  would  do 
 otherwise.  I  care  not  whether  the  day  be  Sa- 
 turday or  Sunday,  as  far  as  the  horse  is  con- 
 cerned ;  I  am  speaking  only  of  the  physical  law, 
 that  the  brute  creation,  "  the  cattle  within  thy 
 gates,"  must  have  rest  in  order  most  efficiently 
 to  do  thy  work.  So  shall  we  find  it  with  men. 
 The  man  that  works  seven  days  every  week  of 
 
 y  2 
 
324:  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  year  in  the  same  weary  round  will  not  live 
 half  his  time.  The  man  who  can  go  upon  the 
 sabbath  day  to  the  house  of  God,  and  change 
 the  current  of  his  thoughts,  feelings,  desires, 
 emotions,  add  to  his  knowledge,  and  vary  his 
 attention,  secures  a  change  for  his  mind,  and  so 
 for  his  body,  of  the  most  precious  description. 
 In  the  walk,  too,  that  he  has  to  the  sanctuary,  he 
 has  at  least  a  little  exercise.  And  when  we  have 
 shorter  hours  and  equal  pay,  as  I  hope  will  be, 
 and  as  every  day  leads  me  to  believe  will  soon  be, 
 you  will  not  need  to  take  any  portion  of  the  sab- 
 bath for  fresh  air ;  you  will  have  a  portion  of 
 Saturday  given  you,  in  justice  as  well  as  in  ge- 
 nerosity, for  the  refreshment  of  the  body,  and  to 
 prepare  you  for  the  exercises  of  the  sanctuary  on 
 the  sabbath.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  had  their 
 festivals ;  the  Mohammedans  have  still  the  se- 
 venth portion  of  their  time  ;  and  in  all  countries 
 there  are  days  on  which  there  is  a  cessation  of 
 business.  And  why  ?  Because  man  cannot  stand 
 perpetual  work.  Let  sacredness  be  separated 
 from  the  sabbath,  and  what  will  take  place? 
 Men  must  be  free  at  intervals ;  they  must  be 
 loosed ;  they  cannot  stand  incessant  drudgery. 
 The  public-house,  the   play-house,  the  various 
 
BETHESDA    AND    ITS    BLESSINGS.  325 
 
 scenes  of  amusement,  dissipation,  and  folly,  will 
 all  be  opened  ;  the  flood-gates  of  sin  and  immo- 
 rality will  be  removed ;  stimulants  to  all  sorts  of 
 depravity  will  be  presented ;  and  this  country, 
 which  is  a  perfect  contrast,  as  I  can  testify  from 
 personal  knowledge,  to  all  the  countries  around 
 us,  will  sink  to  a  deeper  degradation  because  of 
 the  pinnacle  of  privilege  from  which  she  has  fallen. 
 Let  us,  then,  uphold  the  sacredness  of  the  sabbath 
 in  its  integrity ;  but  while  we  rest  from  the 
 works  that  are  our  own,  let  us  not  rest  from  those 
 works  which  are  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
 good  of  our  fellow  men  ;  remembering  that  we, 
 like  Christ,  must  say,  as  we  must  feel,  "  My 
 Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  also  work."  May 
 the  Lord  bless  every  effort  to  keep  the  sabbath, 
 and  give  us  a  delight  in  it,  calling  it  a  delightful 
 day,  for  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 
 
LECTURE  XII. 
 
 THE    FISHERMEN. 
 
 And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  the  people  pressed  upon  him  to 
 hear  the  word  of  God,  he  stood  by  the  lake  of  Gennesaret, 
 and  saw  two  ships  standing  by  the  lake  :  but  the  fishermen 
 were  gone  out  of  them,  and  were  washing  their  nets.  And 
 he  entered  into  one  of  the  ships,  which  was  Simon's,  and 
 prayed  him  that  he  would  thrust  out  a  little  from  the  land. 
 And  he  sat  down,  and  taught  the  people  out  of  the  ship.  Now 
 when  he  had  left  speaking,  he  said  unto  Simon,  Launch  out 
 into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a  draught.  And 
 Simon  answering  said  unto  him,  Master,  we  have  toiled  all 
 the  night,  and  have  taken  nothing  :  nevertheless  at  thy  word 
 I  will  let  down  the  net.  And  when  they  had  this  done,  they 
 enclosed  a  great  multitude  of  fishes  :  and  their  net  brake. 
 And  they  beckoned  unto  their  partners,  which  were  in  the 
 other  ship,  that  they  should  come  and  help  them.  And  they 
 came,  and  filled  both  the  ships,  so  that  they  began  to  sink. 
 When  Simon  Peter  saw  it,  he  fell  down  at  Jesus'  knees,  say- 
 ing, Depart  from  me  ;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord.  For 
 he  was  astonished,  and  all  that  were  with  him,  at  the  draught 
 of  the  fishes  which  they  had  taken. — Luke  v.  1 — 9. 
 
 We  find  Jesus,  in  the  opening  part  of  the  chap- 
 ter from  which  I  have  selected  the  words  for  our 
 lecture,  surrounded  by  the  people  pressing  on  him 
 to  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord ;  and  himself  going 
 
k, 
 
 The  .Fishermen. 
 
 P.  326. 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  327 
 
 into  a  boat,  a  large  fishing-boat  (here  rendered 
 ship);  and,  seated  upon  that,  instructing  the 
 people  in  the  things  of  everlasting  life. 
 
 It  appears  that  while  the  crowd  were  listening 
 to  him  who  spake  as  never  man  spake,  Peter  and 
 the  rest  that  were  with  him  were  busy  washing 
 their  nets.      This  was  their  trade ;    they  were  in 
 their  proper  employment,  feeling— what  we  need 
 to  feel  and   be  taught— that  we  serve  God  as 
 truly  when  we  do  the  duties  of  our  station  as 
 when  we  preach  the  gospel,  or  carry  the  ark  of 
 the  Lord.  It  is  possible  to  glorify  God  wherever 
 his   providence  has   placed  us;    and   they  that 
 have  right  hearts  will  never  find  themselves  en- 
 gaged in  the  wrong  work. 
 
 When  he  had  left  speaking  to  the  people,  it  is 
 added,  he  addressed  Simon  Peter,  and  said,Launch 
 out  into  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a 
 draught.  But  Peter  objected,  stating  that  they 
 had  already  been  labouring  in  the  night  season, 
 which  was  the  best  season  for  catching  fish ;  and 
 it  having  failed,  it  was  unreasonable  to  expect 
 they  would  succeed  in  the  day-time.  But  still, 
 with  that  beautiful  docility  which  grace  nour- 
 ished and  strengthened  within  him,  he  recog- 
 nised his  Master's  authority  in  his  Master's  pre- 
 
328  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 sence,  and  said,  "Nevertheless  at  thy  word  I 
 will  let  down  the  net." 
 
 In  looking  at  the  whole  of  this  miracle,  we 
 witness  another  of  those  beautiful  and  impressive 
 scenes  which  so  frequently  occur  in  the  life  and 
 biography  of  Jesus,  in  which  we  know  not  which 
 most  to  admire — the  Divine  power  and  lofty 
 beneficence  that  broke  forth  in  his  actions,  or 
 the  wonderful  wisdom  that  developed  itself  in 
 the  teaching  that  he  founded  upon  them.  We 
 see  evidence,  at  all  events,  in  this  of  a  new  fact 
 in  the  history  of  Jesus— that  the  sea  and  land 
 were  equally  obedient  to  him — that  all  the  fishes 
 of  the  deep,  the  flowers  of  the  earth,  the  hus- 
 bandmen in  the  field,  and  the  fishermen  at  their 
 nets,  were  all  uncomplainingly  subject  to  his 
 control,  and  could  all  be  made  instructive 
 teachers  to  his  believing  and  his  obedient  people. 
 We  see  in  Christ  the  true  Land-lord  and  the  true 
 Sea-lord,  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  of  earth,  whom 
 all  things  in  heaven,  and  all  things  on  earth,  and 
 all  things  under  the  sea  perpetually  obey. 
 
 From  this  one  miracle  Jesus  educes  the  con- 
 secration of  his  earliest  apostles,  of  his  first  fol- 
 lowers, to  be  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  teachers 
 of  all  nations.     In  fact,  Jesus  saw  over  all  crc- 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  829 
 
 ation,  as  if  on  one  grand  and  beautiful  cathedral, 
 many  a  holy  and  significant  inscription ;  he  had 
 only  to  look  upon  them  with  his  glorious  coun- 
 tenance, and  instantly  their  meaning  became 
 apparent.  And  if  we  had  the  anointed  eye  and 
 the  sanctified  heart,  we  too,  as  the  poet  says, 
 should  hear  "  sermons  in  stones,"  and  read 
 lessons  of  piety  every  where. 
 
 Jesus  bade  Simon,  as  I  have  noticed,  launch 
 out.  He  could  have  brought  ten  thousand  fishes 
 on  the  shore,  and  left  them  high  and  dry  upon 
 the  beach,  if  he  had  pleased ;  but  he  did  not  do 
 so.  He  commands  the  use  of  means  :  no  means 
 are  of  weight,  unless  Christ  bless  them  ;  and  the 
 least  are  sufficient,  if  his  blessing  be  with  them. 
 Try  to  do  something  for  him,  or  connected  with 
 his  cause,  by  the  greatest  means,  under  the  great- 
 est patronage,  but  in  defiance  of  his  blessing, 
 and  disaster  is  sure  to  be  the  consequence ;  but 
 attempt  the  greatest  things  in  connexion  with 
 his  cause,  and  for  the  glory  of  his  name,  in 
 humble  reliance  on  his  blessing,  and  you  will 
 learn  the  lesson  that  has  been  written  upon  all 
 the  history  of  the  past,  and  will  be  writ  upon  the 
 earth  when  restored  from  its  ruin,  and  on  the 
 sky  when  illuminated  with  a  new  and  lasting 
 
330  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 glory :    "  It  is  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
 by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. " 
 
 Let  me  notice  Peter's  objections.  First,  they 
 were  weary  and  exhausted ;  they  had  been  fish- 
 ing and  toiling,  spreading  their  nets  and  draw- 
 ing them  in,  the  whole  night ;  and  as  they  had 
 failed  in  the  season  most  fitted  for  fishing,  it  was 
 improbable  and  unlikely  that  they  should  suc- 
 ceed in  the  day-light,  which  was  not  so  suited  for 
 that  employment.  But  very  lovingly  does  Peter 
 add,  "  Nevertheless  " — though  my  own  reason  is 
 against  thine  ;  though  my  conclusions  are  the 
 opposite  of  thine ;  though  I  am  a  fisherman,  and 
 have  the  greater  experience  in  my  trade,  and  the 
 knowledge  of  the  best  seasons  for  prosecuting  it, 
 and  of  all  the  likelihoods  or  unlikelihoods  of  suc- 
 cess that  may  attend  it — fC  nevertheless  at  thy 
 word  I  will  let  down  the  net."  My  reason  shall 
 be  laid  prostrate  at  thy  feet;  my  conclusions 
 shall  be  dismissed;  and  because  thou  biddest 
 me,  I  will  do  it.  What  a  precedent  for  us ! 
 Peter,  if  he  had  rugged  features  in  his  character, 
 had  also  under  these  rugged  features  depths  of 
 tender  and  beautiful  emotion,  lowliness  and 
 humility  of  heart,  worthy  of  all  imitation  on  our 
 part.     It  is  a  precedent,  I  say,  for  us.     Our  first 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  331 
 
 thing  should  be  to  take  care  that  we  have  a  com- 
 mandment from  God;  the  second  thing  is,  to  care 
 little  about  the  obstructions  in  our  way,  or  the 
 difficulties  we  shall  meet  with  in  obeying  that 
 command.  It  will  simplify  extremely  our  course 
 throughout  the  whole  of  life,  if  our  first  inquiry 
 shall  be,  "  Is  this  according  to  the  mind,  or, 
 still  higher,  is  it  according  to  the  command  of 
 God  ?  "  And  if  it  be,  you  are  to  regard  moun- 
 tains as  plains  and  valleys  as  level,  and  to  know 
 that  nothing  shall  deprive  him  of  success  who 
 goes  forth  to  duty  in  obedience  to  the  command 
 and  in  reliance  on  the  blessing  of  his  Lord. 
 
 The  consequence  of  Peter's  single  eye,  and 
 single-hearted  obedience  to  the  word  of  Christ, 
 was  unprecedented  success.  They  enclosed  so 
 many  fishes  that  the  nets  began  to  break,  and 
 the  large  boats,  or  half  ships  and  half  boats, 
 began  to  sink  with  the  load.  Many  have  tried 
 to  explain  this.  The  Rationalists,  who  are  always 
 labouring  to  get  rid  of  a  miracle,  have  tried  to 
 explain  it  away ;  and  not  the  Rationalists  of  Ger- 
 many only; — do  ice  not  detect  in  our  own  bosoms, 
 whenever  we  read  of  any  thing  supernatural,  a 
 desire  to  see  if  it  cannot  be  explained  in  some 
 other  way  ?  whether  it  cannot  be  reduced  to  a 
 
832  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 lower  level  ?  whether  there  be  not  some  law  that 
 will  explain  the  phenomenon  without  supposing 
 it  to  be  the  response  to  the  instant  touch  of  the 
 sovereign  Ruler  of  all  things  ?  The  tendency  of 
 great  learning,  without  grace,  is  to  explain  every- 
 thing supernatural  by  what  are  called  "  laws/'  or 
 "  second  causes."  The  tendency  of  great  ignor- 
 ance, without  grace,  is  to  see  all  sorts  of  forms  of 
 superstition  in  every  thing  that  occurs,  and  to 
 explain  nothing  as  natural,  or  ordinary,  or  to  be 
 expected.  But  the  tendency  of  the  highest 
 learning  and  the  least  learning,  inspired  by  the 
 grace  of  God,  is  to  recognise  God's  finger  where 
 God  says  it  is,  and  to  be  satisfied  in  so  doing. 
 The  explanation  given  by  some  of  the  expound- 
 ers of  Scripture  in  Germany  is,  Jesus  happened 
 at  the  time  to  pass  a  shoal  of  fish,  and  he  saw 
 them  as  they  passed,  and,  just  at  the  moment 
 when  success  was  certain,  he  made  them  launch 
 out  the  net.  This  is  man's  commentary  upon 
 God's  word.  But  is  it  likely  that  Jesus — suppos- 
 ing him  to  be  what  they  say  he  was,  a  mere  human 
 teacher,  in  the  presence  of  Peter,  who  was,  as 
 they  will  admit,  a  thoroughly  experienced  and 
 practical  fisherman — a  peasant,  unaccustomed  to 
 fishing,  should  have  been  able  to  detect  the  fish 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  333 
 
 at  a  distance  much  sooner  and  easier  than  the 
 fishermen,  who  had  been  brought  up  at  that 
 trade  all  their  life  long  ?  I  have  myself  stood 
 upon  a  bridge  of  the  Dee,  near  the  stream  by 
 which  the  days  of  my  boyhood  were  spent,  and 
 have  seen  a  fisherman  watching  for  salmon  as  they 
 came  up  the  stream ;  and  while  his  experienced 
 eye  could  see  the  fish  many  hundred  yards  dis- 
 tant, I  could  not  see  it  even  when  it  was  passing 
 through  the  arches  of  the  bridge  on  which  I 
 stood.  His  eye  had  a  tact,  from  trained  habits, 
 that  mine  had  not.  So  seamen  can  detect  a  sail 
 at  sea,  when  landsmen  can  see  nothing  but  fog. 
 This  explanation  of  the  Rationalists  therefore, 
 is  contradictory  and  suicidal.  The  presumption 
 is,  that  Peter  would  have  seen  the  shoal,  and, 
 anxious  to  make  up  for  the  disappointments  of  the 
 night,  would  have  been  the  first  to  launch  out  and 
 catch  the  fish  at  the  proper  time ;  rather  than  that 
 Jesus,  unacquainted  with  the  trade,  and  unac- 
 customed to  its  observations,  should  have  first 
 seen  the  fish  and  suggested  pursuit.  Surely  it  is 
 far  more  simple,  and  accordant  with  right  reason, 
 and  with  a  proper  and  simple-minded  acceptance 
 of  God's  word,  to  see  in  this  the  finger  of  God  ; 
 to  recognise  upon  the  lake  of  Gennesareth  him  to 
 
33±  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 whom  belongs  the  Psalm,  "  0  Lord,  our  Lord, 
 how  excellent  is  thy  name  in  all  the  earth !  who 
 hast  set  thy  glory  above  the  heavens.  *  *  *  All 
 sheep  and  oxen,  yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
 the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
 whatsoever  passeth  through  the  paths  of  the 
 seas  " — all  these  things  are  put  under  his  feet. 
 At  that  lake  of  Gennesareth,  then,  was  present 
 the  Lord  and  Sovereign  of  the  heavens,  the 
 earth,  and  the  sea ;  and  he  had  only  to  speak, 
 or  signify  his  simple  volition,  and  all  things 
 would  deeply  feel  the  presence  of  their  Lord, 
 and  instantly  obey. 
 
 Let  us  notice  here  another  interesting  feature 
 — namely,  our  Lord  availing  himself  of  the  pre- 
 vious trade  and  habits  of  his  followers,  and  con- 
 secrating these  trades  and  habits  to  a  new  and 
 glorious  mission.  In  fact,  this  feature  pervades 
 the  whole  of  God's  word.  It  is  stated  in  the  Old 
 Testament  Scripture,  that  David,  feeding  the 
 sheep  of  his  father  Jesse,  was  brought  to  be  a  king, 
 and  the  subjects  of  that  kingdom  were  handed  to 
 him  as  the  sheep  of  his  fold.  The  magi,  who  were 
 astronomers,  were  brought  to  Jesus  by  a  star  that 
 stood  in  the  firmament  over  the  place  where  he 
 was.     The  Samaritan  woman,  who  came,  as  pro- 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  335 
 
 bably  was  her  business,  and  as  she  had  done  for 
 many  a  day  and  many  a  year,  to  draw  water,  was 
 led  by  Jesns  from  drawing  water  at  Jacob's  well, 
 to  drink  living  water  from  the  Fountain  of  Ja- 
 cob's God.  We  may  recollect  how  the  Caper- 
 naites,  greedy,  and  looking  only  for  the  loaves 
 and  fishes,  were  instructed  by  Jesus  in  the  true 
 bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  of 
 which  if  a  man  eat,  he  shall  live  for  ever.  And 
 here  you  see  Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  who 
 were  fishermen,  are  taught  that  their  trade  is  only 
 the  earthly  pedestal  on  which  its  divine  and 
 spiritual  significance  shall  shine  and  glow  afar ; 
 and  that  out  of  the  meanest  trades  and  the  most 
 repulsive  employments  there  can  be  extracted, 
 by  the  touch  and  will  of  Jesus,  a  holy  and  a 
 blessed  mission.  Perhaps  there  was  more  in  this 
 than  mere  accidental  circumstances — if  any  cir- 
 cumstance at  all  can  be  called  accidental.  The 
 trade,  the  profession,  the  business  to  which  one 
 has  been  brought  up,  is  that  whose  formulas, 
 whose  modes,  whose  habits  have  become  most 
 inveterate  in  our  minds ;  and  when  that  is  the 
 case,  to  illustrate  Divine  truth  by  appealing  to 
 recognised  habits,  and  felt  prejudices  even,  and 
 prepossessions,  is  the  most  effective  way  of  bring- 
 
336  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ing  home  great  lessons  to  the  mind  of  the  most 
 of  mankind. 
 
 But  I  must  now  turn  to  the  miracle  itself. 
 When  the  net  was  taken  in  full  of  fishes,  and 
 the  boats  were  full  too,  Peter  was  overwhelmed, 
 or,  to  use  the  language  of  the  text,  "he  was 
 astonished,  and  all  that  were  with  him ;"  and  "he 
 fell  down  at  Jesus'  knees,  saying,  Depart  from 
 me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  He  felt  the 
 presence  of  Deity ;  the  stupendous  miracle  in- 
 dicated to  Peter's  mind  the  nearness  of  him 
 who  is  the  holy,  holy,  holy  One  ;  and  under  the 
 overwhelming  impression  of  a  present  God,  he 
 gave  utterance  to  that  which  was  the  first  and 
 deepest  emotion  in  his  heart.  There  are  crises 
 in  the  experience  of  men,  when  one  is  so  over- 
 whelmed by  some  great  spectacle,  or  some  dread 
 fact,  that  all  the  ordinary  currency  of  human  ■ 
 speech  disappears,  all  the  conventionalisms  of 
 human  intercourse  are  swept  away,  and  that 
 which  is  deepest  in  our  hearts  seems  to  well  up 
 from  the  heart's  inner  and  most  hidden  springs, 
 and  to  find  expression  on  our  lips,  so  as  to 
 let  men  see  and  hear  what  is  really  and  truly 
 within  us.  It  was  so  in  the  case  of  Peter :  he 
 gave  utterance  to  the  deepest  feeling  of  his  heart, 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  337 
 
 when  he  said,  (i  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a 
 sinful  man,  0  Lord."  And  so  it  has  been  in  the 
 Old  Testament  Scriptures,  whenever  God  has 
 manifested  himself.  When  God  revealed  him- 
 self to  Moses,  the  people  said,  "  Speak  thou  with 
 us,  and  we  will  hear ;  but  let  not  God  speak 
 with  us,  lest  we  die."  We  also  recollect  what 
 Manoah  said,  "We  shall  surely  die,  for  we 
 have  seen  the  Lord."  In  the  case  of  Isaiah, 
 when  the  Lord  Jesus  was  revealed  to  him. — de- 
 clared to  have  been  Christ,  by  Christ  himself — 
 he  said,  "  Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  undone,  because 
 I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips ;  for  mine  eyes  have 
 seen  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Is  there  not  in  the 
 language  which  Peter  used,  when  he  felt  the 
 presence  of  Jesus,  the  echo  of  the  very  lan- 
 guage used  by  Moses,  Manoah,  and  Isaiah,  when 
 they  recognised  the  presence  of  the  Lord  of 
 hosts  ?  And  is  there  not  here  an  indirect — we 
 should  say  in  human  writing,  undesigned;  cer- 
 tainly in  a  Divine  writing  we  can  say  indirect — 
 evidence  that  he  that  gathered,  the  fishes  into 
 the  net — that  sat  upon  the  bow  of  the  boat,  and 
 taught  the  people  —  that  Peter  recognised  as 
 the  carpenter's  son,  but  wonderfully  gifted,  and 
 still  more  wonderfully  graced  (for  Peter  was  not 
 
 z 
 
SSS  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 yet  sure  who  he  was) — was  he  who  appear- 
 ed in  the  burning  bush,  who  spake  to  Moses, 
 who  was  manifested  to  Manoah,  who  revealed 
 himself  amid  angels  and  archangels  to  Isaiah ;  in 
 short,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  King  of  glory — so 
 far  indirect  evidence  therefore  of  the  Deity  of 
 Christ  ? 
 
 But  in  this  language  of  Peter,  so  perfectly 
 natural,  and  having  so  many  precedents  in  pre- 
 vious expressions  used  on  similar  occasions,  there 
 was  much  that  consisted  of  grievous  misappre- 
 hension, although  there  was  much  that  was  true 
 and  becoming  in  the  circumstances  in  which  he 
 was  placed.  Nearness  to  God  is  ever  humbling 
 to  man.  A  really  wise  man,  a  really  learned  man, 
 is  always,  and  must  always  be,  a  truly  humble 
 man.  It  is  a  law  even  in  human  learning,  that 
 the  more  we  learn,  the  more  we  discover  to  be 
 learned.  When  we  see  our  horizon,  and  go  to 
 its  margin,  we  find  we  are  only  in  the  centre  of 
 another  horizon  equally  as  large.  When  we 
 climb  one  crag  of  the  mountain,  and  think  we 
 have  reached  its  summit,  we  find  there  is  ano- 
 ther portion  as  high  still  to  be  climbed.  So  much 
 so  is  this,  that  the  personation  of  the  greatest 
 acquaintance  with  the  sky  and  all  its  glorious 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  339 
 
 contents,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  after  he  had  swept 
 the  canopy  of  heaven,  weighed  the  stars,  esti- 
 mated their  distances,  determined  their  density, 
 declared  at  the  close  that  so  little  did  he  see  and 
 know,  and  so  little  had  he  yet  discovered,  that 
 lie  felt  he  was  like  a  little  child  gathering  peb- 
 bles and  shells  upon  the  sea-beach,  while  the 
 great  unsounded  ocean  stretched  still  before  him. 
 But  if  such  be  the  feeling  in  the  study  of  human 
 knowledge,  which  has  a  bottom,  how  deep  must 
 be  the  feeling  in  the  sight  of  that  infinite  holiness 
 which  we  can  neither  fathom,  conceive,  or  ex- 
 press !  It  is  in  the  presence  of  God  that  the  splen- 
 dour of  human  wisdom  dims  and  becomes  pale ; 
 it  is  in  such  a  presence  that  the  radiance  of  infi- 
 nite holiness  deepens  all  the  shades  of  conscious 
 sin.  Never  does  the  stain  of  crime  appear  so 
 deep  in  its  dye,  so  heinous  in  its  demerits,  as 
 when  it  is  seen  in  the  light  of  that  God  who  has 
 told  the  wicked — the  most  awful  statement  in 
 the  Bible — that  he  will  set  their  secret  sins  in  the 
 light  of  his  countenance.  At  present,  when  we 
 look  at  sin,  it  appears  to  us  insignificant,  just 
 because  the  medium,  through  which  we  see  it, 
 and  the  organ,  the  inner  eye,  with  which  we  look 
 at  it,  are  both  so  imperfect.     But  when  sin  shall 
 
 z  2 
 
340  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 be  seen  in  the  intense  light  of  God,  its  stain 
 will  have  a  heinousness  so  real,  so  deep,  that  we 
 shall  only  wonder  that  Scripture  did  not  use 
 yet  stronger  language  to  denote  it,  and  that  we 
 ever  supposed  that  the  language  which  Scripture 
 does  use  was  stronger  than  was  actually  required. 
 In  proportion,  then,  as  man  sees  God,  in  the 
 same  proportion  will  he  become  humbled  :  Chris- 
 tendom shall  be  prostrate  on  the  pavement, 
 and  say,  probably,  surely  with  no  faint  lips, 
 "  We  are  sinful  men ;  "  when  there  shall  be  re- 
 vealed through  its  length  and  breadth  the  glory 
 of  him  who  is  the  holy,  holy,  holy  One  of  Israel. 
 Look  at  sin  in  the  light  of  the  law,  and  it  is  ex- 
 ceeding sinful ;  look  at  sin  in  the  light  of  God  the 
 Legislator,  and  it  appears  still  more  sinful ;  but 
 look  at  sin  in  the  light  of  the  countenance  of 
 Jesus,  and  it  not  only  seems  to  be  the  deepest  stain, 
 but  to  be  charged  with  the  intensest  baseness  and 
 ingratitude  to  our  Benefactor.  Nearness,  then, 
 to  Deity,  I  have  said,  creates  and  teaches  great 
 humility  in  man ;  but  it  will  not  only  teach  us 
 our  sinfulness,  and  cause  us  to  say,  as  Peter  said, 
 "  I  am  a  sinful  man,"  but  it  will  prompt  us,  if  we 
 have  nothing  better  to  guide  us,  to  say,  "  De- 
 part from  me."    Why  ?    Because  the  holy  God, 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  341 
 
 revealed  to  the  unholy  creature,  is  a  consuming 
 fire ;  and  when  we  see  our  sins  in  the  light  and 
 effulgence  and  blaze  of  that  consuming  fire,  we 
 instantly  feel  that  our  only  chance  of  safety 
 is  in  separation  from  God.  Most  natural  was 
 the  sentiment,  "  I  am  sinful,"  when  God  looked 
 upon  the  sinner  ;  equally  natural  was  the  prayer, 
 "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man."  Yet 
 Peter  knew  not  what  he  said :  departure  from 
 God  is  the  very  essence  of  hell ;  nearness  to  God 
 is  the  very  essence  and  central  element  of  heaven. 
 The  incessant  litany  of  the  lost  is,  "  Depart  from 
 us ; "  and  the  further  they  depart  from  God, 
 and  God  from  them,  the  more  dire  and  intoler- 
 able that  misery  becomes.  And  yet  the  cry  Avas 
 natural  on  the  part  of  Peter,  "  Depart  from  me," 
 because  he  had  the  sense  of  danger,  the  sense  of 
 demerit,  he  had  no  clear  apprehension  of  a  Sa- 
 viour, and  felt  therefore  that  safety  was  only  in 
 severance  and  distance  from  God. 
 
 But  our  blessed  Lord  does  not  take  Peter 
 at  his  word :  he  does  not  depart  from  Peter, 
 but  draws  near  to  him.  All  flesh  cried,  before 
 Christ  came,  " Depart  from  us;"  "No  God!" 
 Its  conscious  sin  made  it  deprecate  the  ap- 
 proach of  the  great  Legislator.     But  God's  ways 
 
342  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 are  not  as  our  ways ;  and  therefore,  instead  of 
 departing  from  us,  as  all  humanity  beseeched 
 him,  he  came  near  to  us.  We  read  in  an  old 
 writer  of  the  second  or  third  century,  that  such 
 were  the  crimes,  so  flagrant  the  abominations  of 
 all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  at  the  birth  of 
 Jesus,  that  a  crisis  had  arrived  so  terrible  that 
 either  God  must  crush  the  world  he  had  made, 
 or  convert  it,  and  bring  it  back  to  himself.  Hu- 
 manity expected  judgment,  and  lo  !  God  came 
 unexpectedly  in  mercy  and  in  love.  And  just 
 while  Peter  was  saying,  "Depart  from  me," 
 Jesus  was  giving  expression  to  the  consolatory 
 words,  "  Fear  not."  How  interesting,  and 
 yet  how  like  God!  he  comes  over  the  moun- 
 tains of  our  transgression,  forgiving,  cheering, 
 comforting,  and  presenting  himself,  not  as  a 
 consuming  fire,  but  as  the  Asylum  for  the  op- 
 pressed, as  the  Physician  for  the  sick,  as  the 
 Resurrection  of  the  dead,  as  the  great  Saviour  in 
 whom  was  redemption  through  his  blood ;  teach- 
 ing Peter,  and  us  all,  not  to  deprecate  his  pre- 
 sence in  the  language  of  the  lost,  "Depart 
 from  me,"  but  to  court  his  presence  in  the  lan- 
 guage of  the  blessed,  "  Lord,  to  whom  can  we 
 go  but  unto  thee  ?    Thou  hast  the  words  of  eter- 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  343 
 
 nal  life."  Never  let  us  forget,  that  when  we 
 have  gone  farthest  from  God,  our  safety  is, 
 not  in  lengthening  that  departure,  but  in  re- 
 turning to  God.  His  invitation  is,  "  Return, 
 backsliding  Israel,  and  I  will  heal  you ; "  so 
 our  nearest  course  is  still  to  return — our  only 
 safe  one  is  to  arise  and  go  to  your  Father.  Never 
 say,  "  Depart  from  us ;  "  never  breathe,  "  No 
 God."  Let  our  breathing,  our  prayer,  our  en- 
 treaty be,  "  Lord  Jesus,  to  whom  can  we  go  but 
 unto  thee  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life." 
 Our  Lord,  we  read,  taught  Peter,  "  Hence- 
 forth thou  shalt  catch  men : "  using  the  trade  to 
 which  Peter  had  been  accustomed,  in  order  to 
 illustrate  the  great  mission  on  which  he  was  now 
 sending  him.  It  is  remarkable,  as  I  have  been 
 saying,  that  in  every  instance  almost  in  the  Old 
 Testament  Scripture,  God  lays  hold  of  the  gifts 
 and  the  knowledge  that  each  individual  has,  and 
 consecrates  these  to  the  higher  cause  and  to  the 
 nobler  work  to  which  he  has  called  and  appointed 
 them.  "  Thou  shalt  catch  men ; "  and  you  shall 
 learn  from  the  trade  which  you  are  now  leaving 
 as  profane,  many  a  holy,  instructive,  and  direc- 
 tive lesson  in  that  sublimer  employment  to 
 which  I  have  now  called  you.      And  when  we 
 
344  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 think  of  Peter's  employment,  catching  fish,  and 
 Peter's  new — not  holier,  but  more  useful  one, 
 catching  men,  we  see  something  that  is  contrast, 
 and  something  that  is  similarity.  Then  he 
 caught  fishes — his  only  reward ;  now  he  shall 
 catch  immortal  men,  heirs  of  glory.  Then  he 
 caught  fishes  only  for  death ;  now  he  shall  catch 
 men  for  life  and  happiness  for  ever.  Then  he 
 caught  the  fishes  by  deceit,  by  deception,  by 
 overreaching,  if  I  might  apply  such  language  to 
 the  craft  of  a  fisherman  ;  now  he  shall  catch,  not 
 by  guile,  nor  by  carnal  weapons,  nor  by  deceit, 
 but  by  the  truth  spoken  freely  in  love. 
 
 It  is  very  remarkable,  that  in  looking  at  the 
 various  trades  or  employments  which  God  has 
 sanctified  in  the  gospel,  we  find  the  hunter  is 
 never  used  or  referred  to  as  an  employment 
 casting  the  least  light  upon  any  employment  in 
 connexion  with  the  gospel.  We  read  of  almost 
 every  other  profession  of  ancient  times  sancti- 
 fied :  we  read  of  the  shepherd,  the  astronomer, 
 the  servant,  the  drawer  of  water,  all  conse- 
 crated ;  but  we  read  not  of  "  Nimrod,  the 
 mighty  hunter."  Hunting  seems  spoken  of  in 
 Scripture  —  I  speak  not  now  of  its  merits  or 
 demerits — not  as  a  beautiful,  a  lovely,  or  as  a 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  345 
 
 Christian  employment ;  but  fishing,  which  cer- 
 tainly would  not,  in  itself,  seem  intrinsically 
 nobler,  is  referred  to  frequently  in  Scripture,  and 
 made  a  storehouse  from  which  illustrations  are 
 drawn  of  great  and  precious  truths  in  teaching  the 
 gospel  of  Christ.  It  is  very  remarkable,  too,  that 
 so  much  was  the  idea  of  the  fish  as  the  type  of  a 
 Christian,  and  the  fisherman  as  the  great  type  of 
 Jesus,  incorporated  with  the  feelings  and  habits 
 of  early  Christians,  that  the  anagram  which  was 
 written  upon  ancient  churches,  which  is  found 
 in  some  of  the  catacombs,  and  which  is  expressly 
 alluded  to  by  Augustine  and  Chrysostom,  is 
 l\0v*f  which  means  a  fish.  Christians,  when 
 they  wished  to  speak  of  Christ,  frequently  wrote 
 among  themselves,  and  in  the  presence  of  the 
 heathen,  Ix0v*,  a  fish.  They  thought  there  was 
 a  sort  of  charm  in  it,  some  designed  harmony  or 
 coincidence.  Each  letter  in  the  word  is  the  first 
 letter  of  a  name  of  Jesus.  The  first,  I,  for 
 'Irjaov-s ;  x,  for  x/hotos  ;  6,  for  Oeof) ;  v}  for  vlbs  -}  and 
 <r  for  aunrjp  :  making  'Ij/coOs  xPl(T709  Oeov  v/o?, 
 atx}jrjpi  "  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour." 
 Hence  you  often  find  Ix^vs  mentioned  in  the 
 writings  of  the  Fathers,  struck  on  ancient  coins, 
 and  on  the  walls  of  the  catacombs ;  the  meaning  of 
 
346  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  word,  which  to  a  heathen  would  simply  be  "  a 
 fish,"  being  "  Jesus,  who  consecrated  the  fisher- 
 men to  be  fishers  of  men,  and  himself  to  be  the 
 great  Guide  and  Governor  of  them  all."  Thus 
 the  pope  of  Rome,  who  keeps  up  many  things 
 by  contrast,  and  thus  reminds  one  of  the  great 
 original,  calls  himself  "the  fisherman;"  and 
 when  he  signs  any  document,  adds,  "  sealed  and 
 signed  with  the  ring  of  the  fisherman  : "  mean- 
 ing that  he  is  a  descendant  of  St.  Peter,  and  that 
 that  employment  was  consecrated  thus  to  express 
 a  great  and  divine  relationship. 
 
 Thus  Christ  takes  the  trades  to  which  men 
 have  been  accustomed,  and  makes  them  the 
 means  of  teaching  them  important  lessons ; 
 thus  he  found  the  fishermen  of  Galilee  on  the 
 banks  of  the  lake  of  Gennesareth,  and  taught 
 them,  and  consecrated  them  to  be  henceforth 
 fishers  of  men ;  and  he  taught  them,  too,  by 
 that  lesson,  that  they  might  toil  all  night,  spread- 
 ing the  net  with  the  greatest  care,  rowing  the 
 boat  with  the  greatest  energy,  and  yet  not  catch 
 a  single  fish.  So  too  the  minister  of  the  gospel 
 may  preach  with  the  greatest  power,  he  may 
 reason  with  the  most  conclusive  logic,  and  yet  all 
 shall  be  as  the  tinkling  cymbal  and  the  sounding 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  347 
 
 brass  unless  God  shall  bless  it.  In  the  case  of 
 Peter,  his  net  was  cast  all  night,  spread,  and 
 drawn  in,  and  all  was  vain  ;  but  the  instant  that 
 Jesus  poured  his  blessing  on  the  net,  and  his 
 benediction  on  the  deep,  that  instant  he  had 
 more  even  than  he  could  manage.  So  the  min- 
 ister of  the  gospel,  the  Sunday-school  teacher, 
 the  tract-distributor,  may  toil  and  labour  with 
 persevering  and  commendable  efforts,  in  all  di- 
 rections, at  all  hours,  by  night  and  by  day,  and 
 yet  catch  nothing ;  but  when  they  begin,  under 
 a  sense  of  their  own  insufficiency,  to  appeal  to 
 the  sufficiency  of  God,  then  the  morning  will 
 dawn,  and  the  blessing  will  descend,  and  they 
 will  be  made  the  joyful  fishers  of  men,  to  the 
 glory  of  God  and  to  the  salvation  of  souls. 
 
 We  read,  as  the  sequel  of  this  miracle,  that 
 the  disciples  of  Jesus,  "  when  they  had  brought 
 their  ships  to  land,  forsook  all,  and  followed 
 him."  Rationalists  have  referred  to  this  cir- 
 cumstance ;  and  Strauss,  especially,  with  a  sneer 
 upon  this  "  forsook  all,"  asks,  "  What  right 
 had  Peter  to  take  credit,  as  he  does,  for  for- 
 saking all  ?  What  did  he  forsake  ?  He  forsook 
 nothing  worth  retaining  ;  and  therefore  to  say  he 
 forsook  all  is  to  exaggerate  a  very  insignificant 
 
348  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 act ;  and  for  Peter  to  take  credit  for  it  was  to 
 take  credit  for  a  thing  of  very  little  value." 
 This  proceeds  just  from  ignorance.  Little  as  it 
 was  which  they  forsook,  you  must  recollect  that 
 they  forsook  their  all.  The  hut  which  is  all  that 
 a  widow  has,  is  just  as  precious  to  her,  and  as 
 reluctantly  resigned,  as  the  palace  which  is  the 
 royal  all  of  a  queen.  Worldliness  is  not  mea- 
 sured by  the  amount  it  possesses,  but  by  the 
 tenacity  with  which  it  grasps  the  little  or  the 
 much  that  it  has.  It  is  not,  therefore,  the  pro- 
 perty that  is  sinful,  but  it  is  the  passion  which 
 cleaves  with  excessive  love  to  that  property, 
 be  it  large  or  small.  Hence  the  possessor  of 
 a  million  may  be  a  far  less  covetous  man  than 
 the  possessor  of  £250  a  year ;  the  occupant  of  a 
 throne  may  be  a  far  less  proud  and  ambitious 
 man  than  some  poor  dweller  in  a  cottage.  And 
 what  we  are  to  leave  and  forsake,  in  the  provi- 
 dence of  God,  is  not  the  property  that  God  has 
 given  us  for  use,  and  for  consecration,  and  for 
 good,  but  those  worldly  desires  that  make  the 
 property  all,  and  the  Giver  of  that  property  to 
 be  dislodged  and  displaced  by  an  inferior  love 
 and  passion.  It  is  not  the  world  that  we  are  to 
 leave,  but  worldliness ;  it  is  not  money  that  we 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  349 
 
 are  to  forsake — money  is  a  good  thing,  a  most 
 excellent  thing — but  it  is    avarice,  or  the  ex- 
 cessive love  of  money,  that  we  are  to  leave  ;  it  is 
 not  honour  that  we  are  to  refuse,  but  it  is  am- 
 bition ;  it  is  not  power  that  is  given  us  in  the 
 providence  of  God  that  we  are  to  renounce,  but 
 it  is  the  pride  which  the  possession  of  power  is 
 apt  to  generate.     The  world  we  are  to  use,  as 
 not  abusing  it;  worlclliness  we   are  to  forsake. 
 Money  we  are  to  consecrate  to  the  noblest  end ; 
 but  covetousness  we  are  to  abjure.     Hence  in 
 Jeremiah  we   do  not  read,   "  Let  the  wise  man 
 put  away  his  wisdom,  let  the  rich  man  cast  away 
 his  riches,  let  the  strong  man  deprive  himself  of 
 his  strength," — yet  those  who  confound  the  world 
 with  worlcliiness,  and  money  with  avarice,  and 
 wisdom  with  pride,  should  so  read  it, — but  the 
 prophet  says,  "  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in  his 
 wisdom,"  which  shows  that  he  may  keep  his 
 wisdom,  "nor  the  strong  man  in  his  strength, 
 nor  the  rich  man  in  his  riches,"  which  shows 
 that  we  may  have  riches,  and  yet  not  be  covet- 
 ous.    We  learn,  therefore,  that  we  are  to  forsake 
 all  by  forsaking  it  in   spirit,  not  forsaking  it 
 mechanically  and  in  fact :  just  as  we  renounce 
 the  world,  not  by  leaving  the  world  mechanically 
 
850  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 and  going  into  convents,  but  by  keeping  the 
 world  in  its  place,  that  God  may  occupy  the 
 throne  of  our  hearts  alone. 
 
 When  they  forsook  all,  it  is  said,  they  fol- 
 lowed Christ.  They  followed  his  person,  which 
 was  then  visible  to  them,  and  his  principles, 
 which  were  ever  sounding  from  his  lips.  We 
 follow  his  person,  invisible  to  us,  but  not  un- 
 known, (for  we  cannot  follow  or  love  the  unknown, 
 though  we  may  follow  and  love  the  unseen,)  and 
 we  follow  his  principles  still  embodied  in  the 
 Scriptures — those  Scriptures  which  reason  still 
 of  righteousness,  and  temperance,  and  judgment. 
 And  in  what  respects  are  we  to  follow  Jesus  ? 
 Time  would  fail  me  to  enumerate  all ;  let  me 
 mention  one  or  two. 
 
 We  are  to  follow  him  in  self-sacrifice.  True, 
 we  cannot  offer  our  lives  as  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  for 
 this  he  did  once,  and  it  is  not  to  be  done  again ; 
 but  we  can  surrender  all  that  is  dear,  and  near, 
 and  precious,  when  it  stands  in  the  way  of  ac- 
 ceptance of  his  word,  or  obedience  to  his  will. 
 Jesus  went  about  not  merely  making  a  sacrifice 
 for  sin,  but  as  a  beautiful  example,  leaving  us 
 a  model  we  are  to  imitate,  and  footprints  in 
 which  we  are  carefully  and  prayerfully  to  tread. 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  851 
 
 And  if  there  was  one  trait  more  characteristic 
 of  Jesus  than  another,  it  was  the  intense,  the 
 untiring  beneficence  which  descended,  not,  as 
 ours  often  does,  upon  those  who  we  think  will 
 appreciate  it,  or  thank  us  for  it;  or  who  are 
 of  our  own  party,  our  own  country,  or  our  own 
 denomination;  but  like  the  rain-drops  and  sun- 
 beams, on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust,  on  the 
 evil  and  unthankful.  One  of  the  great  blights 
 that  nip  and  freeze  up  our  benevolence  in  its 
 very  bud,  is  our  thinking  we  are  not  to  oblige 
 a  man  who  will  not  repay  us,  and  that  we  are 
 not  to  relieve  a  poor  person  because  that  person 
 will  not  appreciate  our  goodness  or  give  us  any 
 thanks.  Never  shall  we  have,  or  feel,  or  show 
 the  spirit  of  our  Master,  till  we  relieve  want  be- 
 cause it  is  want,  and  because  he  bids  us,  irre- 
 spective of  what  the  subject  of  that  want  may 
 think,  or  say,  or  return  to  us.  Self-sacrificing 
 benevolence,  for  benevolence'  sake,  was  one.  of 
 the  great  and  holy  characteristics  of  our  blessed 
 Master. 
 
 We  are  also,  to  follow  him  in  another  interest- 
 ing trait  —  the  subordination  which  we  have 
 noticed  in  all  these  miracles,  and  in  all  the 
 lessons  he  raised  upon  them,  of  what  is  circum- 
 
352  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 stantial  to  what  is  essential.  We  have  no- 
 ticed frequently  in  his  discourses,  and  infer- 
 ences, and  lessons,  how  the  one  is  subordinated 
 to  the  other.  For  instance,  he  prescribed  a  form 
 of  prayer  on  one  occasion,  but  he  practised  ex- 
 temporaneous prayer  on  most  occasions  ;  and  lest 
 there  should  be  a  dispute  about  the  comparative 
 excellency  of  the  one,  or  the  comparative  defects 
 of  the  other,  he  says,  "  Neither  in  this  mountain 
 nor  in  that  mountain  shall  we  worship  the 
 Father,  for  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  wor- 
 ship him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth ; 
 for  such  the  Father  seeketh  to  worship  him." 
 Again,  in  the  sabbath  day  we  find  him  appear- 
 ing in  the  synagogue  worshipping  with  the  rest; 
 and  yet  doing  miracles,  in  order  to  rescue  it  from 
 the  traditionary  perversions  of  the  scribes  and 
 Pharisees.  Again,  with  regard  to  fasting,  he 
 shows  how  it  is  proper  in  one  case,  but  improper 
 in  another  ;  and  that  fasting,  therefore,  still  more 
 than  the  sabbath,  was  made  for  man,  not  man 
 for  fasting. 
 
 Another  trait  in  the  character  of  Jesus  which 
 we  onght  to  follow,  is  his  faithful  and  sublime 
 indifference  to  the  opposition  of  party,  or  of 
 power,  or  of  sect,  in  his  discharge  of  the  solemn 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  353 
 
 and  august  mission  which  was  committed  to  his 
 hands.  He  tells  the  Pharisees  they  were  super- 
 stitious hypocrites,  not  fearing  the  wrath  of  that 
 powerful  ecclesiastical  faction.  On  the  other 
 hand,  he  drives  the  money-changers  from  their 
 temple,  not  fearing  the  revenge  of  the  money 
 interest,  the  most  powerful  then,  as  it  is  not  the 
 least  powerful  now.  He  defies  the  wrath  of  the 
 crafty  Herod,  telling  him  plainly  of  his  craft ; 
 and  he  stands  the  most  kingly  one,  when  at  the 
 tribunal  of  Pilate,  accused  as  a  criminal  before 
 an  earthly  judge. 
 
 Let  us  in  these  respects  imitate  him;  let  us 
 care  little  for  prospects  of  honour,  for  prefer- 
 ment in  the  church,  for  increase  of  power,  for 
 any  thing  that  man  can  give ;  but  let  us  fear- 
 lessly and  faithfully  do  the  duty  that  devolves 
 upon  us.  We  may  be  honoured,  we  may  be 
 popular,  we  may  be  great,  we  may  be  rich,  but 
 we  must  be  faithful  as  ambassadors  for  God,  and 
 servants  to  his  people. 
 
 Yet,  while  we  mark  in  the  conduct  of  Jesus 
 this  sublime  indifference  to  all  contingent  per- 
 secution, we  must  notice  also  the  beautiful  gen- 
 tleness that  shines  through  it.  Look  at  him 
 on   one    occasion,   when   he    took    their    babes 
 
 2  A 
 
354  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 from  the  bosoms  of  their  ragged  mothers,  and 
 laid  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them,  and 
 told  these  down-trodden  ones  that  of  such  was 
 the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Watch  him  again  sym- 
 pathizing with  the  sisters  of  Bethany,  weeping 
 with  them,  and  bringing  back  their  lost  brother 
 to  their  circle ;  or  with  the  widow  of  Nain,  re- 
 storing her  only  son  to  be  her  comfort  and  her 
 support.  Look  at  him  again  in  his  last  dread 
 agony,  when  he  committed  his  mother — a  beau- 
 tiful example  to  us — to  the  charge  of  John ;  and 
 when  he  addressed  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
 "  Weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves." 
 
 Because  he  is  our  sacrifice,  our  precious  sacri- 
 fice, our  only  trust,  our  only  atonement,  our  only 
 righteousness — we  must  not  lose  sight  of  him  as 
 our  perfect  example,  our  model,  our  precedent 
 in  every  difficulty  in  which  humanity  can  be 
 placed.  Whether  I  look  at  the  silence,  or  at  the 
 speech  of  Jesus — at  what  he  did,  or  at  what  he 
 taught,  or  at  what  he  suffered,  or  at  what  he  was 
 every  where,  I  see  a  heart  in  which  every  sound 
 of  human  joy  and  sorrow  found  an  echo — I  see 
 one  whose  life  throughout  was  a  perfect  model, 
 and  whose  example  is  now  left  with  us  that  we 
 may  follow  in  his  steps.     And  following  him  as 
 
THE    FISHERMEN.  355 
 
 our  sacrifice  and  our  example  upon  earth,  and 
 our  works  following  us  as  the  evidence  of  what 
 we  have  been  to  the  world  through  which  we 
 have  passed,  it  shall  be  written  over  our  dead 
 ashes,  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the 
 Lord ;"  and  to  our  glad  souls  it  shall  be  said, 
 "  Come,  ye  blessed,  inherit  the  kingdom  pre- 
 pared for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.51 
 
 2  a  2 
 
LECTURE  XIII. 
 
 NATURE    SITTING   AT    THE    FEET    OF    JESUS. 
 
