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 EARNEST HOURS. 
 
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 WILLIAM S. PLUMER, D. D, LL. D, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF DIDACTIC AND POLEMIC THEOLOGY IN Till 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT COLUMBIA, 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 RICHMOND: 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18C9, hy 
 
 CHARLES GENNET 
 
 in trust, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of 
 Virginia. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Man a Proof of the Truths of Natural Religion.. 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Bible is the "Word of God 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Scripture is Unchanging and Unfailing 36 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 God's Nature and "Ways are Unsearchable . 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 Practical Remarks on Chapter it. 61 
 
 CHAPTER yi. 
 Human Accountability 82 
 
 CHAPTER yiL 
 Deductions from Chapter vi. 91 
 
 CHAPTER yill. 
 The Responsibilities of Educated Men.....,...,.,, 100 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 All Men are Sinners....... 114 
 
 (3) 
 
<1 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 SlN IS llORRIELE 127 
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 Tn." Saint excels the Sinner 140 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 Thoughts on Noah, his Times, his Faith and his Ark. 151 
 
 CIIAPTFR XIIE 
 The Life and Character cf the Apostle Peter.... 1G9 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Lessons from the Life and Fall of Peter 181 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Nine Questions about Pleasing 105 
 
 -CHAPTER XVI. 
 How God's Pecple may make Great Attainments... 213 
 
 CHAPTE I XVII. 
 The Privileges of Believers 128 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Good Works, *heirBa3is anj their Nature 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Rites vain compared with hearty Piety towards 
 
 God and genuine Kindness towards Man 256 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 ; ;. TV in Religion .208 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 TAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Falls of good Men 280 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Self-deception. It is easy. There is much of it. . 292 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Self-deception continued. The Signs of it. The 
 
 Danger of it 299 
 
 I CHAPTER XXI V r . 
 Modern Missions 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 The PtiGHT Temper for a Student of the Bible.... 317 
 
EARNEST HOURS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MAN A PROOF OF THE TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 
 
 In both the body and soul of man are easily 
 discovered many surprising powers. In the human 
 constitution is something exceedingly nice, curious 
 and delicate. In a heathful state, both mind and 
 body are admirable ; in a morbid state, they bring 
 incalculable misery. 
 
 Let us look at mail's physical constitution. At 
 birth the human body is small, commonly weigh- 
 ing from eight to fifteen pounds, and measuring 
 from thirteen to twenty-one inches. It is exceed- 
 ingly feeble, and continues dependent on parental 
 care much longer than any other creature. For 
 sometime it can neither see, nor hear, nor taste, nor 
 smell, nor feel with any accuracy of discrimination, 
 its senses being quite untutored. At the age of 
 about six weeks it begins to notice the face of its 
 nurse or mother, and gives its first smiles. Feeble 
 as this little creature is, its powers of endurance are, 
 in one respect, wonderful. The rapid circulation of 
 its blood renders it far less susceptible of death from 
 
 O) 
 
8 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 cold than adults are. When fifteen or twenty 
 months old, it begins to utter articulate sounds. 
 From fourteen to twenty-three years of age it reaches 
 its full stature ; and from thirty to fifty it has its 
 greatest vigor and power of enduring exertion. 
 After that decay commences, and at the end of 
 twenty or thirty years the body returns to its native 
 dust. 
 
 These remarks relate to those who live to old age ; 
 but of six or seven children born, not more than 
 one lives seventy years ; not one in twenty-five lives 
 eighty years; not one in seventy lives eighty-five 
 years; not one in two hundred lives ninety years; 
 not one in seven hundred lives ninety-five years; 
 and not one in eight thousand completes a cen- 
 tury. One fourth of all who are born die before 
 they are five years old ; one third before they are 
 ten ; one half before they are thirty-five ; two thirds 
 before they are fifty-two ; and three-fourths before 
 they are sixty-one. 
 
 For more than two thousand years after man's 
 creation, the ordinary length of human life ranged 
 above nine hundred years. After the flood it was 
 much shortened ; yet Shem lived five hundred, and 
 Terah two hundred years. In the days of Moses 
 seventy or eighty marked the maximum. Since that 
 time there has been no general variation, though 
 there have been, and still are, astonishing excep- 
 Thomas Parr reached one hundred and rit'ty- 
 two years; Henry Jenkins, one hundred and sixty- 
 nine; and Louisa Truxo, who died in 1780, was 
 one hundred and seventy-five years old, It is worthy 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 9 
 
 of note that the infant of a day and a man of sixty- 
 six years have an equal prospect of life for one 
 year. 
 
 As males arc more exposed to casualties than 
 females, there are born into the world about one 
 hundred and two males for every hundred females ; 
 and this proportion is observable the world over, if 
 we take as many as a million of people into the 
 estimate. 
 
 The human body consists of solid and fluid sub- 
 stances, variously constituted, and constantly acting 
 on each other. According to some there are nine- 
 teen, and all agree there are seventeen simple consti- 
 tuents composing the human body. These are oxy- 
 gen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sul- 
 phur, chlorine, fluorine, potassium, sodium, calcium, 
 magnesium, silicium, aluminum, iron, manganese, 
 titanium, (and some add) arsenic and copper. Some 
 of these are present in a pure state ; but most of 
 them in composition with other elements. These 
 constitute our wonderful bodies of skin, bones, mus- 
 cles, nerves, blood, tendons, etc. 
 
 The human skin consists of three layers of mem- 
 brane. The outermost, which, by heat or friction, 
 may be raised into blisters, is "a thin, continuous 
 and insensible membrane, has no perceptible blood 
 vessels or nerves, and consequently neither bleeds, 
 nor feels pain when cut or abraded." It both 
 absorbs and exhales other substances ; and yet if it 
 has pores, they cannot be discerned, even with the 
 aid of the best glasses. Its uses are to prevent fric- 
 tion of the inner layer, to moderate the impression 
 
10 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 made by external objects on the delicate nerves, to 
 preserve the undercoats of skin in a moist, flexible 
 state, and to protect the whole system from sudden 
 or extreme attacks of cold, heat or humidity. Even 
 at birth this membrane is much thicker on the palms 
 of the hands and the soles of the feet than else- 
 where, because they will be much more exposed to 
 friction. Use gives it still greater thickness and 
 toughness. The nails properly belong to this layer 
 of the skin, and like it are insensible, having neither 
 blood nor nerves. 
 
 Next to this scarf skin is another coat, which con- 
 tains the colouring matter of the skin. In most 
 races of men it is very thin, but in the African it is 
 much thicker. It permits other substances to pass 
 through it, and protects the nerves and blood ves- 
 sels which lie under it. This is the coat of skin, 
 which gives such beauty to the colour of many fishes 
 and other animals. 
 
 The true skin lies next, and is both thick and 
 heavy. It is very delicate in its structure, and is 
 full of life and sensibility. It binds and protects the 
 interior part of the body, and is itself the instrument 
 of perspiration, both sensible and insensible. 
 
 It is the seat of many nerves, and of course 
 of sensation. It is full of blood vessels, so that 
 wherever wounded, blood appears. Nor can a 
 needle penetrate it without wounding one or more 
 nerves. Its chief uses are to throw off waste mat- 
 ter from the body, to regulate the heat of the sys- 
 tem, to act as an absorbent, and to be the seat of 
 sensation. Its derangement produces the most serious 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 11 
 
 consequences ; not only frightful diseases and excru- 
 ciating pains, but death itself. 
 
 The frame covered by this skin is composed of 
 two hundred and forty-six (some say two hundred and 
 forty-eight) bones, varying exceedingly in size, shape 
 and use, but admirably adapted to the ends for which 
 they were manifestly designed. Some of these bones 
 are hollow and some solid. Some are long and 
 round, some are flat, and some short and thick. At 
 birth all of them are comparatively soft and spongy, 
 but in time most of them become hard, and some 
 of them very much so. Some of them act as levers, 
 as in the arm ; some are combined into arches of 
 great strength, as in the instep ; some serve as braces, 
 supports and girders to the frame ; some protect the 
 three great cavities of the body ; and all of them 
 united complete the frame. The bones are essential 
 to motion. Eo less than the muscles they have life, 
 and yet they are insensible to pain, unless they are 
 fractured, or their texture is destroyed. 
 
 Between the skin and the bones chiefly lie the 
 muscles, which are in number over four hundred ; 
 some of them being large, and in a full grown man 
 weighing several pounds, and others being very 
 small, not weighing more than a grain. All of 
 these muscles are capable of being considerably 
 enlarged and strengthened by use. They i onsist of 
 flesh, which, when connected with bone, is held fast 
 by fibres gathered in cartilage around the end of the 
 bone. Their chief use is to support the frame, and 
 to secure the motion of the parts and of the whole. 
 They are the power which works every lever of the 
 
12 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 body. All muscles are capable of being contracted 
 until they become rigid, and of being relaxed again, 
 so as to be at perfect rest. The muscles are also of 
 great use in circulating the blood, especially the 
 blood of the veins. This they do very effectually, 
 when we take sufficient exercise. 
 
 Closely connected with the muscles, and inter- 
 woven with them, are the nerves, of which there are 
 nine pairs, one for the nose, one for the eyes, one 
 for the ears, one for the tongue, one for digestion, 
 &c. Each pair is wholly useless for any other pur- 
 pose, than that for which it is designed. The nerves 
 of vision are not adapted to hearing. The nerves of 
 the ear give no information to the taste or smell. 
 This is well. Confusion is avoided, and we can 
 sometimes bring two, three or more senses, as so 
 many distinct witnesses to give us information of the 
 state and nature of surrounding objects. Thus we 
 may use all our .senses to examine a rose. Sight 
 gives us its hue, size and shape ; taste informs us of 
 its flavour ; the touch, of its size and smoothness ; 
 the smell, of its fragrance ; and by passing it near 
 the ear and pressing it we learn whether it is moist 
 or dry. 
 
 It is now settled that the nerves of sensation in the 
 whole system are not the same as the nerves of 
 motion. The nerves of the skin are full of sensi- 
 bility, and, when wounded, give pain, and if not 
 healed sometimes cause death. But the nerves of 
 motion, though liable to the sensation of weariness, 
 are not, in a healthy state, sensitive to pain. It is 
 a striking fact that some muscles and nerves are, in 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 13 
 
 a healthy condition, under the control of the will and 
 act only by the will, while others commonly act with- 
 out our will having anything to do with their motion. 
 Thus, the will may control the winking of the eye, 
 or the expansion of the chest ; but commonly these 
 operations arc involuntary. It is well that respira- 
 tion does not depend on an act of volition. If it 
 did, whoever slept would wake no more. It is truly 
 marvellous that the new-born infant performs the 
 whole operation of breathing w T ith as consummate 
 skill and ease as the man who has practised it for 
 fifty years. In sound, refreshing sleep the muscles 
 and nerves of motion are at rest. 
 
 In a calm and healthy person the balance between 
 muscular and nervous strength is beautifully pre- 
 served ; bnt when highly excited or seriously dis- 
 eased, the nerves often have a fearful preponderance, 
 and do not permit muscular rest. Sleep departs, 
 and, unless by some means it can be restored, de- 
 rangement and death must follow. Except when 
 the muscular and nervous systems are relaxed, as in 
 sleep, one posture for a long time is both painful and 
 injurious. Exercise is the law of our nature. This 
 should be regular, not violent, cheerful, abundant 
 and recreating. 
 
 In our bodies are many contrivances so wonderful 
 that either of them might well claim the study of a 
 year. The ear, the lungs, the hand, the heart, pre- 
 sent themselves as examples. The lungs are the 
 laboratory, where the blood is brought in convict 
 with the air, and is changed both in colour and 
 chemical qualities. The ordinary weight of the 
 
14 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 lunsra in a full crown man is three and a half 
 pounds, in a female two and three-fourth pounds. 
 They are specifically lighter than, water, as is shown 
 by then* floating in it. The two lungs are not of the 
 same size or shape ; the left being narrower and 
 lighter, has two lobes ; the right, being less, but 
 broader, has three lobes. As they respire the air, 
 they make a cracking noise, which, though seldom 
 heard by him whose they are, can be heard by 
 another when the ear is placed over the part. This 
 wonderful little machine fits the blood for use, and 
 by extracting from the atmosphere the right quantity 
 of oxygen, diffuses the proper degree of heat through 
 the system. Thus an Italian soldier was able to 
 endure a Russian campaign. Thus Sir John Ross 
 and his men, and the heroes of Dr. Kane's expedi- 
 tion could live in Polar cold. Thus a Green lander 
 might endure the high temperature of the tropics. 
 In man the lungs are better suited to all climates 
 than in any other creature. The reason is that he 
 was designed to live and travel in every degree of 
 latitude on the habitable globe. He carries his 
 warming apparatus within him, and it produces more 
 or less heat according; to his necessities. 
 
 Closely connected with the lungs, and lying 
 between them, is the heart, which in a full grown 
 man weighs about nine ounces, in a female nearly an 
 ounce less. It is not quite five inches in length, 
 three and a half in breadth, two and a half in thick- 
 ness, and has the capacity of thirty-two cubic inches. 
 One half of the heart is for arterial blood and the 
 other for venous blood. Although but slightly, if 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 15 
 
 at all, supplied with nerves of sensation, it lias to a 
 wonderful extent muscular power, and of course 
 nerves of motion. As a force pump it drives tlie 
 blood into the extremities of all the arteries ; as a 
 socking pump it draws the blood from the extremi- 
 ties of all the veins. In a healthy man it gives 
 every minute about seventy-two strokes, which arc 
 so powerful that they are felt all over the body, and 
 may be easily heard. Thus, this little engine, by day 
 and by night, from infancy till death, works on and 
 never stops, giving every hour four thousand three 
 hundred and twenty strokes ; every day one hundred 
 and three thousand six hundred and eighty strokes ; 
 every year thirty-seven million eight hundred and 
 forty-three thousand and two hundred strokes, and 
 iu seventy years the enormous sum of two billion 
 six hundred and forty-eight million and twenty-four 
 thousand strokes. 
 
 Look, too, at the hand, so curious, so various in 
 its uses, and so perfect in its structure that one of 
 the excellent volumes of the Bridgewater Treatises is 
 entirely on the hand. It greatly aids us in walking, 
 leaping, running and riding. It is essential to us in 
 climbing, swimming, carving, cutting, hammering, 
 planting, sowing ; in short in almost all domestic, 
 mechanical and agricultural pursuits. It is at once 
 capable of robust and of delicate action. With a 
 stroke it knocks down an ox, and with a delicate 
 motion it removes a cataract from the eye. With it 
 we sew, we spin, we weave, we knit, we embrace a 
 friend, repel an enemy, make, or mend, or wind a 
 watch, wield a sledge-hammer, paint, engrave, 
 
16 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 make laces or cables, practice archery, sculpture and 
 a thousand arts. "Well did the great lyric poet of 
 the Hebrews speak of the cunning of his rigid hand.. 
 No hundred or thousand of human inventions are 
 capable of so many uses, and of perfection in them 
 all, as this little machine which we carry at the end 
 of our arms. In like manner we might describe 
 each part of our corporeal system. 
 
 This body thus constituted is an incomparable 
 mechanism. Professor Henry says : 
 
 ' 'The human hotly is itself an admirably con- 
 trived complex machine, furnished with levers, pul- 
 leys, cords, valves, and other appliances for the 
 power derived from the food. It is, in fact, a loco- 
 motive engine, impelled by the same power which, 
 under another form, gives activity and energy to the 
 iron-horse of the railway. In both, the power is 
 derived from combustion of the carbon and hydro- 
 gen of the organic matter employed for food or fuel, 
 In both, the direction of power is under the influence 
 of an immaterial, thinking, willing principle, called 
 the soul. But this must not be confounded, as it 
 frequently is, with the motive power. The soul of 
 a man no more moves his body than the soul of the 
 engineer moves the locomotive and its attendant 
 train of cars. In both cases the soul is the directing, 
 controlling, not the impelling power. Let, for 
 example, a locomotive engine be placed upon the 
 track, with water in the boiler and lire in the grate ; 
 in short, with all the potentials of motion, and it 
 will still remain quiescent. In this state, let the 
 engineer enter the tender and touch the valve ; 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 17 
 
 the machine instantly becomes instinct with life and 
 volition ; it has now a soul to govern its power and 
 direct its operations ; and, indeed, as a whole, it 
 may be considered as an enormous animal, of which 
 the wheels and other parts are additions to the body 
 of the engineer." 
 
 The laws which govern the human body, are as 
 wonderful and as stable as any other laws. An 
 injury suddenly brought on may often be speedily 
 removed ; but an inveterate disease commonly re- 
 quires time, and care, and patience to remove it. 
 When necessity demands it, we may violate the 
 ordinary rules of health, perhaps with impunity, 
 * ' but it is always on condition of returning to obe- 
 dience the moment the necessity is over." 
 
 Thus we have had a little insight into the marvels, 
 delicacies and powers of our animal nature. An 
 eminent anatomist once said that if any man could 
 see how delicately his frame is constructed, he would 
 be afraid to leap, or run, or walk, or even breathe, lest 
 death should ensue. Galen said it was worth a long 
 voyage or journey to be permitted to study a human 
 skeleton. As to those who would ally the human 
 body to that of the monkey race, it seems strange 
 that they did not remember that the dog, the bea- 
 ver, the horse and the elephant excel the monkey in 
 sagacity, though not in agility ; and that the mon- 
 key cannot live except in warm or mild climates. 
 The judgment, which could harbor such a concep- 
 tion, must be as low as the taste which relishes it. 
 
 Let us next contemplate mail's intellectual nature. 
 " The intellect of Newton," says Edward Everett, 
 
18 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 1 ' which discovered the law that holds the revolving 
 worlds together, is a nobler work of God than a 
 universe of universes of unthinking matter." Many 
 of man's corporeal powers he has in common with 
 brutes. In strength, in swiftness, in power of endu- 
 rance many of them excel him. Some of them out- 
 live him, as the eagle, which reaches one hundred 
 years ; the ass, which reaches a hundred and fifty 
 years ; the elephant, which lives four hundred years ; 
 and the whale, which numbers its thousand years. 
 Some of them can fly, while man is confined to the 
 earth's surface. Some of them are amphibious, 
 while water is destructive of man's life. Whole 
 families of them can live for months without food ; 
 man must eat often. Some of them have very 
 remarkable instincts ; but none of them have any 
 thing comparable to the faculties of the human 
 mind: nor have they articulate speech, or musical 
 science. For speech they have no use ; because they 
 have no ideas, conceptions, memories, or reasonings 
 which cannot be otherwise expressed. The rabbit 
 never makes to her mate or her young any noise 
 with her mouth and lungs. Her warning is given by 
 striking her foot on the ground. Xor do any of 
 the brutes know any thing of numbers. Not one 
 of them can count. JSTor are they subject to any 
 code of moral laws ; nor have they any moral sense ; 
 nor arc they accountable ; nor do they know their 
 Maker. They are all wholly destitute of the senti- 
 ment of religion. 
 
 The mind of man is an amazing product of the 
 divine skill. Like God it is in its nature spiritual ; 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 19 
 
 but unlike God it is both created and finite, and is 
 connected with a body material, and liable to dis- 
 ease and death. For " although God is in all the 
 universe, it does not follow that he is the soul of the 
 world. The human soul is a part of a compound of 
 which the body is the other part ; and these two act 
 mutually on each other, as being the parts of the 
 same whole. But God is in the universe, not as a 
 part of the universe, but as its governor. He acts 
 on everything, but nothing has the power of action 
 on him." It is very humbling to man that his 
 highest trains of thought may be broken off by bodily 
 pain. Some diseases of the body produce delirium, 
 mania and idiocy. All mental diseases have their 
 seat in the -body, although the irregular or excessive 
 action of the mind may have first induced the bodily 
 disease, which causes insanity or imbecility of mind. 
 Among the faculties of the human mind are per- 
 ception, judgment, reason, memory, imagination 
 and taste. By these we are enabled to accomplish 
 many great results. Without attempting any scien- 
 tific description of these powers, let us see some of 
 the results effected by them. The perceptive faculty 
 of the mind operates through the five senses. The 
 sense giving us the least information perhaps is the 
 taste, and yet it is in many ways very important to 
 us. Although it may be deceived, yet it commonly 
 informs us whether an article of food is wholesome. 
 It tells us whether anything is sweet, or sour, or bit- 
 ter, or insipid, or nauseating. The sense of smell 
 often gives us information of the state of the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere, and of the odour of a thou- 
 
20 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 sand objects. Were it as acute in man as it is said 
 to be in some other creatures, his existence would 
 be miserable ; and were it as dull in man as in 
 some other creatures, his life would be in constant 
 peril. By the sense of hearing we are able to enjoy 
 conversation, oratory and music ; we are warned of 
 approaching dangers, and are made glad from infancy 
 to age by a thousand tones of tenderness and notes 
 of affection. By the sense of feeling we judge the 
 qualities and state of objects as to their size, rough- 
 ness, smoothness, hardness, temperature, &c. Vision 
 is in some respects far the noblest of all our senses. 
 It tells us of the love that beams in a friend's face, 
 of the sorrow that fills his heart, and of the hope that 
 kindles his eye. It warns us of the approach of 
 some dangers, even when miles distant. It guides 
 our feet over smooth or rugged paths. It takes in 
 at a glance many of the beauties of a landscape. 
 Quitting earth it travels millions on millions of miles 
 to myriads of distant worlds. It sees above us a 
 blazing universe, and around us beauty and sub- 
 limity in wonderful profuseness. All these senses 
 are capable of great improvement. The old sailor, 
 spy or hunter can see much farther and more keenly 
 than one untrained to descrying distant objects. 
 
 The mind of man also perceives and embraces 
 many scientific and moral truths, which are first 
 principles, so plain that to apprehend them is to 
 as at to t] iem. A very large part of our knowledge 
 has its scat in intuition. 
 
 We also gain much knowledge by experience ; 
 thai is, by seeing that certain effects follow certain 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 21 
 
 causes. Children will venture on flame and fire till 
 by experience they learn its power to burn. 
 
 So also we learn much from the testimony of 
 parents, nurses, playmates, teachers, prophets, apos- 
 tles and God himself. ISTo man has ever seen a half 
 of the places, which he believes to exist. By use, 
 we learn to discriminate between true and false 
 testimony. 
 
 Judgment is the faculty which compares one 
 thing with another, weighs evidence, examines facts, 
 assertions and principles, and so reaches conclusions. 
 The judgments of most men would be good, if they 
 had more distrust, and w T ere less swayed by passion. 
 
 Reason links thoughts, facts, events and percep- 
 tions together, building its conclusions on certain 
 probable or possible truths, and reaching results 
 oftentimes very remote from the premises admitted. 
 At other times its processes are exceedingly simple. 
 
 Of all the intellectual faculties, noue is more 
 remarkable than memory, by w r hich we treasure up 
 past experiences, perceptions and judgments. The 
 power of memory is truly admirable. Even in 
 childhood, how soon a language, and sometimes 
 several languages, are learned. "Where it is highly 
 cultivated, it often acquires an astonishing retentive- 
 ness. Some men can repeat a paragraph or short 
 discourse from reading it twice. Auctioneers have 
 been known to be able to name at the close of busy 
 hours the articles sold, the order in which they were 
 sold, the price, and the purchaser ; and all without 
 any written memorandum. Pilots on the Mississippi 
 so rely on their memories, that they can navigate 
 3 
 
22 MAN A PROOF OF THE 
 
 that noble stream for thousands of miles, rnnning 
 up or down, by day or by night, and tell at any 
 moment, unless buried in fog, where they are, and 
 what dangers surround them. Some men have 
 carried the whole doctrinal and practical truths of 
 Scripture in their memories. The memory of Adam 
 doubtless carries him back to the first day of his 
 going forth in Eden, just as distinctly as our memo- 
 ries tell us of yesterday. 
 
 The imagination carries one forward in the course 
 of duration, till he is lost in infinity. It groups 
 together pleasant or painful scenes, events and ideas, 
 until the mind is satisfied, or can bear no more. Its 
 greatest development and power are seen in the sculp- 
 tor, the painter, the poet and the eloquent orator. 
 
 By the mental faculty of taste, we determine what 
 is beautiful, comely, majestic or symmetrical in nature 
 or in art. Both taste and judgment are very depen- 
 dent on culture and exercise for any approach they 
 make towards perfection. 
 
 All these mental powers are at birth undeveloped ; 
 hut in due time, in some sooner than others, they are 
 drawn forth into some degree of vigor. Nor is 
 there any evidence that any of them will ever be 
 lost. Extravagant things may have been uttered 
 respecting the immortality of thought ; but however 
 frivolous things may perish from the mind, and pain- 
 ful things from virtuous minds, there is no reason to 
 suppose that any truly valuable or weighty thought 
 will so vanish and flee away as never under any cir- 
 cumstances again to come forth. 
 
 If we would form a just conception of the power 
 
TRUTHS OF NATURAL RELIGION. 23 
 
 of the human mind, let us dwell on the scope, variety 
 and accuracy of the attainments of Solomon, whose 
 favorite studies seem to have been zoology, botany, 
 poetry, eloquence, government, moral science and 
 theology. Look, too, at the vastness of the attain- 
 ments of such students as Newton, Locke, Milton, 
 Linnaeus, Cuvier, La Place and Sir Humphrey 
 Davy. And yet, it may well be doubted, whether 
 the actual knowledge of every man of good mind 
 in Christian lands does not exceed, both in value 
 and amount, all that any one of these has written ; 
 for none of them told us half that he knew, because 
 mankind already were in possession of it. 
 
 Though all our faculties are liable to derangement 
 and decay, on account of neglect, passion, folly, or 
 bodily disease ; yet no one has ever been able to set 
 any limit to the acquisitions men may make. AVe 
 know that man is finite, and that, compared with 
 God, he is brutish in his knowledge. But that he 
 will, in a glorified state, be making delightful and 
 everlasting progress towards perfection, is seriously 
 doubted by no one, who seeks for glory, honour, 
 immortality and eternal life. Yet man will never 
 become independent of his Maker. The hand that 
 formed him must guide his destiny. Surely the 
 mind of man is the offspring of a Being of bound- 
 less wisdom, goodness and power. And to be with- 
 out God, in this or any other world, is to be a poor, 
 forlorn, forsaken thing, a leaf driven by the winds, 
 a fool and a madman. Separated from God, angels 
 sunk and shrivelled into devils. Therefore, 
 
 1. The foundations laid in God's works for all 
 
24 MAN A PROOF OF NATURAL RELIGION. 
 
 the truths of natural religion is broad and solid. It 
 is perfectly clear that God is, and that he is wise, 
 and good, and mighty. The universe has a Father, 
 a Protector. If in immensity we could find no 
 proof of these things but in man alone, the argu- 
 ment would be irrefragable. 
 
 2. We have a blessed theme for grateful and ador- 
 ing songs to the kind Author of our being. Well 
 did David say, "I will praise thee, fori am fearfully 
 and wonderfully made ; marvellous are thy works, 
 and that my soul knoweth right well." "Blessed 
 be God," said Ilalyburton, "that ever I was born." 
 
 3. These things being so, reigning levity is folly, 
 is a crime, and seriousness is rational, even solem- 
 nity is wise. It is sad and vile to make no higher 
 use of our noble powers than to glitter like the but- 
 terfly, or indulge our animal appetites like the brutes. 
 He must be guilty, who has eyes and does not see, 
 ears and does not hear, a mind and does not know, 
 a heart and does not feel. 
 
 4. Prayer is reasonable. It is a natural duty. It 
 results from man's dependence. His very helpless- 
 ness should make him lift up his voice to the Father 
 of spirits, who is also the Father of mercies; and 
 pours countless blessings on his offspring. He 
 feeds the young ravens, clothes the grass ; and he 
 can feed and clothe us. He gave us our being. He 
 is perfect Master of our existence. We can of our- 
 selves no more cease to exist, than we could in non- 
 entity originate our being. He that made us will 
 not annihilate us. Let us never be ashamed to look 
 up to his eternal and propitious throne. 
 
TIIE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 
 
 If the Bible is not the word of God, it is certain 
 that man has no revelation from heaven. The books 
 esteemed sacred by the Mohametans and Hindoos 
 are not worthy of even a good man, much less of 
 God. So that the world has no true and saving 
 light from heaven unless it is found in the holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 It is not the object of this chapter to give even an 
 outline of the ordinary and irrefragable course of 
 argument employed to establish the divine origin 
 and authority of the Scriptures. If the reader 
 wishes to see such an extended view of this matter, 
 he is referred to Spring's < 'Bible not of Man," ' 'Keith 
 on the Prophecies," " Soame Jenyn's Evidences," 
 Mcllvaine's " Evidences of Christianity," Nelson's 
 " Cause and Cure of Infidelity," and a small work 
 by the author of this volume, entitled "The Bible 
 True, and Infidelity Wicked." See also "Alexan- 
 der's Evidences," and Fuller's " Gospel its own Wit- 
 ness." The present design is to suggest a few trains 
 of thought, which may be useful to plain people, who 
 have but little time for reading or learned inquiry. 
 
 None will deny that the Bible claims to be the 
 word of God. The phrase, "Thussaith the Lord?" 
 3* 
 
26 THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 
 
 is of very frequent occurrence. A great variety of 
 sayings of like import is found in the sacred volume ; 
 such as, * 'Holy men of God spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost ;" " The word of the Lord came 
 unto me," &c, &c. 
 
 All these things are found in a volume, which 
 reserves its heaviest woes and maledictions for false 
 prophets and false teachers, who corrupt God's word, 
 add to it, or take from it. So that if the prophets, 
 evangelists and apostles were not divinely inspired 
 to write the various books of the Bible, they were, 
 by their own showing, among the worst men that 
 ever lived, and deserving of the sorest plagues 
 reserved for atrocious sinners. But does the history 
 of Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John and Paul 
 show that they were unprincipled and infamous liars 
 and impostors ? 
 
 If Christianity is not true, even its enemies admit 
 that no delusion ever before produced so remarkably 
 happy effects in subduing the fierceness of men, in 
 awakening a spirit of improvement, in elevating the 
 humble and in consoling the distressed. 
 
 One thing respecting Christianity has often and 
 fitly been noticed. The more severe the trials and 
 sufferings of its followers, the more abundantly have 
 they been sustained. Many have manifested but 
 ordinary strength and courage, till they were sub- 
 jected to cruel mockings or terrible tortures. Then 
 their heroism has been undaunted and their patience 
 wonderful. False systems often promise well in 
 prosperity ; but in adversity their folly is commonly 
 manifest. 
 
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 27 
 
 Nor can it be denied that there have been no more 
 acute and sagacious people, whether persons or 
 nations, than those who have embraced the Scrip- 
 tures as the word of God. Nor has any people ever 
 improved its civil, social or moral state by rejecting 
 Christianity and embracing any form of infidelity. 
 On the other hand many have arisen fnm a very 
 low state by the power of God's truth made known 
 in Scripture. It has revolutionized their entire con- 
 dition and changed their prospects for time and 
 eternity. 
 
 There are several short methods of stating the 
 argument, which have never been fairly met. Here 
 is one from John Wesley : * ' I beg leave to propose 
 a short, clear and strong argument to prove the 
 divine inspiration of the holy Scriptures. The Bible 
 must come either from good men or angels, from 
 bad men or devils, or from God. It could not be 
 the invention of good men or angels, for they 
 neither would nor could make a book, and tell lies 
 all the time they were writing it, saying, 'Thus 
 saith the Lord,' when it was their own invention. 
 It could not be the invention of bad men or devils, 
 for they would not and could not make a book, 
 which commands all duty, forbids all sin, and con- 
 demns their souls to hell to all eternity. I therefore 
 draw the conclusion that the Bible must have been 
 given by divine inspiration." 
 
 Another short mode of reasoning is this. Every 
 effect must have an adequate cause. This is as true 
 of moral as of physical changes. On this principle 
 we ought to seek a cause fit to produce those happy 
 
28 THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 
 
 transformations of character, often witnessed where 
 the gospel is made known. One has briefly stated 
 the cass thus : " There was a man who started from 
 Jerusalem towards Damascus, on a mission of per- 
 secution and murder, proud, cruel, vindictive. He 
 came from Damascus with a heart yearning towards 
 all mankind, with the humility of a child, and with 
 affections as tender as a woman's love. He went 
 towards Damascus with an intellect narrowed down 
 to a rapier's point, and harder than its steel. He 
 came from Damascus with an intellect broadened 
 and fused with divine fire, and with a logic so invin- 
 cible, and with its links so warm with the Holy 
 Ghost, that it moulded the thought of the world for 
 eighteen centuries." Paul always regarded, and 
 more than once stated his conversion as a demon- 
 stration of the truth of God's word. 
 
 The challenge of Lactantius has stood for fifteen 
 hundred years unanswered : ' ' Give me a man of pas- 
 sionate, abusive, headstrong disposition ; with a few 
 only of the words of God, I will make him gentle 
 as a lamb. Give me a greedy, avaricious, tenacious 
 wretch ; and I will teach him to distribute his riches 
 with a liberal and unsparing hand. Give me a cruel 
 and bloodthirsty monster ; and all his rage shall be 
 changed into true benignity. Give me a man 
 addicted to injustice, full of ignorance, and immersed 
 in wickedness ; he shall soon become just, prudent 
 and innocent." 
 
 This transforming pow r er of God's word has been 
 noticed and celebrated in all ages. "The law of the 
 Lord is perfect, converting the soul," Its renewing 
 
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 29 
 
 energy is as great now as it ever was. The king of 
 the Eeejce Islands, once a fierce and cruel cannibal, 
 is now a preacher of the gospel of peace and love. 
 The word of God was never more lively or power- 
 ful than it has proven itself to be in the history of 
 modern missions. What miracles of mercy it has 
 wrought in Greenland, in South Africa, in the 
 islands of the sea, in fact, all over the earth. Eead 
 the history of the planting and growth of Christian 
 Churches in many places. 
 
 The gospel exerts no merely vague and general 
 influence. It lays hold of individuals, and by renew- 
 ing them improves society. Thus the work is tho- 
 rough, and thus a little leaven leaveneth the whole 
 lump. The following narrative has found its way 
 into several publications : 
 
 "In 1787, the ship Bounty sailed from England 
 to the Pacific, in quest of young bread-fruit trees to 
 be replanted in the West Indies. On her way 
 home, the crew mutinied, placed the master and 
 eighteen others in a frail open boat, with scanty pro- 
 visions, and committed them to the mercy of the 
 ocean. Strange to tell, that boat accomplished 
 a voyage of more than four thousand miles, and 
 reached England in safety. The mutineers, twenty- 
 five in number, set sail for some island in the Paci- 
 fic. They quarrelled and separated. About half 
 of the whole number were captured by an English 
 vessel-of-war, carried home and hung in irons. 
 Nine of these desperadoes went to Tahiti, took on 
 board nineteen natives — seven men and twelve 
 women — and sailed for some uninhabited island in 
 
30 THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 
 
 the ocean. They found one, Pitcairn's Island. 
 Shortly after landing, the Tahiti an men murdered 
 five of the mutineers, upon which the twelve women 
 rose at night, and killed their seven countrymen. 
 Of the four remaining mutineers, one invented a 
 distillery, and becoming delirious, leaped from a 
 cliff into the sea, and was lost. Another was shot 
 for attempting to destroy his messmates. Of the 
 two then left, one died a natural death, and the 
 other, named John Adams, alone survived. Here 
 their hiding place was undisturbed till 1814, when 
 it was visited, and also in 1825. Strange altera- 
 tions had taken place. The number of inhabitants 
 had increased to seventy. There was no debauchery 
 among them. Good order prevailed. Filial affec- 
 tion and brotherly love pervaded the entire society. 
 The blessing of God was invoked on every meal. 
 Prayer was offered every morning, noon and even- 
 ing. The laws of civilized society were in force. 
 The rights of property were respected. A simple 
 and pure morality was prevalent. How was this ? 
 What had made the change? Had vice wrought 
 its own cure ? Had there been some good princi- 
 ples combined with the mutiny and murder, the 
 heathenism and devilish passions, which the gang 
 had been guilty of? No. These evils never 
 work their own cure, except by consuming, like a 
 fire, their own materials. 
 
 "The cause of the change was this. Adams had 
 saved, hid and preserved a Bible, and, when his 
 comrades were dead, he studied it, embraced its 
 promises, believed God's testimony concerning his 
 
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 31 
 
 Son, was converted ; read and taught its truths to 
 his family and neighbours ; and God blessed his 
 own word to their conversion also. That very Bible 
 is now in this country. It is a small volume, printed 
 in 1765. The salt sea and the salt tears of old 
 Adams, have taken away its gloss, and dimmed its 
 print; but it contains God's testimony of Jesus. 
 That was the secret of its power. The worm has 
 eaten it through and through ; but the glad tidings 
 to sinners can still be read in it. That Bible has 
 travelled round the globe, has been the means of 
 reforming a whole community of out-laws, and still 
 lives to proclaim its divine original and its life-giving 
 power. When Adams was brought to his death, he 
 was old in years, but strong in faith. The friends of 
 the old salt collected around him and asked, 'Well, 
 John, what cheer?' 'Land ahead,' was his char- 
 acteristic reply. After a few days, they again gath- 
 ered around him and said, 'Well, John, how now V 
 'Rounding the point into the harbor,' he replied. 
 At last he lay upon his dying pillow, and his rela- 
 tives were standing all around in tears, and yet in 
 hope. One said, 'Brother, how now?' 'Let go the 
 anchor,' was his dying exclamation, and he fell asleep." 
 This amazing power in a book to renew and re- 
 form, to sanctify and bless men, is confined to the 
 Bible, and to books whose doctrines and principles 
 are drawn from God's word. Cicero wrote elo- 
 quently, and often justly, respecting the nature of 
 God, and our moral duties. But who was ever 
 thereby converted from sin to holiness, from Satan 
 unto God? 
 
32 THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 
 
 Nor is the transforming power of the truth con- 
 fined to any one doctrine, text, chapter or book of 
 Scripture. So far from this you may live a half 
 century, and you will hardly find two men, whose 
 awakening, conviction or conversion, seems to have 
 been by the divine blessing on precisely the same 
 truth. Paul never knew himself till he saw the 
 spiritual meaning of the tenth commandment. 
 Horn, vii : 7. The Ethiopian treasurer found sav- 
 ing light in the fifty- third chapter of Isaiah. "Poor 
 Joseph's" creed was very short, nor could he be per- 
 suaded to lengthen it. It was long enough to give 
 him hope and peace: "It is a faithful saying that 
 CI i rist Jesus came into the world to save sinners of 
 whom I am chief." 
 