 And  they  came  over  imto  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  into  the 
 country  of  the  Gadarenes.  And  when  he  was  come  out  of 
 the  ship,  immediately  there  met  him  out  of  the  tombs  a  man 
 with  an  unclean  spirit,  who  had  his  dwelling  among  the 
 tombs ;  and  no  man  could  bind  him,  no,  not  with  chains : 
 because  that  he  had  been  often  bound  with  fetters  and  chains, 
 and  the  chains  had  been  plucked  asunder  by  him,  and  the 
 fetters  broken  in  pieces  :  neither  could  any  man  tame  him. 
 And  always,  night  and  day,  he  was  in  the  mountains,  and  in 
 the  tombs,  crying,  and  cutting  himself  with  stones.  But 
 when  he  saw  Jesus  afar  off,  he  ran  and  worshipped  him,  and 
 cried  with  a  loud  voice,  and  said,  What  have  I  to  do  with 
 thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  the  most  high  God  ?  I  adjure  thee 
 by  God,  that  thou  torment  me  not.  For  he  said  unto  him, 
 Come  out  of  the  man,  thou  unclean  spirit.  And  he  asked 
 him,  What  is  thy  name  ?  And  he  answered,  saying,  My  name 
 is  Legion  :  for  we  are  many.  And  he  besought  him  much 
 that  he  would  not  send  them  away  out  of  the  country.  Now 
 there  was  there  nigh  unto  the  mountains  a  great  herd  of  swine 
 feeding.  And  all  the  devils  besought  him,  saying,  Send  us 
 into  the  swine,  that  we  may  enter  into  them.  And  forth- 
 with Jesus  gave  them  leave.  And  the  unclean  spirits  went 
 out,  and  entered  into  the  swine  :  and  the  herd  ran  violently 
 down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea,  (they  were  about  two  thou- 
 sand ; )  and  were  choked  in  the  sea.  And  they  that  fed  the 
 swine  fled,  and  told  it  in  the  city,  and  in  the  country.     And 
 
NATURE    SITTING   AT    JESUs'    FEET.         357 
 
 they  went  out  to  see  what  it  was  that  was  done.  And  they 
 come  to  Jesus,  and  see  him  that  was  possessed  with  the  devil, 
 and  had  the  legion,  sitting,  and  clothed,  and  in  his  right 
 mind  :  and  they  were  afraid.  And  they  that  saw  it  told 
 them  how  it  befell  to  him  that  was  possessed  with  the  devil, 
 and  also  concerning  the  swine.  And  they  began  to  pray  him 
 to  depart  out  of  their  coasts. — Mark  v.  1 — 17. 
 
 We  learn,  from  the  close  of  the  previous 
 chapter,  that  Jesus  had  just  shown  himself  the 
 Lord  of  the  storms,  the  controller  of  the  ele- 
 ments by  which  our  world  is  assailed ;  and  in 
 the  commencement  of  this  chapter  he  shows  him- 
 self in  a  light  still  more  glorious — the  Lord  of 
 the  inner  storms  by  which  the  human  mind  is 
 deranged.  In  the  first  case,  he  stills  the  sea  and 
 there  is  a  calm ;  in  the  second,  he  casts  out  the 
 demon,  and  he  that  was  possessed  is  sitting  at 
 his  feet,  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind.  Now  in 
 opening  this  miracle,  which  I  have  taken  as  the 
 next  in  succession,  a  great  difficulty  has  been 
 felt  by  some,  and  expressed  by  not  a  few,  as  to 
 there  being  or  not  being  any  real  distinction  be- 
 tween what  are  called  demoniacal  possessions  in 
 the  New  Testament,  and  mania,  or  maladies  of 
 various  sorts  and  degrees  of  intensity.  One  fact 
 alone  seems  to  me  almost  conclusive  on  the  sub- 
 ject, and  it  is  this,  that  the  diseases  to  which  the 
 
358  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 body  is  incident,  and  demoniac  possessions  with 
 which  men  have  been  afflicted,  are  stated  by  our 
 Lord  himself  as   distinct  and  separate   things. 
 Thus  he   says,   for  instance,   in  the   Gospel   of 
 St.    Matthew,    iv.    24,    ".  And    his    fame    went 
 throughout  all  Syria  ;    and  they  brought  unto 
 him  all  sick  people  that  were  taken  with  divers 
 diseases  and  torments,  [that  is,  one  class  of  af- 
 flicted beings ;  then  here  is  another  class,]  and 
 those  which  were  possessed  with  devils,  [there  is 
 a  second  class,]  and  those  which  were  lunatic  ;  " 
 there  is  a  third  class.     Now  this  is  not  mere  re- 
 petition of  the  same  idea  in  varied  phraseology, 
 but  it  is  the  enumeration  of  three  distinct  classes 
 of  maladies  ;  and,  in  these  three  distinct  classes, 
 possession  with  demons  is  stated  to  be  a  separate 
 one.     I  might  show  the  very  same  distinction  in 
 Matt.  viii.  16,  and  also  in  Mark  i.  33.     I  will 
 refer  only  to  the  last,  namely  Mark  i.  33.  "  And 
 all  the  city  was  gathered  together  at  the  door  ; 
 and  he  healed  many  that  were  sick  of  divers 
 diseases,   [that's  one   class,]   and  cast  out  many 
 devils,  and  suffered  not  the  devils  to  speak,  be- 
 cause they  knew   him."      Here    again  the  dis- 
 tinction is  made  broad,  clear,  and  decided  be- 
 tween one  class  of  disease,  lunacy,  or  mania,  or 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.  359 
 
 any  other,  and  this  specific  class   of  suffering, 
 called  demoniacal  possession. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  the  language  of  our  Lord 
 on  the  occasion  of  his  casting  out  devils,  is  such 
 as  to  warrant  us  in  concluding  that  it  was  an 
 actual,  or  literal,  demoniacal  possession.    When 
 he    approached  the    person  that   was  possessed 
 with  a  demon  he  said,  "  Hold  thy  peace ;  "  and 
 again  he  said,  transferring  his  address  from  the 
 man  and  addressing  the  demon,  "  Come  out  of 
 him,  thou  unclean  spirit."    Now  such  an  address 
 to  a  mere  physical  disease  would  be  a  perfect 
 playing    upon  words;    and  if   we  believe  that 
 Jesus  ever  spoke  as  never  man  spoke,  we  must 
 conclude  that  there  was  a  reality  in  this,  and  that 
 he  did  not  merely  express  himself  in  a  figurative 
 manner.     But  Strauss,  and  some  of  those  who 
 see  myths  because  they  see  through  a  mist  in 
 every  page  of  the  word  of  God,  and  other  infi- 
 dels of  the  same  Rationalistic  school  in  Germany, 
 say  that  Jesus  accommodated  his  language  to  the 
 popular   and   prevailing  notions   of  the   people 
 among  whom    he    sojourned.      Were    my    esti- 
 mate of  Jesus  the  same  as  theirs,  I  could  perhaps 
 conceive  such  accommodation  at  least  possible ; 
 but  I  believe  that  Jesus  was  not  only  the  truth- 
 
•360  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 speaker,  but  the  truth  itself:  he  came  not  to 
 make  a  lie  the  basis  of  his  mission,  but  to  dis- 
 lodge the  lie,  and  destroy  it  by  the  application  of 
 truth.  He  came  to  put  an  end  to  all  deceptions, 
 to  all  hypocrisies,  to  all  falsehoods,  and  to  estab- 
 lish supreme  in  each  man's  heart,  and  ultimately 
 in  the  world  itself,  the  sovereignty  of  pure  truth 
 and  of  perfect  righteousness.  I  admit  that  we 
 sometimes  apply  a  word  that  means  something 
 very  different  in  its  first  application,  to  things  to 
 which  it  is  in  some  degree  now  inapplicable; 
 for  instance,  in  the  present  day  we  call  persons 
 who  are  deranged,  lunatics  ;  we  speak  of  a  luna- 
 tic asylum ;  we  use  the  term  lunacy.  The  origin 
 of  these  words  was  this  :  people  supposed  in  the 
 first  instance  that  the  moon  exercised  a  specific 
 power  over  certain  individuals,  and  they  became 
 lunatic,  moon-struck,  or  affected  by  the  moon. 
 We  now  know  better,  because  science  has  taught 
 us  better,  and  we  now  apply  the  word  lunacy 
 without  encouraging  deception  in  the  least  de- 
 gree, because  it  is  the  general  and  popular 
 word  for  mania,  or  derangement  of  the  mind. 
 But  if  I  were  to  go  further — mark  you  now, 
 here  is  the  point  of  distinction — and  try  to  cure  a 
 lunatic,  or  if  a  physician  were  to  try  to  cure  a  lu- 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUs'    FEET.  361 
 
 natic,  by  saying  to  him,  "  Thou  moon,  come  out 
 of  him,"  or,  "Moon,  cease  to  influence  him,"  then 
 there  would  be  there,  not  the  use  of  a  mere  word 
 that  has  become  stereotyped,  but  there  would  be 
 the  recognition  of  the  superstitious  notion  that  the 
 moon  did  influence  him,  and  that  he  was  under 
 the  sovereignty  and  dominion  of  that  planet. 
 But  our  Lord  applies  this  very  formula  and 
 process  of  speech  to  demoniacal  possessions  ;  and 
 this  alone  is  evidence  to  me  that  he  did  not  use 
 a  popular  name  by  which  to  delineate  a  well- 
 known,  painful,  but  common  disease,  but  that  he 
 spoke  to  demons  who  lodged  in  the  human  soul, 
 and  drove  that  soul  whither  they  would. 
 
 Now,  in  looking  at  the  demoniacs  who  are 
 spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament,  and  the  Gada- 
 rene  demoniac  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
 very  worst  cases  of  them  all,  I  may  notice  that 
 these  demoniacs  were  not  necessarily  or  in  every 
 instance  the  guiltiest  of  men,  but  they  were  in  all 
 instances  the  unhappiest  of  men.  Satan  entered 
 into  Judas,  and  he  betrayed  and  sold  his  Lord. 
 That  was  a  totally  different  possession.  Seven 
 demons  dwelt  in  Mary  Magdalene;  and  a  demon 
 dwelt  in  this  Gadarene  demoniac;  but  each  was  a 
 totally  distinct  state.    Though  the  real  demoniac 
 
862  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 may  have  been  guilty  of  what  opened  the  door 
 and  courted  the  inrush,  as  it  were,  of  these  evil 
 spirits,  yet  still  his  case  in  the  main  was  misfor- 
 tune— more  misfortune  than  it  was  crime.  It  is 
 also  remarkable  in  the  case  of  the  demoniacs,  that 
 there  was  a  groaning  under  the  tyranny  they  en- 
 dured. They  lifted  up  a  piercing  cry  continually 
 for  deliverance ;  and,  in  the  case  of  this  demo- 
 niac, there  was  not  only  this  cry  for  deliverance, 
 but  a  flinging  himself  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and 
 asking  that  Saviour  to  interpose  and  to  deliver 
 him.  In  other  words,  these  demoniacs  were 
 evidences  not  merely  of  Satan  acting  on  and  in- 
 fluencing the  human  heart  as  he  still  does,  and 
 as  he  always  has  done,  but  they  were  evidences 
 of  what  man  is  very  anxious  to  deny — that  Satan 
 had,  as  it  were,  burst  the  bands  with  which  we 
 confine  him ;  that  he  had  found,  not  a  moral  in- 
 fluence upon  the  heart,  but  an  actual  foot-hold 
 upon  the  earth  ;  that  he  had  already,  as  it  were, 
 got  within  his  grasp  one  or  two  unhappy  vic- 
 tims, evidences  of  what  he  would  do  if  he  only 
 could,  and  teaching  us  by  that  exhibition  Sa- 
 tan's energy  and  malignant  efforts  and  daring 
 every  where. 
 
 Again,  that  it  was  an  actual  demoniac  pos- 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS     FEET.        S6S 
 
 session  would  be  evident  from  this  fact  too,  that 
 there  seemed  to  have  been  two  wills  in  the  per- 
 son— the  will  of  the  victim,  and  the  will  of  the 
 spirit  driving  him  wherever  he  would.  The  best 
 exposition  of  it  is  the  counter-possession,  when 
 persons  were  possessed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the 
 apostolical  dispensation.  We  read  that  the  Spirit 
 spake  by  them  in  divers  tongues  as  the  Spirit 
 gave  them  utterance;  and  the  apostle  himself 
 says,  "  I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
 me."  There  was,  as  it  were,  the  will  of  the  in- 
 dividual acted  upon  by  the  will  of  the  Spirit,  and 
 in  special  miraculous  cases  the  Spirit  acted  inde- 
 pendent of,  and  even  contrary  to,  that  will. 
 
 Now,  the  question  will  be  asked  by  many  who 
 are  sceptical,  and  to  whom  this  reasoning  does 
 not- appear  so  conclusive  as  it  does  to  me,  "If 
 demoniac  possessions  were  in  those  days,  how  is 
 it  that  demoniac  possessions  are  not  now  ?"  The 
 best  way  to  answer  many  foolish  questions  that 
 very  foolish  men  often  put,  is  by  asking  them 
 another.  If  you  will  not  accept  facts,  because 
 you  cannot  solve  all  the  accompanying  diffi- 
 culties, you  will  have  to  live  a  life  of  perfect 
 Pyrrhonism,  of  absolute  scepticism.  Will  you 
 answer  me  how  it  is  that  epidemics  that  existed 
 
364  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 once  do  not  exist  now  ?  Will  yon  tell  me  why 
 it  is  that  the  last  epidemic,  the  cholera,  was  not 
 known  in  Europe,  (I  believe,)  or  in  India,  till 
 1817  ?  Will  you  tell  me  why  it  came  in  1832, 
 was  suspended,  and  then  came  in  1849?  It  will 
 be  time  enough  to  answer  why  demoniac  pos- 
 session is  not  now,  when  you  solve  many  other 
 mysteries  in  prophecy  and  providence  just  as  in- 
 scrutable as  this.  But  may  it  not  be  in  God's 
 permissive  providence  that  Satan  shall  have  a 
 manifestation  in  one  century  that  is  not  permit- 
 ted "to  him  in  another?  that  he  shall  show  his 
 malignity  in  one  formula  to-day,  and  exhibit  that 
 malignity  in  a  totally  distinct  formula  to-mor- 
 row ?  It  may  be  that  the  Satan  of  the  19th  cen- 
 tury, the  angel  of  light,  is  a  more  dangerous 
 demon  than  the  Satan  of  the  first  century,  driving 
 the  demoniac,  and  cutting  him,  and  impelling 
 him  whither  he  would. 
 
 There  may,  however,  perhaps  be  another  solu- 
 tion of  the  difficulty,  and  it  is  this,  that  just  before 
 Christ  came  into  the  world,  Satan's  sovereignty 
 had  reached  its  highest  pitch,  evil  had  attained, 
 if  I  may  so  speak,  its  culminating  point;  there 
 seems  to  have  arrived  (and  I  speak  from  the  tes- 
 timony of  heathen  writers,  as  well  as  from  the 
 
NATURE    SITTING   AT    JESUS'    FEET.         365 
 
 testimony  of  inspired  writers)  about  the  year  1, 
 a  state  of  things  so  terrible,  that,  judging  after 
 man's  judgment,  there  appeared  to  be  but  two 
 alternatives  left  for  God  :  either  to  crush  the 
 world  and  expunge  it  from  amid  the  shining 
 orbs  of  creation,  or  to  come  down  to  it,  redeem 
 it,  and  restore  it.  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways  ; 
 and  when  he  might  have  come  in  wrath  he  came 
 in  mercy.  Now,  if  it  be  true  that  the  world  was 
 in  that  terrible  state,  it  may  be  that  Satan  had 
 then  attained  his  most  terrible  and  expressive 
 development,  and  that  the  demoniac  possession, 
 which  was,  as  it  were,  the  highest  ground  he 
 had  reached  in  this  world,  subsided,  as  Satan's 
 power  subsided,  after  the  cry  was  heard,  "  It  is 
 finished,"  and  the  Spirit  descended  on  the  day 
 of  Pentecost. 
 
 I  know  some  will  start  in  the  midst  of  all 
 this  another  difficulty — Why  does  God  suffer 
 it  to  be  so  ?  The  answer  to  that  difficulty  is, 
 that  we  know  little  why  evil  was  introduced, 
 we  know  not  why  evil  is  continued,  and  we 
 know  still  less  of  the  great  and  ultimate  ob- 
 jects which  are  triumphantly  to  evolve  from  its 
 presence  and  its  permission  :  this  we  know,  how- 
 ever, that  evil  is  not  eternal,  as  the  old  Maui- 
 
366  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 cheans  maintained ;  and  we  believe,  too,  that  evil 
 is  not  unripe  good,  as  the  present  Pantheists  main- 
 tain— one  of  the  latest  and  absurdest  notions  in 
 the  world.  Emerson,  and  some  of  his  school,  al- 
 lege that  evil,  or  sin,  murder,  adultery,  theft, 
 are  unripe  honesty,  unripe  goodness,  unripe  jus- 
 tice, and  unripe  truth;  as  if  (strange  !)  a  sour, 
 poisonous  fruit  could,  by  sunshine  and  sunbeams, 
 become  a  delicious  and  a  nutritive  one.  The 
 thing  is  absurd ;  we  do  not  believe  in  either  of 
 these  things ;  but  this  we  do  believe,  that  sin  is 
 in  the  creature,  and  that  God  is  determined  to 
 expunge  and  utterly  destroy  it ;  but  then  he  is 
 determined  to  do  so,  not  by  an  act  of  omnipo- 
 tence, which  would  not  be  victory ;  but  by  truth, 
 by  love,  by  the  manifestation  of  his  own  mind 
 and  will,  and  through  the  instrumentality  of  his 
 own  chosen  and  redeemed  people.  We  know 
 that  sin  will  be  vanquished,  and  Satan  too ;  but 
 neither  will  be  vanquished  by  a  stroke  of  omni- 
 potence, but  by  the  penetrating,  persistent, 
 gentle  power  of  love  in  men's  hearts,  and  the 
 truth  in  men's  heads. 
 
 Another  reason  why  we  may  deem  demoniacal 
 possessions  to  have  ceased,  if  they  have  ceased — 
 and  I  am  supposing  that  they  have  ceased,  though 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS     FEET.         367 
 
 some    doubt   and    question   this  —  may  be   the 
 universally  admitted  and  actual  fact,  that  Satan, 
 however    powerful    at    our    Redeemer's    birth, 
 yet    by   our   Redeemer's     atonement    received 
 a   blow   from  which    he  has   never  recovered. 
 Our    Lord   himself   says,    "  I    saw    Satan   like 
 lightning  fall  from  heaven,"  which  would  seem 
 to  indicate  a  dethronement,  or  a  subordination 
 which    he    had   not   before.       And    there    re- 
 mains this  fact,  too — whatever  God  does  in  the 
 world,   Satan  always    gets    up   something   very 
 like  it,  because  his  hope  of  progress  is  by  de- 
 ception.    We    may   quote    the    miracles   of  the 
 magicians  of  Egypt :    Satan  got  up  his  miracles 
 too,  perhaps  real  miracles,  at  least  supernatural 
 ones.     When  there  were  true  prophets,  Satan 
 had  his  company  of  prophets  too.     When  God 
 was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  which  was  one  thou- 
 sand eight  hundred   and   fifty-one    years    ago, 
 Satan  was  manifest  in  the  flesh  too :  he  got  up 
 a  mimicry  of  it — demoniacal  possessions.     We 
 find  the  same  fact  now-a-days  ;  for  as  God  mani- 
 fest in  the  flesh  was  the  truth  that  seems  to  have 
 struck    Satan    down,   so   the  preaching  of  this 
 truth  strikes  down  Satan  still.    Rhennius  had  the 
 idea  that  among  many  of  the  Indians  there  is 
 
368  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 something  approaching  to  demoniac  possessions. 
 And  missionaries   declare  that  they  sometimes 
 find    manifested    among   the   heathen,    the    un- 
 converted savages  of  the  desert,  a  power  that 
 is  all  but  super-human;   so  that  whenever  the 
 gospel  is   preached  in  heathen  lands,  there  is 
 always  a  desperate  effort  to  crush  and  to  extin- 
 guish it.     And  who  knows,  but  that  in  some  of 
 our  lunatic  asylums  (though  I  would  not  dare 
 to  say  that  this  or  that  lunatic  is  demoniacally 
 possessed)  there  may  be  still  actual  demoniac 
 possessions  ?     I    have    seen    a   lunatic   asylum ; 
 and  of  all   sights  it  is,  I  think,   the  most  hu- 
 miliating and  terrible.     I  could  look  upon  the 
 battle-field  covered  with  the  mangled  dead,  but 
 the  cells  and  inmates  of  a  lunatic  asylum  pre- 
 sent the   most  painful,  humbling,  and  all  but 
 intolerable  sight  it  was  ever  my  lot  to  gaze  upon. 
 The  body  in  its  worst   ruin  is   nothing  to  the 
 awful  wreck  of  that  more  glorious  intellectual 
 life  which  God  gave  to  man.     And   yet  these 
 lunatics  may  be  far  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
 than  many  a  wiser  man.     They  may  have  been 
 Christians  before  they  lost  their  responsibility ; 
 their   madness    may   be    their   misfortune,    not 
 crime ;  chastisement,  not  penalty;  many  of  these 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         369 
 
 may  shine  like  the  brightness  of  the  stars  for 
 ever,  when  others,  who  have  turned  the  wisdom 
 that  God  has  spared  them  to  unwise  and  guilty 
 purposes,  shall  be  condemned  to  eternal  woe. 
 
 Thus,  then,  we  have  stated  a  few  reasons  for 
 supposing  that   demoniac  possession  may  have 
 ceased,  and  some  reasons  for  believing  it  may 
 still  continue.       My  opinion  of  the   church  of 
 Rome  is,  that  it  is  one  colossal   demoniac  pos- 
 session.     I  know  that  certain  men  look  on  it 
 merely  as  a  corrupt  church,  a  church  a  little 
 astray.  I  am  not  denying  that  there  are  good  men 
 in  that  church  in  spite  of  it ;  but  this  I  do  say, 
 and  persist  in,  that  the  system  seems  to  me  one 
 huge  demoniacal  possession,  where  Satan  has  his 
 licence  and  his  miracles.     I  believe  that  many  of 
 the  miracles  wrought  by  priests  in  the  middle 
 ages  were  supernatural,  or  infranatural  rather. 
 Whenever    I    hear    a    priest    say,  "  We    have 
 wrought  miracles,"  I  admit  it.     I  say,  "  Cer- 
 tainly you  have.     I  do  not  doubt  it.     If  you  had 
 not  done  them,  you  would  have  lost  one  of  the 
 brands  by  which  your  church  is  distinguished." 
 I  believe  that  that  system  of  apostacy  is  just  the 
 counterpart  to  the  true  church ;  and  no  man  can 
 fail  to  notice,  throughout  the  book  of  Revelation, 
 
 2    B 
 
370  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 how  the  two  great  opposing  bodies  are,  the 
 Lamb,  and  the  wife  of  the  Lamb,  and  they  that 
 are  his,  and  the  "  beast "  of  the  apostacy,  and 
 they  that  belong  to  him  and  are  his. 
 
 But  I  pass  on  to  notice  the  special  and  indi- 
 vidual portrait  that  is  sketched  in  the  chapter  on 
 which  I  am  now  lecturing.  He  was  one  spe- 
 cimen of  demoniacal  possession — the  most  awful 
 perhaps  that  we  can  well  imagine.  It  appears 
 that  he  dwelt  in  the  tombs.  This  seems  all  mys- 
 tery to  us,  because,  professing  to  have  advanced 
 in  civilization,  and  having  our  graves  six  feet  in 
 the  earth,  and  in  the  midst  of  our  very  houses,  in 
 order  to  keep  up  incessant  typhus  and  cholera 
 among  us,  we  fancy  immediately,  when  we  read 
 of  a  man  among  the  tombs,  that  it  must  be 
 among  those  green  hillocks  that  we  see  in  our 
 neighbourhood,  some  of  which  so  many  paro- 
 chial authorities  are  resolved  to  retain  as  en- 
 closures, because,  I  presume,  they  must  enjoy 
 them.  But  in  these  countries  it  was  not  so. 
 The  Jews  had  no  such  things  as  intramural 
 interments.  There  were  no  such  thing  suffered 
 in  a  single  city,  as  the  dead  piled  up  among  the 
 living  :  and  bad  as  were  the  Athenians,  Romans, 
 and  Greeks,  thev  knew  of  no  such  habit.     And 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         371 
 
 yet  we  say,  This  is  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
 we  have  great  light.  We  ought  to  learn  that,  as 
 long  as  such  things  are  suffered,  we  shall  have 
 plenty  of  pestilence  and  disease  to  testify  against 
 us.  But  in  the  countries  of  the  East,  and  in  Ju- 
 dea,  it  was  altogether  different.  They  had  their 
 graves  far  distant  from  the  city ;  so  that  when 
 the  demoniac  is  represented  as  running  among 
 the  graves,  he  appears  to  be  among  the  moun- 
 tains, and  for  the  reason  that  they  had  for  burial- 
 places  immense  cavities  cut  into  the  rock,  deep 
 recesses  in  which  the  dead  were  buried,  and  into 
 some  of  which  such  a  person  as  the  demoniac 
 of  Gadara  might  enter.  Burckhardt,  a  recent  tra- 
 veller, states,  that  near  Gadara,  at  the  present 
 day,  there  are  vast  tombs  of  gigantic  capacity, 
 which  have  evidently  been  used  for  the  burial  of 
 the  dead ;  and  this  poor  creature,  like  a  spirit 
 cut  off  from  his  kind,  crept  about  these  tombs, 
 and  felt  his  only  congenial  habitation  to  be,  as  it 
 were,  among  the  dead,  and  there,  in  the  language 
 of  the  passage  I  have  read,  cut  and  wounded 
 himself,  and  howled  among  the  mountains.  It 
 is  very  remarkable  to  notice  the  contrast  in  his 
 character.  It  seems  that  the  evil  spirit  held, 
 and  drove,  and  impelled  him  where  he  would 
 
 2  b  2 
 
872  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 not.  You  can  see  in  the  man  a  human  con- 
 sciousness, indicating  unextinguished  human 
 sensibilities,  which  led  him  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  ; 
 and  you  can  see,  overpowering  this  human  will, 
 this  personal  consciousness,  some  terrible  demo- 
 niac power,  crying  out  from  his  bosom  to  Jesus, 
 "  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God  that  thou  let 
 us  alone."  You  can  see,  as  it  were,  two  natures 
 in  the  man,  the  human  in  its  agony,  groaning  to 
 be  delivered,  and  the  fiendish  in  its  depravity, 
 imploring  to  be  let  alone. 
 
 And  there  is  something,  too,  remarkable  in 
 this,  that  the  evil  spirit,  as  it  is  recorded  in  an- 
 other Gospel,  says,  iS  Art  thou  come  to  torment 
 us  before  the  time  ?  "  "  Before  the  time  " — how 
 remarkable  is  that  expression !  The  very  demons 
 believed  the  prophecy  that  had  sounded  in  their 
 hearing  for  four  thousand  years ;  they  knew  that 
 they  were  kept  in  chains  till  the  judgment  of  the 
 great  day ;  they  believed  that  the  earth  would 
 be  disentangled  and  disinfected  of  their  horrible 
 and  malignant  presence  ;  and  the  very  prayer 
 that  these  demons  uttered  implied  that  their 
 greatest  torment  was  being  in  their  own  place. 
 "  Art  thou  come  here  to  torment  us  ? "  How 
 torment  them  ?     By  casting  them    out   of  this 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         373 
 
 man  ?  That  is  not  torment.  It  was  sending 
 them  to  their  own  place.  Satan's  only  joy  is 
 his  success  in  seducing  and  destroying  others, 
 and  the  greatest  torment  that  Satan  feels  is  where 
 he  meets  with  the  greatest  resistance.  The  only 
 fresh  air  he  breathes,  the  only  sweet  scenes  he 
 witnesses,  are  when  he  has  a  foot-hold  on  earth 
 and  a  prospect  of  getting  a  broader,  wider,  and 
 firmer  one ;  and  never  "does  he  feel  his  torment 
 reach  its  greatest  acme  until  he  is  sent  to  his 
 own  place,  and  driven  from  among  men.  What 
 a  terrible  idea  of  torment  this  gives  !  That  one 
 should  deprecate  his  home  as  his  punishment 
 is  a  very  awful  feature  ;  and  that  the  demons 
 should  deprecate  their  own  place  as  being  the 
 site,  the  scene,  and  the  source  of  their  intensest 
 agony,  gives  a  picture  of  what  they  are,  and 
 where  their  fall  has  plunged  them,  very  dark 
 and  terrible  indeed. 
 
 It  appears  that  when  Jesus  drew  near  to  the 
 man,  he  was  not  delivered  of  the  demons  in- 
 stantly, but  underwent  a  tremendous  paroxysm 
 of  suffering  and  distress.  Why  it  was  so,  we 
 know  not.  Whether  it  was  to  make  the  thing 
 more  apparent,  we  know  not.  Jesus  asks  the 
 poor  demoniac  his  name.     There  is  something 
 
374  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 beautiful  in  this.  When  we  approach  an  excited 
 man  with  some  quiet,  gentle  word,  or  approach 
 a  man  walking  in  a  dream  and  just  breathe  to 
 him  his  name,'  the  spell  is  broken,  and  he  listens, 
 and  is  restored  to  his  mind.  Our  Lord  seems, 
 in  the  exercise  of  that  sublime  philosophy  which 
 he  alone  knew,  just  to  have  breathed  the  man's 
 name — simply  to  have  asked  the  man  his  name. 
 The  poor  man's  answer*  would  have  been,  A, 
 or  B,  or  C,  John,  or  Peter,  or  whatever  it 
 was ;  but  the  evil  spirits  repress  the  answer 
 of  the  man,  and  they  shout,  as  it  were,  in  the 
 earnestness  of  triumph,  "  We  are  legion."  A 
 legion  in  the  Roman  army  consisted  of  six 
 thousand  persons,  three  thousand  horse  and 
 three  thousand  foot.  And  why  do  they  say  so 
 to  Jesus  ?  It  was  because  they  wished  to  inti- 
 midate him,  as  though  they  had  said,  "  Don't 
 meddle  with  us :  if  you  do  we  are  more  than  a 
 match  for  you.  You  will  find  that  we  are  not 
 one  that  you  can  easily  crush,  but  a  mighty  mul- 
 titude, that  will  rush  upon  you  and  destroy  you 
 also." 
 
 We  read  that  the  evil  spirits  prayed  that,  if 
 let  loose,  (this  is  related  in  the  parallel  passage 
 in  Luke  viii.  31,)  they  might  not  be  driven  out 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         375 
 
 into  the  deep.  It  is,  and  ought  to  be  translated, 
 (i  into  the  abyss."  And  then  they  besought  him 
 to  let  them  go  into  a  herd  of  swine.  Now  there 
 has  been  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  expressed,  and 
 a  great  deal  of  scoffing  uttered  about  this  very 
 thing.  The  speaking  of  the  ass  of  Balaam  in 
 the  Old  Testament,  and  the  rushing  into  the  sea 
 of  the  demoniacally  possessed  swine  in  the  New 
 Testament,  have  been  standing  gibes  for  silly 
 infidels  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries.  But 
 just  Jet  us  study  it,  and  we  shall  see,  that  if 
 sceptics  would  think  more  and  read  more,  and 
 be  less  partial,  they  would  see  justice,  truth, 
 harmony,  beauty,  where  now  they  can  see 
 nothing. 
 
 In  the  first  place,  it  seems  to  us  a  mystery 
 that  Christ  should  answer  the  prayer  of  the  de- 
 mons at  all.  Sometimes  he  does  not  answer  his 
 own  people ;  and  to  such  it  will  appear  a  mys- 
 tery that  he  should  answer  the  demons'  prayer. 
 But  the  answering  of  that  prayer  was  in  this 
 case,  as  the  granting  of  prayer  has  been  in  other 
 cases,  the  greatest  possible  calamity.  I  some- 
 times think,  God  shows  greater  love  to  us  in  re- 
 fusing to  answer  our  prayers — many  prayers  that 
 
0  i  b  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 we  offer — than  in  giving  us  the  answers  that  we 
 demand. 
 
 Jesus  gave  them  permission.  He  did  not 
 command  the  demons  to  go  into  the  herd  of 
 swine,  but  permitted  them  to  do  so.     However, 
 
 1  do  not  lay  stress  upon  that.  If  there  is  any 
 other  way  of  disposing  of  them,  why  let  the  de- 
 mons take  possession  of  the  swine,  and  why  let 
 the  swine  be  thus  destroyed  ?  First,  if  in  any 
 way  the  destruction  of  the  brute  can  contribute 
 to  the  good,  or  the  support,  or  the  instruction,  or 
 the  progress  of  man,  it  was  only  the  exemplifi- 
 cation of  a  fact  that  occurs  every  day.  If  the 
 Lord,  that  made  all  things  and  made  these  swine, 
 could  do  man  good,  morally,  physically,  or  other- 
 wise, by  their  destruction,  he  only  did  then  and 
 in  that  act  what  is  done  every  day  when  the  in- 
 nocent lamb,  the  unoffending  bird,  the  patient 
 ox,  are  slaughtered  for  man's  nutriment.  But,  in 
 the  second  place,  such  a  transition  to  the  swine 
 may  have  been  to  give  the  poor  demoniac  a  more 
 clear  and  conclusive  evidence  that  he  was  de- 
 livered from  the  demon.  We  have  a  parallel 
 case  to  this  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites.  When 
 they  crossed  the  Red  Sea  they  would  not  believe 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         377 
 
 that  they  were  delivered  from  their  pursuers,  un- 
 til they  were  permitted  to  see  the  dead  bodies  of 
 their  enemies  high  and  dry  upon  the  beach. 
 And  so  here  it  may  have  been  in  condescending 
 love  to  him  who  had  been  a  most  unequalled 
 sufferer,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  permitted  him  to 
 see  the  utter  destruction  of  the  swine,  that  he 
 might  be  satisfied  that  he  was  thus  cured,  and 
 might  fear  no  more. 
 
 But  some  will  say,  "  Was  it  not  a  very  great 
 loss  to  the  owners  of  these  swine  to  destroy  two 
 thousand  of  them,  who,  apparently,  had  done  our 
 Lord  or  done  the  demoniac  no  harm  at  all  ?"  I 
 answer,  is  it  a  loss  very  unusual  or  very  strange  ? 
 Was  it  not  an  unjust  thing  in  God  to  send  the 
 potato  disease  and  create  famine  in  Ireland  ? 
 And  was  it  not  a  very  unjust  thing  to  send  mur- 
 rain among  the  sheep  and  oxen  the  other  year, 
 and  destroy  whole  flocks  and  herds  ?  Yet  if 
 you  did  not  complain  of  God  in  his  providence 
 doing  this,  why  do  you  complain  of  God,  as  re- 
 corded in  the  page  of  the  Gospel,  doing  on  a  less 
 scale,  and  with  less  disastrous  effects,  one  and  the 
 very  same  thing  ?  But  there  was  more  than  this. 
 The  cure  of  the  demoniac  was  made  only  the 
 more  remarkable  because  it  was  associated  with 
 
378  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  chastisement  and  punishment  of  them  that 
 deserved  it.  These  swine  were  kept  by  Jews, — 
 Jewish  proprietors, — and  these  Jewish  proprie- 
 tors employed  the  Gadarenes  to  do  what  they 
 themselves  held  to  be  unlawful,  as  it  is  said  of 
 Jews  still,  that  they  will  feed  their  servants  on 
 food  that  they  would  not  eat  themselves,  and  com- 
 mand them  to  do  things  on  their  sabbath,  and, 
 because  they  do  not  put  a  finger  of  their  own  to 
 them,  think  that  they  escape  the  sin  of  profan- 
 ing what  they  call  the  true  sabbath.  Well,  these 
 Jewish  proprietors  employed  these  Gadarenes  to 
 keep   their  swine.     The  Gadarene   swine-herds 
 were  paid  their  wages,  and  the  Jewish  proprie- 
 tors pocketed  the  results.       It  was  against  the 
 law  of  Moses  to  keep  such  swine,  and  these  men 
 that  thus  kept  them  knowingly  sinned  and  of- 
 fended against  the   express   injunctions  of  that 
 law  which  they  had  promised  strictly  and  rigidly 
 to  obey ;  and  thus  they  were  punished  for  their 
 conduct  in  neglecting  plain  duties  in  order  to 
 indulge   in    gross   avarice.     But,   alas,  there   is 
 much  of  the  avaricious  Jew  still  in  many  a  Lon- 
 don landlord.     They  grieve  more  that  the  mur- 
 rain should  cut  off  their  sheep,  their  swine,  and 
 their  cattle,  than  that  cholera  and  typhus  fever, 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUs'    FEET.         379 
 
 conducted  by  the  filthy  channels  which  their 
 avarice  has  left,  should  cut  off  whole  families  and 
 depopulate  whole  neighbourhoods.  And  the 
 reason  is  this  : — when  the  pestilence  has  emptied 
 their  lodgings,  their  lodgings  will  let  again ;  but 
 when  the  disease  has  cut  off  their  swine,  they 
 cannot  recall  the  swine  to  life  again.  It  is  the 
 loss  they  sustain,  and  not  the  humanity  they 
 feel,  that  thus  actuates  and  guides  them. 
 
 The  rush  of  the  swine  into  the  sea,  however, 
 teaches  us  another  lesson,  and  it  is  perhaps  a 
 lesson  of  some  importance.  We  always  suppose 
 that  Satan  and  the  evil  spirits  have  a  foot-hold 
 only  in  rational  beings  ;  but  it  is  not  impossible, 
 nor  improbable,  that  Satan  and  Satanic  influ- 
 ences may  be  in  the  brute  creation  also.  My 
 first  reason  is  what  the  apostle  advances  when  he 
 says,  that  "  the  whole  creation  [I  believe  that  to 
 be  the  brute  creation  and  the  material  universe] 
 groans  and  travails  in  pain  even  until  now,  wait- 
 ing to  be  delivered."  Why  groan?  Because 
 Satan  bestrides  them.  Why  in  pain,  and  crying 
 for  deliverance  ?  Because  it  is  demoniacally  pos- 
 sessed. Whether  God  permits,  commands,  or 
 restrains  the  tempest,  or  the  demon  may  ride 
 the  winds    or  lash  the  waves,  it  may  do  very 
 
380  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 well  for  a  material  philosophy  to  dispute ;  but 
 they  that  know  that   Satan's    outer  world  and 
 our  inner  world  are  at  certain  parts  interlaced 
 and  intermingled,  will  not   be  the  first  to  dis- 
 pute.    But  do  we  not  now,  to  take  a  parallel 
 case — and  a  German  writer  advances  this  very 
 fact  —  find    animals   receptive   of  human   influ- 
 ence ?     Let  the  rider  sit  firm  upon  his  horse, 
 and   the  animal  will  feel  the  influence,  and  be 
 full  of  heroism,  he  will  rear  himself  and  sym- 
 pathize with  him,  he  will  brave  every  danger 
 and  prance  heroically.     But  let  the  rider,  on  the 
 other  hand,  be  timid,  fearful,  and  paralysed,  and 
 the  very  horse  himself  seems  to  lose  his  courage 
 and  his  mettle,  and  to  sympathize  with  his  rider 
 in  his  fears.     Have  you  not  noticed  that  the  dog- 
 will   almost    echo    your   lamentations,  and  that 
 when  your  face  is  bright  with  smiles,  the  poor 
 brute  will  almost  reflect  them  ?    What  is  this, 
 but  proving  that  the  brute  creation  is  receptive 
 of  human  influence  ?     And   why  may  we   not 
 conclude  that  the  brute  creation  may  be  recep- 
 tive of  the  demoniac  influence  too  ?     Thus,  as 
 the  apostle  says  in  Romans  viii.,  creation,  when 
 it  groans,  may  do  so  because  it  is  conscious  of  an 
 intrusive   element  from  beneath — a  demoniacal 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.  381 
 
 possession    that    influences,    guides,    and    con- 
 trols it. 
 
 Another  fact  we  may  notice  here.     It  is,  how 
 completely  the  wicked  often  outwit  themselves  ! 
 Satan  has  blundered  often  in  his  dealings  dur- 
 ing the  last  eighteen  hundred  years ;    and  this 
 shows    that,  malignant  as  he   is,  he  is  not  in- 
 fallible.    These  demons  thought  they  had  got  a 
 grand  concession  when  they  prayed  that  they 
 might  be  aUowed  to  enter  into  the  swine ;   but 
 that  concession  was  only  precipitating  them  more 
 speedily  into  that  abyss  which  they  deprecated 
 as  the  place  of  their  torment. 
 
 We  read  that  the  Gadarenes  also  presented  a 
 petition   to  Christ:  and  what  is  that  petition? 
 Mysterious  fact!  strange,  startling,  painful  fact! 
 That  men  that  saw  such  a  triumphant  thing  as 
 the  demoniac  healed,  clothed,  and  in  his  right 
 mind,  should  call  upon  and  beseech  the  Divine 
 messenger  that  made  him  so,  to  leave  their  coasts 
 just  as  quickly  as  he  could— how  inexcusably 
 criminal  must  they  have  been  !  And  yet,  even  in 
 this  land,  it  is  possible  for  us   to  imitate  their 
 example.      Do  we  not  act  in  some  such  way,  or 
 rather,  may  we  not  act  in  some  such  way,  when 
 we  say,  «  See  what  Christianity  has  done  ;    how 
 
382  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 it  has  transfigured  with  a  celestial  glory  every 
 land  it  has  touched,  indicating  by  the  trail  of 
 light  and  beauty  and  happiness  in  its  path,  that 
 it  is  the  ambassadress  of  God,  and  the  bene- 
 factress of  the  earth ;"  and  yet — what  I  trust  we 
 never  shall  be  permitted  to  do — look  into  the 
 face  of  Christianity,  that  fair  face  the  sabbath, 
 which  shines  so  brightly  on  the  benighted,  which 
 radiates  mercy  upon  the  down-trodden,  and 
 gives  joy  to  the  sorrowful,  and  say  to  it,  "  De- 
 part from  our  coasts  ! "  Our  merchants  would 
 not  be  enriched  by  the  loss  of  the  sabbath; 
 our  land  would  not  be  elevated  by  its  surrender. 
 It  is  that  beautiful  respite  which  restores  us,  so 
 that  the  Christian  touches  heaven  every  sabbath, 
 as  Artseus  of  old  touched  the  earth,  and  gets  new 
 strength  and  vigour  for  the  duties  and  sacrifices 
 of  the  week. 
 
 And  let  me  say,  the  demoniac  wandering 
 amid  the  tombs,  cutting  himself,  howling  amid 
 the  mountains,  torn  by  demons,  is  only  the  meet 
 type  of  that  Sabbathless  land  across  the  Channel, 
 which  is  ever  restless,  ever  complaining,  ever 
 howling  some  new  shout ;  but,  unlike  the  de- 
 moniac, never  fleeing  to  Jesus  for  deliverance 
 and  for    safety.     Contrast  with  it  this  land  of 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         883 
 
 ours,  with  all  its  faults,  with  all  its  defects,  its 
 sins,  and  its  deficiencies ;  a  land  overshadow- 
 ing with  its  wings  almost  the  four  quarters  of 
 the  globe  ;  a  land  that  spreads  its  sail  to  every 
 breeze,  and  drops  its  anchor  on  every  strand; 
 the  home  of  exiles,  the  asylum  of  the  persecuted, 
 where  even  the  Hungarian  Bern  might  come  and 
 find  a  shelter,  without  the  necessity  of  changing 
 his  faith  and  taking  ours ;  where  Turk,  Moham- 
 medan, Mussulman,  Hungarian,  and  Russian, 
 may  come  and  find  peace  ;  a  land  whose  acres 
 are  dotted  with  temples  as  with  stars,  and  from 
 whose  homes  and  hearths  there  ascends  every 
 where  increasingly  the  song  of  praise  ;  and  where 
 all  men,  blessed  be  God,  may  have,  and  I  hope 
 ever  will  have  while  it  lasts,  a  sabbath  rest  and 
 a  sabbath  repose.  I  ask,  my  dear  friends,  if  you 
 find  not  in  the  demoniac,  clothed,  restored,  and 
 in  his  right  mind,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  the 
 very  type  of  our  land,  enjoying  its  sabbaths, 
 thus  blessed,  thus  mighty.  And  what  has  made 
 it  so  ?  Who  has  made  us  to  differ  ?  Only  the 
 Son  of  God,  through  his  Bible,  which  is  his  will, 
 through  his  sabbath,  which  is  his  witness,  through 
 the  gospel,  which  is  his  voice.  Perish  all 
 England's  swine  together,  but  let  her  sabbaths 
 
o84  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 still  shine.  Let  all  depart  from  our  coasts,  but, 
 in  the  language  of  the  disciples  going  to  Em- 
 maus,  "  Blessed  Master,  abide  with  us  even  unto 
 the  end."     Amen. 
 
LECTURE  XIV. 
 
 NATURE    SITTING   AT    THE    FEET    OF    JESUS. 
 
 And  they  arrived  at  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes,  which  is 
 over  against  Galilee.  And  when  he  went  forth  to  land,  there 
 met  him  out  of  the  city  a  certain  man,  which  had  devils  long 
 time,  and  ware  no  clothes,  neither  abode  in  any  house,  but  in 
 the  tombs.  When  he  saw  Jesus,  he  cried  out,  and  fell  down 
 before  him,  and  with  a  loud  voice  said,  What  have  I  to  do 
 with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  God  most  high?  I  beseech  thee, 
 torment  me  not.  (For  he  had  commanded  the  unclean  spirit 
 to  come  out  of  the  man.  For  oftentimes  it  had  caught  him  : 
 and  he  was  kept  bound  with  chains  and  in  fetters ;  and  he 
 brake  the  bands,  and  was  driven  of  the  devil  into  the  wilder- 
 ness.) And  Jesus  asked  him,  saying,  What  is  thy  name  ? 
 And  he  said,  Legion  :  because  many  devils  were  entered  into 
 him.  And  they  besought  him  that  he  would  not  command 
 them  to  go  out  into  the  deep.  And  there  was  there  an  herd 
 of  many  swine  feeding  on  the  mountain  :  and  they  besought 
 him  that  he  would  suffer  them  to  enter  into  them.  And  he 
 suffered  them.  Then  went  the  devils  out  of  the  man,  and 
 entered  into  the  swine :  and  the  herd  ran  violently  down  a 
 steep  place  into  the  lake,  and  were  choked.  When  they  that 
 fed  them  saw  what  was  done,  they  fled,  and  went  and  told 
 it  in  the  city  and  in  the  country.  Then  they  went  out  to  see 
 what  was  done ;  and  came  to  Jesus,  and  found  the  man,  out 
 of  whom  the  devils  were  departed,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
 clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind  :  and  they  were  afraid.  They 
 also  which  saw  it  told  them  by  what  means  he  that  was  pos- 
 
 2  c 
 
386  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 sessed  of  the  devils  was  healed.  Then  the  whole  multitude 
 of  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes  round  about  besought  him  to 
 depart  from  them  ;  for  they  were  taken  with  great  fear  :  and 
 he  went  up  into  the  ship,  and  returned  back  again.  Now 
 the  man  out  of  whom  the  devils  were  departed  besought  him 
 that  he  might  be  with  him  :  but  Jesus  sent  him  away,  say- 
 ing, Return  to  thine  own  house,  and  show  how  great  things 
 God  hath  done  for  thee.  And  he  went  his  way,  and  pub- 
 lished throughout  the  whole  city  how  great  things  Jesus  had 
 done  unto  him. — Luke  viii.  26 — 39. 
 
 The  passage  which  is  parallel  to  this,  and  which 
 contains  in  substance  the  same  sentiment,  in 
 words  little  different,  is  in  Mark  v.,  where  we 
 read,  "  And  they  come  to  Jesus,  and  see  him 
 that  was  possessed  with  a  devil,  and  had  the 
 legion,  sitting,  and  clothed,  and  in  his  right 
 mind  :  and  they  were  afraid.  And  when  Jesus 
 was  come  into  the  ship,  he  that  had  been  pos- 
 sessed with  the  devil  prayed  him  that  he  might 
 be  with  him.  Howbeit  Jesus  suffered  him  not, 
 but  saith  unto  him,  Go  home  to  thy  friends,  and 
 tell  them  how  great  things  the  Lord  hath  done 
 for  thee,  and  hath  had  compassion  on  thee.  And 
 he  departed,  and  began  to  publish  in  Decapolis 
 [that  is,  in  the  city]  how  great  things  Jesus  had 
 done  for  him  :  and  all  men  did  marvel." 
 
 In   my   last    lecture    I    described   at   length 
 the  historical  portion  of  the  very  remarkable, 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         387 
 
 and,  in  some  respects,  difficult  miracle,  trie  re- 
 cord of  which.  I  have  now  read.  I  do  not  here 
 recapitulate,  but  proceed  to  notice  two  grand 
 features  in  the  close  of  the  parable :  first,  the 
 position  in  which  the  man  was  found ;  and,  se- 
 condly, the  duty  which  our  Lord  devolved  upon 
 him. 
 
 The  position  in  which  he  was  found,  we  are 
 told,  was  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  clothed, 
 and  in  his  right  mind.  How  interesting  is  this 
 spectacle  !  how  appropriate  the  seat  selected  by 
 the  recovered  demoniac !  It  was  the  place  of 
 nearness  to  Jesus,  and  intimate  communion  with 
 him.  From  that  blessed  source  he  had  received  a 
 great  and  unspeakable  blessing,  and  to  that  Lord 
 his  love  and  gratitude  taught  him  to  cling  and 
 cleave  closer  and  closer.  Perhaps  he  selected 
 this  place  also  as  the  site  of  safety.  The  man 
 feared  that  there  might  be  a  return  of  the  evil 
 spirits  that  had  departed  from  him,  and  there- 
 fore he  sat  near  to  him  who  alone  was  mighty  to 
 exorcise  them,  and  in  whose  presence  alone  he 
 thought  he  would  be  able  to  prevent  their  ulti- 
 mate return.  Or  perhaps  his  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
 Jesus  may  denote  that,  having  been  delivered 
 from  the  grievous  curse  under  which  he  groaned, 
 
 2  c  2 
 
388  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 he  may  have  now  been  seeking  that  instruction 
 which  was  requisite  to  guide  and  to  direct  him. 
 I  need  not  say  that  sitting  at  the  feet  of  one  is  a 
 Scripture  phrase  for  becoming  a  pupil  or  scholar 
 to  one.  Thus,  we  read  that  God  called  Abraham 
 to  his  feet — that  is,  placed  Abraham  in  the  posi- 
 tion and  relation  of  a  pupil  to  be  instructed  by 
 God,  the  great  Teacher  of  his  family.  Thus,  we 
 read  that  Saul  was  brought  up  at  the  feet  of 
 Gamaliel — that  is,  was  taught  by  him.  Mary  sat 
 at  the  feet  of  Jesus — that  is,  listened  to  him,  and 
 learned  from  his  lips  new  lessons  of  love,  respon- 
 sibility, and  duty.  Thus  the  recovered  Gadarene 
 sat  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  seeking,  no  doubt,  to  be 
 instructed  by  him.  And  so  far  he  is  a  precedent 
 for  us.  If  we  have  felt  the  power  of  Christ  as 
 our  Deliverer  from  condemnation,  our  very  first 
 duty  is  to  draw  near  to  him  and  ask  him  to  be 
 our  Teacher  also.  We  need  not  only  emancipation 
 from  the  curse  of  sin  by  his  most  precious  blood, 
 but  also  direction,  teaching,  instruction,  line 
 upon  line,  from  his  holy  and  sacred  lips.  And 
 if  we  go  to  him,  he  will  teach  us  to  count  all  but 
 loss  for  the  excellency  of  him  who  has  saved  us 
 with  a  hi^h  hand  and  an  outstretched  arm  ;  to 
 prefer  a  day  in  his  courts  to  a  thousand  in  the 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         389 
 
 gates  of  sin ;  to  leave  all  we  love,  and  brave  all 
 we  dread,  and  follow  him ;  he  will  teach  us  to 
 rest  in  him,  and  wait  patiently  for  him,  in  all 
 time  of  our  tribulation  ;  to  do  justly,  and  to  love 
 mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  our  God. 
 