 Nor does the efficacy of Scripture depend on the 
 greatness of him who utters it. A little child has 
 often repeated a truth of God's word with irresisti- 
 ble power. Paul, the prisoner, clanking his chain, 
 made Felix tremble. In the early part of this cen- 
 tury, there was a mission school at Cornwall, Con- 
 no •t'n.-ut. Among the heathen youth brought to 
 it was Thomas Hoopoo, of the South Sea Islands. 
 When he had been in this country about two years, 
 he took a journey with a friend, and spent an even- 
 ing in a select company, where many questions were 
 proposed to him by an irreligious lawyer to get his 
 amusing answers. At length Thomas said, "lam 
 a pi >or heathen boy. It is not strange that my blun- 
 ders in English should amuse you. But soon there 
 will be a larger meeting than this. We shall all be 
 there. They will ask us all one question, viz ; 'Do 
 
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 33 
 
 you love the Lord Jesus Christ V Now, sir, I think 
 I can say, Yes. What will you say, sir?" He 
 ceased: a solemn silence prevailed. The stillness 
 was awful. At length the lawyer proposed that the 
 evening be closed with suitable devotions, in which 
 Thomas should lead. He did so, in a meek and 
 affectionate manner. Soon he prayed for the lawyer, 
 alluding to his talents and learning, and besought 
 God to teach him the way of salvation by a Re- 
 deemer. At length the lawyer sobbed aloud. Soon 
 the company dispersed. But there was no sleep for 
 that lawyer. The question of this poor boy from 
 the sea-girt island, "What will you say, sir?" had 
 pierced his soul. He walked his room in anguish. 
 Ere long he was led to cast himself at the feet of 
 the Redeemer. So out of the mouth of babes and 
 sucklings God's word has strength, and stills the 
 voice of the gainsayer, and renews the temper of 
 his mind. 
 
 The general nature of the argument from mira- 
 cles is, that none but God can work miracles ; and 
 that a God of truth will not work a miracle to estab- 
 lish a falsehood. The evidence that miracles have 
 been wrought in attestation of the teachings of 
 Scripture is as clear and as abundant as that in 
 ancient times there were such men as Cyrus, Alex- 
 ander and Caesar, or that there were such cities as 
 Rome, Carthage and Corinth. To us the evi- 
 dence is historical in all these cases. There are 
 extant more historical monuments of the miracles 
 of Christ and of his apostles, than there are that 
 Cyrus captured Babylon, or that Csesar conquered 
 
34 THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 
 
 Gaul. Xor is there one scrap of history for three 
 hundred years after the birth of Christ denying or 
 tending to disprove his miracles. 
 
 The general nature of the argument from pro- 
 phecy may be thus stated. jSFone but God fore- 
 knows all things. A good God will not lend his 
 prescience to deceive mankind into the belief of 
 a lie. The prophecies are of three kinds ; first, such 
 as are completely fulfilled, as the death of Christ, the 
 destruction of Babylon, of Tyre and of Jerusalem ; 
 secondly, such as are now in a course of fulfilment, 
 as those respecting the dispersion of the Jews, the 
 treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles, and the 
 spread of the gospel ; tliir&hj, prophecies, no part of 
 which is fulfilled, as the resurrection of all the dead 
 and a general judgment. It is only the first two 
 classes of the prophetical writings that are to us 
 proofs of the divinity of Scripture. Even if there 
 were room for doubt respecting the authorship of 
 particular prophetical books, or the precise manner 
 of their transmission to us, that would no more 
 invalidate the argument drawn from them than the 
 same doubts would weaken the testimony of history 
 respecting Cataline or Pompey. The fact of certain 
 predictions, and of their dire or glorious fulfilment 
 cannot be denied, without defying all the laws of 
 evidence. 
 
 I conclude this line of hints of argument, by 
 stating that in support of the truth that the Bible is 
 God's word we have every appropriate kind of evi- 
 dence. We have miracles ; we have prophecies ; 
 we have a matchless and perfect code of morals ; we 
 
THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. 35 
 
 have the only system that teaches the true nature of 
 God, the true principles of his government, and the 
 only way of salvation hy a Redeemer ; we have holi- 
 ness to the Lord written on every book ; we have the 
 perfect agreement of all the parts ; we have the 
 incomparable character of Christ ; we have the faith- 
 ful history of his disciples and apostles; and we have 
 the continued power of the gospel over those who 
 truly and humbly receive and obey it. It is incredi- 
 ble that all these kinds of evidence should unite to 
 support a falsehood and encourage us to believe a 
 lie. 
 
36 THE SCRIPTURE IS 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SCRIPTURE IS UNCHANGING AND UNFAILING. 
 
 In man meet the strangest opposites. He is both 
 mortal and immortal. A creature of yesterday, he 
 shall henceforth have an existence parallel with that 
 of God. He is finite, yet has boundless desires 
 within him, and boundless prospects before him. 
 Capable of communion with the God of heaven, he 
 spends much of his life in low pursuits. Destined 
 to a changeless state beyond the grave, he is now lia- 
 ble to sudden and serious mutations He is born, 
 he weeps, he grows, he sleeps, he eats, he drinks, 
 he rejoices, he mourns, he is sick, he is well, he 
 lives and he dies. His life is sure of nothing but 
 sin, and pain, and change. The infant, the boy, the 
 youth, the man and the aged sire, though the same 
 person, frequently cannot be recognized, even by 
 maternal love. All flesh is grass, and all the glory 
 of man as the flower of the field. We all do fade 
 as a leaf. Our foundation is in the dust. Our clays 
 are as an handbreadth. Seconds, minutes, hours 
 and days, yea, months, years, centuries and cycles 
 arc passing with incredi-ble speed. The fact that 
 we have lived long tells the reason why we must die 
 soon. "Life is all expenditure. We have it, but 
 as continually losing it." Men count since the crea- 
 
UNCHANGING AND UNFAILING. 37 
 
 tion one hundred and ninety-four generations, who 
 have already passed through time into eternity. 
 
 Man's knowledge is almost as variable as his life. 
 None was ever more than once a man, but many a 
 one has been twice a child. Every man at fifty has 
 forgotten more than he knows. 
 
 Man's judgments of a thousand things vary with 
 his age, his experience, his instruction and his tem- 
 perament. In youth he believes almost everything 
 told him by respectable people. In middle age he 
 suspects the truth of half he hears. In old age he 
 believes hardly anything unless he is a Christian and 
 believes God's word. All merely human knowledge 
 is fleeting. 
 
 Even the greatest material structures of mortals 
 vanish away. Where is the tower of Babel ? To 
 whom or of what are the pyramids of Egypt a mon- 
 ument ? The evershifting sands of Africa threaten 
 to bury them up. "Where are Tyre and Bagdad and 
 Sodom and Gomorrah ? Presently all these mate- 
 rial structures and the everlasting mountains and the 
 perpetual hills shall melt like wax and consume into 
 smoke before the all-dissolving heat of the last con- 
 flagration. 
 
 Nor are earthly political fabrics more stable. 
 Four universal monarchies have risen, and crumbled, 
 and disappeared. Not a vestige of them remains. 
 The world is this day as quiet, as if it had never felt 
 the footsteps, nor feared the stroke of Pharaoh, 
 Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Sennacherib, Alex- 
 ander, Csesar, Charlemagne or Aleric. No man 
 cares for them now. No man fears them now. 
 4* 
 
38 THE SCRIPTURE IS 
 
 Once they smote the earth with a continual stroke. 
 They ruled the nations in anger ; but where are they 
 now? 
 
 Moreover, the heavens and the earth are transi- 
 tory. They shall perish and vanish like smoke. All 
 nature shall be dissolved, and time shall be no longer. 
 
 In the midst of these changes, decays and revolu- 
 tions, the mind eagerly looks around for something 
 solid, stable, permanent. And what does it find ? 
 It hears a voice saying : "I am the Lord ; I change 
 not." It looks further and finds this unchangeable 
 Jehovah saying, " My counsel, it shall stand." Then 
 one inspired writer says : * ' For ever, Lord, thy 
 word is settled in heaven," (Ps. 119 : 89 ;) another : 
 " The word of our God shall stand for ever," (Isa. 
 40 : 8 ;) another : " The word of the Lord endureth 
 for ever,"(l Peter 1 : 25 ;) and then from the lips of 
 the Son of God comes forth the blessed assurance : 
 "My words shall not pass away," (Luke 21 : 33.) 
 Blessed be God ! there is something fixed, something 
 reliable. Let us look at a few particulars. 
 
 1. The rule of duty is, and ever will be, unchange- 
 able. Jesus himself said : * ' Till heaven and earth 
 pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from 
 the law till all be fulfilled." (Matt, 5 : 18 ; Luke 
 16 : 17.) The context shows that Christ was speak- 
 ing of the moral law. Being perfect, it could not 
 be changed but for the worse. It is, and was, and 
 ever shall be the duty of all rational creatures to love 
 (;<><! with all the heart, mind, soul and strength, and 
 their fellows as themselves. This is the law in hea- 
 ven and on earth. To disregard it anywhere is sin. 
 
UNCHANGING AND UNFAILING. 39 
 
 To obey it everywhere is a duty. Blessed be God ! 
 his law is eternal. 
 
 2. And his gospel is everlasting. (Rev. 4:6.) 
 It is unchangeably true that the soul that sinneth it 
 shall die. It is as unalterably certain that he who 
 looks to Jesus, and believes and rests on him alone 
 for salvation, shall be saved. The blood of the lamb 
 or bullock offered in sacrifice must be used for 
 sprinkling, while it was warm, else it was unfit for 
 the service. But the blood of Christ shall never 
 lose its atoning power, his merits never lose their 
 value, his intercession never lose its prevalence. 
 From age to age, to the end of the world, and for 
 ever, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life ; 
 the surety of his people, the one shepherd, the sole 
 and sufficient author of salvation, the only and the 
 sure foundation on which a sinner may build his 
 hopes for eternity. 
 
 3. In like manner all the promises of God are 
 unchangeable. Whatever God freely engaged to do 
 or to give to believers under former dispensations 
 he fulfils to his people under the gospel ; and all the 
 covenant engagements with believers made person- 
 ally by Christ, and through his apostles, shall also 
 stand for ever ; for * 8 God, willing more abundantly 
 to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of 
 his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two 
 immutable things, in which it was impossible for 
 God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who 
 have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set 
 before us." (Heb. 6 : 17, 18.) The amazing full- 
 ness and unchanging stability of the promises render 
 
40 THE SCRIPTURE IS 
 
 doubt unreasonable and despondency sinful ; for they 
 are fixed as the throne of God, and the believer may 
 shout and make his boast in the Lord for ever ; for 
 he hath spoken good concerning his saints, and 
 peace concerning all the meek of the earth. 
 
 4. Nor are God's threatenings variable. They 
 speak a terrible language, the more terrible because 
 perfectly just. The fufilling of God's threatenings 
 is necessary in many ways to the comfort of the 
 saints. One of them is that the "wicked shall be 
 turned into hell." If God executes not this awful 
 sentence, we can have no certainty that even in a 
 future state the wicked shall cease from troubling, 
 and the weary shall be at rest. Read the minatory 
 clauses God has uttered against idolatry, Sabbath 
 breaking and filial impiety ; against profaneness, 
 murder, adultery, lying, covetousness and unbelief, 
 and know that they are righteous, and will surely be 
 executed ; and then judge if it is wise to do aught 
 presumptuously or to live like a beast and sin like a 
 devil. 
 
 5. Nor are the doctrines of Scripture variable. 
 Some books of the Bible are more full and satisfac- 
 tory than others on particular matters ; but there is 
 no contradiction, and there is no variation. From 
 first to last the sacred writers maintain the unity of 
 God, subsisting in a Trinity of persons, the Father, 
 Son and Holy Ghost. They as clearly teach the 
 infinitude of his being and perfections. They as- 
 sert not only his freedom from passions and bodily 
 parts, but his absolute and uncreated spirituality, 
 his immensity, eternity, omnipotence, omnipresence, 
 
UNCHANGING AND UNFAILING. 41 
 
 omniscience, holiness, love, sovereignty and right- 
 eousness. They declare that he is gracious, merciful, 
 long suffering, abundant in goodness and faitliful- 
 ness, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin ; hating 
 evil, loving purity, rewarding the upright, punishing 
 the guilty, self-existent, and consequently indepen- 
 dent, an infallible and glorious God. They as clearly 
 assert that he governs the world, and that by a plan 
 wise and perfect j that he controls everything to the 
 good of his people, and the glory of his name ; that 
 saints and angels, men and devils, all causes and all 
 agents, yea, and chance itself, are under his control. 
 They also teach, without variation, that man is by 
 nature a sinner, lost, guilty and helpless ; and that 
 his recovery is entirely by the mediation and finished 
 work of Christ the Mediator, and by the power Of 
 the Holy Ghost ; that justification is free, by grace 
 alone ; that regeneration is renewal by the efficiency 
 of the Holy Spirit ; that the only standard of holi- 
 ness is the moral law ; that he, who hates not and 
 shuns not sin, is an enemy of God, and that perse- 
 verance in holiness is essential to salvation. In like 
 manner all the doctrines of Scripture are unvarying. 
 6. So also the prophecies of Scripture are always 
 fulfilled. Appearances may deceive some ; but when 
 did an inspired prediction fail ? Yonder is Tyre, the 
 emporium of Phoenicia, and mistress of the com- 
 merce between the oriental and western world. She 
 sits like a queen on the sea. She is proud and 
 defiant. She exults at the downfall of Jerusalem. 
 A prophet of Jehovah, B. C. 588 years, in the name 
 of Jehovah, cries, "Tyre shall be a place for the 
 
42 THE SCRIPTURE IS 
 
 spreading of nets in the midst of the sea." (Ezek. 
 26 : 5, 14. No star shoots angrily across the hea- 
 vens ; no volcanic eruption makes the earth reel and 
 stagger like a drunken man ; no eclipse covers the 
 sun in sackcloth ; hut the doom of Tyre is sealed. 
 Down she goes, and no power can save her. For 
 centuries down to this day, travellers who have vis- 
 ited the site of this former mistress of commerce, 
 have seen nothing more inviting than a few wretched 
 fishermen's huts, with a few fish and nets spread 
 out to dry. "Look at Babylon," says President 
 Hopkins, "Who is it that stands before its walls 
 and utters its doom ? It is a despised Jew. And 
 who is he that walks in pride upon these walls, and 
 as he points to that mighty city as the centre of 
 civilization and power, as combining every advan- 
 tage of climate and of commerce, mocks at that 
 doom ? It is a politician of those days. The voice 
 of the prophet is uttered and it seems to pass idly upon 
 the wind. The eye of sense sees no effect. No 
 clouds gather, no lightnings descend. But that voice 
 was not in vain. The waters of desolation heard it 
 in their distant caves, and never ceased to rise till 
 they had whelmed palace, and tower, and temple in 
 one undistinguished ruin. Even now that voice 
 abides there, and hangs as a spirit of the air over the 
 desolation, and the Arabian hears it, warning him 
 not to pitch his tent there ; and the wild beast of the 
 desert, and the owl and the satyr hear it, and come 
 up and dwell and dance there." 
 
 Then we have prophecies partly fulfilled, yet to be 
 followed in due time by great enlargement. Such 
 
UNCHANGING AND UNFAILING. 43 
 
 are those concerning the calling of the nations to 
 embrace the gospel. Such is the prediction of our 
 Saviour respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, an 
 event so dreadful that it finds its antitype only in the 
 end of the world, into which Christ merges it. The 
 first has been fulfilled to a jot and tittle. The latter 
 shall be. So true is every inspired prediction that 
 one may as reasonably expect the throne of God to 
 crumble and fall, as for one word of good or evil 
 foretold ever to vary, ever to fail. " God cannot 
 lie." 
 
 The reason of this stability in the Scriptures is 
 found in three great facts. One is, that God him- 
 self is the same. In God is nothing varying. 
 " Thou art the same," is a great truth and a great 
 fact. With the Most High is no variableness nor 
 shadow of turning. 
 
 Another is, that truth is ever the same. Error 
 and falsehood are ever shifting like sands in the 
 desert, like clouds in the sky. But truth is immuta- 
 ble. Fashions may change, governments be remod- 
 elled, and empires waste away ; but truth, simple 
 and candid, bold and upright, is subject to no muta- 
 tions. ISTo state of case can ever make two and two 
 five. Do what you will, it is of the very nature of 
 fire to burn. It is no less certain that the nature of 
 sin is to kill the soul, and of obedience to God to be 
 the highest wisdom, as well as a binding duty. 
 
 The third is, that God's honour is at stake. His 
 whole nature stands pledged to fulfil all he has 
 spoken. His glory lies very near his heart. He 
 can never be indifferent to the just judgment formed 
 
44 THE SCRIPTURE IS 
 
 of him by his creatures. He is able to do all he 
 has promised or threatened. He has wisdom enough 
 to subvert all the devices of his enemies. He has 
 inflexible justice, and so he can never swerve from 
 what is right. His mercy is as large as his holiness 
 is spotless. All his attributes are perfections ; all 
 support his throne ; all maintain his word. " God 
 
 CANNOT LIE." 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. Base is the sin and frightful is the power of 
 unbelief. We receive the witness of men, yet the 
 witness of God is greater. He can neither deceive 
 nor be deceived. Yet how slow are men to credit 
 his words. Lord, increase our faith. For Jesus' 
 sake by the power of thy spirit break the strength 
 of our wicked incredulity. " Power to conform the 
 understanding, will and heart to Scripture, is as 
 much a gift from heaven as Scripture itself." 
 
 2. If such are the facts of the case, then unbelief 
 is as dangerous as it is sinful. That lord of Sama- 
 ria, who would not credit the word of Jehovah, was 
 trodden down in the gate and terribly perished for his 
 sin. God will not excuse or connive at any question- 
 ing of his veracity. To doubt his word is to im- 
 peach his truth. To disbelieve his oath is to accuse 
 him of perjury. 0, let the potsherd strive with the 
 potsherds of the earth; but wo to him that striv- 
 eth with his Maker. 
 
 8. It is wise ever and unfalteringly to trust God, 
 and rely on his word. He never deceives. To 
 
UNCHANGING AND UNFAILING. 45 
 
 faith lie always gives what it asks, or something 
 better. On his dying bed Payson said to his daugh- 
 ter : " You will avoid much pain and anxiety, if 
 you will learn to trust all your concerns in God's 
 hands. ' Cast all your care upon him, for he 
 careth for you.' But if you merely go and say that 
 you cast your care upon him, you will come away 
 with the load on your shoulders." How can a worm 
 carry mountains unless God holds him up and girds 
 him with might ? 
 
 4. Eternal things may well rest with a vast weight 
 on the mind of a wise man. What are the fleeting 
 vanities of earth compared with the durable realities 
 of the world to come ? This life is a dream. The 
 next, so clearly revealed in Scripture, has the attri- 
 bute of eternity. 
 
 The past, where is it ? It has fled. 
 The future ? It may never come. 
 Our friends departed ? With the dead. 
 Ourselves ? Fast hastening to the tomb. 
 "What are earth's joys ? The dews of morn. 
 Its honours ? Ocean's wreathing foam. 
 Where's peace ? In trials meekly borne. 
 And joy ? In heaven, the Christian's home. 
 
46 god's nature and ways 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 god's nature and ways are unsearchable. 
 
 Because the nature of God is the foundation of 
 all true religion, and his will the rule of all accep- 
 table worship, the knowledge of him is of the 
 greatest importance. "Without it the people perish. 
 Total ignorance here is total ruin. But to know 
 God, and Jesus Christ, whom he sent, is eternal 
 life. To see and acknowledge God in all our ways 
 is an essential part of genuine piety. To fail in so 
 doing is no small part of human wickedness. Our 
 thoughts cannot he too devoutly turned to him, who 
 is in all, and through all, and above all, and over 
 all, God blessed forever. 
 
 Nor is the mysteriousness of the divine nature 
 and government any reason why we should not seek 
 to learn what may be known concerning them. To 
 the carnal and unbelieving the darkness around the 
 nature and ways of God is an occasion of stumb- 
 ling ; but to those who are taught from above, it 
 brings pious confidence, deep humility and adoring 
 reverence. Give one the spirit of adoption and self- 
 renunciation, and he cannot be frightened from the 
 presence of his Maker, either by the lustre or the dark- 
 ness round about his throne. Sages have explored 
 this subject till wisdom fell asleep over her lesson, 
 
ARE UNSEARCHABLE. 47 
 
 and pride rose up and uttered great swelling words 
 of vanity and blasphemy ; but the humble child of 
 God, thirsting for divine knowledge and sitting at 
 the feet of Jesus, has learned more than the ancients, 
 and has become w T ise unto salvation." 
 
 In the nature and ways of God, there is much 
 that is incomprehensible. This ought neither to 
 be denied nor doubted ; For, 
 
 1. It is agreed on all hands that the adorable first 
 person of the Trinity, the Father, is, and must ever 
 be beyond the grasp of our senses and faculties. 
 He is the King eternal, immortal, invisible. No 
 man has seen God at any time. No man can see 
 his face and live. He makes darkness his pavil- 
 ions round about him, dark waters, and thick 
 clouds of the skies. 
 
 It is alike true that the third person of the God- 
 head, the Holy Ghost, is, and ever will be beyond 
 the direct and immediate notice of all creatures. 
 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou near- 
 est the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
 cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that 
 is born of the Spirit." He broods over the face of 
 nature ; garnishes the heavens ; converts the soul ; 
 opens our eyes that we may behold wondrous things 
 out of God's word ; sanctifies our affections ; fills 
 the saints with joy ; fits God's people for glory ; 
 divides his gifts severally as he will ; and yet we 
 "know not the way of the Spirit." We never saw 
 him, and we- never shall see him, as disembodied 
 spirits see each other. We may know him by 
 his word and works, by his enlightening, sanctify- 
 
48 god's nature and ways 
 
 ing and comforting influences, but never by sight 
 or sense. He is far beyond the grasp of both our 
 bodily and mental faculties. 
 
 ! The brightest manifestation of the Godhead ever 
 yet made, or ever to be made, is in and by the incar- 
 nation of the Son of God, the second person in the 
 Trinity. We may behold his glory, the glory as 
 of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
 truth. But we can go no further. For all practi- 
 cal purposes this manifestation is sufficient. It is 
 clear and glorious, yet not intolerable by reason of 
 excessive brightness. Christ said, "He that hath 
 seen me hath seen the Father." Thus he taught 
 us that the best possible discovery we could make of 
 the divinity, was through the veil of his own flesh. 
 But even in Christ the Godhead shone forth under 
 great obscuration. The transfiguration, the ascen- 
 sion in a bright cloud, his appearance to Saul of 
 Tarsus after his ascension, and the glory,, la which 
 John the divine saw him many yearn later, may 
 give us some faint conception of the effulgence of 
 his everlasting person. But mortals know him 
 chiefly by his works, teachings and sufferings. 
 Thousands saw him with their bodily eyes, and 
 knew no more of God than before. So that we 
 may safely say that God is, and ever shall be, wholly 
 unperceivable by any of our senses or faculties. If 
 any object that it is promised that the pure in heart 
 "shall see God;" but that does not teach that they 
 shall meet God face to face, and behold his unveiled 
 divinity ; but that they shall enjoy God as revealed 
 in his word, and works, and ordinances, in the per- 
 
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 son of his Son, and by the power of bis Spirit. 
 In Scripture, to "Bee good days," is to enjoy them; 
 and to "gee life," is to enjoy life. Now whatever 
 eludes all our senses and faculties, is to us necessa- 
 rily clad with mysteriousness. Whatever is con- 
 cealed from every perceptive power, excludes the 
 possibilty of original knowledge. In such case, 
 learning without instruction is impossible. The dif- 
 ficulty increases every step we take towards that 
 which is in its nature boundless. But when our 
 thoughts go out after him, who is absolutely infi- 
 nite, we are soon wrapped in an obscurity which no 
 created faculties can penetrate. 
 
 2. The unsearchableness of God's nature and 
 ways is often asserted in Scripture. A short selec- 
 tion of pertinent texts is sufficient to establish this 
 point: "Canst thou by searching find out God? 
 canst thou find out the Almighty uuto perfection ? 
 It is high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? deeper 
 than hell ; what canst thou know ? The measure 
 thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than 
 the sea : God doeth great things and unsearchable, 
 marvellous things without number : He is wise in 
 heart and mighty in strength ; He doeth great 
 things past finding out, yea, and wonders without 
 number : How little a portion is heard of him : He 
 giveth not account of any of his matters : We can- 
 not order our speech by reason of darkness : With 
 God is terrible majesty: Touching the Almighty 
 we cannot find him out: He is excellent in power, 
 and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: Behold 
 God is great, and we know him not: Great things 
 6* 
 
50 god's nature and ways 
 
 doeth be, which we cannot comprehend: Secret 
 things belong unto the Lord our God : Thy judg- 
 ments are a great deep : Thy way is in the sea, and 
 thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are 
 not known : Great is our Lord, and of great power : 
 His understanding is infinite : No man can find out 
 the work that God doeth from the beginning to the 
 end : Thou knowest not the works of God who 
 maketh all : The heaven of heavens cannot contain 
 thee: It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: 
 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, God 
 of Israel, the Saviour : There is no searching of his 
 understanding : Who hath stood in the counsel of 
 the Lord? No man knoweth the Son, but the 
 Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father, save 
 the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son shall reveal 
 him: What man knoweth the things of a man 
 save the spirit of man which is in him? even so 
 the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit 
 of God : Who hath known the mind of the Lord ? 
 or who hath been his counsellor ? Great and mar- 
 vellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just 
 and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." 
 
 Here we have the words of Moses, David, Asaph, 
 Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Lord Jesus, Paul 
 and John. From the beginning to the close of 
 canonical Scripture, the doctrine is the same. The 
 coming of Christ did not remove the mysteriousness 
 of Jehovah's nature and ways, but rather established 
 it. It opened to our vision amazing fields of thought, 
 and gave us new and everlasting themes of adoring 
 wonder. God manifest in the flesh was, and is, and 
 
ARE UNSEARCHABLE. 51 
 
 ever shall be, the sublimes* of all mysteries. "Noth- 
 ing but itself is its parallel. " Yet no where in Scrip- 
 ture is the incomprehensibility of God spoken of as 
 cause of sorrow to the pious. On the contrary, in- 
 spired men exult in it and give thanks. Nor can 
 the doctrine alarm or distress one, whose hope is 
 set on high, and whose mind has learned to bow in 
 true humility before the divine majesty. One of 
 the passages cited shows that our inability to find 
 out the Almighty to perfection, is not merely moral, 
 but natural. The same would have been true if 
 man had never sinned. The text from the Apocalypse 
 is part of a song sung in heaven. This proves that 
 even the perfection of heavenly bliss does not require 
 the comprehension of God's nature and ways. A 
 part of celestial happiness consists in worshipping 
 him, who maketh darkness his secret place. 
 
 3. So very wonderful are the perfections of God, 
 that his nature and ways must always be mysteri- 
 ous in proportion to our knowledge of their extent. 
 God is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, and so, per- 
 fect in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, 
 goodness and truth. All men and angels are finite, 
 of yesterday, liable to change, and of themselves — 
 without God — have neither wisdom, nor virtue, nor 
 strength. Man is the lowest order of rational beings, 
 and has by sin greatly debased himself. He is sadly 
 blinded by passion and prejudice. "Everyman is 
 brutish in his knowledge." How then should man 
 have much or accurate acquaintance with any thing 
 bo inscrutable as the divine nature ? Our elder and 
 nobler brethren, the elect angels, who have for thou- 
 
52 god's nature and ways 
 
 sands of years stood around the throne of the Eter- 
 nal, and drunk of the river of truth as it flows fresh 
 from its fountain, are yet, as compared with God, 
 foolish and ignorant. ' 'He ehargeth his angels with 
 folly." "Though glorious and holy creatures, they 
 are fallible and mutable, except as upheld and con- 
 firmed by the Lord. They execute his wise and 
 righteous counsels ; but would soon show their want 
 of wisdom, if trusted to manage any part of the gov- 
 ernment of the world, according to their own mind. 
 Kay, compared with the infinite knowledge and wis- 
 dom of God, they are chargeable with ignorance, be- 
 ing utterly unable to comprehend the vast designs of 
 the great Creator and Lord of the universe ; except 
 as he pleases to unfold them. How much less then 
 may man be trusted." God's plans embrace all crea- 
 tures and all worlds. They comprehend the whole 
 universe. The greatest stretch of the human mind 
 never embraced all the affairs of an empire, a pro- 
 vince, a city, a family, or even of a person. God's 
 plans are founded on the most perfect knowledge of 
 all things. Man's information is, both in scope and 
 degree, very imperfect. It would be prodigious if 
 a little child should understand all the measures of a 
 wise king. Yet this would be but one finite creature 
 comprehending the measures of another. But 
 for any creature to know God's entire plans 
 would be for finite to understand infinite. Until 
 man can hold the sea in the hollow of his hand, 
 measure the azure vault of heaven with a carpen- 
 ter's rule, sweep the outskirts of creation with a 
 compass of his own making, and tell all the worlds, 
 
ARE UNSEARCHABLE. 53 
 
 and give their number, weight and measure, let not 
 his arrogance swell to the monstrous bloating of 
 imagining that he can comprehend God. If he 
 does not know all things formed, how can he search 
 out him that formed them? 
 
 Man may follow Methuselah through his long 
 career, but at last he dies. Man may compute the 
 number of seconds in a myriad of millions of cen- 
 turies, but that is not eternity. God's life time has 
 neither beginning nor end. " The number of his 
 years cannot be searched out." " Before the moun- 
 tains were brought forth, or ever thou haclst formed 
 the earth and world, even from everlasting to ever- 
 lasting thou art God." "Thy years are throughout 
 all generations. Of old hast thou laid the founda- 
 tion of the earth ; and the heavens are the work of 
 thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt en- 
 dure ; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment ; 
 as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall 
 be changed ; but thou art the same, and thy years 
 shall have no end." " One day is with the Lord as 
 a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 
 A late writer says : " While the spirituality of God's 
 nature places him beyond the reach of our direct 
 cognizance, there are certain other essential proper- 
 ties of his nature, which place him beyond the 
 reach of our possible comprehension. Let me in- 
 stance the past eternity of the Godhead. One might 
 figure a futurity that never ceases to flow, and which 
 has no termination, but who can climb his ascending 
 way among the obscurities of that infinite which is 
 behind him ? Who can travel in thought along the 
 
54 god's nature and ways 
 
 track of generations gone by till lie has overtaken 
 the Eternity, which lies in that direction ? Who 
 can look across the millions of ages which have 
 elapsed, and from an ulterior post of observation 
 look again to another and another succession of cen- 
 turies ; and at each further extremity in this series 
 of retrospects, stretch backward his regards on an 
 antiquity as remote and indefinite as ever ? Could 
 we by any number of successive strides over these 
 mighty intervals, at length reach the fountain-head 
 of duration, our spirits might be at rest. But to 
 think of duration as having no fountain-head ; to 
 think of time with no beginning ; to uplift the 
 imagination along the heights of an antiquity, 
 which hath positively no summit ; to soar these up- 
 ward steeps till, dizzied by the altitude, we can keep 
 no longer on the wing ; for the mind to make these 
 repeated flights from one pinnacle to another ; and, 
 instead of scaling the mysterious elevation, to lie 
 baffled at its feet, or lose itself among the far, the 
 long withdrawing recesses of that primeval distance, 
 which at length merges away into a fathomless un- 
 known, this is an exercise utterly discomfiting to the 
 puny faculties of man. We are called on to stir 
 ourselves up that we may take hold of God, but the 
 clouds and darkness which are round about him, 
 seem to repel the enterprise as hopeless, and man, 
 as if overborne by a sense of littleness, feels as if 
 nothing can be done but to make prostrate obeisance 
 of all his faculties before him." If man cannot 
 compute the lifetime of God, how can he compre- 
 hend his plans? If he cannot take the dimensions 
 
ARE UNSEARCHABLE. 55 
 
 of that Eternity, which is Jehovah's habitation, how 
 can he search out him who dwelleth therein ? "An 
 eternity past puzzles all human comprehension." 
 Yet an eternity to come, if duly considered, no less 
 completely eludes our grasp. It is an important 
 truth that i i though we cannot comprehend eternity, 
 yet we can comprehend that there is an eternity." 
 At this plain truth we must stop. 
 
 Think, too, of God's omnipresence. He is every- 
 where. He fills immensity. He is a spirit, and so 
 cannot be divided ; yet he is always present in every 
 part of the universe with the whole of his being and 
 nature. He is an infinite spirit, and so no limits 
 can bound him. < ' He is not far from every one of 
 us ; for in him we live, and move, and have our 
 being." "He is a very present help in time of 
 trouble." "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, 
 and not a God afar off? Do not I fill heaven and 
 earth, saith the Lord ?" " Whither shall I go from 
 thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy pre- 
 sence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : 
 if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 
 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in 
 the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there shall thy 
 hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." 
 The sun is distant from the earth ninety-jive millions 
 of miles ; but ninety-five millions of times ninety-five 
 millions of miles beyond the sun, and in every other 
 direction, God is as truly present as in heaven itself. 
 Light travels at the rate of more than one hundred 
 and ninety-two thousand miles every second ; yet there 
 are stars so distant that if a ray of light had left 
 
56 god's nature and ways. 
 
 them on the morning that the Israelites went out of 
 Egypt, it would not yet have reached our world. 
 Over the vast blazing universe above us and around 
 us Jehovah presides. There may be points, beyond 
 which there are no inhabited worlds, yet who dare 
 assert even that ? But space has no limits. Im- 
 mensity has no walls, outside of which nonentity 
 has her kingdom. " Who is like unto the Lord our 
 Gocl, who dwelleth on high, who hunibleth himself 
 to behold the things that are in heaven and in the 
 earth ?" The other natural perfections of God are 
 no less admirable and incomprehensible than those 
 already noticed. 
 
 But the moral character of God presents, if pos- 
 sible, still greater wonders. At the close of a long 
 and lucid argument respecting it, even blessed Paul 
 could do no more than say, "0 the depth of the 
 riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! 
 how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways 
 past finding out." Jesus Christ, when on earth, was 
 actuated by very similar sentiments. * ' In that hour 
 Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, 
 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast 
 hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
 revealed them unto babes : even so, Father, for so it 
 seemed good in thy sight." Now, if the contem- 
 plation of God's moral character produced such 
 exclamations from the man Christ Jesus, and from 
 his servant Paul, it must be a theme of the most 
 exalted nature. It is while speaking of his own 
 moral character, and, especially of his amazing 
 mercy, that God says : '< My thoughts are not your 
 
ARE UNSEARCHABLE. 57 
 
 thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the 
 Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth 
 so are my ways higher than your ways, and my 
 thoughts than your thoughts." The same remark 
 is as true of God's holiness, justice, goodness, truth 
 and faithfulness. Indeed, all God's moral character is 
 presented to our admiration, in the person and work 
 of Jesus Christ, in such a glorious manner, as to 
 have tilled heaven and earth with joy ever since the 
 plan of redemption was known. The angels have 
 long desired to look into these things. The regene- 
 rate on earth are delighted with them, and the 
 redeemed in glory celebrate them for ever and ever. 
 God's love is as unfathomable as his understanding. 
 Nothing is more unsearchable than the riches of 
 Christ. None but divinity can comprehend them. 
 There is often a pleasing harmony in music. There 
 is always an admirable harmony in the plans 
 and works of God. But the most delightful and 
 wonderful harmony is that of the divine attributes in 
 man's salvation. Inflexible justice and incompara- 
 ble mercy, terrible severity and infinite goodness, 
 eternal truth and everlasting kindness, spotless holi- 
 ness and undying faithfulness, all meet around the 
 cross of Christ, and kiss and embrace each other. 
 No such glorious concord is seen elsewhere but in 
 Jehovah himself. 
 
 4. God has shown himself to be incomprehensi- 
 ble in his works of creation. He doubtless might 
 have made more worlds and more orders of being 
 than he has ; yet who knows all the works that 
 God has made ? There are known to be more than 
 6 
 
58 god's nature and ways 
 
 eight thousand species of the beetle alone. The tribes 
 of creatures in our world, which are invisible to the 
 naked eye, are said to be far more numerous than all 
 those which we can see. If the tribes are more 
 numerous, the individuals are probably as hundreds 
 of millions to one. There are supposed to be per- 
 ceptible by powerful glasses as many as three or four 
 hundred millions of fixed stars. If each of these is 
 a sun and the centre of a system of worlds like our 
 own, how vast is the universe ! It consists of mat- 
 ter organized and unorganized, and of spirit mortal 
 and immortal. The Bible does not deny that brutes 
 have something in their nature which may be called 
 spirit. But then it teaches that the spirit of a beast 
 goeth downward to the earth, and the spirit of man 
 goeth upward. At death it returns to God who 
 gave it. All these organisms, animate and inani- 
 mate, and all these spirits, mortal and immortal, 
 w T ere called out of nonentity by the Almighty. It 
 is impossible to conceive of any exertion of power 
 greater than that, by which something is made out 
 of nothing. Yet out of nothing God made all 
 things, our bodies and our souls, all we are, all we 
 see, all that is within us, above us, beneath us, 
 around us. Nor did any part of the work of crea- 
 tion cost him any labour. ' ' He spake, and it was 
 done; he commanded, and it stood fast." He said, 
 "Let there be light, and there was light." "lie 
 stretch eth out the north over the empty place, and 
 hangeth the earth upon nothing." "He bindethup 
 the water in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not 
 rent under them." " The pillars of heaven tremble 
 
ARE UNSEARCHABLE. 59 
 
 and are astonished at his reproof." Nothing is too 
 hard for him. He neither groweth faint nor is 
 weary. 
 
 Indeed so inscrutable is God in all his ways that 
 perhaps no heathen ever spoke so wisely concerning 
 the divine nature as Simonides, who being asked by 
 Hiero, "What is God?" demanded one day for 
 deliberation. When again asked the same question, 
 he desired two days. As often as the question was 
 repeated he doubled the time. When asked the 
 reason of his conduct, he replied, ' ' The longer I 
 consider the question, the greater is the darkness in 
 which I am enveloped." Ovlt positive knowledge of 
 God is very limited. Most of our knowledge of 
 him is negative. Each of his perfections will be a 
 study for ever. We shall never rise to the full ele- 
 vation of this theme. There will ever be topless 
 heights in divine science, to which the saints will 
 look up with inquiring awe. 
 
 5. In God's government are many things inscru- 
 tably mysterious to us. God commonly moves on 
 the course of his providence in grand and awful 
 silence. The motion of the solar system does not 
 produce as much noise as the motion of a clock. 
 Then when he chooses he thunders in the heavens 
 and makes the earth to tremble under his footsteps. 
 Commonly he goes forth to his work unobserved 
 but by the eye of faith. Then again he arrays 
 himself in robes of terrible majesty, and the most 
 brutish say, Here is the finger of God. In a thou- 
 sand cases who can tell why one is taken and another 
 left, except that so it seemed good to the Lord? 
 
60 god's nature and ways. 
 
 "Who can tell when a new cause or influence goes 
 forth what will be the result, and when it will cease 
 to operate? Of two causes or instruments in God's 
 empire, who can tell which will be most potent for 
 good or ill, till history decides ? Then God's ways 
 of proceeding are so amazingly diversified ; some 
 times working so slowly ; then again cutting short 
 his work in righteousness ; sometimes threshing the 
 mountains with the worm Jacob ; then again mak- 
 ing the stars fight against Sisera. Then many an 
 influence is put forth, and we suppose it has spent its 
 force, when as yet the terrible rebound has not 
 begun. Let the cause which God has put to work, 
 like the boomerang, return before you make up a 
 final judgment upon its power. Truly God's ways 
 are past finding out. He works, he hides himself, 
 he forbears, he punishes, he pardons and he deliv- 
 ers like a God. Jehovah is Lord of all. He is 
 King and Governor ; he reigns in wisdom, love, 
 power and majesty. It is not necessary for us to 
 know as God knows. We are servants. To us 
 belong obedience, submission, acquiescence, adora- 
 tion ; not control, revision, or even scrutiny. 
 
 NOW UNTO THE KlNG ETERNAL, IMMORTAL, INVIS- 
 IBLE, THE ONLY WISE GOD, BE HONOUR AND GLORY 
 FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN. 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 61 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 All really valuable truths in religion have their 
 practical uses. This is certainly true in regard to 
 the being, nature and ways of God. Let us look at 
 some of the truths suggested by the discussion in the 
 preceding chapter : 
 
 1. The Christian lives and walks by faith, not 
 by sight. Even apostles and prophets did but see 
 through a glass darkly. Paul himself says, "The 
 life, which I now live, I live by the faith of the 
 Son of God." As, "without faith, it is impossible 
 to please God," so, without faith, it is impossible to 
 be pleased with God. Every approved act of the 
 Christian's life is, in some sense, a committing of 
 his affairs to the Almighty. One inspired apostle, 
 speaking of faith, calls it "precious faith." An- 
 other says that the trial of it is "much more pre- 
 cious than gold." !No marvel that such commenda- 
 tions are bestowed on this great grace. It is of rare 
 excellence. Gold perisheth. But faith shall be 
 changed into the beatific vision. Gold is held alike 
 by God's friends and enemies. Faith is a gift 
 bestowed on none but the elect. Gold is gathered 
 from the earth. Faith is a gift descending from 
 heaven. Gold stands us instead only when it is 
 6* 
 
62 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 well with us. Faith enables us to walk in darkness, 
 having no light, and yet to trust in the Lord. ' ' I 
 had fainted unless I had believed." There is a 
 sense in which "gold answers all things, so faith 
 gives the soul propriety in all the rich consolations 
 of the gospel, in all the promises of life and salva- 
 tion, in all needful blessings ; it draws virtue from 
 Christ to strengthen itself, and all other graces." 
 Behold the man of faith pressed by temporal and 
 spiritual distresses. See him in the furnace made 
 seven times hotter than it is wont. They, who 
 stand round about, are scorched by the intensity 
 of the heat. Cry to him and say, Brother, how is 
 it with thee now ? If faith is in lively exercise, 
 he replies, < ' When I am tried I shall come forth 
 as gold seven times purified. I know who it is 
 that has said, I have chosen thee in the furnace of 
 affliction." With gold we can buy what we need, 
 if it is in the market ; but faith supplies all our lack 
 when universal want prevails. When earth does 
 not own what we need, the man with his bags of 
 gold is on a level with the beggar ; but at such a 
 time the believer sings, "Although the fig-tree 
 shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; 
 the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall 
 yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off" from the 
 fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet I 
 will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my 
 salvation." Our faith is often sorely tried, but God's 
 word says, "The trial of your faith is found unto 
 praise and honour and glory at the appearance of 
 Jesus Christ." What we need is not less labour or 
 
PRACTICAL HEM AUKS ON CHAPTER IV. G3 
 
 less suffering, burdens less heavy or less numerous, 
 trials less sharp or less lasting. No. What we 
 need is stronger faith. The disciples never offered 
 a better prayer than this : ' ' Lord, increase our 
 faith." Faith, like the club of Hercules, beats 
 down all before it. ' ' Faith makes all evil good to 
 us, and all good better." " All the precepts in the 
 law and in the gospel do hang upon this, Believe." 
 All the comforts and supports of the Christian life 
 depend upon faith. Faint believing produces doubt- 
 ful walking. Be strong in faith, giving glory to 
 God. Never question his truth, nor doubt his 
 faithfulness. " It is better to trust in the Lord than 
 to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in 
 the Lord than to put confidence in princes. " ' 'Have 
 faith in God." 
 
 2. As the object of God in all his dealings with 
 his people is his own glory and their eternal good, 
 so they ought heartily to concur in these ends, and 
 labour to promote them. God's glory is more im- 
 portant than the lives of all his creatures. He has 
 made all things for himself. Not an event occurs 
 but for his glory. The death of Lazarus, of Beth- 
 any, was to that end. To the same intent is every 
 pang of his suffering people. Nor does he less 
 surely propose the welfare of his hidden ones in their 
 greatest afflictions. * i We know that all things work 
 together for good to them that love God, to them 
 who are the called according to his purpose." Let 
 us then concur and co-operate with God in seeking 
 our good and his glory. We ought to be more anx- 
 ious to get good out of an affliction than to get rid 
 
64 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 of it. The kindest wish that any can indulge res- 
 pecting their grieving brethren, is, not that they be 
 tempted no more, but that in all their trials they 
 may not sin, nor charge God foolishly. With these 
 views predominant in us, how many powerful tempta- 
 tations would become powerless. Sometimes the 
 afflicted look upon their trials merely as tokens of 
 God's displeasure against them for their sins. Xo 
 doubt God has good ground of controversy with us 
 all. But hear the voice from heaven, "As many as 
 I love I rebuke and chasten." As God did not give 
 us friends, or health, or property, or reputation, 
 chiefly to please us, so neither does he take them 
 away chiefly to afflict or punish us. His ends are 
 hio-h and liolv, wise and benevolent. We should 
 remember that what is loss to us is often gain to 
 others. This is always true when one of our friends 
 dies in the Lord. Wherefore let us gird up the 
 loins of our minds and seek, above all things, to 
 glorify God in every visitation, whether grievous or 
 joyous. Let us rejoice in all that he does. "As an 
 eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, 
 spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth 
 them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him, 
 and there was no strange god with him." The pious 
 Mr. Jay has explained the allusions here made to 
 natural history. The eaglets are fond of the nest ; 
 they love to eat, sleep and grow fat, and are reluc- 
 tant to exert themselves till their dam renders the 
 nest so uncomfortable that they can occupy it no 
 longer. Then they go out upon the rocks or the 
 branches of the trees, and learn to walk. By exam- 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 65 
 
 pic, she teaches them to exercise their wings, flutter- 
 ing over them. Then she bears them on her back 
 to great heights, darts from under them, and com- 
 pels them to use their wings. Then she makes 
 short circuits in the air, and they follow her. She 
 enlarges the range of her flight, and still they imi- 
 tate her till they can rival her, soaring high in the 
 heavens. Sir Humphrey Davy describes the com- 
 pletion of this training : " I once saw a very inter- 
 esting sight, above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, 
 as I was going on the 20th of August, in the pur- 
 suit of black game. Two parent eagles were teach- 
 ing their offspring — two young birds — the man- 
 oeuvres of flight. They began by rising from the 
 top of a mountain, in the eye of the sun : it was 
 about mid-day, and bright for this climate. They 
 at first made small circles, and the young birds imi- 
 tated them ; they paused on their wings, waiting till 
 they had made their first flight, and then took a sec- 
 ond and larger gyration, always rising towards the 
 sun, and enlarging their circle of flight, so as to 
 make a gradual extended spiral. The young ones 
 still slowly followed, apparently flying better as they 
 mounted; and they continued this sublime kind of 
 exercise, always rising, till they became mere points 
 in the air, and the young ones were lost, and after- 
 wards their parents, to our aching sight." "So 
 "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
 they shall run and not be weary . they shall walk 
 and not faint." 
 
 3. Let us put a watch upon our hearts and lips, lest 
 
66 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 we should think or say more about God's nature and 
 ways than befits our ignorance and our selfishness. 
 Shall not God do what he will with his own ? To 
 us he is not accountable, and it is fearful wickedness 
 to think or speak as if he were. If our reasonings 
 concerning his nature or ways perplex us, it is proof 
 that we have gone too far, and uttered things too 
 wonderful for us. Let us not wade beyond our 
 depth. " Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.'' 
 There is much wickedness in indulging in bold spec- 
 ulations and confident reasons on the nature and 
 government of God. On such subjects, precon- 
 ceived and rash opinions are too often allowed to set 
 aside the teachings of Scripture. This is always 
 sinful. To every student of divine things God 
 seems to say: "Take off thy shoes from off thy 
 feet, for the pi ace where thou stanclest is holy ground." 
 There is too much occasion given by men for the 
 challenge, " Who art thou that repliest against 
 God ?" In the book of Job we see to what fearful 
 lengths even good men may go in proud reasonings 
 on Jehovah's ways. For indulging in this sin God 
 gave a terrible rebuke even to the great patriarch. 
 Would that the folly had ended with the man of Uz. 
 Let us take heed to our ways, that we sin not with our 
 tongues. Yea, let us keep our hearts with all dili- 
 gence, for out of them are the issues of life. " Pride 
 is increased by ignorance : those assume the most, 
 who know the least." And "to be proud of learn- 
 ing is the greatest ignorance. " ' ' Pride goeth before 
 destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." 
 " With the lowly is wisdom." Have docility. 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. G7 
 
 ''Most men take least notice of what is plain, as if 
 that were of no use ; but puzzle their thoughts, and 
 lose themselves in those vast depths and abysses, 
 which no human understanding can fathom." Utter 
 not words without knowledge. Think not as the 
 fools. "Be not rash with thy mouth and let not 
 thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for 
 God is in heaven and thou upon earth." 
 
 4. How excellent are divine things. " Divinity is 
 the haven and Sabbath of all man's contemplations." 
 The subjects, of which it treats, surpass all others in 
 dignity and practical usefulness. It opens to us the 
 glorious fountain of all being and of all blessedness. 
 It tells us whence all creatures came. It gives the 
 true theory of human nature, and teaches man cor- 
 rect views of himself and of his neighbors. It set- 
 tles the doctrine of an endless life beyond the bounds 
 of time. Its truths have a sovereign efficacy to 
 cheer, guide, and cleanse the soul. For purity, for 
 power, for sublimity, for refreshment, nothing can 
 compare with them. They humble without debasing. 
 They elevate without puffing up. They beget mod- 
 esty without cowardice. They embolden without 
 impudence. They inspire salutary fear and anima- 
 ting confidence. They give joy without levity. They 
 make men to sorrow after a godly sort, and yet 
 greatly increase their happiness. 
 
 To these ends they have a fitness in themselves. 
 Truth is in its very nature excellent. Religious 
 truth is as far above all other verity as mind is above 
 matter, as eternity is more lasting than time, as God 
 is superior to his works. The words of God are 
 
68 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 spirit and life. They are wisdom. Their entrance 
 gives light. To those who seek him with all the 
 heart, God makes his truth efficacious by special 
 divine influences. Even a heart dead in sin will 
 revive under the energies of truth in the hands of 
 the great Sanctifier. "The first creature of God, 
 in the work of the days, was the light of the sense ; 
 the last was the light of reason ; and his Sabbath 
 work ever since is the illumination of his Spirit." 
 
 If the study of divine things is not a blessing to 
 any, it is because they are " sensual, having not the 
 Spirit." They are blind and cannot see afar off, and 
 yet are too proud to seek the unction that teacheth 
 all things. They do not in their hearts believe what 
 they know to be true. They restrain prayer before 
 God, even when they hear his servant saying, "If 
 any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth 
 to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. " They obey 
 not, though Christ says, "If any man will do his 
 will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of 
 God." They resist not their passions, though the 
 promise is, " The meek will he guide in judg- 
 ment." Nor do such make proof of the princi- 
 ple — "The hand of the diligent maketh rich." 
 If in this land any man shall not become wise unto 
 salvation, the fault will be his own. 
 
 If these things are so, every honest effort to spread 
 the knowledge of God is praiseworthy. A good reli- 
 gious book is worth all it ever costs. To give such 
 a volume is often the noblest charit}^. To read it 
 with eagerness is to dig after hid treasure. The two 
 great sources of light on divine things are God's 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 69 
 
 works and God's word. Some err by rejecting the 
 volume of nature, and some by rejecting the volume 
 of inspiration. He who rejects either plays the fool. 
 A pious mind loves to learn lessons concerning God 
 from any source. He who asserts that God teaches 
 nothing by what he does, is as blind and perverse as 
 he who holds that God teaches nothing by what he 
 says. For ' * The heavens declare the glory of God ; 
 and the firmament showeth his handy-work. Day 
 unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night show- 
 eth knowledge." 
 
 Yet the highest source of divine knowledge is 
 revelation. In it are found all the saving truths of 
 religion. That speaks clearly of the most vital 
 things. How glorious, and yet how free, is the 
 truth : "Things which are revealed belong unto us 
 and unto our children." Of himself how excellent 
 is the revelation God has made : " The Lord, the 
 Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and 
 abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for 
 thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and 
 sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." 
 These few words give us more true knowledge of 
 God's moral character than all the wise men of old 
 acquired from the whole volume of nature. Reve- 
 lation is no less clear concerning man's sin and 
 guilt, misery and helplessness. .It leaves no doubt 
 respecting either of these. By scores of types, pro- 
 phecies and promises, it points to the Lamb of God 
 that taketh away the sin of the world. It assures 
 the conscience of peace by atoning blood. It 
 explains the mystery of sanctification. It pours 
 7 
 
70 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV". 
 
 floods of light on all that needs to be known, in 
 order that we may do our duty or maintain solid 
 peace of mind. On the whole subject of God's 
 moral government it is luminous. It goes still fur- 
 ther. " Some things which could not otherwise be 
 read in the book of nature, are legible enough when 
 the lamp of revelation is held up to it." Thus it 
 makes all plain concerning the death both of good 
 and bad men. In the phrase, death by sin, we have 
 the cause of all death in the human family. In the 
 words, I" am the resurrection and the life, we have 
 opened to all the pious a door of hope which shall 
 never be shut. God's word is complete as to our 
 duty and destiny, our privileges and prospects. i 'The 
 law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : the 
 testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the sim- 
 ple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing 
 the heart : the commandment of the Lord is pure, 
 enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is 
 clean, enduring for ever : the judgments of the 
 Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be 
 desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold : 
 sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb." 
 
 5. We ought not to reject the doctrine of a Trin- 
 ity of persons in the Godhead because of its myste- 
 riousness. It is not offensive to pious minds. It is 
 for rejoicing that he who made us, he who redeemed 
 us, and he who sanctifies us, is the one eternal, un- 
 changeable, indivisible Jehovah, subsisting in three 
 persons. The favorite objection urged against this 
 doctrine, from the days of Celsus and Lucian, down 
 to this hour is, its mysteriousness. Lucian's il One 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHArTEH IV. 71 
 
 three, three one" is repeated in our day by persona 
 who would be very unwilling to enrol their names 
 with his, though they take up the ribaldry, and sit 
 in the seat of that ancient scorner. That everything 
 pertaining to God is, in some points, inscrutable, is 
 not denied. Were it otherwise, who could adore 
 him? "When I perfectly understand all about a 
 being, I know that he is either my inferior, or my 
 equal, and so I cannot pay him religious worship. 
 The pious Hervey well says : * ' I am no more sur- 
 prised that some revealed truths should amaze my 
 understanding, than that the blazing sun should daz- 
 zle my eyes." Robert Hall, speaking of inscrutable 
 things in religion, says : " We rejoice that they are 
 mysterious, so far from being ashamed of them on 
 that account ; since the principal reason why they 
 are, and must ever continue such, is derived from 
 their elevation, from their unsearchable riches and 
 undefinable grandeur." Dr. Leonard Woods, of 
 Andover, says : ' ' The end of our being does not 
 require that we should completely comprehend either 
 the Creator, or the creation. Were we called to 
 exercise dominion over the universe, it would indeed 
 be necessary that we should be omniscient. But for 
 those, whose business it is to obey and submit, om- 
 niscience is not necessary. On inquiry, it will appear 
 that all the most momentous and useful truths relate 
 to objects which are pre-eminently incomprehensi- 
 ble." Bishop Waterland says : " No just objection 
 can be made against the importance of any doctrine, 
 from its mysterious nature. The most mysterious of 
 all are, in reality, the most important ; not because 
 
72 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV* 
 
 they are mysterious, but because they relate to things 
 divine, which must, of course, be mysterious to weak 
 mortals, and, perhaps, to all creatures whatever. 
 But even mysterious doctrines have a bright side, as 
 well as a dark one ; and they are clear to look upon, 
 though too deep to be seen through." Calvin says : 
 "We mistake, if we measure God by our own 
 understanding, and we must mount above the earth, 
 yea, above heaven itself when we think of him." 
 Richard Baxter says: "The mystery of the incar- 
 nation alone may rind you work to search and 
 admire many ages." John Kewton says: "If I 
 did not find many things in the Bible proposed 
 rather to my faith than to my reason, I could not 
 receive it as a revelation from God, because it would 
 want the grand characteristic of his majesty." Dr. 
 Scott says : " The mystery of godliness continued a 
 great mystery after the fullest revelation of it. The 
 revelation and belief of it have always been, and are, 
 the beginning and spring of all pious dispositions and 
 affections in the hearts of fallen men, and of all the 
 spiritual worship of God in the world." Bishop 
 Sherlock, no less pertinently observes, that "So far 
 is it from being an objection against the Gospel of 
 Christ, that it contains many wonderful mysteries of 
 the hidden wisdom ot God, that, as our case stands, 
 without a mystery, it is impossible for us to be saved : 
 for, since reason and nature cannot find the means 
 of rescuing sinners from punishment, and of making 
 atonement to the justice of God ; since they cannot 
 prescribe a proper satisfaction for sin, in which the 
 honor of God and the salvation of men shall be at 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 73 
 
 once consulted ; since they cannot remedy the cor- 
 ruption that has spread through the race of mankind, 
 or infuse new principles of virtue and holiness iuto 
 the souls already subdued to the lust and power of 
 sin ; since, if they could procure our pardon for what 
 is past, they cannot secure us for the future from the 
 same temptations, which by fatal experience we know 
 we cannot withstand ; since, I say, these things can- 
 not be done by the means of reason and nature, 
 they must be done by such means as reason and nature 
 know nothing of ; that is, in other words, they must 
 be done by mysterious means, of the propriety of 
 which we can have no adequate notion or conception. 
 
 ' ' If you stand in need of no new favor, if you 
 aim not so high as eternal life, religion without mys- 
 teries may well serve your turn. The principles of 
 natural religion tend to procure the peace and tran- 
 quility of this life ; and the not distinguishing be- 
 tween religion as a rule of life for our present use 
 and well-being here, and as the means of obtaining 
 pardon for sin and eternal life hereafter, may have 
 in some measure occasioned the great complaint 
 against the mysteries of the gospel : for mysteries 
 are not indeed the necessary parts of religion, con- 
 sidered only as a rule of action : but most necessary 
 they are to it, when considered as a means of ob- 
 taining pardon and eternal glory. 
 
 Consider the gospel then as a rule of action, no 
 religion was ever so plain, so calculated upon the 
 principles of reason and nature ; so that natural 
 religion itself had never more natural religion in it. 
 If we consider the end proposed to us, and the means 
 7* 
 
74 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 used to entitle us to the benefit of it, it grows mys- 
 terious, and soars above the reach of human reason ; 
 for God has done more for us than reason could 
 teach us to expect, or can now teach us to compre- 
 hend. Let us then do our part, which we plainly 
 understand, and let us trust in God that he will do 
 his ; though it exceeds the strength of human wis- 
 dom to comprehend the length and depth and breadth 
 of that wisdom and mercy, which God has mani- 
 fested to the world through his Son Christ Jesus 
 our Lord." Nor does God's word teach any diffe- 
 rent doctrine. In fact, it fully supports these views, 
 Paul said : "Without controversy, great is the mys- 
 tery of godliness : God was manifest in the flesh , 
 justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto 
 the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up 
 into glory." Let us love all that God has spoken. 
 If it fills us with reverence and godly fear, if it 
 humbles us in the dust, if it awakens pious wonder, 
 if it stirs us up to diligence in looking into these 
 things, it must be of excellent use. But to carp at 
 God's word, or any portion thereof, is both criminal 
 and dangerous. Let every man beware, lest Christ 
 and his salvation be to him for a stone of stumbling, 
 and for a rock of offence ; for a gin and for a snare ; 
 for many among men shall stumble and fall, and be 
 broken, and be snared, and be taken. 
 
 6. What madness it is for any creature to be found 
 fighting against God. lie taketh the wise in their 
 own craftiness. He hides himself, and all nature 
 stands aghast. He passes by, and a great and strong 
 wind rends the mountains, and breaks in pieces the 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. lb 
 
 rocks. He utters his voice, and the earth melts. 
 He wills it, and a world arises. He frowns, and the 
 pillars of heaven tremble. "Behold, the nations 
 are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the 
 small dust of the balance ; behold, he taketh up the 
 isles as a very little thing. All nations are before 
 him as nothing." ** He bringeth princes to no- 
 thing." "He maketh the judges of the earth as 
 vanity." Before him, the inhabitants of the earth 
 are as grasshoppers. Who can resist such a God? 
 Some have fought against him, but who ever con- 
 quered him or escaped a certain overthrow ? Was 
 there ever a company of more consummate fools than 
 Pharoah and his great men, although they thought 
 to " deal wisely?" Behold the horse and his rider, 
 the warrior and the chariot, sunk like lead in the 
 mighty waters. " The Lord is a man of war. He 
 hath triumphed gloriously. Who is like unto thee, 
 Lord, among the gods ? Who is 1 ike thee, glo- 
 rious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?" 
 Let every man know that the Lord, he is God, and 
 that to put one's self in array against him is to ad- 
 vertise the whole universe that he is a fool, bent on 
 his own eternal undoing. A feather can never resist 
 the tires of a furnace, the elements cannot with- 
 stand the intense heat of the last day ; neither can 
 a worm of the dust stand up against God. Sin is 
 as foolish as it is criminal. If, in temporal atiairs, 
 any man violated the law T s of his existence, as in 
 spiritual atiairs every wicked man does, any court 
 would pronounce him a madman, and subject him 
 to the restraints of a lunatic. Wisdom says : — 
 
76 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "Whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain 
 favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me 
 wrongeth his own soul : all they that hate me love 
 death." To think of God's wrath is fearful. To 
 taste it is worse than a potion of wormwood and 
 gall. To endure it is intolerable. A drop of it fell 
 into the conscience of Belshazzar, and his knees 
 smote together ; of Herod, and he gave up the 
 ghost ; of Judas, and he turned suicide. A few 
 drops of it have sent the voice of wailing along 
 every valley and over every mountain in a great 
 nation. A sprinkle of it fell on sinning angels, and 
 in a moment they shrivelled into devils. A vial of 
 it broken on our globe will yet send it blazing 
 through the universe. The fierceness of that wrath 
 will cow the spirit of devils, and make sinners of our 
 race wish they had never been born. "Who know- 
 eth the power of thine anger ! Even according to 
 thy fear, so is thy wrath." 
 
 7. With so great a God, great sinners may hope 
 to find great mercy. He punishes, but he also par- 
 dons, like a God. He shows compassion to the 
 chief of sinners. His loving-kindness reaches to 
 the heavens. If any of us shall not be saved, it 
 will not be because God is not merciful ; but because 
 we are proud, rebellious and self-righteous. Some- 
 times we think our sins too great to be pardoned by 
 the Lord. But this is because of our wicked unbe- 
 lief. Hear his own words of love: "Seek ye the 
 Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while 
 he is near ; let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
 unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 11 
 
 unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, 
 and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.* 3 
 Such offers ought to silence all our cavils, and put 
 to shame all our unbelief. If we knew more of 
 God, we should be less apt to distrust him. lie, 
 who has spent all his days among the mountains 
 which lift their brows above the clouds, and has 
 never seen any body of water greater than the moun- 
 tain torrent, may naturally doubt whether there is 
 water enough on earth to cover the peaks of his 
 native land. But let him once cross the Atlantic, 
 let him put down his lead thousands of fathoms, let 
 him find that it is three thousand miles wide and 
 yet greater in length, and he will see how all his 
 native mountains could be buried in the sea. So our 
 sins are great, truly as great as we ever thought 
 them to be. But God's mercy is greater than we 
 have ever imagined. Let us explore it and medi- 
 tate upon it, till we see how he can pardon iniquity, 
 pass by transgression, delight in mercy, have com- 
 passion on us, and cast all our sins into the depths 
 of the sea. 
 
 8. The true glory of churches >is the presence and 
 blessing of Jehovah. The great difference between 
 the tvvo houses that Solomon built was, that one 
 was his own domicil, while the other was an habita- 
 tion for the Lord. The great difference between a 
 saint and a sinner is, that one is the temple of Belial, 
 and the other the temple of the Lord. In monarch- 
 ical governments, it is esteemed a great honor to 
 live or to worship in the same house with the king. 
 But wherever churches are animated with real love 
 
78 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 to God, the King of kings blesses the place of their 
 meeting with his presence. This is honor indeed. 
 "What a glorious promise is that, "Where two or 
 three are gathered together in my name, there am I 
 in the midst of them." The fulfilment is as certain 
 as the blessing promised is inestimable. How fool- 
 ish are we when we put our confidence in means and 
 men, in singers and preachers, to make the sanc- 
 tuary a delight. They may provide for the proprie- 
 ties of things. Even a corpse may be decently 
 arrayed. But if the place of meeting is to be made 
 to our souls the house of God, and the gate of hea- 
 ven, if we, who are naturally dead in trespasses and 
 sins, are to be made alive unto God, it must be 
 by the gracious presence of him whose we arc, 
 and whom we serve. Let God's people never 
 weary of looking to him, who is the glory of his 
 people Israel. Let them never vainly imagine that 
 they are anything, or can do anything as of them- 
 selves. Without him they can do nothing. That 
 was a wise prayer of Moses, ' i If thy presence go 
 not with me, carry us not up hence." If God go 
 before us, our enemies shall be scattered. If he bo 
 our rcrewarcl, our enemies shall not overtake us. 
 If he be our portion, we shall not want. If he be 
 our glory, wo shall be eternally illustrious. 
 
 9. What a capital error is that which teaches that 
 God can bo fitly represented or worshipped by 
 images. To bow down to the sun, moon and stars, 
 and worship all the host of heaven, or to " change 
 the glory of the incorruptible God into an imago 
 made like to corruptible men, and to birds, and four- 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CIIArTER IV. 79 
 
 footed beasts, and creeping tilings," ought to be by 
 all people held and declared idolatry. In his being, 
 perfections, works and ways, God is incomparable, 
 "Among tho gods, there is none like thee, Lord ; 
 neither are there any works like nnto thy works." 
 " Who in tho heavens can bo compared nnto tho 
 Lord ; who among the sons of tho mighty can bo 
 likened nnto the Lord?" " To whom will ye liken 
 God ? or what likeness will ye compare nnto him ?" 
 The greatness of the sin of worshipping images, or 
 of worshipping God by images, arises from these 
 facts : It is positively forbidden in many portions of 
 Scripture ; it is contrary to God's spirituality ; it 
 degrades all our conceptions of Jehovah to a depth 
 of debasement intolerable to God. "Wo ought 
 not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or 
 silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." 
 The spirit of the first and the letter of the second 
 commandment forbid such worship. "Thou shalt 
 have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not 
 make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness 
 of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in 
 tho earth beneath, or that is in tho water under tho 
 earth ; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, 
 nor servo them : for I the Lord thy God am a jeal- 
 ous God, visiting tho iniquity of tho fathers upon 
 tho children unto the third and fourth generation of 
 them that hate me ; and showing mercy unto thou- 
 sands of them that love me and keep my command- 
 ments." In his address to Israel given us in tho 
 fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses greatly in- 
 sists upon the exclusion of images from religious 
 
80 PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 
 
 worship. Besides, "God is a Spirit, and they that 
 worship him, must worship him in spirit and in 
 truth." God is not in an}' way personally connected 
 with matter. He is an uncreated, immaterial sub- 
 stance. He is an active, intelligent, infinite spirit. 
 The Belgic confession well says: "We believe in 
 heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one 
 only and simple spiritual essence, which we call God, 
 eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, in- 
 finite, who is wholly wise, and a most plentiful well- 
 spring of all good things." We cannot too care- 
 fully guard God's worship against all corruptions, 
 all admixtures of human inventions. Image wor- 
 ship is abominable idolatry. The Most High is not 
 like the gods of the heathen. He dwell eth not in 
 temples made with hands. Because he fills heaven 
 and earth, he cannot be placed in a niche or on the 
 altar of any house. Nor can any true image of him 
 be made or conceived. The most exquisite piece of 
 art is no more like God, and is no more suited to 
 give us just ideas of him, than the most unsightly 
 daub, or the rudest block of wood or stone. 
 
 10. How amiable is the whole character of God. 
 Love to him is as reasonable as it is obligatory. 
 When a scoffing infidel thought to perplex a pious 
 little girl, by asking, "How big is your God ?" she 
 replied, "He is so great that the heaven of heavens 
 cannot contain him, yet he is so kind as to dwell in 
 this little heart of mine." Ho dwells with all his 
 people. He walks in them. " Thus saith the high 
 and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name 
 is Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, with 
 
PRACTICAL REMARKS ON CHAPTER IV. 81 
 
 him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to 
 revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the 
 heart of the contrite ones." What matchless love 
 is here ! He who is over all God blessed forever, 
 condescends to take up his abode in our hearts. 
 "The tabernacle of God is with men." He that is 
 higher than the highest docs not despise our low 
 estate. How hateful is the arrogant littleness of 
 man, compared with the condescending greatness of 
 God. Our God is in the heavens, and yet he is the 
 great comforter of man. If this is so, how we 
 should love and fear, serve and obey, praise and 
 adore him. "We should give him the same place 
 in our hearts that he holds in the universe." We 
 shall never be able to pay the debt Ave owe him. 
 Let us give him all. Even that is but little ; yet he 
 will receive it. 
 
 Maker ! Preserver ! my Reedemer ! God ! 
 
 Whom have I in the heavens but thee alone ? 
 
 On earth, but thee, whom should I praise, whom love ? 
 
 For thou hast brought me hitherto, upheld 
 
 By thy Omnipotence ; and from thy grace 
 
 Unbought, unmerited, though not unsought — 
 
 The wells of thy salvation, hast refreshed 
 
 My spirit, watering it at morn and eve. 
 
 GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST. 
 
82 HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 
 
 As creator, preserver, and benefactor, and pos- 
 sessed of infinite perfections, God has a right to be 
 judge and governor. As creatures, dependents, 
 stewards, servants, men are bound to obey. Of 
 course it is right they should be held to account. 
 As a king and master God will require neither too 
 much nor too little. The rational and moral nature 
 of man make it fit that he should be held responsi- 
 ble to his rightful sovereign. If he has done only 
 good, it will be to his honor and to his Maker's 
 glory to have it known. If there is a controversy 
 between him and God, it is right it should be known 
 and declared where the blame lies. If God offers 
 and grants great mercy, and takes the guilty into 
 his favor, truth requires that it should appear to be 
 to the glory of his grace. 
 
 All thinking men clearly perceive the right- 
 eousne : s of accountability. As surely as we are 
 able to form moral judgments, so surely shall they 
 be reviewed by the judge of all the earth. "The 
 kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain man, 
 which would take account of his servants." (Matt, 
 xviii: 23.) To show how this account should be 
 conducted Jesus spoke several parables. 
 
HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 83 
 
 When we say man is accountable to God, we 
 mean that he must one day settle with him, and 
 that he will receive at God's hand fit treatment for 
 all he does. 
 
 The account which we must give to God will he 
 solemn. Nothing can he more so than a creature 
 reckoning with the Creator. Fools and jesters may 
 sport in time, while prosperity lasts ; hut fun and 
 trilling shall have no place when the soul stands 
 before the tribunal of Jehovah. Both in the solemn 
 interview with God immediately after death, and in 
 the sublime scenes of the final judgment, the buf- 
 foon will be as solemn as the most solemn Christian. 
 Nothing can surpass the folly of lightly esteeming 
 this matter, or of acting as if we shall never answer 
 at his bar. It is an awful thing to stand before God. 
 
 This accountability is universal. "Every one of 
 us shall give account." "We must all stand before 
 the judgment seat of Christ." The maid and her 
 mistress, master and servant, parent and child, hus- 
 band and wife, minister and people, the lawyer and 
 his client, the judge and the culprit, the king and 
 the subject, the rich and the poor, the wise and the 
 simple, the conqueror and the conquered, the op- 
 pressor and the oppressed are alike held amenable 
 to God. In more than one case God has granted a 
 dispensation from death, but never from accounta- 
 bility. Many have enjoyed immunity from poverty ; 
 none from appearing before God. Every eye shall 
 see the final Judge. All kindreds of the earth 
 shall account to him. 
 
 This account shall be separate and not corporate. 
 
84 HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 
 
 Men will not appear before the tribunal of God in 
 classes or bodies. Kings and their cabinets will not 
 be in one company, and their nobles in another, sub- 
 ordinate magistrates in another, and the clergy in 
 another. Every one of us shall give account of him- 
 self to God. Men often go with the multitude to 
 do evil ; and hand joins in hand to do wickedly. 
 But God knows exactly how far each man's hand 
 extends, and how much guilt adheres to each. In 
 like manner shall the actions and character of the 
 righteous be accurately determined. " Every man 
 shall bear his own burden." (Gal. vi: 5.) " Every 
 man shall receive his own reward according to his 
 own labor." (1 Cor. hi: 8.) None can hide him- 
 self in a crowd. None can so lay his criminality 
 on others as to exempt himself. Nor shall any 
 humble soul be overlooked. "Whatsoever good 
 thing any man docth, the same shall he receive of 
 the Lord, whether he be bond or free." (Eph. vi : 8.) 
 
 The great principles of this accountability are 
 clearly revealed in Scripture. The bold interpola- 
 tor of the Bible, who adds to the sacred canon, 
 shall have the plagues threatened in God's word 
 poured upon him ; and he who takes from the word 
 of God, shall lose all interest in its promises. (Rev. 
 xxii: 18, 19.) The whole law and the whole gos- 
 pel, the entire rule of revelation, shall be the rule 
 of final award. 
 
 Our accountability is perfect. It includes every 
 thing praiseworthy and every thing blameworthy. 
 The matter, the manner, and the motive of our ac- 
 tions and words shall undergo the scrutiny of him 
 
HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 85 
 
 who never errs. " God shall bring every work into 
 judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good 
 or whether it be evil." (Eccl. 12 : 14.) 
 
 This accountability shall last forever. There will 
 be immortal rationality, and of course everlasting 
 responsibility. The relations between God and the 
 soul for ever remaining the same, accountability 
 must be the same. Suffering will not end it. Hap- 
 piness cannot terminate it. There is no such thing 
 as annihilation. In the divine government there is 
 no statute of limitation. 
 
 The full rigours of this responsibility may be felt 
 at any moment God may and sometimes does give 
 warning of the approaching summons. But he is 
 not bound to do it ; and in millions of cases he does 
 not. 
 
 There are several dangerous popular mistakes on 
 this subject. One is that settled malignity of pur- 
 pose is necessary to constitute guilt ; whereas the 
 absence of right intentions and right affections is 
 enough to involve any man in ruin. Omission is as 
 criminal as commission. Nor is any man capable of 
 estimating criminality aright. The law offended is 
 infinite, the God sinned against is worthy of ever- 
 lasting confidence and obedience. No man can tell 
 the extent of the mischief wrought by even one 
 transgression. Nor is the length of time employed 
 in committing a wrong any standard by which to 
 determine its criminality. The enormity of guilt 
 cannot be estimated by a watch or a clock. Nor 
 docs inconsiderateness of the fruits of transgression 
 hinder guilt. It is often an aggravation thereof. 
 8* 
 
86" HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY, 
 
 (Prov. 26 : 18.) He who can think and will not 
 think shall be punished for avoiding reflection. Nor 
 is the end of law revenge. On the contrary its 
 great aim is to maintain order and distribute justice, 
 which is an amiable attribute in any one, and an 
 essential attnoute in a good moral governor. Nor 
 does repentance of itself make any atonement. 
 Even when genuine, it only shows that the party 
 would not repeat the offence. Law takes no notice 
 of repentance. It is in fact no satisfaction to a pen- 
 alty. If mercy comes to sinners-it must be through 
 a mediator and be by them wholly unmerited. Our 
 accountability to God can in no sense be impaired. 
 Even transgression does not weaken it. In the 
 divine arrangement sin itself shall be made to estab- 
 lish the reign of God. Nor will any expense be 
 spared to maintain accountability. Even among 
 men every thing is risked for this end, unless gov- 
 ernment is weak or vicious. 
 
 In estimating the extent of accountability, we 
 may note the following among other particulars : 
 
 1. We are accountable for all the evil, which we 
 might personally have hindered and did not. Tins 
 is just. Tbe human conscience says so. God's 
 word settles the point : "If thou forbear to deliver 
 them that are drawn unto death, and those that are 
 ready to be slain ; * f thou gayest, Behold, we knew 
 it not ; doth not he that pondereth the heart consi- 
 der it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he 
 know it? and shall not he render to every man 
 according to his works." (Prov. 24: 11, 12.) 
 