 What  occurred  in  the  case  of  the  demoniac  is 
 only  a  foreshadow  of  what  will  take  place  in  the 
 state  of  all  creation.  The  author  of  that  power 
 which  racks  the  earth  is  Satan,  the  great  usurper  ; 
 the  cause  of  atrocious  crimes,  the  source  of 
 many  an  evil,  unholy,  and  awful  suggestion,  is 
 the  presence,  not  of  a  figment,  a  fiction,  or  a 
 figure,  as  infidels  imagine,  but  of  a  personal 
 being,  possessed  of  the  archangel's  wisdom,  the 
 fiend's  depravity,  and  the  archangel's  power  to 
 use  that  wisdom  and  apply  that  depravity  to 
 mankind.  But  the  day  comes,  we  are  told, 
 when  Satan  shall  fall  like  lightning  from  hea- 
 ven ;  when  this  earth,  that  groans  and  travails, 
 waiting  to  be  delivered,  shall  be  healed,  and  its 
 fever  laid,  and  the  demons  cast  out,  and  holi- 
 ness, and  happiness,  and  beauty,  and  loyalty, 
 and  love  shall  overflow  all  like  a  mighty  and 
 unfathomable  sea.  This  demoniac  recovered  was 
 an  earnest  of  it.  I  explained  in  previous  pas- 
 sages, that  the  miracles  of  our  Lord  were  not 
 
390  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 simply  acts  of  power,  or  expressions  of  benefi- 
 cence, but  that  they  were  earnests,  foreshadows, 
 pledges  of  trie  grand  and  universal  emancipation 
 that  will  yet  dawn  upon  the  world.     What  is 
 miracle  now  will  be  nature  in  the  age  to  come. 
 Our  discoveries  and  our  sciences  are  efforts  to 
 hasten  its  arrival,  and  to  actualize  the  prophecies 
 that  predict  it.     What  is  medicine  ?    It  is,  if  I 
 may  so  speak,  a  portion  of  the  virtue  the  woman 
 received    from    the    skirt   of    Jesus'    garment, 
 left  to  tell  us  that  disease  is  not  supreme,  that 
 there  are  portions  left  of  his  remedial  powers, 
 that  we  are  not  to  despair,  but  to  hope.     There 
 is  enough  in  medicine  to  keep  us  from  despair ; 
 there  is  not  enough  to  prevent  us  from  longing 
 for  the  great  Physician  to  come   and  heal  all : 
 there  is  just  enough  to  be  an  earnest  and  a  pledge 
 of  that  universal  redemption  when  there  shall  be 
 no  more  sickness,  nor  sorrow,  nor  death. 
 
 Having  noticed  this  position,  Avhich  is  perhaps 
 the  least  important  and  instructive,  I  now  pro- 
 ceed to  examine  one  that,  to  my  mind,  is  exceed- 
 ingly beautiful  and  interesting.  The  demoniac 
 went  to  Jesus,  and  begged  of  him  that  he  might 
 be  allowed  to  remain  with  him,  or  to  accompany 
 him.     Jesus  said  to  him,  "  No,  go  home,  and  tell 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.  391 
 
 your  family  what  great  things  God  has  done  for 
 you."  Why  did  the  demoniac  recovered  wish  to 
 be  with  Jesus,  and  so  to  accompany  him  in  all 
 his  travels  and  his  journeys  ?  He  might  perhaps 
 have  recollected,  not  the  words,  because  he  had 
 not  been  taught  them,  but  the  fact  of  which  the 
 words  are  the  description,  recorded  in  the  Gospel 
 of  St.  Matthew,  chap.  xii.  43.  "  When  the  un- 
 clean spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man,  he  walketh 
 through  dry  places,  seeking  rest,  and  findeth 
 none.  Then  he  saith,  I  will  return  into  my  own 
 house  from  whence  I  came  out ;  and  when  he  is 
 come,  he  findeth  it  empty,  swept,  and  garnished. 
 Then  goeth  he,  and  taketh  with  him  seven  other 
 spirits  more  wicked  than  himself,  and  they  enter 
 in  and  dwell  there :  and  the  last  state  of  that 
 man  is  worse  than  the  first."  The  poor  man 
 expected  some  such  recurrence  as  this,  at  least 
 he  feared  it;  he  no  doubt  rejoiced  in  the  de- 
 liverance he  had  felt,  but  he  rejoiced  with  trem- 
 bling. He  was  alarmed  lest  the  spirits  that 
 had  left  him  should  return  with  more,  and 
 should  take  possession  of  him  again,  and  so  his 
 last  state  should  be  worse  than  the  first.  There- 
 fore he  says,  "  Let  me  be  with  him  that  de- 
 livered me,  for    he  alone  can  defend  me ;    let 
 
392  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 me  be  with,  him  that  had  power  to  expel  the 
 demons  that  dwelt  in  me,  for  in  him  alone  shall 
 I  find  a  sure  shelter  from  their  next  desperate 
 assault."  But  is  there  not  embodied  in  the  con- 
 duct of  this  poor  recovered  man  a  precedent  for 
 us  ?  If  we  have  obtained  any  thing  from  Christ 
 for  which  we  feel  thankful,  we  shall  be  jealous 
 lest  we  lose  it.  If  we  have  received  the  forgive- 
 ness of  our  sins,  the  spirit  of  adoption  for  the 
 spirit  of  bondage,  if  we  have  obtained  joy  for 
 sorrow,  and  hope  for  despair,  we  shall  be  anx- 
 ious to  guard  the  precious  and  deeply  valued 
 deposit  thus  mercifully  intrusted  to  our  charge. 
 "What  can  be  more  natural  than  to  flee  to  him 
 who  gave  the  blessing  in  his  goodness,  in  order 
 that  he  may  guard  it  by  his  power  in  the  bo- 
 som in  which  he  has  implanted  it.  He  has 
 little  who  is  not  alive  to  the  defence  of  that  little. 
 A  life  that  comes  from  Christ  will  ever  creep 
 close  to  Christ  for  its  maintenance ;  and  a  bless- 
 ing that  we  feel  to  have  been  derived  from  his 
 hand,  we  shall  beg  of  him  in  his  goodness  to 
 preserve  unimpaired,  and  to  perpetuate  it  to  us 
 and  ours.  But  perhaps  the  reason  of  the  man's 
 clinging  to  him  may  have  been  to  give  expression 
 to   the    deep   love    that    he   felt  to   him.     We 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         393 
 
 need  not  wonder    that  this  poor  man  felt  new 
 emotions  under  so  new  and  unexpected  circum- 
 stances.    He  had  been  accustomed  to  run  wild 
 among  the  tombs,  to  howl  like  a  maniac  amid 
 the  desert-hills,  to  shrink  from  contact  with  man 
 and  communion  with  society,  as  means  of  aggra- 
 vating, not  removing,  the  dire  curse  under  which 
 he  groaned ;    the  first  spot  he  had  gazed  upon 
 m  calm  complacency  for  many  a  year,  was  that 
 beautiful  and  Divine  face  which  looked  upon  him 
 in  his  ruin,  and  restored  him  from  the  oppression 
 of  the  evil  one  into  the  light  and  life  and  liberty, 
 not  only  of  rational  men,  but  of  the  children  of 
 God  ;  and  when  he  came  to  his  right  mind  and 
 felt  no  demons  raging  within,  and  saw  no  swine 
 feeding  without,  but  himself  and   that  Divine 
 countenance  only,  that   looked  as  never   man's 
 countenance  looked,    gazing  upon  him,  his  ad- 
 miration fixed  him  to  the  spot,  his  love  made 
 him  look  long  and  intensely  on  him,  and  love 
 made  him  cling  closer  to  him,  and  pray  for  per- 
 mission that  where  he  lodged  he  might  lodge, 
 and   where  Jesus  went   he  might  go,  that  his 
 God  might  be  his  God,  and  Christ's  people  his 
 people.     Is  there  in  this  no  precedent  also  for 
 us  ?     Once  we  were— not  indeed  demoniacs  li- 
 
894  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 terally,  but  we  were  so  in  a  worse  sense  than 
 the  demoniac ;  for  Judas,  though  not  a  demo 
 niac,  was  possessed  by  the  devil  in  a  more 
 awful  sense  than  Mary  Magdalene  or  the  Gada- 
 rene  whose  history  we  are  reading.  We  were 
 once,  then,  demoniacs,  without  the  irresponsibi- 
 lity of  the  Gadarene,  wandering  amid  the  tombs 
 of  time,  and  many  in  the  charnel-houses  of  cor- 
 ruption, decay,  and  darkness,  without  God,  with- 
 out Christ,  aliens  to  what  is  holy,  beautiful,  and 
 true.  Christ  looked  upon  us  in  our  ruin,  and 
 said, "  Live;"  the  strong  man  entered  our  bosoms 
 and  expelled  the  strong  usurper,  who  had  long 
 possessed  them.  And  if  we  know  this  fact — for 
 if  we  do  not  know  it,  awful  and  perilous  is  our 
 position — then  are  we  instinctively  constrained  to 
 exclaim,  "  Lord,  to  whom  can  we  go  but  unto 
 thee  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  It 
 is  good  for  me  to  be  here.  Thou  wilt  never 
 leave  me,  and  I  will  never  leave  thee,  my  Lord, 
 my  all  and  in  all !  " 
 
 But  whatever  were  the  motives  that  made  the 
 Gadarene  demoniac,  when  recovered  from  his 
 possession,  cleave  to  Jesus,  we  have  the  actual 
 answer  that  Christ  gave  him,  "  Return  to  thine 
 own  house,  and  show  how  great  things  God  has 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.  395 
 
 clone  for  you."  There  seems  to  be  a  contradic- 
 tion in  Christ's  conduct ;  of  course,  only  seeming, 
 not  real — like  all  the  alleged  contradictions  in 
 the  Bible— apparent,  not  actual.  We  find,  for  in- 
 stance, in  this  very  same  eighth  chapter  of  Luke, 
 that  he  restores  the  daughter  of  Jairus.  One 
 says,  "  Thy  daughter  is  dead;  trouble  not  the 
 Master.  But  when  Jesus  heard  it,  he  answered 
 him,  saying,  Fear  not :  believe  only,  and  she 
 shall  be  made  whole.  And  when  he  came  into 
 the  house,  he  suffered  no  man  to  go  in,  save 
 Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and  the  father  and 
 the  mother  of  the  maiden.  They  all  wept  and 
 bewailed  her :  but  he  said,  Weep  not :  she  is 
 not  dead,  but  sleepeth.  And  they  laughed  him 
 to  scorn,  knowing  that  she  was  dead.  And  he 
 put  them  all  out,  and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and 
 called,  saying,  Maid,  arise.  And  her  spirit  came 
 again,  and  she  arose  straightway :  and  he  com- 
 manded to  give  her  meat.  And  her  parents  were 
 astonished ;  but  he  charged  them  that  they  should 
 tell  no  man  what  was  done."  It  seems  strange, 
 that  in  the  one  case  he  should  tell  the  man  that 
 was  healed  to  go  and  tell  every  body,  and  that 
 in  the  other  case,  I  quote  one  amid  many,  he 
 should  tell  the  healed  person,  or  the  relatives  of 
 
396  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  healed  person,  to  tell  no  one.  Why  is  this  ? 
 Christ  saw  and  read  the  heart,  the  habits,  the 
 tastes,  the  temperaments  of  those  he  spoke  to. 
 In  the  one  case,  when  he  said,  "  Tell  no  one ;" 
 he  saw  a  loquacious  person  who  would  meditate 
 little  and  talk  incessantly,  and  therefore  he  says, 
 "  tell  no  one  ;"  and  in  the  other  case,  he  saw  a 
 gloomy,  melancholy  person,  who  would  brood 
 over  the  past,  and  fear  for  the  future,  and  to 
 him  he  said,  "  Go  in  the  exercise  of  active  bene- 
 volence, and  tell  everybody."  The  prescription 
 for  the  after-recovery,  or  the  after-lesson,  was 
 accommodated  to  the  temperament  of  the  person 
 to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Now  when  he  said 
 to  this  person,  "  Go  and  tell  what  great  things 
 the  Lord  has  done  for  you,"  and  when  the  man 
 said,  and  showed  by  his  conduct,  that  he  would 
 rather  cleave  to  Jesus,  and  be  with  him,  we  have 
 in  this  indirect  but  striking  evidence  of  the  di- 
 vinity of  the  character  of  Jesus.  A  mere  com- 
 mon wonder-worker  would  have  been  too  glad 
 of  having  a  living  specimen  of  his  great  power 
 to  accompany  him  into  all  lands,  and  to  be  the 
 dumb  but  expressive  evidence  of  the  virtue  that 
 the  wonder-worker  possessed ;  but  Jesus  had  no 
 such  feeling :    he  was  a  man,  but  he  was  also 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         397 
 
 more  than  man;    he  showed  the  recovery  to  a 
 sufficient  number  of  witnesses ;  but  more  than 
 that  he  wanted  not  yet.     His  kingdom  was  not 
 yet  coming  with  observation ;  it  was  the  silent, 
 penetrating    leaven,  that  was  to  work  its  way 
 by  the  omnipotence  of  love.    It  was  not  to  be  ac- 
 companied by  the  noise,  pomp,  and  grandeur 
 of  a  majestic  procession.     There  was  no  osten- 
 tation in  any  thing  that  Jesus   did ;  there  was 
 enough  in  all  he  did  for  evidence,  there  was 
 nothing  for  display.     I  have  no  doubt  Jesus  not 
 only  spoke  many  words  that  are  not  written  in 
 this  book,  but  did  many  things  that  are  not  re- 
 corded here  :  many  a  broken  heart  did  he  heal, 
 that  we  shall  only  hear  of  at  the  last  day.     The 
 miracles  that  are  recorded,  are  given  here  as 
 evidences  of  miracles  that  are  unrecorded,  and 
 were  the  expressions  of  that  untiring  beneficence 
 which  embraced  the  highest,  and  condescended 
 to  the  lowest,  and  the  weakest,  and  the   most 
 worthless  even  of  mankind.      In  the  commis- 
 sion of  Jesus    to   the   recovered  demoniac  we 
 have  this  great  lesson  taught  us — that  he  that 
 receives  the  largest  blessing  from  Christ  is  bound 
 to  go  and  be  the  largest  and  most  untiring  dis- 
 tributer of  that  blessing.     We  receive  not  for 
 
398  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ourselves,  but  for  diffusion ;  we  taste  the  efficacy 
 of  the  prescription,  that  we  may  go  forth  and 
 praise,  and  exalt,  and  proclaim  the  great  Phy- 
 sician.    No  heart  will  so  overflow  with  love  as 
 that  which  has  been  healed  by  the   Saviour's 
 touch ;  no  lips  will  be  so  eloquent  as  those,  once 
 dumb,  that  have  been  opened  by  the  Saviour's 
 finger ;  no  tongue  will  speak  with  the  thrilling 
 and  persuasive  accents  of  his  which  Jesus  has 
 unloosed.     Our  Lord  will  not  infringe  this  ordi- 
 nance :  he  will  lose  an  ever-accompanying  witness 
 to  his  power,  rather  than  interrupt  the  grand  law, 
 that  we  are  made  sons  that  we  may  become  serv- 
 ants, that  we  receive  that  we  may  distribute.    All 
 experience  will  show   us    that  he  that  has,  and 
 refuses  to  give,  will  not  long  have ;  and  that  he 
 that  knows,  and  refuses  to  make  known,  will  not 
 long  have  any  thing  worth  making  known. 
 
 The  command  of  Jesus  reveals  another  great 
 lesson,  precious  and  instructive.  In  answer  to 
 the  man's  desire  to  be  with  Christ — "  Let  me  be 
 with  you,  let  me  sit  at  thy  feet  for  ever ;  let  me 
 follow  thee  whither  thou  goest" — Jesus  says, 
 "  Go,  and  tell  what  the  Lord  has  done  for  you." 
 This  teaches  us — and  I  mean  this  for  the 
 young,  who  have  spare  time — that  the  way,  if 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         399 
 
 we   are  Christians,  to  be  with  Christ,  and  to  be 
 with  him  most  closely,  is  to  go  out  and  labour 
 for  Christ  with  the  greatest  diligence.     In  other 
 words,  God  teaches  us  here,  that  we  are  never 
 so  near  to  Christ  as  when,  in  his  spirit  and  in 
 his  name,  we  are  doing  his  work  and  fulfilling 
 his  will.     The  Sunday-school  teacher,  therefore, 
 that  denies  himself  many  a  sweet  privilege  and 
 many  an  easy  hour ;  the   tract  distributor,  the 
 Bible    colporteur   the  missionary,  the  visitor  of 
 the  sick,  who  are  all  denying  themselves  pri- 
 vileges to  outward  sense,  are  yet  in  truth  drink- 
 ing deeper  of  them;    they   are  all   apparently 
 losing  sweet  communion  with  Christ — they  are 
 all  really  leaning   on  his  bosom,  walking  with 
 him  closer,  drinking  deeper  into  his  joys,  because 
 they  are   labouring  in   his   work    and   for   his 
 name's  sake.     Active  co-operation  with  Jesus  is 
 the  way  of  nearest  communion  with  him. 
 
 We  learn  also  this  lesson — that  labouring  for 
 Christ  according  to  Christ's  command,  is  the 
 very  way  to  enjoy  the  greatest  happiness  that 
 results  from  being  with  Christ,  This  man  sought 
 to  be  with  Christ,  that  he  might  thus  be  safe 
 from  the  reflux  of  the  demons,  and  might  realize 
 perpetually  the  joy  which  he  then  felt.     Christ 
 
400  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 says  to  him,  "  The  way  to  bask  perpetually  in 
 the  light  of  my  countenance,  is  to  go  out  on  my 
 errands."  Labour  for  Christ  and  happiness  from 
 Christ  are  twins  that  are  never  separated;  the 
 first-born  is  labour,  the  second-born  is  happi- 
 ness. In  the  future  world  labour  is  happiness, 
 and  happiness  is  labour.  Indolence  and  inac- 
 tivity are  not  known  among  the  blessed.  In 
 this  world  labour  is  the  introduction  to  happi- 
 ness, and  without  labour  for  Christ  we  shall 
 never  taste,  in  all  its  serene  beauty,  the  hap- 
 piness that  flows  from  communion  with  Christ. 
 Christ  gives  the  soul,  first,  a  sweet  sense  of 
 pardoning  love,  and  then  he  says,  "  Go  and 
 work  in  my  vineyard."  "  If  ye  love  me,  keep 
 my  commandments."  So  he  gives  the  promise, 
 "  Go  and  teach  all  nations — and  lo  !  I  am  with 
 you;"  but,  "  go  and  refuse  to  teach  all  nations, 
 and  instantly  I  depart  from  you."  The  teaching 
 toil  on  our  part,  and  the  presence  of  the  Saviour 
 on  his  part,  are  inseparable.  This  is  a  right 
 precious  truth  !  Let  us  try  to  recollect  that  the 
 working  hand  and  the  happy  heart  are  insepar- 
 able :  it  is  God's  great  ordinance,  that  we  shall 
 enjoy  Christ's  love  and  peace  and  happiness  only 
 in  doing  his  work  in  his  name  and  in  his  spirit. 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         401 
 
 A  poor  monk,  who,  in  spite  of  his  cowl,  seems 
 from  the  fact  to  have  been  one  of  God's  hidden 
 ones,  was    one    day,  according   to  a  mediaeval 
 legend,  meditating  in  his  cell.    A  glorious  vision 
 burst  upon  him,  it  is  recorded,  with  the  brilli- 
 ancy of  noon-day,  and  revealed  in  its  bosom  the 
 "  Man  of  sorrows,"  the  "  acquainted  with  grief." 
 The  monk  was  gazing  on  the  spectacle  charmed, 
 delighted,    adoring.      The   convent    bell   rang; 
 and  that  bell  was  the  daily  signal  for  the  monk 
 to  go  to  the  poor  that  were  crowding  round  the 
 convent   gate,   and    distribute  bread    and   frag- 
 ments of  food  among  them.     The  monk  hesitated 
 whether  he  should  remain  to  enjoy  the  splendid 
 apocalypse,   or   should  go   out  to  do  the  daily 
 drudgery  that  belonged  to  him.     At  last  he  de- 
 cided on  the  latter ;  he  left  the  vision  with  re- 
 gret, and  went  out  at  the  bidding  of  the  bell  to 
 distribute   the    alms,    and    bread,    and    crumbs 
 among  the  poor.    He  returned,  of  course  expect- 
 ing that,  because  of  his  not  seeming  to  appre- 
 ciate it,  the  vision  would  be  darkened ;  but  to  his 
 surprise,  when  he  returned,  the  vision  was  there 
 still,  and  on  his  expressing  his  amazement  that 
 his  apparent  want  of  appreciating  it  and  being 
 thankful  for  it  should  be  overlooked,  and  that 
 
 2    D 
 
402  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  vision  should  still  continue  in  augmented 
 splendour,  a  voice  came  from  the  lips  of  the 
 Saviour  it  revealed,  which  said,  "If  you  had 
 stayed,  I  had  not." 
 
 This  may  be  a  legend,  but  it  teaches  a  great 
 lesson — that  active  duty  in  Christ's  name  and 
 for  Christ's  sake  is  the  way  to  retain  the  vision 
 of  his  peace  in  all  its  permanence  and  power. 
 The  peace  that  passeth  understanding  keepeth 
 our  hearts  and  minds  continually,  while  our 
 hands  and  feet  are  actively  engaged  in  Christ's 
 work. 
 
 While  quoting  from  this  incident  of  the  monk, 
 I  may  state  that  the  very  passage  I  am  now 
 commenting  on  condemns  monasticism,  monkery, 
 quietude,  and  the  varied  asceticism  in  which  the 
 mystics  of  former  ages  prided  themselves.  I  say 
 all.  these  are  condemned  by  the  simple  fact,  that 
 active  love  is  nobler  than  meditative  love ;  that 
 gazing  on  Christ  and  communion  with  him  are 
 not  to  be  the  end  in  this  age,  but  only  the 
 means  toward  an  end,  which  is  work  for  Christ. 
 Try  to  stay  with  Christ  in  order  to  enjoy  ex- 
 clusively his  presence,  and  he  will  leave  you ; 
 go  forth,  as  it  were,  in  obedience  to  Christ's 
 command,  to  do  his  will,  and  he  will  continue 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         403 
 
 with  you.  Go  out,  forgetting  self  in  your  sym- 
 pathy with  the  sorrows  of  a  brother,  and  you 
 will  find  that  Christ  will  most  manifest  himself 
 to  you,  and  that  you  will  enjoy  the  greatest  hap- 
 piness. 
 
 The  next  lesson  we  learn  from  the  sequel  of 
 this  miracle,  is  this — that  as  Christ,  in  healing 
 the  demoniac,  had  an  object  beyond  him,  so,  in 
 healing  us,  he  has  an  object  beyond  us.  Let  us 
 ever  recollect  and  act  upon  this  great  and  im- 
 portant truth.  "  Let  not  every  man,"  says  the 
 apostle,  "look  upon  his  own  things,  but  also 
 upon  the  things  of  others."  "  As  every  man," 
 he  says,  "  has  received  the  good  gift,  let  him 
 minister  the  same  one  to  another,  as  good  stewards 
 of  the  manifold  grace  of  God."  Whoever,  there- 
 fore, toils  and  labours  for  the  good  of  others, 
 always  feels  himself  happiest  in  so  doing ;  and 
 whoever  tries  to  monopolize  the  happiness  he 
 has  for  his  own  enjoyment,  to  the  neglect  of 
 others,  is  generally  the  most  miserable.  The 
 words  in  our  language  denoting  the  highest 
 happiness  are  words  that  mean  living  beyond 
 self,  getting  out  of  self,  standing  outside  of  self: 
 "ecstasy,"  extasis,  standing  without  one's  self; 
 "  rapture,"  from  rapio,  to  be  carried  away  from 
 
 2  d  2 
 
404  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 one's  self;  "  transport,"  transporto,  to  be  carried 
 beyond  one's  self:  every  word  that  denotes  the 
 highest  enjoyment,  also  involves  the  least  self- 
 ishness. Human  nature,  apart  from  sanctified 
 human  nature,  can  testify  that  there  is  no  music 
 so  thrilling  as  the  accents  of  the  voice  that  thanks 
 us  for  the  goodness  you  have  done  its  pos- 
 sessor ;  and  that  no  countenance  beams  so  beau- 
 tifully to  our  eye  as  the  countenance  of  the 
 orphan  and  the  widow  made  to  rejoice  by  our 
 beneficence. 
 
 The  poor  man's  desire  was  to  remain  with 
 Christ ;  Christ's  command  to  him  was,  Go  and 
 engage  in  active  duties  for  Christ.  Did  the  man 
 obey  ?  Instantly,  and  seemingly  without  reluct- 
 ance, for  it  is  added,  He  went  and  proclaimed  in 
 Decapolis  the  great  things  that  Christ  had  done 
 for  him.  Is  not  this  an  example  for  us  ?  Our 
 desires  and  our  duties  may  very  often  clash :  we 
 may  desire  one  thing,  while  duty,  with  its  stern 
 tapering  finger,  may  point  to  us  the  very  oppo- 
 site. We  are  to  sacrifice  our  desires  to  our 
 duties,  and  never  our  duties  to  our  desires ;  we 
 are  to  leave  the  warm  fire-side  when  duty  bids 
 us,  and  brave  the  storm,  and  engage  in  the  rough 
 conflicts  of  human  life ;  we  are  to  launch  forth 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         405 
 
 from  the  quiet  and  sheltered  haven  when  Christ 
 commands,  and  to  cross  the  stormy  and  tempes- 
 tuous sea,  saying,  in  reference  to  duties,  what  we 
 are  taught  to  say  in  reference  to  trials,  "  Not  as 
 I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt,  O  Lord." 
 
 But  there  is  something  very  instructive,  too, 
 in  the  place  that  the  Saviour  bade  this  recovered 
 demoniac  go  to.  He  says,  "  Go  home,  and  pro- 
 claim." He  does  not  say,  "  Go  into  the  midst  of 
 the  venerable  sanhedrim,  or  into  the  synagogues 
 of  the  land,  and  there  proclaim  what  I  have  done 
 for  you ;"  but,  "  Go  home,  and  do  it."  An- 
 other lesson  is  this  for  us  !  The  first  impulse 
 of  many  a  young  Christian,  when  his  eyes  have 
 been  opened,  and  his  heart  has  been  touched,  is 
 to  go  and  be  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  to  ascend 
 the  pulpit,  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  the  forum,  to 
 call  upon  men  to  believe  in  the  midst  of  the 
 market-place  itself.  There  may  be  much  in  this 
 that  is  pure,  but  there  is  something  of  alloy  in  it 
 too.  We  would  rather  all  of  us  prefer  to  be 
 the  splendid  lights  that  shine  upon  the  world, 
 that  men  will  see  and  be  dazzled  with,  than  the 
 quiet  salt  that  gradually  penetrates  the  world, 
 and,  without  noise  and  without  observation, 
 makes  all  like  itself.      Our  Lord,  knowing  this 
 
406  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 temperament  of  ours,  says  to  the  demoniac, "  Not 
 to  the  sanhedrim,  nor  to  the  synagogue ;  but  go 
 back  (what  we  say  to  every  Christian)  to  the 
 sphere  in  which  providence  has  placed  you,  and 
 into  that  sphere  bring  the  glorious  riches  with 
 which  grace  has  enriched  you.  The  gospel  is  not 
 a  scene-shifter,  but  a  heart-changer  ;  the  gospel 
 bids  the  new  man  go  back  into  the  old  place ;  it 
 bids  him  go  into  the  little  pulpit  that  is  at  every 
 man's  fire-side,  and  try  his  hand  there,  before  he 
 go  into  the  greater  pulpit,  and  speak  to  the  whole 
 congregation.  Test  your  missionary  powers  at 
 home  before  you  try  them  in  the  school,  in  the 
 congregation,  the  wide  world  of  mankind. 
 
 But  there  is  more  in  this  commission  of  Jesus 
 than  even  this.  I  believe  there  is  here  a  special 
 allusion  to  that  most  musical  word  in  our  language 
 — a  word  almost  peculiar  in  significance  to  the 
 English  language,  and,  it  is  said,  though  far  be 
 it  from  me  to  dej)reciate  other  lands,  almost  pe- 
 culiar to  the  Saxon  land  —  namely,  home!  I 
 know  not  a  word  more  precious.  Legislators  in 
 the  parliament  have  too  much  looked  on  men  as 
 individuals  and  nations ;  ministers  in  the  pulpit 
 have  too  much  looked  at  them  as  individuals  and 
 congregations  ;   but  there   is   a   sphere,  a  place 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT   JESUS'    FEET.         407 
 
 more  precious  than  the  nation,  because  it  feeds 
 the  nation;  more  precious  than  the  congrega- 
 tion, because  what  it  is  the  congregation  will 
 be— that  is,  the  home.  The  little  home,  the 
 family,  is  the  fountain  that  feeds  with  a  pure 
 and  noble  population  the  large  home,  which  is 
 the  country.  Loyalty,  and  love,  and  happiness 
 in  Britain's  homes,  will  make  loyalty,  and  hap- 
 piness, and  love  be  reflected  from  Britain's  altars 
 and  from  Britain's  shores.  There  may  be  stmob, 
 or  there  may  be  slaves ;  but  let  statesmen  recol- 
 lect there  cannot  be  a  people  unless  there  be  a 
 home.  I  repeat,  there  may  be  in  a  country 
 slaves,  or  there  may  be  mobs,  but  there  cannot 
 be  in  a  country  a  people,  the  people,  unless  it  be 
 a  country  of  holy  and  happy  homes.  And  he  that 
 helps  to  elevate,  sustain,  ennoble,  and  sanctify  the 
 homes  of  a  country,  contributes  more  to  its  glory, 
 its  beauty,  its  permanence,  than  all  its  legislators, 
 its  laws,  its  literature,  its  science,  its  poetry  to- 
 gether. Our  Lord  began  at  the  first  home  that 
 was  found  at  Bethabara  beyond  Jordan — the 
 home  of  Andrew  and  Peter  ;  and  starting  from  it, 
 he  carried  the  glorious  gospel  of  which  he  was 
 the  author  into  the  home  of  Mary  and  Martha  at 
 Bethany,  of  Cornelius  the  centurion,  of  Lydia,  of 
 
408  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  gaoler  of  Philippi,  of  Crispus,  and  finally  of 
 Timothy;  and  these  consecrated  and  converted 
 homes  became  multiplying  foci  amid  the  world's 
 darkness,  till  the  scattered  and  ever  multiplying 
 lights  shall  be  gathered  one  day  into  one  broad 
 blaze,  that  shall  illuminate  and  make  glad  the 
 wide  world.  Let  us  begin  at  home,  but  let  us 
 not  stop  there.  It  is  groups  of  homes  that  make 
 a  congregation ;  it  is  clusters  of  congregations 
 that  make  a  country.  So  Jesus  felt  and  acted. 
 All  along  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Gennesareth 
 there  might  be  detected  successive  and  innu- 
 merable homes  illumined  by  the  light  of  truth, 
 and  at  morn  and  even-tide  echoing  with  the  glad 
 voices  of  praise  and  adoration.  The  poor  leper, 
 who  was  long  exiled  from  society,  and  dare  not 
 approach  it,  is  restored  to  his  home  ;  and  we  can 
 well  conceive,  that  when  the  restored  father 
 mingled  with  his  family  again,  its  roof-tree  rang 
 with  most  musical  songs,  and  the  hearts  within 
 it  beat  with  joy  inexpressibly  full.  A  fair 
 maiden  is  smitten  down  in  her  prime  ;  the  Sa- 
 viour sees  the  dead  body  laid  on  the  bier,  and 
 feels  for  the  weepers  that  stand  around  it.  He 
 speaks  to  her,  Talitha  cami,  and  the  maid 
 arose,  and   came  again  to  life  and  light;    and 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         409 
 
 that  bright  flower  bloomed  in  the  vase  of  that 
 happy  home  more  beautiful  because  the  look  of 
 Jesus  had  given  it  new  tints,  and  the  breath  of 
 Jesus  had  given  it  new  fragrance.  A  son  is 
 carried  on  his  bier  to  his  last  resting-place,  the 
 only  son  of  a  widow  to  whom  he  was  the  whole 
 support ;  Jesus  speaks  to  him,  and  he  is  restored 
 to  his  widowed  mother  again.  Can  we  doubt 
 that  in  that  family,  thus  made  glad,  the  name  of 
 Jesus  was  mentioned  with  the  joyful  reverence 
 due  to  the  name  of  God,  and  yet  with  the  fre- 
 quency and  fervour  of  the  dearest  household 
 word?  God  passed  before  Moses  of  old,  and 
 proclaimed  himself  "  the  Lord,  the  Lord  God, 
 merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering,  forgiving 
 iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin ;"  but  I  see  a 
 procession  not  less  glorious  follow  the  "  Man 
 of  sorrows;"  he  walks  amid  the  homes  of  Je- 
 rusalem, amid  the  broken  hearts  that  throb 
 around  Gennesareth,  and  in  his  majestic,  yet 
 peaceful  and  quiet,  march,  he  shows  himself  re- 
 alizing what  Moses  had  only  heard  proclaimed, 
 "  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious."  He 
 touches  one,  and  there  is  life ;  he  lays  his  finger 
 on  the  complaining  lips  of  another,  and  they 
 complain  no  more ;  he  casts  one  bright  look  upon 
 
410  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 a  third,  and  the  home  is  happy ;  he  speaks  one 
 word  to  a  fourth,  and  it  goes  into  the  very 
 heart's  depths;  and  thus  Christ  rejoiced  to  make 
 desolate  and  dreary  homes  glad,  that  we,  in 
 imitation  of  his  example,  may  go  and  begin  our 
 mission  at  home,  and  exert  our  Christian  phi- 
 lanthropy. 
 
 Conceive,  if  you  can,  the  return  of  the  man 
 whose  recovery  is  recorded  in  this  passage.  He 
 went  home,  and  proclaimed  not  only  there,  but 
 in  all  Decapolis,  what  God  had  done  for  him. 
 Conceive,  if  you  can,  the  picture  realized  in  his 
 reception.  He  turns  his  face  quietly  to  his 
 home  the  first  time,  perhaps,  for  years — the  first 
 time,  at  least,  that  he  recollects.  One  child  of 
 his,  looking  from  the  casement,  sees  the  father 
 return,  and  gives  the  alarm :  every  door  is  doubly 
 bolted ;  the  mother  and  children  cling  together 
 in  one  group,  lest  the  supposed  still  fierce  demo- 
 niac, who  had  so  often  torn  and  assailed  them 
 before,  should  again  tear  and  utterly  destroy 
 them.  But  a  second  child,  looking,  calls  out, 
 "  My  father  is  clothed;  before  he  was  not  clothed 
 at  all."  A  third  child  shouts  to  the  mother,  "  My 
 father  is  not  only  clothed,  but  he  comes  home  so 
 quietly,  so  beautifully,  that  he  looks  as  when  he 
 
NATURE    SITTING    AT    JESUS'    FEET.         411 
 
 dandled  us  upon  his  knee,  kissed  us,  and  told  us 
 sweet  and  interesting  stories:   can  this  be  he?" 
 A  fourth  exclaims,  "  It  is  my  father,  and  he  seems 
 so  gentle,  and  so  quiet,  and  so  beautiful — come, 
 my  mother,  and  see."     The  mother,  not  believ- 
 ing it  to  be  true,  but  wishing  it  were  so,  runs 
 and  looks  with  sceptical  belief;  and  lo  !  it  is  the 
 dead  one  alive,  it  is  the  lost  one  found,  it  is  the 
 naked    one   clothed,  it  is  the   demon-possessed 
 one,  holy,  happy,  peaceful ;  and  when  he  comes 
 and    mingles   with   that    glad    and   welcoming 
 household,  the  group   upon  the  threshold  grows 
 too  beautiful  before  my  imagination  for  me  to 
 attempt  to  delineate,  and  its  hearts  are  too  happy 
 for  human  language  to  express.     The  recovered 
 crosses  the  threshold,  and  the  inmates  welcome 
 him  home  to  their  fire-side.     The  father  gathers 
 his  children  around  him,  while  his  wife  sits  and 
 listens,  and  is  not  weary  with  listening  the  whole 
 day  and  the  whole  night,  as  he  tells  them  how 
 one  who  proclaimed  himself  to  be  the  Messiah, 
 who  is  the  Prophet  promised  to  the  fathers,  the 
 Wonderful,  the  Counsellor,  the  mighty  God,  the 
 everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  peace,  spake  to 
 him,  exorcised  the  demons,  and  restored  him  to 
 his  right  mind,  and  made  him  happy.     In  that 
 
412  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 family  their  past  morning  and  evening  desires 
 and  prayers  had  been,  "  Oh  that  the  Messiah 
 would  come  ;  oh  that  salvation  were  come  out  of 
 Israel;"  but  that  day's  delightful  privileges, and 
 that  day's  most  precious  domestic  communion, 
 they  closed  not  with  prayer  for  a  deliverer  to 
 come,  but  with  praise  for  one  who  was  come — 
 "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David.  Blessed  is  he 
 that  is  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  unto 
 whom,  even  to  Jesus,  be  glory  and  honour,  and 
 thanksgiving  and  praise."     Amen. 
 
The  Restored  Son. 
 
 P.  413. 
 
LECTURE  XV. 
 
 THE    RESTORED    SON. 
 
 And  it  came  to  pass  the  day  after,  that  he  went  into  a  city 
 called  Nain ;  and  many  of  his  disciples  went  with  him,  and 
 much  people.  Now  when  he  came  nigh  to  the  gate  of  the 
 city,  behold,  there  was  a  dead  man  carried  out,  the  only  son 
 of  his  mother,  and  she  was  a  widow .-  and  much  people  of  the 
 city  was  with  her.  And  when  the  Lord  saw  her,  he  had 
 compassion  on  her,  and  said  unto  her,  Weep  not.  And  he 
 came  and  touched  the  bier  :  and  they  that  bare  him  stood 
 still.  And  he  said,  Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise.  And 
 he  that  was  dead  sat  up,  and  began  to  speak.  And  he  de- 
 livered him  to  his  mother.  And  there  came  a  fear  on  all : 
 and  they  glorified  God,  saying,  That  a  great  prophet  is  risen 
 up  among  us ;  and,  That  God  hath  visited  his  people.  And 
 this  rumour  of  him  went  forth  throughout  all  Judaea,  and 
 throughout  all  the  region  round  about.  And  the  disciples  of 
 John  showed  him  of  all  these  tilings. — Luke  vii.  11 — 18. 
 
 It  appears,  from  the  period  at  which  we  are 
 arrived  in  the  ministry  of  Jesus,  that,  in  order  to 
 perform  the  miracle  related  in  the  passage  I  have 
 read,  our  Lord  had  to  pass  through  a  small  city, 
 called  Nain,  to  reach  the  place  of  his  destination, 
 Jerusalem.     Accidentally,  the  thoughtless  world 
 
414  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 would  say,,  not  by  the  pre -arrangement  and  in  the 
 determined  providence  of  God,  the  Saviour  came 
 to  the  gate  of  the  city  of  Nain  just  as  the  funeral 
 procession  passed  by.  The  circumstance  of  the 
 funeral  procession  being  found  in  the  gate  of  the 
 city  is  explained  by  the  fact  I  have  stated  several 
 times  before — that  interments  were  not  allowed 
 within  the  walls  of  cities  in  ancient  times,  the 
 bodies  of  the  departed  were  always  conveyed 
 through  the  gate  and  beyond  the  walls  of  the 
 city,  to  a  suitable  place  appointed  for  the  inter- 
 ment. 
 
 It  appears,  that  on  this  occasion  much  people 
 followed  the  widow  of  Nain  as  she  accompanied 
 the  remains  of  her  only  son  to  their  last  resting- 
 place.  They  no  doubt  did  so  to  express  the 
 respect  they  felt  for  her  ;  to  be,  in  some  degree, 
 a  ministry  of  comfort  and  sympathy.  And  you 
 know  that  there  are  losses,  calamities,  and  sor- 
 rows which  no  man  can  remove,  but  which  any 
 feeling  man  can  mitigate  by  sympathizing  in  them 
 and  with  them.  This  was  all  they  felt  they  could 
 do  to  the  widow  bereaved  of  her  son ;  and  that 
 little  they  felt  it  their  privilege  and  their  duty  to 
 do.  You  that  cannot  help  the  poor  can  express 
 your  sympathy  with  them ;    you  that  from  po- 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  415 
 
 verty  cannot  give  a  penny  to  the  destitute,  can 
 give  the  expression  of  your  best  wishes,  the  ut- 
 terance of  your  sincerest  prayers.  Sympathy 
 with  hunger  ever  softens  it ;  sympathy  with  rags 
 ever  mitigates  the  misery  of  them ;  and  if  we 
 cannot  give  (for  it  is  only  in  such  circumstances 
 that  sympathy  can  be  a  substitute)  there  is  no 
 one  that  cannot  sympathize,  because  there  is  no 
 man  who  has  not  a  heart  that  was  designed  of 
 God  to  do  so. 
 
 The  depth  and  extent  of  this  poor  woman's 
 affliction  is  expressed  in  few  words,  but  these  elo- 
 quently significant.  She  had  lost  her  husband 
 — she  had  now  lost  her  son  :  the  first  prop  of  the 
 house  was  gone — the  last  remaining  prop  was 
 swept  away  ;  she  was  a  widow,  and  she  mourned 
 the  loss  of  an  only  son.  There  is  no  one  loss  re- 
 ferred to  in  Scripture,  which  is  spoken  of  as  so 
 deep,  severe,  and  painful,  as  the  loss  of  an  only 
 son  :  thus,  in  Zech.  xii.  10,  "  They  shall  mourn 
 for  her  as  one  mourneth  for  an  only  son ;"  de- 
 noting the  intensest  bitterness.  And  in  Amos 
 viii.  10,  "  And  I  will  make  it  as  the  mourning  of 
 an  only  son,  and  the  end  thereof  as  a  bitter  day." 
 A  Jewish  wife  felt  it  a  calamity  not  to  have  a 
 son,  but  it  was  the  most  terrible  calamity  when 
 
416  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  only  son,  the  stay  and  the  hope  of  the  home, 
 was  removed  by  the  hand  of  death.  T\  e  have, 
 in  these  words,  an  instance  of  those  touches  in 
 Scripture,  where  one  chord  is  only  gently  stir- 
 red, and  a  thousand  vibrate  with  it ;  where  one 
 word  only  is  uttered,  but  a  whole  chapter  of 
 thought  is  instantly  kindled  and  called  into 
 being  by  it. 
 
 It  is  said  when  Jesus  saw  her  thus  weeping,, 
 and  following  the  remains  of  her  son,  he  said  to 
 her,  "  Weep  not."  The  words  uttered  by  any 
 other  than  by  the  Son  of  God  would  have 
 been  absurd :  to  say  to  a  widow  following  the 
 remains  of  her  only  son,  "Weep  not,"  is  al- 
 most to  insult  her.  If  there  had  not  been  be- 
 hind the  words  "  Weep  not "  a  latent  beneficence 
 that  was  to  make  real  by  deeds  what  was  here 
 audible  in  words,  it  would  have  been  an  insult. 
 When  we  visit  the  mourner  —  the  one  that 
 mourns  as  this  widow  and  mother  mourned, 
 never  let  us  say  after  the  first  blow  of  calamity, 
 "  Weep  not."  Who  does  not  know  that  there  are 
 times  when  grief  is  so  great  that  it  needs  an  echo 
 in  the  sympathizer,  not  an  attempt  to  arrest  it  ? 
 The  worst  consolation  we  can  give  is  to  say, 
 "  Why  do  you  weep  ?     It  is  not  proper  to  weep 
 
THE    RESTORED    SOX.  417 
 
 so  ;  it  is  not  right."  God  never  warrants  us  in 
 saying  so.  When  the  grief  is  so  bitter,  the  best 
 way  to  comfort  the  weeper  is  to  "  weep  with 
 them  that  weep/'  and  give  an  echo  to  that  grief, 
 as  a  response  from  our  heart,  showing  that 
 we  have  a  fellow-feeling.  We  shall  give  more 
 consolation  by  this  than  by  all  the  little  hack- 
 neyed, common-place  truisms  that  are  called 
 comforts,  which  many,  like  Job's  miserable  com- 
 forters, try  to  deal  out.  But  from  the  lips  of 
 Jesus  these  words,  which  were  inappropriate  in 
 others,  were  sufficiently  appropriate,  because  his 
 word  was  not  a  mere  sound ;  it  was  always  ac- 
 companied with  power ;  it  embodied  in  it  be- 
 neficence ;  it  carried  healing  under  its  wings  ; 
 it  translated  itself  into  deeds ;  so  that  whatever 
 he  said  was  no  sooner  said  than  it  was  done. 
 Therefore,  when  Jesus  said  "  Weep  not,"  he  did 
 not  say,  (t  Be  the  stoic,  and  cease  to  be  the 
 woman  ;  "  but,  "  Be  the  woman,  and  weep  now, 
 but  prepare  instantly  to  be  comforted."  How* 
 beautiful  are  these  words  now,  even  in  their 
 diluted  echo !  They  are  a  reverberation  from  the 
 future,  when  he  shall  call  to  the  heart  of  all 
 humanity,  "Weep  not;"  when  what  is  now 
 prophesied,  "  He  shall  wipe  all  tears  from  all 
 
 2    E 
 
418  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 eyes," — literally  translated  out  of  all  eyes, — shall 
 be  realized.  I  may  perhaps  explain  that  the 
 Hebrew  word  which  means  "  the  eye "  also 
 means  "  a  fountain ;  "  and  when  it  says  "  He  shall 
 wipe  all  tears  from  all  eyes/'  the  idea  of  a  foun- 
 tain is  clearly  present.  The  word  wipe  not  only 
 means  to  remove,  but  to  sponge  out,  to  com- 
 pletely exterminate.  He  will  not  only  take  away 
 the  tears,  which  may  be  succeeded,  as  it  is  in 
 this  world,  by  other  tears,  but  he  will  extinguish 
 the  very  springs  and  founts  of  tears,  so  that  to 
 weep  shall  be  impossible,  as  it  shall  be  unneces- 
 sary. The  day  comes,  then,  when  that  which  is 
 now  prophecy  shall  then  be  performance ;  and 
 "  Weep  not "  addressed  to  all  redeemed  humanity 
 shall  instantly  be  followed  by  the  fulfilment  of 
 that  prophecy  in  which  we  have  hoped  and 
 trusted  :  "  He  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  all 
 eyes." 
 
 Yet  when  Jesus  performed  this  miracle  which 
 •we  are  now  to  consider,  he  did  not  do  it  sim- 
 ply and  exclusively  to  comfort  the  mother.  I 
 say  the  great  design  of  this  miracle  (and  this 
 warrants  the  other  lessons  which  I  draw  from  it) 
 was  not  simply  to  comfort  and  console  the 
 mother.     He  could  have  comforted  her  by  the 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  419 
 
 recollection  of  her  dead  son  just  as  truly  as  by 
 the  presence  of  a  restored  and  living  son.  Be- 
 sides, we  cannot  suppose  that  any  one  being  upon 
 earth  exists  or  gets  life  merely  as  means  to  serve 
 another — merely  as  an  instrument  for  another's 
 comfort  or  for  another's  purposes,  and  nothing 
 more.  Man  is  far  greater  than  this  :  he  has  a  dis- 
 tinct reference  to  God,  to  eternity,  to  truth;  and 
 he  is  not  merely  born  to  give  comfort  to  another 
 — that  is  only  one  end.  The  consolation  of  the 
 mother  was  the  nearest  thing,  the  most  visible  re- 
 sult, but  it  was  not  the  ultimate  and  the  only 
 thing.  That  young  man  was  raised,  I  have  no 
 doubt,  his  body  from  the  tomb,  and  his  soul 
 brought  back  from  its  home,  not  merely  to  comfort 
 the  weeping  widow,  but  to  be  also  a  minister  of 
 beneficence  and  goodness  to  her,  to  be  the  priest 
 of  the  house  in  which  he  had  long  been  the  pillar : 
 so  that  that  mother  should  not  only  have  the  joy 
 of  her  son  brought  back  from  the  dead  to  beautify 
 and  re-build  her  home,  but  she  should  also  have 
 the  joy  of  the  Lord,  which  would  be  a  greater 
 strength,  in  his  talking  to  her  not  only  of  what 
 Christ  had  done  but  of  what  Christ  was — "  the 
 light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his 
 
 people  Israel." 
 
 2  e  2 
 
420  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 We  read   that  our  Lord,   when  he   saw  the 
 funeral  procession,  touched  the  bier,  and  said  to 
 the  young  man,  "  Young  man,  I  say  unto  thee, 
 Arise."  Strange,  mysterious  address  !  The  dead, 
 pale,   lifeless,   insensitive   body,   stiff  with  the 
 rigours  of  death,  is  addressed  by  Jesus  in  words 
 that  would  make  the  experience  of  humanity 
 smile  :    "  I  say  unto  thee,  young  man,  Arise." 
 And  instantly  animal  life  warmed  every  vein  and 
 artery  and  limb,  and — more  mysterious  still ! — 
 the  soul  came  from  the  place  where  it  was,  and 
 took  possession  of  that  body :    these  words,  so 
 softly  spoken  by  the  lips  of  Jesus,  were  heard 
 by  that  soul,  wherever  it  was,  louder,  than  the 
 peal  of  the  last  trumpet,  and  instantly  it  came, 
 and  entered  again  its  forsaken  shrine,  and  the 
 young  man  arose,  and  looked,  and  spake.  When 
 he  thus  arose,  and  looked,  and  spake,  we  may 
 notice  that  nothing  is  said  as  to  what  the  conver- 
 sation was.     I  look  upon  this,  and  the  sequel  of 
 the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  too,  as  indirect  evi- 
 dence of  not  only  the  grand  dignity  but  of  the 
 inspiration  of  this  blessed  book.     If  this  story 
 had  been  got  up  by  a  regular  story-teller — if  the 
 Avhole  of  these  incidents  were  a  mere  figment  of 
 the  fancy — if  it  were  not  the  actual  record  of  an 
 
THE    RESTORED    SOX.  421 
 
 actual  occurrence  ;  the  author,  and  every  such 
 teller  of  a  story,  would  have  given  whole  pages 
 of  the  conversation  of  the  young  man  on  his  re- 
 turn to  this  world  :  we  should  have  heard  from 
 him  what  he  felt  when  he  left  the  body,  where 
 the  wings  that  were  then  imparted  to  him  carried 
 him,  what  porches  he  passed  through,  what 
 bright  apocalypse  he  saw  in  the  better  land, 
 what  company  he  had,  what  converse  he  heard, 
 what  songs  he  joined  in,  what  spectacles  he 
 witnessed — all  these  would  have  been  told  with 
 great  minuteness,  and  at  great  length ;  and  the 
 story-teller  would  have  done  it  with  the  greater 
 boldness,  because  he  knew  that  no  wing  could 
 follow  him  to  see  the  district  he  described,  and 
 confront  him  with  refutation  or  the  evidences  of 
 its  reality.  But  the  silence  of  Scripture  in  this 
 respect  is  positively  sublime.  The  perfect  si- 
 lence on  the  part  of  Lazarus,  the  no  less  strict 
 silence  on  the  part  of  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  and 
 on  the  part  of  the  young  man,  the  absence  of 
 the  slightest  hint  of  what  he  saw,  what  death 
 was,  what  he  felt,  what  he  heard,  is  to  me  indi- 
 rect evidence  that  the  penman  here  was  inspired 
 by  a  higher  than  man,  that  the  record  here  is 
 the  record  of  an  actual  fact,  and  that  the  holy 
 
4:22  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 evangelist  wrote  this  dignified  record  inspired 
 by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
 
 When  the  young  man  was  raised  from  the 
 dead,  we  read  that  Jesus  delivered  him  to  his 
 mother.  There  is  something  in  this  act  very 
 beautiful.  Jesus  did  not  say  to  the  young  man, 
 "  Now  you  have  experienced  my  power,  you  are 
 a  monument  of  my  goodness,  come  with  me, 
 leave  your  mother,  and  follow  me."  He  might 
 have  done  so,  and  in  other  circumstances,  in  the 
 performance  of  different  miracles,  he  did  so  ;  but 
 here,  with  that  exquisite  sympathy  with  human 
 relationship,  with  that  true  human  heart  which 
 Jesus  had,  besides  his  divine  nature,  he  felt  for 
 that  mother's  sorrow,  and  he  who  breathed  in  his 
 last  agonies  from  the  cross,  "  Son,  behold  thy 
 mother,"  in  this,  his  ministry  of  power  and  be- 
 neficence, took  care  to  dry  a  mother's  tears,  and 
 bring  back  the  full  warm  tide  of  a  mother's  joy 
 and  delight — "  he  delivered  him  to  his  mother." 
 These  words  alone  are  sufficient ;  all  that  I  can 
 say  upon  them  is  only  to  mar  their  grand  sug- 
 gestive simplicity.  He  delivered  him  to  his 
 mother,  that  mother  received  him.  She  had 
 once  joy  that  a  man-child  was  born;  but  what 
 joy  that  such  a  man-child  was  restored  from  the 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  423 
 
 dead  and  placed  beside  her  again !  And  ever, 
 no  doubt,  as  she  listened  to  his  voice,  she 
 heard  mingling  with  it  the  words,  "  I  say  unto 
 thee,  young  man,  Arise ; "  and  ever  as  she  gazed 
 upon  that  only  son's  countenance,  she  could  see 
 there  not  the  likeness  of  his  father  only,  but  also 
 mingling  with  those  features  the  bright  beams  of 
 that  countenance  which  was  more  marred  than 
 any  man's ;  and  ever  as  she  received  from  that 
 son  comfort,  joy,  or  daily  bread,  thankfully 
 she  took  the  blessing  that  the  son  bestowed,  but 
 she  looked  behind  and  beyond  and  above  the 
 son,  and  gave  the  glory  to  him  who  had  restored 
 the  son  to  her.  How  beautiful,  we  may  well 
 conceive,  then,  did  that  old  home  look  to  that 
 new  couple,  the  mother  and  the  son,  who  re- 
 turned to  it !  It  was  in  their  eyes  re-conse- 
 crated and  re-built  by  the  word  and  by  the  hand 
 of  Jesus  ;  and  the  recollection  of  that  mercy  thus 
 vouchsafed  at  the  gate  of  Nain  made  its  lintel 
 and  door-post  and  fire-side  and  roof  glow  with 
 new  lustre ;  it  made  their  songs  at  morning  and 
 at  even-tide  more  heartfelt ;  it  became  a  little 
 sanctuary ;  their  renewed  life  had  new  signifi- 
 cance, and  became,  as  it  were,  a  perpetual 
 sacrament.     Depend  upon  it,  they  never  forgot 
 
424  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  gate  of  the  city  of  Nain,  nor  those  words 
 uttered  by  Jesus,  nor  the  infinite  obligation  they 
 owed  him  as  the  Lord  of  life. 
 
 But  I  should  notice  also,  in  alluding  to  the 
 expression,  "  He  delivered  him  to  his  mother," 
 that  there  may  be  in  this — and  I  am  sure  there 
 is  in  it — a  foreshadow  of  that  which  shall  be 
 at  the  grand  resurrection  of  the  pious  dead ; 
 that  the  delivery  of  this  son  to  the  mother  is 
 only  a  type  and  an  earnest  of  what  shall  be  when 
 every  restored  son  shall  be  delivered  to  his  re- 
 joicing mother,  and  the  joy  that  was  felt  in  the 
 home  at  Nam  shall  only  be  a  dim,  dim  forelight 
 of  that  intenser  joy  that  shall  be  felt  in  the  hea- 
 venly home  when  all  lost  relationship  shall  be 
 restored,  all  suspended  communion  shall  be  re- 
 sumed, and  each  shall  know  the  other,  and  reci- 
 procate each  other's  joys,  and  sing  as  they  never 
 sang  before  that  new  song  which  is  ever  new 
 and  never  old,  because  it  never  wearies,  and  can 
 never  be  exhausted. 
 
 It  is  said  that  the  effect  of  this  restoration 
 was  first  felt,  or  early  felt,  by  the  multitude. 
 "  When  they  saw  it,"  it  is  said,  "  they  glorified 
 God,  and  said,  A  great  prophet  is  come,  for  he 
 hath  visited  his  people."     The  multitude  were 
 
THE    RESTORED    SOX.  425 
 
 eye-witnesses ;  they  saw  the  funeral,  they  beheld 
 the  dead  young  man,  they  heard  the  words  of 
 Jesus,  "Arise,"  and  they  saw  the  young  man 
 rise.  And  this  gospel  record  of  it  was  written 
 and  circulated  whilst  many  of  these  persons  were 
 alive,  who  might  and  would  have  stood  up  and 
 denied  its  truth  if  it  had  not  been  the  actual  nar- 
 rative of  truth.  The  multitude  exclaimed,  u  A 
 great  prophet  is  come  : "  perhaps  they  meant 
 it  was  the  prophet,  the  true  prophet  that  Moses 
 promised,  like  unto  him,  raised  up  from  among 
 their  brethren,  and  to  whom  they  should  give 
 heed  in  all  things. 
 
 We  have  thus,  then,  the  procession,  the  dead, 
 the  living,  the  restored,  the  home  made  happy. 
 The  sun  dawned  that  morning  upon  a  weeping 
 family  and  a  miserable  home ;  the  sun  set  that 
 evening  upon  a  happy  mother  and  a  rejoicing 
 son.  That  night  looked  brighter  than  the  sun- 
 niest day.  It  seemed  to  them  as  if  it  were  a 
 new  day.  Let  us  now  learn  some  lessons  from 
 all  this. 
 
 The  first  I  would  desire  to  learn  is,  that 
 Jesus  was  truly,  strictly,  literally,  man.  "  He 
 had  compassion  on  him :  "  "  he  was,"  as  we  are 
 told  elsewhere,  "  exceeding  sorrowful ;  "  and  at 
 
426  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  grave  of  Lazarus  it  is  said  he  wept.  Can  I 
 doubt,  then,  that  he  who  thus  sympathized  with 
 man  was  man — that  he  who  thus  felt  a  compas- 
 sion so  earnest,  so  deep,  so  inexhaustible,  (for  it 
 only  seemed  to  accumulate  as  it  met  with  the 
 calamities  of  mankind,)  was  truly  and  literally 
 man  ?  "  Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye,  my  people," 
 was  his  announcement ;  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
 is  upon  me,  because  he  has  anointed  me  to 
 bring  glad  tidings  to  the  poor,"  was  the  sermon 
 which  he  himself  preached ;  e(  I  say  unto  thee, 
 young  man,  Arise,"  was  the  evidence  that  he  had 
 compassion  to  sympathize  with  the  weeping,  and 
 that  he  had,  in  the  second  place,  what  I  wish  next 
 to  notice,  power  to  remove  the  cause  of  that 
 weeping.  He  was,  in  other  words,  God.  I  have 
 said  that  he  was  man  —  truly,  strictly,  literally 
 man;  all  that  can  be  said  of  me,  sin  excepted, 
 could  be  said  of  him ;  he  had  not  merely  a  body 
 — that  is,  animal  life — but  he  had  a  soul — that  is, 
 my  other  part,  my  intellectual  life.  But  he  was,  in 
 addition  to  all  this,  also  God,  and  the  evidence  of 
 this  is  sufficiently  displayed  in  the  miracle  that 
 was  here  done.  Notice  the  contrast  between  the 
 resurrections  that  occur  in  other  circumstances 
 with  the  resurrection  that  occurs  here.  When  Eli- 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  427 
 
 jali  was  about  to  raise  the  widow's  son,  lie  cried 
 unto  the  Lord  and  said,  "  O  Lord,  my  God,  hast 
 thou  also  brought  evil  upon  the  widow  with  whom 
 I  sojourned,  by  slaying  her  son  ?  And  he  stretched 
 himself  upon  the  child  three  times,  and  cried  unto 
 the  Lord,  and  said,  O  Lord,  my  God,  I  pray  thee, 
 let  this  child's  soul  come  into  him  again."  That 
 was  a  man  armed  with  miraculous  powers,  doing 
 miracles.  But  how  did  Elijah  do  it?  He  did 
 it  simply  as  the  minister  of  God,  simply  as  the 
 channel  through  which  God's  power  flowed,  and 
 he  recognised  that  power,  and  gave  the  glory  to 
 the  author  of  the  miracle  before  and  after  he  did  it. 
 But  when  Jesus  comes  to  do  the  miracle,  he  does 
 not  first  say,  "  O  God,  do  it,"  he  does  not  ac- 
 knowledge, as  Elijah  did,  that  he  had  no  power 
 to  do  it,  but  he  says,  "  Young  man,  I  say  unto 
 thee,  Arise."  When  the  apostles  did  miracles 
 they  did  them  amid  prayer,  or  in  the  name  of 
 Jesus — "  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth ;  " 
 they  proved  that  their  power  and  authority  were 
 altogether  borrowed ;  but  when  Jesus  did  mira- 
 cles, he  showed  that  his  power  was  original,  un- 
 borrowed and  underived.  Elijah  did  the  miracle 
 as  a  man,  Jesus  did  it  as  God ;  Jesus  was  not 
 only  man  then,  but  he  was  also  God. 
 
428  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 We  have  also  to  learn  from  this  passage  the 
 hope,  that  great  hope  which  the  apostle  elo- 
 quently declaims  upon — the  resurrection  from 
 the  dead.  It  is  as  easy  to  raise  a  million  of  the 
 dead  as  it  is  to  raise  one ;  the  same  power  that 
 could  raise  that  dead  young  man,  can  raise  the 
 millions  upon  millions  that  sleep,  as  far  as  their 
 ashes  are  concerned,  beneath  the  very  dust  on 
 which  we  tread ;  it  is  not  one  whit  more  diffi- 
 cult, because  the  difficulty  in  both  cases  implies 
 omnipotence,  to  give  life  again  to  all  the  sleep- 
 ing dead  of  the  six  or  seven  thousand  years 
 that  are  past.  "  I  am,"  says  the  Saviour,  "  the 
 resurrection  and  the  life.  All  power  is  given 
 unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth."  That  power 
 is  not  exhausted  by  its  use,  it  is  not  spent  by 
 distance ;  he  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
 for  ever.  Persons  argue,  and  I  have  argued, 
 and  in  its  place  we  may  fairly  argue,  that  we 
 have  analogies  that  show  us  the  possibility  of  a 
 resurrection ;  in  the  dry  root,  so  unprepossessing 
 and  unbeautiful,  under  the  influence  of  summer 
 showers  and  suns  bursting  into  the  rose ;  in  the 
 case  of  the  insect,  a  repulsive  worm  in  its  chry- 
 salis state,  by  and  by  unfurling  its  wings  and 
 floating  like  a  living  flower  in   the  air,  in  the 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  429 
 
 shape  of  a  butterfly  ;  we  see  in  all  the  buds  that 
 burst  out  in  spring  analogies  clear  and  beautiful 
 of  the  possibility  of  the  resurrection  :  but  let  us 
 recollect,  an  analogy  does  not  prove  any  thing,  it 
 only  says  that  the  divine  promise  is  in  harmony 
 with  providential  and  divine  facts.  And  I  may 
 also  notice,  to  show  how  little  these  analogies 
 prove,  that  the  most  gifted  of  ancient  philosophers 
 never  dreamed  of  a  resurrection ;  Socrates,  Plato, 
 Cicero,  Seneca,  Epictetus,  saw  flowers  and  felt 
 springs,  and  yet  never  thought  of  a  resurrection  ; 
 they  cannot  be  supposed,  therefore,  to  be  proofs. 
 But  one  fact  is  worth  a  thousand  arguments, 
 and  ten  thousand  analogies.  You  have  here, 
 not  an  analogy,  not  a  dim  hint,  but  a  fact  that 
 Christ  did  restore  life  to  one  that  was  dead ; 
 and  that  one  fact  is  infinitely  more  conclusive 
 than  all  the  arguments  man  can  use,  and  all  the 
 analogies  genius  can  find  out.  The  resurrection 
 is  not  merely  a  thing  probable,  not  only  a  thing 
 possible,  but  a  fact  that  has  already  been  done. 
 
 Let  all  that  mourn  the  loss  of  those  that  are  not 
 lost,  but  gone  before,  seek  consolation  where  this 
 poor  widow  found  her  consolation.  Christ  may 
 not  recall  your  dead  from  the  tomb,  but  he  can  do 
 better  for  them  and  for  you — he  can  fill  the  chasm 
 
430  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 they  have  made  with  yet  richer  and  intenser  con- 
 solation. The  restoration  of  the  widow's  son  to  her 
 fire-side  was  one  way  of  comforting,  and  only  one ; 
 Christ  might  have  given  her  richer  comfort  in 
 manifold  ways,  without  restoring  her  son  from 
 the  dead ;  he  can  do  more  than  give  consolation 
 — he  can  himself  take  the  empty  place,  the  va- 
 cated niche,  and  fill  it  with  the  fulness  of  him 
 that  filleth  all  and  in  all.  He  has  promised  to 
 comfort  you  under  all  your  trials  and  your  losses, 
 but  he  reserves  to  himself  the  when,  and  the 
 manner  in  which  he  will  do  it.  Ask  of  him 
 consolation,  but  leave  to  his  own  goodness  and 
 wisdom  the  mode  in  which  he  will  send  that  con- 
 solation. The  restoration  of  the  dead  is  only 
 one  way,  and  it  may  not  be  the  best  way ;  he  has 
 many  more. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  let  us  anticipate  the  re-union 
 of  all  our  relatives,  and  children,  and  fathers, 
 and  mothers,  that  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus 
 Christ.  When  a  relative  we  love,  a  child,  a  son, 
 a  parent,  dies,  and  leaves  us  alone,  that  stern  and 
 indomitable  silence  that  sits  upon  the  cold  pale 
 lips,  that  once  were  so  eloquent  with  words  of  af- 
 fection, is  the  most  solemn  thing  of  all ;  often  we 
 wish,  when  we  see  the  dead,  and  gaze  on  that 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  431 
 
 which  was  all  life,  all  sympathy,  that  flashed 
 with  joy,  or  that  was  channelled  with  tears — 
 all  so  indomitably  still,  answering  nothing,  hear- 
 ing nothing,  responding  to  nothing — earnestly 
 we  long  in  such  circumstances  for  some  sign 
 from  the  spirit-land,  some  beam  from  the  unut- 
 terable glory,  some  sweet  voice  to  tell  us  audibly 
 and  clearly,  "  Your  dead  one  yet  lives."  But  no 
 sign  comes,  no  voice  is  heard,  no  response  is 
 given  us.  Then,  in  such  a  case,  let  us  leave  the 
 presence  and  trappings  of  the  dead,  let  us  leave 
 the  chamber  of  mourning  and  of  woe,  and  let  us 
 go  to  the  gates  of  Nain ;  let  us  call  back  through 
 eighteen  centuries  that  glorious  spectacle,  let  us 
 listen  to  these  words,  "  Young  man,  arise ;  "  and 
 then  let  us  hear  reverberating  in  multiplied 
 echoes  from  the  mighty  multitude  that  saw  it, 
 "  The  Lord  hath  visited  his  people,  the  great 
 prophet  is  come,"  and  we  shall  then  know  that 
 our  dead  do  live,  and  that  we  shall  meet  them 
 again,  as  that  mother  met  her  restored  son. 
 Above  all,  let  us  add  to  this,  this  blessed  fact — 
 that  the  long  procession  of  the  dead  has  not  only 
 been  turned  by  Jesus  in  three  separate  instances 
 in  the  New  Testament,  but  it  has  been  com- 
 pletely diverted  by  himself.    Jesus  rose  from  the 
 
432  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 dead,  "  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  sleep."  We 
 may,  then,  gather  spring  flowers  with  which  to 
 beautify  the  graves  of  our  beloved  dead  from  the 
 garden  in  which  they  laid  him  ;  we  may  thus 
 learn  that  death  is  to  the  believer  but  the  angel 
 of  love,  and  the  grave  to  a  saint  but  the  narrow 
 gate  that  leads  to  glory.  What  blessed  hope, 
 then,  does  this  Christianity  teach  us ;  what  noble 
 consolations  does  this  Bible  give  us !  Let  us 
 cherish  it,  let  us  love  it,  let  us  praise  God  for  it, 
 let  us  seek  to  feel  it. 
 
 We  learn  here  also,  that  the  soul  separated 
 from  the  body  plainly  lives  independent  of  that 
 body.  When  this  young  man  was  raised,  if 
 there  had  been  restored  to  him  the  mere  animal 
 life,  he  would  have  been  nothing  more  than 
 one  of  the  brutes  of  the  field;  but  there  was 
 restored  to  him  not  merely  the  beating  heart, 
 the  breathing  lungs,  the  circulating  life-blood, 
 the  animal  life  which  the  horse,  and  the  ox,  and 
 the  dog  all  have  in  common  with  us,  but  there 
 was  restored  to  him  the  intellectual  life  and  the 
 moral  life,  the  soul  which  is  the  man,  and  which 
 man  alone  has.  I  have  often  tried  to  think — 
 but  perhaps  it  is  wrong  to  speculate — where  the 
 soul'  is  when  it  is  severed  from  the  bodv.     It  is 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  433 
 
 a  very  solemn  thought.     We  know,  if  it  be  a 
 child  of  God,  what  it  is— we  know  what  it  en- 
 joys, but  the  locality  where  it  is,  we  know  not. 
 My  impression  is  this— that  the  souls  of  those  that 
 are  gone  may  be  far  nearer  to  us  than  our  absent 
 friends  and  relatives  are  at  this  moment— that 
 the  soul  of  your  child,  your  father,  your  mother, 
 your  brother,  or  your  sister,  may  be  nearer  to  you 
 at  this  moment  than  your  actual  living  brother 
 or  sister.     In  other  words,  it  may  be  perfectly 
 true,  that  just  as  there  are  minute  living  creatures 
 which  our  naked  eye  cannot  see  without  a  mi- 
 croscope, so  there  may  be  present  spiritual  beings 
 in  the  midst  of  us  too  ethereal  for  our  gross 
 senses  to  see  in  this  economy.     As  the  ocean  is 
 a  finer  medium  than  the  earth,  the  air  a  finer 
 medium  than  the  ocean,  there  may  be  a  finer 
 medium  above  all,  and  that  may  be  where  souls 
 now  are.      There  is  something  pleasing  in  this  ; 
 that  those  that  are  gone,  as  we  call  it,  may  be 
 actually  present  in  the  midst  of  us,  seein°-  Us 
 though  we  cannot  see  them,  hearing  us  though 
 we   cannot  hear  them,  frequenting  our  homes, 
 visiting  our  abodes,  appearing  on  our  streets, 
 near  to  us,  and  close  to  us.     And  yet  we  must 
 neither  pray  to  them,  nor  need  we  attempt  to 
 
 2  F 
 
434  FORESHADOWS 
 
 speak  to  them,  for  we  can  neither  see  them  nor 
 hear  them.  It  is  said  bv  Roman  Catholics  that 
 departed  Christians  pray  for  those  that  are  left. 
 It  is  not  impossible  ;  I  do  not  see  any  thing  un- 
 scriptnral  in  the  idea  that  saints  that  are  in 
 heaven  may  pray  in  heaven  for  those  they  have 
 left  upon  earth.  I  do  not  assert  that  it  is  so,  be- 
 cause the  Scripture  does  not ;  but  I  do  not  see 
 any  thing  impossible  in  it.  It  is  quite  a  different 
 thing  for  us  to  pray  to  them — that  is  idolatry, 
 gross  idolatry ;  we  have  but  one  Mediator,  and 
 that  Mediator  is  Christ  Jesus.  If  this  be  fact, 
 then,  it  may  be  that  those  with  whom  we  held 
 sweet  communion  on  earth  may  be  merely  gone 
 into  an  upper  room  in  the  same  house,  separated 
 from  us  only  by  a  transparent  veil,  a  thin  par- 
 tition, in  short,  that  they  are  only  in  the  chancel 
 end  of  the  same  grand  cathedral,  and  are  there 
 with  us  worshipping  the  same  blessed  Father, 
 so  that  the  communion  of  saints,  the  church 
 militant  with  the  church  in  glory,  may  be  near 
 and  interlacing  and  intermingling,  like  the  land 
 and  the  sea.  But  wherever  the  soul  of  a  be- 
 liever is,  it  is  infinitely  happy,  perfectly  happy, 
 and  unscathed  by  earth's  troubles.  Chalmers 
 said    that    heaven,    the    present   abode   of  the 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  435 
 
 soul,  is  not  so  much  a  locality,  as  a  character. 
 Let  there  be  perfect  holiness  in  any  soul,  and 
 let  that  soul  be  where  you  like,  there  it  must 
 have  perfect  happiness.  Wherever  there  is  per- 
 fect holiness,  there  there  must  be  perfect  hap- 
 piness. If  this  thought  can  be  made  good  by 
 Scripture,  or,  indeed,  if  it  is  not  contradicted 
 by  Scripture,  let  us  draw  instruction  from  it. 
 We  may  be  surrounded  by  a  cloud  of  glorious 
 witnesses,  millions  upon  millions  may  be  gazing 
 upon  this  battle-field,  wondering  and  waiting  for 
 the  issue  of  this  grand  struggle,  longing  for 
 that  blessed  day  when  to  him  that  overcometh,  as 
 it  is  stated  in  Revelation,  will  be  given  to  sit 
 down  with  Christ  upon  his  throne,  as  he  has 
 overcome  and  sat  with  the  Father  upon  his 
 throne. 
 
 The  last  lesson  I  would  briefly  notice,  as  I 
 have  already  alluded  to  it,  is  our  perfect  recog- 
 nition of  each  other  in  the  future.  I  believe  souls 
 now  severed  from  the  body  may  recognise  each 
 other ;  I  believe  that  souls,  when  restored  and 
 reunited  to  the  body,  shall  fully  recognise  each 
 other.  In  each  of  the  three  miracles  of  resur- 
 rection performed  by  Jesus  in  the  Gospels,  he 
 restored  the  raised  one  to  the  family  from  whom 
 
 2  f  2 
 
436  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 he  had  fled.  So  likewise  in  the  case  of  the 
 daughter  of  J  aims,  the  maiden  was  restored  to 
 her  parents,  and  they  saw  by  her  personal  iden- 
 tity it  was  the  same  one  that  died.  When 
 Lazarus  was  raised,  he  was  restored  to  Mary 
 and  Martha,  and  they  knew  him  and  conversed 
 with  him.  When  the  young  man  was  raised,  he 
 sat  up  ;  his  mother  knew  that  it  was  he,  and  he 
 knew  that  that  was  his  mother.  I  think  there 
 must  be  in  these  facts,  so  fully  and  so  minutely 
 stated,  that  the  restored  dead  ones  saw  and  were 
 seen,  spoke  and  were  spoken  to,  and  fully  re- 
 cognised each  other,  a  dim  foreshadow  of  that 
 blessed  day  when  all  shall  recognise  each  other, 
 and  groups  shall  be  in  heaven  among  whom 
 personal  friendships,  begun  on  earth,  shall  last  for 
 ever.  I  do  not  think  that  friendship  is  so  earthly 
 in  its  nature  that  it  perishes  with  the  body. 
 Jesus  recognised  his  mother  in  the  agonies  of 
 death ;  Jesus  had  a  friend,  and  that  friend  was 
 Lazarus  ;  and  a  disciple  that  he  especially  loved, 
 and  that  was  "the  beloved  disciple;"  thus 
 proving  that  Jesus  hallowed  friendships  and 
 relationships  —  and  what  he  hallowed  has  the 
 element  of  perpetuity,  nay,  of  eternity  itself,  and 
 shall  last  for  ever.     Let  us  rejoice  in  this  blessed 
 
THE    RESTORED    SON.  437 
 
 hope— that  all  circles  will  yet  be  restored,  that 
 all  suspended  relationships  will  yet  be  renewed, 
 and  that  the  joy  the  mother  feels  in  the  pre- 
 sence of  the  Lamb  shall  be  reflected  in  the  coun- 
 tenance of  the  child  that  feels  it  too,  and  that 
 both  shall  be  one  ceaseless,  uninterrupted,  happy 
 family  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb 
 for  ever ! 
 
LECTURE  XVI. 
 
 THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER. 
 
 While  he  spake  these  things  unto  them,  behold,  there  came  a 
 certain  ruler,  and  worshipped  him,  saying,  My  daughter  is 
 even  now  dead  :  but  come  and  lay  thy  hand  upon  her,  and 
 she  shall  live.  And  Jesus  arose,  and  followed  him,  and  so 
 did  his  disciples.  And,  behold,  a  woman,  which  was  diseased 
 with  an  issue  of  blood  twelve  years,  came  behind  him,  and 
 touched  the  hem  of  his  garment :  for  she  said  within  herself, 
 If  I  may  but  touch  his  garment,  I  shall  be  whole.  But  Jesus 
 turned  him  about,  and  when  he  saw  her,  he  said,  Daughter, 
 be  of  good  comfort ;  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole.  And 
 the  woman  was  made  whole  from  that  hour.  And  when  Jesus 
 came  into  the  ruler's  house,  and  saw  the  minstrels  and  the 
 people  making  a  noise,  he  said  unto  them,  Give  place  :  for 
 the  maid  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth.  And  they  laughed  him  to 
 scorn.  But  when  the  people  were  put  forth,  he  went  in,  and 
 tookher  by  the  hand,  and  the  maid  arose. — Matt.  ix.  18 — 25. 
 
 Three  great  instances  of  resurrection  from  the 
 dead  are  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  as  achieved 
 by  him  who  is  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life. 
 Two  of  these  I  have  already  examined ;  I  now 
 direct  your  attention  to  the  last,  not  the  least 
 beautiful  and  instructive  of  the  three. 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  439 
 
 It  appears  that  Jairus  was  a  ruler,  or,  as  he  is 
 called,  "PXV>  a  chief  person  or  prince  of  the 
 synagogue.  It  would  also  seem,  as  this  miracle 
 was  performed  at  Capernaum,  that  this  ruler 
 Jairus,  the  father  of  the  maiden  who  was  raised 
 from  the  dead,  was  one  of  the  elders  spoken  of 
 in  Luke  vii.,  and  who  came  to  Jesus  pleading  for 
 ar  certain  centurion's  servant,  who  was  sick  and 
 ready  to  die.  He  was  there  pleading  for  the 
 restoration  of  another ;  he  is  here  pleading — if  it 
 be  possible  to  conceive  that  he  realized  the  idea 
 of  a  resurrection  of  his  daughter  from  the  dead — 
 for  the  restoration  of  his  own.  And  what  does 
 this  contrast  teach  us?  That  sympathy  with 
 others  in  their  trials  is  the  earnest  of  succour  to 
 us  in  ours. 
 
 The  statement  that  was  made  by  Jairus,  when 
 he  appealed  to  the  Lord,  was,  "  My  daughter  is 
 now  dead."  But  in  turning  to  the  Gospel  by 
 Mark,  we  find  his  account  to  be,  "  My  daughter 
 is  evennowatthe  point  of  death."  This  seems  to  be 
 one  of  those  apparent  discrepancies  in  the  Gos- 
 pels which  prove  that  there  was  not,  as  has  been 
 imputed  to  the  evangelists,  a  conspiracy  among 
 them  to  write  the  same  thing,  and  thus  to  palm 
 a  joint  imposture  on  a  credulous  world.     Those 
 
410  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 apparent  discrepancies  are  the  evidence  that  each 
 evangelist  wrote  distinctly  and  separate  from  the 
 others,  that  there  was  no  combination  to  write 
 the  same  thing,  and  that  independent  witnesses 
 of  facts  are  the  independent  recorders  of  the 
 performance  of  these  facts ;  and  what  seems  to 
 be  a  discrepancy  or  discord  is  found  to  bo  only 
 a  grander  harmony  when  it  is  really  and  tho- 
 roughly understood.  It  appears  that  this  maiden, 
 the  daughter  of  Jairus,  was  so  ill  that  the  father 
 rushed  to  Jesus,  fully  expecting  that  she  would 
 be  dead  before  he  reached  him  ;  for  be  it  ob- 
 served it  is  afterwards  recorded,  that  the  mes- 
 sengers came  and  told  Jairus  that  his  daughter 
 was  already  dead,  as  it  is  alleged  in  the  other 
 Gospel,  and  that  therefore  they  were  not  to  trou- 
 ble the  Master :  showing  us  that  when  the  father 
 left  her  she  was  in  that  critical  state  that  he  was 
 positively  sure  she  would  be  numbered  with  the 
 dead  before  he  could  have  finished  his  journey. 
 Matthew  seizes  one  part  of  his  statement,  "she  is 
 dead ; "  Mark  seizes  what  was  no  doubt  another 
 and  preceding  part  of  his  statement,  "she  is  at 
 the  point  of  death."  Probably  when  the  father 
 rushed  with  impetuous  feeling  and  paternal  sym- 
 pathy, he  exclaimed,  as  we  can  conceive  in  such 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  441 
 
 circumstances,  (i  My  daughter  is  at  the  point  of 
 death ;  nay,  I  am  sure  she  is  already  dead. 
 Pray  come  ;  if  it  be  possible,  recover  her,  if  liv- 
 ing ;  restore  her,  if  dead."  Thus  we  have  not 
 a  real  discrepancy,  but  one  evangelist  recording 
 one  portion  of  the  father's  remark,  and  the  other 
 evangelist  recording  the  other  portion,  and  both 
 thus  giving  a  full  portrait  of.  what  actually  oc- 
 curred upon  the  occasion. 
 
 Now,  while  Jesus  was  performing  another 
 miracle  on  a  woman  who  was  diseased,  who  met 
 him  in  the  way,  and  whose  meeting  of  him  is 
 alluded  to  by  all  the  evangelists  as  occurring  in 
 the  midst  of  this  miracle,  certain  parties  came  to 
 him,  as  it  is  narrated  by  the  other  evangelist,  and 
 told  the  father  not  to  trouble  the  Master,  and  that 
 his  daughter  was  already  dead :  conveying  their 
 solemn  and  natural  impression,  that  however 
 efficient  Jesus  might  be  as  a  physician,  they  could 
 not  expect  that  he  had  any  power  to  call  back 
 life  into  the  cold  frame,  or  the  pulsation  of  the 
 blood  into  the  still  and  silent  heart.  They  re- 
 garded death  as  the  paralysis  of  all  hope,  as  the 
 close  of  all  interest,  as  the  distinct  evidence  that 
 man's  power  had  reached  its  limit,  and  that  there 
 was  no  help  or  cure.     But  what  seemed  to  man 
 
44£  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 utterly  impossible,  was  not  so  to  Jesus,  and  the 
 sequel  shows  it. 
 
 But  before  I  pass  on  to  the  fact  of  the  resur- 
 rection of  this  maiden,  let  me  notice  here  that  we 
 have  an  instance  of  death  entering  into  the  family 
 of  a  distinguished,  pious,  devoted  ruler  of  the 
 ancient  Jewish  synagogue.  We  see  it  legible 
 upon  the  whole  history  of  the  world  —  that 
 death  enters  into  all  circles.  The  happy  family 
 of  Lazarus,  and  Martha,  and  Mary,  whose  home 
 was  so  bright,  whose  sisterhood  and  brotherhood 
 were  so  beautiful,  is  intruded  into  by  death,  and 
 the  stay,  the  roof-tree,  of  the  home  is  snatched 
 away  and  borne  to  the  grave.  We  see  here  death 
 entering  into  the  family  of  a  pious,  distinguished, 
 and  devoted  ruler  of  the  synagogue ;  and  I  need 
 not  remark  that  even  royalty  itself,  with  all  the 
 appliances  that  art  could  give,  with  all  that  sci- 
 ence could  prescribe,  with  all  that  wealth  could 
 purchase,  with  all  that  sympathy  could  minister, 
 has  not  been  able  to  attain  the  ripe  old-age  which 
 peasants  and  mechanics  frequently  reach ;  thus 
 proving  to  us  that  the  dead  level  of  human 
 happiness  has  far  fewer  interruptions  than  men 
 are  apt  to  suppose.  But  when  we  think  of  death 
 entering  into  all  circles,  the  circles  of  the  pious, 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  443 
 
 the  good,  the  rich,  the  homes  of  the  royal,  is  it  not 
 strange  that  a  fact  that  stares  us  daily  and  hourly 
 in  the  face,  in  all  lands,  and  from  all  points,  is  so 
 little  felt,  and  so  infrequently  considered  ?  How 
 is  it  that  preparation  for  meeting  and  passing 
 through  death  occupies  so  little  a  space  in  the 
 thoughts  and  anxieties  of  mankind  ?  But  I  will 
 not  say  death ;  for  death  is  nothing  that  we  have 
 to  do  with,  except  to  defy  it ;  we  have  to  lift  up 
 our  heads  and  look  above  it.  We  have  nothing 
 to  do  with  preparing  to  meet  death,  but  preparing 
 to  meet  God.  Death  is  the  mere  loosener  of  the 
 strings  that  moor  us  to  the  shores  of  time ;  the 
 mere  dissolver  of  the  cement  that  glues  us,  as  it 
 were,  to  things  that  perish  in  the  using;  and 
 what  we  are  to  do  is  to  despise  death — not  to 
 think  of  it.  It  is  only  suggested  to  me  by  death 
 to  speak  of  that  subject  at  all.  Prepare  to  re- 
 ceive God  in  our  nature,  when  he  comes  to  you, 
 if  such  should  be  your  happy  alternative ;  and 
 we  have  nothing  to  do  with  preparing  for,  or 
 thinking  to  meet  death.  And  if  you  are  to  meet 
 that  crisis  at  all  which  separates  from  time  and 
 unites  to  eternity,  remember  that  our  prepara- 
 tion for  meeting  God  is  not  the  hour  we  spend 
 with  a  priest  before  we  die,  or  the  few  prayers 
 
444  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 that  escape    amid   the   agonies   of  a  dissolving 
 frame ;  but  the  true  arena  of  the  victory  over 
 death  is  the  journey  of  life  ;  the  true  preparation 
 for  dying  is  living  now.     The  light  thing  is  to 
 die — the   solemn  thing  is  to  live.      The  awful 
 place  is  not,  in  my  judgment,  the  death  chamber  ; 
 but  the  places  that  are  fraught  with  stirring  and 
 tremendous  issues,  are  the  counting-house,  the 
 place  of  business,  the  social  circle,  the  fire-side — 
 these  are  the  solemn  places ;  in  these  the  battle 
 of  life  is  fought ;  in  these  the  victory  is  lost  or 
 won.     By  what  we  are  there  is  our  preparation 
 or  our  unpreparation  to  meet  God  upon  a  judg- 
 ment-seat :  it  is  in  these  that  the  soul  fights  the 
 battle  of  life  ;    it  is  on  the  death-bed  that  the 
 soul,  if  a  Christian  soul,  begins  to  reap  the  laurels 
 and  to  seize  the  spoils  of  its  victory.    Never  for- 
 get, then,  that  the  only  preparation  for  dying  as 
 we  could  wish  to  die,  is  living  as  God  bids  us  live. 
 But  I  believe  the  very  common  and  very  perni- 
 cious notion  is,  that  we  are  to  Live  a  life  exclusive- 
 ly the  world's ;    and  if  we  can  snatch  an  hour, 
 when  the  shadows  of  approaching  dissolution  lie 
 dark  and  heavy  upon  us,  to  give  utterance  to 
 a  parting  cry,  which  even  animal  nature  may 
 give  vent  to,  apart  altogether  from  the  soul,  then 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  445 
 
 all  will  be  well.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  cast  the 
 least  shadow  of  suspicion  upon  this — that  whilst 
 there  is  a  pulse  at  the  wrist  there  is  a  hope  for 
 the  heart.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  disbelieve — that 
 the  dying  eye  may  catch  a  look  of  the  exalted 
 Saviour ;  and,  looking,  even  in  the  agonies  of 
 death,  may  live  for  ever.  But  I  am  speaking, 
 not  to  the  dying,  whom  I  would  try  to  point  to 
 that  Saviour,  but  to  the  living  ;  and  I  assure  you 
 that  all  experience  proves,  what  all  Scripture 
 plainly  intimates,  that  most  irien  die  just  as  they 
 live.  Is  not  this  the  law  of  nature — that  the 
 previous  state  we  are  in  is  always  the  preparation 
 for,  and  gives  its  tone  to,  the  state  that  succeeds  ? 
 We  reap  precisely  as  we  sow.  And  what  is  this 
 meant  to  teach  us  but  the  lesson,  Prepare  in 
 life  to  meet  God  in  death  ?  What  is  manhood  ? 
 Our  manhood  is  very  much  what  our  youth  was ; 
 and  our  old  age,  which  feeds  upon  the  past,  and 
 can  no  longer  feed  upon  the  future  here,  though 
 it  should  and  may  feed  upon  a  brighter  and 
 better  future  hereafter,  is  very  much  what  our 
 manhood  was.  Is  it  not  the  case  in  trade  ?  It 
 is  not  the  splendid  advantage  that  come  across 
 his  path  that  makes  the  successful  tradesman, 
 but  it  is  the  clever  and  judicious  seizure,  on  the 
 
446  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 instant,  of  the  advantage,  while  it  passes.  Many 
 tradesmen  who  have  been  unfortunate  and 
 ruined  in  the  world,  have  had  far  more  splendid 
 advantages  offered  them  than  others  who  have 
 been  successful,  and  have  retired  prosperous 
 and  happy  men.  It  is  not  the  magnificence  of 
 the  opportunity  that  meets  us,  but  it  is  the  force 
 and  intensity  with  which  we  seize  it  and  turn 
 it  to  advantage.  It  is  not,  I  am  sure,  the 
 grandeur  or  the  multitude  of  our  Christian 
 privileges  that  is  *  securing  our  final  victory, 
 but  the  instancy  with  which  we  seize  them, 
 and  the  grace  we  receive  from  God  to  sanctify 
 and  rightly  employ  them.  So  we  find  it  in 
 taking  a  larger  view  of  life — that  the  nursery 
 in  which  we  play  a  part  as  children  gives  its 
 tone  very  much  to  the  nursery  in  which  we  take 
 a  part  as  parents.  It  is  wonderful  how  little  the 
 main,  substantial  elements  of  human  character 
 alter;  we  easily  let  slip  from  memory  events 
 about  ten  years  old,  while  we  easily  recollect 
 the  things  of  youth.  The  last  sounds  that 
 will  ring  in  the  old  man's  heart  will  be  the 
 song  that  his  mother  sang  over  him  when  he 
 prattled  by  her  knee,  or  listened  to  her  loving 
 and  affectionate  commands.       Lessons  instilled 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  447 
 
 in  the  nursery  often  experience  a  resurrection 
 in  old  age,  and  live  when  all  between  seems 
 hushed  and  utterly  expunged.  Let  us  then 
 never  forget  this  great  lesson,  that  as  we  live  so 
 we  die ;  that  the  present  is  preparation  for  the 
 future — not  for  dying,  for  that  is  not  worth  con- 
 sidering, but  for  being  with  God  in  happiness, 
 or  being  exiles  and  strangers  to  that  happiness 
 for  ever. 
 
 When  the  news  was  brought  to  our  Lord  that 
 the  daughter  of  Jairus  was  dead,  we  read  in  the 
 parallel  passage  that  he  gave  but  one  prescrip- 
 tion— one  noble  prescription — that  which  is  the 
 key  to  victory  still,  as  it  was  the  key  to  victory 
 then — "  Be  not  afraid,  but  only  believe."  This 
 was  Christ's  prescription  for  hope,  and  not  only 
 for  hope,  but  for  victory.  What  is  the  circum- 
 stance, I  ask,  that  makes  death  seem  so  insignifi- 
 cant to  a  Christian  ?  He  looks  upon  it  in  the  light 
 of  him  who  is  the  conqueror  of  death.  And  what 
 makes  death  so  terrible  to  a  man  who  is  not  a 
 Christian?  Because  he  sees  it  just  as  death  came 
 into  the  world,  and  has  continued  ever  since. 
 If  a  Christian  meets  death,  he  meets  him  as  a 
 friend,  and  then  he  thanks  him  to  let  him  go  ; 
 but  if  he  meets  him  as  an  enemy,  he  says  with 
 
448  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 derisive  scorn,  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting?" 
 The  great  peril  is,  when  man  meets  death  as  a 
 stranger,  knows  nothing  about  what  he  is  to  do, 
 or  where  he  is  to  lead  him  ;  then  he  may  tremble, 
 whether  he  be  a  judge  upon  the  bench,  or  a  mon- 
 arch on  his  throne,  or  the  occupant  of  the  high- 
 est and  the  happiest  sphere  in  which  humanity 
 can  be  placed.  But  if  the  believer  has  his  eye 
 resting  on  Christ,  the  conqueror  of  death,  his 
 ear  is  open  to  his  blessed  accents,  "  Be  not 
 afraid,  but  believe."  If  his  every-day  life  be  the 
 reflection  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  the  life  that  he 
 lives  the  life  of  Christ  in  him ;  then  when  he 
 comes  to  die,  or  when  he  anticipates  the  hour  of 
 dying,  he  can  say,  "  Though  I  walk  through  the 
 valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil ; 
 for  Christ  has  illuminated  it  by  the  transit  of  his 
 own  glory."  Christ  has  opened  the  kingdom  of 
 heaven  to  all  believers ;  Christ  has  overcome 
 the  sharpness  of  death,  to  use  the  language  of  an 
 ancient  hymn,  and  therefore  blunted  it  utterly 
 to  all  believers.  And  the  man  that  thus  hopes, 
 and  trusts,  and  looks  at  death  in  this  light,  has 
 nothing  to  fear  in  dying,  because  it  is  the  strug- 
 gle of  a  moment  that  ushers  him  into  the  glories 
 of  eternity. 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  449 
 
 Jesus  said  of  this  maiden,  "  The  maid  is  not 
 dead,  but  sleepeth."  You  are  not  to  suppose 
 from  this  that  she  was  not  really  dead,  for  he 
 uses  the  same  words  respecting  Lazarus,  "  Our 
 friend  Lazarus  sleepeth ;"  and  only  when  they 
 evidently  misconstrued  the  expression,  he  ex- 
 plained it  to  them ;  "  Jesus  told  them  plainly, 
 Lazarus  is  dead."  Sleep  is  the  Christian  name 
 for  death ;  it  is  the  beautiful  and  prophetic  colour 
 that  Christ  spreads  over  the  features  of  the  dead, 
 and  is  designed  to  intimate,  that  as  sure  as  a 
 morning  comes  to  the  sleeper  on  his  couch,  so 
 sure  an  everlasting  morning  shall  break  upon 
 the  tenants  of  the  tomb.  To  this  maiden  the 
 sleep  was  very  short,  and  therefore  it  was  not  fit 
 to  be  called  death ;  for  already,  in  her  case,,  the 
 Sun  of  righteousness  had  entered  through  the 
 casement  of  her  chamber,  his  first  beams  were 
 falling  softly  on  her  eyelids ;  and  one  word  more, 
 "  Talitha  cumi,"  as  he  spake  in  another  Gospel, 
 "  Maid,  arise,"  and  she  rises  from  the  torpor  of 
 death,  and  mingles  with  the  joys  and  sympathies 
 of  the  living. 
 
 It  is  impossible,  in  looking  at  Christ  thus 
 raising  this  maid,  to  fail  to  notice  one  remarkable 
 feature   in  Jesus — the   quiet  power,    the    calm 
 
 2  G 
 
450  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 self-possession,  that  he  indicated.  Mourners 
 here,  weepers  there,  distress  in  another  place ; 
 and  the  only  one  who  appears  calm,  and  unmoved, 
 and  perfectly  composed,  is  the  Son  of  God.  I  do 
 not  state  this  as  peculiar  to  this  miracle,  but  as 
 remarkable  in  all.  We  must  see  in  every  miracle 
 that  Jesus  did,  a  manifestation  of  quiet  self-com- 
 posure and  self-possession,  the  most  striking  and 
 remarkable.  And  what  was  this  the  evidence 
 of?  All  great  men  are  quiet  men.  Evidence  of 
 power  is  self-composure,  self-possession.  All  the 
 greatest  forces  in  nature  make  the  least  noise. 
 The  lightning  flashes,  the  thunder  rolls,  and  men 
 call  that  great :  but  there  is  a  power  infinitely 
 greater.  The  light  that  comes  from  the  sun  de- 
 scends with  a  speed  that  is  almost  incalculable, 
 and  when  it  falls  upon  the  earth  it  makes  the 
 secret  life  of  every  flower  and  tree  instantly 
 burst  into  expression,  and  put  forth  their  foliage  ; 
 and  yet  that  light,  possessed  of  such  power  that 
 in  one  month  it  will  clothe  the  whole  earth  with 
 verdure  and  beauty  and  blossom,  comes  so  qui- 
 etly that  we  cannot  hear  it,  and  so  softly  that  it 
 falls  upon  the  infant's  eye,  and  yet  does  not 
 injure  it.  All  great  things  are  quiet  things  ;  and 
 the   very   quiet  that  Jesus  showed  amidst  the 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  451 
 
 most  stirring  and  startling  events,  is  evidence 
 that  if  never  man  spake  like  this  man,  never  man 
 acted  like  this  man. 
 
 Before  Jesus  proceeds,  however,  to  raise  the 
 maiden  from  her  sleep,  or  rather  from  her  death, 
 he  clears  the  house  of  the  mourners.      History 
 tells  us  that  at  ancient  funerals  mourners  were 
 regularly  hired ;  it  seems  strange  and  absurd  to 
 us,  yet  such  was  the  fact ;    they  were  hired  in 
 order  to  express  by  their  lamentations  the  sorrow 
 that  the  relatives  felt  on  account  of  the  loss  of 
 their  near  and  dear  relations.      These  minstrels 
 and  other  persons  who  came  to  thehouse — some,  it 
 maybe,  to  sympathize,  others  only  to  make  mourn- 
 ing— scorned  the  very  idea  that  the  maid  merely 
 slept.    "  They  laughed  him  to  scorn,"  it  is  said  ; 
 they  thought  it  most  absurd  and  ridiculous  to 
 talk  of  one  sleeping  who  had  given  so  clear  and 
 unequivocal  proof   that  she  was  already  dead. 
 Jesus  therefore  removed  them :  it  was  not  meet 
 that  unbelief  and  scorn  should  be  present  in  that 
 holy  chamber,  or  be  witnesses  of  that  sublime 
 manifestation  of   Divine    power.      He  ordered 
 them  away ;    and  those  that  remain  are  Peter, 
 James,  and  John,  the  three  favourite  apostles,  as 
 they  have  been  called,  the  representatives  of  the 
 
 2  g  2 
 
452  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 church,  of  Christ,  to  witness  what  was  done. 
 And  standing  over  the  couch  of  the  maiden,  like 
 twin  funeral  tapers,  are  the  father  and  the  mother, 
 with  conflicting  feelings  and  emotions,  whether 
 the  hopes  of  restoration  were  delusive,  whether 
 Jesus  had  the  power  not  only  to  open  the  eyes 
 of  the  blind,  but  also  to  raise  the  dead  and  bring 
 them  to  life  and  happiness  again. 
 