 2. We arc accountable for all the good which we 
 
HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 87 
 
 might have done, We are required to do good unto 
 all men as we have opportunity. The occasion and 
 ability to do good impose an obligation to do it. 
 Paul says: "If there be first a willing mind, it is 
 accepted according to that a man hath." 
 
 3. Our accountability extends to all the evil 
 which we might have caused others to prevent. 
 Thus Eli might have preserved the honor of reli- 
 gious worship in the eyes of the people if he had 
 used all his authority to restrain his sons. If a city 
 is on fire and one knows it and keeps silence, and 
 his neighbours are burned up because he refused to 
 give the alarm to those near him that they might 
 give it to others, blood is found in his skirts. 
 
 4. Our accountability extends to the evils which 
 we ass.sted others in doing. One reason why min- 
 isters may not ordain incompetent men to the min- 
 istry is, that in so doing they become partakers of 
 other men's sins. (1 Tim. v: 22.) We may not 
 lend a deadly weapon to commit murder. We may 
 not endorse the character of the swindler. lie that 
 biddeth the wrong- doer God speed is partaker of his 
 evil deeds. (2 John 11.) 
 
 5. Our accountability extends to all the good 
 which we might have influenced others to do. A 
 minister of the gospel is bound to do all he person- 
 ally can. He is no less obliged to use his best 
 endeavors to persuade his people to do the same. 
 This is also true of parents, magistrates, teachers 
 and all guides. Some think to escape condemna- 
 tion, because they say they do no harm. Thus rea- 
 soned the man with one talent. He hid it. lie did 
 
88 HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 
 
 not expend it in wantonness nor in plans of treason. 
 He retained it harmlessly, but his guilt was upon 
 him. 
 
 6. Of course our accountability extends to our 
 actions. The deeds done in the body are fit matters 
 of responsibility. Even human governments ex- 
 tend to overt actions ; and the law of public senti- 
 ment condemns and punishes overt acts of injustice, 
 unkindness or unmercifulness, even where munici- 
 pal law t kes no cognizance of the delinquency. 
 " To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, 
 to him it is sin." (James iv: 17.) 
 
 7. We are accountable for our words. This is 
 right. Life and death are in the power of the 
 tongue. Most of the happiness and misery in the 
 world is the fruit of the lips. For every idle 
 word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
 to God. (Matt, xii: 36.) This is no new doc- 
 trine. Long before the flood, Enoch warned the 
 wicked that at his coming the Judge of all the 
 earth would bring them to account not only for their 
 ungodly deeds, but also for all their hard speeches 
 which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 
 (Jude 15.) Even human governments in many 
 cases hold men responsible for their words, and uni- 
 versal public sentiment holds every man responsible 
 for what he says of his neighbours. God's govern- 
 ment over this world would not.be perfect if he did 
 not call us to an account for our slanders and libels 
 and jibes and insinuations against him and his gov- 
 ernment of the world. 
 
 8. Our accountability extends to our thoughts. 
 
HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 80 
 
 Hear the Scriptures: "As a man thinkoth in his 
 heart, so is he." (Frov. xxiii : 7.) " The thought 
 of foolishness is sin." (Frov. xxiv: 9.)' 'The thoughts 
 of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord." 
 (Frov. xv: 26.) "Let the unrighteous man for- 
 sake his thoughts." (Isa. lv: 7.) "0 Jerusalem, 
 how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ?" 
 (Jer. iv : 14.) "The word of God is a discerner 
 of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. 
 iv: 12.) "Fray "God, if perhaps the thoughts of 
 thine heart may be forgiven thee." (Acts viii : 22.) 
 With these manifold declarations of Scripture, com- 
 mon sense unites its testimony. 
 
 9. Our accountability includes all our feelings 
 and affections. This is every where asserted in 
 Scripture. The tenth commandment forbids us to 
 desire any thing belonging to our neighbour. (Ex. 
 xx : 17.) Scripture pronounces unreasonable or 
 outrageous anger and all hatred to be murder. 
 (1 John iii: 15; iv: 20; Matt, v: 22.) It de- 
 clares lust to be adultery. (Matt, v: 27, 28.) It 
 wages war against all envy, all jealousy, all revenge, 
 and all bitterness. It condemns the want of love 
 to enemies, the want of forgiveness even to perse- 
 cutors. It condemns all wrong feelings, and all 
 want of right feeling3. 
 
 10. Our accountability extends to the use we 
 make of our property. It declares us to be stew- 
 ards, not proprietors. It pronounces a great bless- 
 ing on one who out of penury contributes his mite 
 to the cause of God. 
 
 11. Our accountability extends not only to all we 
 
90 HUMAN ACCOUNTABILITY. 
 
 have, but to all we are. It declares: "Ye are not 
 your own." It claims us entire, soul, body and spi- 
 rit. It requires us to present our whole selves will- 
 ing sacrifices on the altar of God. (Rom. xii: 1.) 
 12. In ascertaining the extent of our accounta- 
 bility, no deduction is to be made for the strength 
 of temptation, for a door of escape is always pro- 
 vided. (1 Cor. x: 18;) nor for the suddenness of 
 the temptation ; nor for the weakness of our resolu- 
 tion ; nor for the seeming smallne'ss of the offence. 
 Un watchfulness is itself a sin, and one sin cannot 
 excuse another. A feeble purpose to do right is 
 itself criminal and is fit matter of repentance. The 
 worthies mentioned in Hebrews xi : 83-88, obtained 
 their good report by discarding all such false reason- 
 ings. They were sorely tempted but they surely 
 triumphed. 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 
 
 If the statements of the preceding chapter are 
 sound and correct, then it follows : 
 
 I. That there is no need of more than two states 
 beyond the grave to embrace the whole human fam- 
 ily. All saints are substantially alike. They are 
 more and more so, as they increase in fitness for 
 heaven. There is no radical difference between 
 them.' There is no need of more than one Para- 
 dise. God has revealed but one. $"0 christian 
 desires any more, Nor is there any need for more 
 than one hell. All sinners are alike in this, that 
 they have sinned, have sinned with consent, have in 
 their hearts unbelief, ingratitude, impenitence and 
 rebellion against God. They have no love to God, 
 no pious fear of God, no hope in God, no trust in 
 the Almighty, no spiritual taste, no spiritual dis- 
 cernment, no holiness, no spiritual life. They all 
 deserve wrath. They are all justly condemned. 
 The most vicious and the least vicious among the 
 unregencrate are sufficiently alike to be put in the 
 same prison-house. No man can tell who is the 
 greatest transgressor, he who has enriched himself 
 by fraud and cruelty, or he who has made himself 
 poor by his vices. 
 
 II, Virtue is not her own sufficient reward, nor is 
 
92 DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 
 
 vice its own adequate punishment. Some men 
 assert the contrary, but no man believes it. Slan- 
 der, perjury, theft, murder are vicious acts, but no 
 man regards them as adequate punishments to them- 
 selves. The criminal code of every country decides 
 that some further punishment is condign, isor do 
 temporal rewards or punishments bear any just pro- 
 portion to the merits or demerits of many acts. 
 Even if a penal death is full recompense for one 
 murder, it cannot be for two or for twenty murders. 
 Even the maledictions of an injured world roach not 
 beyond the tomb. Kor is society possessed of full 
 means to recompense every virtuous action. "Where 
 can be found a more virtuous member of society 
 than the pious mother, who devotes herself to the child 
 God has given her ? Day and night she watches 
 his infancy and constantly supplicates the divine bles- 
 sing on his life and on his soul. She teaches him 
 all that can adorn, elevate and sanctify his charac- 
 ter. At twelve years of age he sickens and is per- 
 suaded that he cannot live. Calling her to his 
 dying pillow, he says : " Mother, I must now leave 
 you— you have been a good mother to me—I can- 
 not pay you— =God reward you for all your love and 
 kindness." He then bids her farewell and leaves 
 the world. Has he paid her the debt he owed ? 
 Have her toil and self-donial been full compensa- 
 tion ? Is there no recompense to such a mother 
 beyond the bounds of time? Will a just God place 
 her <>u a level with that thing of vanity, who, defy- 
 ing the laws of maternal duty, forsakes her child to 
 mingle ia the giddy danco or shine in the brilliant 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 93 
 
 saloon ? Not only are not vice and virtue adequate 
 rewards to themselves, but clearly they are not ade- 
 quately rewarded here. 
 
 ILL Let us not be distressed at beholding the indis- 
 criminateness in the distribution of good and evil. 
 This shows that some recompense is to be looked for 
 beyond this life. If God makes his sun shine 
 upon the good, he does not withhold his cheering 
 rays from the evil. If he sends his rain on the 
 just, he does not leave the unjust to perpetual 
 drought. (Matt, v : 45.) The waves that sink the 
 vessel of the profane master of the ship engulph 
 also the riches of the pious merchant. War, fam- 
 ine and pestilence, in their desolations, pay little 
 respect to the abodes of the righteous. "All things 
 come alike to all : there is one event to the riijht- 
 eous and to the wicked.'.' (Eccl. 9:2.) If there 
 is no future settlement between God and his crea- 
 tures, this state of things cannot be reconciled with 
 justice. He who surrenders the belief of future 
 rewards and punishments, if logically consistent, 
 cannot escape the abyss of atheism. It is no worse 
 to believe that there is no God than to assert that 
 God's moral character is bad. Lord Bacon says : 
 "It were better to have no opinion of God at all, than 
 such an opinion as is unworthy of him ; for the one 
 is unbelief, the other is contumely." Plutarch says : 
 ■ ' I had rather a great deal men should say, there 
 was no such man at all as Plutarch, than that they 
 should say, there was one Plutarch, who would eat 
 his children as soon as they were born ; as the poets 
 speak of Saturn." 
 9 
 
94 DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IV. The Scriptures and our observation go yet 
 further, and shew that often the righteous is greatly 
 afflicted, while his ungodly neighbour dwells at ease. 
 This has long been a source of perplexity to the 
 saints. They have seen that many of the wicked 
 " are not in trouble as other men: neither are 
 they plagued like other men ; their eyes stand out 
 with fatness ; they have more than heart could wish." 
 On the other hand it often looks as if the pious had 
 cleansed their hearts in vain, and washed their hands 
 in innocency ; for all the day long have they been 
 plagued and chastened every morning. More or 
 less have these things been seen in every age. The 
 facts are undeniable. Yet the character of God is 
 unimpeachable. There must be a recompense to 
 come. This state of things will not last always. 
 Eternity is the continuance of an existence begun in 
 time. It shall bring rest to the righteous, and tribu- 
 lation to the wicked. God will amply prove that 
 his ways are just and equal. Give him tune and all 
 shall see it. 
 
 V. There must be a future account in or- 
 der to make the utterances of conscience in this 
 life truthful. The world over mankind expect 
 retribution. For nearly six thousand years, vic- 
 tims have been slain and altars, have smoked, 
 self-tortures have been inflicted and men have 
 howled for anguish, in anticipation of a coming 
 judgment. This has been so even where men be- 
 lieved their objects of idolatrous worship to be mon- 
 sters of perfidy, lewdness and revenge. Their 
 thoughts accuse them of want of conformity to a 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 05 
 
 higher and holier being to whom they are responsi- 
 ble. Many would give all they are worth in the 
 world to have even one sin blotted from the tablet of 
 their memory and from the book of God's remem- 
 brance. Their souls look for light, and behold dark- 
 ness. They seek joy and behold bitterness. These 
 mighty monitions are not limited to sect, or sex, or 
 age, or condition. They trouble the tyrant, who 
 reduces cruelty to a system. They annoy the lowest 
 wrong-doer. No might or meanness in mortality 
 but knows their power. In our language no w T ord is 
 better understood by all classes than the word re- 
 morse. It is the pain of guilt. It is the gnawing 
 of the worm that never dies. It is a drop of the 
 divine wrath fallen into the soul before the- tempest 
 has fully come. It is the work of torment begun 
 before the day of retribution has arrived. Thus 
 men know and feel. Even a conscience seared as 
 with a hot iron may all of a sudden be tilled with 
 flames of fire. Do these things not point to a future 
 reckoning ? 
 
 VI. *VVe need not much perplex ourselves to an- 
 swer the false doctrines of those who assert that no 
 motive or consideration should influence us to avoid 
 sin and perform duty except such as are mild and 
 addressed to pure and gentle natures. "What does 
 the perjurer care for the beauties of truth, the love- 
 liness of rectitude ? Some say w r e must appeal to 
 men's honor, but at least a part of mankind have no 
 honor to appeal to ; and those who talk most of 
 honor generally have the least. When a doctrine 
 makes a solemn oath a solemn farce, it is dangerous 
 
96 DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 
 
 to adopt it even for a moment. When Jesus Christ 
 would make his followers triumphant even in martyr- 
 dom, he does not fail to remind them that the flames 
 of hell are hotter than the burning pitch. Armed 
 with the whole doctrine of retribution, . ten times 
 ten thousands have bled and died in the cause of 
 truth and righteousness. But who ever died for the 
 doctrine of the eternal fitness of things ? The mar- 
 tyrs tell us what supported them : " If we have hope 
 only in this life, we are of all men most miserable." 
 At the last day God will wipe off all aspersions from 
 our characters. He will then bring forth our right- 
 eousness as the light, and in the presence of an 
 assembled universe will say, " Well done, good and 
 faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." 
 Thus the dying saints believed and triumphed. To 
 say that any philosophical dreams or fine spun theo- 
 ries or virtue ever produced such victories is noto- 
 riously and outrageously untrue. No, God has not 
 left us to theoues. We have his word: "We 
 know him that saith, I will recompense;" "The 
 wages of sin is death ;" " Whatsoever a man sow- 
 eth that shall he also reap ;" "It is appointed unto 
 men once to die and after that the judgment." Let 
 us hold fast the truths and doctrines of God's word. 
 VII. If such is the doctrine of accountability, 
 and if on such principles God will reckon with men, 
 then believers in his word may well pity and forgive 
 their bitterest foes, and utterly refuse to carry a 
 grudge, or bear malice, or wish ill to any human 
 being. Like Jesus let us pray even for enemies as 
 yet unrelenting, "Father, forgive them ; they know 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI. 97 
 
 not what they do." Like dying Stephen let us pray 
 for our fierce murderers, " Lord, lay not this sin to 
 their charge," lie, who does a wrong, is much 
 more in need of pardon and pity from God and 
 man, than he who suffers .wrong. Chalmers says: 
 " The little that I have seen in the world and 
 known of the history of mankind teaches me to look 
 upon their errors in sorrow, not in anger. "When I 
 take the history of one poor heart that has sinned 
 and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles 
 and temptations it has passed through ; the brief 
 pulsations of joy ; the tears of regret ; the feeble- 
 ness of purpose ; the scorn of the world that has lit- 
 tle charity ; the desolation of the soul's sanctuary, and 
 threatening voices within ; health gone, happiness 
 gone ; I would fain leave the erring soul of my fel- 
 low-man with Him, from whose hands it came." 
 thou unforgiving, spiteful man, hear the awful 
 voice of Jehovah: "Vengeance is mine; I will 
 repay, saith the Lord." Hear and forgive. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. We need not much concern ourselves with the 
 prosperity of the wicked. It will be very short- 
 lived. It will soon be gone. Strange that the 
 Lord should see it necessary to say : " Fret not 
 thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou en- 
 vious against the workers of iniquity." " I tremble 
 for those who have lived, and still live, to amass 
 wealth for selfish ends. There is no gold in the 
 world where they are going. It is the world of 
 
98 DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI, 
 
 penury and want, of craving desire and no supply. 
 To an avaricious man it is the mad-house of pov- 
 erty and despair." To the ambitious man, it is the 
 black hole of torment and disappointment. To the 
 violent it is the lion's cage. To the voluptuous it is 
 the barrenness and dreariness of perpetual exile 
 from every living fountain of joy. 
 
 2. Nor should we be cast down with overmuch 
 sorrow T at the sufferings of saints. Sanctified afflic- 
 tions lead to glory and honor at the appearing of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. The troubles of the re- 
 deemed will soon come to a full and a glorious end ; 
 and then their recompense will begin— a reward not 
 the less because all of grace. Good men have long 
 suffered severely ; but they shall soon triumph glo- 
 riously. The God, who helped the saints of old, 
 will never forget or forsake his chosen ones, The 
 sorer our trials, the more steadily let us remember 
 that God's most inscrutable ways are perfectly con- 
 sistent with holiness, justice, goodness and truth. 
 " God's way is in the sea, where no man can wade 
 unless God go before him, and where an} T man may 
 walk, if God take him by the hand, and lead him 
 through." 
 
 3. Let christians, who give evidence that they are 
 walking with God, not be unfruitful in the things of 
 religion. Let them abound in hope, in zeal, in 
 pitience and in good works. Let them not dole out 
 a little service to the honor of their Master. Let 
 them not be afraid of being too humble, too self- 
 denying or too much like Christ. True love "gives 
 like a thoughtless prodigal its all." Very gladly 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM CHAPTER VI 99 
 
 ought we to bring presents and offer all we have and 
 are to him, who is greatly to be praised, and who 
 has freely and richly given us all things needful for 
 life and for salvation also. When we give him all, 
 we but give him his own, for he is Lord of all. 
 
 4. Let those who walk untenderly, and are of 
 doubtful christian character remember that they are 
 in great danger. The day of their account may 
 come as a thief in the night Their love of ease, 
 of gain, of pleasure and of public esteem are great 
 snares, Let them beware how even for one day 
 more they fail to make proper preparation for under- 
 going the examination of God. Only he that walk- 
 eth uprightly walketh safely. Every one's case is 
 dangerous in proportion as his walk is untender. If 
 men forsake the Almighty, let them not be surprised 
 if the Almighty forsakes them. 
 
 5. Those, who do not profess religion have 
 and ought to feel a lively concern in the doctrine of 
 accountability. Men do not get rid of responsibil- 
 ity by denying it, by forgetting it, by failing to con- 
 fess it. The thoughtless wretch, who lives like an 
 atheist and dies like a brute, shall be held to as 
 strict an account as the gravest Christian or the 
 most reverent divines. thoughtless man, wicked 
 man, what wilt thou say when God shall deal with 
 thy soul I 
 
100 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDUCATED MEW. 
 
 Responsibility is in proportion to endowments, 
 advantages and opportunities. This is right. Tims 
 men judge. ' ' To whom men have committed much, 
 of him will they ask the more." Thus God has 
 said he will decide in the last day. "For unto 
 whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much 
 required." 
 
 If this is so, then educated and professional men 
 are under vast obligations to lead exemplary lives. 
 They should live and act under the solemn impres- 
 sion that nothing is so important as salvation ; that 
 no risk is comparable to the risk of perdition ; and 
 that all other losses are sunk out of sight in view of 
 the loss of the soul. These truths are clear : 
 
 I. There are great difficulties in the way of the sal- 
 vation of such. It is not easy for any man to be 
 saved. All men have hearts naturally leading them 
 away from God. They are by nature children of 
 wrath and children of disobedience. They love not 
 God, till renewed by his grace. Every service 
 acceptable to God involves sacrifices disagreeable 
 to the natural heart. These things are common 
 to all men. 
 
 Besides these things many educated and profes- 
 
EDUCATED MEN. 101 
 
 eional men arc by inheritance, or by successful 
 attention to business, possessed of wealth. The 
 greatest teacher earth ever saw said: " How hardly 
 shall they that have riches enter the Kingdom of 
 God!" Besides, many who have not wealth love 
 it, desire it, and are determined to spare no pains to 
 gain it. One of the universal principlesof Imman- 
 uel's empire is that coveteousness is idolatry, so that 
 if any man love the world, the love of the Father 
 is not in him. 
 
 Educated and professional men commonly have 
 unusual opportunities for gratifying their tastes and 
 appetites for carnal pleasure. Thus their salvation 
 is greatly imperilled. He that liveth in pleasure is 
 dead while he liveth. 
 
 Not a few of the same class are candidates for 
 public favour To secure it they are sorely tempted 
 to sacrifice even principle. Instead of stern inflexi- 
 bility, how many artifices they adopt quite incon- 
 sistent with a religious character. He, who shall 
 judge the world, has said to the aspiring: "How 
 can ye believe who receive honor one of another, 
 and seek not the honor that cometh from God only ?" 
 
 Moreover, it would be remarkable if in the course 
 of education no unhappy impressions concerning 
 religious truth and obligation had been made. 
 Many an education is so conducted or so abused 
 as to fill the mind with self-conceit— a great foe to 
 personal piety. In schools of every grade bad 
 examples are not rare ; dangerous principles are 
 avowed ; sinful practices become familiar. The 
 sneers of the French infidel, or the skepticism of 
 
102 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 the German Geologist may never have polluted his 
 ears ; but favored has been the lot of him, who has 
 never heard the ribaldry of the genteel vulgar, or 
 the inuendos of cunning men making pretension to 
 learning, liberality and refinement. It shall be for 
 a lamentation that so many malign and so few bene- 
 ficent influences unite in the course of education. 
 
 But if education is finished under the most favor- 
 able circumstances, many dangers beset the path to 
 usefulness and eminence. Unbridled desires of suc- 
 cess drive away thoughts of God, of salvation and 
 of eternity. If the usual avenues to promotion 
 seem closed, a brood of restless and malignant pas- 
 sions seek to kennel in the bosom. If success seems 
 possible, ambition becomes keen. If su3cess is 
 attained, vast is the load of care brought with it. 
 In most places professional duties become so onerous 
 as to tempt men to believe and act as if necessity 
 were laid upon them to neglect the whole course of 
 religious duties. It is fearful to see how practical 
 irreligion pervades the higher classes. Ask such to 
 read valuable religious works, and their reply is 
 they have no time. Remind them that one day in 
 seven is by their Creator appropriated to religious 
 study and devotion, and they plead the urgency of 
 professional calls, or the necessity of relaxation. 
 Thus they bring on their souls the withering effects 
 of deliberately and habitually devoting sacred time 
 to secular pursuits. 
 
 Nor are pfoua men of the educated and profes- 
 sional classes always as useful to their associates as 
 they should be. Some exhibit offensive peculiari- 
 
EDUCATED MEN. 103 
 
 ties. Some arc not yet rid of half their false rea- 
 sonings. The skeptic has read Hume and Paine, but 
 his pious friend has never read the answers of 
 Campbell, Watson and Fuller. He is not prepared 
 to give a reason of the hope that is in him. Shame 
 on some professors, who show a criminal cowardice 
 in defending religious truth even when a fit oppor- 
 tunity offers. No politeness can justify us in allow- 
 ing a fellow-creature to hug a dangerous delusion, 
 when a fearless exhibition of truth might save his 
 soul. On religion all men are far from being cour- 
 ageous ; yet hardly any thing is more needed than 
 genuine intrepidity. 
 
 In 1694 a child was born at Paris. Early in life 
 he gave evidence of unusual powers. He lived to 
 mould the literature, wit and moral sentiments of 
 several nations. Kings courted him. The rabble 
 lauded him. His versatile powers were one clay 
 employed in a cause that seemed good ; the next in 
 the cause of sensuality, "At London he was a 
 free-thinker, at Versailles a Cartesian, at Kancy a 
 Christian, at Berlin an infidel." He passed through 
 the range of the widest extremes of seeming virtue 
 and glaring vice without apparent emotion. With- 
 out passion he lived in excitement, without candor 
 he often admitted the most solemn truths, without 
 generosity he squandered his means, and without 
 hope he left the world. This man was Voltaire, the 
 insidious poison of whoso sentiments is working 
 the ruin of many, who never read a page of his 
 writings. One of his principles was: "Ridicule 
 will do every thing ; it is the strongest of all wea- 
 
104 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 pons, A bon mot is as good a thing as a good 
 book," Here he placed his machinery for demol- 
 ishing all that was decent, refining, sacred or ancient 
 in human institutions. To a fearful extent he suc- 
 ceeded. He dragged down to the level of his own 
 debasement many gifted men. These were followed 
 by the rabble. And to this day not a few educated, 
 or half-educated men adopt his miserable dogma. 
 But surely a jibe is no argument. A joke proves 
 nothing. Religion is too solemn a theme for mer- 
 riment, The Bible is no jest-book. Under eternal 
 sanctions it demands a candid and solemn scrutiny 
 of its claims, A smile will never abrogate the laws 
 of heaven, or the rights of the Most High. On 
 sacred themes mirth is trifling with God. Babes 
 may attain to saving knowledge ; but he that sports 
 himself with the revelations of God puts a veil over 
 his own heart, 
 
 Perhaps some educated men are offended at reli- 
 gious truth by the ignorance or incompetency of its 
 defenders, Oftentimes a feeble advocacy is worse 
 than none. Sometimes it is vastly mischievous. 
 "The knowledge whieo ignorance is publicly employed 
 to teach will of course be believed to be narrow 
 indeed. The employment, in which vulgarity is 
 summoned to preside, will bo regarded as possessing 
 a strong tincture of debasement." On minds natu- 
 rally averse to all that is holy the influence of igno- 
 rant teachers and feeble defenders of truth is often 
 urn t lamentable, Their silly sayings and uncouth 
 doings are remembered and recited wherever reli- 
 giou is introduced. In vaiu we point the educated 
 
EDUCATED MEN. 105 
 
 to men of sobriety, urbanity, learning and gigantic 
 understanding, who have expounded and maintained 
 the truth of God. But surely it cannot be right to 
 burst the bands of religious obligation because fee- 
 ble men have babbled in its favor. These are some 
 of the difficulties in the way of the salvation of edu- 
 cated men. 
 
 II. The educated have some great advantages and 
 consequently increased responsibilities respecting religion. 
 
 Other things being equal they have superior ad- 
 vantages for gaining sound knowledge. They can 
 read, and, if well educated, they can read with plea- 
 sure. To them a book is a lively companion. They 
 are apt to be acquainted with authors whose thoughts 
 are stirring and masterly. In listening to an argu- 
 ment or discourse, they are likely to understand its 
 scope and to have at hand solutions to many diffi- 
 culties. It is a great thing when people apprehend 
 the precise meaning of able preachers. This was 
 felt in the days of the aposlles. They seldom ad- 
 dressed a savage or a barbarous people. To a large 
 extent their audiences consisted of those who had 
 been educated. Though an idolater and a teacher 
 of profane mythology, the school -master went be- 
 fore the herald of salvation throughout the Roman 
 empire. This was a great advantage then. So 
 now educated men cannot live in excusable igno- 
 rance or innocent rejection of the Gospel. Even 
 the unlearned, if he is rightly disposed, may know 
 enough of its truth to be saved thereby. Much 
 more then are the intelligent wholly without excuse. 
 "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, 
 10 
 
106 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 to him it is sin." "That servant who knew his 
 lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did 
 according to his will, shall be beaten with many 
 stripes." (Lukexii: 47.) 
 
 Another advantage of the educated arises from 
 their influence in society. Were vicious sentiments 
 and wicked practices confined to the rude and vul- 
 gar, vice would soon be clad with infamy. But 
 when it claims for its patrons those whose training 
 ought to have elevated them above sordid meanness, 
 society must sutler. The ancients had a fabled tree 
 called the Upas. They said that nothing could grow 
 or live under its shade ; that one of its leaves, borne 
 by the winds, would blight a distant plant; that 
 its blossoms and even its pollen would destroy vege- 
 table life ; that all around it, for a great distance, 
 reigned barrenness and death. The genial warmth 
 and showers of spring and summer caused many 
 seeds to vegetate, but no sooner did they appear 
 above ground than the blight of death fell upon 
 them. In the Upas tree behold the emblem of an 
 educated, influential and wicked man. To his 
 neighbours he is polite, but he murders their souls. 
 His manners may be elegantly polished only to give 
 his vices a graceful air. A young and tender plant, 
 springing up under his influence, sickens and dies. 
 His example raises up others who imitate him in the 
 work of moral ruin. Perhaps few present charac- 
 ters of unmixed evil. Open blasphemy, boasting 
 atheism, swaggering wickedness and foaming shame 
 are now seldom found among the educated. The posi- 
 tion of most wicked men in that class is chiefly one of 
 
EDUCATED MEN. 107 
 
 negation. Greatly would they be scandalized if 
 charged with hostility to religion . They say they would 
 not lift a finger against it. But then they would not 
 lift a finger to help a poor soul into the kingdom of 
 heaven ; much less would they enter themselves. 
 
 Sometimes they visit the house of God. Perhaps 
 their deportment is decent, their attention respectful 
 and their criticisms just. But here the whole mat- 
 ter ends. They hold much truth, hut they hold it in 
 unrighteousness. They have studied logic ; yet they 
 have never reasoned so correctly as to see that the 
 doctrines of the Gospel require of them personal 
 holiness and diligent preparation for a judgment to 
 come and for an awful eternity. The result is they 
 are not saved. Their influence is not on the side of 
 God and of truth. Their sins of omission fill the 
 catalogue. The best thing that can be said of any 
 one of them is that he is a barren fig-tree. He 
 brings forth no evil fruit, yet he brings forth no good 
 fruit. But there is no character of mere negation 
 of good. Every man has a positive side and his 
 example tells with painful effect on some one. 
 
 Nor is it harsh or unjustly severe in God to hold 
 men responsible for sins of omission. The sentinel 
 of an army incurs the heaviest penalty by neglect, 
 no less than by the willing admission of spies. He 
 who sees one man about to murder another, and 
 might but will not hinder it, cannot be counted inno- 
 cent. The awful curse against Meroz was that in a 
 great conflict, endangering the existence of the 
 church of God, she did nothing. One of the 
 clauses in the solemn indictment against Belshazzar 
 
108 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 was : " The God, in whose hand thy breath is, and 
 whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." 
 
 But let us take a more pleasing view of this sub- 
 ject. Suppose all attainments and influence of the 
 educated to be for the good of men and the honor 
 of God. A life of well-doing may indeed some- 
 times subject one to the sneers of the unthinking or 
 the more formal hostility of the malevolent. But 
 those who dwell under the influence of such shall 
 return. It shall be a blessing to know such a one, 
 to love him and to abide with him. It is not given 
 to every man to be a Howard, a Francke, a Benezet, 
 or a Harlan Page ; nor to every educated woman to 
 be a Huntington, a Fry, a More, or a Newell ; but to 
 most of both sexes is given more talent for good 
 than is well employed. Such a one may not be able 
 to add a volume to the profitable reading of his day, 
 nor even usefully to fill a page in a magazine, or a 
 column in a newspaper ; yet could he not write many 
 private letters which might instruct or at least cheer 
 some pilgrim on his heavenly way ? If once the 
 mind is roused by the healthful glow of a kind and 
 warm heart, there is no end to its devices for miti- 
 gating human suffering and elevating human char- 
 acter. Such an one going forth, like his heavenly 
 Master, with his hands full of blessings to all around 
 him, keeps alive the memory of truths the most 
 important, and, because unpleasant, the most easily 
 forgotten. His work shall not be in vain in the 
 Lord. He lives not for applause, but his memory 
 shall not rot. To try his faith and to purify him as 
 silver, God may put him into the furnace of afliic- 
 
EDUCATED MEN. 100 
 
 tion and his soul may sec troubles; but "to the 
 upright light is sown in darkness;" and "though 
 weeping endure for a night, yet joy shall come in 
 the morning." All the time he has the prayers and 
 sympathies of the pious poor. Nor is he eaten up 
 of ennui or discontent. He may be ignorant of much 
 that is common in fashionable life, but then he has 
 no bitter experience of its baseness. Never will you 
 hear him exclaiming with the unhappy Chesterfield : 
 "I have run the silly round of business and plea- 
 sure, and I have done with them all. I have enjoyed 
 all the pleasures of the world, and consequently know 
 their futility. I have been behind the scenes ; I 
 have seen all the coarse pulleys and dirty ropes 
 which move and exhibit the gaudy machinery ; I 
 have seen and smelt the tallow-candles which illu- 
 minate the whole decoration to the astonishment 
 and admiration of an ignorant multitude. When I 
 reflect upon what I have seen, and what I have 
 heard and done, I can hardly persuade myself that 
 all that frivolous hurry and bustle and pleasure of 
 the world had any reality ; but I look upon all, that 
 has passed, as one of those romantic dreams which 
 opium commonly occasions. And I do by no means 
 wish to repeat the nauseous dose for the sake of the 
 fugitive dream." The true Christian bears afar dif- 
 ferent testimony. He serves a good master. Reviled 
 he may be while living, but when dead there will be 
 no shouting ; the wicked themselves will whiten his 
 sepulchre. Even bold transgressors will praise him, 
 when his bright example and fearless fidelity no lon- 
 ger condemn their ungodly deeds. And in the gvdvo, 
 10* 
 
110 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 ' He sleeps well. 
 Treason may do its worst : nor steel nor poison, 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing 
 Can reach him further.' 
 
 A CONTRAST. 
 
 I have somewhere met with something like the 
 following train of thought respecting two men 
 known to modern history, in some things alike, in 
 others wholly dissimilar — Henry Martyn and Lord 
 Byron, the former of humble and the latter of noble 
 origin. Both had superior intellects, quick concep- 
 tions, ardent feelings and exquisite sensibilities. In 
 early life both received very high honors. Both 
 were flattered, caressed and admired. The road to 
 fame and glory lay open before them both, and both 
 died young and in a foreign land. Here the paral- 
 lel ceases. Martyn, constrained by the love of God, 
 after mature reflection, left kindred and country and 
 fair prospects of worldly aggrandizement, sundered 
 all the tendcrest ties of humanity, and presented 
 himself on the shores of heathendom, there to 
 endure the contradiction of sinners and the severi- 
 ties of missionary life, all for the purpose of preach- 
 ing the unsearchable riches of Christ. The crimi- 
 nal and the debased, the rude and the violent were 
 often his pupils and companions. He was permitted 
 to translate the Word of God into the Ian oriole of 
 Persia, and to lay a copy on the throne of that 
 empire. He disputed with the learned doctors of 
 Mohammedanism, and told them the story of Jesus. 
 With nervous sensibilities exquisitely wrought, he 
 yet endured almost incredible sufferings in traversing 
 
EDUCATED MEN. Ill 
 
 sandy deserts, in want, in hunger and in sickness. 
 On the other hand Byron, rebellious against the 
 laws of his Creator, set fast his affections on dress 
 and dogs and monkeys and hears and human admi- 
 ration. No habit of devotion restrained his turbu- 
 lent passions. No tenderness of conscience enforced 
 rigorous self-denial. The purlieus of vice were his 
 haunts. The halls of gayety and splendor were at 
 the same time open to him. His genius was bril- 
 liant. He held the world entranced. He sang and 
 sinned and sinned and sang, until he was a wreck. 
 It would he more than a mere gratification of curi- 
 osity— -it would give lessons of wisdom — could we 
 penetrate the deep recesses of these men's hearts. 
 They have furnished us the means. Each of them 
 has written his thoughts upon anniversaries in his 
 life. Martyn says : "I like to find myself employed 
 usefully, in a way I did not expect or foresee. The 
 coming year is to he a perilous cue, but my life is 
 of little consequence, whether I finish the Persian 
 New Testament or not. I look back with pity on 
 myself when I attach so much importance to my 
 life and labors. The more I see of my own works, 
 the more I am ashamed of them, for coarseness 
 and clumsiness mar all the works of man. I am 
 sick when I look at the wisdom of man, but am 
 relieved by reflecting that we have a city, whose 
 builder and maker is God. The least of his works 
 is refreshing. A dried leaf or a straw makes me 
 feel in good company ; and complacency and admi- 
 ration take the place of disgust, "What a momen- 
 tary duration is the life of man !" " Labitur et labe- 
 
112 RESPONSIBILITIES OF 
 
 tur in omne volubilis cevum" may be affirmed of the 
 river ; bat men pass away as soon as they begin to 
 exist. Well, let the moments pass. 
 
 " They'll waft us sooner o'er 
 
 This life's tempestuous sea, 
 Soon we shall reach the blissful shore 
 
 Of blest eternity." 
 
 Byron thus records his feelings on a like occasion : 
 "At twelve o'clock I shall have completed thirty- 
 three years ! I go to my bed with a heaviness of 
 heart at having lived so long and to so little purpose. 
 It is now three minutes past twelve and I am thirty- 
 three. 
 
 Eheu fugaces,Posthume, Poothumc, 
 Labuntur anni ; 
 
 But I do not regret them so much for what I have 
 done as for what I might have done." Three years 
 later he writes a poem on his last — his thirty-sixth 
 birthday. In that he says : 
 
 " My days are in the yellow leaf, 
 
 The fruits and flowers of love are gone ; 
 
 The worm, the canker, and the grief 
 Are mine alone." 
 
 The deaths of these men corresponded to their 
 lives. Martyn's last record of any of his thoughts 
 runs thus : ' ; Isatin the orchard and thought with 
 sweet comfort and peace of my God, in solitude my 
 company, my friend and comforter." 
 
 Among Byron's last recorded thoughts was a wish 
 that he might fall in battle by the Turkish scimetar 
 before the standard of the false prophet, but this 
 W23 denied him. In his last hours of rationality no 
 
EDUCATED MEN. 113 
 
 star of Lope seems to have risen upon his soul. A 
 delusive gleam of light from the polished weapon 
 of a Turk was all that he saw, and that but dazzled 
 and deceived him. 
 
 Which of these was the wise and happy man ? 
 "Byron declared that upon the most careful recol- 
 lection of his experience of life, he could recall hut 
 eleven days, in which he enjoyed himself, and which 
 he would wish to live over again." On the other 
 hand Martyn's Memoir shows that his peace was 
 like a river. It is idle to discuss the questions, 
 Which of these men fell the safest ? or, Which of 
 them now condemns his manner of life on earth ? 
 On such subjects silence is more expressive than 
 tongues. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. There is a God that still judgeth in the earth. 
 
 2. Every human being on earth will soon be in 
 a changeless state fearfully wretched, or indescriba- 
 bly blessed. Reader, which shall it be in your case? 
 
 3. If you have had good advantages of knowing 
 God's will and have not done it, and die without 
 repentance, your doom will be just and frightful. 
 You "shall be beaten with many stripes." 
 
 4. Let us all flee to the only Redeemer of lost 
 men. Let us do it now, now, NOW. 
 
114 ALL MEN ARE SINNERS, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 
 
 In stature, in complexion, in intellect, in civiliza- 
 tion and in refinement, the diversity among men is 
 immense. Yet all are so much alike that they 
 clearly belong to the human family. The agree- 
 ment establishes identity of race. "We are all alike 
 men. 
 
 So also we are alike sinners. This is positively 
 asserted in Scripture: " There is none righteous, 
 no, not one : there is none that unclerstandcth, 
 there is none that seeketh after God. They are 
 all gone out of the way, they are together become 
 unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, 
 no, not one." (Rom. hi: 10-12.) "The whole 
 world lieth in wickedness." (1 John v: 19.) There 
 are many other Scriptures as explicit. So that it 
 is bald infidelity to deny that men are sinners. 
 Some in words admit that men are sinners; but 
 merely mean that their moral nature has some slight 
 obliquity. They deny the necessity of a radical 
 change of heart, and are even offended at the old 
 scriptural doctrine of total depravity. To prevent 
 mistakes let it be remembered, 
 
 1. That man is subject to various sensations, 
 which are not in themselves either sinful or holy. 
 
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 115 
 
 Such are hunger, thirst, weariness, sleepiness. Even 
 some of the emotions of the mind arc not in their 
 own nature either holy or sinful. Such is the plea- 
 sure felt at beholding a beautiful landscape, or the 
 terror felt at the approach of a violent tempest. 
 Sinful affections may coexist with these emotions ; 
 but these are not of themselves wicked. The same 
 is true of various degrees of surprise, wonder and 
 astonishment. 
 
 2. The scriptural doctrine of depravity does not 
 deny the existence of many amiable qualities, where 
 they are found to exist. It does not deny that the 
 mother naturally loves her child, that without divine 
 grace men are sometimes good husbands, good sons, 
 good fathers, good neighbors and good citizens. It 
 admits all this, and does not forbid us to admit and 
 admire any good natural qualities. 
 
 3. Nor do the Scriptures teach that all bad men 
 are equally bad. On the contrary they guard us 
 against such an error. They record that "Ahab 
 the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord 
 above all that were before him ;" that he "did more 
 to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than 
 all the kings of Israel that were before him ;" and 
 that "there was none like unlo Ahab, which did 
 sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the 
 Lord." (livings xvi: 30, 33; xxi: 25.) And 
 when Christ was on earth he saw a young ruler 
 so amiable that our Lord's natural affections were 
 drawn out towards him and he loved him. Some 
 bad men are worse than others. 
 
 4. Nor do the Scriptures assert that unrenewed 
 
11G ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 
 
 men are as bad as they might be. If they live 
 longer in sin, they will be worse men. "Evil men 
 and seducers wax worse and worse." " They pro- 
 ceed from evil to evil." Saul of Tarsus was a very 
 wicked young man when he held the clothes of those 
 who stoned Stephen. But he was a worse man, when 
 he took letters to Damascus. And while seldom if 
 ever does a vice exist solitary, yet rarely are all the 
 vices found in full strength in any one man. Com- 
 monly some evil becomes dominant. If wicked 
 men continue longer in sin, they will be worse men 
 than they now are. 
 
 5. The goodness of God is very great in placing re- 
 straints on human wickedness in this world. Divine 
 restraints on man are as merciful as they are won- 
 derful. Were they taken oft', earth would not be 
 any where the abode of order, thrift, or any good 
 thing. God has hedged up men's way so as won- 
 derfully to check outbursts of wickedness. 
 
 6. The original matter in depravity is not a war 
 between man and man, but a war between man and 
 his Maker. Were things all right between the soul 
 and God, they would be right in human society. 
 Most mercifully in this world God makes it appear 
 to many to be to their interest to be kind, and gene- 
 rous, and just, and obliging. .But Godward all is 
 wrong. It is as if a people of a county should 
 renounce and reject the authority of their State. 
 Against the authority of the State all would be firm 
 and united. In the mean time among themselves 
 they might still perform all the offices cf good neigh- 
 borhood. So publicans and sinners love one an- 
 
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 117 
 
 other, salute one another, befriend one another. But 
 towards God the Judge of all, men are firmly set. 
 With these explanations, it may be asserted and 
 maintained, 
 
 I. That in unrcgencrate men there is not any 
 thing, which the Bible calls holiness. There can be 
 no holiness without love to God. Yet to the uncon- 
 verted, Jesus says: "I know you that ye have not 
 the love of God in you." (John v : 42.) Some- 
 times holiness is expressed by the fear of God. Yet 
 "the transgression of the wicked saith within my 
 heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes." 
 (Ps. xxxvi: 1.) The wicked do not believe God's 
 word, nor rest upon his Son alone for salvation. 
 Yet "without faith it is impossible to please God." 
 They do not weep and blush and mourn for sin, nor 
 turn from it with loathing. Yet, "Except ye re- 
 pent ye shall all likewise perish." We must be 
 poor in spirit, and humble ourselves under the 
 mighty hand of God. Yet, " the wicked through 
 the pride of his countenance will not seek after 
 God." We arc saved by hope. Hope is the an- 
 chor of the soul. Yet all good hope is through 
 grace. That kind of hope alone can see a shir in 
 the darkest night, or a bow in the blackest cloud. 
 The holy man says, "I will not fear though an host 
 should encamp against me," but the wicked are in 
 great fear where no fear is. True holiness begets 
 sobriety and represses rash ardor. But the wicked 
 are as the horse and the mule, whose mouth must 
 be held in with the bit and bridle. Resignation 
 savs, "Thy will be done," and sweetly acquiesces 
 11 
 
118 ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 
 
 in the mind of God. But wickedness, like Pharaoh 
 says, Who is the Lord, that I should ohey him, or 
 like Cain it cries out, My punishment is greater than 
 I can bear. Meekness turns its cheek to the smiter 
 and prays for its persecutors. But the wicked man 
 hates his foes, and renders evil for evil. Persever- 
 ance holds on its way and is steadfast with God. 
 But the goodness of unrenewed men is like the 
 morning cloud and the early dew. Jesus Christ 
 clearly taught that unrenewed men were wholly 
 without holiness when he said: "That, which is 
 horn of the liesh, is flesh." Paul also said: "I 
 know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no 
 good thing." "The carnal mind is enmity against 
 God ; it is not subject to the law of God, neither 
 indeed can be." "The natural man receivcth not 
 the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fool- 
 ishness unto him ; neither can he know them, for 
 they are spiritually discerned." Could language 
 more clearly assert that without regeneration men 
 are entirely destitute of holiness? There is no 
 soundness in us. 
 
 II. The Scriptures declare us not only destitute of 
 holiness; but they teach that human depravity is 
 something exceedingly stubborn and ungovernable. 
 "The heart of the sons of men is fully set in them 
 to do evil;" they "love evil more than good;" they 
 "hate the good and love the evil." (Ecc. viii: 11, 
 Ps. lii: 3, Mic. iii : 2.) The Bible says: "The heart 
 is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked : 
 who can know it ?" (Jer. xvii ■ 9.) "The heart of 
 the sons of men is full of evil, and madnesss is in 
 
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 119 
 
 their heart while they live." (Ecc. ix: 3.) "Man 
 clrinketh iniquity like water." The Scriptures pay 
 no regard to the nice refinements of metaphysicians. 
 They give us clear, strong, well-guarded statements 
 respecting our cases and characters. All these 
 statements agree in representing human depravity 
 as very dreadful. 
 
 III. Paul has given us in Rom. i : 21-32 an ac- 
 count of the outworkings of human nature among 
 the Gentiles, who were without revelation. It is a 
 just delineation of human nature in all ages, when 
 left to itself. He says: "When they knew God, 
 they glorified him not as God, neither were thank- 
 ful, hut became vain in their imaginations, and their 
 foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves 
 to be wise, they became fools ; and changed the 
 glory of the incorruptible God into an image made 
 like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed 
 beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also 
 gave them up to un cleanness, through the lusts of 
 their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies be- 
 tween themselves : who changed the truth of God 
 into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature 
 more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. 
 Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile 
 affections. And even as they did not like to retain 
 God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a 
 reprobate mind to do those things which are not con- 
 venient, being filled with all unrighteousness, forni- 
 cation, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; 
 full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; 
 whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, 
 
120 ALL MEN AEE SINNERS. 
 
 proud, boasters, inventors of evil tilings, disobedient 
 to parents, without understanding, covenant-break- 
 ers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful : 
 who knowing the judgment of God that they which 
 commit such things are worthy of death, not only do 
 the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." 
 
 Is not such a terrible account of human nature 
 among the Gentiles suited to make the impression 
 that they are totally depraved ? 
 
 IV. From the same inspired pen we have an ac- 
 count of the actings of depraved human nature 
 among those who knew the true religion. In Rom. 
 iii: 9-23 Paul says: "Are we [Jews] better than 
 they [Gentiles]? !N"o, in nowise: for we have be- 
 fore proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are 
 all under sin ; as it is written, There is none right- 
 eous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, 
 there is none that seeketh after God. They are all 
 gone out of the way, they are together become un- 
 profitable : there is none that doeth good, no, not 
 one. Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their 
 tongues they have use I deceit ; the poison of asps 
 is under their lips ; whose mouth is full of cursing 
 and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. 
 Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the 
 way of peace have they not known. There is no 
 fear of God before their eyes. All have sinned and 
 come short of the glory of God." Does not such a 
 passage clearly show that we arc utterly indisposed, 
 disabled, and made opposite to all that is spiritually 
 good, and that we are defiled in all the faculties of 
 soul and body ? 
 
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 121 
 
 V. Now and then wickedness breaks out even 
 in the young in an appalling manner. "They go 
 astray from the womb speaking lies." Here is a 
 real case. It is now (1868) thirty years since, in a 
 family not free from reproach, was born M. One 
 of his brothers belonged to the race of bruisers. He 
 actually beat an opponent to death, fed from this 
 country, went to England, and became famous in 
 the Prize Ring. 
 
 In early life M. shipped on board a vessel bound 
 to a distant city on our own coast. During the voy- 
 age he united with others in a mutiny, killing the 
 captain and taking possession of the vessel. They 
 sailed in this way till they reached port, where M. 
 was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to be 
 hung. Through the intervention of friends, the 
 President then in power granted him a pardon. At 
 this time he was very young. "While still a youth 
 be became a resident of another large city. Here 
 he committed some petty crime, for which he was con- 
 fined in the House of Refuse. In a short time he set 
 fire to the premises. For this offence he was tried 
 and sentenced to be buns;. The dreadful doom of 
 the youth was now so nearly sealed that the rope 
 was actually adjusted to his neck. At that moment 
 a messenger announced a pardon from the Governor 
 of the State. Subsequently in the same city, he 
 committed a felony, for which he was sentenced 
 to strong prison for ten years. He served out his 
 whole time, no pardon coming to his relief. 
 
 Soon afterwards he removed to the city where he 
 had lived in early boyhood. Here he committed a 
 11* 
 
]22 ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 
 
 crime, for which he was sentenced to a long con- 
 finement. After serving four years, friends inter- 
 ceded, and he was again pardoned. He then re- 
 moved to a city, where he had never before resided. 
 He took an humble office in a shipping house. He 
 wooed and won the hand of a young woman to 
 whom he was married, when he was about thirty 
 years old. Some time after marriage he conceived 
 a jealousy towards his wife, and deceitfully drawing 
 her to his lap, plunged a knife into her side. The 
 wound was supposed to be fatal. But she survived 
 and prosecuted him. He was arrested, committed, 
 tried convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary 
 for seven years and six months. In prison lie at- 
 tempted to kill his wife, who had come to visit him. 
 Her life was only saved by an officer. He has 
 attempted to kill the warden. He has attempted 
 to kill two of his keepers. He was shot by one of 
 them, but not mortally wounded. When last heard 
 from he declared he would not obey the prison laws. 
 He has several times attempted to commit murder ; 
 he w r as actually engaged in one murder ; he has 
 once been guilty of arson ; he has twice been sen- 
 tenced to death ; he has been in confinement more 
 than five-eighths of his life. He laughs at the poor 
 shooting, by which his life is spared. He defies 
 God and man. He foams out his own shame. Such 
 a narrative shews that the way of transgressors is 
 hard, that the wicked will do wickedly, that de- 
 cided youthful depravity is likely to grow T worse, 
 that young murderers arc not to be reformed by 
 putting a rope around their necks, that systems of 
 
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 123 
 
 education conducted on the supposition that there 
 is nothing wrong in man are false and ruinous, 
 and that without the grace of God there is no tell- 
 ing what men will come to. 
 
 Now was this man wholly depraved ? Was he 
 entirely destitute of Gospel holiness? All say he 
 was. When did he become so ? After the commis- 
 sion of his first crime ? or his second ? after he had 
 been in prison five years, or ten ? Was he not so 
 at the outset of his career ? What was lacking when 
 his conduct rendered it necessary for his keeper to 
 shoot him? The love and fear of God. Why did 
 he plunge the knife into the body of his wife ? 
 Because he did not love or fear God. Why did he 
 commit arson ? Because he had not the love of God 
 in his heart nor the fear of God before Ins eyes. 
 Why did he join in killing the captain of his ves- 
 sel? For the same reason. He was wholly desti- 
 tute of holiness. Is not that fair reasoning ? Is 
 there any flaw in it ? When he told his first lie, or 
 swore his first oath, or first disobeyed a just com- 
 mand of his parents, the reason was the same. He 
 had no love of God in him, and no fear of God 
 before him, and that is total depravity. " When 
 once a man departs from God, from that moment he 
 loses all self-control, and falls from one sin into 
 another." 
 
 YI. Any fair interpretation of Scripture would 
 lead us to the same conclusion. Before the flood 
 " God saw that the wickedness of man was great in 
 the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts 
 of his heart was only evil continually." (Gen. 6:5.) 
 
124: ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 
 
 After the flood he said " tlte imagination of man's 
 heart is evil from his youth." (Gen. viii: 21.) The 
 apostle surely teaches that men are totally depraved, 
 when he says that they are ^ dead in trespasses and 
 sins." If they are dead, they have no spiritual life. 
 Dr. Kevins says : " Some object to the phrase total 
 depravity as expressing the moral condition of men. 
 But that phrase, though technical and definite, is not 
 so strong as the language of Scripture. There we 
 are said to be * dead in trespasses and sins.' The 
 phrase means much, but what ? Why, that men by 
 reason of sin are the subjects of death. There is an 
 animal life ; they are not dead with respect to that. 
 There is an intellectual life ; but they are not dead 
 in reference to that. The highest, happiest, noblest 
 species of life is spiritual life. They are destitute of 
 that. Thus they are dead. That life is not lan- 
 guishing in them. It is extinct. They are not 
 dying. They are dead in trespasses and sins ; wholly 
 destitute of spiritual life ; altogether without holi- 
 ness ; having no love to God ; for that life is love." 
 Indeed more than 750 years before the birth of 
 Christ, God by Isaiah pronounced on human nature 
 that ' ' from the sole of the foot even unto the 
 head there is no soundness in it ; but wounds, 
 and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not 
 been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified 
 with ointment" (Is. i: G.) <*A\ r e are all as an 
 unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as 
 filthy rags." "lie, who can make garments of 
 salvation, and robes of righteousness of these 
 til thy rags has a skill in composing spiritual 
 
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 125 
 
 vestments, which, it must be dangerous to pos- 
 sess. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. This doctrine lies at the foundation of all cor- 
 rect views in theology. It is fundamental. If men 
 err here, they err throughout. If they are right 
 here, they are probably not far wrong elsewhere. 
 "It is in vain," says Owen, "to dispute with any 
 about justification, who have not been duly convinced 
 of a state of sin, and of its guilt ; for such men 
 neither understand what they say, nor that whereof 
 they dogmatize . ' ' 
 
 2. In the dreadful guilt and pollution of man is 
 laid a broad foundation for the whole work of sal- 
 vation. Redemption is necessary. It is as necessary 
 as it is glorious. What say you, dying man, what 
 say you of divine things, as compared with carnal ? 
 What say you of redemption? Will you hail it 
 with joy ? Will you make it yours by faith ? 
 
 3. In order to salvation men must be born again. 
 Great must be the work of grace in the heart of a 
 sinner. Great is the victory over sin wrought by 
 divine grace. We may enter heaven without fame, 
 or fortune, or family, without health, or wealth, or 
 worldly wisdom ; but not without regeneration. 
 That is necessary, and is the only remedy for the 
 dreadful evils that are native in the human soul. 
 The love of Christ shed abroad in the heart by the 
 Holy Ghost given unto us is the only sovereign cure 
 of our dreadful depravity. Nothing else will do. 
 
126 ALL MEN ARE SINNERS. 
 
 Municipal law, however wise its criminal code, can 
 never renew the heart. It punishes. It does not 
 purify. Philosophy may hold forth her light. 
 Moralists may give good rules. Reason may clearly 
 point to the path of rectitude. But in none of these 
 is there any saving energy. The evil possession still 
 cries, Paul I know, and Jesus I know, but who are 
 you? "There is no power can reach a case of 
 death but God only. A man, by human means and 
 ministrations, may be brought back from the very 
 state of dying ; but when death has supervened, 
 these means are vain. Now men are dead. Their 
 case requires vivification, resurrection. God alone 
 can reach it. The Christian character, that which 
 alone renders one meet for heaven, is not any im- 
 provement of the native character, but the substitu- 
 tion of a new and different character." I have long 
 since ceased to wonder at the doctrine of the necessity 
 of the New Birth. But I wonder more and more 
 that men should be offended at it. The last hope of 
 the sinner is in that promise of God: "A new 
 heart will I give you, and I will take away the stony 
 heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart 
 of flesh. " Surely this is good news to the vile. "If 
 God insists on a new heart, must it not be because 
 the old one is wholly incapable of improvement ?" 
 
 Ye must be born again. 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 127 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 Horror is terror mingled with detestation. It is 
 the emotion produced by objects at once hateful and 
 terrible. Sin is odious and alarming. In view of 
 it Isaiah said, "I am undone;" Jeremiah, " Oh 
 that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain 
 of tears ;" and David, "Horror hath taken hold 
 upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy 
 law." God himself twice calls sin a "horrible 
 thing," and once a " wonderful and horrible thing." 
 (Jer. v: 30 ; xxiii : 14; IIos. vi: 10.) In another 
 place, not speaking of treason, perjury or murder, 
 but of sin as chargeable to every man, he says, 
 " Be astonishel, ye heavens, at this, and be hor- 
 ribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 
 For my people have committed two evils ; they have 
 forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed 
 them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no 
 water." (Jer. ii: 12, 13.) 
 
 Wo use no exaggerated language when we say 
 that Sin is Horrible ; for, 
 
 I. Sin is a horrible defilement. It is so spoken 
 of in Scripture. Because the inspired writers have 
 no epithet more expressive of that which is odious, 
 they say that sin is "exceeding sinful" The 
 
128 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 worst thing that can be said of any thought, word, 
 or deed is not that it is mean, injurious to health or 
 to honor, but that it is sinful. So the Scriptures 
 compare a sinful heart to a cage of unclean birds 
 and to a sepulchre full of rottenness and dead men's 
 bones. 
 
 How horrible a sight is a battle field, some days 
 after it has been covered with dead, who have not 
 been buried, and with wounded, who have not been 
 duly cared for. Yet an equal number of beings, 
 fallen under sin, present to our sight a more fright- 
 ful appearance. Such wounds, such bruises, such 
 man<2;lin£ and woes earth never saw as sin has made 
 in the souls of men. I have walked through the long 
 wards of hospitals, and seen my fellow-creatures in 
 every stage of disease and of suffering. Some had 
 undergone, and others expected soon to undergo 
 painful surgical operations. To the unaccustomed 
 eye, the sight was truly sickening. But some were 
 convalescent ; others, it was hoped, soon would be ; 
 and from many the precious name of Jesus, which 
 is as ointment poured forth, was heard in accents of 
 prayer and praise. But to see such numbers as 
 unmistakably declare their irreligion either by 
 speech or by their want of fruit, is to a benevolent 
 heart a sight far more appalling than any hospital or 
 battle-field. In the latter cases it is the body, which 
 is mangled and defiled. In the former case it is the 
 soul, that is polluted and dying. Its noble faculties 
 are all debased. Its warm affections are cold and 
 dead. Its understanding is darkened. Its con- 
 science is defiled. Its will is the slave of base appe- 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 129 
 
 tites and desires. how defiling is sin ! Its spots 
 cannot be washed out with water, and soap and 
 nitre. Good men may not understand the metaphy- 
 sical nature of sin, yet they do loathe and abhor 
 themselves on account of it. They see how it 
 breaks communion with God, how contrary it is to 
 his holiness, and how it .brings down their hearts 
 with labor and sorrow. One of their great hopes 
 for a future life is that there they will be forever 
 done with sin and temptation. 
 
 II. Sin is horribly mischievous, and likely to 
 spread far and to ruin many. As a source of disor- 
 der and lawlessness in the divine government, it 
 may well fill the contemplative mind with horror. 
 It began its work of ruin among the angels. It 
 emptied many of the shining seats in glory. Le- 
 gions of those burning ones were hurled from the 
 heights of bliss to the depths of despair. What 
 devastation ! Many mansions in the house not 
 made with hands were left desolate to people the 
 lake of fire. This doleful place was originally built 
 as the prison house of sinning angels. (Matt, xxv: 
 41.) Their ruin is and ever has been irretrievable. 
 Their sorrow has always been hopeless sorrow. 
 Their sufferings never had and never shall have any 
 mitigation. Their guilt for ever remaineth. Their 
 war with Jehovah is unceasing, uncompromising. 
 If sin had never done any thing more than to ruin 
 rebelling angels, the thought of it should fill us with 
 horror. But it has visited our world also. It has 
 made earth an Aceldama, and a Golgotha — a field 
 of blood — the place of a skull — a loathsome charnel 
 12 
 
130 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 house — a universal grave yard. It has made this 
 world, at whose creation the morning stars sang 
 together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, 
 the scene of the most provoking and cruel insults 
 ever offered to the Almisflitv. On earth, not in 
 hell, have the saints been martyred. On earth, not 
 in hell, was Jesus Christ crucified. On earth, not 
 in hell, has salvation been despised, and mercy 
 rejected, and the Spirit grieved, and damnation 
 derided. The ravages of sin have gone on in every 
 climate, and under every form of government ; and 
 involved in inconceivable and remediless misery 
 every child of Adam not rescued by the far reaching 
 and almighty grace of God. Generation after genera- 
 tion has by sin been swept into the grave, and except 
 where men abhorred it, it has drowned them in des- 
 titution and perdition. Once God came forth arrayed 
 in terror, and for their sins summoned to his dread- 
 ful bar the whole human race, eight souls only 
 excepted. At another time, tire and brimstone fell 
 upon populous and wealthy cities in a vastly fertile 
 region, and in their place this day stands that awful 
 monument of God's wrath, the Dead Sea. Many a 
 time has God sent forth famine, and war, and pes- 
 tilence to waste cities and nations, that had forsaken 
 his law. lie has armed tribes of insects and directed 
 their march over the earth where the land was "as 
 the garden of Eden before them, and behind them 
 a desolate wilderness." For his sins man has been 
 made the sport of the elements. The sea has opened 
 vide her jaws, and swallowed millions of men alive. 
 The tempest has overturned the stable dwellings of 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 131 
 
 man, and driven them like chaff from the threshing 
 floor, and tilled cities and countries with horrible 
 
 desolation. The earth herself has been charged with 
 explosive substances, and in the paroxysms and 
 throes of her internal agonies* she has reeled to and 
 fro like a drunken man ; and her groanings have 
 been heard the whole line of her longitude. The 
 heavens above have grown black, have looked terri- 
 bly angry, and shot forth devouring fire. Yet earth 
 is not the scene of perfect retribution. If such 
 things be done in the green tree, what shall be done 
 in the dry ? Here judgment is mingled with mercy, 
 yea, mercy triumphs over judgment ; yet a righteous 
 God gives these fearful tokens of his sore displea- 
 sure. 
 
 III. The hearts and consciences of men testify 
 that sin is horrible. Often does God fulfill the 
 threatening against his enemies: "I will send a 
 faintness into their hearts ; and the sound of a shak- 
 en leaf shall chase them ; and they shall flee, as 
 fleeing from a sword ; and they shall fall when none 
 pursueth, and they shall have no power to stand." 
 (Lev. xxvi: 36, 37.) Every earthly mind has some- 
 times felt a strange uneasiness and a strong disgust ; 
 and sometimes conscience has wrung the heart with 
 anguish. " The wicked flee when no man pursueth." 
 They are often "in great fear where no fear is." 
 It is chiefly owing to the operations of conscience that 
 *< the wicked have no peace, but are like the troubled 
 sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire 
 and dirt." They have no rest by day, and they are 
 scared in visions of the night. From this source 
 
132 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 they have often suffered so much that they have 
 chosen stransdins: rather than life, and with suicidal 
 hands have plunged into the miseries of hell, rather 
 than endure the torments of earth. Under the 
 power of a guilty conscience, men have used such 
 expressions as these : one said, "I suffer death every 
 day;" another, ' 'I wish I was a dog and had no soul ;" 
 another, "I wish I had never been born ;" another, 
 " 0, the insufferable pangs of hell and damnation ;" 
 another, " hell, if thou canst cover me, take me ;" 
 another, "I am the worst of murderers — I have 
 murdered time, and my own soul, and the souls of 
 others." A volume would not contain the expres- 
 sions and acts of horror which have proceeded from 
 men under the power of an evil conscience. Why 
 does a wise and merciful God permit such things to 
 occur in this world ? Either these unhappy men do 
 or they do not deserve such things. If they do not 
 deserve them, how is God wise and merciful, or even 
 just in permitting such torments to be endured ? If 
 they do deserve them, if these things arc the just 
 reward of their evil deeds, the whole matter is en- 
 tirely plain. Then these things teach us the malig- 
 nant nature of sin. It is a deadly poison. Under 
 its wasting power the spirit of man dies within him. 
 The striped house snake escapes its tormentors by 
 burying her fangs deep in her own side, and with a 
 quiver expiring. But the soul stung by sin lives on. 
 It can neither escape the tormentor nor resist his 
 scourgings. In the hands of a guilty conscience, the 
 stoutest spirit of man is like a lamb in the jaws of the 
 bear. It is an evil and bitter thin 2; to sin against God. 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 133 
 
 IV. Some centuries ago, on a bright clay, in the 
 territory of the most renowned ancient common- 
 wealth, a man was publicly executed by the order of a 
 pusillanimous judge, who had repeatedly declared 
 his prisoner innocent of all crime. His sufferings 
 had been foretold by ancient seers. Their con- 
 current testimony was that though he should be of 
 blameless innocence, yet both in life and death his 
 sorrows should be unparalleled. Having endured 
 woes unequalled, his sacred lips swollen with grief, 
 his life " was poured out like water. All his bones 
 were out of joint, his heart was melted like wax, 
 his strength was dried up like a potsherd ; and his 
 tongue cleaved to his jaws." Then crying with a 
 loud voice, "My God, my God why hast thou for- 
 saken me ?" He suffered a while longer and again 
 " cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost ;" 
 "and behold the vail of the temple was rent in twain 
 from the top to the bottom ; and the earth did quake, 
 and the rocks rent." A learned Greek happening 
 in Egypt that day, when he beheld the sore amaze- 
 ment of the heavens, is reported to have said, 
 "Either nature is dissolving or a God is expiring." 
 Why was this consternation throughout the realms 
 of the visible world ? The answer is, Nature's 
 Author was making expiation for sin ; the Son of 
 God, on whom were laid the iniquities of us all, was 
 treading the wine-press of his Father's wrath alone. 
 Ah ! this reveals the cause of that sympathy, which 
 nature manifested in his sufferings, and of that un- 
 equalled sorrowfulness of soul which himself said 
 was unto death. If even the incarnate Son of God 
 
134 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 must bear the bitterness and sting of death, which 
 is sin ; if even he must take our law-place, and suf- 
 fer the just for the unjust, in his agonies at that 
 dreadful hour, the universe shall see that sin is a 
 horrible thing. In the cross of Christ, heaven and 
 earth shall read the lesson that sin is no trifle, no 
 common evil ; that it has a deeper malignity, a 
 wider sweep, a more terrific power to blast and 
 crush and consume than any, yea, than all other 
 evils. 
 
 I Y. God's word reveals a terrible destruction to 
 come on the soul on which sin is found at last. 
 Though God's mercy exceeds all names of kindness, 
 yet he is as just as he is loving ; and " the soul that 
 sinneth it shall die." Yes, "0 wicked man, thou 
 shalt surely die." Dying in thy sins, thou shalt not 
 escape an overthrow, the thought of which might 
 well overwhelm any finite mind. The following are 
 but samples of the manner in which God teaches 
 how he will punish impenitent men for their horrible 
 offences : " Judgment also will I lay to the line, and 
 righteousness to the plummet : and the hail shall 
 sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall 
 overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with 
 death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with 
 hell shall not stand ; when the overflowing scourge 
 shall pass through." (Isa. 28 : 17, 18.) "I will slay 
 the last of them with the sword : he that fleeth of them 
 shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them 
 shall not be delivered. Though they hide themselves 
 in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them 
 out thence. Though they dig into hell, thence shall 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 135 
 
 my hand take them ; though they climb up to hea- 
 ven, thence will I bring them down." (Arnos ix : 
 1-3.) The carnal security and presumptuous quiet 
 of wicked men add not to their safety, nor avert 
 impending judgments ; for " when they shall say, 
 Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh 
 upon them, and they shall not escape." (1 Thes. 
 v: 3.) What an evil sin must be that the wisest 
 and best and most loving being in the universe 
 should be thus awfully determined to punish it 
 wherever found, and permit no unpardoned trans- 
 gressor to escape the almighty grasp of eternal jus- 
 tice. If God, who cannot err, has thus judged, that 
 sin must be openly, terribly and eternally dealt with 
 according to law, then none but those who are pro- 
 fane can think and feel and act as if it were a 
 light thing to sin against God. In the terrible lan- 
 guage of the Bible : " Fools make a mock at sin." 
 Men must be bereft of all sobriety and sagacity, 
 before they can sport themselves with that which is 
 so offensive to the Most High. 
 
 VI. Nor is all this wonderful, if we look at the 
 nature of sin itself. It is wholly contrary to the 
 only perfect law ever given for the direction of men, 
 (1 John iii : 4 ;) it is shocking contempt of the God 
 of heaven, (Ps. x: 13 ;) it is rebellion of the worst 
 form, (Isa. i : 2 ;) it is despite to the riches of his 
 goodness, (Rom. ii : 4 ;) it is robbery of the Most 
 High, (Mai. iii : 8 ;) it is a wicked assertion of the 
 right of property in ourselves, (Ps. xii : 4 ;) it is a 
 denial of the divine sovereignty, (Ex. v : 2 ;) it is a 
 making light of the fearful threatenings of God, 
 
136 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 (Mai i : 6 ;) it docs all it can to impeach the divine 
 veracity, (1 John i : 10 ;) it is a proud scorning of 
 all the lessons taught us "by our sore afflictions, 
 (Jer. v : 8 ;) it is the most terrible obstinacy, (Isa. 
 xlviii : 4 ;) it is making war on the Almighty, (Acts 
 v : 39 ;) it is serving and obeying the wicked one, 
 the great enemy of God and man, (Eph. ii : 2;) it 
 is in defiance of our own reason, judgment, under- 
 standing, conscience and convictions, (Prov. viii : 
 36 ;) against many solemn purposes and engagements 
 to the contrary, (Eccles. v: 4, 5.) It assaults every 
 attribute of God. It tramples under foot every 
 principle of moral obligation. It puts time before 
 eternity, the body before the soul, fleeting vanities 
 before unendino; realities. "All sin is founded in 
 a secret atheism," says Charnock. "Atheism is 
 the spirit of every sin ; all the floods of impieties in 
 the world break in at the gate of a secret atheism ; 
 and though several sins may disagree with one an- 
 other, yet like Herod and Pilate against Christ, they 
 join hand in hand against the interest of God. 
 Though lusts and pleasures be divers, yet they are 
 all united in disobedience to him. All the wicked 
 inclinations in the heart, and struggling motions, 
 secret repinings, self-applauding confidence in our 
 own wisdom, strength, &c, envy, ambition, revenge 
 arc sparks from this latent fire ; the language of 
 every one of these is, I would be a lord to myself, 
 and would not have a God superior to me." Scrip- 
 ture calls sin a turning of the back upon God, 
 (Jer. xxxii : 33 ;) a kicking against God, (Dent. 
 xxxii: 15 ;) a cursing of God in the heart, (Job i: 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 137 
 
 5.) If for anything we ought to weep, and lament, 
 and cover ourselves with sackcloth and ashes, it is 
 for sin against God. It brings on the sinner him- 
 self guilt, shame, confusion, condemnation. It 
 defiles every power and faculty of the soul and 
 makes it a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. If christians sorrow, it is not without a cause. 
 In themselves they see the workings of original sin 
 and of a remaining depravity. There is a war — a 
 fearful war — in their members. The flesh lust- 
 eth against the spirit, and the spirit against the 
 flesh. In the midst of this fearful conflict, the 
 greatest apostle cried out, " wretched man that 
 I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death ?" Then too the righteous behold the wick- 
 edness that is in the world. They sigh and cry for 
 all the abominations done in the land. 
 
 2. Beware of that temptation of the wicked one 
 — confusion of mind. If Satan can once persuade 
 us that bitter is sweet and sweet bitter, that there is 
 no difference between sin and hohness, duty and 
 transgression ; or at least that we are not morally 
 bound to distinguish between them, he will have 
 gained a fearful advantage over us. Heaven and 
 hell are not wider apart than sin and holiness. 
 
 3. Guard with great care against the occasions of 
 sinning. Your strength is in your weakness. Cry 
 mightily, "Lead us not into temptation." If a 
 pursuit, a companion, a train of thought inclines 
 
138 SIN IS HORRIBLE. 
 
 you to evil, avoid them. The beginning of sin is as 
 when one letteth out water. 
 
 4. How kind is the offer of pardon and reconcili- 
 ation, made by God to us, so great sinners. Alas, 
 some never know how kind the gospel call is, until 
 it is too late. Jerusalem was in that sad case. 
 (Luke xix : 42.) In two ways we may learn the value 
 of a kind proposal. One is, by embracing it, and 
 securing, all the benefits it offers. Here is the wisdom 
 of the just. The other method of learning the value 
 of a good offer is by rejecting it, and afterwards en- 
 during the evil consequences of such folly. If any one 
 who reads this book shall die in his sins, he may at the 
 last day look up and see the amazing blessings of the 
 righteous, and say : "One of those robes, and harps, 
 and crowns might have been mine, had I not despised 
 offered mercy." how will the impenitent mourn 
 at the last, when their flesh and their body are con- 
 sumed and each of them says, "How have I hated 
 instruction, and my heart despised reproof: and 
 have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor in- 
 clined mine ear to them that instructed me !" Prov. 
 v: 11-13.) Such may seethe Saviour shining as 
 the sun shineth in his strength, and say : That Re- 
 deemer, all glorious in his apparel, all wondrous in 
 his mercy, all condescending in his kindness, might 
 have been mine, but I refused him. Oh that I had 
 sought his favor when I heard his gospel preached, 
 and when I felt his Spirit move. Oh that I had 
 opened the door and let him in when I heard his 
 gentle knocks, his words of grace and truth. Fel- 
 low-traveller to the bar of God, will you never learn 
 
SIN IS HORRIBLE. 139 
 
 how great are the kindness and mercy of the Redeem- 
 er in offering salvation, until the master has risen 
 up and shut-to the door? Count the long-suffering 
 of God salvation. Accept the gift of God which is 
 eternal life. The interests of your immortal, yet 
 sinful soul are at stake. You may now indeed be 
 living in pleasure and quaffing " the full bowl of 
 sparkling joys ;" but remember you must yield the 
 cup of sinful pleasure, or you cannot drink the cup 
 of salvation. Hold fast the former a little longer, 
 and you will find in it wormwood and gall, the wine 
 of astonishment, the wine of the wrath of God, 
 which is poured out without mixture into the cup of 
 his indignation. 
 
 Or you may now be in full possession of the honor 
 that cometh from man, and not care for the honor 
 that cometh from God only. But ere long, you 
 would give the world, if you had it, for the least 
 token of favorable regard from the Most High. 
 
 11 Saviour of souls, could I from thee 
 A single smile obtain, 
 Though destitute of all things else, 
 I'd glory in my gain." 
 
 Or now you may be satisfied with wealth. You 
 may think you have goods laid up, or that you 
 soon will have goods laid up for many years, 
 when you may eat and drink and take your ease. 
 But soon God will say, This night shall thy soul be 
 required of thee. Are you prepared to meet that 
 long dreaded requisition ? ! if you were but as 
 willing to accept as heaven is to grant mercy, you 
 would not change your present posture without 
 making peace with God. 
 13 
 
140 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 Moral worth, and the blessings inseparably con- 
 nected therewith constitute the only excellence de- 
 serving the eager pursuit of mortals. True its 
 record, its treasures and its glories are on high. The 
 people of God are not in this life distinguished from 
 others by marks visible to the eye of sense or reason. 
 The angel with his inkhorn (Ezek. ix : 2-7) is an 
 invisible messenger, and makes no mark that can be 
 read with carnal eyes. And yet the saint is better 
 and is better off than the sinner. But note, 
 
 1. It is not asserted that in the judgment of the 
 ungodly the righteous is the better man. Whatever 
 misgivings he may have he is commonly self-satisfied. 
 " There is a generation, which is pure in their own 
 eyes, yet is not washed from their nlthiness." (Prov. 
 30 : 12.) The Pharisee had no doubt that he was 
 a far better man and had far brighter prospects before 
 him than the publican had before him. 
 
 2. Neither is there anything in piety to make the 
 righteous man self-conceited. It is the vile hypo- 
 crite who says to each man around him : ' 'Stand by 
 thys< If; F am holier than thou." Paul pronounced 
 himself the chief of sinners. True piety makes its 
 Subjects lowly. With all his haughtiness the Pha- 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 141 
 
 risee had not so poor an opinion of the publican as 
 the publican had of himself. 
 
 3. The superior excellence of a righteous man 
 over his neighbour is not constitutional nor the re- 
 sult of education. In such matters the ungodly 
 often possess great advantages. Often they are 
 more amiable and have received better educations 
 than their pious neighbours. The difference, of 
 which we speak, is wholly gracious and springs 
 from the sovereign and distinguishing love of God. 
 
 4. Therefore in this doctrine there is nothing 
 designed to awaken feelings of enmity in the mind 
 of the wicked towards his pious neighbour. If sin- 
 ners have bad feelings towards saints, they must 
 spring from envy. The Apostle tells the whole 
 story: "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to 
 envy." (James iv: 5.) 
 
 5. One of the best modes of ascertaining differ- 
 ences is to contrast decided cases. There is a region 
 of twilight in character where we see but dimly, 
 and where some men, not very bad, do not appear 
 very different from other men, not very good. But 
 when very bad men and very good men are fairly 
 contrasted, all men see the difference. 
 