 Jesus  spake  to  her,  "  Talitha  cumi,"  Maid, 
 arise,  and  it  is  added,  "  the  spirit  came  again ; " 
 or  as  it  is  in  another  evangelist,  "  the  spirit  came 
 upon  her  again."  And  this,  again,  is  evidence 
 how  near  that  spirit  was  to  her ;  it  is  evidence  to 
 us  that  Jesus  saw  the  world  of  spirits  as  distinct 
 from  the  world  of  matter.  It  is  clear,  too,  that 
 the  soul  is  a  thing  distinct  from  the  body  in 
 which  that  soul  sojourns.  The  Jews  have  an 
 ancient  legend,  which  they  believe,  that  after 
 death  the  soul  of  the  departed  hovers  near  the 
 body  for  several  days  before  it  takes  its  final 
 farewell.  There  may  be  in  this  legend  of  the 
 Jew  the  basis  of  fact.  In  the  room  where  the 
 weeping  relatives  are,  and  only  the  dead  body  is 
 visible  to  the  eye,  there  may  be  present  still,  for 
 a  little  time,  the  soul  of  him  whose  body  lies  be- 
 fore them ;  and  if  that  soul  could  speak,  it  would 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  453 
 
 say  to  them,  "  Weep  not  for  me  ;    I  am  eman- 
 cipated, unfettered ;  prepare  to  take  my  voyage 
 to  more  glorious  realms — weep  only  for  your- 
 selves." What  is  remarkable  enough,  the  highest 
 science  has  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  last 
 echoes  of  life  ring  in  the  body  that  seems  to  us 
 dead  much  longer  than  persons  actually  suppose ; 
 and  that  it  is  not  impossible  that  before  decay 
 begins  the  soul  may  be  lingering  in  the  chambers 
 into  which  it  is  to  enter  once  again  at  the  resur- 
 rection from  the  dead,  taking  its  last  and  solemn 
 farewell,  and,  it  may  be,  calling  up  many  of  the 
 sweetest,  noblest,  dearest  reminiscences  of  life. 
 Who  has  not  sometimes  observed  after  the  death 
 of  a  pious  man,  that  the  features  will  assume  a 
 placid,    calm,    and    beautiful    quiet  ?       I    have 
 heard  the  relatives  say,  in   such  circumstances, 
 "  He    looks   more    like   himself  than    ever  he 
 looked  in  his  life-time  ;  "  the  very  hour  or  two 
 after  death  giving  an  ideal  portrait  of  the  man, 
 so  perfect  and  so  beautiful,  that  it  never  was  pre- 
 sented in  all  its  beauty  by  actual  life.    And  may 
 there  not  be  much  truth  in  this  ?     The  death- 
 struggle  is  over ;  the  agony  of  disease  is  laid  * 
 the  machinery  of  life  stands  still ;  it  is  the  sab- 
 bath that  follows  the  life  week.     The  sod  is  not 
 
454  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 yet  gone ;  it  is  traversing  the  chambers  it  is 
 so  soon  to  desert ;  it  is  retracing  the  journey,  and 
 recounting  the  battles  of  life  ;  it  is  spreading 
 over  those  features  that  once  expressed  anxiety 
 and  toil  to  the  world,  the  calm,  the  repose,  and 
 happiness  it  now  feels,  and,  it  may  be,  singing  in 
 an  under  tone  that  quiet  vesper  song,  that  solemn 
 requiem,  the  last  notes  of  which  shall  mingle 
 with  the  first  notes  of  the  orisons  of  an  eternal 
 and  blessed  jubilee.  Death  does  not  take  place, 
 even  science  will  tell  you,  till  decay  commences  ; 
 and  may  it  not  be  true,  that  when  the  body 
 seems  dead,  the  soul  and  the  body,  at  perfect 
 ease,  are  about  to  take  the  one  its  farewell  of  the 
 other,  till  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  they  that 
 were  made  twain  and  severed  for  a  season  shall 
 be  made  one,  and  so  be  for  ever  happy  with  the 
 Lord. 
 
 It  is  said,  when  Jesus  raised  this  maid,  that 
 he  commanded  that  meat  should  be  given  to  her. 
 Now,  to  a  very  careless  reader  of  the  Bible,  this 
 would  seem  very  puerile  :  it  looks  like  a  trans- 
 ition from  the  highest  sublime  to  the  meanest 
 common-place  exhortation ;  but  it  is  not  so.  It 
 is  because  we  cannot  appreciate  it  that  we  think 
 thus,  not  because  it  is  so.     It  seems  to  me  that 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  455 
 
 the  last  sketch  in  the  miracle  is  the  loveliest  of 
 all.  The  command  that  she  should  have  meat, 
 is,  to  my  mind,  only  second,  if  second,  to  the 
 command,  "  I  say  unto  thee,  Maid,  arise."  For 
 what  does  it  prove  ?  It  indicates  the  presence 
 of  him,  and  therefore  makes  the  analogy  com- 
 plete, who  takes  care  of  the  least  thing  as  truly 
 as  he  does  of  the  greatest  thing  ;  it  demonstrates 
 the  presence  of  him  to  whom  nothing  is  so  minute 
 as  to  be  beneath  his  notice,  before  whom  nothing 
 is  so  magnificent  as  to  be  beyond  his  control ; 
 it  is  a  proof  of  the  presence  of  that  Being 
 who  feeds  the  ant  and  ministers  to  the  archangel 
 beside  the  throne ;  who  will  not  let  a  sparrow 
 fall  without  his  control,  and  who  will  not  let  a 
 seraph  go  beyond  and  defy  that  control.  So  too 
 the  command  to  give  her  meat,  which  it  is  very 
 likely  they  would  forget,  is  the  evidence  to  me 
 that  Jesus  not  only  gives  life,  but  provides  for  the 
 maintenance  of  that  life  ;  not  only  gives  spiritual 
 life,  but  will  find  living  bread  wherewith  to 
 nourish  that  life. 
 
 We  have  thus  seen  the  dead  maiden ;  we  have 
 seen  the  anxious  parents,  and  the  hypocrisy  of 
 the  hired  mourners  ;  we  have  seen  the  cham- 
 ber  cleared ;  we  have  seen  the   Sun  of  right- 
 
456  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 eousness,  the  Resurrection,  and  the  Life,  draw 
 near;  we  have  heard,  if  not  the  original,  the 
 echo  of  his  words,  "  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise ;" 
 and  we  have  seen  the  soul  that  had  just  for- 
 saken, if  it  had  forsaken,  the  frame  in  which  it 
 sojourned,  take  up  its  abode  again,  resume  its 
 throne,  begin  its  sublime  functions,  and  the  maid 
 arise,  and  mingle  with  the  living.  Let  us  rejoice 
 that  Christ  is  still  the  resurrection  and  the 
 life  of  all  that  are  in  their  graves.  That  maid, 
 and  Lazarus,  and  the  young  man,  the  son  of 
 the  widow  of  Nain,  and  all  that  fall  asleep  in 
 Christ,  shall  hear  the  last  trump,  and  rise  to  the 
 enjoyment  of  everlasting  life. 
 
 In  speaking  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
 I  cannot  but  notice,  what  I  dare  say  will  be  re- 
 ferred to  this  day  in  almost  every  pulpit  in  the 
 land,  the  death  of  one  occupying  all  but  the 
 loftiest  sphere  in  this  kingdom,  whose  exemplary 
 and  beautiful  life  adorned  the  dignities  she  held 
 — I  mean  the  death  of  Adelaide,  the  queen 
 dowager.  All  of  us  must  sympathize  with  the 
 loss  sustained  by  those  to  whom  she  was  dear, 
 and  who  were  benefited  by  her  ;  because  never 
 in  the  history  of  England,  I  believe,  and  I  am 
 no  flatterer  of  royalty,  was  there  one  whose  ex- 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  457 
 
 ample  was  so  beautiful,  whose  charity  was  so 
 unbounded,  and  whose  munificence  so  many  in- 
 stitutions of  our  country  have  beneficially  felt. 
 There  is,  I  fear,  scarcely  a  charity  in  the  whole 
 land  that  will  not  miss  the  queen  dowager. 
 There  is  not  in  our  land  a  section  of  the  church 
 of  Christ  which,  after  having  exhausted  its  own 
 beneficence,  has  not  as  its  last  resort  said,  "  We 
 will  make  an  appeal  to  the  queen  dowager;" 
 and  never,  I  am  sure,  was  a  just  appeal  made 
 that  was  not  answered.  I  recollect  she  was  asked 
 to  give  something  towards  the  maintenance  of 
 our  Scottish  church  at  Holloway,  and  she  sent 
 £50  ;  she  was  asked  to  contribute  to  our  mission 
 at  Kennington,  and  she  gave  £20;  she  was 
 asked  to  give  something  to  our  schools,  and  she 
 sent,  I  believe,  £10.  I  quote  these  simply  as 
 specimens  of  her  charity,  comparatively  minute 
 and  trifling ;  yet  instances  of  charity  and  ge- 
 nerosity on  a  larger  scale,  and  to  nobler  and 
 far  greater  institutions,  of  which  there  are  many 
 witnesses.  I  see,  indeed,  in  her  life  the 
 evidence  of  a  royalty  nobler  than  kings  and 
 queens  have,  and  in  her  character  the  earnest  of 
 a  crown  more  glorious  than  that  of  the  greatest 
 monarch.      It  is  literally  true  that  she  adorned 
 
458  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 her  diadem;  her  diadem  did  not  adorn  her 
 And  whilst  we  respect  the  memory  of  an  illus- 
 trious queen,  we  should  rather  dwell  in  our  re- 
 collections on  the  memorials  of  a  good,  a  pious 
 and  a  Christian  woman.  Much  as  I  reverence 
 and  much  as  I  respect  authority,  which  God  in 
 his  providence  has  either  placed  or  permitted, 
 much  and  truly  as  I  feel  of  loyalty  to  our 
 beloved  queen,  and  reverence  to  all  placed 
 over  us,  yet  I  revere  the  woman  more  than  the 
 queen.  The  woman  is  the  creation  of  God;  the 
 queen  is  but  the  conventionalism  of  man.  And 
 if  this  be  so,  the  Christian  is  higher  than  the 
 woman,  nobler  than  the  queen ;  for  the  Christian 
 is  the  re-creation,  the  regeneration  of  the  woman 
 by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  It  is  beautiful  and 
 interesting,  however,  and  a  matter  of  gratitude,  to 
 see  the  sacredness  of  the  Christian  sustain  the 
 dignity  of  the  queen ;  the  piety  of  the  one  and 
 the  power  of  the  other  allied  with  beneficence, 
 and  charity,  and  love.  And  we  feel  the  more 
 pleasure  in  noting  this,  because  the  days  were,  in 
 Avhich  royal  pastimes,  and  royal  pursuits,  were 
 of  a  very  different  description ;  war,  and  revelry, 
 and  licentiousness  were  once  the  only  games  at 
 which  kings  played ;  and  pomp,  and  splendour, 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  459 
 
 and  show,  and  fashion,  and  dress  were  the  only 
 amusements  that  royalty  indulged  in.  A  great 
 change  has  taken  place  in  church  and  state.  No 
 such  monarchs  are  likely  to  reign  now;  just  as 
 no  hunting  parsons,  as  they  were  called,  are  now 
 any  longer  tolerated.  A  purer  air  has  animated 
 palaces ;  better  feelings  are  now  found  in  royal 
 bosoms.  Our  consolation,  when  we  think  of  the 
 good  queen  dowager  we  have  lost,  is  in  the 
 equally  consistent,  and  still  more  beloved  queen 
 that  we  have — a  queen  in  whose  character  as  an 
 individual  there  is  so  much  amiable,  lovely,  and 
 of  good  report,  blended  with  so  much  that  is  wise, 
 patriotic,  and  consistent  in  her  as  a  sovereign, 
 that  we  know  not  which  to  admire  most,  the  un- 
 crowned womanhood  of  Victoria,  the  sister  of  us 
 all,  or  the  diademed  royalty  of  Queen  Victoria, 
 the  sovereign  and  the  monarch  of  us  all ;  thank- 
 ful that  her  dignity  in  the  one  is  only  heightened 
 by  her  consistent  and  beautiful  walk  in  the 
 other.  If  we  have  lost,  therefore,  a  queen 
 dowager,  whose  beneficence  all  bear  testimony 
 to,  let  us  thank  God  that  we  have  swaying  the 
 sceptre,  and  seated  on  the  throne  of  these  realms, 
 one,  that  even  the  most  intense  republican  must 
 love,  that  even  the  red  republican  could  not  re- 
 
460  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 fuse  to  obey,  and  whom  we  Englishmen,  and 
 Scotchmen,  and  Irishmen,  Christians,  I  trust,  all 
 of  us,  obey  not  only  because  we  are  loyal  sub- 
 jects, but  because  we  are  Christian  men,  fearing 
 God,  and  honouring  the  queen.  It  was,  to 
 my  mind,  beautiful  indeed  to  see,  when  the 
 queen  dowager  no  longer  shared  the  throne  of 
 a  monarch,  how  softly  she  fell  into  the  shadow, 
 and  adorned  the  quiet  and  retired  life  that  she 
 led,  by  gems  brighter  than  a  monarch's  crown 
 can  have,  by  deeds  of  goodness,  of  love,  and 
 charity,  and  beneficence.  She  is  gone,  we  can 
 say  without  hesitation,  to  the  rest  that  remain- 
 eth  to  the  people  of  God.  I  have  heard  from 
 those  who  knew  well,  that  as  her  life  was  spent 
 in  doing  good,  her  last  hours  were  spent  in  the 
 exercises  of  implicit  trust  and  confidence  in  that 
 only  Saviour  whose  blood — blessed  be  the  pre- 
 cious Bible  that  reveals  it !  —  cleanses  beggars 
 from  their  sins,  and  cleanses  monarchs  from  their 
 sins  also ;  trusting  in  the  merits  of  that  blessed 
 Mediator,  who  is  the  only  way  to  heaven  for  the 
 highest,  and  the  welcome  way  to  heaven  for  the 
 lowest.  May  we  be  quickened  by  his  Spirit ; 
 and  when  our  bodies  shall  be  surrendered  to 
 the   dust,  may  we,  with  the  daughter  of  J  aims.. 
 
THE    RESTORED    DAUGHTER.  461 
 
 the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain,  and  Lazarus,  and 
 the  queen  dowager,  and  all  that  have  fallen 
 asleep  in  Jesus,  rise,  and  reign,  and  rejoice  with 
 him,  wearing  a  crown  of  glory  and  partaking  of 
 an  inheritance  which  is  incorruptible  and  unde- 
 nted, and  that  fadeth  not  away. 
 
LECTURE  XVII. 
 
 CREATIVE    GOODNESS. 
 
 When  Jesus  then  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw  a  great  company 
 eome  unto  him,  he  saith  unto  Philip,  Whence  shall  we  buy 
 bread,  that  these  may  eat  ?  And  this  he  said  to  prove  him  : 
 for  he  himself  knew  what  he  would  do.  Philip  answered 
 him,  Two  hundred  pennyworth  of  bread  is  not  sufficient  for 
 them,  that  every  one  of  them  may  take  a  little.  One  of  his 
 disciples,  Andrew,  Simon  Peter's  brother,  saith  unto  him, 
 There  is  a  lad  here,  which  hath  five  barley  loaves,  and  two 
 small  fishes  :  but  what  are  they  among  so  many  ?  And  Jesus 
 said,  Make  the  men  sit  down.  Now  there  was  much  grass 
 in  the  place.  So  the  men  sat  down,  in  number  about  five 
 thousand.  And  Jesus  took  the  loaves ;  and  when  he  had 
 given  thanks,  he  distributed  to  the  disciples,  and  the  disciples 
 to  them  that  were  set  down ;  and  likewise  of  the  fishes  as 
 much  as  they  would.  When  they  were  filled,  he  said  unto 
 his  disciples,  Gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain,  that 
 nothing  be  lost.  Therefore  they  gathered  them  together,  and 
 filled  twelve  baskets  with  the  fragments  of  the  five  barley 
 loaves,  which  remained  over  and  above  unto  them  that  had 
 eaten. — John  vi.  5 — 13. 
 
 It  appears  the  crowd  that  had  been  charmed  with 
 the  miraculous  cures  which  Jesus  had  so  often 
 performed,  having  seen  the  lame  leap,  the  dead 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  463 
 
 even  arise,  the  blind  see,  and  the  deaf  hear,  in- 
 stinctively and  naturally,  it  may  be  in  some 
 degree  selfishly,  went  after  one  who  was  able  to 
 do  so  many  wonderful  works.  They  followed 
 him,  too,  when  he  sought,  it  appears  from  the 
 preceding  passages,  to  be  alone.  He  neither 
 forbad  them,  nor  turned  them  back  :  it  was 
 his  meat  and  his  drink  to  do  the  will  of  his 
 Father  :  he  suspended  the  enjoyment  of  his  rest 
 that  he  might  minister  to  the  necessities  of  the 
 people  ;  his  life,  like  his  death,  was  self-sacri- 
 ficing and  vicarious.  This  large  multitude 
 came  into  a  desert  place  —  not  desert  in  the 
 sense  that  nothing  grew  upon  it,  for  it  might 
 rather  be  called  a  place  of  steppes  or  plains, 
 covered  with  grass,  where  there  was  no  possibi- 
 lity of  making  a  purchase,  still  less  of  gathering 
 any  thing  that  would  sustain  fainting  nature ;  and 
 when  he  found  that  this  immense  multitude  had 
 been  long  without  meat,  and  were  ready  to  perish 
 for  want  of  bread,  he  showed  them  that  if  he 
 could  heal  the  sick,  and  make  the  lame  leap  like 
 the  roe,  unstring  the  dumb  tongue  that  it  might 
 praise  him,  and  open  the  deaf  ear  that  it  might 
 hear  him,  he  could  also  so  multiply  the  little 
 bread  that  it  would  be  able  to  supply  the  wants 
 
464  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 of  five  thousand  instead  of  being  able  to  meet, 
 as  it  seemed,  the  necessities  of  only  five.  He 
 therefore  answers  first  the  question  he  addressed 
 to  Philip,  when  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  saw  a 
 great  company,  "  Whence  shall  we  buy  bread, 
 that  these  may  eat?"  a  question  it  appears  which 
 was  put  by  Philip  in  the  morning,  to  which  the 
 miracle,  judging  from  the  whole  strain  of  the 
 narrative,  was  his  answer  in  the  evening.  The 
 difficulty  was  addressed  to  Philip  in  the  morn- 
 ing, that  he  might  think  upon  it  all  the  day, 
 and  work  it  out  as  a  great  problem  in  his 
 own  mind.  And  only  when  Philip  had  come  to 
 the  conclusion  that  there  was  no  possibility  of 
 feeding  them,  would  Christ  begin  to  show  that 
 with  omnipotence  all  things  are  possible ;  and 
 that  confidence  in  God  is  a  richer  practical  supply 
 than  the  available  treasures  of  the  world.  This  is 
 God's  way  of  dealing  still  with  his  people.  There 
 are  no  such  things  as  superfluous  miracles  in  the 
 New  Testament ;  or  works  of  supererogation  on 
 the  part  of  God.  He  works  a  miracle  where  a 
 miracle  only  is  required ;  he  supplies  necessities 
 only  that  are  truly  felt.  He  makes  man  feel  his 
 own  insufficiency  before  he  manifests  the  fulness 
 of  God, — he  causes  the  creature  to  see  that  his 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  465 
 
 cisterns  are  broken  and  empty  before  he  unseals 
 to  him  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  that  he  may 
 drink  and  be  abundantly  satisfied.     This  ques- 
 tion was  perhaps  especially  addressed  to  Philip, 
 because  he  seemed,  by  a  previous  remark  which 
 he  had  uttered  in  this  Gospel,  to  have   made 
 greater  progress  than  the  rest  of  the  disciples.  It 
 was  Philip  who,  in  the  first  chapter  of  John,  is 
 stated  to  have  found  Nathanael,  and  to  have  said 
 unto  him,  "  We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses 
 in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did  write,  Jesus  of 
 Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph."    It  will  be  also  re- 
 collected that  Moses  had  wrought  a  miracle  ana- 
 logous to  that  which  is  recorded  here,  when  he 
 brought,  as  it  is  said,  food  from  heaven.     We 
 read  also  that  the  prophet  Elisha  once  wrought  a 
 kindred  miracle.  It  might  therefore  be  supposed 
 that  Philip,  having  pointed  out  Jesus  as   that 
 glorious  Being  of  whom   Moses  wrote,  as  the 
 prophet  like  unto  him  in  all  things,  and  whom 
 Elisha  foreshadowed  as  a  greater  and  more  il- 
 lustrious than  he,  would  expect  that  this  Jesus, 
 with  greater  power  than  Moses  and  Elisha  had, 
 would  be  able  to  perform  a  miracle  that  would 
 feed  the  five  thousand  even  with  a  few  barley 
 loaves  and  a  few  fishes.     But  Philip  had  for- 
 
 2  H 
 
466  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 gotten  these  facts.  He  had  not  come  to  this  con 
 elusion.  It  shows  us  that  we  need  to  be  taught 
 the  emptiness  that  is  within  as  well  as  the  unsatis- 
 factoriness  that  is  without.  The  case  of  Philip 
 shows  that  it  is  possible  to  know  Scripture,  and  to 
 quote  Scripture,  and  to  prove  prophecies  per- 
 formed, and  yet  not  be  able  to  see  savingly  him  to 
 whom  all  the  prophets  gave  witness.  Philip  learn- 
 ed slowly  to  depend  upon  Jesus.  He  saw  nothing 
 but  the  outward  means  and  elements  and  powers 
 of  nature,  and  had  no  idea,  if  we  may  judge 
 from  this  passage,  of  the  presence  of  nature's 
 Lord.  He  unfolded  in  his  character  a  striking 
 feature,  still  obvious  enough  in  man,  the  strange, 
 but  true  fact,  that  he  never  appeals  to  a  Divine 
 power  as  long  as  he  can  work  his  way  by  means 
 of  human  power.  The  creature  never  goes  to  God 
 for  salvation  till  he  has  found  out  that  there  is  no 
 salvation  any  where  else.  He  never  thinks  of 
 applying  to  God  for  interposition  in  the  hour 
 and  power  of  famine,  or  of  pestilence,  or  of  trial, 
 till  he  has  learned  that  human  granaries  are 
 empty  in  the  one,  and  that  human  prescriptions 
 are  unsatisfactory  in  the  other,  and  then  he  goes 
 to  God.  And  what  a  God !  After  we  have 
 tried  the  creature  in  all  its  phases,  and  found 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  467 
 
 that  creature  fail,  God,  instead  of  rejecting  us, 
 as  we  deserved,  for  so  doing,  accepts  us  when  we 
 flee  to  him  as  a  last  resort,  and  makes  us  wel- 
 come ;  and  heaven  is  glad  that  they  who  found 
 all  cisterns  broken,  have  applied  to  the  fountain 
 and  found  it  sufficient. 
 
 Andrew  was  next  appealed  to,  and  he  seems 
 to  have  had  no  more  faith  or  trust  above  the 
 creature  than  Philip,  for  he  saith,  "  There  is  a 
 lad  here  which  hath  five  barley-loaves  and  two 
 small  fishes  ;  but  what  are  they  among  so  many  ? " 
 We  have  in  Philip  the  commercial  power  at  its 
 wits'  end :  money,  a  little  money,  but  not  enough 
 money  in  the  market.  We  have  in  the  case  of 
 Andrew,  Simon  Peter's  brother,  the  agricultural 
 power  at  fault :  a  little  bread,  a  few  fishes,  but 
 Avhat  is  the  use  of  these?  We  have  money  and 
 bread  both  deficient ;  the  creature  paralysed  in 
 the  terrible  emergency,  and  seeing  not  one  ray 
 of  hope,  or  of  light,  for  deliverance  or  for  safety. 
 So  true  is  it  that  God  paralyses  first  our  agricul- 
 ture, next  our  commerce,  lastly  our  health ;  and, 
 as  recently  shown,  how  precarious  are  our  reli- 
 gious privileges  ;  and  perhaps  it  is  just  upon  the 
 back  of  the  sorest  judgments  that  God  is  about  to 
 cause  to  shine  upon  us  mercies  exceeding  abund- 
 
 2  h  2 
 
468  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 antly  above  all  we  have  either  asked  or  thought. 
 We  will  hope.  I  must  say,  that  I  have  of  our 
 country  greater  and  brighter  hopes  than  ever. 
 I  think  it  will  yet  be  a  Goshen  in  the  midst  of  the 
 nations  of  the  earth.  Recent  judgments,  phy- 
 sical and  moral,  have  brought  to  light  an  amount 
 of  deep  Protestantism,  hidden  and  real  piety, 
 which  I  trust  is  only  the  beginning  of  that  dawn 
 of  brighter  and  better  things  which  will  soon 
 overtake  the  world.  May  God  grant  that  it 
 be  so. 
 
 We  read  that  our  Lord  prepares  a  table  in 
 the  midst  of  the  wilderness,  and  in  order  to  do 
 so,  he  says,  "  Make  the  men  sit  down.  Now, 
 there  was  much  grass  in  the  place."  I  cannot 
 help  noticing  the  remark,  "  there  was  much 
 grass  in  the  place."  A  mere  writer  of  a  story 
 got  up  would  never  have  thought  of  using  that 
 expression.  It  is  so  natural,  so  unartistic-like, 
 that  it  is  plainly  the  evidence  of  a  story  written 
 upon  the  spot,  and  describing  facts  that  had  been 
 actually  seen.  "  So  the  men  sat  down,  in  num- 
 ber about  five  thousand."  God  is  the  God  of 
 method  and  of  order.  Just  take  a  survey  of  all 
 God's  works  in  providence  and  nature.  How 
 beautifully   arranged   they  are!   what  harmony 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  469 
 
 and  order  among  them!    And  so  here  he  shows 
 the   same  great  law  pervading  this  temporary- 
 arrangement,  when  he  bids  the  people  sit  down  in 
 platoons,  or  in  companies,  as  the  language  would 
 bear,  like  garden  plots  nicely  and   neatly   ar- 
 ranged ;  partly  because  order  is  one  of  heaven's 
 first  laws ;  partly  because  it  was  so  convenient 
 that  the  poorest  and  weakest  were  not  likely  to 
 be  omitted  when  the  whole   company  was  di- 
 vided into  twelve  sections,  and  the  twelve  apos- 
 tles were  made  to  minister  to  those  companies. 
 So  should  it  be  in  our  communion  arrangements ; 
 so  should  it  be  in  the  construction  of  our  churches. 
 They  should  be  arranged  so  that  in  the  first  every 
 one  may  be  administered  to,  and  in  the  second 
 that  every  one  may  hear  and  see.     The  grand 
 end  ought  to  be  always  in  view.     Architects, 
 ministers,    and    elders   should  always    recollect 
 the  object  for  which  a  house  is  built  or  an  insti- 
 tution is  arranged.    It  is  for  practical  purposes  : 
 every  thing  as  beautiful  as  can  be,  but  every 
 thing  should  be  subordinated  and  made  to  con- 
 tribute to  usefulness.    When  a  church  is  so  beau- 
 tiful that  every  body  admires  the  architecture, 
 but   barely   hears,   or    scarcely   attends  to,  the 
 sermon,  it  may  be  splendid  architecture,  but  it 
 
470  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 is  a  bad  church.  When  the  sermon  is  so  elo- 
 quent that  everybody  is  charmed  with  the  lan- 
 guage, but  does  not  think  of  what  it  is  meant  to 
 teach,  it  may  be  a  very  intellectual  sermon,  very 
 grand,  very  beautiful,  very  fine,  but  it  is  not 
 worth  hearing.  And  when  the  arrangement  in 
 any  thing  connected  with  the  worship  of  God  is 
 made  to  take  the  place  of  the  real  object,  the 
 means  of  the  end,  the  machinery  of  the  result, 
 there  is  a  radical  defect  at  the  very  core.  God 
 is  the  God  of  beauty  and  order,  but  the  good 
 and  benefit  of  his  people  are  the  grand  results  he 
 contemplates  in  all. 
 
 We  read  that,  when  he  had  thus  arranged  these 
 people,  and  made  them  so  conveniently  seated 
 that  they  could  easily  be  ministered  to,  he  "  took 
 the  loaves,  and  gave  thanks,  and  then  distributed 
 to  his  disciples."  He  gave  thanks.  What  a 
 beautiful  model  and  precedent  for  us  !  The  Lord 
 of  glory  gave  thanks  for  the  bread  that  he  held  in 
 his  hand.  Do  we  ever  think  sufficiently,  that  two 
 things  are  needed  in  order  that  we  may  derive 
 benefit  from  our  daily  bread  ?  There  is  first  the 
 bread  to  be  eaten — and  that  is  the  least  import- 
 ant, although  many  people  think  it  the  most  im- 
 portant ;    and  there  is  next  the  health  to  eat  it. 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  471 
 
 The  most  pure  bread  may  be  poison  without  the 
 blessing  of  God ;  the  most  imperfect  bread  may  do 
 us  good  with  the  blessing  of  God.  At  all  events, 
 we  who  have  the  best  bread  surely  do  not  omit 
 to  thank  the  Giver ;  and  those  who  have  all  the 
 comforts  and  luxuries  of  life,  surely  they  do  not 
 omit  to  give  the  glory  to  him  who  gave  them 
 all ;  or  to  show  the  reality  of  their  thanks- 
 giving by  distributing  to  the  creatures  made  by 
 the  same  hand,  to  whom  God  has  not  been  so 
 bountiful.  And  then  this  thanksgiving  presents  a 
 contrast  to  my  mind  the  most  striking.  In  his 
 making  the  five  loaves  feed  five  thousand,  we 
 have  the  interposition  of  a  God  ;  in  his  taking 
 up  that  piece  of  bread  and  giving  thanks  we 
 have  the  evidence  of  a  creature.  None  but  a 
 true  historian  would  have  combined  and  coupled 
 things  which  seem  contradictory,  but  which  when 
 analyzed  and  seen  in  the  light  of  the  rest  of 
 Scripture  are  full  of  harmony,  and  present  the 
 perfect  one.  He  that  could  create  the  bread,  and 
 show  that  he  was  God,  equally  acknowledged 
 himself  a  creature,  and  proved  he  was  so  by 
 giving  thanks.  If  I  am  asked,  was  Christ  man  ? 
 I  answer,  yes ;  look  at  the  dependent  creature 
 givingthanks  for  his  daily  bread.  If  I  am  asked, 
 
47£  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 was  Christ  God  ?  I  answer,  yes ;  look  at  the  Al- 
 mighty Creator  creating  bread  by  the  breath  of 
 his  nostrils.  If  you  ask  me,  what  was  he  ?  I 
 answer,  God  who  satisfied  for  our  sins,  man  who 
 suffered  for  them,  the  one  Mediator,  the  glorious 
 Days-man,  who  lays  his  right  hand  upon  the 
 throne  and  his  left  upon  us  ;  and  so  of  God  and 
 man  the  twain  that  were  at  issue  makes  one. 
 Christ  having  given  thanks,  "  distributed  to  the 
 disciples,  and  the  disciples  to  them  that  were  set 
 down  :  "  just  as  he  commanded  the  prophet  to 
 speak  to  the  dry  bones  and  he  did  so,  so  the  dis- 
 ciples, without  questioning,  or  any  discussion, 
 or  hesitation,  did  what  the  Lord  commanded 
 them.  And  the  bread  grew  as  they  gave  it  : 
 what  they  thought  an  impossibility  became  a 
 palpable  fact.  They  asked  the  questions,  the 
 one,  how  will  these  pence  buy  food  for  so  many  ? 
 the  other,  there  are  but  five  barley-loaves  and  two 
 small  fishes  ;  and  lo,  the  men  that  asked  despair- 
 ingly, in  their  conscious  paralysis  of  all  hope, 
 themselves  answered  the  question  by  feeding  the 
 five  thousand  with  these  few  barley-loaves  and 
 few  fishes.  And  what  does  this  teach  us  ?  That 
 to  use  what  we  have  is  the  way  to  get  more. 
 The  man  who  will  make  a  good  use  of  the  little 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  473 
 
 religious  light  that  he  has,  is  sure  to  get  more.  I 
 believe  an  inquiring  sceptic  who  will  live  up  to 
 the  light  that  he  has,  will  not  be  left  to  grope  in 
 darkness ;  I  am  sure  the  least  enlightened  Chris- 
 tian who  will  act  up  to  the  light  that  shines  upon 
 him,  will  not  be  left  without  more.  God  gives  to 
 him  that  hath,  and  takes  away  what  he  hath  from 
 him  that  makes  no  use  of  it.  We  are  also  taught 
 by  this  and  by  the  fact  recorded  here — the 
 barley-loaves  feeding  and  nourishing  so  many 
 — that  a  little  embosomed  in  the  benediction  of 
 Christ  can  supply  many;  that  much,  deprived 
 of  that  benediction,  or  blasted  by  his  curse,  will 
 feed  none.  Why  is  it  that  bread  feeds  us,  and 
 not  sand  ?  Ask  the  chemist,  ask  the  physician, 
 ask  Liebig  himself.  He  will  talk  to  you  about 
 this  affinity  and  that  affinity,  and  this  process  of 
 assimilation  and  that  power  of  nutrition ;  but 
 when  he  has  said  his  all  we  shall  be  just  as  wise 
 as  he  is  :  neither  know  any  thing  about  it.  The 
 reason  why  bread  feeds  me,  and  sand  does  not, 
 is  the  ordinance  of  God ;  it  is  merely  the  fulfil- 
 ment, and  this  miracle  is  specially  so,  of  that 
 beautiful  saying,  "  Man  doth  not  live  by  bread 
 alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of 
 the  mouth  of  God." 
 
474  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 We  see  in  this  miracle,  what  I  may  notice 
 as  I  pass,  an  illustration  of  the  text,  "  Seek  first 
 the  kingdom  of  God,  and  all  other  things  will  be 
 added."  This  multitude  was  drawn  to  Jesus 
 not  merely,  I  think,  by  seeing  the  miracles 
 that  he  wrought,  for  they  were  not  sick,  or  lame, 
 or  blind,  or  deaf;  but  as  to  the  miracle-worker, 
 some  in  sincere  and  anxious  admiration,  others 
 in  questioning  perplexity,  and  both  to  the  great 
 Prophet  that  should  come  into  the  world.  So  en- 
 thusiastic was  their  attachment  that  they  followed 
 him  into  the  desert.  Listening  to  the  words  that 
 proceeded  from  his  mouth,  they  forgot  they  had 
 bodies  to  be  fed  as  well  as  souls  to  be  enlight- 
 ened ;  some  were  so  intent  upon  the  enlightening 
 of  the  one,  that  they  forgot  for  the  time  being  the 
 necessities  of  the  other.  Wonderful  is  the  power 
 that  the  mind  has  over  the  body.  Let  the  mind 
 be  intensely  interested  or  absorbed  in  any  subject, 
 and  man  will  forget  that  he  is  hungry,  thirsty, 
 weary,  cold.  In  the  case  of  this  multitude,  they 
 were  so  rapt  and  fascinated  by  all  that  Jesus 
 said,  that  they  forgot  there  was  no  food  to  be 
 purchased  and  none  to  be  borrowed  in  the  wil- 
 derness into  which  they  had  wandered.  But 
 they  followed  Jesus,  and  so  far  sought  first  the 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  475 
 
 kingdom  of  God,  and  then  they  found  it  fulfilled, 
 "  and  all  things  will  be  added."  So  will  it  be 
 with  us ;  let  us  seek  first  to  honour  God,  and 
 happiness  will  spring  up  beneath  our  footsteps  as 
 we  seek  him.  "  Them  that  honour  me  I  will 
 honour."  And  let  our  nation,  let  our  country, 
 do  so  at  the  present  crisis.  Let  it  hallow  God's 
 sabbath ;  let  it  forget  the  possible  advantages  of 
 a  Sunday  post-office,  and  remember  the  obliga- 
 tion of  the  fourth  commandment :  let  us  try 
 rather  to  save  souls  than  to  save  time ;  let  us  be 
 more  anxious  about  doing  what  is  duty  than 
 prosecuting  what  is  expedient ;  and  we  shall  see 
 that  if  the  railway  and  the  electric  telegraph  have 
 been  given  as  means  of  rapid  communication  and 
 blessings  from  God,  he  has  other  blessings  in 
 store,  that  will  render  what  is  now  thought  to  be 
 expedient  less  necessary  and  less  expedient  than 
 it  is  supposed  to  be.  Depend  upon  it,  that  ex- 
 pediency follows  principle,  not  principle  a  seem- 
 ing expediency ;  and  the  highest  expediency  in 
 the  universe  is  unreserved,  unquestioning  obe- 
 dience to  God. 
 
 Our  blessed  Lord  then  wrought  the  miracle  to 
 satisfy  the  wants  of  them  who  had  left  their 
 homes  in  order  to  hear  the  gospel.     And  they 
 
476  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 were  conscious  of  trie  miracle ;  they  saw  it,  they 
 felt  it,  and  there  was  no  doubt  that  it  was  a  mi- 
 racle. And  this  leads  me  to  suggest  what  a  mira- 
 cle is.  It  has  often  been  disputed  in  the  present 
 day  whether  miracles  be  in  the  church,  one 
 party  saying  they  are,  the  other  party  saying 
 they  are  not.  The  only  evidence  of  a  miracle  is 
 not  fancy  nor  imagination,  but  the  senses.  If 
 there  be  no  visible  miracle,  there  is  no  miracle  at 
 all ;  for  the  very  definition  of  a  miracle  is,  some- 
 thing above  nature,  and  that  the  senses  can  see 
 and  testify  to,  or  that  on  good  historical  authority 
 and  testimony  we  can  accept  as  having  been 
 done,  and  so  far  the  evidence  of  the  interposi- 
 tion of  God. 
 
 How  or  by  what  mysterious  process  this  mi- 
 racle was  done  it  is  not  for  us  to  determine. 
 There  is  a  difference  between  it  and  the  miracle 
 of  the  water  being  turned  into  wine.  In  the 
 case  of  the  water  being  turned  into  wine  I  already 
 observed,  that  the  difference  between  the  vine 
 growing  in  the  vineyard  and  yielding  its  grapes, 
 and  then  ultimately  coming  from  the  press  and 
 being  drunk  in  the  shape  of  wine,  and  the  instan- 
 taneous creation  of  the  wine,  was  a  difference 
 of  time  :  that  the  ordinary  miracle  takes  a  whole 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  477 
 
 year  to  turn  the  vine  sap  into  wine ;  that  in  the 
 extraordinary  one  Christ  accomplished  in  mi- 
 nutes what  it  takes  twelve  months  in  other  cir- 
 cumstances to  do.  But  here  it  was  not  merely 
 hastening  a  process,  but  it  was  turning  a  few 
 barley-loaves  into  a  quantity  of  bread,  prepared 
 and  fit  for  the  people  to  eat.  The  only  explanation 
 of  it  we  can  give  is,  that  the  worlds  were  formed 
 by  the  word  of  God,  so  that  things  which  are 
 seen  were  not  made  of  things  that  do  appear. 
 We  need  to  learn  this  lesson  in  looking  at  the 
 miracles  of  God,  that  omnipotence  can  do  what 
 we  cannot  do,  but  it  also  can  do  and  does  do 
 what  we  cannot  comprehend ;  so  that  not  only 
 shall  our  physical  powers  be  put  into  their  pro- 
 per narrow  space,  but  our  intellectual  power 
 shall  also  be  taught  that  it  is  the  power  of  a 
 creature  finite,  and  not  of  the  Creator  infinite. 
 And  yet  we  cannot  but  notice  that  the  same 
 power  that  was  here  seen  is  displayed  every  day. 
 In  the  seed  of  the  corn  that  shoots  into  the  stalk, 
 the  blade,  and  the  ear,  we  have  a  miracle  just 
 every  whit  as  great.  In  the  acorn  cast  into  the 
 earth,  that  develops  itself  into  the  gigantic  and 
 over-shadowing  oak,  we  have  a  process  just  as 
 marvellous  every  whit  as  turning  the  few  barley- 
 
478  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 loaves  into  a  bountiful  and  gracious  supply.  But 
 we  are  so  accustomed  to  the  former  process,  that 
 we  call  it  the  natural  one,  and  give  the  honour 
 and  glory  to  what  we  call  the  "  laws  of  nature : " 
 we  are  so  startled  by  the  latter  process,  that  we 
 are  constrained  to  acknowledge  and  admit,  This 
 is  the  finger  of  God.  But  if  the  processes  were 
 reversed,  if  the  usual  law  were  that  the  word  of 
 some  being  turned  one  loaf  into  a  hundred,  and 
 if  the  unusual  thing  were  that  a  little  seed  cast 
 into  the  earth  shot  up  and  grew  into  ears  of  corn, 
 we  should  call  the  latter  the  miracle.  We  live 
 amid  miracles :  every  pulse  of  our  heart  is  a 
 miracle,  every  inspiration  and  expiration  of  our 
 lungs  is  a  miracle,  the  movement  of  the  arm  by  the 
 volition  of  the  mind  is  a  miracle  ;  but  we  are  so 
 accustomed  to  these  things  that  we  call  them 
 natural  occurrences,  and  only  when  the  same  re- 
 sult is  achieved  by  a  more  rapid  or  a  more  start- 
 ling process  do  we  call  it  a  miracle.  God  oc- 
 casionally suspends  the  ordinary  process,  and 
 interferes  by  an  extraordinary  one,  to  teach 
 man  that  creation  is  not  God,  and  that  in  God 
 all  creation  lives  and  moves  and  has  its  being. 
 
 But  there  is  one  touch  in  the  picture  inimita- 
 bly beautiful,  which  one  cannot  pass  by.     It  is 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  479 
 
 the  prudent  economy  manifested  by  the  Lord, 
 who  had  omnipotence  adequate  to  the  supply  of 
 twenty  times  five  thousand  more.  For  he  says 
 to  his  disciples  after  he  had  performed  this  mira- 
 cle and  fed  them,  "  Gather  up  the  fragments 
 that  remain,  that  nothing  be  lost."  In  perform- 
 ing the  miracle  he  moved  in  the  orbit  of  a  God : 
 in  saying,  "  Gather  up  the  fragments  that  re- 
 main," he  reassumed  his  place,  re-accepted  the 
 laws,  and  re-entered  the  domain  of  man.  In  the 
 first,  you  have  the  proof  that  there  was  present 
 the  mighty  God ;  in  the  last,  you  have  the  proof 
 that  there  was  the  dependent  man.  What  a 
 strange  combination  !  Bounty  the  most  profuse, 
 economy  the  most  rigid.  We  cannot  but  ad- 
 vert to  this  fact — and  I  like  to  notice  such  as 
 these,  because  they  are  better  even  than  lec- 
 tures upon  evidence — I  say,  the  very  utterance 
 of  these  words  in  the  middle  of  so  stupendous  a 
 miracle,  is  to  me  evidence  of  the  inspiration  of 
 the  writer.  If  I  had  been  writing  a  story,  or 
 getting  up  an  account  from  my  own  mind,  I 
 should  have  taken  good  care  never  to  have  put 
 in  any  thing  that  would  seem  contradictory,  or 
 that  would  detract  from  the  glory  of  the  stu- 
 pendous miracle  that  had  been  wrought.     Mere 
 
480  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 human  writers  would  have  argued  thus :  If  we 
 state  that  our  hero,  whoever  he  was,  performed 
 such  a  miracle,  and  show  him  desiring  those 
 about  him  to  gather  up  the  crumbs  that  remain, 
 it  will  be  said,  here  is  inconsistency  in  the  story, 
 here  is  contradiction,  the  shading  will  detract 
 from  the  grandeur  of  the  figure  in  the  fore- 
 ground, and  we  must  do  every  tiling  to  heighten, 
 not  dim  that.  But  John  wrote  by  the  guidance 
 of  the  Spirit  of  God,  stated  fact,  described  fact, 
 wrote  truth ;  and  therefore  you  have  here  the 
 combination  of  creature  economy  with  creative 
 power ;  a  trait  that  no  uninspired  narrator  would 
 have  given.  And  yet  those  who  are  best  acquaint- 
 ed with  the  laws  and  processes  of  nature,  know  that 
 this  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  what  they  find  in 
 the  world.  It  is  most  remarkable  that,  fallen  as 
 this  world  is,  it  has  many  vestiges  of  Deity  still, 
 there  is  a  most  wonderful  combination  of  exuber- 
 ance and  saving,  of  profuse  bounty  and  severe 
 economy.  There  are  no  unnecessary  things  in 
 nature  ;  there  is  no  needless  waste  ;  and  thus  we 
 see,  in  the  Lord  of  the  miracle,  the  very  coun- 
 terpart of  the  Lord  of  nature  ;  we  thus  learn  that 
 both  results  come  from  the  same  God,  who  is 
 over  all  and  in  all. 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  481 
 
 The  fragments  that  remained  amounted  to 
 twelve  baskets  full.  It  is  worthy  of  observation, 
 that  in  the  miracle  where  four  thousand  are  fed, 
 another  word  is  used  for  baskets,  ernvplhas,  but  in 
 this  miracle,  the  word  used  is  koQIvow,  the  Greek 
 word  from  which  our  word  coffin  comes  —  a 
 very  strange  derivation  —  and  some  commen- 
 tators have  tried  to  show  that  the  one  indicated 
 the  basket  which  the  apostle  carried  with  him 
 to  supply  his  daily  wants,  and  that  the  other 
 referred  to  baskets  of  larger  dimensions.  *This, 
 however,  is  a  very  immaterial  point,  and  I  only 
 notice  it  in  passing.  The  twelve  baskets  full  of 
 fragments  were  a  greater  quantity  than  the 
 original  five  barley-loaves  and  two  fishes.  And 
 what  does  this  teach  us  ?  That  love  augments, 
 not  exhausts  itself;  that  beneficence  never  be- 
 comes poorer  by  its  exercise ;  that  the  Christian 
 receives  in  the  ratio  in  which  he  gives,  so  that 
 the  greatest  giver  is  always  the  greatest  receiver ; 
 and  the  Christianity  that  unfolds  itself  in  mis- 
 sionary sympathy,  by  a  beautiful  reflex  opera- 
 tion, becomes  deeper  and  richer  in  the  heart  of 
 him  that  has  it. 
 
 The  miracle  produced  a  very  great  impression 
 2  i 
 
482  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 upon  the  minds  of  the  people.     It  was  so  like 
 the  miracles  performed  by  Moses,  that  the  peo- 
 ple saw  at  once  in  it  evidence  of  the  presence  of 
 the  great  prophet  like  unto  him.     Instead,  how- 
 ever, of  looking  at  the  impression  it  produced  upon 
 the  people,  let  me  draw  some  lessons  instructive 
 to  ourselves.     The  very  first  lesson  we  learn  is, 
 here  was  the  evidence  of  a  God.    Let  us  recollect 
 the  following  distinction :  when  the  apostles  per- 
 formed a  miracle  they  always  said,  "  In  the  name 
 of  Jesus  ; "  when  Christ  performed  a  miracle,  he 
 did  so  as  the  /  am,  in  his  own  name,  by  his  own 
 authority.     Now  herein  is  a  distinction  so  palpa- 
 ble, that  I  cannot  conceive  how  we  can  escape 
 the  conclusion,  that  if  Jesus  was  not  God,  he  was 
 something  infinitely  higher  than  man;   but  he 
 was  God,  for  who  could  do  such  miracles  in  such 
 wise  except  God? 
 
 And  there  was  in  this  miracle,  be  it  observed, 
 something  greater  than  in  any  of  the  other  mi- 
 racles which  I  have  endeavoured  to  explain. 
 When  Christ  healed  the  lame,  when  he  opened 
 the  eyes  of  the  blind,  when  he  unstopped  the 
 ears  of  the  deaf,  we  saw  restorative  miracles ; 
 they  were  restoring  nature  to  what  nature  wac, 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  483 
 
 or  what  nature  should  be.  But  in  this  miracle 
 there  was  not  a  restorative  or  redemptive  act, 
 but  clearly  a  feat  of  creative  power. 
 
 Let  us  mark  another  fact  in  the  miracles 
 of  Christ ;  he  never  performed  a  miracle,  if  I 
 may  use  the  expression,  in  vacuo  ;  he  always  laid 
 hold  of  a  substratum  to  work  upon.  This  seems 
 by  analogy  to  teach  us  that  God  is  not  going  to 
 supplant  this  earth  by  another  earth,  and  to  su- 
 persede our  present  bodies  by  other  bodies ;  but 
 out  of  the  present  earth  to  construct  a  glorious 
 one  ;  and  out  of  our  present  bodies,  to  raise  incor- 
 ruptible from  corruptible,  and  immortal  from 
 mortal,  till  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory. 
 And  so  in  regeneration:  when  God  makes  a 
 natural  man  a  Christian  he  does  not  extinguish 
 him,  and  substitute  another  in  his  place,  but  he 
 retunes  him,  he  restores  him,  he  disentangles  his 
 affections,  he  dips  them  in  the  fountain  of  living 
 waters ;  he  re-quickens  his  soul  and  makes  a 
 new  creature  evolve  out  of  the  old  creature ;  he 
 does  not  create  another  creature  perfectly  dis- 
 tinct and  different.  In  this  we  have  a  fore- 
 shadow and  earnest  of  the  age  to  come. 
 
 In  the  miracles  of  healing,  we  had  the  evi- 
 dence that  Christ  was  the  great  Physician ;  in  the 
 
 2  i  2 
 
484  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 miracle  of  raising  from  the  dead,  we  had  the  evi- 
 dence that  Christ  was  Lord  of  life;  in  this  miracle, 
 the  feeding  the  hungry,  we  have  the  evidence 
 that  by  him  all  things  were  made,  and  that  he  is 
 the  Creator  of  all,  as  well  as  Lord  of  all. 
 
 In  this  miracle  there  is  a  grand  apocalypse.  He 
 draws  aside  that  all  but  impenetrable  and  mys- 
 terious mantle,  which  conceals  the  Creator  from 
 the  creature  in  the  midst  of  his  creation ;  and  he 
 shows  us — not  indeed  sunshine  and  shower,  sow- 
 ing and  reaping,  but  he  shows  us  Christ,  the 
 compendium  of  them  all,  and  from  whom  all 
 of  them  issue ;  the  Lord  of  the  sunshine  and  of 
 the  shower,  the  Lord  of  the  spring  and  of  the  har- 
 vest, the  Lord  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the 
 produce  of  the  earth.  In  this  miracle  we  see 
 that  the  good  of  things  is  not  in  the  things,  but 
 in  the  Lord  of  the  things,  and  that  things  are  but 
 the  vehicles  and  the  exponents  of  a  virtue  not  in 
 themselves,  but  proceeding  from  him  who  made 
 all  things,  and  gives  to  every  thing  its  mission. 
 You  have,  as  it  were,  here  revealed  the  holy  of 
 holies  of  God's  creation.  In  our  ordinary  view 
 Ave  have  results ;  in  this  view  we  have  the  source 
 of  results :  in  our  ordinary  sphere,  we  trace 
 dimly,  and  imperfectly,  the  creature  up  to  the 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  485 
 
 creature's  Creator,  but  here  of  a  sudden  the  veil 
 is  drawn  aside,  the  light  shines  into  the  holy  place, 
 and  reveals  the  Creator  at  the  head  of  all,  and  we 
 see  that  it  is  not  the  creature  that  has  the  virtue, 
 but  that  the  creature  is  the  empty  thing  which 
 Christ  fills  with  virtue,  and  charges  to  his  work 
 of  ministering  toward  them  that  are  his. 
 
 And  who  is  this  hungry  multitude  in  the  de- 
 sert ?  All  humanity.  What  is  this  desert  ?  The 
 world  in  which  we  live.  Y^hat  the  five  barley- 
 loaves  and  two  fishes  ?  The  money,  the  rank, 
 the  title,  the  honour,  the  greatness  of  mankind. 
 And  they  that  seek  happiness,  satisfaction,  and 
 repose  in  their  money,  their  estates,  their  robes, 
 their  titles,  their  rank,  are  like  poor  Andrew, 
 Simon  Peter's  brother,  seeking  nutriment  for 
 five  thousand  from  five  barley-loaves  and  two 
 fishes;  seeking  the  living  among  the  dead,  and 
 their  own  experience  will  tell  them,  however 
 bitter  the  lesson  may  taste,  that  they  shall  never 
 be  able  to  find  it.  There  is  no  satisfaction  in 
 any  created  thing  without  Christ's  blessing  upon 
 it,  and  in  it.  Any  possession  which  we  have, 
 disruptured  and  dissociated  from  Christ,  will  not 
 prove  a  blessing  in  our  experience.  "When  the 
 heart  is  heavy  with  sorrow,  nothing  upon  earth 
 
486  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 will  satisfy  it.  I  have  seen  the  heart  so  depress- 
 ed frequently  that  it  has  wished  the  sun  would 
 not  shine,  that  the  birds  would  not  sing,  that 
 there  should  be  nothing  musical  heard,  and  no- 
 thing beautiful  seen.  At  such  a  moment,  when 
 the  heart  is  utterly  desolate,  life  and  riches,  titles 
 and  honour,  all  appear  in  their  true  light,  all  are 
 seen  at  the  right  angle,  and  are  pronounced  by 
 such  a  heart  to  be  bitterness  and  vanity,  and 
 vexation  of  spirit.  And  so  it  is  really  and  truly, 
 if  we  could  look  at  all  these  things  just  as  they 
 are.  It  is  the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  blessing 
 that  makes  it  sweet ;  it  is  absence  of  Christ  from 
 the  richest  and  best  things  that  make  them  ut- 
 terly worthless. 
 
 To  have  all  things,  and  to  hold  them,  and  to 
 feel  that  we  hold  them  from  Christ's  hand,  is  the 
 true  way  to  enjoy  them.  As  long  as  I  receive 
 what  I  have,  whatever  it  be,  from  Christ,  so  long 
 uncertainty  and  anxiety  are  scattered.  I  then 
 begin  to  feel,  that  if  the  harvest  fail,  the  Lord  of 
 the  harvest  remains  ;  if  my  health  fail,  and  medi- 
 cines and  prescriptions  and  earthly  physicians 
 can  do  no  good,  the  great  Physician  still  remains  ; 
 if  provision  leave  me,  the  great  Provider  does 
 not.     But  when  we  look  at  the  thing,  and  not  at 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  487 
 
 the  Lord  of  the  thing,  then  when  the  provision 
 fails,  or  when  health  goes,  or  when  the  harvest 
 comes  short,  all  is  gone,  and  we  have  nothing  to 
 fall  back  upon.  But  as  long  as  man  can  feel 
 that  these  things,  while  they  last,  are  the  expres- 
 sions of  God's  goodness ;  and  when  these  things 
 go,  that  the  author  and  the  giver  of  them  still 
 remains,  there  is  thereby  communicated  steadi- 
 ness and  consistency  to  every  pulse  of  man's  heart, 
 and  to  every  footstep  in  man's  walk,  and  this  be- 
 comes the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world. 
 
 In  the  next  place,  when  we  receive  blessings, 
 whatever  they  are,  from  Christ's  hand,  and  re- 
 gard them  as  the  expressions  of  his  gift,  all  cre- 
 ated things  taste  of  a  sweetness  they  never  had 
 before,  and  all  blessings  become,  as  it  were, 
 double  blessings.  I  have  no  doubt  when  these 
 poor  people  received  the  bread  that  Christ  had 
 so  blessed,  and  so  multiplied,  that  they  felt  a 
 sweetness  in  that  bread  that  they  never  experi- 
 enced in  any  bread  before.  Pious  men  have 
 learned  to  look  to  Christ  as  the  giver  of  their 
 blessings,  and  to  see  the  cross  upon  the  poorest 
 crumb  that  they  have ;  in  other  words,  they 
 have  realized  that  good  idea  which  the  Roman 
 Catholics  carnalize,  as  they  do  every  thing,  when 
 
488  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 on  Good  Friday  they  draw  a  cross  on  the  bread 
 they  eat,  and  think  it  is  all  thns  sanctified :  it  is 
 just  the  shell  or  husk  of  a  great  and  true  thought, 
 viz.  that  every  crumb  of  bread  has  the  cross  of 
 Christ  upon  it  to  the  eye  of  faith  ;  that  the 
 least  mercy  is  the  purchase  of  his  blood.  As 
 soon  as  we  can  see  and  feel  the  great  fact  and 
 reality,  that  our  largest  and  least  blessings  are 
 derived  from  Christ,  we  shall  see  Christ's  image 
 reflected  from  every  thing ;  we  shall  hear  the 
 sweet  tones  of  his  voice  running  through  all 
 sounds  ;  we  shall  taste  in  bread  something 
 sweeter  than  bread ;  all  life  will  become  to  us  a 
 grand  sacrament,  earth  itself  a  communion 
 table,  the  whole  world,  as  it  were,  a  eucharistic 
 festival ;  and  all  men  will  be  felt  to  be  brethren 
 and  fellow  communicants ;  and  to  our  eye  the 
 very  desert  will  rejoice,  and  the  wilderness 
 blossom  as  the  rose. 
 
 And  then,  in  the  last  place,  the  result  of  the 
 continuous  view  of  Christ  giving  all,  and  doing 
 all,  is  that  we  become  daily  more  assimilated 
 to  him,  and  grow  more  and  more  like  him :  by 
 the  constant  practice  of  rising  from  the  gift  to  the 
 giver,  from  the  bread  to  the  bread-giver,  we  come 
 to  drink  into  his  spirit,  and  with  increasing  speed 
 
CREATIVE    GOODNESS.  489 
 
 conformed  to  him.  And  thus  our  daily  meals 
 become  Scriptures,  our  commonest  acts  become 
 Divine  ones  ;  we  see  him  acting  in  all,  and  hear 
 him  speaking  in  all;  new  lights  sparkle  to  us  upon 
 the  mountain-tops  ;  a  new  beauty  glows  in  every 
 landscape;  the  earth  becomes  girdled  with  a 
 richer  and  more  glorious  zone ;  and  we  see  bre- 
 thren in  heights  and  in  depths,  in  palaces,  and  in 
 huts,  and  in  hovels ;  every  day  becomes  a  Lord's 
 day,  and  its  dawn  the  dawn  of  that  millennial  day 
 when  the  giver  shall  take  the  place  of  his  gifts  ; 
 and  men  shall  live  and  rejoice,  not  in  the  stream- 
 let, but  in  the  fountain ;  not  in  the  creature,  but 
 in  the  Creator ;  not  in  the  dead  bread,  but  in  the 
 living  bread  that  cometh  down  from  heaven. 
 Let  us,  in  the  mean  time,  follow  Jesus,  into  the 
 wilderness  if  needs  be ;  let  us  trust  in  Jesus  for 
 the  supply  of  the  wants  that  we  feel ;  and  while 
 we  ask  him  for  the  bread  that  perisheth,  let  us 
 ask  him  that  he  would  give  us  that  better  bread 
 that  endures  unto  life  eternal. 
 
LECTURE  XVIII. 
 
 THE    BLIND   MAN. 
 
 And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man  which  was  blind  from 
 his  birth.  And  his  disciples  asked  him,  saying,  Master,  who 
 did  sin,  this  man,  or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ? 
 Jesus  answered,  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his 
 parents':  but  that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest 
 in  him.  I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,  while  it 
 is  day :  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work.  As  long 
 as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world.  When  he 
 had  thus  spoken,  he  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the 
 spittle,  and  he  anointed  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man  with  the 
 clay,  and  said  unto  him,  Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam, 
 (which  is  by  interpretation,  Sent.)  He  went  his  way  there- 
 fore, and  washed,  and  came  seeing.  The  neighbours  there- 
 fore, and  they  which  before  had  seen  him  that  he  was  blind, 
 said,  Is  not  this  he  that  sat  and  begged  ?  Some  said,  This  is 
 he  :  others  said,  He  is  like  him  :  but  he  said,  I  am  he.  There- 
 fore said  they  unto  him,  How  were  thine  eyes  opened?  He 
 answered  and  said,  A  man  that  is  called  Jesus  made  clay,  and 
 anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  unto  me,  Go  to  the  pool  of  Si- 
 loam,  and  wash :  and  I  went  and  washed,  and  I  received 
 sight.  Then  said  they  unto  him,  Where  is  he  ?  He  said,  I 
 know  not.  They  brought  to  the  Pharisees  him  that  afore- 
 time was  blind.  And  it  was  the  sabbath  day  when  Jesus 
 made  the  clay,  and  opened  his  eyes.  Then  again  the  Phari- 
 sees also  asked  him  how  he  had  received  his  sight.  He  said 
 unto  them,  He  put  clay  upon  mine  eyes,  and  I  washed,  and 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  491 
 
 do  see.  Therefore  said  some  of  the  Pharisees,  This  man  is 
 not  of  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the  sabbath  day.  Others 
 said,  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such  miracles  ?  And 
 there  was  a  division  among  them.  They  say  unto  the  blind 
 man  again,  What  sayest  thou  of  him,  that  he  hath  opened 
 thine  eyes  ?  He  said,  He  is  a  prophet.  But  the  Jews  did  not 
 believe  concerning  him,  that  he  had  been  blind,  and  received 
 his  sight,  until  they  called  the  parents  of  him  that  had  re- 
 ceived his  sight.  And  they  asked  them,  saying,  Is  this  your 
 son,  who  ye  say  was  born  blind  ?  how  then  doth  he  now  see  ? 
 His  parents  answered  them  and  said,  We  know  that  this  is 
 our  son,  and  that  he  was  born  blind :  but  by  what  means  he 
 now  seeth,  we  know  not ;  or  who  hath  opened  his  eyes,  we 
 know  not :  he  is  of  age ;  ask  him  :  he  shall  speak  for  himself. 
 These  ivorcls  spake  his  parents,  because  they  feared  the  Jews  : 
 for  the  Jews  had  agreed  already,  that  if  any  man  did  confess 
 that  he  was  Christ,  he  should  be  put  out  of  the  synagogue. 
 Therefore  said  his  parents,  He  is  of  age  \  ask  him.  Then 
 again  called  they  the  man  that  was  blind,  and  said  unto  him, 
 Give  God  the  praise:  we  know  that  this  man  is  a  sinner.  He 
 answered  and  said,  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know 
 not :  one  thing  I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see. 
 Then  said  they  to  him  again,  What  did  he  to  thee  ?  how  opened 
 he  thine  eyes  ?  He  answered  them,  I  have  told  you  already, 
 and  ye  did  not  hear  :  wherefore  would  ye  hear  it  again  ?  will 
 ye  also  be  his  disciples  ?  Then  they  reviled  him,  and  said, 
 Thou  art  his  disciple  ;  but  we  are  Moses'  disciples.  We  know 
 that  God  spake  unto  Moses  :  as  for  this  fellow,  we  know  not 
 from  whence  he  is.  The  man  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
 Why  herein  is  a  marvellous  thing,  that  ye  know  not  from 
 whence  he  is,  and  yet  he  hath  opened  mine  eyes.  Now  we  know 
 that  God  heareth  not  sinners  :  but  if  any  man  be  a  worshipper 
 of  God,  and  doeth  his  will,  him  he  heareth.  Since  the  world 
 began  was  it  not  heard  that  any  man  opened  the  eyes  of  one 
 that  was  born  blind.  If  this  man  were  not  of  God,  he  could 
 do  nothing.  They  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thou  wast 
 altogether  born  in  sins,  and  dost  thou  teach  us  ?  And  they 
 cast  him  out.     Jesus  heard  that  they  had  cast  him  out ;  and 
 
492  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 when  lie  had  found  him,  he  said  unto  him,  Dost  thou  believe 
 on  the  Son  of  God  ?  He  answered  and  said,  Who  is  he,  Lord, 
 that  I  might  believe  on  him  ?  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou 
 hast  both  seen  him,  and  it  is  he  that  talketh  with  thee.  And 
 he  said,  Lord,  I  believe.  And  he  worshipped  him.  And 
 Jesus  said,  For  judgment  I  am  come  into  this  world,  that 
 they  which  see  not  might  see  ;  and  that  they  which  see  might 
 be  made  blind.  And  some  of  the  Pharisees  which  were  with 
 him  heard  these  words,  and  said  unto  him,  Are  we  blind  also  ? 
 Jesus  said  unto  them,  If  ye  were  blind,  ye  should  have  no 
 sin :  but  now  ye  say,  We  see ;  therefore  your  sin  remaineth. 
 — John  ix. 
 
 I  believe  that  this  chapter  is  one  of  the  most 
 expressive  sketches  of  contrasted  human  cha- 
 racter that  is  contained  in  the  Bible,  and  is  not 
 the  least  suggestive,  to  every  one  that  reads  and 
 thoroughly  understands  it,  of  important  practical 
 reflections. 
 
 It  appears  from  the  close  of  the  previous 
 chapter,  that  Jesus  had  been  proscribed  and 
 persecuted  by  the  Pharisees;  for  it  is  said, 
 "  They  took  up  stones  to  cast  at  him,  but  Jesus 
 hid  himself,  and  went  out  of  the  temple,  going 
 through  the  midst  of  them,  and  so  passed  by." 
 And  this  ninth  chapter,  which  is  evidently  the 
 sequel  of  the  previous  one,  goes  on  to  say,  that 
 "  As  he  passed  by  [running  from  the  stones  of 
 the  Pharisees]  he  saw  a  man  which  was  blind 
 from  his  birth."  Teaching  us  the  remarkable  and 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  493 
 
 important  lesson,  that  the  persecution  which  Jesus 
 experienced  from  some  only  led  him  to  minister 
 more  graciously  and  beneficently  to  others ;  the 
 evil  treatment  he  experienced  from  one  class 
 only  made  him  more  busy  in  expressing  his 
 mercy  and  infinite  goodness  to  another.  No 
 ill  treatment  experienced  by  Jesus  arrested  his 
 compassion.  While  he  runs  from  the  stones  of 
 the  Pharisee,  he  stops,  notwithstanding  the 
 shower  that  followed  him,  to  open  the  eyes  of 
 one  that  was  born  blind  ! 
 
 It  is  remarkable  that  the  blind  man  says  no- 
 thing :  he  seems  to  have  been  dumb,  as  well  as 
 blind ;  but  the  eye  of  Jesus  saw  him,  and  the  heart 
 of  Jesus  had  compassion  on  him,  and  the  hand  of 
 Jesus  instantly  cured  him.  How  true  is  this  fact 
 in  a  higher  sense  !  Christ  looks  upon  us  before 
 we  look  to  him ;  he  pities  us  before  we  pray  to 
 him ;  his  eye  is  fixed  on  us  in  infinite  compassion 
 before  our  hearts  respond  to  him  in  adoring  gra- 
 titude and  praise. 
 
 It  appears  that  this  man  was  blind  from  his 
 birth ;  and  from  several  expressions  that  occur 
 in  the  chapter,  he  seems  to  have  been  a  well- 
 known  and  familiar  beggar,  that  every  body 
 knew,  that  all  had  seen,  and  perhaps  were  ac- 
 
494  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 customed  to  relieve,  as  they  passed  to  the  feasts 
 and  festivals  of  Jerusalem.  Seeing  this  person, 
 then,  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  not  the  Jews,  so  far 
 but  not  perfectly  enlightened,  asked  the  ques- 
 tion, "  Who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that 
 he  was  born  blind  ?  Three  explanations  have  been 
 given  of  the  origin  of  the  question.  The  first  is, 
 that  certain  of  the  Jews  believed,  from  tradition, 
 not  from  Scripture,  in  the  transmigration  of  souls, 
 a  dogma,  still  held  by  the  Buddhists  in  India, 
 which  alleges  that  the  soul  goes  from  one  person 
 to  another,  or  even  from  an  animal  to  a  man,  or 
 from  a  man  to  an  animal,  according  to  its  faithful- 
 ness to  its  trust  in  the  place  in  which  God  first 
 planted  it ;  and  the  Jews  thought  this  man,  or  his 
 soul,  had  inhabited  a  previous  organization,  and  in 
 that  organization  had  sinned,  and  that  he  was  born 
 blind  as  a  penalty  for  that  previous  sin.  The 
 second  explanation  is  given  by  Lightfoot,  and 
 others,  who  say  that  many  of  the  Jews  believed 
 that  previous  to  birth  an  unborn  infant  could  sin, 
 quoting  the  case  of  Esau  and  Jacob  striving  for 
 mastery  or  pre-eminence  before  they  were  born. 
 Another  explanation  suggested  by  some  is,  that 
 God  foresaw  that  this  man  would  commit  some 
 great  sin,  and  therefore  thus  early  afflicted  him  ; 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN,  495 
 
 but  retribution  follows  punishment,  and  the  idea 
 that  he  was  previously  punished  for  sin  that  he 
 subsequently  committed,  is  so  repugnant  to  all 
 the  analogy  of  God's  providential  and  retributive 
 dealings  that  we  cannot  for  a  moment  admit  it. 
 
 But  instead  of  speculating  upon  this  question, 
 let  us  see  how  Jesus  treated  it.  Before  doing  so, 
 however,  I  may  notice  how  much  of  truth  there 
 was  in  the  question,  and  how  much  falsehood  also 
 was  in  it.  When  the  disciples  asked, "  Who  hath 
 sinned?"  they  evidently  assumed  the  fact,  univer- 
 sally true,  that  sin  is  the  source  of  suffering.  If 
 there  had  been  no  sin  there  never  had  been  felt 
 any  suffering.  But  they  assumed  in  addition  to 
 this  another  idea,  that  man's  punishment  in  this 
 life  was  proportioned  to  his  sin  in  this  life.  This 
 is  not  correct ;  because  hell  is  pure,  unmingled 
 evil,  and  pure  and  righteous  retribution,  while 
 heaven  is  pure,  unmingled  good,  and  pure,  unmin- 
 gled reward ;  but  in  this  world  the  two  powers 
 are  in  collision — holiness  and  sin,  the  powers  of 
 evil  and  the  powers  of  good;  and  God  uses 
 suffering  as  a  medicine  to  his  own,  and  the 
 greatest  sufferer  is  not  always  the  greatest  sin- 
 ner, and  the  most  prosperous  man  is  not  always 
 the   loftiest   saint.     "  For,"    says    the    Saviour, 
 
496  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 u  think  ye  that  those  eighteen  upon  whom  the 
 tower  of  Siloam  fell  were  sinners  above  ail 
 men  ?  I  tell  you,  nay  " — that  is  not  the  infer- 
 ence you  are  to  draw  ;  but  the  inference  you  are 
 to  draw  is  a  far  more  precious  one,  a  practical  and 
 personal  one — "  except  ye  repent  ye  shall  all 
 likewise  perish."  Still,  the  main  idea  of  the 
 disciples  was  just,  that  sin  is  the  root,  and  that 
 sufferings  are  but  the  branches.  That  sin  causes 
 suffering  who  can  doubt  who  has  ever  witnessed 
 an  infant  die  ?  That  infant  never  committed 
 actual  sin,  yet  it  comes  under  the  doom  de- 
 nounced upon  humanity,  "  In  the  day  that  thou 
 eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die."  But  while 
 that  infant's  death  is  the  evidence  of  sin  some 
 where,  of  sin  touching  at  some  point,  let  us  re- 
 joice to  know  that  that  infant's  certain  salvation 
 is  the  evidence,  that  if  sin  has  so  abounded  that  it 
 smites  the  babe  that  has  not  sinned  after  Adam's 
 transgression,  grace  has  much  more  abounded, 
 and  saves  the  babe  that  cannot  personally,  be- 
 cause physically  incapable,  believe  on  the  second 
 Adam  for  its  salvation.  There  was  also  a  mea- 
 sure of  truth  in  the  other  idea  contained  in  the 
 question  of  the  disciples — "  Who  hath  sinned, 
 this  man  or  his  parents  ?  "     Every  body  must 
 
THE    BLIND    MAX.  497 
 
 admit  a  fact  not  peculiar  to  Revelation,  but 
 which  is  legible  on  every  chapter  of  God's  pro- 
 vidence, that  the  fathers  do  eat  sour  grapes,  and 
 the  children's  teeth  do  stand  on  edge,  to  use  the 
 language  of  the  prophet — that  there  is  a  connex- 
 ion between  the  sins  of  the  parents  and  the  suf- 
 ferings of  their  offspring.  Is  it  not  also  a  fact 
 in  Providence  ? — a  parent  leads  a  dissipated  life, 
 destroys  his  health,  his  vigour,  and  his  mind — 
 his  children  that  he  leaves  behind  him  are  the 
 sufferers.  We  see  it  in  civil  law :  a  nobleman 
 commits  high- treason — he  loses  his  coronet,  and 
 his  son  is  born  a  commoner.  We  read  it  next  in 
 God's  word,  (and  thus  the  three  kingdoms  are 
 in  harmony,)  where  it  is  said,  "Visiting  the 
 sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children ; "  but  in 
 all  three  it  is  not  visiting  the  children  with 
 eternal  ruin  because  the  parents  have  sinned, 
 but  with  temporal  chastisement  or  suffering, 
 that  their  parents  may  see  in  their  suffering  the 
 effects  and  fruits  of  their  own  transgression. 
 And  I  can  conceive  no  more  dire  punishment  to 
 a  profligate,  debauched,  and  abandoned  parent, 
 than  to  see  his  sins  staring  him  in  the  face  from 
 the  suffering  of  his  children;  and  every  time  he 
 hears  the  cry  of  one's  agony,  or  sees  the  suffer- 
 
 2  K 
 
498  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 ings  of  another's  physical  delibity,  or  stands  by 
 the  grave  that  contains  the  ashes  of  a  third,  what 
 a  stern  and  eloquent  rebuke  of  his  past  trans- 
 gressions must  rise  and  pierce  to  the  very  depths 
 of  his  heart,  preaching  to  him  repentance  and 
 the  need  of  forgiveness  of  sins.     The  very  reason 
 why  God  has  thus  arranged  it  is,  that  parents 
 may  be  more  prayerful,  diligent,  and  exemplary. 
 In  looking  sometimes  into  judicial  proceedings,  I 
 have  noticed  that  when  a  parent  who  has  been 
 guilty  of  some  great  crime,  and  has  thus  made 
 himself  liable  to  banishment  or  a  heavy  fine,  ad- 
 duces as  a  plea  for  mitigation  of  penalty,  "  I  have 
 a  wife  and  six  children,  and  I  hope,  therefore, 
 the  punishment  will  be  mitigated."     The  answer 
 of  the  judge,  I  have  noticed,  in  every  case  has 
 been, "  You  ought  to  have  thought  of  this  before 
 you   committed    the   sin ; "    thus  reminding    us 
 that  the  sin  of  the  parent  is  visited  on  the  chil- 
 dren.    So  little  injustice,  then,  is  there  in  the 
 proposition  that  is  declared  in  the  Bible,  that  it 
 is  recognised  upon  our  tribunals,  and  is  witnessed 
 in  all  the  providential  dealings  of  God  among 
 mankind. 
 
 Let  us  look,  in  the  next  place,  at  our  Lord's 
 reply :  it  is  after  all  the  more  practical  one ;  it 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  499 
 
 will  show  that  the  disciples  had  no  business  to 
 ask  the  question  ;  and  that  when  we  see  children 
 suffer  we  are  not  warranted,  as  spectators  of  their 
 suffering,  to  conclude  that  their  fathers  sinned, 
 and  therefore  the  children  suffer  the  penalty.  Our 
 Lord  rebukes  this  idea  altogether  ;  and  I  think  it 
 is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  striking  evidences 
 of  the  infinite  wisdom  of  our  blessed  Lord,  that 
 he  always  turns  man's  mind  away  from  the  sphere 
 in  which  it  loves  to  revel,  the  sphere  of  uncha- 
 ritableness,  misjudgment,  and  wild  speculation, 
 and  brings  it  back  again  into  the  plain  high-road 
 of  common  duty,  obligation,  and  responsibility. 
 He  therefore  says  to  them  very  strikingly, 
 "  Neither  hath  this  man  sinned  nor  his  parents, 
 but  that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  mani- 
 fest in  him."  He  does  not  mean  by  these  words 
 that  he  was  afflicted  on  purpose  that  God's  works 
 might  be  made  manifest ;  but  that  the  infer- 
 ence we  are  to  draw  from  the  poor  man's  blind- 
 ness is,  that  it  shall  issue  to  the  glory  of  God ; 
 as  if  he  had  said  to  his  disciple  :  "  Do  not  seek 
 in  the  life  of  the  parents  the  cause  of  the  blind- 
 ness of  the  man ;  do  not  pry  into  the  secrets  of 
 families,  and  fish  up  imaginary  causes  of  the  suf- 
 ferings of  the  parents  or  the  diseases  of  their  chil- 
 
 2  k  2 
 
500  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 dren ;  do  not  try  to  ascertain  by  guessing  what 
 can  have  brought  this  judgment  upon  that  fami- 
 ly, what  has  entailed  that  misery  upon   another 
 family ;    but  see  whether   you  cannot  seize  the 
 suffering  that  exists  as  a  fact,  and  on  that  fact 
 build  a  superstructure  of  good  to  mankind  and 
 glory  to  God  whose  Providence  has  permitted  it. 
 You  are  not,  therefore,  (as  if  our  Saviour  had 
 said,)  to  speculate  upon    the  blindness  of   this 
 man,  or  upon  the  deafness  of  that  man,  or  upon 
 the  sufferings  of  a  third ;  but  to  see  what  good 
 can  be  extracted  out  of  each  visitation  you  meet 
 with,  in  other  words,  to  ascertain  how  sweet  a 
 flower  may  grow  from  so  bitter  a  bud.     That  the 
 works  of  God  may  be  made  manifest,  is  to  be  the 
 end  and  aim  of  your  study  of  the  suffering  of  this 
 man.    This  is  the  inference  you  are  to  draw,  this 
 is  the  light  in  which  you  are  to  look  at  it ;  you 
 are  not  to  try  to  search  out  hidden  springs  of  mis- 
 fortunes, which  you  never  can  accurately  detect, 
 but  to  see  what  lesson  of  duty,  or  of  obligation, 
 you  can  gather  from  facts  which  you  can  easily 
 distinguish.    And  so  I  say,  with  reference  to  the 
 recent  epidemic*  that  overflowed  our  land.     I  re- 
 fer to  it,  perhaps  some  will  think,  too  often  ;  but 
 
 *  In  1849. 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  501 
 
 we  are  forgetting  it  too  quickly  to  make  it  un- 
 necessary to  refer  to  it  often.  Instead  of  doing 
 as  some  did — trying  to  discover  what  sin  in  the 
 government,  or  what  wickedness  in  the  people, 
 what  fault  upon  the  bench,  or  what  flaw  in  the 
 subject — whether  it  was  sin  here,  or  short-com- 
 ings there,  that  caused  it — instead  of  thus  specu- 
 lating upon  the  causes  that  brought  down  upon 
 us  the  judgment  of  God,  let  us  learn  the  lesson 
 our  Saviour  here  dictates,  and  see  what  duties 
 of  new  devotedness,  what  obligations  to  fresh  be- 
 neficence, what  good  we  can  do  to  make  that 
 great  minister  of  judgment  to  be  after  all  a  min- 
 ister of  mercy,  so  that  the  poor  of  after-ages  shall 
 bless  their  fathers,  when  they  are  gone,  and  say, 
 "  They  laboured,  and  we  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their 
 labours." 
 
 To  the  man  himself,  however,  we  can  see,  his 
 blindness  was  scarcely  a  calamity ;  the  result  shows 
 it.  At  this  moment,  when  Jesus  looked  upon 
 him,  he  must  have  felt  that  the  unsetting  Sun 
 that  rose  upon  his  soul  in  the  midnight  of  his 
 physical  blindness,  was  more  than  a  compensation 
 for  all  the  privations  he  had  endured.  God  thus 
 often  gives  compensatory  elements.  In  the  inner 
 light  which  that  man  began  now  to  see,  he  had  a 
 
502  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 compensation  for  the  absence  of  the  outer  light, 
 which  man's  heart  can  feel,  but  man's  tongue 
 cannot  express.  It  is  so  still.  Upon  the  bosom 
 of  the  blind  there  often  shine  the  splendours  of 
 an  unsetting  sun,  so  much  so  that  I  have  heard 
 of  blind  men,  made  Christians  by  the  grace  of 
 God,  who  have  said  they  deprecated  the  removal 
 of  their  blindness  lest  the  inner  light,  which  they 
 so  much  enjoyed,  should  ever  be  extinguished. 
 Hence,  too,  we  find  that  upon  the  souls  of  the 
 deaf,  there  often  sound  the  chimes  of  celestial  me- 
 lodies ;  the  lame  man  has  been  made  to  mount  as 
 with  eagle's  wings ;  and  the  old  man  in  the  de- 
 crepitude of  decay  has  felt  all  the  elasticity  and 
 vigour  of  youth  ;  for  a  new  heart  given  to  an  old 
 man  makes  him,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  feel  young 
 and  take  heart  for  the  pilgrimage  of  life  again. 
 
 Our  Lord  adds  this  remark  upon  the  convers- 
 ation which  he  held  with  his  disciples :  "  I 
 must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me  while 
 it  is  day ;  the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can 
 work."  This  has  been  cavilled  at;  as  if  our 
 Lord  meant  to  say  that  he  could  only  work 
 during  his  biography  on  earth;  and  that  his 
 saying  "  the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can 
 work"  is  contradicted  by  the  fact  that  his  apos- 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  503 
 
 ties  worked,  and  worked  successfully  after  him. 
 All  this  arises  from  a  misconception  of  the  true 
 meaning  and  origin  of  the  words  he  used.  He 
 quoted  a  popular  proverb ;  he  says,  "  The  pro- 
 verb is,  Work  while  it  is  called  to-day  ;  the  night 
 cometh,  when  no  man  can  work."  This  is  true, 
 it  is  true  literally,  it  is  true  morally,  it  is  true 
 eternally;  and  now  while  the  day  lasts,  while 
 the  opportunity  endures,  I  must  work,  knowing 
 that  the  night  of  my  death  cometh,  when  I 
 shall  have  finished  my  course ;  and  knowing,  too, 
 that  to  each  man  there  is  a  day,  which  his  allow- 
 ing to  pass  away,  prevents  him  from  doing  what 
 belongs  to  that  day.  Is  it  not  found  in  our  own 
 experience,  that  each  day  has  its  own  duties  ?  If 
 you  neglect  the  duties  of  to-day,  you  never  can 
 make  up  for  them  to-morrow,  because  each  day 
 has  duties  that  completely  fill  it ;  and  if  the  du- 
 ties of  to-day  are  neglected,  you  cannot  crowd 
 them  into  to-morrow.  You  require  all  your 
 strength  and  all  your  power  to  do  to-morrow's 
 duties ;  and  if  you  miss  one  day's  duties,  you 
 have  left  undone  that  which  never  can  be  done. 
 So  our  Lord  says  :  "  Work  while  it  is  called  to- 
 day ;  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work." 
 Our  Lord  then  took  the  moistened  clay,  it  is 
 
504  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 said,  and  applied  it  to  the  man's  eyes,  and  he 
 
 immediately  saw.     Now  what  was  the  design  of 
 
 our  Lord  in  thus  using  clay  ?     I  answer,  that, 
 
 judging  from  the  whole  face  of  the  narrative,  it 
 
 was  to  make  the  blind  man  sensible  of  the  fact 
 
 that  it  was  Jesus   that  healed  him.     The   man 
 
 could  not  see  Jesus,  but  he  could  feel  his  hand 
 
 touch  his  eyes  with  the  clay ;  he  could  be  made 
 
 conscious  of  going  and  washing,  and  then  seeing. 
 
 Or  it  may  have  been,  perhaps,  to  convince  those 
 
 that  stood  by  that  the  virtue  that  healed  was  in 
 
 Jesus.     Whenever  he  performed  a  miracle,  he 
 
 invariably  used  a  medium :  sometimes  the  medium 
 
 was  a  touch,  sometimes  it  was  a  word,  sometimes 
 
 it  was  clay.     There  was  no  more  virtue  in  the 
 
 clay  than  in  the  touch,  and  no  more  in  the  touch 
 
 than  in  the  word  ;  the  virtue  was  in  Christ.    But 
 
 the  reason  why  he  used  the  medium,  whether  it 
 
 was  clay,  or  a  touch,  or  a  word,  was   to  show 
 
 sensibly  to  the  eyes  of  the  spectators  that  Christ 
 
 was  the   Fountain,  and  that  from  him  direct  to 
 
 the  subject  of  infirmity  the  healing  virtue  flowed. 
 
 Christ  can  work  without  means,  or  against  means, 
 
 or  above  means.     A   straw  in  an  infant's  hand, 
 
 directed  by  him,  is  mighty ;  a  sword  in  a  giant's 
 
 hand,  blasted  by  him,  is  impotent  and  useless. 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  505 
 
 Our  Lord  then  says,  "  Go,  wash  in  the  pool 
 of  Siloam ;"  and  the  man  did  it.  "  Siloam," 
 says  John,  "  which  is  by  interpretation,  Sent." 
 This,  perhaps,  was  to  try  his  obedience ;  just  as 
 in  the  almost  analogous  case  of  the  miracle  per- 
 formed on  Naaman  the  Syrian,  concerning  which 
 we  read  that  "  Elisha  sent  a  messenger  unto  him, 
 saying,  Go  and  wash  in  Jordan  seven  times,  and 
 thy  flesh  shall  come  again  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
 be  clean.  But  Naaman  was  wroth,  and  went 
 away,  and  said,  Behold,  I  thought  he  will  surely 
 come  out  to  me,  and  stand,  and  call  on  the  name 
 of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  strike  his  hand  over 
 the  place,  and  recover  the  leper."  This  man, 
 however,  in  favourable  contrast,  obeyed  the 
 command,  and  went,  and  washed,  and  saw. 
 
 It  has  been  very  much  disputed  what  can  have 
 been  John's  reason  for  saying,  "  which  is  by 
 interpretation,  Sent."  There  is  no  evidence  that 
 it  is  in  any  way  a  type  of  Christ,  or  that  it  was 
 associated  with  evangelical  truth.  The  pre- 
 sumption is,  that  John  heard  in  the  very  word  the 
 pool  the  sound  of  a  Saviour's  mission,  and  that  he 
 saw,  as  it  were,  reflected  in  it  the  brightness  of 
 his  Saviour's  face,  even  of  that  Saviour  who  was 
 sent  by  the  Father.    The  word  repeatedly  used  to 
 
506  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 describe  him  whose  whole  life  was  a  mission,  or 
 a  constant  sending,  was  instantly  suggested  to  the 
 evangelist  by  the  name  of  the  pool  of  Siloam. 
 
 The  man,  we  read,  saw ;  and  the  moment  he 
 saw  he  returned  to  his  home.  The  dialogue  that 
 takes  place  there  at  the  fireside  is  remarkable. 
 No  doubt  his  parents,  his  friends,  all  his  neigh- 
 bours crowded  into  the  house  to  see  this  wonder- 
 ful transformation  in  the  case  of  a  well-known 
 blind  beggar,  now  perfectly  seeing  and  perfectly 
 happy.  But  so  incredulous  were  they  that  they 
 could  not  believe  it.  "  Some  said,  It  is  he." 
 How  very  natural !  Let  a  blind  man's  eyes  be 
 opened,  and  the  change  that  takes  place  is  much 
 greater  than  the  space  occupied  by  the  eye.  A 
 blind  man  walks  with  his  head  back,  and  puts  his 
 foot  or  his  hand  foremost,  to  feel  that  the  way  is 
 clear,  but  the  moment  his  eye-sight  is  restored  the 
 head  resumes  its  natural  position.  Not  only  is  the 
 face  altered,  but  the  whole  shape,  tone,  mannerism 
 of  the  man  undergoes  a  complete  transformation. 
 We  can  therefore  easily  conceive  how  naturally 
 some  of  his  neighbours  said,  "  This  is  he ;  and 
 others  said,  It  is  like  him;  but  he  said,  [which 
 settles  all  disputes,]  I  am  he  " — whatever  I  may 
 be  like,  I  am  he.     They  doubted  his  identity, 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  507 
 
 and  asked  him  how  the  change  took  place.     He 
 gave  them  the  simple  story  :  "  A  man  [for  he  was 
 not  yet  convinced  that  Christ  was  the  Messiah] 
 made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  unto 
 me,  Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam  and  wash ;  and  I 
 went  and  washed,  and  I  received  sight."     The 
 next  thing  his  friends  and  neighbours  did  was  to 
 bring  him  to  the  Pharisees.    There  was  a  smaller 
 sanhedrim  that  always  sat  in  Jerusalem  to  try  all 
 minor  cases,  to  receive  reports  of  all  religious 
 matters ;   they  brought  him  to  this   sanhedrim, 
 not  out  of  a  malevolent  or  hostile  feeling,  but 
 rather  in  order  to  get  the  case  perfectly  expis- 
 cated,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  a  miracle  had 
 been  wrought,  and  what  was  the  amount  of  credit 
 due  to  this  man  who  had  wrought  so  wonderful 
 a  miracle.     They,  therefore,  it  is  said,  brought 
 him  to  the  Pharisees,  who  asked  him  how  he  had 
 received  his  sight.     We  see  the  carping  Pharisee 
 at  once  there.     They  knew  as  well  as  the  man 
 did  that  Jesus  wrought  miracles,  for  they  had 
 seen  several ;  they  had  not  the  least  doubt  it  was 
 an  actual  miracle,  and  they  did  not  ask,  "  Is  it  a 
 fact  that  your  eyes  have  been  opened?" — this 
 would  have  been  the  question  of  a  plain  unbiased 
 judge— but,  "  How  did  he  open  them  ?  "     Notice 
 
508  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  man's  reply ;  and  in  the  reply  you  will  see 
 how  transparently  genuine,  and  authentic,  and 
 real  the  narrative  is.  When  examined  by  his 
 neighbours,  his  statement  is  long,  minute,  and 
 frank.  He  says,  "  A  man  made  clay,  and 
 anointed  mine  eyes,  and  said  unto  me,  Go  to  the 
 pool  of  Siloam  and  wash,  and  I  went  and  washed, 
 and  I  received  sight."  But  when  he  is  cross- 
 questioned  by  the  Pharisees,  whose  hostility  he 
 well  knew,  his  answers  assume  a  more  cautious 
 shape ;  he  replies  much  more  briefly,  and  says, 
 (ver.  15,)  "  He  put  clay  upon  mine  eyes,  and  I 
 washed  and  do  see."  We  clearly  see  how 
 cautious  his  reply  was  to  this  synod  or  ecclesi- 
 astical court  that  inquisitorially  examined  him, 
 and  how  strongly  it  contrasts  with  the  frank, 
 open  manner  in  which  he  replied  to  his  neigh- 
 bours and  parents.  The  moment  he  replied, 
 they  said,  "What  sayest  thou  of  him,  that 
 he  hath  opened  thine  eyes  ?"  This  reads  badly  : 
 it  means,  ' i  What  do  you  say  ?  Do  you  mean 
 to  say  that  he  has  opened  your  eyes  ?  and  what 
 think  you  of  him,  if  he  has  done  so?"  The 
 man  answered  with  great  frankness,  "  He  is  a 
 prophet."  ie  But  the  Jews  did  not  believe  con- 
 cerning him  that  he  had  been  blind,  and  received 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  509 
 
 his   sight,  until  they  called  the  parents  of  him 
 that  received  his  sight."    And  when  the  man  had 
 made  his  statement,  we  read,  (ver.  16,)  "  There- 
 fore said  some  of  the  Pharisees,  This  man  is  not 
 of  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the  sabbath  day. 
 Others  said,  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do 
 such  miracles  ?  And  there  was  a  division  among 
 them."     This  lets  out  an  interesting  fact,  that 
 in  this  sanhedrim  there  were  two  parties.     The 
 one  party  does  not  try  to  meet  the  fact  that  a 
 miracle  was  done,  and  disprove  it,  but  they  ask 
 how  it  was  done,  urge  that  the  man  that  did  it 
 cannot  be  a  prophet,  or  the  Messiah,  for  he  has 
 broken  the    sabbath.     The   other  party  in  the 
 sanhedrim,  who,  from  the  mode  in  which  they 
 started  their  difficulty,  evidently  felt  that  they 
 were  a  minority,  and  could  not  carry  the  day, 
 put  in  the  quiet  question,  very  suggestive  how- 
 ever, "  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  such 
 miracles?"    Is  there  any  evidence  at  this  time  in 
 the  condition  of  the  Jews  indicating  that  there 
 was  such  a  minority  ?     Nicodemus  and  Joseph  of 
 Arimathea  were  constituent  members  of  this  very 
 sanhedrim ;  and  while  the  great  majority  argued 
 that  the  man  must  be  a  bad  man  because  he  had 
 done  this  miracle  on  the  sabbath  day,  these  men 
 
 . 
 
510  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 of  nobler  mettle,  rising  superior  to  the  mere  par- 
 tisanship of  the  age,  impressed  with  the  magnifi- 
 cence of  power  and  beneficence  concentrated  and 
 combined  in  all  that  Jesus  did,  afraid  to  take  too 
 decided  a  part,  yet  determined  not  to  be  silent 
 when  truth  was  threatened  with  martyrdom,  lifted* 
 up  their   still,  small,  but  singularly  suggestive 
 voice,  and  said,  "  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner 
 [that  is,  an  impostor,  a  thoroughly  bad  man]  do 
 such  miracles?" — so  stamped  with  evidence  of 
 power,  and  so  replete  with  proofs  of  beneficence. 
 We  cannot  believe  that  he  is  an  impostor,  or  a  sin- 
 ner.    The   Pharisees    again   put   the    question, 
 "What  sayest  thou?  we  have  heard  one  explana- 
 tion,  and  we  have  found  two  members  of  the 
 sanhedrim  who  dispute  it — What  sayest  thou? 
 What  is   your   idea   of  the  man?"    It   was    a 
 question,  but  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  a  hint 
 to  the  man,  (seeing  that  there  was  a  vast  ma- 
 jority against  Christ,  and  only  two  individuals 
 for  him,)  insinuating  that  the  less  he  said  for 
 Christ  the  better,  and  that  if  he  could  get  his 
 conscience  and  his  tongue  to  co-operate  in  stat- 
 ing his  impression  that  Christ  wrought  miracles 
 by  the  power  of  Beelzebub  the  prince  of  devils, 
 he  would  be   promoted,  get  some  preferment, 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  511 
 
 or  some  valuable  situation.  But  the  witness 
 was  an  honest  man ;  he  was  frank,  generous, 
 and  grateful  for  the  miracle  of  which  he  had 
 been  the  subject;  and  he  replied  at  once  with 
 great  manliness  and  real  honesty,  fearing  nei- 
 ther their  frown,  nor  desiring  their  approbation, 
 "  I  believe  he  is  a  prophet."  They  were  foiled; 
 they  expected  something  to  help  them,  but  they 
 found  that  which  more  and  more  entangled  and 
 perplexed  them.  Seeing  they  could  make  no- 
 thing of  the  man,  they  resolved  to  ascertain 
 if  they  could  detect  in  his  statement  any 
 thing  that  would  clash  with  the  statement  of  his 
 parents.  They  therefore  sent  for  the  man's 
 parents  and  spoke  to  them.  "  The  parents  (we 
 are  told)  answered  and  said,  We  know  that  this 
 is  our  son,  «nd  that  he  was  born  blind  [we  cannot 
 deny  that :  every  body  knows  it] ;  but  by  what 
 means  he  now  seeth  we  know  not,  or  who  hath 
 opened  his  eyes  we  know  not."  And  they  added, 
 with  great  cunning  and  great  respect  for  their 
 personal  safety,  "  He  is  of  age,  ask  him ; "  re- 
 collecting that  if  any  one  confessed  Jesus,  he 
 was  instantly  to  be  cast  out  of  the  synagogue. 
 The  Pharisees  expected  that  the  parents  would 
 have   contradicted  something  the  son  had  said, 
 
512  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 but  they  found  it  otherwise ;  the  parents  were  too 
 honest,  or  rather  too  convinced  of  the  imp  ssi- 
 bility  of  disproof,  to  deny  that  their  son  was  born 
 blind ;  and  they  were  too  honest  to  deny  that  he 
 now  saw,  or  rather,  they  felt  they  dared  not  do 
 so  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  they  were  too  prudent, 
 as  this  world  would  call  it,  to  say  that  Christ  or 
 a  prophet  had  opened  their  son's  eyes,  because 
 they  knew   quite  well  they  would  be  cast  out 
 from  the    synagogue  if  they  confessed  Christ ; 
 they  therefore  cautiously  and  quietly  shifted  the 
 responsibility    from   their    own    shoulders    and 
 threw  it  back  upon  the   shoulders  of  the  son. 
 Were  not  these  parents  a  type  of  a  party  still  ex- 
 isting?    Is  there  not  a  class  in  every  congrega- 
 tion who  are  too  convinced  that  the   Bible  is 
 true,  and  Christianity  from  God,  openly  to  deny 
 it ;  but  who  are  too  respectful  to  the  fashion  of 
 the  age,  or  the  praise,  the  censure,  or  the  pro- 
 fits of  the  world,   manfully  to   say,   "  We  are 
 Christians,    and   we   believe   that    living,   vital 
 religion  is  from  above;"    and  therefore  when 
 they  speak  to  persons   before   whom  they  are 
 anxious  to  take  care  how  much  they  let  out,  as 
 well  as  how  much  they  keep  in,  they  say,  "  We 
 think  so  and  so ;  no  doubt  the  Bible  is  true,  but 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  513 
 
 really,  instead  of  discussing  the  matter,  let  us 
 turn  to  the  business  before  us ;  if  you  will  come 
 next  Sunday,  and  hear  our  minister,  you  will  find 
 one  able  to  explain  his  own  sentiments."  They 
 wish  to  say  nothing  upon  a  subject  which  comes 
 too  close  to  their  own  consciences.  Even  infi- 
 delity has  remarked,  that  if  Christianity  be  true, 
 there  must  be  few  upon  earth  that  really  believe 
 it,  because  the  life  and  sacrifices  of  Christians  do 
 not  indicate  that  they  feel  the  weight  and  re- 
 sponsibility of  a  religion  that  demands  and 
 suggests  so  many. 
 
 The  sanhedrim  again  dealt  with  the  man ;  and 
 in  verse  24  it  is  said,  "  Then  again  called  they 
 the  man  that  was  blind,  and  said  unto  him,  Give 
 God  the  praise ;  we  know  that  this  man  is  a  sin- 
 ner." Here  were  gross  fraud,  falsehood,  and 
 deception.  They  insinuated  to  the  man,  when 
 they  called  him  a  second  time,  "  We  have  now 
 seen  your  parents,  we  have  thoroughly  examined 
 the  whole  matter,  and  we  are  now  at  the  bottom 
 of  it,  we  are  in  the  secret;  do  not  venture  to 
 assert  again  that  Christ  opened  your  eyes  ;  we 
 have  found  it  a  delusio  visits,  or  a  complete 
 trumped-up  story,  a  thorough  fiction;  you  are 
 the  victim  of  a  heated  imagination,  or  a  deceiver ; 
 
 2  l 
 
514  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 no  real  miracle  has  been  wrought :  give  God  the 
 praise ;  we  know  Christ  is  an  impostor,  and  that 
 your  idea  of  him  is  altogether  absurd.  Just  take 
 the  hint ;  deny  that  Christ  wrought  the  miracle  ; 
 do  not  persist  in  asserting  what  we  are  prepared 
 to  disprove  if  you  attempt  to  do  so." 
 
 How  did  the  man  receive  all  this  ?  His  answer 
 was,  "  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know 
 not."  He  does  not  mean  to  imply  that  he  had 
 any  doubt  in  his  own  mind,  but  he  means  to 
 say,  "  I  do  not  enter  upon  that  discussion ; 
 whether  this  prophet  who  has  opened  my  eyes 
 be  a  sinner  or  an  impostor  or  not,  I  am  not  now 
 here  to  discuss  with  you — that  is  for  you,  the 
 superior  officers  of  the  church,  to  discuss  and 
 settle  among  yourselves ;  but  the  matter  of  fact 
 (as  a  plain,  honest  man,  he  says)  I  can  thoroughly 
 understand,  and  it  is  this — one  thing  I  know, 
 that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  What 
 common  sense  was  there  here,  what  candour, 
 what  honesty !  and  how  great  a  rebuke  to  those 
 ecclesiastical  officers  who  tried  to  lead  him  into 
 deception,  and  into  the  utterance  of  a  lie  !  There 
 are  many  in  every  Christian  audience  who  can 
 testify  in  a  higher  sphere  to  the  same  blessed 
 experience.     Many  a  one,  I  have  no  doubt,  in 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  515 
 
 my  own  congregation  may  be  able,  and  is  able, 
 to  say,  What  the  external  or  internal  evidence 
 of  Christianity  may  be  I  know  not ;  what  Butler 
 says,  what  Chalmers  argues,  I  know  very  little ; 
 what  the  evidence  from  miracles  is,  or  what  the 
 testimony  from  history  is,  I  am  not  competent  to 
 discuss,  to  narrate,  or  even  able  to  remember,  if 
 I  ever  read  it ;  but  one  thing  I  do  know,  that 
 once  I  was  blind,  and  now  I  see ;  once  I  was 
 dead  in  sins,  and  now  I  am  alive  to  God;  once 
 I  was  poor  indeed,  and  now  I  am  unsearchably 
 rich ;  once  I  looked  into  eternity  and  saw  nothing 
 but  a  dark  and  repulsive  blank,  now  I  have  been 
 taught  by  that  book,  called  the  Bible,  the  origin 
 of  which,  the  history  of  which,  the  outer  evi- 
 dence of  which  I  know  comparatively  very 
 little,  to  call  God  my  Father,  and  heaven  my 
 home ;  and  no  logic  that  man  can  use  will  ever 
 convince  me  that  this  religion  is  not  from  God, 
 for  a  religion  that  comes  from  God  is  the  only 
 religion  that  can  lead  a  man  to  God ;  and  I  am 
 therefore  satisfied. 
 