 With these explanations let us proceed to show 
 how the saint excels the sinner. 
 
 I. The righteous has a much better rule of con- 
 duct than the sinner. To the former God's word is 
 law, a rule and an end of controversy. Over the 
 latter, convenience, expediency or downright infi- 
 delity has prevailing power. Rousseau, who spent 
 
142 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 mucli time among the torrents, glaciers, lakes and 
 mountains of Switzerland, writes thus : ' ' I visit no 
 chapel, I see no priest, I hear no homily ; nor need 
 I ; for neither priest, nor chapel, nor homily, nor 
 the whole world, nor the whole universe could teach 
 me so much of God as I learn in my walks every 
 day." Since the days of Rousseau, lived Frederic 
 "William III., than whom perhaps few men saw 
 greater trials. In a solemn review of his life and 
 sufferings, he devoutly said: "Had not thy holy 
 w T ord comforted me in my misery, I should have 
 passed away. A revelation having nothing to reveal 
 beyond the scope of man's knowledge and science, 
 would cease to be a divine revelation. Its mysteries 
 are to me witnesses of its divinity, and I should 
 cease to believe its revelations, were the mysteries 
 not there. . . The sermon on the Mount — what 
 a treasure ! why it contains more wisdom in a few 
 pages than all the folio volumes of ancient and 
 modern theologians." When men reject the only 
 infallible guide, their whole course through life is 
 certain to be erratic. Glaciers and avalanches do 
 indeed teach lessons ; but they teach them more 
 thoroughly to him who hears the voice of God in 
 his word, than to any one who slights the lessons of 
 inspiration. 
 
 In their science men may ascend even to the stars, 
 but there the good man leaves his neighbour and 
 travels on to the Eternal Throne of him who made 
 the earth, and by his Spirit garnished the heavens. 
 
 II. In his thoughts the righteous excels his neigh- 
 bour. When he thinks of time and eternity, sick- 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 143 
 
 ness and health, poverty and riches, honor and dis- 
 honor, pleasure and misery, truth and duty, himself 
 and God, heaven, earth and hell, his thoughts are 
 quite unlike his neighbour's in several respects. 
 First, the righteous is concerned about these things 
 in a good degree according to their real worth ; 
 while the man of the world estimates them more 
 according to their nominal value. The thoughts of 
 the righteous more nearly coincide with the judg- 
 ment of God on these matters than do the thoughts 
 of his neighbour. Secondly, men of the world 
 usually estimate things in proportion to their near- 
 ness, leaving very remote things wholly unprovided 
 for. Just the opposite of this is true of the pious. 
 They sometimes hardly notice present evils for the 
 sake of the good which is far future, and never seen 
 but by the eye of faith. The ungodly man says of 
 time, It is my enemy, which I am always trying to 
 kill but never can. Of time, the righteous says, 
 It is a golden talent, which rightly improved secures 
 a title to reign over a city. Ask a pious man where 
 pleasure is, and his thoughts instantly recur to the 
 closet, the sanctuary, or the furnace of affliction, 
 where he has often met God. Ask the sinner where 
 pleasure is, and he points you to the theatre, the 
 ball-room, the card party, the courtly levee, a coun- 
 try life, a residence in some distant city. Propose 
 preferment to a sinner, and for it he will give up 
 prejudice, partisanship and even honor. Propose 
 the same to a child of God and with Fletcher of 
 Madeley, he says: "All I want is more grace." 
 Ask the sinner what is morally grand, and he will 
 13* 
 
144 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 point you to some convocation of potentates or to 
 some hard-fought battle field. Ask the saint the 
 same question, and he tells you, there is joy in the 
 presence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
 repcnteth. Thirdly, the righteous excels his neigh- 
 bour in the motives which govern him. In the sin- 
 ner, selfishness is the law. In the righteous, self- 
 denial is the law. One is the centre of all his own 
 plans. All the lines of his conduct meet in him- 
 self. To the other God is the centre of every thing. 
 A regard to his glory is supreme. One asks, Will 
 it please men for me to obey God ? the other asks, 
 Will it please God for me to obey men ? The love 
 of Christ bears on the saint. Aversion to Christ 
 constrains the other. 
 
 III. In his speech the righteous excels his neigh- 
 bour. He is free from the stain and guilt of that 
 enormous load of profane and irreverent speaking, 
 which so much prevails with the ungodly. Besides, 
 much that is said by the wicked consists of vain and 
 idle words, of foolish talking and jesting. So far 
 as a man is a good man, he follows not this evil 
 example. Moreover the righteous loves serious con- 
 versation. He is not repelled by the solemnities of 
 eternity. The judgment and its stupendous scenes 
 linger about his mind always ; nor are they unwel- 
 come themes. The ungodly are not so. No carnal 
 heart loves just thoughts on everlasting things. 
 
 IV. In his principles the righteous excels his 
 neighbour. "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not 
 again : but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth." 
 (Ps .xxxvii : 21.) Compare 2 Kings vi : 5, If car- 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 145 
 
 nal men have not a price upon their integrity, it is 
 because they have made their reputation their idol. 
 It is certain that if a man does not fear God, no 
 sound thinker is surprised at discovering that he 
 does not regard man. There is a foul blot on the 
 honesty of all ungodly men because they withhold 
 from the Almighty the tribute of praise and service 
 due to his name. The wicked defraud Jehovah ; 
 they rob God. When a man will cheat his own 
 father, it is not surprising he should practice extor- 
 tion on a stranger. 
 
 V. The righteous excels his neighbour in his tem- 
 per towards men. To a rude swaggering youth, J. 
 A. Haldane said : " There was a time, sir, when I 
 should have resented this impertinence ; but I have 
 since learned to forgive injuries and to overlook 
 insults." Flesh and blood teach no such lesson as 
 this. Cicero, the best of the heathen philosophers, 
 says : i ' A man ought to feel kindly towards all ex- 
 cept his enemies." But the child of God honestly 
 practises on the precept: "Overcome evil with 
 good;" and like dying Stephen cries: "Lord, lay 
 not this sin to their charge." 
 
 VI. The righteous excels his neighbour in his 
 conduct under the outward displeasure of God. One 
 cries, Why am I made to suffer ? the other says of 
 all his afflictions, They are light. To the sinner the 
 day of adversity has nothing but darkness ; to the up- 
 right light ariseth in the darkness. The tears of the 
 one scald ; the tears of the other are blessed. For 
 fratricide, Cain was expelled from the visible church 
 of God. Well might he have been sentenced to a 
 
145 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 terrible death. But instead of submission, instead 
 of regarding his sentence as light, in the spirit of 
 rebellion he exclaims, " My punishment is greater 
 than I can bear." (Gen. iv : 13.) On the other 
 hand the righteous have learned to be patient in 
 tribulation. Jeremiah was of an exceedingly gen- 
 tle spirit. His uprightness is unquestioned. He 
 greatly loved his people and Jehovah. Yet sorrow 
 rolled in upon him like a tide, so that he cried out 
 to all that passed by : " Behold, and see if there be 
 any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto 
 me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of 
 of his fierce anger. I am the man that hath seen af- 
 fliction by the rod of his wrath." (Lam. i : 12 ; iii : 1.) 
 Yet not a murmur escapes his lips. But he penitently 
 and piously says : ' ' It is of the Lord's mercies that we 
 are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 
 They are new every morning : great i s thy faithfulness. 
 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul ; therefore 
 will I hope in him. It is good that a man should 
 both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the 
 Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke 
 in his youth. The Lord doth not afflict willingly 
 nor grieve the children of men. Wherefore doth a 
 living man complain, a man for the punishment of 
 his sins ? Let us search and try our ways and turn 
 again to the Lord." (Lam. iii, in many places.) 
 
 VH. In his treatment of Jesus Christ, the right- 
 eous excels his neighbour. All God's people are 
 united in judgment concerning the Saviour. They 
 all say, He is the chief est among ten thousands and 
 altogether lovely, the first and the last, all in all to 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 147 
 
 their souls. On the contrary the wicked esteem him 
 as a root out of a dry ground, without form or come- 
 liness, and when they see him, there is no beauty that 
 they should desire him. On a fair trial the righteous 
 would die for him ; but the wicked would rather 
 die than be saved by him. Thus he is set for the 
 rise and fall of many in Israel. To some he is a 
 stone of stumbling, a rock of offence, a gin and a 
 snare. But to the righteous he is the Author of 
 eternal redemption, and they glory in his cross. 
 
 VIII. The righteous has greatly the advantage 
 over his neighbour in point of conscience. The 
 conscience of the righteous is purged from dead 
 works and from guilt by the blood of Jesus ; and 
 the whole church of God unites in saying: "Our 
 rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, 
 that in simplicity and godly sincerity not with fleshly 
 wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have our con- 
 versation in the world." (2 Cor. i: 12.) But it 
 is far different with men of the world. Every unsanc- 
 tified heart is a volcano whose eruptions may at any 
 moment pour forth torrents of burning lava. Con- 
 science is seldom so stupid as not to awake at the 
 approach of divine judgments; and "conscience 
 never sleeps so soundly as not to awake at the ap- 
 proach of death." This is the reason why the wicked 
 are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose 
 waters cast up mire and dirt. 
 
 IX. In the solid comfort with which he passes 
 through life, the righteous greatly excels his neigh- 
 bour. Yonder is Hainan, the son of Hammedatha 
 the Agagite. He is next to his monarch, the Artax- 
 
148 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 erxes Longiraanus of profane history. The mighty 
 bowed before him; the many reverenced him. Whom 
 he would, he exalted, and whom he would he degraded. 
 But there was one old bondman, venerable for age, 
 piety and public services, who would not cringe and 
 truckle before the bloody tyrant. This so mightily 
 stirred up the wrath of the prime minister that he 
 said of all his greatness, "It availeth me nothing, 
 so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the 
 lung's gate." He maliciously determined not only 
 to destroy the old man, but to wreak his vengeance 
 on his entire nation. Yet in the providence of God 
 he was soon required by his monarch to array his 
 enemy in royal attire, mount him on the king's 
 horse and lead him through the city, proclaim- 
 ing, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the 
 king delighteth to honor. "Then said his wise 
 men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be 
 of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast 
 begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, 
 but shalt surely fall before him ;" and so it came to 
 pass. Envy and perturbation were followed by a 
 gallows fifty cubits high. Turn now to Paul the 
 Apostle. He was in labours more abundant than 
 even other eminent servants of Christ, in stripes 
 above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths 
 oft Of the Jews five times received he forty stripes 
 save one. Thrice w 7 as he beaten with rods, once 
 was he stoned, thrice did he suffer shipwreck, a 
 night and a day was he in the deep ; in journeymgs 
 often, in perils of w r aters, in perils of robbers, in 
 perils by his own countrymen, in perils by the hea- 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 149 
 
 then, in perils in the city, in perils in the sea, in 
 perils among false brethren ; in weariness and pain- 
 fulness, in watchinga often, in hunger and thirst, in 
 fastings often, in cold and nakedness, (2 Cor. xii : 
 23-27.) Yet how did he regard such trials ? Him- 
 self shall answer: "None of these things move 
 me, neither count I my life dear unto myself so that 
 I might finish my course with joy, and the minis- 
 try which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of God." (Acts 
 xx : 24.) 
 
 Let us further contrast the feelings of the prince 
 of modern infidelity and of an experienced saint of 
 God. Voltaire says: "Who can, without horror, 
 consider the whole world as an empire of destruc- 
 tion ? It abounds with wonders ; it abounds also 
 with victims. It is as a vast field of carnage and 
 contagion. Every species is without pity pursued 
 and torn to pieces through the air and earth and 
 water. In man there is more wretchedness than in 
 all the other animals put together. Ho loves life 
 and yet he knows he must die. If he enjoys a 
 transient good he suffers various evils, and is at last 
 devoured by worms. This knowledge is his fatal 
 prerogative. Other animals have it not. He spends 
 the transient moments of his existence in diffusing 
 the miseries which he suffers ; in cutting the throats 
 of his fellow-creatures for pay ; in cheating and be- 
 ing cheated ; robbing and being robbed ; in serving 
 that he might command ; and in repenting of all 
 he does. The bulk of mankind are nothing more 
 than a crowd of wretches, equally criminal and un- 
 
150 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 fortunate ; and the globe contains rather carcasses 
 than men. I tremble at the review of this dreadful 
 picture, and find it contains a complaint against 
 Providence itself, I wish I had never been born." 
 This is the testimony of one whom nations flattered 
 and kings courted. Turn we now to Halyburton, 
 who died as he lived. Near the end of life he said : 
 "I shall shortly get a very different sight of God 
 from what I have ever had, and shall be made meet 
 to praise him for ever and ever. 0, the thoughts of 
 an incarnate Deity are sweet and ravishing. how 
 I wonder at myself that I do not love him more, 
 and that I do not adore him more. What a wonder 
 that I enjoy such composure under all my bodily 
 pains and in the view of death itself. What mercy 
 that having the use of my reason I can declare his 
 goodness to my soul. I long for his salvation — I 
 bless his name that I have found him, and I die 
 rejoicing in him. blessed be God that I was born. 
 Oh that I was where he is. I have a father and 
 mother and ten brothers and sisters in heaven, and 
 I shall be the eleventh. there is a telling in this 
 providence, and I shall be telling it forever. If 
 there be such a glory in his conduct towards me 
 now, what will it be to see the Lamb in the midst 
 of the throne. Blessed be God that I was born." 
 Surely Voltaire and Ilalyburton were very different 
 men. 
 
 X. Standing on the verge of life, even in good 
 health, how different are the feelings of a man of 
 the world and of a man of God. For example 
 take Gibbon the historian, and Paul the apustle. 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 151 
 
 Both of these men were accomplished scholars; 
 both had great energy of character ; both had given 
 to the world writings which they expected to be read 
 with interest to the end of time ; both had filled a 
 large space in the public eye for a long period ; and 
 both lived to as great an age as commonly consists 
 with an unimpaired intellect. Just before leaving 
 the world, they tell us their thoughts. The closing 
 paragraph of Mr. Gibbon's autobiography reads 
 thus : " The present is a fleeting moment, the past 
 is no more ; and our prospect of futurity is dark 
 and doubtful. This day may possibly be my last ; 
 but the laws of probability, so true in general, so 
 fallacious in particular, still allow about fifteen years. 
 I shall soon enter into that period, which as the 
 most agreeable of his long life, was selected by the 
 judgment and experience of the sage Fontenelle. 
 His choice was approved by the eloquent historian of 
 nature [Button] who fixes our moral happiness to the 
 mature season in which our passions are supposed 
 to be calmed, our duties fulfilled, our ambition sat- 
 isfied, our fame and fortune established on a solid 
 basis. In private conversation that great and ami- 
 able man added the weight of his experience ; and 
 this autumnal felicity might be exemplified in the 
 lives of Voltaire, Hume and many other men of let- 
 ters. I am far more inclined to embrace than to 
 dispute this comfortable doctrine. I will not suppose 
 any premature decay of the mind and body ; but I 
 must reluctantly observe that two causes, the abbre- 
 viation of time, the failure of hope, will always 
 tinge with a browner shade the evening of life." 
 14 
 
152 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 
 Autumnal happiness exemplified in Voltaire ! Why 
 the poor creature cried out, I ivish I had never been 
 born. As to the fifteen years, they never came, nor 
 fifteen months either, nor even the half of that time. 
 Listen now to the language of Paul the aged: "I 
 am now ready to he offered, and the time of my de- 
 parture is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I 
 have finished my course, I have kept the faith : 
 henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of right- 
 eousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall 
 give me at that day : and not to me only, hut unto 
 all them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. 
 iv: 6-8.) 
 
 XL The righteous hath the preeminence over his 
 neighbour on entering the eternal world. Hooker, 
 (often styled the" Judicious") says : "I have lived 
 to see that this world is made up of perturbations ; 
 and I have been long preparing to leave it, and gath- 
 ering comfort for the dreadful hour of making my 
 account with God, which I now apprehend to be near. 
 And, though I have, by his grace, loved him in my 
 youth, and feared him in my age, and laboured to have 
 a conscience void of offense towards him, and towards 
 all men ; yet, ' if thou, Lord, shouldst be extreme 
 to mark what I have done amiss, who can abide it V 
 And, therefore, where I have failed, Lord, shew 
 mercy to me, for I plead not my righteousness, but 
 the forgiveness of my unrighteousness through his 
 merits, who died to purchase pardon for penitent 
 sinners. And since I owe thee a death, Lord, let 
 it not be terrible, and then take thine own time ; I 
 submit to it. 'Let not mine, Lord, but thy will 
 
THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 153 
 
 be done.' God hath heard my daily petitions : for I 
 am at peace with til men ; and lie is at peace with 
 me. From such blessed assurance, I feel that in- 
 ward joy which this world can neither give nor take 
 from me. My conscience beareth me this witness, 
 and this witness makes the thoughts of death joyful. 
 I could wish to live to do the church more service, 
 but cannot hope for it ; for ' my days are past, as a 
 shadow that runs not.'" Here his strength failed 
 him, and he sighed out hi3 last breath, falling asleep 
 in Jesus, and no doubt entering into the presence of 
 the glorious Redeemer, where is fullness of joy. 
 
 On the other hand the Bible tells us of a rich man, 
 clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sump- 
 tuously every day. This lasted long. His heart was 
 hardened in pride, and steeled against pity. At 
 length he died, and was buried, and in hell he lifted 
 up his eyes, being in torments. He asked that a 
 man, whom he had slighted and left to the tender 
 mercies of the clogs, might be sent to quench the 
 fires of Tophet with a drop of water on the tip of 
 his finger — the very prayer itself being full of des- 
 pair. is there not a difference between the right- 
 eous and the wicked? 
 
 Xn. At the Judgment-day this difference will be 
 yet more manifest — it will be manifest to all. " Then 
 shall ye return, and discern between the righteous 
 and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and 
 him that serveth him not." (Mai. hi : 18.) In that 
 great day any man would rather be the victim than 
 the tyrant, the oppressed than the oppressor, the 
 poor than the proud, the saint than the sinner. 
 14* 
 
154 THE SAINT EXCELS THE SINNER. 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. The proofs of the excellence of true religion 
 are many and overwhelming. They are such as to 
 extort confessions even from the lips of enemies. 
 A thousand times have the hardened skeptic and the 
 daring infidel been compelled to cry out, "Let me 
 die the death of the righteous and let my last end 
 be like his." If men in christian countries would 
 follow their best convictions, great multitudes, who 
 are now in sin, would be saved. 
 
 2. Is true religion so powerful for good ? Then 
 it is of great value, and we are bound to make it 
 known. " Let him that heareth say, Come." 
 
 3. Obviously regeneration is indispensably neces- 
 sary in order to salvation. Men may love each 
 other. Friendships may be strong and tender, but 
 without the grace of God, the wicked will be found 
 at last undone. When the ship Mexico was wrecked, 
 two sweet little sisters were found congealed to- 
 gether, imbedded in ice. They had died in each 
 others' arms. So we may go to the eternal world 
 loving and being loved of man ; but if we are not 
 born again, the frosts of eternal death will stiffen 
 us forever. 
 
 4. Clearly it is just, proper and necessary that 
 there be a great difference in the eternal destiny of 
 the righteous and of the wicked. A great difference 
 exists in all time, why should eternity make all 
 alike ? 
 
NO An AND HIS TIMES. 155 
 
 CHAPTER XIi; 
 
 THOUGHTS ON NOAH, HIS TIMES, HIS FAITH AND HIS 
 ARK. 
 
 The history of Noah has no parallel. It is a 
 study full of points, full of instruction. 
 
 His name signifies rest, repose, consolation, and 
 seems to have been given him by prophecy, for his 
 father said : "This same shall comfort us concern- 
 ing our work and toil of our hands." Some think 
 that his father regarded him as the promised seed of 
 the woman ; if so, he was mistaken. 
 
 Like Adam, Noah was the head of the whole 
 human family, and for a time lord of the world. 
 Like Adam he was a type of Christ. But while 
 Adam brought ruin on all he represented, Noah was 
 honored to preserve a remnant from the common 
 destruction. Noah saw the world before the flood, 
 during the flood, and after the flood. His father 
 was born before Adam died. Noah lived six hun- 
 dred years before the flood and three hundred and 
 fifty years after it. When he died he was twenty 
 years older than Adam was at his death. But two 
 men ever lived longer, Jared and Methuselah, the 
 former by twelve, the latter by nineteen years. 
 
 Of Noah's piety we are not left in doubt. The 
 record is decisive : 
 
156 THOUGHTS ON NOAH, 
 
 " Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord;" 
 " Noah was a just man, and perfect in his genera- 
 tions ; and Noah walked with God;" "According, 
 to all that God commanded him, so did he." (Gen. 
 vi: 8, 9, 22.) 
 
 The historical fact of the deluge is admitted by 
 almost universal tradition. The best geologists con- 
 cede it. Revelation declares and establishes it. 
 
 Let us take a view of the history and times of 
 this man, of his faith, and the ark which he built. 
 
 I. Let us notice the points oe resemblance 
 
 IN THE CONDITION OF THE OLD WORLD AND OF THE 
 WORLD THAT NOW IS. 
 
 In the days of Noah a very large proportion of 
 the human family were the enemies of God by 
 wicked works. "God saw that the wickedness of 
 man was great in the earth and that every imagina- 
 tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
 tinually . . . and God looked upon the earth, 
 and behold, it was corrupt ; for all flesh had cor- 
 rupted his way upon the earth." (Gen. vi: 5, 13.) 
 To this clay this is a just account of human nature. 
 Corruption marks the path of men. When such is 
 the case, dissolution is not very distant. 
 
 In the days of Noah, preaching was attended with 
 but little success. Noah himself was a preacher of 
 righteousness, (2 Pet. ii : 5) for at least a hundred 
 and twenty years ; yet like those who lived after 
 him, he was forced to cry : "Who hath believed our 
 report ?" Of all earth's inhabitants but seven be- 
 lieved him. So now men generally pull away the 
 14* 
 
HIS FAITH AND HIS ARK. 157 
 
 shoulder and refuse to hearken. Our preaching ' is 
 but shouting in dead men's ears,' till God's Spirit 
 calls men hack to life. 
 
 • In the days of Noah, appearances were decidedly 
 in favor of the wicked. There were no portents of 
 coming evil, no signs of approaching ruin. There 
 never had been a deluge. Of course some would 
 think there never could be. Perhaps some of old 
 were as philosophic as some moderns, and proved to 
 their own satisfaction that there was not in nature 
 water enough to drown the world. That there was 
 no remarkable appearance in the heavens infallibly 
 betokening a coming deluge is certain ; for Noah 
 was "warned of God of things not seen as yet." 
 The eye of sense and of reason perceived nothing 
 but the even course of nature. It is just so with 
 the wicked now. Temporal things are seen, are 
 near, are urgent. Eternal things are unseen, remote 
 and do not clamor for attention. The Judge and 
 the judgment bar, in whose presence we are to ap- 
 pear, are both invisible. Heaven and hell are be- 
 yond the reach of our senses. Neither the king- 
 dom of God nor the damnation of hell come with 
 observation. He who will sin may transgress with- 
 out phenomena to startle him. 
 
 Many and solemn warnings were given the old 
 world. " Jesus Christ by the Spirit preached to the 
 disobedient in the clays of Noah, while the ark was 
 a preparing." (1 Pet. hi: 19,20.) Both by words 
 and by example Noah " condemned the world" that 
 then was. These warnings lasted long. All admit 
 that Noah was probably engaged fifty years in build- 
 
158 THOUGHTS ON NOAH, 
 
 iug the ark. Some concede a still longer time. The 
 preaching of Noah and of other pious men had given 
 timely and abundant warning. It is so now. Wis- 
 dom cries: " Unto you, men, I call; and my 
 voice is to the sons of men." Every species of 
 warning that ought to influence men's moral con- 
 duct, is given U3 by the Lord, and so kind, timely, 
 solemn and awful. 
 
 God was very patient and forbearing with the old 
 world. He waited a long while. His stroke was 
 not one of impatience. " The long-suffering of God 
 waited in the days of Noah." (1 Pet. hi : 20.) Con- 
 sidering the length of human life in those days, and 
 the skill with which men seemed to have sinned, it 
 is clear that the Most High was slow to anger. In 
 this day too God is very patient. Indeed his for- 
 bearance is amazing. " The Lord is long-suffering 
 to usward, not willing that any should perish, but 
 that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. hi: 9.) 
 Why will not men come to repentance ? 
 
 But the old world abused God's nfercy. They 
 said if he meant to punish, he would not wait so 
 long. Thus they hardened themselves in sin. They 
 esteemed Noah's preaching as babbling. They 
 counted the ark a monument of his folly. They 
 sinned by quantity. It is just so now : " Because 
 sentence against an evil work is not executed speed- 
 ily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully 
 set in them to do evil." (Ecc. viii: 11.) This is 
 human nature until it is made a partaker of the 
 divine nature. Only when regenerate, do men 
 count the long-suifering of God salvation. 
 
HIS FAITH AND HIS ARK. 159 
 
 The old world was spared so long as it was because 
 God had a church, and as yet the ark was not fin- 
 ished. God never confounds the righteous with the 
 wicked. He always discerns between them who 
 serve him and them who serve him not. But as 
 soon as the ark was completed and his church safely 
 lodged in it, his wrath burst forth. This is clearly 
 taught by the history of the affair and by the words 
 of the apostle : "The long-suffering of God waited 
 while the ark was a preparing." (1 Pet hi : 20.) So 
 now the church preserves the world. God's people 
 are the salt of the earth. For the elects' sake the 
 world stands. (Matt, xxiv: 22.) "In it shall be 
 a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten : as a 
 teil tree, and as an oak whose substance is in them, 
 when they cast their leaves : so the holy seed shall 
 be the substance thereof." (Isa. vi : 13.) 
 
 God would save none of the inhabitants of the 
 old world without their consent and concurrence. 
 If Noah himself will be saved, he must build an 
 ark for that purpose and must go into it. God never 
 works miracles for the indolent, nor drags reluctant 
 men into heaven. His people are willing in the day 
 of his power. • In this day as much as in any other 
 men must work out their salvation with fear and 
 trembling. 
 
 II. Let us notice some things in which Noah 
 
 WAS LIKE THE PIOUS IN OUR DAY. 
 
 Noah took the warnings which God gave him. 
 " Being warned of God he prepared an ark." It is 
 a part of God's general plan to admonish his crea- 
 
160 THOUGHTS ON NOAH, 
 
 tures. His word abounds in kind and salutary cau- 
 tions. It is a sign of heavenly wisdom to receive 
 these timely notices of coming ruin. Noah and all 
 saints know the voice of God both in warning and 
 in encouraging. let us be warned. The saints 
 have the best reason in the world for their pious 
 conduct : they are warned of God. 
 
 Not like a coward, but like a courageous man, 
 Noah yielded to reasonable fears. Foolish men are 
 stupid when they should prepare for coming events, 
 and alarmed when fear can do no good. True cour- 
 age foresees danger and provides against it. It is 
 fool-hardiness not to fear terrible things. Noah fore- 
 saw the evil, and though not perturbed, he was 
 " moved with fear. " Pious men now contemplate 
 with salutary fear the terrors of God's wrath, the 
 thunders of his power. These fears are rational and 
 potential for good. They make the cross of Christ 
 precious. 
 
 The governing principle of Noah's conduct was 
 reliance on the testimony of God. < ' By faith Noah 
 prepared an ark." His faith was mighty. The 
 popular current ran counter both to his belief and 
 his actions. The time set by God for the flood was 
 remote, if not uncertain. The expense of time, toil 
 and wealth in building the ark was immense. The 
 expectation of being saved by any means in such a 
 deluge looked extravagant. All things considered 
 Noah's faith was very illustrious. The great trial of 
 Abrani's faith lasted but three days ; Noah's lasted 
 certainly more than a century. Abram's was con- 
 fined to his own bosom ; Noah's was aggravated by 
 
HIS FAITH AND HIS ARK. 1G1 
 
 the taunts of the wits of his time. So faith is the 
 great controlling efficient principle in the pious of 
 this time. What would a follower of Christ do 
 without faith ? 
 
 Noah showed his wisdom by preparing for the 
 very worst event which he had any right to expect. 
 He had cause to look for the flood ; he prepared for 
 it ; and when it came he was ready. If there had 
 been no flood he would have been as safe as others. 
 As things turned out he was the only head of a 
 house who saved himself and his family. So it is 
 with the Christian. If God shall never punish any 
 one, of course he will never be condemned. If all 
 shall be saved, of course he will not be lost. If 
 there is no hell, of course he will not lie down in 
 eternal burnings. If there shall come no day of 
 wrath, he cannot suffer perdition. But if Tophet is 
 ordained of old, if there is an avenging God, then 
 the Christian is safe ; and he alone is safe. Others 
 must perish. 
 
 By his preaching and practice, Noah "condemned 
 the world." His speech and his example left with- 
 out excuse all who persisted in sin. So now by their 
 pious conversation and lives of faith, christians re- 
 prove and condemn those who walk after the flesh. 
 Fearful criminality attaches to him who in defiance 
 ot godly example persists in sin. 
 
 By his course of conduct Noah became heir of the 
 righteousness which is by faith. So also do saints of 
 this day. " There is no condemnation to them who 
 are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. viii : 1.) "Who 
 shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? 
 
162 THOUGHTS ON NOAH, 
 
 It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemn- 
 eth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen 
 again, who is even at the right hand of God, who 
 also maketh intercession for us." (Kom. viii: 33, 34.) 
 In the ark the number saved was small. The 
 Apostle says " few, that is, eight souls were saved." 
 (1 Pet. hi: 20.) It is still true that "many are 
 called and but few chosen." The wicked world de- 
 spises such statements as the Bible makes on all 
 sacred things. So did they before the flood. Men 
 are vexed that christians should have better hopes 
 than they. The great mass are despisers, who be- 
 hold, and wonder, and perish. If the flock of Christ 
 is little, let us adore the grace that makes us of that 
 number ; let us remember that none are safe but be- 
 lievers in Jesus ; let us be very earnest, looking 
 diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God ; 
 let us not be discouraged because few come to the 
 solemn feasts of Zion ; and let us be solemnly im- 
 pressed with the truth that he who perishes in a 
 christian land perishes wilfully. So taught Jesus : 
 "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." 
 (Johnv: 40.) 
 
 III. Let us notice some points of resemblance 
 
 BETWEEN THE ARK AND OUR LORD JESUS ClIRIST. 
 
 The ark was very capacious. So vast a structure 
 for riding on the waters had never been known. 
 Its tonnage was greater than that of forty ships of 
 a thousand tons each. So Jesus Christ is able to 
 save all that come unto him. In Noah's day no 
 man perished because on seeking he found not room 
 
HIS FAITH AND HIS ARK. 163 
 
 in the ark. Now no man perishes "because there 
 is any lack of grace or merit in Jesus Christ. 
 
 The ark was long a preparing. So the plan of 
 salvation dates from eternity, and has been unfold- 
 ing from the first promise in Eden till the Redeemer 
 pronounced the work finished on Calvary. 
 
 The strength of the ark was immense, it could 
 not be broken. Besides being well built, it was 
 girt with omnipotence. But Jesus Christ is full of 
 strength. He is a rock, a fortress, a deliverer, 
 mighty to save, the mighty God. None can pluck 
 his people out of his hand. 
 
 There was a time when the ark might be entered ; 
 then came a time when it could not be entered. 
 The door was shut before the tempest and floods 
 came. So now Jesus Christ invites us all to him. 
 He is ready to receive us. The Master of the 
 house, however, will soon rise up and shut to the 
 door. 
 
 The ark seems to have been constructed without 
 rudder, or sails, or any appliances for moving or 
 protecting itself. A constant watchful providence 
 was over it. So was it with Jesus Christ when on 
 earth, and so has it always been with those who are 
 in Christ. God guides them with his eye. The 
 very hairs of their heads are numbered. 
 
 The ark was God's sole appointed way for saving 
 men from the deluge. He who despised it, despised 
 God and perished. Christ is the only way of sal- 
 vation to lost men. He that despiseth him, de- 
 spiseth him that sent him. 
 
 The ark was for all living things on the face of 
 
164 THOUGHTS ON NOAH 
 
 the whole earth. Great and small, clean and un- 
 clean, tame and wild, gentle and ferocious, the kid 
 and the lion, the dove and the serpent were gath- 
 ered there under N"oah. So in Christ the wolf dwells 
 with the lamb, the leopard lies down with the kid; and 
 the calf and the young lion and the fading together, 
 and a little child shall lead them. And the cow 
 and the bear feed, and their young ones lie down 
 together... and the sucking child plays on the hole 
 of the asp, and the weaned child puts his hand on 
 the cockatrice's den. (Isa. xi: 6-9.) Egypt, Phil- 
 istia, Chaldea, Assyria, Tabor and Hermon, 
 Arabia and Ethiopia, Seba and the isles of 
 -the sea, yea, the beasts of the field, the dra- 
 gons and the owls shall honor God. So say many 
 prophets. 
 
 The ark saved Noah and his family from the flood. 
 So Jesus Christ is spoken of by the prophets as "a 
 place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and 
 from rain." (Isa. iv: Q.) Again, "Thou hast 
 been a strength to the needy in distress, a refuge 
 from the storm, when the blast of the terrible ones 
 is as a storm against the wall." (Isa. xxv: 4.) 
 Again, " Surely in the floods of great waters, they 
 shall not come nigh unto him." (Ps. xxxii : 6.) 
 Thus safe is the child of God. So too when the 
 deluge of fire shall come it shall have no power 
 over him. Deliverance from floods of water and 
 from consuming fire is promised in the same verse: 
 "When thou passest through the waters, I will be 
 with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not 
 Overflow thee: when thou walkcst through the fire, 
 15 
 
HIS FAITH AND HIS ARK. 165 
 
 thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame 
 kindle upon thee." (Isa. xliii : 2.) 
 
 "As the ark, after the tossings and tempests of 
 the flood, rested safely on the top of Mount Ararat ; 
 so Christ, having suffered all things that were ap- 
 pointed, ' entered into his glory ;' " and his rest is 
 glorious. 
 
 IV. Let us notice the points of resemblance 
 
 BETWEEN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD WORLD AND 
 THE COMING DESTRUCTION OF WICKED MEN. 
 
 The old world was destroyed by a flood ; and the 
 wicked will be destroyed in a similar manner. 
 "Thou earnest them away as with a flood." (Ps. 
 xe: 5.) "Terrors take hold on him (the wicked 
 rich man) as waters, a tempest stealeth him away 
 in the night. The east wind carrieth him away, 
 and he cleparteth ; and as a storm hurleth him out 
 of his place." (Job xxvii: 20, 21.) Often in 
 Scriptures waters, floods, waves, billows, tempests 
 and water-spouts are the emblems of anguish and 
 distress. (See Ps. xlii: 7 ; and lxxxvih : 7.) How 
 terrible will be the ruin of the wicked ! It will be 
 an overthrow complete and total. 
 
 There was no escaping the waters and ruin of the 
 deluge when it came. The flood was above, be- 
 neath, around. So will it be in the destruction of 
 the wicked. He who opened the chambers of hea- 
 ven and emptied the water-spouts on the earth " will 
 rain snares, fire, brimstone and an horrible tempest 
 on the wicked : this shall be the portion of their 
 cup." (Ps. xi: 6.) Compare Isa. xxiv : 17-20. 
 
1G6 THOUGHTS ON NOAH, 
 
 Amos ix : 1-4. Isa. xxviii : 17, 18. Dan. ix : 26. 
 Ezek. xxxviii: 22. 
 
 In the deluge the ruin was total and universal. 
 "All the high hills which were under the whole 
 heaven were covered : and all flesh died, that moved 
 upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of 
 beasts and of every creeping thing that creepeth 
 upon the earth, and every man. All, in whose 
 nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in 
 the dry land, died. And every living substance 
 was destroyed which was upon the face of the 
 ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping 
 things, and the fowl of heaven." (Gen. vii: 21- 
 24. ) So shall it be with the ungodly at last. < < The 
 wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations 
 thut forget God." (Ps. ix: 17.) 
 
 The flood lasted long enough to complete the 
 entire work begun by it. Forty days and forty 
 nights without intermission did the windows of 
 heaven and the fountains of the great deep pour 
 forth their floods, till the highest mountains were 
 covered fifteen cubits. Then the waters stood still 
 one hundred and ten days longer, soon after which 
 the ark rested upon the top of a high mountain ; but 
 it was a whole year and eleven days from the time 
 Noah entered the ark before he thought it safe to 
 leave it. But the deluge of divine wrath shall last 
 not only three hundred and seventy-six days, but 
 forever and ever. 
 
 Though many warnings had been given, yet to 
 most men the destruction by the flood was sudden 
 and unexpected. So shall it be in the destruction 
 
HIS FAITH AND HIS ARK. 167 
 
 of the wicked. For "as in the days that were 
 before the flood, they were eating and drinking, 
 marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day 
 that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until 
 the flood came, and took them all away : so shall 
 also the corning of the Son of man be." (Matt. 
 xxiv; 38,39.) Compare Luke xvii : 26-30. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. Though the ark was tossed to and fro for a 
 long time, and yet found rest, so shall it be with 
 the church of Christ, now "tossed with tempest 
 and not comforted." (Isa. liv: 11.) When ready 
 to be overwhelmed, God will lead her to the Rock 
 that is higher than she. (Ps. lxi : 2.) Yes, dear 
 people of God, the days of your turmoil and per- 
 turbation shall not last always. Enlargement and 
 deliverance shall come in due time. ' ' In the world 
 ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I 
 have overcome the world," says your Saviour. 
 
 2. We have seen how long-suffering God is 
 towards his bitter foes ; then let us imitate him 
 and "be patient toward all men." "Be grieved 
 at their sin, for that is your duty ; but think it not 
 strange nor fret at it, that they continue to abuse 
 the long-suffering of God, and yet that he continues 
 ever abused by suffering them. Zeal is good only 
 as it springs from love." (Luke ix: 55.) "The 
 wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of 
 God." God himself conquers by love. (Rom. ii : 4.) 
 
 3. The first thing Noah did after the flood 
 
168 THOUGHTS ON NOAH 
 
 was to build an altar to the Lord, and of the clean 
 animals preserved in the ark to offer a sacrifice. 
 He pleaded not the scantiness of his supplies. 
 * * What is saved from God and the wretched, from 
 religion and humanity, will never make any one 
 rich. What is bestowed on works of piety and 
 mercy, is property laid out at more than common 
 interest." " And the Lord smelled a sweet savour ; 
 and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again 
 curse the ground anymore for man's sake." (Gen. 
 viii: 21.) 
 