 Thus  the  Pharisees,  finding  that  the  more 
 they  expiscated  the  matter  the  less  they  really 
 gained,  again  asked  the  poor  man,  "  What 
 did  he  do  to  thee  ?  how  opened  he  thine  eyes  ?  " 
 
 2  l  2 
 
516  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 The  man  then  became  irritated,  and  said,  "  I 
 have  told  you  already,  and  ye  did   not  hear  : 
 wherefore  would  ye  hear  it  again  ?  "    And  then, 
 with  consummate  irony,  which  must  have  told 
 with  tremendous  effect  upon  their  feelings  and 
 passions,  he  says,  "  Will  ye  also  become  his  dis- 
 ciples ? "     "  Then  they  reviled  him,  and  said, 
 Thou  art  his  disciple ;  but  we  are  Moses'  disci- 
 ples :  we  know  that  God  spake  unto  Moses  ;  but 
 as  for  this  fellow,  we  know  not  from  whence  he 
 is."     Then  the  man  answered,  resuming  all  his 
 past  coolness,  "  Herein  is  a  marvellous  thing, 
 that  ye  know  not  from  whence  he  is,  and  yet  he 
 hath  opened  mine  eyes."     This  one  single  lay- 
 man puzzles  a  whole  synod,  call  them  bishops, 
 archbishops,  presbyters,  or  what  you  will, — he 
 puzzles  them  all.     And  why  ?    Because  truth  in 
 one  man  is  mightier  than  a  lie  in  a  whole  synod, 
 general  council,  or  assembly.     The  meaning  of 
 the  phrase  "  from  whence,"  is  this  :  they  argued 
 that  Christ  was  from  beneath,  that  he  did  mira- 
 cles by  the  power  of  Satan.     He  says,  "  This 
 cannot  be ;  it  is  strange  ye  do  not  know  whence 
 he  is ;  Satan  does  not  open  blind  men's  eyes,  or 
 unstop    deaf  men's    ears."     They  argued  in  a 
 previous  part  of  the  discussion,  "  This  man  is  a 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  517 
 
 sinner,  and  God  does  not  hear  sinners."  The 
 man  takes  the  premises  they  laid  down — namely, 
 that  God  does  not  hear  sinners,  and  says,  "  Here 
 is  a  man  that  has  been  heard  of  God,  and  armed 
 by  God  with  miraculous  power ;  and  therefore, 
 on  your  own  terms,  on  your  own  premises,  there 
 is  evidence  that  the  man  is  not  from  below,  but 
 that  he  comes  from  above."  Nothing  can  be 
 more  delightful  than  to  see  this  great  and  pre- 
 tending synod,  this  assuming  camarilla  of  scribes, 
 and  Pharisees,  and  lawyers,  these  proud  asserters 
 of  the  independence  of  the  church,  and  its  ex- 
 clusive jurisdiction  over  all  things,  temporal,  ec- 
 clesiastical, civil,  and  spiritual,  thus  puzzled  and 
 perplexed,  and  put  down  by  the  plain  state- 
 ment of  truth  by  an  honest  man,  gifted  with 
 common  sense,  and  with  nothing  more.  The 
 tables  are  beautifully  turned ;  the  scholar  in- 
 structs the  teacher ;  the  layman  is  wiser  than  the 
 master  ;  the  pew  puts  the  pulpit  right ;  the  blind 
 man  sees,  and  the  seeing  men  are  blind;  and  the 
 humbling  lesson  that  the  synod  learned  from  that 
 day  might  have  done  them  good  for  many  days 
 to  come. 
 
 But  what  did  they  do  after  this  ?     Such  irony 
 and  such  logic  were  alike  irresistible ;  they  had 
 
518  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 recourse  to  other  weapons,  to  which  conscious 
 weakness  and  want  of  truth  always  has  recourse. 
 They  persecuted  him ;  they  cast  him  out  of  the 
 synagogue,  and  said  to  him,  "  Thou  wast  alto- 
 gether born  in  sin,  and  dost  thou  teach  us?" 
 These  words  are  extremely  expressive,  "  Alto- 
 gether born  in  sins — you  were  born  blind  on 
 account  of  sins  ;  you  are  blind  in  soul,  and  blind 
 in  body ;  and  oh,  blind  man,  your  mind  is  even 
 darker  than  your  body,  fit  for  no  good,  utterly 
 unable  to  teach  us :  the  best  treatment  we  can 
 give  you  is  to  cast  you  out  as  a  withered  branch, 
 not  fit  to  belong  to  that  synagogue  over  which 
 we  preside."  Thus,  then,  they  thrust  him  out ; 
 they  silenced,  though  they  could  not  confute; 
 they  threw  out  the  man,  since  they  were  unable 
 to  neutralize  and  reply  to  his  reasons. 
 
 Now,  the  lesson  we  learn  from  the  whole  of 
 this  scene  is,  that  the  lineal  priests  of  the 
 Lord  lost  the  spirit  and  the  mind  of  the  Lord. 
 Mark  the  fact :  these  men  had  a  true  lineal  suc- 
 cession from  the  davs  of  Aaron ;  there  was  no 
 flaw  in  the  personal  succession  of  these  men ; 
 there  was  not  a  priest  in  that  sanhedrim  who 
 could  not  trace  his  lineage  right  upward  to  Aaron 
 himself;  and  yet  these  men  denied  the  faith,  dis- 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  519 
 
 claimed  the  gospel,  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory. 
 And  should  not  this  teach  a  lesson  to  others  who 
 make  similar  pretensions  in  this  day  ?  It  is  pos- 
 sible to  succeed  the  apostles  by  the  most  accu- 
 rate lineal  succession,  and  yet  to  have  lost  all  the 
 doctrines  of  the  apostles  in  all  we  preach  and  in 
 all  we  define.  It  is  not  true,  because  a  man  has 
 apostolic  succession,  that  therefore  he  preaches 
 apostolic  doctrine ;  but  it  is  true,  that  he  that 
 preaches  apostolic  doctrine  has  unquestionably 
 apostolic  succession.  It  is  not  true,  that  he  who 
 can  trace  his  genealogy  to  Paul  or  Peter  there- 
 fore must  preach  truth ;  but  it  is  true,  that  the 
 minister  who  preaches  truth,  whether  he  can 
 trace  it  or  not,  is  a  successor  of  the  apostles  and 
 an  ambassador  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 
 The  next  lesson  we  learn  from  this  is,  that  our 
 Lord  and  the  apostles  received  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment Scriptures  from  the  hands  of  these  very 
 men.  Now  you  know  it  is  an  argument  of  the 
 present  day,  which  Dr.  Wiseman,  especially, 
 wields  on  all  occasions,  and  sometimes  with 
 effect — that  the  Protestants  received  the  Bible 
 from  the  church  of  Rome,  and  that  we  ought 
 therefore  to  take  the  church  of  Rome's  interpret- 
 ation of  the  Bible.     The  proper  reply  to  this  is 
 
520  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 very  obvious.  Suppose  we  received  the  Bible 
 from  the  church  of  Rome,  (which  I  deny,  and 
 can  disprove,)  it  does  not  follow  that  we  are  to 
 take  her  opinion  of  its  contents.  Our  Lord  and 
 his  apostles  received  the  Old  Testament  from  these 
 men  in  this  very  synod  or  sanhedrim  of  Phari- 
 sees, but  they  repudiated  their  interpretation  of 
 it ;  they  took  the  book  in  all  its  perfection,  but 
 they  repudiated  the  interpretation  the  ecclesias- 
 tics of  the  day  put  upon  it.  So  with  us.  If  we 
 received  the  New  Testament  from  the  church  of 
 Rome,  we  accept  the  document,  thankful  that 
 God  made  so  unfaithful  a  guardian  convey  to  us 
 so  precious  a  deposit,  regretting  that  she  was  so 
 blind  while  she  carried  in  her  hand  so  bright  a 
 lantern ;  but  when  she  says,  "  You  must  take 
 our  interpretation,"  we  answer,  "  We  must  treat 
 you  as  the  apostles  treated  the  Pharisees  and 
 scribes  ;  we  will  take  the  document,  but  we  will 
 not  see  or  hear  what  the  pope  says  about  the 
 Bible,  but  what  the  Bible  says  about  him."  It 
 is  our  prerogative  to  read  the  Bible  at  first  hand ; 
 let  us  never  forget  that.  If  there  be  one  truth  that 
 our  Protestant  forefathers  sealed  with  their  blood 
 it  is  this  :  that  I  am  God's  child,  and  I  must  hear 
 my  Father's  grand  voice  in  the  original,  and  not 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  521 
 
 in  words  reflected  in  priestly,  and  conciliar,  and 
 patristic  echoes,  from  generation  to  generation. 
 When  I  want  to  know  the  truth,  I  must  tell 
 Duns  Scotus,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Pio  Nono,  and 
 Gregory  the  Sixteenth,  all  the  fathers,  councils, 
 and  schoolmen,  to  stand  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill, 
 whilst,  like  the  patriarch  of  old,  I  ascend  alone 
 to  the  sun-lit  top,  and  hold  sweet  communion 
 with  my  God  and  my  Saviour's  God,  with  my 
 Father  and  his  Father. 
 
 Next,  I  would  notice  how  calculated  are 
 prepossession,  and  prejudice,  and  passion  to 
 tell  on  and  influence  the  mind.  These  men's 
 judgments  were  warped  by  their  passions  ;  they 
 knew  what  was  true,  but  their  hearts  would  not 
 let  them  receive  it.  Does  not  this  suggest  the 
 true  spirit  of  much  of  the  infidelity  of  the  present 
 day  ?  It  is  not  that  men  need  new  heads,  but 
 new  hearts  ;  it  is  not  deficiency  of  light,  but  de- 
 ficiency of  love  and  grace,  and  Divine  power  in 
 their  hearts  and  consciences.  Nobody  can  deter- 
 mine by  any  calculus  he  can  use  how  much  the 
 judgment  is  the  scholar  of  the  heart.  How  fre- 
 quently do  we  believe  to  be  true  that  which  our 
 passions  or  prejudices  bid  us  wish  to  be  true !  and 
 how  few  men  are  there  who,  in  the  cold  light  of 
 
522  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 reason,  can  come  to  cold  conclusions,  irrespective 
 and  independent  of  their  hearts  and  passions  and 
 feelings.  Therefore  what  we  need  the  Holy 
 Spirit  to  do  is,  not  to  give  us  new  Bibles,  but  new 
 hearts  wherewith  to  read  them ;  it  is  not  to  give 
 us  more  light,  for  I  say  we  have  far  more  light 
 and  far  more  evidence  that  the  Bible  is  true, 
 than  any  jury  in  the  Old  Bailey  ever  had  for  the 
 conclusion  that  a  prisoner  was  guilty  ;  and  if  the 
 evidence  we  have  for  the  truth  of  this  book  is 
 not  sufficient  to  prove  it,  innocent  men  have  been 
 sacrificed  for  the  past  four  or  five  centuries  by 
 the  sentences  of  our  judges,  and  the  whole 
 world  has  proceeded  upon  a  supposition,  an 
 imagination,  a  fancy.  Let  us  pray,  then,  that 
 the  Spirit  of  God  may  give  us  not  new  judg- 
 ments only,  or  new  light  only,  though  both  may 
 be  useful,  but  new  hearts,  new  sympathies,  and 
 thus  make  all  things  new. 
 
 Lastly,  let  us  learn,  that  if  there  be  no  infalli- 
 bility in  popes,  there  is  no  infallibility  in  general 
 councils,  in  presbyteries,  in  general  assemblies. 
 If  we  are  not  to  call  the  pope  our  master,  we 
 must  be  taught  to  call  no  council  our  master. 
 We  must  set  aside  the  council  as  a  decisive  author- 
 ity; we  may  take  its  reasoning,  or  its  suggestions, 
 
THE    BLIND    MAN.  523 
 
 or  its  prescriptions,  but  we  are  to  bring  all 
 that  the  ablest  and  the  most  gifted  assert,  all  that 
 the  most  venerable  council  propounds,  to  the  law 
 and  to  the  testimony ;  if  they  speak  not  accord- 
 ing to  it,  it  is  because  there  is  no  truth  in 
 them.  Let  us  ever  remember  that  the  visible 
 church  is  not  always  Christ's  true  church.  The 
 visible  church  in  the  days  of  our  Lord  had  been 
 utterly  apostate  ;  it  has  become  apostate  since. 
 The  true  church  was  composed  of  Joseph  of 
 Arimathea  and  Nicodemus,  and  the  rest  in  that 
 sanhedrim  constituted  the  apostacy.  The  true 
 church  still  consists  of  all  the  true  members  of 
 the  body  of  Christ,  and  all  beyond  and  beside 
 are  only  portions  of  the  apostacy.  At  present 
 the  tares  are  mingled  with  the  wheat ;  the  day 
 comes  when  the  tares  shall  be  gathered  into 
 bundles,  and  cast  into  everlasting  fire,  and  they 
 that  are  the  wheat  shall  shine  forth  in  the  king- 
 dom of  their  Father,  like  the  stars,  for  ever  and 
 ever.     Amen. 
 
LECTURE  XIX. 
 
 THE    WITHERED    HAND. 
 
 And  it  came  to  pass,  that  he  went  through  the  corn-fields  on 
 the  sabbath  day ;  and  his  disciples  began,  as  they  went,  to 
 pluck  the  ears  of  corn.  And  the  Pharisees  said  unto  him, 
 Behold,  why  do  they  on  the  sabbath  day  that  which  is  not 
 lawful  ?  And  he  said  unto  them,  Have  ye  never  read  what 
 David  did,  when  he  had  need,  and  was  an  hungred,  he,  and 
 they  that  were  with  him?  How  he  went  into  the  house  of 
 God  in  the  days  of  Abiathar  the  high  priest,  and  did  eat  the 
 shewbread,  which  is  not  lawful  to  eat  but  for  the  priests,  and 
 gave  also  to  them  which  were  with  him  ?  And  he  said  unto 
 them,  The  sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
 sabbath :  therefore  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  also  of  the  sab- 
 bath. And  he  entered  again  into  the  synagogue  ;  and  there 
 was  a  man  there  which  had  a  withered  hand.  And  they 
 watched  him,  whether  he  would  heal  him  on  the  sabbath  day ; 
 that  they  might  accuse  him.  And  he  saith  unto  the  man 
 which  had  the  withered  hand,  Stand  forth.  And  he  saith 
 unto  them,  Is  it  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  sabbath  days,  or  to 
 do  evil  ?  to  save  life,  or  to  kill  ?  But  they  held  their  peace. 
 And  when  he  had  looked  round  about  on  them  with  anger, 
 being  grieved  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  he  saith  unto 
 the  man,  Stretch  forth  thine  hand.  And  he  stretched  it  out : 
 and  his  hand  was  restored  whole  as  the  other.  And  the  Pha- 
 risees went  forth,  and  straightway  took  counsel  with  the  He- 
 rodians  against  him,  how  they  might  destroy  him. — Mark  ii. 
 23—28  ;  m.  1—6. 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  525 
 
 Before  proceeding  to  explain  the  interesting 
 and  instructive  facts  recorded  in  the  passage  I 
 have  chosen,  I  may  just  state  that  there  is, 
 what  is  very  important,  another  version  of 
 this  same  transaction,  differing  only  in  words, 
 though  fuller  in  some  portions  of  the  narrative,  in 
 Matt.  xii.  "  At  that  time  Jesus  went  on  the 
 sabbath  day  through  the  corn ;  and  his  disciples 
 were  an  hungred,  and  began  to  pluck  the  ears  of 
 corn,  and  to  eat.  But  when  the  Pharisees  saw 
 it,  they  said  unto  him,  Behold,  thy  disciples  do 
 that  which  is  not  lawful  to  do  upon  the  sabbath 
 day.  But  he  said  unto  them,  Have  ye  not  read 
 what  David  did,  when  he  was  an  hungred,  and 
 they  that  were  with  him ;  how  he  entered  into 
 the  house  of  God,  and  did  eat  the  shewbread, 
 which  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  eat,  neither  for 
 them  which  were  with  him,  but  only  for  the 
 priests  ?  Or  have  ye  not  read  in  the  law  [here 
 is  the  additional  illustration]  how  that  on  the 
 sabbath  days  the  priests  in  the  temple  profane 
 the  sabbath,  and  are  blameless  ?  But  I  say  unto 
 you,  that  in  this  place  [this  also  is  additional] 
 is  one  greater  than  the  temple.  But  if  ye  had 
 known  what  this  meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy,  and 
 not  sacrifice,  ye  would  not  have  condemned  the 
 
7  "  MBgBTAH     "VS. 
 
 guiltless.  For  the  Son  of  man  :s  Lrrd  even  of 
 the  sabbath  day.  And  when  he  was  departed 
 thence,  he  went  into  their  synagogue  :  and,  be- 
 hold, there  was  a  man  which  had  his  hand 
 uered.  And  they  asked  him.  saying.  Is  it  law- 
 ful to  heal  on  the  sabbath  days  ?  that  they  might 
 accuse  him.  And  he  said  unto  them.  What  man 
 shall  there  be  among  you.  that  shall  have  one 
 sheep,  and  if  it  fall  into  a  pit  on  the  sabbath 
 day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it,  and  lift  it  c 
 How  much  then  is  a  man  better  than  a  sheep  ? 
 uerefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  well  on  the  sabbath 
 days.  Then  saith  he  to  the  man.  Stretch  forth 
 thine  hand.  And  he  stretched  it  forth ;  and  it 
 i  t  stored  whole,  like  as  the  other.  Then  the 
 Pharisees  went  out,  and  held  a  council  aga: 
 him,  how  they  might  destroy  him." 
 
 We  thm  perceive  that  the  two  narrators  of 
 the  transaction  that  occurred  on  the  very  same 
 day,  were  not  in  any  way  in  communication  one 
 
 ":n  the  other,  or  copyists  :ne  one  of  the  oth: 
 narrative.  "^  e  have  here  (putting  altogether 
 out  of  question,  for  the  moment,  that  each  was 
 inspired)  the  independent  versions  of  one  trans- 
 action, as  it  presented  itself  to  two  distinct  persons, 
 told  each  in  his  own  wav.  and  according  to  the  im- 
 
THE    WITHERED    HANI).  527 
 
 pression  made  at  the  time.     We  invariably  find, 
 when  two  witnesses  are  examined  before  a  judge 
 and  jury  about  one   transaction  which  both  wit- 
 nesses saw,  that  the  one  will  state  facts  which  the 
 other  omits,  and  his  testimony  will   be  supple- 
 mented by  other  facts  which  the  other  narrates. 
 The  reason  of  this  is,  that  no  two  men,  looking  at 
 one  occurrence,  are  equally  touched  by  every  in- 
 cident in  that  occurrence.     One  fact  strikes  one, 
 and  makes   the  deepest  impression   upon  him ; 
 another  fact  strikes  the   other,   and    makes  the 
 deepest  impression  upon  him;  and  when  each 
 gives  his  statement  of  what  he  saw,  he  states  first 
 and  at  greatest  length  the  facts  that  made  the 
 deepest  impression,  and   are   therefore   retained 
 the  most  in  his  memory ;  and  thus  the  judge  and 
 jury  have  the  clear  evidence  that  these  are  two 
 impartial  narrators  of  an  actual  transaction.   Now 
 this  is  one  of  the  indirect,  but  quiet  proofs,  that 
 the   evangelists  who  record  the  life  and  trans- 
 actions of  Jesus,  were  actual  witnesses  of  all  thev 
 wrote,  and  that  they  have  given  in  their  narrative 
 the  facts  as  they  saw  them,  guided  and  governed 
 at  the  same  time  by  that  overshadowing  inspira- 
 tion which  guarded  them  from   all  error,  and 
 
528  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 guided   them  to  the  statement  of  all  that  was 
 absolutely  necessary,  and  eternally  true. 
 
 In  looking  at  this  narrative,  and  the  portion 
 with  which  I  have  connected  it,  we  see  another 
 of  those  miracles  to  which  I  have  alluded  per- 
 formed on  the  sabbath  day.     In  the  Gospels  we 
 shall  find  in  all  seven  miracles  performed  by  our 
 Lord  upon  successive  sabbath  days.     The  ques- 
 tion occurs  sometimes  to  a  fair  and  honest  reader 
 of  the  Bible,  Why,  when  our    Lord   saw   that 
 doing  the   miracles  on  the  sabbath  day  was  so 
 detestable  to  the  Pharisee,  whether  that  detesta- 
 tion was  real  or  assumed,  did  he  persist  in  doing 
 them  ?     The  answer  is,  in  the  first   place,  the 
 objects  on  whom  they  were  wrought  came  in  his 
 path  on  the  sabbath  day ;  and  the  true  question 
 is,  therefore,  not  why  should  he  do  them,  but 
 why  should  he  not  do  them  1    In  the  next  place, 
 superstition  had  perverted  to  its  own  miserable 
 ends  that  sublime  and  blessed   institution,  the 
 sabbath  day.     The  traditionists  had  displaced  it 
 from  its  true,  holy,  and  original  position,  and  had 
 placed  the  sabbath  in  the  room  of  the  sabbath's 
 Lord,  the  ceremonial  in  the  room  of  the  moral, 
 the  ritual  in  the  stead  of  the  spiritual ;  and  it 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  529 
 
 needed  our  Lord,  the  great  purifier  of  the  temple, 
 and  the  Lord  of  the  sabbath,  to  purify  and  re- 
 store his  own  Divine  institution  to  its  true,  ori- 
 ginal, and  useful  position.  These  are  sufficient 
 reasons  why  Christ  wrought  these  miracles  upon 
 the  sabbath  day.  Few  readers  of  the  New  Tes- 
 tament can  fail  to  notice  that  the  Pharisees  had 
 completely  substituted  the  sanctimonious  use  of 
 the  sabbath,  in  the  room  of  moral,  humane,  and 
 merciful  duties ;  they  pleaded  its  sacredness  as  a 
 reason  why  they  should  not  do  good  ;  they  urged 
 its  obligations  as  sufficient  apologies  for  utterly 
 trampling  down  the  most  precious  offices  ;  they 
 had  inverted  the  order  of  things,  by  placing  the 
 means,  which  was  the  sabbath,  in  the  room  of  the 
 end,  which  was  the  improvement  of  the  crea- 
 ture and  the  glory  of  God.  Hence  the  sabbath 
 had  come  to  be  an  obstruction  to  religion  in 
 the  hands  of  the  Pharisees,  not  an  impulse  and 
 incentive  to  it.  To  perform  certain  mere  cere- 
 monial rites  upon  their  sabbath  was  sacredly  to 
 observe  it ;  to  let  a  neighbour  die  by  the  road- 
 side on  that  day,  to  let  the  poor,  the  hungry,  the 
 starving,  the  naked,  go  without  food  and  raiment 
 because  it  was  the  sabbath,  was  a  common  and 
 applauded  practice  with  the  Pharisees  of  old. 
 
 2    M 
 
530  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 The  previous  chapter,  which  introduces  the 
 miracle  in  the  passage  I  am  about  to  comment 
 on,  tells  us  that  the  disciples,  wearied  and  hun- 
 gry, plucked  the  ears  of  corn  as  they  passed 
 through  the  corn-field  and  by  the  way-side. 
 There  was  no  dishonesty  in  this,  because  by  an 
 express  law — and  one  of  those  laws  that  show 
 that  the  Levitical  economy  unfolds  an  estimate  of 
 what  is  due  to  the  poor,  and  of  the  best  way  of 
 treating  them,  at  least  not  inferior  to  the  best 
 of  modern  legislation — this  act  of  the  disciples 
 was  permitted.  In  Deut.  xxiii.  it  is  written, 
 "When  thou  comest  into  the  standing  corn  of 
 thy  neighbour,  then  thou  mayest  pluck  the  ears 
 with  thine  hand;  but  thou  shalt  not  move  a 
 sickle  unto  thy  neighbour's  standing  corn."  That 
 is,  if  a  hungry  man,  passing  through  the  corn- 
 fields of  Judea,  should  gather  with  his  hand  as 
 much  as  he  could  eat,  he  was  welcome  to  do  so, 
 and  the  proprietor  dared  not  prohibit  or  disturb 
 him;  but  he  must  not  bring  the  sickle,  because 
 that  would  be  to  cut  down  the  corn,  and  carry  it 
 home,  which  would  have  been  trespass  and  actual 
 dishonesty:  the  Mosaic  ritual  thus  teaching  the 
 rich  proprietor  of  the  corn-field,  that  he  was  not 
 the  absolute  owner,  but  the  steward,  partly  for 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  581 
 
 himself,  and  partly,  too,  for  the  wants  of  the 
 poor.  Hence  the  practice  still  survives  in  many 
 countries,  of  allowing  gleaners  to  go  into  the 
 field,  and  gather  up  all  the  corn  that  remains 
 when  the  proprietor  has  carried  home  what  he 
 feels  to  be  his  own.  But  modern  machinery,  I 
 am  told,  has  very  much  put  an  end  to  this  ancient 
 usage.  It  is  painful  to  note  a  melancholy  and 
 yawning  chasm  too  long  forming  between  one 
 and  another  class  of  mankind;  this  is  real  mis- 
 fortune— it  is  ever  pregnant  with  evil ;  for  when 
 such  a  chasm  has  reached  its  maximum  depth  and 
 breadth,  then  will  come  the  terrible  collision, 
 which  ends  in  revolution,  in  common  ruin,  in 
 wide-spread  destruction.  Let  us  try  to  recog- 
 nise in  the  poorest  a  brother,  and  in  all  want  a 
 claim.  Let  nations  and  individuals  regard  the 
 poor  in  the  land,  whom  they  have  always,  as  sub- 
 stantially and  morally  entitled  to  their  bounty 
 and  beneficence  under  all  circumstances. 
 
 Our  Lord  met  the  Pharisees,  when  they  made 
 this  objection,  upon  their  own  ground,  and 
 specified  two  distinct  cases  where  the  objection 
 would  find  its  solution  without  their  going  be- 
 yond their  own  books  for  it.     The  first  is  the 
 
 case  of  David.     He  and  his  friends  were  hun- 
 
 2  m  2 
 
532  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 gry ;  they  went  to  the  high  priest,  and  in  their 
 hunger  partook  of  the  sacramental  bread,  as  I 
 might  call  it — the  shew-bread ;  and  yet  they  did 
 not  desecrate  the  sabbath  or  defile  the  temple,  or 
 do   an  unholy  thing,  of  which  they  would  have 
 been  guilty  under  ordinary  circumstances.    Ne- 
 cessity has  no  law.     It  would  have  been  sin  in 
 David  to  have  eaten  the  shew-bread  under  ordi- 
 nary circumstances,  but  when  starving  for  want 
 of  food,  he  and  his  friends  were  warranted,  in 
 order  to  escape  death  by  hunger,  in  eating  the 
 sacred  bread  laid  up  in  the  sanctuary  of  God.  So, 
 with  reference  to  the  sabbath,  in  the  words  of  the 
 admirable  Scotch  Shorter  Catechism,  "  works  of 
 necessity  are   excepted."     What  must  be  done 
 upon  the  sabbath,  as  the  prescription  of  absolute 
 necessity,  it  is  not  desecrating  the  sabbath  to  do. 
 The  Jew  still  clings  in  his  exile  to  the  ceremonial 
 of  his  fathers,  and  though  perplexed  by  the  cir- 
 cumstances of  his  position,  he  gets  over  his  difficul- 
 ties thus  :  he  finds  there  are  certain  things,  in  this 
 country,  for  instance,  which  it  is  absolutely  ne- 
 cessary to  do  upon  the  sabbath,  these  he  will  not 
 touch  himself,  and  therefore  he  gets  a  Gentile  to 
 do  them  for  him ;  he  thus  thinks  he  is  escaping 
 the  consequence  of  violating  his  law  by  inducing 
 
THE   WITHERED    HAND.  533 
 
 the  Gentile  to  step  in  and  do  the  sin  in  his  stead, 
 brgetting  that  it  is  done  in  his  name,  and  that 
 upon  his  shoulders,  if  there  be  sin,  must  rest 
 the  responsibility. 
 
 In  the  parallel  passage  in  Matthew,  our  Lord 
 quotes  the  case  of  the  priests  in  the  temple,  as 
 doing  things  there  which  were  not  strictly  sa- 
 cred, but  necessary  to  enable  them  to  perform 
 their  sacred  functions.  They  were  obliged  to 
 circumcise,  to  put  on  and  off  their  robes,  and 
 perform  divers  washings.  And  again  he  urges, 
 that  if  a  man  has  a  sheep  that  has  fallen  into  the 
 ditch,  surely  he  is  not  to  let  it  perish  because  it 
 is  the  sabbath  day.  Some  persons  would  argue 
 that  he  ought  not,  if  he  had  a  sheep  or  a  horse 
 thus  in  danger,  to  go  and  rescue  it.  I  think  he 
 ought ;  it  is  his  duty  ;  it  is  a  "  work  of  mercy." 
 Or  were  your  corn  on  fire  in  your  field,  and  it  were 
 absolutely  plain  that  it  would  be  consumed  in  a 
 few  hours  by  a  flame  that  was  making  its  way  to- 
 wards it,  it  would  be  your  duty  to  cut  it  down, 
 even  upon  the  sabbath  day — and  that  as  fast  as 
 possible.  These  last  two  instances  come  under 
 the  category  of  works  of  mercy.  We  see  a  work 
 of  necessity  in  David's  case,  to  do  which  is  not  to 
 desecrate  the  sabbath ;  and  we  have  a  work  of 
 
534  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 mercy  in.  the  case  of  the  priests  in  the  temple, 
 and  the  man's  rescuing  his  sheep,  which  is  also 
 to  be  done  on  the  sabbath,  and  yet  the  sabbath 
 is  not  desecrated  thereby.  With  the  exception 
 of  these  two,  works  of  necessity  and  of  mercy 
 — and  every  man's  conscience,  enlightened  by 
 God's  word,  must  determine  what  is  a  work 
 of  necessity,  and  what  is  a  work  of  mercy — the 
 sabbath  is  to  be  hallowed,  and  kept  holy  to  the 
 Lord. 
 
 Our  Lord  thus  interposed,  and  at  the  same  time 
 emitted  one  of  those  magnificent  thoughts  which 
 form  great  central  principles,  in  the  light  of  which, 
 and  in  relation  to  which,  all  subordinate  ques- 
 tions of  casuistry  may  be  fairly  settled.  He  says, 
 "  You  do  certain  things  which  are  necessary  in 
 the  temple  on  the  sabbath  day ; "  and  then,  anti- 
 cipating their  objection,  or  rather  seeing  their  ob- 
 jection in  their  hearts — "Your  disciples  were  not 
 in  the  temple ;  they  were  in  the  fields,  and  there- 
 fore your  illustration  is  inapplicable" — the  Lord 
 instantly  says,  "  One  greater  than  the  temple 
 is  here."  What  a  sublime  sentiment  is  this! 
 and  how  much  is  it  in  accordance  with  other 
 passages  in  Scripture !  such  as,  "  Destroy  this 
 temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  build  it  up.    He 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  535 
 
 spake  of  the  temple  of  liis  body ;  "  and  that  beau- 
 tiful passage  in  the  Apocalypse,  "  I  saw  no 
 temple  therein,  for  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  even 
 the  Lamb,  [*a<,  even, — that  is  the  translation,]  is 
 the  temple  thereof."  We  see  how  the  moral 
 eclipses  the  material.  The  spiritual  temple, 
 Christ  and  his  people,  are  more  glorious  than 
 the  temple  on  which  the  Jews  prided  themselves, 
 and  which  they  quoted  as  the  grand  ornament 
 of  their  country.  Christ  in  the  midst  of  his  own 
 constitutes  the  true,  grand,  eternal  cathedral,  for 
 which  stone  and  lime  can  be  no  substitute,  in  the 
 absence  of  whom  we  may  have  a  crypt  of  the 
 dead,  but  not  a  sanctuary  of  the  living.  A  crowd 
 we  may  have  without  Christ ;  a  church  we  can- 
 not have  except  Christ  be  in  the  midst  of  it. 
 Living  stones,  built  upon  the  living  Christ,  rise 
 up  the  eternal  and  the  true  temple  not  made 
 with  hands — which  the  Lord  builds,  not  man. 
 
 Then  Christ  adds  this  other  remark,  equally 
 instructive,  explaining  their  objection:  "  If  you 
 had  known  that,  1 1  will  have  mercy  and  not 
 sacrifice '  —  if  you  had  only  known  this,  you 
 would  not  have  objected  to  my  disciples  pluck- 
 ing the  ears  of  corn  when  they  were  absolutely 
 hungry.     They  were  priests  in  the  true  temple, 
 
536  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 doing  a  priestly  act,  when,  in  my  presence,  and 
 in  subserviency  to  me,  they  satisfied  their  hunger 
 with  ears  of  corn.  Or,  to  put  it  on  a  lower 
 ground,  (he  says,)  If  you  had  only  known,  I 
 would  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice,  you  would 
 not  have  thus  objected."  He  thus  charges  them 
 with  ignorance  of  their  own  law,  and  with  being 
 unacquainted  with  that  express  declaration  of 
 the  prophet,  that  God  prefers  the  exercise  of 
 mercy  to  the  performance  of  the  most  splendid 
 sacrifice.  If  the  ceremonial  stand  in  the  way  of 
 the  moral,  let  the  ceremonial  give  way,  not  the 
 moral.  The  most  gorgeous  ceremony  that  ob- 
 structs the  vision  of  the  countenance  of  God 
 should  be  rent,  and  torn,  and  cast  away.  Let 
 the  ceremonial  by  all  means  be  the  vehicle  of  the 
 moral ;  but  if  it  interfere  with  the  manifestation 
 of  the  moral,  it  is  not  the  moral  that  is  to  yield, 
 but  the  ceremonial.  Give,  for  instance,  by  all 
 means,  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God ;  but  let  the 
 praise  rise  from  a  heart  loaded  with  adoring  gra- 
 titude to  God.  If  the  question  is  to  be,  Shall  I 
 have  beautiful  music  and  cold  hearts,  or  bad 
 music  and  warm,  and  grateful,  and  glowing  ones? 
 there  is  to  be  no  hesitation — the  loving  and  the 
 praising  heart  makes  sweeter  music  in  the  ear 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  537 
 
 of  God  than  timbrels,  and  cymbals,  and  trum- 
 pets, and  organs,  and  all  instruments  of  pleasing 
 sound.  By  all  means,  give  the  sacrifice  of  rai- 
 ment to  the  naked,  of  bread  to  the  hungry,  of 
 water  to  the  thirsty ;  but  let  the  hand  that  gives 
 it  be  the  almoner  of  the  heart  within,  that  over- 
 flows with  mercy,  goodness,  and  beneficence. 
 Better  the  heart  that  would  give  if  it  had  the 
 power,  than  the  hand  that  does  give  without  the 
 least  connexion  with  the  heart,  but  on  some 
 other  ground,  and  for  some  other  end.  By  all 
 means,  let  love  and  liberality,  like  twins,  live 
 together;  but  part  with  liberality  rather  than 
 with  love.  Be  willing  to  give,  rather  than  give 
 from  necessity,  and  from  no  sympathy  with  them 
 that  need.  i(  So,"  says  our  blessed  Lord,  "  it 
 has  been  with  my  disciples.  If  God  loves  mercy 
 rather  than  sacrifice,  moral  duties  rather  than 
 ceremonial  rites,  then  my  disciples,  by  their 
 seeming  profanation  of  the  sabbath,  have  caught 
 its  true  spirit,  and  honoured  it ;  and  you  Pha- 
 risees, by  your  seeming  honouring  of  the  sab- 
 bath, have  lost  its  true  spirit,  and  you  daily  dese- 
 crate and  destroy  it."  I  ask,  did  ever  man  speak 
 like  this  man  ?  Did  such  sentiments  as  these 
 ever  fall  from  the  lips  of  humanity  ?     And  have 
 
538  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 we  not  in  the  very  perusal  of  them  the  evidence 
 that  not  the  temple,  nor  the  priest,  but  the  Lord 
 of  the  temple,  and  the  Creator  of  the  priest,  spake 
 here  ? 
 
 Another  sentiment  he  utters  one  cannot  but 
 study,  as  no  less  beautiful  and  true.  It  casts 
 still  more  light  upon  the  idea  which  I  am 
 endeavouring  to  express  and  to  teach.  "  The 
 sabbath,"  he  says,  "was  made  for  man,  not  man 
 for  the  sabbath."  Here  again  is  another  grand 
 maxim.  If  this  sentiment  were  only  kept  in  the 
 minds  of  all  men  clearly,  it  would  be,  not  a  mere 
 aphorism  to  be  quoted  to  point  a  speech,  or  to 
 justify  some  deviation  from  what  is  good;  but  it 
 would  be  received  as  a  grand,  central,  regulating 
 element  of  thought  in  all  we  are,  in  all  we  say,  and 
 in  all  we  do,  with  reference  to  religion.  We  may 
 adopt  this  sentiment,  for  instance,  with  regard  to 
 fasting.  Fasting  is  not  an  absolute  order  of  God, 
 so  that  man  is  to  fast  as  a  duty;  but  it  is  a  pre- 
 scription of  God,  which  man  is  to  take  if  his  own 
 sensations  teach  him,  and  that  will  help  him 
 more  truly  to  think  of,  and  meditate  on,  God ; 
 but  which  his  common  sense  will  tell  him  he 
 ought  not  to  take,  if  he  find  that  fasting,  instead 
 of  enabling  him  to  read  and  think  and  meditate, 
 
THE   WITHERED    HAND.  539 
 
 will  just  have  the  opposite  effect ;  for  fasting  was 
 made  for  the  convenience  of  man,  not  man  for 
 the  observance  of  fasting.  So,  again,  with  prayer 
 itself.  Prayer  is  not  a  duty  to  be  performed,  a 
 penance  to  be  done,  an  expiation  to  be  made  ; 
 but  it  is  to  be  the  expression  of  our  wants,  and 
 the  seeking  of  satisfaction  of  those  wants  from 
 God.  If  any  man,  therefore,  who  does  not  feel 
 wants,  prays  as  a  mechanical  duty,  because  God 
 has  commanded  it,  he  misses  altogether  the  true 
 end  and  meaning  of  prayer.  I  do  not  pray  be- 
 cause God  has  commanded  me,  just  as  I  would 
 give  to  the  poor  because  God  has  commanded 
 it ;  but  I  pray,  as  the  use  of  a  commanded  means 
 in  order  to  obtain  a  promised  end — a  blessing. 
 Prayer  is  not  an  ultimate  duty,  to  be  done  be- 
 cause a  duty,  and  so  to  be  done  with ;  but  it  is  a 
 means  toward  an  ultimate  end,  and  we  are  not  to 
 be  satisfied  till  we  reach  the  end,  and  cease  to  use 
 the  means.  Thus,  coming  to  the  house  of  God 
 is  a  duty.  Nothing  is  more  noble  than  an  audi- 
 ence of  intelligent  men  met  to  praise  the  God  in 
 whom  they  live  ;  and  to  seek  blessings  from  him 
 without  whose  blessing  they  cannot  live  ;  but  if 
 there  be  a  sick  one  at  home  that  needs  your  sym- 
 pathy, a  dying  one  at  home  that  requires  your 
 
540  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 presence,  then  the  duty  of  going  to  the  sanctuary, 
 which  is  the  ceremonial,  yields  to  the  work  of 
 necessity  and  mercy,  which  is  the  moral;  and 
 you  ought  to  stop  at  home,  and  minister  to  the 
 sick,  and  attend  to  the  dying.  Again,  in  refer- 
 ence to  the  communion  or  the  church  that  you 
 love,  whatever  it  may  be,  you  are  to  love  it,  and 
 attach  yourselves  to  it,  as  means  toward  an  end ; 
 but  the  church  that  you  love  the  most,  without 
 the  gospel,  must  be  let  go  in  order  to  enter  an- 
 other church  which  you  do  not  prefer,  but  which 
 has  the  gospel ;  because  the  church  is  not  an  end 
 to  be  attached  to  as  an  ultimate  thing,  but  a 
 means,  an  instrument  toward  an  end,  which  you 
 are  to  use  till  that  end  be  obtained.  The  sabbath 
 in  the  soul,  the  bowing  of  the  knee  of  the  heart, 
 the  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth — these  are 
 greater,  because  more  lasting,  than  all  ceremony. 
 All  outward  institutions — sabbaths,  prayer,  read- 
 ing, and  communion,  are  but  the  scaffolding, 
 precious  in  their  place,  for  without  the  scaffold- 
 ing the  building  cannot  be  raised ;  but  they  are 
 not  to  be  made  to  supersede  the  hope  of  the 
 grand  building  which  is  to  come,  but  to  be  used 
 and  honoured  till  that  building  be  complete,  and 
 then  the  scaffolding  shall  be  taken  down.     Let 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAXD.  541 
 
 the  eye  be  only  single,  let  the  inward  purpose  of 
 the  soul  be  pure,  and  meek,  and  true,  and  all 
 things  will  fall  into  their  proper  place,  and  as- 
 sume their  true  and  holy  relationship.  Then 
 sabbaths,  and  sanctuaries,  and  ceremonies  will 
 be  wings  to  the  soul,  not  weights  to  it;  then 
 the  sabbath,  and  prayer,  and  reading  will  be  the 
 foot-prints  that  show  you  the  way  to  Jesus,  not 
 blinds  to  the  knowledge  of  him,  and  superseding 
 him — voices  crying  in  the  wilderness,  "  Behold 
 the  Lamb  ! "  not  drowning  his  still  small  voice 
 — steps  and  helps  to  find  Jesus,  not  substitutes 
 for  him — in  one  word,  means  to  an  end,  and  not 
 that  end  itself. 
 
 Our  Lord  adds  another  maxim  which  I  can- 
 not but  notice  also ;  "  For  the  Son  of  man  is 
 Lord  of  the  sabbath."  There  was  present  on 
 that  sabbath,  not  the  law,  but  the  Legislator  him- 
 self; not  merely  the  hallowed  sabbath,  but  the 
 Fountain  out  of  which  its  hallowing  came.  He 
 originally  constituted  it,  he  originally  hallowed 
 it,  and  he  had  power  to  suspend  it,  change  it,  or 
 use  it  as  he  pleased,  for  it  existed  for  him  and 
 to  him,  and  it  must  not  be  placed  in  the  room 
 of  him. 
 
 Such  then  is  the  scene  preliminary  to  the  per- 
 
542  FORESHADOWS, 
 
 formance  of  the  miracle  recorded  in  the  third 
 chapter  of  Mark.  In  order  to  show  these  truths  in 
 action,  our  Lord  proceeds  to  heal  this  man,  as  the 
 conclusion  of  this  discourse  which  he  had  now 
 pronounced.  By  the  most  irresistible  reason,  by 
 exhibiting  the  purest  and  noblest  sentiments  in 
 their  own  sacred  books,  by  argument  as  plain  as 
 it  was  conclusive,  he  showed  them  it  was  right 
 and  lawful  to  heal  the  sick,  raise  the  dead,  give 
 sight  to  the  blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  even 
 though  it  was  upon  the  sabbath  day.  When  the 
 Pharisees  cavilled,  and  asked,  was  it  lawful  to 
 heal  on  the  sabbath  day,  he  puts  their  question 
 in  its  true  shape ;  he  does  not  give  a  direct  an- 
 swer :  they  put  their  question  in  a  sophistical 
 shape,  but  he  puts  it  in  its  true  light,  and  says, 
 "  Is  it  lawful  to  do  good,  or  to  do  evil,  on  the 
 sabbath  day  ?"  He  says,  rt  The  real  question  is 
 not,  Is  it  lawful  to  do,  or  not  to  do,  on  the  sab- 
 bath ?  but,  Is  it  lawful  to  do  good,  or  evil,  on  the 
 sabbath  ?  "  And  that  question,  by  inference,  im- 
 plies that  not  doing  the  good  that  was  presented 
 on  the  sabbath  day  was  tantamount  to  doing  evil. 
 We  read  that  when  he  put  the  question  to  them 
 in  that  light  they  were  silent.  He  therefore  holds 
 no  more  discussion  preliminary  to  the  miracle  he 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  543 
 
 performs  ;  he  brings  his  theory  into  practice,  his 
 utterance  into  action:  "  Stretch  forth  thine  hand." 
 The  man  did  it,  and  instantly  the  withered  hand, 
 whatever  was  the  nature  of  its  disease,  was  made 
 whole,  even  as  the  other. 
 
 We  read  that  when  Jesus  was  about  to  do  this 
 miracle  (and  I  refer  to  it  especially  because  it 
 embodies  a  very  important  and  precious  senti- 
 ment) "  he  looked  (ver.  5)  round  about  on  them 
 with  anger,  being  grieved  for  the  hardness  of 
 their  hearts,   and  saith  unto  the  man,   Stretch 
 forth  thine  hand.     And  he  stretched  it  out :  and 
 his  hand  was  restored  whole  as  the  other."     As 
 we  read  the  first  clause,  "  When  he  looked  round 
 about  on  them  with  anger,"  our  best  emotions 
 are  momentarily  checked ;  we  instantly  conceive 
 that  that  beautiful,  that  calm,  that  holy  bosom, 
 so  still,  so  placid,  so  self-composed,  was  ruffled 
 by  the  emotion  of  anger.     But  then  when  Ave 
 read  what  follows,  our  surprise  is  instantly  re- 
 moved ;  for  we  find  that  while  he  looked  round 
 with  anger  it  was  "being  grieved  at  the  hardness 
 of  their  hearts."     The  anger  that  he  felt  at  the 
 sin  resolved  itself  into  pity  and  compassion  to- 
 wards the  men  that  were  guilty  of  it.     We  have 
 a  parallel   case   in   that  beautiful  exclamation, 
 
544  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 "  Oh  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the 
 prophets,  and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto 
 thee,  [the  language  of  indignant  accusation ;  but 
 instantly  followed  up  by,]  how  often  would  I 
 have  gathered  thee  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chick- 
 ens under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not" — the 
 language  of  tender  and  infinite  compassion.  Now 
 here  is  the  perfect  model,  and  there  is  no  such 
 model  to  be  found  any  where  but  in  Jesus ;  here 
 is  the  model,  not  for  outward  conformity,  but  for 
 inward  feeling  and  emotion,  for  anger,  pity,  all 
 that  is  pure  that  can  actuate  the  human  heart. 
 
 We  learn  from  this  feeling  of  our  blessed 
 Lord,  that  the  emotion  we  should  feel,  when  we 
 behold  wickedness,  crime,  and  transgression,  is 
 not  indignation  only — for  if  there  be  indignation 
 only  at  the  criminal,  it  prompts  to  persecution  : 
 not  compassion  only — for  if  there  be  compassion 
 only  when  we  see  a  criminal,  it  instantly  makes 
 us  connive  at,  explain  away,  or  modify  the  sin  : 
 not  apathy — for  that  is  stoicism :  not  the  pan- 
 theistic acquiescence  in  evil,  as  if  evil  were  only 
 "  unripe  good,"  as  they  call  it ;  nor  must  there 
 be  the  philosophic  sneering  quietism  which  says, 
 iC  It  is  just  what  you  might  have  expected;" 
 but  there  must  be  a  holy,  a  righteous,  strong 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  545 
 
 indignation  at   sin,  because  it  is  sin — and  that 
 indignation   set   in  the   bosom    of  compassion, 
 revealing  by  the  flash  of  its  purity,  how  you 
 ought  to  pity  and  compassionate  the  man  who 
 is  the  victim  of  that  transgression.     Thus,  then, 
 when  we  see  some  one  guilty  of  grievous  sin 
 — it  may  be  the  sin  that  we  are  most  ready  to 
 take  notice   of,  sin  against  oneself  —  some  one 
 who  has  wronged,  cheated,  deceived,  maligned, 
 and  misrepresented  us ;    when  we  look  at  that 
 man,   we    cannot    but    feel    indignation  —  and 
 it  is  very  easy  to  feel  so ;  there  is  no  merit  in 
 the  world  in  feeling  indignant,  for  human  na- 
 ture is  quick  enough  to  resent  the  wrongs  it 
 feels;    but   while   we    thus    look  at   him,    we 
 think    of  him    whose    spirit   we  have    imbued, 
 and  if  we  be  Christians,  we  must  be  indignant 
 indeed,  but  we  shall  also  learn  to  check  the  in- 
 dignation by  a  deep  sense  of  pity  and  compas- 
 sion.    No  man  is  so  to  be  pitied  as  he  that  sins ; 
 he  wrongs  himself;  the  great  injury  he  inflicts 
 is  not  upon  me  whom  he  cheats,  deceives,  and 
 maltreats,  but  upon   himself,  and  the  recollec- 
 tion of  his  crime  it  is  possible  may  cleave  to  his 
 conscience,  a  corrosive  and  consuming  punish- 
 ment, for  ever  and  for  ever.  In  that  beautiful  ser- 
 
 2  N 
 
546  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 mon  preached  upon  the  Mount  there  is  no  bene- 
 diction pronounced  upon  indignant  men ;  but  a 
 thousand  benedictions   upon  the  merciful,  the 
 peaceful,  the  sinforgiver,  those  that  pray  for  them 
 that  despitefully  use  them.  With  respect  to  some 
 great  criminal  from  whom  is  exacted  his  life,  as 
 an  offering  to  the  violated  laws  of  his  country,  if 
 we  knew  all  of  that  criminal  which  he  knows  of 
 himself,  we  should   feel   that    there  was  much 
 for  holy  indignation,  but  much,  very  much,  for 
 pity,  for  deep  and  thrilling  compassion.     That 
 guilty  criminal  who  surrenders  his  life  upon  the 
 scaffold  for  his  crimes,  may  have  been  left  early 
 an  orphan ;  there  may  have  been  no  school  to 
 snatch  him  from  the  streets  provided  by  us,  as 
 there  ought  to  have  been ;  he  may  have  been  flung 
 into  contact  with  the  rest  of  the  offscourings  and 
 the  degraded  of  human  society;  he  may  have 
 been  placed  in  circumstances  of  the  most  try- 
 ing, most  perilous,  and  most  seductive  nature ; 
 he  may  have  known  what  it  was  to  want  a  morsel 
 of  bread,  and  have  been  driven  under  strong 
 pangs  of  hunger  to  steal ;  he  may  have  never 
 known  what  it  was  to  hear  a  holy  advice,  or  to 
 learn  a  pure  and  true  lesson; — if  we  knew  all 
 these  dread  preparatives  to   the  last  crime  he 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  547 
 
 committed,  whilst  we  should  be  indignant  at  the 
 crime  so  heinous,  we  should  feel  deep  compas- 
 sion for  the  criminal  so  guilty.  And  what 
 should  soften  our  indignation  too,  when  we 
 think  of  the  worst  of  criminals,  is  this  :  that  cri- 
 minal is  a  man ;  he  was  nursed  upon  a  mother's 
 knee ;  he  was  once  tended  by  a  father ;  he  was 
 once  loved  by  his  sisters;  he  remains  a  man, 
 just  as  we  are,  with  all  the  hopes,  the  emotions, 
 the  feelings,  the  sympathies  that  we  have  ;  but 
 he  was  left  in  circumstances  and  to  circum- 
 stances from  which,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
 we  were  delivered.  Oh  !  feel  indignant  at  the 
 crime ;  but  let  not  tender  pity  and  compassion 
 fail  to  modify  that  indignation ;  pray  for  the  cri- 
 minal. And  recollect  that  if  you  had  been 
 equally  God-forsaken — if  you  had  been  early 
 left  an  orphan — if  you  had  never  been  schooled 
 in  early  years — if  no  Christian  teacher  had  taught 
 you,  and  no  kind  parents  had  set  a  beautiful  and 
 true  example  before  you;  if  no  softening  and 
 subduing  influences  had  ever  reached  your 
 heart,  you  might  have  been  where  the  criminal 
 now  stands,  and  the  criminal  might  have  been 
 where  you  now  are.  There  is  great  room  for 
 compassion,  there  is  room  also  for  gratitude  to 
 
 2  n  2 
 
548  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 God ;  and  this  must  subdue  and  modify  mightily 
 the  indignation  you  feel  at  the  great  crime  of 
 which  he  has  been  guilty.  If  we  look  around 
 us  now,  do  we  not  see  in  the  circumstances  of 
 the  very  worst  of  society  much  room  for  pity  ? 
 When  I  think  of  all  the  modifying  elements 
 that  I  meet  with  —  when  I  think  of  what  we 
 might  have  been,  if  we  had  been  otherwise 
 placed  in  the  providence  of  God,  and  when  I 
 think  that  we  deserve  nothing  of  the  distin- 
 guishing goodness  we  have  enjoyed  any  more 
 than  those  who  never  had  it  —  I  must  say,  I 
 am  more  and  more  disposed  to  pity  the  guiltiest, 
 and  I  feel  less  competent  or  disposed  to  sit  upon 
 the  judgment-throne  and  pronounce  indignant 
 sentences  upon  any.  It  is  God's  high  prero- 
 gative to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  condemn- 
 ation; it  is  man's  noble  function  to  pity,  com- 
 passionate, and  pray  for  the  criminal.  When  we 
 look  at  homes  that  are  miserable — at  poverty, 
 nakedness,  hunger,  starvation,  all  the  accom- 
 paniments of  many  a  poor  man — we  see  in  them 
 much  to  excite  our  compassion ;  but  are  there 
 not  more  terrible  things  than  these  ?  If  you 
 could  look,  not  at  the  poverty,  the  hunger,  the 
 nakedness,  but  into  the  man's  bosom,  and  see 
 
THE    WITHERED    HAND.  549 
 
 bruised  affections,  a  bleeding  heart,  disappointed 
 hopes,  bitter  disappointments,  you  would  see  in 
 that  poor  man,  when  driven  to  some  dread  crime, 
 much  that  would  make  you  pity  and  pray  for 
 him,  while  there  is  and  may  be  only  what  would 
 make  others  justly  condemn  him.  And  when  I 
 think,  above  all,  of  that  blessed  Lord,  whose 
 example  I  am  now  quoting,  that  he  had  com- 
 passion for  others,  but  none  for  himself  — 
 "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me, 
 but  weep  for  yourselves  and  your  children" 
 — when  I  remember  that  mercy  was  the  great 
 feeling  that  consumed  him,  and  that  in  com- 
 passion to  our  souls,  and  to  us  as  transgressors, 
 he  bowed  the  heavens,  and  bare  the  cross,  and 
 despised  the  shame,  I  am  sure  that  I  show  most 
 of  his  spirit,  when  I  feel  far  less  indignation  and 
 far  more  compassion  towards  the  guiltiest  and  the 
 worst  of  mankind.  Depend  upon  it,  if  we  were 
 more  ready  to  compassionate,  and  less  ready  to  be 
 indignant,  we  should  succeed  far  more  speedily 
 in  elevating  and  improving  mankind.  I  need 
 not  bid  you  be  indignant  at  criminals — that 
 you  will  be,  quickly  enough  —  but  the  high 
 Christian  feeling  which  we  need  more  and  more 
 
550  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 to  entertain  and  exercise,  is  that  of  pity  and  com- 
 passion. 
 
 We  read  that  our  Lord  was  surrounded  by- 
 men — these  men  whom  he  thus  pitied  and  was 
 grieved  at  for  the  hardness  of  their  hearts — who 
 no  sooner  saw  the  miracle  than  they  conspired 
 (the  Herodians,  or  the  parties  in  alliance  with 
 Rome,  with  the  Pharisees,  or  the  parties  who 
 detested  Rome,  and  longed  to  be  emancipated 
 from  its  yoke)  to  destroy  Jesus,  as  they  did  in 
 condemning  him  in  the  last  moment  of  his  life  : 
 teaching  us  that  all  forms  of  error  will  co-oper- 
 ate when  the  truth  is  to  be  put  down ;  that 
 internal  antagonisms  between  conflicting  sys- 
 tems of  error  will  all  be  merged  and  buried  in 
 one  current,  when  God's  great  truth  is  to  be  re- 
 sisted and  banished  from  the  earth. 
 
 Let  us  pray  that  our  views  of  the  sabbath  may 
 be  those  enlightened  ones  which  Jesus  taught — 
 that  our  feeling  towards  the  criminal  may  be 
 less  indignation  and  more  compassion,  such  as 
 Jesus  showed ;  and  bless  God  that  Christ,  who 
 left  us  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  all  that 
 believe,  has  left  us  also  an  example,  that  we  may 
 follow  in  his  steps. 
 
Eloquent  Nature 
 
 P.  551. 
 
LECTURE  XX. 
 
 ELOQUENT  NATURE. 
 
 And  he  left  them,  and  went  out  of  the  city  into  Bethany  ;  and 
 he  lodged  there.  Now  in  the  morning  as  he  returned  into  the 
 city,  he  hungered.  And  when  he  saw  a  fig  tree  in  the  way, 
 he  came  to  it,  and  found  nothing  thereon,  hut  leaves  only, 
 and  said  unto  it,  Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  henceforward  for 
 ever.  And  presently  the  fig  tree  withered  away.  And  when 
 the  disciples  saw  it,  they  marvelled,  saying,  How  soon  is  the 
 fig  tree  withered  away  !  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
 Verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have  faith,  and  doubt  not,  ye 
 shall  not  only  do  this  which  is  done  to  the  fig  tree,  but  also 
 if  ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Be  thou  removed,  and  be 
 thou  cast  into  the  sea ;  it  shall  be  done.  And  all  things,  what- 
 soever ye  shall  ask  in  prayer  believing,  ye  shall  receive. 
 Matt.  xxi.  17—22. 
 
 In  the  Gospel  which  contains  an  account  exactly 
 parallel  to  this,  there  is  one  clause  added  which 
 makes  in  some  degree  a  distinction,  without  a 
 real  difference,  between  the  two  narratives.  It 
 is  stated  in  the  Gospel  by  St.  Mark,  that  when 
 Jesus  saw  the  tree,  "  and  came  if  haply  he  might 
 find  any  thing  thereon,"  "  he  found  nothing  but 
 
552  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 leaves ;  "  and  it  is  added,  li  for  the  time  of  figs 
 was  not  yet."  This  is  the  only  addition  given  by 
 Mark. 
 
 This  is  the  last  of  the  miracles  performed  by 
 our  blessed  Lord  which  I  have  endeavoured  to 
 explain  in  successive  lectures.  It  differs  from 
 the  rest  in  its  tone  and  in  its  character  ;  it  is  also 
 beset  with  some  difficulties  which  lie  upon  the 
 surface,  not  however  insurmountable,  for  when 
 we  look  beneath,  we  shall  find  the  elements  of 
 easy  reconciliation,  and  that  the  apparent  dis- 
 cords are  only  portions  of  latent  and  of  real 
 harmony. 
 
 The  question  has  been  asked — which  contains 
 one  difficulty  in  the  narrative — "  How  could 
 Jesus,  being  omniscient  as  God,  expect  to  find 
 figs  upon  a  fig  tree  which  he  must  have  known 
 contained  none?"  The  answer  is,  that  we  are 
 not  to  expect  in  what  is  partly  a  parable,  (for 
 such  this  is,  as  well  as  a  miracle,)  that  the  mere 
 outward  facts  are  historically  true,  but  that  they 
 are  probably  true.  In  all  probability  no  such 
 history  actually  occurred  as  that  of  the  sower 
 who  went  forth  to  sow  :  it  was  merely  an  out- 
 ward probable  narrative,  that  might  be  true,  that 
 occurs  every  year  in  every  land,  and  which  every 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  563 
 
 one  can  accept  as  true,  and  justly  consecrated 
 to  be  the  outward  covering  of  an  inner,  glori- 
 ous, and  spiritual  truth.  The  historical  state- 
 ment is  the  scaffolding  or  the  pedestal  for  sus- 
 taining, and  making  more  clear  and  vivid  by  the 
 contrast,  the  great  moral  and  spiritual  truth  which 
 it  was  intended  to  convey.  Now,  Jesus  coming 
 and  expecting  fruit,  and  finding  none,  is  so  na- 
 tural, and  what  we  might  so  truly  expect  of  any 
 man  approaching  the  tree  in  similar  circum- 
 stances, that  speaking  as  a  man,  and  acting 
 throughout  as  the  perfect  man,  he  might  have 
 expected  fruit — it  ought  to  have  been ;  he  was 
 hungry — he  found  nothing  to  satisfy  his  hunger  ; 
 and  so  it  is  stated  in  the  narrative  before  us.  We 
 find  in  parallel  passages  difficulties  as  great.  It 
 is  said  that  God  came  down  from  heaven  to  see 
 if  there  were  any  that  did  good.  Now,  it  cannot 
 be  true  that  God  was  ignorant  of  what  was  the 
 state  of  the  earth ;  it  cannot  mean  that  God  ac- 
 tually changed  his  locality — omnipresence  is 
 every  where  ;  but  it  is  what  can  be  predicated  of 
 a  man  whose  nature  is  thus  ascribed  to  that 
 God  who  took  upon  him  our  nature, — sin,  false- 
 hood, imperfection  of  character  alone  excepted. 
 Throughout  the  Bible  we  hear  God  speaking, 
 
554  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 repenting,  promising,  beseeching ;  and  thus  ad- 
 dressing Jerusalem  as  if  it  were  impregnable  to 
 grace — "  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  you, 
 as  a  hen  gather eth  her  chickens  under  her  wings, 
 but  ye  would  not !"  All  this  is  Divine  thought  au- 
 dible in  the  language  of  man,  great  eternal  truths 
 clothed  with  the  imperfect  drapery  of  human 
 speech — the  accommodation,  as  it  were,  of  what 
 would  be  infinite  and  inconceivable  to  the  finite 
 and  imperfect  apprehension  and  comprehension 
 of  man.  The  great  idea  here  meant  to  be  con- 
 veyed is,  that  just  as  Christ  looked  for  fruit  on 
 that  fig  tree,  and  found  none,  he  comes  down  to 
 earth  still,  and  looks  for  practical  fruits,  such  as 
 those  enumerated  in  Gal.  v.  22,  in  the  conduct 
 of  every  believer,  and  there  finds  them,  or  finds 
 them  not. 
 
 The  other  difficulty  that  has  been  adduced  as 
 peculiar  to  this  miracle  is,  that  there  seems  to  be 
 expressed  an  unnatural  and  almost  unnecessary 
 revenge  in  blasting  by  a  curse  the  fig  tree,  be- 
 cause it  had  no  fruit  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of 
 Jesus.  But  this  objection  originates  in  a  feel- 
 ing, that  there  is  something  inconsistent  with 
 what  we  should  expect  in  the  character  of  Jesus 
 when  he  displayed  any  thing  like  anger,  or  what 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  555 
 
 might  bear  the  likeness  of  resentment.  But  in 
 truth  it  arises  from  a  feeling  that  nothing  like 
 judgment  should  occur  in  the  dispensations  of 
 God — from  a  secret  persuasion  that  we  entertain 
 in  the  depths  of  our  hearts,  that  there  is  nothing 
 in  the  creature  to  necessitate  punishment,  but 
 every  thing  to  draw  down  approbation,  affection, 
 and  love.  But  we  do  read  of  Jesus  being  angry  ; 
 we  read  of  the  love  of  Christ,  we  read  also  of  the 
 wrath  of  the  Lamb.  In  one  word,  Jesus  was 
 man.  But  we  shall  see  that  historically  and 
 morally  there  was  a  reason  for  the  peculiar  mani- 
 festation of  Divine  displeasure  which  is  embodied 
 in  this  miracle.  Every  miracle  that  we  have 
 before  examined  has  been  expressive  of  unmin- 
 gled  beneficence ;  now  it  does  seem  that  there 
 was  needed  some  Divine  manifestation  of  justice 
 and  of  judgment  also.  Amid  so  many  and  so 
 glorious  rays  of  infinite  goodness,  it  does  seem 
 natural  that  there  should  be  at  least  seen,  if  not 
 in  all  its  intensity,  one  ray  of  that  God  who  is  the 
 consuming  fire.  Amid  so  much  as  we  have  been 
 considering  to  draw  out  love  from  man's  heart, 
 something  was  wanted  to  prevent  presumption 
 appearing  in  any  man's  bosom.  And  yet,  even 
 here,  where  there  is  a  miracle  to  teach  us  that 
 
556  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 while  God  overflows  with  love,  he  is  yet  a  just 
 God,  and  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day — yet 
 even  here,  and  amid  such  evidence  of  judgment, 
 there  are  seen  the  reflections  of  goodness  and 
 mercy.  Mercy  is  mingled  with  judgment; 
 for  whilst  the  subject  of  healing,  in  every 
 miracle  we  have  considered,  was  a  man — whilst 
 the  object  of  the  goodness  that  Jesus  displayed 
 was  the  living  and  sensitive  and  rational  creature, 
 the  monument  of  his  curse  is  not  a  rational, 
 sensitive  man,  but  an  irrational,  insensible,  and 
 unconscious  tree.  Thus  we  see  that  when  he 
 was  teaching  how  good  he  was,  he  made  man  to 
 be  the  recipient  of  that  goodness,  and  the  page 
 on  which  he  wrote  the  lesson ;  but  when  he  was 
 teaching  how  holy  he  was,  and  how  truly  he 
 would  avenge  sin,  he  made  an  unconscious  tree 
 to  be  the  lesson-book,  and  the  recipient  of  that 
 judgment :  so  that  in  the  very  midst  of  his  judg- 
 ment we  see  mercy ;  and  we  are  taught  by  these 
 spectacles  more  and  more  that  goodness  is  his 
 every-day  delight,  and  that  judgment  is  his 
 "  strange  work." 
 
 But  it  has  been  asked,  in  the  next  place, 
 "  Why  so  treat  a  tree  ?  Why  so  treat  an  uncon- 
 scious and  unoffending  tree  ?  "    I  answer  :  Christ 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  557 
 
 did  not  ascribe  to  the  tree  responsible  or  moral 
 qualities  ;  he  merely  made  it  the  symbol  of  such 
 responsibility  and  of  such  moral  qualities.  We 
 read,  for  instance,  in  the  prophet  Hosea  a  similar 
 image,  "  I  saw  your  fathers  as  the  first  ripe 
 fruit  in  the  fig  tree  at  her  first  time."  So  in 
 Joel,  "  He  hath  laid  my  vine  waste,  and  barked 
 my  fig  tree :  he  hath  made  it  clean  bare,  and  cast 
 it  away."  And  in  Luke,  "  He  spake  also  this 
 parable ;  a  certain  man  had  a  fig  tree  planted  in 
 his  vineyard."  That  is  not  historically  true;  it 
 is  merely  a  probable  history  used  to  represent 
 and  embody  eternal  and  spiritual  truths.  All 
 external  imagery  is  perishing,  but  the  inner  and 
 spiritual  thought  for  which  it  was  constructed 
 lives  for  ever.  Jesus  came,  it  is  said,  and  sought 
 fruit,  but  found  none.  The  tree  is  used  as  a 
 symbol,  and  it  was  blasted  to  teach  man  a  great 
 moral  and  spiritual  truth.  The  very  fact  that  it 
 was  a  thing,  and  not  a  man — in  other  words,  the 
 very  objection  that  some  make  to  the  blasting  of 
 the  fig  tree  in  order  to  teach  a  lesson  to  man- 
 kind, is  the  best  and  strongest  reason  why  it 
 should  be  selected  for  this  purpose ;  for  all  nature 
 was  made  to  be  subservient  to  man,  nature's  lord 
 and  king.     All  things  now  exist  for  man's  good 
 
558  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 as  well  as  for  man's  glory ;  and  the  selection  of 
 this  tree,  even  by  its  sacrifice  and  destruction, 
 to  convey  a  new  lesson  to  mankind,  is  an  instal- 
 ment and  foreshadow  of  that  glorious  epoch 
 when  nature  shall  hear  the  last  trump,  and  rise 
 from  her  degradation  and  her  ruin,  and  become 
 the  mighty  lesson-book  from  which  a  vast  and 
 redeemed  population  shall  learn  new  and  glori- 
 ous lessons  of  the  goodness,  and  mercy,  and 
 beneficence  of  God. 
 
 I  may  also  notice,  (raid  I  mention  these  things 
 because  they  are  historical  facts  worth  recollect- 
 ing,) that  whilst  the  vine  is  used  to  represent 
 what  is  beautiful  and  good,  the  fig  tree  is  never 
 or  rarely  used  in  the  Bible  except  as  the  symbol 
 of  what  seems  bad.  It  is  the  barren  fig  tree  we 
 read  of;  it  is  the  fig  tree  cast  down  and  destroyed. 
 And  it  is  remarkable  that  the  ancient  Rabbis  of 
 the  Jews  assert  in  their  traditions  that  the  tree  of 
 knowledge  of  good  and  evil  was  a  fig  tree ;  and 
 it  is  no  less  remarkable  that,  among  the  Greeks, 
 with  whom  the  primaeval  traditions  of  Paradise 
 seem  to  have  survived,  or  who  gathered  them, 
 rather,  from  the  Phoenicians,  who  brought  them 
 from  the  East,  a  fig  tree  is  generally  used  in  a 
 bad  sense.  A  Greek  would  call  a  bad  man,  <tvkivo<$ 
 
ELOQUENT   NATURE.  559 
 
 avrjp,  a  fig  tree  man.     So  the  word  "  sycophant" 
 — a  flatterer,  a  man  who  acts  dishonestly— when 
 literally  translated,  means  a  man  that  shows  figs  : 
 showing  how  widely  this  association  may  spread, 
 and  what  changes  it  has  outlived,  as  it  still  runs 
 through  the  language  of  mankind ;  as  if  the  tra- 
 ditions of  the  Jewish  Rabbis  were  true,  that  the 
 fig  tree  was  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
 evil.     There  can  be  no  absurdity  in  supposing  its 
 being  so.  It  might  have  been  an  apple  tree,  a  pear 
 tree,  or  an  orange  tree,  or  a  bramble ;  the  gist  of 
 the  appointment  was  not  in  what  the  tree  was,  but 
 in  what  it  was  the  symbol  of;  its  representative 
 character  was  the  reality.     God  appointed  the 
 tree  simply  as  a  test— a  visible  test,  to  show  man 
 that  he  was  a  creature  owing  allegiance  to  his 
 Creator,  and  that  the  instant  he   did  what  his 
 Creator  forbad,  that  moment  he  assumed  to  be 
 his  God,  and  gave  up  the  lowly  position  of  a 
 dependent  creature,  and  wickedly  attempted  the 
 sovereignty  of  the  independent  God. 
 
 But  the  greatest  difficulty  that  has  been  felt 
 in  the  interpretation  of  the  miracle,  and  of  the 
 statements  that  immediately  precede  it,  arises 
 from  the  clause  inserted  in  the  account  of  St. 
 Mark,  that  "  the  time  of  figs  was  not  yet."    An 
 
560  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 objection  has  been  raised  on  this  by  those  who 
 search  the  Bible  for  reasons  for  rejecting  it,  as  has 
 been  done  by  Strauss,  for  he  is  the  only  infidel 
 who  seems  to  have  really  read  the  Bible.  Paine, 
 Voltaire,  Hume,  and  those  men  who  made  jokes 
 at  the  expense  of  the  Bible,  but  really  at  their 
 own  expense,  acknowledged  that  they  had  never 
 read  it :  the  one  party  had  only  gathered  frag- 
 ments of  it  from  the  missals  and  breviaries  of 
 Rome,  and  the  other  party  only  fragments  of  it 
 at  second-hand,  and  from  not  the  most  faithful 
 recorders.  But  Strauss,  who  has  appeared  in 
 Germany,  and  who,  I  may  state,  has  been  tho- 
 roughly exposed — alike  his  sophisms  and  absur- 
 dities— by  very  able  German  and  American  theo- 
 logians, is  one  of  those  who  have  read  the  New 
 Testament  in  search  of  reasons  for  rejecting  it, 
 just  as  Zoilus  of  old  read  Homer,  looking  only 
 for  errors  and  inconsistencies.  And  no  doubt,  if 
 a  man  set  about  such  a  work,  his  diseased  imagin- 
 ation, sustained  by  an  unregenerate  heart,  will 
 be  very  likely  to  discover  difficulties  and  objec- 
 tions where  none  really  exist.  His  objection  is — 
 that  it  is  a  most  unreasonable  and  absurd  thing  to 
 suppose  that  our  Lord  should  expect  figs,  when 
 his  own  evangelist  expressly  declares  that  the  time 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  561 
 
 for  figs  was  not  yet  come.  What  should  we  think 
 of  that  man  who  should  go  into  the  fields  looking 
 for  ripe  wheat  in  the  season  of  spring,  or  for  ripe 
 apples  in  the  month  of  March  ?  We  should  say, 
 he  must  either  be  ignorant  or  bent  on  mischief. 
 Then  how  can  we  justify,  or  how  can  we  solve 
 the  apparent  difficulty  of  our  Lord  expecting  in 
 the  month  of  March,  which  was  the  month  when 
 this  miracle  was  wrought,  to  find  figs,  when  we 
 are  expressly  told  "  the  time  of  figs  was  not  yet  ?" 
 I  think  the  explanation  is  perfectly  satisfactory. 
 In  the  month  of  March,  at  that  early  season  of 
 the  year,  it  is  true  there  were  neither  leaves  nor 
 figs  to  be  expected  on  a  fig  tree ;  but  it  is  matter 
 of  historical  record  in  the  page  of  the  evangel- 
 ist, that  this  fig  tree  did  put  forth  leaves.  I  have 
 seen  buds  in  the  month  of  January ;  and  in  the 
 premature  warmth  of  the  earliest  moment  of 
 spring,  you  may  see  a  stray  leaf  that  starts  out 
 only  to  be  nipped  and  destroyed.  Now  this 
 tree  in  the  month  of  March  seems  to  have  had 
 leaves.  But  you  say,  "  This  does  not  justify 
 expecting  fruit."  It  does :  a  fig  tree  bears  its 
 fruit  before  it  shows  its  leaves ;  and  the  fact  that 
 this  tree  had  put  forth  leaves  was  a  silent  pro- 
 clamation that  it  had  fruit,  and  that  if  anybody 
 
 2  o 
 
562  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 would  search  for  the  fruit  he  would  be  sure  to 
 find  it.  In  other  words,  the  fig  tree  gave  sign 
 of  fruit,  whilst  it  had  not  the  reality.  Seeing 
 leaves,  the  traveller  would  naturally  look  for 
 fruit ;  but  when,  hungry  and  way-worn,  he  beat 
 the  branches  of  the  tree,  in  order  to  find  the 
 fruit,  the  narrative  is  that  he  found  none.  It 
 invited  the  passer-by,  by  its  leaves,  to  come  and 
 find  fruit;  it  disappointed  him  the  moment  he 
 made  the  search.  It  was  like  a  sign-board  hung 
 out  over  an  empty  house,  proclaiming  that  there 
 were  good  things  within,  whereat  the  traveller 
 enters,  and  finds  only  desolation,  cold,  and 
 misery.  It  was  not  the  sin  of  the  tree,  if  you 
 will  allow  the  expression,  that  it  had  no  fruit, 
 but  it  was  its  sin  that  it  put  forth  leaves,  pre- 
 tending to  have  fruit,  when  it  really  had  none 
 at  all.  Therefore  the  miracle,  instead  of  being 
 historically  and  physically  unnatural,  is  per- 
 fectly natural.  There  is  no  charge,  I  repeat, 
 against  the  tree  that  it  had  no  fruit,  but  the  real 
 gravamen  of  the  charge  lies  in  this — that  whilst 
 it  pretended  to  have  fruit,  it  not  only  had  none, 
 but  it  gave  the  hungry  and  weary  traveller  the 
 trouble  of  searching. 
 
 We,  brethren,  are  represented  in  Scripture  as 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  563 
 
 trees  of  some  kind.  We  read  of  two  classes  of 
 trees — trees  of  righteousness  that  bear  fruit,  and 
 the  trees  that  bear  none.  Like  trees,  we  need  to 
 be  planted  in  a  congenial  soil ;  like  trees,  we 
 need  a  Divine  breath  to  pass  over  us,  in  order  to 
 make  us  blossom  and  bear  fruit.  The  spring, 
 and  the  summer,  and  the  autumn,  have  succes- 
 sively passed  over  us ;  have  they  left  upon  us 
 the  traces  that  they  have  not  passed  in  vain  ?  Is 
 our  spring  come  ?  Do  we  bear  fruit  ?  Are  we 
 barren  trees,  cumberers  of  the  ground,  or  fruitful 
 trees,  giving  glory  to  God,  and  distributing 
 blessings  among  mankind  ?  The  spring,  in  the 
 natural  world,  is  the  great  miracle  of  nature — 
 it  is  the  annual  blossoming  of  Aaron's  rod.  If 
 the  spring  came  but  once  in  a  life -time,  how 
 should  we  wonder  at  it !  or  if  it  came  amid  all 
 the  pomp  and  procession  of  thunder,  and  light- 
 ning, and  noise,  how  should  we  be  struck  by  it ! 
 But  it  does  not  so :  it  comes  silently  and  softly, 
 but  with  irresistible  power ;  and  alas,  we  take 
 little  note  and  feel  few  thanks.  The  cessation  of 
 spring  would  be  the  miracle  to  us  now,  not  its 
 continuation.  The  soul  needs  a  spring — the  day- 
 spring  from  on  high — just  as  much  as  the  trees 
 of  the  wood ;  and  when  the  soul  is  acted  on  by 
 
 2  o  2 
 
1)64:  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 the  Spirit  of  all  life,  it  moves  away  from  its  cheer- 
 less and  wintry  aspect,  it  turns  near  to  the  sun, 
 clothes  its  wintry  branches  with  life,  and  fruit, 
 and  blossom,  and  constitutes  itself  by  the  grace 
 of  God  a  fruitful  tree,  the  planting  of  the  Lord. 
 But  the  real  relation,  I  believe,  of  the  miracle, 
 and  the  narrative  which  precedes  it,  is  not  so 
 much  individual,  as  national.  I  believe  the 
 Jewish  nation  is  the  race  of  which  the  fig  tree 
 was  the  symbol,  and  whose  fate  was  foreshadowed 
 by  its  destruction.  The  Gentiles  made  no  pro- 
 fession of  religion — they  made  no  pretension  to 
 it  at  all.  The  Gentiles  were  the  naked  stems 
 that  spread  their  skeleton  branches  in  the  frosty 
 and  biting  winds,  with  neither  life,  nor  bud,  nor 
 promise  of  fruit  or  blossom ;  they  did  not  pre- 
 tend to  have  any  thing.  But  the  Jews  professed 
 to  bear  the  choicest  fruit ;  they  were  clothed  with 
 the  leaves  of  profession ;  they  bare  even  the  blos- 
 soms that  indicated  the  approach  and  the  advent 
 of  fruit ;  they  were  righteous,  as  they  thought 
 themselves ;  they  treated  with  supercilious  con- 
 tempt all  the  nations  of  the  world  besides  ;  they 
 professed  to  have  a  righteousness  so  great  that  it 
 was  adequate  to  justify  them ;  and  they  declared 
 that  the  Gentiles  had  sunk  into  a  degradation  so 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  565 
 
 complete  that  they  were  not  fit  to  communicate 
 with  them,  or  even,  in  any  degree,  to  be  admit- 
 ted to  the  participation  of  their  peculiar  advan- 
 tages. Our  Lord  wished  to  teach  them  this 
 lesson — that  the  Jew,  with  his  blossoms  without 
 fruit,  was  nearer  cursing  than  the  Gentile,  Avho 
 had  neither  leaf,  nor  blossom,  nor  fruit ;  because 
 the  first  had  great  advantages,  and  only  great 
 hypocrisy  as  the  result  of  them ;  while  the  last 
 had  great  disadvantages,  no  pretension,  and  little 
 else  might  reasonably  be  expected  from  them. 
 It  is  therefore  in  such  words  as  these  that  this 
 miracle  is  described  by  the  apostle  Paul,  when 
 he  said,  "Behold,  thou  art  called  a  Jew,  and 
 restest  in  the  law,  and  makest  thy  boast  of  God, 
 and  knowest  his  will,  and  approvest  the  things 
 that  are  more  excellent,  being  instructed  out  of 
 the  law  ;  and  art  confident  that  thou  thyself  art  a 
 guide  of  the  blind,  a  light  of  them  which  are 
 in  darkness,  an  instructor  of  the  foolish,  a  teacher 
 of  babes,  which  hast  the  form  of  knowledge  and 
 of  the  truth  in  the  law."  These  are  the  blos- 
 soms— these  are  the  leaves  upon  the  fig  tree ; 
 but  then,  mark  the  evidence  that  there  was  no 
 fruit :  "  Thou  therefore  which  teachest  another, 
 teachest  thou  not  thyself?  thou  that  preachest  a 
 
566  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 man  should  not  steal,  dost  thou  steal  ?  Thou 
 that  sayest  a  man  should  not  commit  adultery, 
 dost  thou  commit  adultery  ?  thou  that  abhorrest 
 idols,  dost  thou  commit  sacrilege  ?  Thou  that 
 makest  thy  boast  of  the  law,  through  breaking 
 the  law  dishonour  est  thou  God  ?  For  the  name 
 of  God  is  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  through 
 you,  as  it  is  written.  For  circumcision  verily 
 profiteth,  if  thou  keep  the  law  :  but  if  thou  be  a 
 breaker  of  the  law,  thy  circumcision  is  made  un- 
 circumcision.  Therefore  if  the  uncircumcision 
 [that  is,  the  Gentiles]  keep  the  righteousness  of 
 the  law,  shall  not  his  uncircumcision  be  counted 
 for  circumcision  ?  And  shall  not  uncircumcision 
 which  is  by  nature,  if  it  fulfil  the  law,  judge  thee 
 [the  Jew,  that  is]  who  by  the  letter  and  circum- 
 cision dost  transgress  the  law  ? "  We  have  the 
 very  same  idea  carried  out  in  explanatory  lan- 
 guage in  the  tenth  chapter,  where  the  apostle 
 says,  "  For  they  [the  Jews]  being  ignorant  of 
 God's  righteousness,  and  going  about  to  establish 
 their  own  righteousness,  have  not  submitted 
 themselves  unto  the  righteousness  of  God."  "  To 
 Israel  he  saith,  All  day  long  have  I  stretched  forth 
 my  hands  unto  a  disobedient  and  gainsaying 
 people."     "  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  567 
 
 he  seeketh  for,  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it, 
 and  the  rest  were  blinded  (according  as  it  is 
 written,  God  hath  given  them  the  spirit  of  slum- 
 ber, eyes  that  they  should  not  see,  and  ears  that 
 they  should  not  hear,)  unto  this  day.  And  Da- 
 vid said,  Let  their  table  be  made  a  snare,  and  a 
 trap,  and  a  stumblingblock,  and  a  recompence 
 unto  them :  let  their  eyes  be  darkened,  that  they 
 may  not  see,  and  bow  down  their  back  alway." 
 Now,  in  all  these  words  used  by  the  apostle,  in 
 his  address  to  the  Roman  Christians,  we  have 
 the  exposition,  in  clear  and  common  words,  of 
 the  great  idea  which  is  embodied  in  the  semi- 
 parable,  semi-miracle  on  which  I  am  now  com- 
 menting. He  shows  that  the  Jews  had  all  the 
 temporal  advantages  a  nation  could  possibly 
 enjoy,  that  they  had  great  moral  and  spiritual 
 privileges,  such  as  no  nation  on  earth  had  ever 
 reached  before,  that  they  shot  forth  in  all  direc- 
 tions the  green  and  promising  leaves  of  a  large 
 and  rich  profession.  They  professed  to  be  some- 
 thing— to  be  exalted  above  and  distinguished 
 from  the  rest  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
 therefore  something  was  to  be  expected  from 
 them  ;  but  when  the  great  Lord  of  the  vineyard 
 came,  and  saw  the  leaves,  and  began  to  search  for 
 
568  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 fruit,  you  might  expect  that  if  the  Gentiles  were 
 left,  the  Jew  should  be  cursed,  and  that  the 
 blasting  of  the  fig  tree  was  no  less  merited  than 
 it  was  natural  to  that  guilty  and  ungrateful  na- 
 tion. And  have  we  not  in  the  existence  of  the 
 Jew  in  our  land  irresistible  and  awful  evidence 
 of  the  blasted  fig  tree  ?  What  is  all  Palestine  but 
 God's  fig  tree,  in  the  language  of  Hosea,  "  bark- 
 ed and  laid  low  ? "  What  is  the  Jewish  nation 
 in  every  part  of  the  world,  but  the  withered  and 
 blasted  branches  of  the  once  fruitful,  the  now 
 scarcely  professing  fig-tree  ?  Palestine  itself  at 
 this  moment  seems  almost  overspread  by  the 
 curse.  Its  cities  are  the  cities  of  the  dead;  its 
 every  acre  is  covered  with  the  tombs  of  departed 
 ages:  it  has  a  soil  fit  to  grow  corn  that  would 
 positively  crowd  and  overflow  all  the  granaries 
 of  the  world,  but  it  cannot  provide  corn  enough 
 to  feed  its  miserable,  its  starved,  and  wretched 
 peasantry.  At  this  very  moment  there  is  no 
 Mount  Nebo,  or  Mount  Pisgah,  from  which  a 
 successor  of  Moses  can  see  a  goodly  land  over- 
 flowing with  milk  and  honey.  On  every  part 
 of  that  land  the  iron  hoof  of  the  Arab  steed,  and 
 the  naked  foot  of  the  papal  monk,  have  trod  in 
 succession,  and  warred  for  supremacy.     In  rapid 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  569 
 
 succession,  the  Roman,  the  Persian,  the  Arab, 
 the  Turk,  the  robber,  have  taken  possession  of 
 Palestine,  and  the  poor  Jew — the  fig  tree,  blasted, 
 deservedly  blasted — has  a  home  any  where  and 
 every  where,  but  least  a  home  in  his  own  home ; 
 has  possessions  every  where,  but  none  in  that 
 land  which  is  his  by  title-deeds  more  lasting 
 than  those  of  the  aristocracy  of  England.  His 
 title-deeds  are  in  Ezekiel,  in  Jeremiah,  in  Isaiah, 
 in  the  Psalms,  and  must  last  and  live  for  ever 
 and  ever.  You  have  then  in  the  Jew,  wherever 
 you  find  him,  a  blasted  fig  tree,  a  miracle-stricken 
 nation,  a  people  scathed  by  a  curse  that  cleaves 
 to  them  and  consumes  them,  the  people  of  the 
 weary  foot,  the  exiles  of  the  earth,  in  it  and 
 not  of  it ;  as  if  their  very  existence  was  a  symbol 
 of  what  God's  people  should  be — in  the  world, 
 and  not  of  the  world. 
 
 But  there  is  yet  more  in  this  curse.  I  have 
 noticed  the  interesting  fact,  that  when  Christ  is 
 teaching  how  beneficent  he  is,  he  makes  man  the 
 lesson-book ;  but  when  he  is  teaching  how  holy 
 and  just  he  is,  and  how  offended  he  is  with  sin, 
 he  makes  a  dead  tree  the  lesson-book.  But  even 
 in  this  there  is  a  limitation.  He  says,  "  Let  no 
 man  eat  fruit  of  thee  for  ever."     Even  in  this 
 
570  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 malison  that  alighted  upon  the  Jewish  nation 
 there  is  a  limit.  The  words  commonly  used  to 
 express  "  for  ever  "  are,  eh  tov?  alvbva^;  but  here 
 it  is,  ei  Let  no  man  eat  fruit  of  thee  "  eh  tov 
 alwva — "  until  the  age/'  "  until  the  dispensation." 
 That  is,  This  Jewish  fig  tree  which  has  been 
 blasted  by  my  curse,  shall  not  be  blasted  eter- 
 nally, but  until  the  altcv  6  peWwv  —  the  dis- 
 pensation that  is  to  be — come.  And  what  dis- 
 pensation is  this  ?  The  apostle  Paul  tells  you 
 that  the  Jews  shall  have  a  restoration;  and  if 
 their  depression  was  the  enriching  of  the  Gen- 
 tiles, what  shall  their  resurrection  be  but  life  to 
 the  Gentiles  from  the  dead  ?  Therefore,  it  is  here 
 indicated  that  an  age  will  come,  an  age  long  pre- 
 dicted, when  the  curse  shall  be  reversed,  when 
 the  withered  roots  of  Judah  shall  receive  new 
 life,  when  the  sap  that  is  now  stagnant  in  the 
 national  stem  shall  rise  from  the  roots,  and  per- 
 meate every  branch  of  that  tree,  burst  forth  into 
 a  foliage  richer  than  nature's  choicest  and  love- 
 liest ;  and  Aaron's  rod,  long  dead,  shall  blossom 
 with  a  new  and  perpetual  beauty.  Already  the 
 fig  tree  begins  to  put  forth  its  leaves  ;  and  thus 
 reminds  me  of  what  I  might  have  noticed  before 
 — that  the  blossoming  of  this  long-cursed  fig  tree 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  571 
 
 is  to  be  one  of  the  symbols  of  the  approach  of 
 the  end  of  this  dispensation,  and  of  the  near 
 dawn  of  the  rbi>  al&va  here  spoken  of — the  dis- 
 pensation that  is  to  come.  When  our  Lord  has 
 described  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  he  proceeds  to 
 describe  the  end  of  the  world :  "  Immediately 
 after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  the  sun  shall 
 be  darkened,  [the  symbol  of  imperial  power,] 
 and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light,  [ecclesias- 
 tical power,]  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven 
 [the  high  ones  of  the  earth  shall  fall  from  their 
 places]."  Who  can  look  at  the  history  of  the 
 past  few  years  without  seeing  this  ?  How.  many 
 thrones  or  suns  have  been  overthrown,  how  many 
 darkened ;  and  if  there  seems  to  be  a  moment- 
 ary re-kindling  and  restoration  of  the  light,  you 
 have  only  to  read  the  statements  of  the  impartial 
 investigators  of  the  actual  state  of  the  continent, 
 and  you  will  find  that  their  united  testimony 
 is,  that  every  throne  in  Europe  rocks  on  a  vol- 
 cano. The  truth  is,  that  there  is  no  moral  ele- 
 ment by  which  thrones  and  people  can  cohere 
 upon  the  continent.  In  Paris,  at  this  moment, 
 it  is  well  known  that  every  eleventh  man  who 
 is  sick,  dies  or  recovers  in  a  hospital ;  and  half 
 the  births  in  Paris  are  illegitimate — literally  and 
 
57£  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 truly,  one  half!  What  can  you  expect  of  a  popu 
 lation  amongst  whom  there  is  no  home,  where 
 holy  ties  are  maintained  so  imperfectly,  where  that 
 which  is  the  very  substance  of  the  life  and  coher- 
 ence of  a  nation,  is  so  extensively  rotting  in  the 
 midst  of  them  ?  What  can  you  expect  but  dis- 
 solution, disorganization,  decay  ?  Would  to  God 
 that  all  rulers  and  statesmen  would  recollect  that 
 the  great  element  of  a  nation's  cohesion  is  reli- 
 gion ;  that  a  religious,  Bible  education  is  the 
 strength,  as  it  is  the  substance,  of  a  nation's  gran- 
 deur and  a  nation's  stability.  Suns  then  have 
 been  darkened.  "  The  moon  shall  not  give  her 
 light."  I  have  said  that  when  great  Babylon  fell, 
 the  cities  of  the  nations — the  ecclesiastical  and 
 political  institutions — should  begin  to  fall.  The 
 church  of  England  is  at  this  moment  vibrating  in 
 the  balance  of  life  or  death ;  sections  of  its  clergy 
 are  "  darkened,"  and,  like  wandering  stars, 
 plunging  into  the  very  darkness  of  Babylon, 
 having  left  their  orbits  and  lost  their  glory.  All 
 our  institutions  are  to  be  broken  up  to  make  way 
 for  better  ones,  all  our  relationships  will  dissolve 
 to  make  way  for  nobler  ones.  This  is  the  age  of 
 disorganization.  In  chemistry  there  is,  first  of  all, 
 total  disorganization,  then  new  affinities  are  put 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  573 
 
 forth,  and  new  combinations  take  place.    We  are 
 now  in  the  process  of  dissolution  and  disorganiza- 
 tion; every  thing  smashing,  breaking  up,  and 
 coming  down,  in  order  to  make  way  for  a  better 
 age  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  the  crash,  I  can  hear  the 
 foot-fall  of  Him  who  comes  to  ascend  the  throne, 
 and  sway  the  sceptre,  and  say,  "  I  make  all  things 
 new;"  when  the  new  Jerusalem  shall  come  down 
 from  heaven,  like  a  bride  adorned  for  the  bride- 
 groom ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  sorrow,  nor 
 tears,   nor   crying,  nor    sighing,  for  all    former 
 things  shall  have  passed  away.     But  what  takes 
 place  next?    "  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of 
 the  Son  of  man  in  heaven ;  and  then  shall  all  the 
 tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the 
 Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with 
 power  and  great  glory.     And  he  shall  send  his 
 angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they 
 shall  gather  together  his  elect  [the  first  resurrec- 
 tion] from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  hea- 
 ven to  the  other."     And  then  what  is  added? 
 '  Now  learn  a  parable  of  the  fig  tree ;  when  his 
 branch  is  yet  tender,  and  putteth  forth  leaves,  ye 
 know  that  summer  is  nigh :  so  likewise  ye,  when 
 ye  shall  see  all  these  things,  know  that  it  is  near, 
 even  at  the  doors."     The  fig  tree  is  the  great 
 
574  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 symbol  of  the  Jewish  nation  ;  the  fig  tree,  be- 
 ginning to  put  forth  a  bud  here  and  a  blossom 
 there,  to  show  the  signs  of  its  having  felt  the 
 spring,  and  recovered  its  lost  vitality,  is  symp- 
 tomatic of  the  events  recorded  in  this  chapter. 
 Who  does  not  know  that  never  was  so  great  an 
 interest  taken  in  the  fate  of  the  Jews ;  never 
 were  so  many  books  written  about  them,  so  many 
 sermons  preached  in  reference  to  them;  never 
 were  kings  so  puzzled,  and  cabinets  so  perplexed, 
 and  parliaments  so  plagued,  as  they  are  by  that 
 unmanageable  people  —  a  people  who  do  not 
 trouble,  and  yet  who  indirectly  perplex,  their 
 measures,  cross  their  purposes,  and  place  them 
 at  their  wits'  end.  What  is  the  great  question 
 in  our  country  ?  "  What  shall  we  do  with  the 
 Jew  ?  "  And  what  is  it  that  helped  to  make  the 
 pope's  return  to  Rome  almost  impracticable  ? 
 The  poor  Jews  struggling,  and  appealing  even 
 to  the  New  Testament,  for  reasons  against  his 
 return,  because  they  know  that  the  oppressor  of 
 their  brethren  returns  when  the  pope  comes 
 back  to  Rome.  We  have  then  in  these  things, 
 and  many  more  which  I  could  mention  if  time 
 permitted,  the  buds  of  the  fig  tree,  the  signs  of 
 the  approaching  age,  when  this  curse  shall  be  re- 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  575 
 
 versed,  and  the  fig  tree  shall  again  blossom ;  when 
 the  Jew  shall  abandon  his  tradition,  (and  there 
 are  synagogues  already  formed  in  which  the  tra- 
 ditions of  the  Rabbis  are  repudiated,)  and  shall 
 accept  the  pure  Christianity  of  Abraham,  of 
 Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  which  is  only  the  dawn  of 
 the  Christianity  of  Mount  Tabor,  of  Calvary,  and 
 of  Mount  Zion.  Thus  we  see  mercy  in  limit- 
 ing the  curse,  as  well  as  in  the  elements  that 
 mingle  with  it. 
 
 In  drawing  one  or  two  practical  remarks 
 from  the  narrative  which  I  have  rather  tried 
 to  vindicate  than  to  expound  at  length,  let 
 me  ask  you,  reader,  if  you  are  bringing  forth 
 fruit,  or  if  you  are  a  cumberer  of  the  ground  ? 
 Is  the  world  any  better  for  you  ?  Will  it  miss 
 you  when  you  are  gone  ?  Will  it  acknowledge, 
 when  you  are  removed,  that  the  widow  has  lost 
 a  husband,  the  orphan  a  father,  the  needy  a 
 munificent  friend  ?  Or  will  it  be  glad  when  you 
 are  gone,  as  one  that  stinted,  starved,  oppressed, 
 or  despised  it?  In  other  words,  are  you  a 
 cumberer  of  the  ground,  occupying  the  place  of 
 one  that  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  ground  ?  Or 
 are  you  a  fruitful  tree,  the  planting  of  the  Lord  ? 
 
576  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 Let  us  ask  ourselves  this  question,  at  the  close 
 of  each  year.  Each  year  seems  to  fly  away 
 like  successive  dissolving  views,  the  last  faint 
 gleams  of  which  are  all  that  survive ;  the  sands 
 of  time  rush  sparkling  through  the  hour-glass 
 more  rapidly  as  they  approach  the  end.  Each 
 day  leaves  sunshine  or  shadows  upon  our  hearts  ; 
 it  makes  upon  each  of  us  impressions  that 
 form  together  a  character  which  stretches  into 
 eternity,  and  lives  for  ever  in  unspeakable  joy, 
 or  pines  for  ever  in  unutterable  agony  and 
 woe.  If  we  have  lost  past  years,  oh  let  us  seek 
 to  redeem  the  time  by  making  a  holier,  intenser, 
 nobler  use  of  what  remains.  "  Redeem  the 
 time  : "  the  future  years  are  open,  waiting  for 
 you  to  pour  into  them  what  will  make  them  or  mar 
 them,  as  far  as  you  are  concerned.  And  if  years 
 shall  pass  over  us,  and  leave  us  with  grey  hairs, 
 and  if  we  shall  drop  into  our  graves  without  some 
 real,  living,  personal  hold  of  a  Saviour,  salvation, 
 glory,  happiness,  we  shall  discover  that  no  such 
 terrible  avengers  are  in  the  regions  of  the  lost  as 
 lost  opportunities.  There  is  no  Calvary  in  the 
 realms  of  misery ;  there  is  no  shadow  or  sound 
 of  a  Saviour  where  God  hath  forgotten  to  be  gra- 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  577 
 
 cious.     Are  we,  then,  thinking  of  the  safety  of 
 our  souls,  as,  not  the  one  thing,  but  the  supreme 
 thing,  beside  which  all  other  things  are  subordi- 
 nate and  comparatively  worthless.     The  names 
 of  heroes,  of  literati,  of  philosophers,  of  geolo- 
 gists, and  astronomers,  are   fast  passing  away; 
 but  those  who  are  stars  in  the  galaxy  of  the 
 blessed  shall  shine  like  the  brightness  of  the  fir- 
 mament for  ever ;  and  such  stars,  of  immortal 
 renown  and  of  imperishable  lustre,  may  shoot  up 
 from  every  peasant's  hut,  and  from  every  lowly 
 home,  and  be  fixed  in  that  firmament  where  by 
 grace  they  shall  shine  and  sparkle   when  suns 
 shall  rise  and  set  no  more.  Do  not  grasp  a  world 
 that  is  slipping    like  quicksilver  through  your 
 fingers  ever  as  you  try  to  hold  it ;  do  not  follow 
 after  a  world  that  leaves  you,  the  instant  you 
 try  to  make   any  use  of  it.     Look  at  times   at 
 the  remains  of  those  who  have  left  us  ;  go  and 
 gaze  upon   the  face  of  the  dead;    think  for  one 
 moment,  as  you  stand  beside  that  dumb,  but  elo- 
 quent sermon—the  remains  of  the  near  and  dear 
 dead:    What  was  it  to  that  dying  man  that  he 
 was  rich  ?    If  he  was  a  Christian,  whence  did  he 
 draw  his  joy  in  the  last  hours  of  life  ?     Was  it 
 
 2  p 
 
578  FORESHADOWS. 
 
 from  what  he  was  leaving  behind  him  ?  from  the 
 money  he  had  gained  ?  from  the  friends  he  had 
 made  ?  from  the  patronage  he  enjoyed  ?  from  the 
 power  he  had  wielded  ?  Did  these  things  give 
 him  any  joy?  were  these  the  springs  of  his  satis- 
 faction as  he  was  about  to  close  his  eyes  upon 
 the  world  ?  The  only  ray  of  joy  that  he  coidd 
 see,  or  would  look  for,  was  from  above,  not  from 
 below  ;  the  only  drop  of  water  that  was  sweet  to 
 him,  was  from  the  fountain  in  the  skies,  not  from 
 the  broken  cisterns  in  the  earth.  We  shall  find, 
 when  we  come  to  die,  that  all  we  have  now,  about 
 which  we  are  fighting,  struggling,  quarrelling, 
 is  utterly  incapable  of  giving  us  one  atom  of  real 
 happiness  as  we  close  our  eyes  upon  it  to  open 
 them  upon  another  world.  And  if  we  know  of 
 any  who  died  strangers  to  the  gospel,  as  they  had 
 lived  strangers  to  it,  what  was  the  world  to  them 
 when  they  were  leaving  it  ?  They  felt  they  were 
 losing  their  gods,  and  they  had  no  God  to  help  ; 
 they  saw  the  springs  from  which  they  drank  seal- 
 ed and  shut  one  by  one,  and  they  had  no  fountain 
 of  living  waters  to  go  to ;  they  saw  all  that  was 
 dearest  to  them — that  which  was  their  religion 
 and  their  life — sweeping  away  like  a  ship  at  sea, 
 
ELOQUENT    NATURE.  579 
 
 and  themselves  about  to  open  their  eyes  upon  a 
 world,  in  which  these  things  that  they  accumu- 
 lated as  their  only  joys  upon  earth,  were  likely 
 to  be  a  millstone  about  their  necks  that  would 
 sink  them  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  abyss  of 
 eternity. 
 
 Thus  we  have  traced  the  outlines  of  some 
 foreshadows  of  the  better  age.  May  we  find 
 our  portion  there  in  that  day.     Amen. 
 
 THE    END. 
 
JOHN    CHII  DS    AND    SON,     BUNGAY. 
 
Fifth  Thousand,  iniblished  uniformly. 
 
 LECTUKES  ON  THE  PARABLES; 
 $wnm%  a  frnmir  §mm 
 
 OF 
 
 FORESHADOWS. 
 
 BY  REV.  J.  CUMMING,  D.  D. 
 
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Date  Due 
 
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