 4. Let us cultivate faith, without which it is im- 
 possible to please God. The reason why our piety 
 is so dwarfish is that our faith is so feeble. "Lord, 
 increase our faith." 
 
 5. None are safe but the righteous. God is 
 with them ; and he is against the wicked. As the 
 deluge reached every sinner on the face of the 
 earth, so shall God's anger break forth and destroy 
 all his enemies. 
 
 G. The righteous are safe and shall be abundantly 
 honored. Long generations after the deluge, by a 
 great prophet, the Lord enrols Noah with such wor- 
 thies as Daniel and Job. (Ezek. xiv : 14, 20.) The 
 best of all is, his name is written in heaven. 
 
 7. Come thou and all thy house into the ark. 
 (Gen. vii: 1.) Come thou. Set the example. In 
 the cause of God and of righteousness be firm, and 
 like Noah willing to stand in a minority of one 
 against the world. And bring all thy house with 
 thee. Leave not one behind. 
 
 15< 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PETER. 169 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE APOSTLE PETER. 
 
 One of the most striking characters in history is 
 that of Simon Peter. In it is something to deplore 
 and avoid, but much to admire and imitate. His 
 was no tame and negative character. His life was 
 full of incidents, full of trials, full of blessings. It 
 was troubled, but it ended well. No man ever lived 
 in more eventful times. None was a more eager 
 actor in the stirring events of his own day. 
 
 The first thing we learn of this extraordinary man 
 is that he is the brother of the apostle Andrew. He 
 is also called Bar-jona ; but learned men are not 
 agreed whether that points to his father or his mother. 
 Some think it the same as Jonah or John ; others 
 regard it as a contraction for Joanna. The more 
 probable opinion is that Jon a was his father. His 
 own first name was Simon or Simeon, one that hears 
 or obeys. Peter is Greek and Cephas is Syro-chal- 
 claic, and each of them signifies a rock. 
 
 Peter lived with his family at Capernaum, on a 
 beautiful sheet of water sometimes called the lake of 
 Gennesareth, sometimes the sea of Tiberias, and 
 sometimes the sea of Galilee. (Mark i : 29; Matt, 
 viii : 14; Luke iv : 38.) He had a wife and her 
 mother in his family. Early tradition says he had 
 
170 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 children. Both Clemens Alexandrinus and Epi- 
 phanius so acknowledge. Augustine mentions a 
 daughter of this apostle. It is also said that his 
 daughter Petrina or Petronilla suffered martyrdom, 
 and that her name is inserted in some martyrologies 
 for the 31st of May. 
 
 Andrew, being called by Christ, met Peter and 
 said to him, "We have found the Messias, and brought 
 him to Jesus. This was when our Saviour was 
 thirty years old. At this time Peter is thought to 
 have been forty years old cr upwards. So that he 
 was ten or more years older than his Lord and Mas- 
 ter. It is a great thing to have a good brother, one 
 who will not rest till he sees us coming to Jesus. 
 These brothers seem to have remained with Christ 
 at first but a short time, some think but a day, 
 when, no doubt with the consent of their Lord, 
 they returned for the present to their usual employ- 
 ment, which was fishing. This occupation was al- 
 ways humble and laborious. They seem to have 
 prosecuted this business with diligence. They were 
 not idlers. 
 
 This first calling of Peter gave a turn to his whole 
 life and character. This was the day of his happy 
 change, when God's grace determined him to be for 
 Christ and for no other. He received Christ and 
 with him power to become one of the sons of God. 
 The beginning of a new life is a great matter. 
 
 But the return of Peter and Andrew to their nets 
 and ships was only temporary. The same year, in 
 which they first believed, Christ stood on the shore 
 of the lake of Gennesareth, and saw them washing 
 
OF THE APOSTLE PETER. 171 
 
 their nets. The inspired record here is full and 
 graphic. It says Jesus "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, saying, 
 Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, Lord. 
 For he was astonished and all that were with him, 
 at the draught of the fishes which they had taken : 
 and so was also James and John the sons of Zebe- 
 dee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus 
 said unto Simon, Fear not ; from henceforth thou 
 shalt catch men. And when they had brought their 
 ships to land, they forsook all : and followed him." 
 (Luke 5 : 3-11.) This is the second step leading to 
 the public ministry and usefulness of Peter. He 
 was now under the tuition of one, in whom he had 
 entire confidence, and he was a disciple indeed. He 
 learned the lessons of heavenly wisdom. 
 
 Some think it was alter this time that Christ came 
 to Capernaum, and finding Peter's mother-in-law 
 
172 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 sick of a fever, he miraculously healed her, and 
 she arose and began to serve them. 
 
 About two years from his first acquaintance with 
 his Master, Peter entered on his public ministry, 
 lie did not seek to hasten this solemn step. He 
 was sent with others to the lost sheep of the house 
 of Israel. He was not reluctant to do the work 
 assigned him. He dared not assume the responsi- 
 bility of declining an office to which God called 
 him. False humility is but rebellion. In this 
 mission Peter and his associates "preached and 
 healed every where." The object of their preach- 
 ing seems to have been much the same as that of 
 John the Baptist. It was preparatory and intro- 
 ductory to the setting up of Christ's kingdom. A 
 wise preacher will endeavor to prepare the people 
 for those truths, which they otherwise would reject. 
 
 The next thing we hear of Peter is his requesting 
 Christ to call him out of a ship one night and to bid 
 him walk on the water. His motive in this case is 
 not very apparent. Did he wish to try the strength of 
 his own faith? Was he so desirous of being near to 
 Christ that he could wait no longer for his arrival? 
 Was it a desire to gratify an adventurous spirit? 
 Was it an act of presumption ? We may not be 
 able to satisfy ourselves on these points. Christ 
 consented, however, and Peter, making the attempt, 
 soon began to sink, and cried out "Lord, save me." 
 In his love Christ put forth his hand and rescued 
 him. Peter had many sad lessons to learn respect- 
 ing his own weakness. This was but one of a long 
 series. 
 
OF THE ArOSTLE TETER. 173 
 
 When Christ said : "Not that which goeth into 
 the mouth defileth a man ; but that, which cometh 
 out of the mouth, this defileth a man ;" Peter an- 
 swered and "said 'unto him, Declare unto us this 
 parable.'' (Matt, xv: 11, 15.) Thus he evinced 
 his characteristic promptness in all such things. 
 
 The next time we hear of Peter was when so 
 many were offended at Christ's doctrine and forsook 
 his ministry. Jesus asked his disciples if they also 
 would leave him? "Then Simon Peter answered 
 him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the 
 words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure 
 that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living 
 God." (John vi: 68, G9.) 
 
 Perhaps, it was not long after this, "when Jesus 
 came into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, and asked 
 his disciples. ..whom say ye that I am? and Simon 
 Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the 
 Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and 
 said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: 
 for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, 
 but my Father, which is in heaven. And I say also 
 unto thee, that thou art Peter [xsrpos], and upon 
 this rock [izsTpa] I will build my church ; and the 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I 
 will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : 
 and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be 
 bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose 
 on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt, xvi : 
 13, 15-19.) Here we have a proof of Peter's rea- 
 diness to answer for himself and others, (v. 10.) 
 Through life he seems never to have been of a hesi- 
 
174 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 tating mind. Next we have a renewed avowal of 
 Peter's belief in the Messiahship and divinity of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, (v. 16.) Then we have Christ's 
 declaration of the blessing that had come upon 
 Peter, particularly in his being taught of God. 
 Then follow the change of Peter's name, and a 
 declaration that upon the great truth thus confessed 
 the church should rest, and nothing should subvert 
 it. Lastly, we have Christ's statement of the power 
 of the keys. That this power was in no sense 
 peculiar to Peter is evident from Matt, xviii : 18, 
 where Christ says to all the disciples, ' ' Verily, I 
 say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, 
 shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever ye shall 
 loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." The 
 meaning of all this is that whoever shall be by them 
 according to Christ's word declared blessed, shall 
 indeed be blessed ; but they, who shall be rightfully 
 rejected from the church, shall be rejected of God 
 also. 
 
 The next time we hear of Peter is where he 
 brings upon himself the severe rebuke of the Lord, 
 who was foretelling his own sufferings and death. 
 Peter said, "Be it far from thee, Lord: this 
 shall not be unto thee." But " Jesus said unto 
 Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan ; thou art an 
 offence unto me : for thou savourest not the things 
 that be of God, but these that be of men." (Matt, 
 xvi : 22, 23,) q. d. Your opposition to my suffer- 
 ings arises from a blind, earthly affection, indulged 
 in ignorance of the true interest and object of my 
 coming into the world. It is the fruit of unbelief. 
 
OF THE AFOSTLE PETER. 175 
 
 It makes you my tempter, instead of my encour- 
 ager. To defer the day of crucifixion would have 
 been to postpone redemption. 
 
 The next time we hear of Peter is at the trans- 
 figuration. This scene made a great impression on 
 him. lie said it was good to be there, and pro- 
 posed the erection of three tents, one for his Mas- 
 ter, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. This 
 proposal is stated by both Matthew and Luke ; but 
 Luke says that Peter "knew not what he was say- 
 ing." The whole vision overpowered him. It was 
 too much for him. He spoke confusedly. (Matt, 
 xvii: 1-3; Luke ix : 28-33.) 
 
 Some time after this Peter drew from our Lord 
 several important lessons. One was the lawfulness 
 and obligation of supporting the government, under 
 which we live, by paying taxes. To this end Christ 
 miraculously provided the means in the mouth of 
 the fish which Peter caught. Another was that for- 
 giveness of injuries was to be granted even to the 
 four hundred and ninetieth time ; i. e., no limit was 
 to be affixed to it. Another was that all Christ's 
 servants should receive for all their sacrifices an 
 hundred fold in this world, and in the world to 
 come, life everlasting. (Matt, xvii : 27 ; xviii : 21, 
 22, anclxix: 27-29.) 
 
 Three days before our Lord's passion Peter drew 
 Christ's attention to the withered fig-tree, which 
 the Lord had cursed. Two days before the cruci- 
 fixion Peter inquired when the temple should be 
 destroyed. The day before the crucifixion he and 
 John went into Jerusalem and prepared to celebrate 
 
176 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 the passover. That night at supper Peter made 
 signs to John to ask Jesus who should betray him. 
 Afler supper questions of precedency arose, and 
 Jesus to shew them his views girded himself, and 
 began to wash their feet. To this Peter in his own 
 case objected in strong language; but finding 
 Christ's authority against him, he yielded, saying, 
 "Lord, wash not my feet only, but also my hands, 
 and my head." (Mark xi : 21. Matt, xxiv: 3. 
 Markxiv: 15. Johnxiii: 24. John xiii: 9.) 
 
 "We are now to view this distinguished servant of 
 God in circumstances novel and difficult. Previous 
 to his passion, Christ informed his disciples that 
 they should forsake him. lie particularly informed 
 Peter that Satan desired to sift him as wheat. 
 Peter professed to regard such a suspicion with amaze- 
 ment. He said, "Though all men forsake thee yet 
 will not I." Spiritual pride had a hand in dictating 
 this reply. Peter was painfully ignorant of the 
 weakness of his own virtue. Self-confidence is a 
 poor substitute for genuine humility. Christ ex- 
 horted his disciples to watch and pray lest they should 
 enter into temptation. Instead of taking this warn- 
 ing Peter with the rest seems to have been quite off 
 his guard, and in the garden fell asleep. "When the 
 dreadful hour of betrayal came, Peter had a some- 
 what fierce, carnal spirit, and drew his sword, and 
 smote off the ear of Malchus. The Saviour healed 
 the wound, and warned Peter against carnal wea- 
 pons in his cause. 
 
 Christ was now led away by his captors, and 
 Peter's courage be^an to fail him. Fear and trepi- 
 16 
 
OF THE APOSTLE PETER. 177 
 
 dation seized him. Accordingly as they led Jesus 
 away Peter followed afar off. He had real love to 
 Christ, and so could not utterly forsake him. His 
 love was weak and his fears very strong, and so he 
 followed at a distance, lie wished to see the end 
 of the matter, and came to the high-priest's palace, 
 but went not in where his Master was, but remained 
 in the middle of the hall, where the servants and 
 soldiers had a fire. This was bad company. Here 
 a young woman charged him with belonging to 
 Christ's company. Another damsel soon did the 
 same thing. To both these Peter gave a denial. 
 "I know not what thou say est." " Again he de- 
 nied with an oath, I do not know the man." About 
 an hour after a third person brought the same 
 charge, and they that stood by joined in with him. 
 But he "began to curse and to swear, saying, I 
 know not the man." What a sad failure of cour- 
 age ! What work is this man making for bitter 
 repentance ! 
 
 Immediately on his third denial the cock crew. 
 This reminded him of what the Lord had said. 
 About the same time Jesus gave him a significant 
 look. These things awakened reflection. "He 
 thought thereon." His conscience was now aroused. 
 The piercing, melting, reproving, winning look of 
 Christ cut him to the heart. He could stand it no 
 longer. "He went out." Shame covered him like 
 a garment. His cowardice amazed him. A sense 
 of guilt pierced him. His soul was full of grief. 
 He was now drinking wormwood and gall. "He 
 wept bitterly." How gladly would he have undone 
 
178 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 all that had happened the last few hours. He had 
 put another thorn in his Master's crown. He had 
 wounded him in the house of his friends. His sin 
 was very great, and he felt it to be so. 
 
 It is thought by some that Peter did not witness 
 our Saviour's crucifixion, but that he was alone weep- 
 ing in secret from the time of his third denial during 
 the whole of that and the next day. He is men- 
 tioned no more till the morning of our Lord's resur- 
 rection. He and John came running to the sepul- 
 chre. John outran Peter and first reached the 
 sepulchre, but did not go in until Peter came and 
 went in. "Then went in also that other disciple, 
 which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and 
 believed." Worldly sorrow may make cowards; 
 but godly sorrow makes heroes. After the resur- 
 rection Peter was more courageous than John. The 
 same day that Jesus rose from the dead he ap- 
 peared to Peter. Some days after, the Lord 
 appeared to several of his disciples on the sea of 
 Galilee. John said to Peter, It is the Lord. Peter 
 immediately swam to shore. The others followed 
 in their vessels. After some refreshments Jesus 
 introduced, with unspeakable tenderness and fidelity, 
 those heart-searching questions, Lovest thou me 
 more than these ? Lovest thou me ? Lovest thou 
 me ? to all of which Peter answered affirmatively, 
 and received a charge to feed Christ's sheep and 
 lambs. On the same clay Christ informed Peter 
 that in his old age he should die a violent death. 
 This was Peter's last interview with Christ until the 
 day when he ascended up on high. Peter witnessed 
 
OF THE APOSTLE PETER. 179 
 
 that glorious siglit, and received the explanation of 
 it from the angels. 
 
 Peter continued with the other apostles in prayer 
 till the day of Pentecost ; on that day he preached 
 with great boldness and success ; some days after 
 he healed the impotent man at the temple. He and 
 John were arrested, brought before the magistrates, 
 and charged to teach no more in the name of Jesus ; 
 but they boldly said that they would obey God 
 rather than man. We next hear of Peter in 
 the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Wonderful 
 gifts of healing were long granted to all the apos- 
 tles. Even the shadow of Peter falling on the sick 
 was thought to be efficacious. Imprisonment soon 
 followed, but God delivered his persecuted ones, 
 and gave them boldness to declare the mystery of 
 God and of Christ. Soon they w r ere apprehended 
 again, and received every man forty stripes save 
 one. Persecution is an old trade. 
 
 Peter and John first imparted miraculous gifts to 
 the converts at Samaria. Here Peter encountered 
 and dismayed Simon Magus. He now began to 
 travel much, going from city to city. At Lydda he 
 cured ^Eneas, who had been a paralytic eight years. 
 At Joppa he raised Tabitha from the dead. At 
 Cesarea of Palestine he was led to make known 
 the gospel to the Gentiles. His conduct in this 
 matter he justified to the satisfaction of the brethren. 
 This is supposed to have been about eight years after 
 our Saviour's ascension. But several years pre- 
 vious to this it is thought that he planted the church 
 at Antioch, and that he was there frequently for 
 
180 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PETER. 
 
 some years, in the niean time visiting Jerusalem, 
 Bithynia, Cappadocia and Pontus. It was proba- 
 bly during tins time that he was betrayed into that 
 dissimulation, which was at once so contrary to his 
 natural character and the whole spirit of the gospel. 
 Eleven years after Christ's ascension Peter was 
 again imprisoned at Jerusalem by Herod Agrippa ; 
 but God sent his angel and delivered him. After 
 this we know nothing certainly of him until the 
 writing of his first epistle, which is supposed to have 
 been about the year 48 or 50. Soon after this he 
 attended the great council at Jerusalem A. D. 51 
 or 52. Peter fully concurred in the decrees of this 
 venerable Synod. In the year 67 or 68 he wrote 
 his second epistle. The remainder of his history is 
 veiled in much uncertainty. The traditions con- 
 cerning him are many, but none of them well sup- 
 ported except that he was crucified at the age of 
 from 74 to 78 years, and went to his Saviour. He 
 may have visited Rome, but there is no such evi- 
 dence in support of that opinion as that Paul was 
 there, no such evidence as to justify men in making 
 it an article of faith, as some would do. 
 
LESSONS FROM FETER's LIFE. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LESSONS FROM THE LIFE AND FALL OF PETER. 
 
 The life and history of the Apostle Peter teach 
 many lessons. 
 
 i One is the great value of the doctrine of the di- 
 vinity of Christ. This was his sheet-anchor. Flesh 
 and hlood did not reveal it to him. No man can 
 call Christ, Lord, except by the Holy Ghost. Long 
 before Christ's crucifixion Peter twice professed his 
 faith that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living 
 God. • He was no humanitarian. In his first epis- 
 tle his great theme is Christ, his blood and resurrec- 
 tion, his glory and appearance, and his preciousnesa 
 to all believers. In his second epistle he urges the 
 same things, and predicts the character of the men 
 who should teach contrary doctrine : "There shall 
 be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring 
 in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that 
 bought them, and bring upon themselves swift de- 
 struction. And many shall follow their pernicious 
 ways ; by reason of whom the way of truth shall 
 be evil spoken of. And through covetousness 
 shall they with feigned words make merchandise of 
 you." (2 Pet. ii : 1-3.) The last words of this 
 Epistle are : "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
 
182 LESSONS FROM THE LIFE 
 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory now 
 and forever. Amen." Christian character depends 
 upon our receiving Christ and resting on him, as 
 the Son of God and the Saviour of men. 
 
 We also learn that we must not put implicit reli- 
 ance on our best and most pious friends. They may 
 become our tempters. Peter loved his Lord, and 
 yet he tempted him to shun the cross. Abraham 
 tempted Sarah to prevaricate and she was led away. 
 Rebecca successfully tempted Jacob to deceive his 
 father and supplant his brother. He, who would 
 have a good conscience, void of offence, must not 
 commit it to the keeping of others. To a wife one 
 may be compelled to say, Thou speakest as one of 
 the silly women ; and to a bosom friend, Get behind 
 me, Satan. Speaking of an evil time; Micah says : 
 " Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a 
 guide : keep the doors of thy mouth from her that 
 lieth in thy bosom." (Micah vii : 5.) "Keep thy 
 heart with all diligence." " Cease from man." 
 
 God deals variously with his people according to 
 their evil propensities, which he would correct, and 
 their good principles, which he would strengthen. 
 "What a contrast between Peter and John. The 
 former sailed through stormy seas. The latter had 
 a serene sky and propitious gales. The one was full 
 of impulse and emotion. The other was all love 
 and gentleness. If God deals with you differently 
 from some others, it is because there is a need be. 
 John did not require the rebukes and rebuffs which 
 were necessary for Peter. Peter did not need the 
 gentleness of treatment which was necessary to 
 
AND FALL OF PETER. 183 
 
 inspire John with great boldness and confidence. If 
 an experience is essentially scriptural, it will stand 
 the test, though vastly diverse from that of many 
 others. All the children in the same family are not 
 of like disposition, and will not bear the same treat- 
 ment. 
 
 As Christian character varies, so the Lord sees 
 best that there should be a variety in the talents and 
 manners of his ministers. They have gifts differing 
 one from another. Among the early preachers 
 were two sons of thunder, and one son of consolation. 
 If a mild, tender preacher is very useful to some, 
 so also is a stern, rousing preacher to others. It 
 would be a great loss to the cause of truth to have 
 all its heralds and defenders cast into the same 
 mould. 
 
 The history of Peter shews that all ministers of 
 Christ are not called to that work when young, and 
 free from the cares of a family. Peter seems to 
 have been fully forty years old before he was even a 
 disciple of Christ. He then had also the cares of a 
 family upon him. Under such circumstances many 
 would excuse themselves. But Peter did no such 
 wicked thing. He was obedient to the heavenly 
 calling. Ought not some, who are now immersed 
 in worldly cares, to be going to and fro preaching 
 salvation? It is not credible that all, who have 
 been called of God to minister before him, have 
 obeyed his voice. 
 
 Yet old as Peter was he studied three years or near 
 that time under him, who spake as never man spake, 
 and who was the infallible teacher. Entering the 
 
184 LESSONS FROM THE LIFE 
 
 ministry late in life is no excuse for slighting prepara- 
 tion for its duties. It was, perhaps, William Tennent, 
 who said, "If one must enter the ministry, and "be- 
 lieves he has but three years to live, let him study two 
 of them and preach one." When we speak of the 
 mental character of the apostles so as to justify ig- 
 norance attempting to teach, we sadly pervert truth. 
 They were illiterate men, when Christ called them. 
 Neither did they frequent the schools of philosophy. 
 But they learned of Christ, and were moreover en- 
 dowed with the knowledge of many languages and 
 with many miraculous gifts. 
 
 Nor should we forget that the best ministers are 
 often taken from the humble walks of life. Peter 
 and several other apostles were fishermen and sailors. 
 One was a publican. All seem to have been of a 
 low condition. Strike out of Church History the 
 names of all, whom God has raised from the dung- 
 hill and set among princes, and what a chasm would 
 be made. Beginning with Samuel, rejecting others 
 of the prophets, John the Baptist and the apostles, 
 and casting off Banyan and many others, we should 
 see a hideous chasm. Such men are often more 
 willing to bear hardships than others, but the rea- 
 son, why God chooses such, is that he delights in 
 staining the pride of all glory. Let us never forget 
 that in building his church God delights to employ 
 the plain, the lowly. And let us not despise poor 
 and pious youth seeking the ministry. 
 
 When Peter was called to follow Christ, he was 
 industriously engaged in an honest calling, the work 
 of a fisherman. So were others. Matthew too was 
 
AND FALL OF PETER. 185 
 
 collecting taxes when lie was called. Lazy men 
 put many hindrances in the way of their conversion 
 and subsequent usefulness. We read in Scripture 
 of the conversion of a senator, of a seller of purple, 
 of a jailer, of a thief, of a persecutor and blasphe- 
 mer. But docs any inspired historian mention the 
 conversion of idlers? Paul addressed a crowd of 
 such at Athens ; but not one of them seems to have 
 been converted, though "certain men clave unto him, 
 and believed : anions; the which was Dionysins the 
 Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and 
 others with them." (Actsxvii: 34.) Idle habits are 
 a great sin, and a great misery. Inertness of mind 
 is a great hindrance to salvation. Avoid sloth. It 
 is itself a vice and the parent of many others. 
 
 We may learn from Peter's example the great 
 secret of improving in knowledge. It lies in a 
 readiness to confess our ignorance, and to learn from 
 those who are able to teach us. If Christ said any 
 thing which Peter did not understand, he asked 
 him in private. At no time does he appear to havo 
 tried to conceal his own ignorance. Even in his old 
 age he is ready to admit that Paul saw some things 
 more clearly than he did ; for he says that "in all 
 Paul's epistles are some things hard to be under- 
 stood." Had he been a self-conceited man, he 
 would never have written that sentence, but would 
 have professed to know all about them. John Locke 
 said that he had gained his knowledge by being 
 always willing to confess his ignorance. It is a great 
 thing to know our own deficiencies. 
 
 Nor is it so bad sometimes to err in honestly trying 
 
186 LESSONS FROM TIIE LIFE 
 
 to do good, as never to attempt to do good for fear 
 of committing some mistake. It is better to be re- 
 proved for erring in the exercise of a pure zeal, than 
 it is to have no zeal. Imprudence should be avoided, 
 and so should unbelief and lukewarmness. An hon- 
 est-hearted blundering man is a far safer pattern than 
 a cold, cunning calculator. We too often forget 
 that honest mistakes can be corrected ; but that no 
 outward decency is a substitute for living fire in the 
 soul. To prune and regulate is much easier than 
 to impart qualities and supply deficiencies. "When 
 men are afraid of nothing but imprudence they are 
 in danger of being mere drones. 
 
 The history of Peter also shews us how weak is vir- 
 tue in the best of men, if left to themselves. With 
 all his natural firmness and all his gracious disposi- 
 tions, Peter was easily led astray. No power of rea- 
 soning, no regard to health, or interest, or character, 
 no vows, no promises, no oaths, no sense of shame, 
 no dread of death or hell, no ordinances, no warn- 
 ings, nothing can hold us up, when we are strongly 
 tempted, if God forsake us. "I have seen an end 
 of all perfection." No man knows what he will do 
 until he is tried. Hazael felt insulted when the pro- 
 phet foretold his cruelties ; but he committed them 
 every one. Peter was very sure he would never 
 shew any want of love to Christ, but in less than 
 twelve hours he denied him with oaths and curses. 
 
 And how difficult it is to eradicate constitutional, 
 or habitual sins, sins which are rooted in our na- 
 tures, or have been fostered in our education. What 
 are your besetting sins ? Find them out and slay 
 
AND FALL OF PETER. 187 
 
 tliem. This will be no easy work. Peter had a 
 natural fault of character, rashness. He seems 
 hardly to have been cured of it. His cursing and 
 swearing in the hall of the high-priest is supposed 
 to have been a return upon him of the old habits of 
 profaneness, which he formed when a sailor on the 
 sea of Galilee. " Can the Ethiopian change his 
 skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do 
 good that are accustomed to do evil." (Jer. xiii: 
 23.) If you would avoid dreadful anguish, mortify 
 your sins. 
 
 We see too in how undesirable a state a man may 
 go to the Lord's table. Peter was there but a few 
 hours before his great sin. His heart had in it 
 much pride, ambition, self-confidence and wrath. 
 I3ut he seems not to have known it. So good men 
 may now do some very wrong things, and right things 
 in a very wrong spirit, even in the midst of most sol- 
 emn acts of worship and devotion to Christ. 
 
 And how soon after intimate communion with 
 Christ, one may dishonor the Saviour, and disgrace 
 himself and his profession. Raptures may soon be 
 followed by shocking iniquities. Those, who be- 
 lieve they are safe because they have been at the 
 Lord's table and been much affected there, should 
 remember Simon Peter. 
 
 How much do those err, who pronounce one a 
 bad man for one offence, though it be flagrant. Had 
 Peter lived in this day many would at once mark 
 him as a hypocrite. A minister of the gospel, who 
 should now err as widely as Peter did, would meet 
 with no charity from some, who think themselves 
 
188 LESSONS i'ROM THE LIFE 
 
 patterns, and trust in themselves that they are right- 
 eous, and despise others. No evidence of repent- 
 ance in such cases will satisfy some people. How 
 necessary the apostolic injunction at all times: "If 
 a man be overtaken in fault, ye, which are spiritual, 
 restore such an one in the spirit of meekness : con- 
 sidering thyself lest thou also be tempted." (Gal. 
 vi: 1.) The general tenor of a man's life, and not 
 one, two, or more conspicuous acts must determine 
 his character. The sun often has spots on his 
 disc; yet he is the most luminous body in the 
 heavens. 
 
 But if erring brethren would wish the same kind- 
 ness, shewn to them when they sin, which was 
 shewn to Peter after his fall, let them repent as he 
 repented. He did not send his brethren to sum- 
 mon witnesses to prove his sin. He did not quibble 
 about forms of doing business. He did not deny 
 his sin. He did not attempt to excuse it. He went 
 out and wept bitterly. He also at once brought 
 forth fruits meet for repentance. True repentance 
 hates and turns from all sin. If you fall into sin, 
 never add to it by denying it. 
 
 How idle are the pretences of infallibility of 
 the Pope of Rome, when Peter who is claimed as 
 his predecessor often erred, even after he was made 
 an apostle. Christ said to him, "Get thee behind 
 me," "Put up thy sword," &c; and Paul "withstood 
 him to the face, for he was to be blamed." Hardly 
 any good man has left behind him more proofs of 
 liability to err than this very apostle. Yet the popes 
 claim to s;et their infallibility through him. Could 
 17 
 
AND FALL OF PETER. 189' 
 
 he transmit what he never had, never claimed? 
 Away with such idle dreams. 
 
 Romanists are no less mistaken in another mat- 
 ter. They loudly assert and insist upon the celib- 
 acy of their pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, 
 priests and deacons. Yet Peter had a wife. Even 
 after Paul's conversion he writes of this matter : 
 1 * Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, 
 as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the 
 Lord, and Cephas?" (1 Cor. ix: 5.) 
 
 The history of Peter instructs ministers to be full 
 of activity in their Master's work. Whatever his 
 hand found to do, he did it with his might. He 
 was full of life. He seems to have sought no rest. 
 The result was that he did a world of good. He 
 accomplished wonders. 
 
 We also see in the case of Peter the steps and 
 evidences of such a decline in religion as may end 
 in open and flagrant sin. The first sad mark is car- 
 nal security, which consists in a vague, blind per- 
 suasion, that there is no danger. He is the least 
 safe, who is the most secure. He is in the greatest 
 peril, who apprehends the least danger. "The 
 weakest spot in every man is where he thinks him- 
 self the wisest," or the strongest. Peter could not 
 be persuaded of his perils. Whenever men cease 
 to watch and pray, there is hourly clanger of their 
 plunging into open and dreadful sins. Temptations 
 commonly come at an unexpected hour, and from 
 an unexpected quarter. The fiery darts are shot from 
 an invisible bow. The very next hour's neglect of 
 prayer may bring dreadful misery to the soul for life. 
 
190 LESSONS FROM THE LIFE 
 
 Another mark of approaching disaster is a vain 
 persuasion that we shall be able to triumph over the 
 tempter, if he should assault us. In his blindness 
 and self-confidence Peter supposed he was ready 
 even to die for his Lord. Yet the first assault made 
 him drop his profession. Many, who glory much 
 in their strength, upon trial are found as weak as 
 water. Those, who regard themselves as lion- 
 hearted, when fairly tested are found to be chicken- 
 hearted. "He that trusteth in his own heart is a 
 fool." "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, 
 and maketh flesh his arm." (Jer. xvii: 5.) 
 
 The next step towards a fall is spiritual pride and 
 a boasted superiority to others. Peter said : < ' Though 
 all men shall be offended yet will not I." When he 
 asserted that he loved Christ more than others, he 
 was in extreme peril. When Paul said: "lam 
 less than the least of all saints," he was compara- 
 tively safe. " With the lowly is wisdom." 
 
 One, who has gone thus far, will be liable to dis- 
 play heated passion and blind zeal in his Master's 
 cause. Peter was for resorting to the sword. He 
 did try it. 
 
 Next we see Peter following Jesus "afar off." 
 If he had continued Avith his Lord, the presence of 
 his Master might have sustained him. Do you fol- 
 low the Lord fully and closely ? Have you daily 
 communion with him ? 
 
 Peter's next step was the choice of bad company. 
 He was with the soldiers and servants and wicked 
 damsels in the hall of Caiaphas. He had no busi- 
 ness among these enemies of the Lord, What sort 
 
AND FALL OF PETER. 191 
 
 of company do you keep ? Is your intercourse with 
 men a matter of conscience? "He, that walketh 
 with wise men, shall be wise ; but the companion 
 of fools shall be destroyed." Thus his fall was 
 brought about. He went step by step towards the 
 precipice, down which he soon fell bruised and 
 mangled. 
 
 But true believers will rise after a fall. "A just 
 man falleth seven times, and riseth up again." 
 (Pr. xxiv: 16.) Sin falling on a good conscience, 
 like sand in a good eye, will cause it to weep and 
 weep and weep till it weep3 it out, ' ' Though 
 a good man fall, he shall not be utterly cast down : 
 for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand... The 
 Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his 
 saints." (Ps. xxxvii : 24,28.) "If his children 
 forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; if 
 they break my statutes, and keep not my command- 
 ments ; then will I visit their trangression with the 
 rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, 
 my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, 
 nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." (Ps. lxxxix: 
 30-33.) For a time real grace may be terribly 
 obscured, as a candle may be put under a bushel. 
 There may be wheat under a great pile of chaff. 
 Judge i:o man. He that judgeth all things is the 
 Lord. One may wander, but if God be his guide, 
 he will restore his soul. 
 
 The means of Peter's recovery were, first, the 
 crowing of the cock. God can make use of any 
 thing he chooses to impress us with a sense of our 
 guilt. The second means used was Christ's turning 
 
192 LESSONS FR0M THE LIFE 
 
 and looking on Peter. The third was that he re- 
 membered the words, that Christ had so recently 
 spoken to him. 
 
 The steps of his recovery were few and simple. 
 The first was reflection. "He thought thereon." 
 The second was full, clear, spiritual conviction. The 
 third was unfeigned, ingenuous sorrow. ' ' He wept 
 bitterly." 
 
 The cause of his recovery was the same that 
 brings any sinner to repentance, viz : Christ's inter- 
 cession : "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, be- 
 hold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may 
 sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that 
 thy faith fail not : and when thou art converted, 
 strengthen thy brethren." (Lukexxii: 31,32.) 
 
 The good effects of the discipline, through which 
 God led Peter in connection with his fall, were 
 many. The covenant of grace is so administered 
 that even the sins of believers, notwithstanding 
 their tendency to the contrary, are made to promote 
 their sanetification. Christ said, "When thou art 
 converted strengthen thy brethren," implying that 
 he would then be prepared to act such a part. In 
 wrestling, Homer tells us Anteas gained strength by 
 every fall to the ground. Peter's fall made him 
 humble. We do not hear of him boasting any 
 more. It is said that when he was crucified, it was 
 at his own request with his head downwards, as 
 unworthy to be honored with the same posture as 
 his Lord. When he wrote his first epistle he said 
 that saints "are kept by the power of God through 
 faith unto salvation." (Chap, i: 5.) His fall 
 17* 
 
AND FALL OF PETER. VJ6 
 
 seems to have powerfully counteracted his rashness. 
 After this time we hear but once of his being in- 
 volved in trouble on that account. (Gal. ii: 11-13.) 
 He also seems to have been more than ever a man 
 of prayer. Tradition says, that every morning 
 about cock-crow he used to rise for secret devotion. 
 Nor was his penitence without increase. It is said 
 that whenever and wherever he heard the cock 
 crow, the tears would rise in his eyes. To these 
 virtues he added gentleness. After his recovery he 
 never used any sword, but the sword of the Spirit. 
 He was also watchful. With what earnestness did 
 he write to his friends: "Be sober, be vigilant; 
 because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, 
 walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 
 (1 Pet. v: 8.) Peter's fall and recovery also made 
 him truly bold. It took from him vain confidence 
 and taught him to make his boast in God. True 
 courage is modest, but fearless when walking in the 
 path of duty. In the very city, where he had so 
 recently denied his Master, Peter fearlessly preached 
 Jesus. Paul calls Peter "a pillar." (Gal. ii: 9.) 
 And he was greatly beloved. When in prison, 
 "prayer was made without ceasing of the church 
 unto God for him." So greatly did they love him 
 and desire his release. And Peter learned to love 
 even those, who opposed him. Paul reproved him 
 sharply, yet in his last epistle he speaks of "our 
 beloved brother Paul." He was not alienated by 
 fraternal faithfulness. Peter's experience about th3 
 time of the crucifixion seems greatly to have ad- 
 vanced his preparation for his work. "Before 
 
194 AND FALL OF PETER. 
 
 honoris humility." (Pr. xv: 33.) Peter was to 
 be a great and successful preacher, both among 
 Jews and Gentiles. In a mysterious way God was 
 teaching him wherein his great strength lay, and 
 making him wise to win souls. 
 
 Finally, are you a great sinner? So was Peter. 
 Did he find mercy? So may you. But all God's 
 grace to sinners is treasured up in Christ. Come, 
 come, come and welcome to Jesus Christ. 
 
NINE QUESTIONS AJ30UT PLEASING. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 In order to avoid misunderstanding of the mind 
 of the Spirit we must compare spiritual things with 
 spiritual, learn the analogy of faith, look at the 
 grammatical construction, and closely examine the 
 context of any portion of God's word. This is so 
 on almost all matters. It is surely so in reference to 
 pleasing ourselves, our neighbour and our God. In 
 each of the following verses it is the same word in 
 the Greek Testament that is rendered please. ' ' We 
 then that are strong ought not to please ourselves. 
 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his 
 good to edification. For even Christ pleased not 
 himself." "I please all men in all things, not 
 seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, 
 that they may be saved." "Do I seek to please 
 men ? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the 
 servant of Christ." " So we speak ; not as pleas- 
 ing men, but God which trieth our hearts." "Ye 
 have received of us how ye ought to walk and to 
 please God." (Rom. xv: 1-3 ; 1 Cor. x : 33 ; Gal. 
 i: 10; 1 Thes. ii : 4; iv : 1.) We cannot inter- 
 pret these verses harmoniously if we are governed 
 by the mere sound of the words. Yet then- teach- 
 ings do not conflict. It will aid us to understand 
 
196 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 these and like passages to consider distinctly these 
 questions : 
 
 I. HOW FAR MAY WE PLEASE OURSELVES? 
 II. HOW FAR MUST WE DENY OURSELVES ? 
 
 III. Why should we deny and not please our- 
 selves ? 
 
 iv. how far may we please our fellow-men ? 
 V. When must we be willing to incur their 
 
 DISPLEASURE ? 
 
 VI. Why should we lightly esteem the 
 
 SMILES AND THE FROWNS OF MEN ? 
 
 VII. HOW FAR ARE WE TO GO IN PLEASING GOD ? 
 VIII. IS IT RIGHT EVER TO DISPLEASE HIM ? 
 
 IX. Why should we please him ? : 
 
 To make these several points clear it will not be 
 necessary to be tedious ; yet they may best be con- 
 sidered separately. Let us take tiiem up in order. 
 
 I. HOW FAR MAY WE PLEASE OURSELVES ? — The 
 
 answer is that we may humbly, thankfully and joy- 
 fully acknowledge and use all that we are and all 
 that we have ; that we may enjoy the health, the 
 food, the friends and other favors bestowed upon us 
 by providence ; that we may use all God's creatures 
 as not abusing them ; that we may love and cherish 
 our whole nature ; that we must not dishonor or tor- 
 ture our bodies ; that we must not neglect the culti- 
 vation of our minds, and the improvement of our 
 hearts ; and that in general we may seek our own 
 good in all ways, not forbidden in Scripture, care- 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 107 
 
 fully preferring the spiritual to the carnal, the eter- 
 nal to the temporal. In all these ways and to this 
 extent we may please ourselves. We are not bound 
 to try to make ourselves miserable. God has freely 
 given us all good things richly to enjoy them. ITe 
 is no hard master. Freely and abundantly have we 
 received of his bounties. He has provided of his 
 goodness for the poor. Let them thankfully receive 
 and temperately enjoy all his blessings. 
 
 II. How far must WE deny ourselves ? — The an- 
 swer is, We must refuse and forsake all those ways, 
 and thoughts, and plans, and practices, and gains, 
 and intimacies, which hinder the growth of the soul 
 in saving knowledge and true holiness. We must so 
 far deny our own intellectual powers, as not to re- 
 gard them infallible, or even safe without divine 
 guidance. " Lean not unto thine own understand- 
 ing." (Prov. iii : 5.) " Be not wise in thine own 
 eyes." (Prov. iii: 7.) "Let not the wise man 
 glory in his wisdom." (Jer. ix : 23.) Men must 
 learn to submit their understandings to the teach- 
 ings of God's word, and Spirit, and providence ; 
 else they cannot be saved. We must not set up our 
 wills against the will of God. We must learn to 
 say, " Thy will, not mine, be done, God." 
 "Father, not as I will, but as thou wilt." If wo 
 cannot heartily desire to say thus, we have no piety. 
 If we cannot say thus decidedly and habitually, we 
 have very little religion. We must not pamper our 
 natural appetites and the members of our bodies, 
 but restrain them lest they gain a mastery over us. 
 
198 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 We must not yield them instruments of unright- 
 eousness unto sin. We must guard all affections, as 
 love and aversion, joy and grief, hope and fear, lest 
 they become excessive. (Ezek. xxiii: 11.) We 
 must mortify our affections. We must keep our 
 body (our whole nature) under. We must renounce 
 self-righteousness and confess that we have no 
 merits. Our righteousnesses are filthy rags, and we 
 ought to think and feel and say so, Self-flattery is 
 as dangerous as it is sinful. Self-sufficiency is ruin- 
 ous. We must deny ourselves all gains, all honors, 
 all pleasures, known or suspected to be sinful. We 
 must give up even lawful things, when we see that 
 our indulgence will mislead others. We must be 
 pure. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. 
 We must not count our lives worth holding at the 
 cost of a good conscience. It was the devil, who 
 said, ' ' All that a man hath will he give for his life. " 
 That is true of men who are the children of the 
 Wicked One. It is not true of real Christians. 
 They are animated by principle. Their love is 
 stronger than the fear of Death. They know it is 
 not wicked to suffer ; but they cannot consent to 
 sin. 
 
 III. Why should we thus deny and not please 
 ourselves ? — The reasons are many and strong. Let 
 lis consider a few of them. 
 
 We should imitate Christ, who " pleased not him- 
 self." Let us be like him. Oh that we had his 
 image. He pleased the Father which sent him. 
 He emptied himself and became of no reputation. 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 199 
 
 And he said : " If any man will come after me, let 
 him deny himself and take up his cross and follow 
 me." 
 
 Self-denial is the road to honor, glory and immor- 
 tality, and pleasing self is the road to ruin. ' ' "Who- 
 soever will save his life shall lose it ; and whosoever 
 will lose his life for Christ's sake shall find it." All 
 great characters are formed in the school of self- 
 control. All holy characters are formed in the 
 school of self-denial. 
 
 By divine grace the exercises of self-denial are 
 healthy and pleasant to the soul. As in our animal 
 nature the arts of self-indulgence and effeminacy do 
 in the end make us miserable, while manly exercise 
 promotes health and vigor ; so is it with our souls. 
 
 IV. HOW FAR MAY WE PLEASE OUR FELLOW- 
 MEN ?^-We may and we must honor, obey, and so 
 endeavor to please our civil rulers, our parents, our 
 teachers, our masters, all who have lawful authority 
 over us. This should be done from religious motives, 
 cheerfully, universally, embracing all their lawful 
 commands. 
 
 We may and we must be courteous, gentle, con- 
 descending, obliging, giving no needless offence, so 
 that our neighbour, if well disposed, may find it 
 easy to love us, easy to lay aside his prejudices against 
 us, so that he may be willing to listen to our warn- 
 ings and entreaties, so that we may by God's favour 
 do him good and save him from sin and folly, and 
 thus show true Christian charity, meekness, humility, 
 and zeal for the salvation of men's souls, and avoid 
 
200 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 harshness, moroseness, surliness and unamiahleness 
 of character. 
 
 The general rule is that we are to love our fellow- 
 men as ourselves, and to do to them as we would 
 they should do to us ; hut in case of a doubt we 
 are to give our neighbour the benefit of the doubt, 
 while in matters of civility and honor we are to pre- 
 fer others to ourselves. 
 
 We may not and we must not envy the good qual- 
 ities and fine endowments of others, but acknowledge 
 them on fit occasions, and rejoice in them. Not to 
 own and be glad of them is both a weakness and a 
 wickedness. It is both foolish and sinful in us to 
 prefer our own ignorance to the sound learning of 
 others, or to despise the cause or the faculties of 
 one, who is not eloquent in his own defence. 
 
 We may and we must honor and meekly receive 
 the counsels, reproofs, admonitions and encourage- 
 ments of those, who watch for our souls and 
 seek our good. 
 
 We may and we must so far respect all classes of 
 men, as to do all we can by integrity and Christian 
 behaviour to maintain our own good name, and to 
 deserve the esteem of all right-minded persons. 
 
 V. When must w t e be willing to incur the dis- 
 pleasure OF MEN ? 
 
 The answer is, When men will be offended with us, 
 tmlei s we sin against God, brea^his commandments, 
 and d file our consciences. "If doing our duty 
 will displease men, let them be displeased.' , If danc- 
 ing before the ark is an olience to Michal, Davi i must 
 18 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 201 
 
 dance on. If preaching Christ crucified brings down 
 the wrath of persecuting Jews, the apostles must not 
 desist from their work. If Nebuchadnezzar requires 
 those young men to bow to the image he has set up, 
 or to go into* the burning fiery furnace, they must 
 go into the furnace. It is wicked to burn a man to 
 death for conscience sake ; but it is not wicked to 
 be burned to death for conscience sake. 
 
 The reasons why we must displease men rather 
 than sin against God are such as these : 
 
 He is God. He is the great and the terrible God. 
 Having killed the body, he can destroy both soul 
 and body in hell. He claims and he deserves our 
 prompt, cheerful, universal obedience. 
 
 Sin is the only intolerable evil in the world. Men 
 have exulted and triumphed over confiscation, expa- 
 triation, prisons, racks, tortures, flames and gibbets. 
 But a wounded spirit who can bear ? A soul, stung 
 with sin, has a living death. The wail of the 
 damned is from no other source. "When all is well 
 internally, all is well eternally. 
 
 VI. Why should we lightly esteem the smiles 
 and the frowns of men ? — Why should we not be 
 careful to please men ? 
 
 Because : 
 
 Men are but worms. They are crushed before 
 the moth. Their wrath is but impotent rage, until 
 God shall choose to lengthen their chain and give 
 them permission. Man is puny, not puissant. Man 
 is frail and fickle. Man is a fool, until God gives 
 him wisdom. Man is lighter than vanity. All men 
 
202 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 are liars till God gives thern the love of the truth. 
 Man is brutish in his knowledge, violent in his pre- 
 judices, fierce in his passions, blind in his self-inter- 
 est, slanderous in his speech, a hater of all goodness 
 until he is taught from heaven. Why should you 
 either court or fear one, whose breath is in his nos- 
 trils ? Dread and trust are alike misplaced when 
 man is their object. 
 
 The ungodly world has always misjudged the best 
 living men of each successive generation. Which 
 of the prophets did they not kill ? Which of the 
 apostles did they not hunt and hound ? Did they 
 not kill the Son of God himself ? Ought we to ex- 
 pect better treatment than these? " Therefore, if 
 for the sake of Christ and righteousness, we are 
 accounted as the scorn and offscouring of all things, 
 and as pestilent fellows, and movers of sedition 
 among the people, and such as are unworthy to live, 
 and have all manner of evil spoken against us false- 
 ly, it must not seem strange or unexpected to us, nor 
 cast us down, but we must bear it patiently, yea, and 
 exceedingly rejoice in hope of our reward in hea- 
 ven. A Christian must not expect to please men. 
 He must not be disappointed, therefore, if he does 
 not. * * A professing Christian should be 
 alarmed when the world flatters and caresses him. " 
 He should suspect that either his life is not right, or 
 that men are spreading a snare for his feet. The 
 world is in no better humour with holiness than it 
 was formerly. Kest assured of that. Blessed is 
 he, who has grace to take joyfully the spoiling of 
 his goods, who esteems the reproach of Christ greater 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 203 
 
 riches than the treasures of earth, and who glories in 
 death for Jesus' sake. When the jailer's wife said 
 to John Bradford : " Mr. Bradford ! I bring you 
 heavy tidings : to-morrow you must be burned, and 
 your chain is now buying," he put off his hat, and 
 said : "Lord, I thank thee; I have looked for this 
 a great while, it is not terrible to me ; God make me 
 worthy of such a mercy." 
 
 All human opinions, judgments and decisions 
 must and shall be revised by the infallible Judge, 
 and, if erroneous, reversed. Up to this time men 
 have condemned more innocent men than guilty, 
 more saints than felons. So that we may and often 
 must say with Paul: "With me it is a small mat- 
 ter to be judged of your, or of man's judgment; 
 I have one that judgeth me, even the Lord." On 
 this passage Calvin has this note: "We must give 
 an account of our doctrine to all men that require 
 it, especially to ministers and councils : but when a 
 faithful pastor finds himself oppressed with unright- 
 eous and perverse designs (iniquis et perversis stu- 
 diis) and that there is no place for equity and truth, 
 he ought to be careless of man's esteem (humanse 
 existimationis securus) and to appeal to God and 
 fly to his tribunal (Deum appellare et ad ejus tribu- 
 nas confugere debet)." "It is our duty," says Bax- 
 ter, "to love and honor, but not to be loved and 
 honored." The more Paul loved some, the less 
 was he loved of them. (2 Cor. xii: 15.) But 
 that was not his faiiit, though it was his affliction . 
 
 Another reason, why we should not be careful 
 about the smiles and frowns of unrenewed men, is 
 
204 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 that they are the children of the devil, and his 
 works will they do. They think, and feel, and act 
 like the wicked one. To please them is to please 
 Satan. To displease them is to offend the adver- 
 sary of God and man. J3e not in bondage to Apol- 
 lyon or any of his minions and myrmidons. 
 
 It ought to make us desist from trying to please 
 the world that those, who have tried hardest have 
 most signally failed, or have most deplored their 
 folly, when they found the issue. History is filled 
 with such instances. In pleasing some, we are sure 
 to displease others. What pleases a bad or a weak 
 man to-day may displease him to-morrow. 
 
 Even good men are diverse from each other in a 
 thousand matters of taste, habits and manners. It 
 is impossible even to please all good men. Some good 
 men are great cowards ; some are very moody ; 
 some are very far from walking tenderly ; some are 
 very weak ; and some are very ignorant. How can 
 you please such by doing right ? And if you could 
 please them, you would be but pleasing poor sinful 
 worms. 
 
 VII. HOW FAR ARE WE TO GO IN PLEASING GOD ? 
 
 The answer is, We are to go all lengths, and run 
 all risks, and suffer all things, and endure all things, 
 and, if need be, sacrifice all things for him. We 
 are to hate father, and mother, and wife, and chil- 
 dren, and brethren, and sisters, yea and our own 
 life also, in comparison of him. (Luke xiv : 26.) 
 If we must defile our consciences by sinning against 
 God, or give up all earthly friends, and .kindred, 
 
 18 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 205 
 
 and blessings, we may not, we must not hesitate to 
 make God our exceeding joy and let the rest go. 
 Yes, we must sacrifice all things. Of course I 
 except honor, I mean honest principle. no ! God 
 never asks us to do a mean thing. Nor are we ever 
 to sacrifice conscience. He holds that sacred; and 
 he would have us hold it sacred also. Men show 
 that their damnation is both just and sure when 
 they do evil that good may come. It is frightful to 
 serve God with our iniquities. (Isa. xliii : 24.) 
 
 VIII. IS IT RIGHT EVER TO DISPLEASE GOD ? 
 
 No never ! never ! NEVEK ! We cannot displease 
 him but by sinning against him. And sin is always 
 abominable. Chrysostom : " There is in human 
 affairs nothing that is truly terrific but sin. In all 
 things else, in poverty, in sickness, in disgrace, and 
 in death, (which is held to be the greatest of evils) 
 there is nothing that is really dreadful. With the 
 wise man they are all empty names. But to offend 
 God, to do what he disapproves, this is real evil." 
 If we may displease God once, we may do it as long 
 and as often as we please. One theft makes a man 
 a thief ; one wilful, malicious homicide makes a 
 man a murderer, and one sin makes a man a sinner; 
 and the " wages of sin is death." "If one man 
 sin against another, the judge shall judge him : but 
 if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for 
 him?" (1 Sam. 2: 25.) 
 
 IX. Why should w t e please god ? — Because : 
 lie is God. lie only is God. He is God alone. 
 
 L 
 
206 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 There is none with him, none "beside him, none like 
 him. He is over all God blessed for ever. None 
 else deserves religious worship or religious service, 
 supreme homage and supreme obedience. He de- 
 serves the highest service of angels and men, be- 
 cause he is God. 
 
 If we can so act that "whether living or dying 
 we may be accepted of him," all shall be w T ell. His 
 smile is life. His frown is death. If he approves, 
 all the world cannot put us in the wrong. If he 
 condemns, all the world cannot set us right. 
 Learned, judicious and pious men have often ap- 
 proved whom the Lord condemned, and rejected 
 whom the Lord received. God is our Master. To 
 him we stand or fall. 
 
 God is our Creator and Preserver. Shall we not 
 seek to serve and please him ? How monstrous that 
 the thing formed should hesitate to obey him that 
 formed it! How reasonable that, being fed and 
 tenderly cared for all our days by the Lord, we 
 should honestly and supremely try to please him. 
 
 He is Judge. He is Judge of all. His arbitra- 
 ments are final, his decisions irreversible. God 
 never calls a good man or a good cause bad, nor the 
 reverse. He is evil whom Gods calls evil. He is a 
 fool whom God calls a fool. He is wise, whom 
 God instructs. He is happy whom God pronounces 
 blessed. It is a great thing to be judged of the 
 Lord. God is not and cannot be pledged to make 
 good any thing spoken by the wicked against the 
 righteous ; but he will make good every word he 
 has spoken in their favor. Here truth is often out- 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 207 
 
 faced and overborne by numbers, by clamor, by 
 cunning, by force. But God's judgment will make 
 all right. The last day will clear up a thousand 
 things involved in darkness here. 
 
 What God says, he will stick to and execute. He 
 is never influenced by clamor or the popular voice. 
 Here the wicked are often set on high ; and even 
 after death great honors are often paid them. But 
 "a great name on earth, or histories written in their 
 favor, or a gilded monument over their bones, are a 
 poor relief to damned souls." 
 
 Consider too that God is a good Master. He 
 never makes unreasonable demands. He is never 
 capricious. He asks no more than is his due. It is 
 possible to please him. All the humble, contrite, 
 believing people of God do please him. He accepts 
 service according to what a man hath, and not ac- 
 cording to what he hath not. Blessed be his name. 
 
 EEMARKS. 
 
 1. Are we then pleasing God? This is a great 
 question. Let us test ourselves by safe and strict 
 rules. No man is pleasing God further than the 
 tenor of Scripture applied to his case evinces. 
 The tenor of Scripture is its general scope. This 
 condemns some outright. Others it at once acquits. 
 But others are of doubtful character. They have 
 some show of piety, some exercises of mind resemb- 
 ling Christian experience ; but the scope of the 
 Bible is against them. How is it with you ? 
 
 No man pleases God any more than he evinces by 
 
208 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 his habitual speech. " By thy words thou shalt he 
 justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." 
 He that flatters, backbites, reviles, spreads scandal, or 
 delights in foolish talking and jesting, is not pleasing 
 God. But he who blesses and curses not, who keeps 
 his lips from falsehood and deceit and vanity and 
 malice, and trains it to love and truth and praise, 
 is surely pleasing God. 
 
 Nor do any of us please God beyond what is 
 evinced by our spirit of devotion. If we have no 
 habits of devotion, we have no piety. If we have 
 mere fits of praying and confessing sin, and yet do 
 not always call upon God, our closets are witnesses 
 against us. All, who are pleasing God, evince it 
 by their serious study of God's word, their hearty 
 prayers and praises, their honest self-examinations, 
 and devout meditations. 
 
 Nor do we please God beyond what is proven by 
 our common practice. All true religion is practical. 
 A hypocrite can hear God's words; but to hear 
 them and do them shows one to be a child of God. 
 What is your life? All of life is a test. Every 
 thing tries us. What does your life say ? It was 
 Judas' habit to fail as often as fairly tried. It was 
 not Peter's habit to deny Christ. 
 
 Does conscience say you are pleasing God? No 
 man is better than a good conscience says he is ; 
 though many are worse than their evil consciences 
 declare them to be. "If our heart condemn us, 
 God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all 
 things." 
 
 Nor are we pleasing God further than we are in 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 209 
 
 heart conformed to the moral law. "What does the 
 law say of you ? "What do you say of it ? " Love 
 is the fulfilling of the law." Do you love? 
 
 Nor does any man please God further than he is 
 like God. God is just. Are you unjust? God is 
 true. Are you deceitful ? God abhors cruelty. 
 Do you delight in mercy ? God is long-suffering. 
 Are you impatient towards enemies ? 
 
 Nor do we please God further than as we are like 
 Christ and imitate him. He was meek and lowly. 
 Are you proud and haughty ? He forgave his ene- 
 mies. Are you malignant or spiteful ? He loved 
 good men. Do you esteem the pious as the excel- 
 lent of the earth? He never needlessly hurt any 
 man's feelings, and yet he never concealed- a whole- 
 some truth. Are you like him ? Do you desire to 
 be more like him ? 
 
 No man pleases God except as he is wrought upon 
 by the Holy Ghost in regeneration, and in sanctifi- 
 cation. Has the Holy Ghost ever wrought effectu- 
 ally in you ? Were you ever born again ? Were 
 you ever soundly converted ? Is your sanctification 
 progressing ? Do you know what sanctification is ? 
 
 Try yourself, prove yourself, and find out what 
 manner of spirit you are of. Self-deception is always 
 more or less wilful. Of course it is wicked. It is 
 also foolish. It is always dangerous. It is many 
 times fatal. "Be not deceived." "Know ye not 
 that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ?" If 
 you do not please God, you are yet in your sins. 
 
 2. If you are pleasing God, take the comfort of it, 
 rejoice in the grace that enables you so to walk, and 
 
210 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 lay fast hold on the promises of God made to all 
 such. Hear a few of them : 
 
 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath 
 are the everlasting arms. 
 
 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy 
 coming in, from this time forth, and even for ever- 
 more. 
 
 When the poor and needy seek water, and there 
 is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the 
 Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not 
 forsake them. 
 
 I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and 
 floods upon the dry ground ; I will pour my Spirit 
 upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. 
 
 When thou passest through the waters, I will be 
 with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not 
 overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, 
 thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame 
 kindle upon thee. 
 
 To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 
 tree ot life, which is in the midst of the paradise of 
 God. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the 
 second death. To him that overcometh will I give 
 to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white 
 stone, and in the stone a new name written, which 
 no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. To 
 him that overcometh, I will give the morning star. 
 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in 
 white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out 
 of the book of life, but I will confess his name be- 
 fore my Father, and before his angels. Him that 
 overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple of 
 
NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 211 
 
 my God, and he shall go no more out. To him that 
 overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne. 
 He that overcometh shall inherit all things ; and I 
 will he his God, and he shall he my son. 
 
 3. How precious is redemption and how neeessary 
 is a simple faith in Jesus Christ. "We must receive 
 Christ as little children. For this there is no sub- 
 stitute. In his last hours, Bishop Butler was in 
 darkness. One said to him : " Jesus is able to save 
 them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." 
 "I never understood that verse before," said he, as 
 by those words the blessed Spirit lifted the clouds 
 from his mind, and the light of heaven broke in 
 on his soul. 
 
 Dying, John Foster said: "If that great cause 
 of faith and hope, the all-sufficient merits and atone- 
 ment of our Lord and Saviour were taken away, I 
 should have nothing left." John Selden was a most 
 erudite Englishman, possessed much antiquarian, 
 historical and legal knowledge ; was master of many 
 languages, and author of works which have tilled 
 Europe with his fame, and was possessed of a library 
 of eight thousand volumes. When he lay dying, he 
 said to Archbishop Usher : "I have surveyed most 
 of the learning that is among the sons of men, and 
 my study is filled with books and manuscripts on 
 various subjects ; but at present I cannot recollect 
 any passage out of all my books and papers whereon 
 I can rest my soul save this from the sacred Scrip- 
 tures : < The grace of God that bringeth salvation 
 hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, 
 
212 NINE QUESTIONS ABOUT PLEASING. 
 
 righteously and godly in this present world ; looking 
 for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of 
 the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who 
 gave himself for us that he might redeem us from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar peo- 
 ple zealous of good works." The most gigantic in- 
 tellects have never found any way to peace but by the 
 cross of Christ. There is no other. There is no 
 need of another way. This is the true way, the 
 living way, the only way. ' ' The star which stands 
 over the holy Infant at Bethlehem has no fellow in 
 the firmament." Oh that you would believe in 
 Jesus ? Oh that you would cast yourself at his 
 feet now. Tarry not. Delay not. "When his 
 storm is in its fury, it may be too late to drop 
 the anchor." Now is your time. 
 
 19 
 
HOW TO MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOW god's people may make great attainments. 
 
 Professors of religion may be divided into three 
 classes. First, there are those of whom charity 
 dares not hope that they are passed from death unto 
 life. They are carnal, careless, covetous. They 
 are manifestly just such as they were before they 
 joined the church. In them no change of life ap- 
 pears to prove a change of heart. They are much 
 like their other worldly neighbours, except that 
 they go to the Lord's table. They add no strength 
 to the cause of truth. They are spots in Christian 
 feasts. They are a grief and a shame to godly peo- 
 ple. The church has their names, but the world 
 has their hearts. The number of such is painfully 
 large. 
 
 A second class consists of those, who sometimes 
 seem quite changed. Once in a while their faith 
 and love and zeal appear to be unfeigned, and their 
 humility profound. But their course is not uniform. 
 At times they are like sky-rockets for brilliancy; 
 but soon they lose their effulgence, and all you find 
 left is a dirty stick. They have great defects and 
 are also guilty of some excesses. The best Chris- 
 tians have not confidence in them, not because they 
 
214 how god's people may 
 
 love to indulge suspicion, but because they cannot 
 help it. Paul said to some: " I stand in doubt of 
 you." (Gal. iv: 26.) It is a sad thing when the 
 conduct of professors of piety keeps their brethren 
 in a state of alternate fear and hope, distrust and 
 confidence. If they either fully and heartily con- 
 demn or confide in such, they fear that they are 
 doing wrong. This class of church members at 
 one time seems to be quite under the power of evil, 
 and then quite penitent. There is perhaps not much 
 very decidedly against them, but there is nothing 
 very decidedly in their favour. They are always 
 falling and yet seeming to recover themselves. 
 They sin and seem to repent, and yet seem not to 
 have thoroughly repented, for they soon sin again. 
 Their number is considerable. Some, perhaps more 
 of them than is generally hoped for, will be saved ; 
 but many of them will no doubt perish. Those of 
 them, who shall reach heaven, will be saved as by 
 fire. They will suffer great loss too, for their works 
 shall be generally burnt up, because they are wood, 
 hay, and stubble. What a blessing it is that the 
 Lord knoweth them that are his, and can find a 
 grain of wheat in a bushel of chaff. Those of 
 them, who are not saved, will perish very fearfully, 
 for they had many convictions, made many vows, 
 lived in the enjoyment of many privileges, and yet 
 all to no purpose. 
 
 The third class of professors consists of those, 
 whose profession is attended by fervent love, deep 
 humility, Christian firmness, a well-tempered zeal, 
 attachment to the whole law of God, and a habitual 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 215 
 
 renunciation of the world, as a portion. Such have 
 trials, days of darkness, and doubts, which lead 
 them to cry mightily to God. At times perhaps 
 thev suffer even keen anguish. But no charitable 
 person, who knows them, seriously doubts where 
 their hearts are. They do not turn back — they do 
 not look back. They are reliable people. They 
 maintain regular secret devotion, and consequently 
 they exhibit a devout temper in society. Their 
 brethren trust them, and are never disappointed. In 
 their presence even wicked men feel "how awful 
 goodness is," and often cerse to lay snares for them, 
 for they see that their minds are made up. They 
 lose little time in debating idle questions. They do 
 not by a doubtful course of life create distressing 
 questions of casuistry. Their rule is to keep themselves 
 as far as possible from all sin. They seldom dally 
 with temptation. If they are overcome, it is only 
 to rise with new strength after every fall. There 
 is a sweet savor of piety about them. Their man- 
 ners are perhaps very various, some being polished 
 and bland, or affable and free ; others being awk- 
 ward and uncouth, or quiet and retiring. But they 
 uniformly shew a tenderness of conscience, an up- 
 rightness of intention, a zeal for God and a love to 
 his people, which cannot be mistaken. They use 
 the world as not abusing it. They live not after the 
 flesh. They live unto God and they will die unto 
 God. They do not overact their part. They are 
 zealous, but not officious, prudent but not cowardly, 
 decided but not obstinate. They greatly love the 
 truth. It is their food. They hate every false way 
 
216 how god's people may 
 
 and all lying words. But they do not make a man 
 an offender for a word. They are modest but not 
 mean. They are often cast down but not in despair. 
 Their humility, like the ample folds of a large cloak, 
 covers even their good works from the gaze of many, 
 and especially from their own eyes. They say but 
 little to their own praise, because they do not think 
 well of themselves. They put themselves among 
 the least of all saints, yea among the chief of sin- 
 ners. With pleasure they acknowledge the gifts 
 and graces of their brethren. They often feel re- 
 proved by what they esteem the superior attainments 
 of others. They never think themselves eminent 
 Christians. Thev forget the things that are behind 
 and press forward to learn and to do more and bet- 
 ter than ever before. They hate and resist vain 
 thoughts. They are ashamed of their many failures. 
 They grow. They first cast their roots downwards, 
 then they bear fruit upwards. They not only begin 
 but they continue to live by the doctrine of salva- 
 tion by grace alone. Their fruit remaineth in them 
 because they abide in Christ. He is their life and 
 all their salvation. They glory in his cross. They 
 glory in nothing else. Having begun in the Spirit 
 they end in the Spirit also. 
 
 They may not be able to reason with subtle error- 
 ists, but neither are they led astray by them. They 
 know that all doctrine, which pufts up the carnal 
 mind, which gives low views of sin, which detracts 
 from the glory of Christ, which gives iniquity an 
 advantage over us, must be unsound. They, there- 
 fore, wisely eschew it. They have learned the clif- 
 19* 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 217 
 
 ference between truth and error chiefly, perhaps, by 
 means of that spiritual discernment, taste, and ex- 
 perience, of which they are possessed. Though 
 they may not be skillful in argument, they arc wise 
 unto salvation. As the children of wisdom, they 
 always justify her. Every one of them is at heart 
 a martyr, and, under a fair trial, would be fouud 
 unto praise and honor and glory. Through educa- 
 tion, or church relations, they may have imbibed 
 some narrow views, but they are not at heart bigots. 
 And it is delightful to see their pure love like a 
 flowing stream, rising above all obstructions, and 
 pouring forth its warm sympathies on all, who love 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever be their name or 
 nation, color or condition. 
 
 The prosperity of Christ's kingdom lies near their 
 hearts. They are often filled with sadness at the 
 abounding of sin ; but they rejoice at the progress of 
 truth and righteousness. The state of the uncon- 
 verted and perishing millions of men deeply affects 
 them. The low state of piety in the church makes 
 them mourn and weep and pray. Yet the joy of 
 the Lord is their strength. They rejoice in tribula- 
 tion. They are useful and pray and study to be 
 more and more so. Their example is a sermon, 
 which no man can answer. By well-doing they put 
 to silence the ignorance of foolish men. They are 
 not aware of half the good they are doing. 
 
 As they advance in life a delightful mellowness 
 of character is more and more perceptible. They 
 may seem to shrink away from the public gaze and 
 from public duties, but it is not because they are 
 
218 how god's people may 
 
 soured with the world, nor because they have any 
 haughty, or embittered feelings. They have learned 
 in honor to prefer one another. They love to be 
 alone with God. Their meditation of him is sweet. 
 They think of him in the night watches. They rest 
 in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. 
 
 Some such eminent servants of God finish their 
 course early in life. Their sun rises and shines in 
 his strength, but goes down before it is noon. What 
 a blessing such persons are. Those, who know and 
 love them, cherish their memories with extreme ten- 
 derness. Their removal from earth is one of the 
 things, which makes good men willing to be absent 
 from the body and present with the Lord. 
 
 Others live longer and die at a time when we 
 would expect them to be most useful. Such were 
 Halyburton, and Brainerd, and Martyn, and Pay- 
 son, and Kevins, and thousands, whose record is on 
 high. Their death makes sad all their pious friends ; 
 but it is hallowed. Had they lived longer, many 
 might have leaned on them, or the church might 
 have felt less her need of ascension gifts from Christ 
 her Lord. Their work was done, and their Master 
 called them to fill a higher sphere of usefulness, and 
 honor, and felicity. And when he called them, 
 good men both wept and rejoiced. 
 
 Some of the eminently pious are spared to old 
 age. Then, like shocks of corn fully ripe, they are 
 gathered into the garner of the Lord. Their last 
 days are to the body full of pain and weakness, but 
 to the soul full of peace. Their hoary head is a 
 crown of glory, because it is found in the way of 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 219 
 
 righteousness. No man can read the memoirs of 
 John Newton, Thomas Scott, John Brown of Had- 
 dington, and many others, without seeing something 
 desirable in the heritage of the saints even in old 
 age. Balaam said: "Let me die the death of the 
 righteous, and let my last end be like his." 
 
 All of this class of persons enjoy religion. It 
 is their meat and drink. They have bread to eat 
 which the world knows not of. The secret of the 
 Lord is with them that fear him, and he shows 
 them his covenant. He is their portion. They are 
 not driven out of the world, but willingly leave it. 
 "They rest from their labours, and their works do 
 follow them." No sorrowing friend is sunk to the 
 earth for fear that they are not saved. In the next 
 world they shine as the stars forever and ever. 
 
 The well-spring and fountain of all these attain- 
 ments must be sought in God, and in God alone. 
 He says: "From me is thy fruit found." "God 
 is able to make all grace abound toward you ; that 
 ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may 
 abound to every good work." And God is a Sov- 
 ereign, dividing his gifts severally as he will. His 
 grace is as free and unmerited as it is great and 
 glorious. 
 
 Yet God commonly makes his grace abound the 
 most where his people most diligently use the proper 
 means. Spiritual sloth is worse than natural. We 
 must be up and doing. Words are cheapo We 
 have in the church "many walking and talking 
 skeletons." They are not fat and flourishing. They 
 are sometimes loud and noisy professors, yet none 
 
220 how god's people may 
 
 but themselves think well of their case. They may 
 talk of zeal and love, yet they never are much. 
 But others are like cedars in Lebanon. They are 
 strong men in Christ Jesus. They are pillars in 
 the church. How did they become so ? The an- 
 swer is, God made all grace abound to them, and 
 so they abound to every good work. But how wa3 
 his abundant grace bestowed on them ? This is a 
 grave question, and deserves a grave answer. No 
 man has ever become eminent for piety but in the 
 humble use of proper means. The Holy Spirit is 
 the sole efficient cause of holiness. "We may use 
 all the means and be no better, v.nl 3ss he bless them 
 to us. But then he always sends a rich blessing on 
 all, who rightly wait upon the Lord in the ways of 
 his appointment. 
 
 It has been said that some Christians, as some 
 infants, are born with much more vigor, and seem 
 to grow much more rapidly than others at the first. 
 This is true. But did you never see such after a 
 while become sickly? And have you not seen 
 those, who seemed feeble at first, become strong and 
 mighty? A healthy child may be so injured by the 
 treatment it receives as never to make a strong man. 
 The proper means must be used, and the divine 
 blessing be secured on those means. What then 
 must be done ? 
 
 1. It is essential to the Christian's improvement 
 that he maintain tenderness of conscience. A scru- 
 pulous conscience is like a diseased eye, which 
 weeps at the light, or at nothing. But a tender 
 conscience is like a sound eye, which weeps when 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 221 
 
 a mote is in it. It is called in Scripture "a con- 
 science void of offence towards God and man." 
 We have many pleasing examples of such a con- 
 science. Take one. In the midst of battle David 
 became weary and thirsty. In that hour he thought, 
 as men are apt to do, of the water, which he drank 
 in his childhood and youth. And he said : " that 
 one would give me to drink of the water of the well 
 of Bethlehem." And three mighty men broke 
 through the enemy's line, and drew water out of 
 the well, and brought it to David; nevertheless he 
 would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the 
 Lord. And he said: "Be it far from me, Lord, 
 that I should do this : is not this the blood of the 
 men, that went in jeopardy of their lives? There- 
 fore he would not drink it." This was indeed a 
 tender conscience, lie knew that it was lawful to 
 drink water. lie knew that it would please his 
 faithful men for him to drink this water. But then 
 it had cost too much. It had been procured at the 
 hazard of life. So he made it a thank-offering to 
 God, who had mercifully, and, perhaps, miracu- 
 lously preserved alive those intrepid men, who had 
 perilled their lives for the comfort of their com- 
 mander. Go thou and do likewise. Keep a tender 
 conscience at all costs and at all hazards. Put not 
 wicked gains into your pocket, nor lay them up for 
 your children. In the end they will bring a curse 
 on all coucerned. Give no quarters to sin. Parley 
 not with temptation. Touch not, taste not, handle 
 not any evil thing, any doubtful thing. Defile 
 not your soul with courses, the right of which 
 
222 how god's people may 
 
 you even suspect. It is extremely perilous to 
 do so. 
 
 ; 2. Be a diligent student of God's word, of God's 
 whole word. Despise no portion of it. Its prom- 
 ises encourage. Its threatenings warn. Its precepts 
 direct. Its histories teach by example. Its songs 
 cheer. Its doctrines edify. Its prophecies prove its 
 divinity. Not only read but hear the word of God, 
 as it is the word of God. Beware of that bane of 
 profitable hearing, a critical spirit. A display of 
 your critical powers may please your vanity, but 
 will never bring you on your journey heavenward. 
 Dr. Owen says of some : "They are ready to think 
 and say, that the preaching and religious exercises, 
 which they had in former days, were far to be pre- 
 ferred above what they now enjoy ; and they despise 
 the ministers of the present age in comparison of 
 their fathers. But the change is in themselves. 
 They have lost their spiritual appetite. Being grown 
 full of themselves and conceited of their own abili- 
 ties, they have not that taste and relish for the word, 
 which they had formerly ; and this is both the cause 
 and the evidence of the decay of all their other 
 graces." Any one, who has formed the habits of a 
 severe, not to say capricious critic of preaching, is 
 greatly to be pitied. Even faultless preaching would 
 but strengthen such a habit. Beware of it. Ear- 
 nestly cry to God for that faith, which must be 
 mixed with the word read or preached, that you may 
 profit withal. " As new-born babes desire the sin- 
 cere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby." 
 It is in this way that "the righteous shall flourish 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 223 
 
 like the palm-tree, and grow like a cedar of Leba- 
 non. Those, that be planted in the house of the 
 Lord, shall flourish in the courts of our God. They 
 shall still bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall 
 be fat and flourishing ; to shew that the Lord is 
 upright : he is their rock, and there is no unright- 
 eousness in him." 
 
 8. Would you attain eminence in piety \ You 
 must also be a companion of all them, who fear the 
 Lord, and especially of such as have knowledge and 
 experience in religion superior to your own. "He 
 that walketh with wise men shall be wise. " The pres- 
 ence of such is no mean preservative against sin and 
 no feeble stimulant to good. It is a great thing to 
 have before us the words and example of one, who 
 is a burning and a shining light. Great men often 
 appear in clusters, as in the days of Augustus, of 
 Cromwell, of Queen Ann, and of George the Third. 
 The same is true of pious men. Eminent goodness 
 is seldom attained by one man alone. It needs a 
 Peter to strengthen his brethren, a John to set a 
 high example of love, a Paul to bring out in their 
 connection the truths of Scripture, and these all 
 taught from above, and giving us high examples of 
 virtue. Many a man has been vastly benefitted by 
 spending even an hour with an eminent servant of 
 Christ. 
 
 4. If you would attain eminent piety, study and 
 labor to do good, as you have opportunity to all 
 men. "He that watereth shall be watered." The 
 widow's oil increased only so long as she continued 
 pouring out. He, whose world is himself, must 
 
224 how god's people may 
 
 have both narrow views and contracted feelings. 
 The very spirit of piety is benevolent. Our Saviour 
 went about doing good. Nor did he tire at his 
 work. Even when wearied with his journey he sat 
 at Jacob's well, he would not fail to do good to the 
 Samaritan woman. But beware of Jehu's vanity, 
 and of what is akin to it, an angry spirit. Be 
 grieved, but not offended, if sinners will not turn to 
 God. Be not bitter against them. You ought to 
 bear with the wicked as Ions: as God doe3. "Be 
 patient toward all men." Quarrel not with them. 
 Tbey will be glad to have their controversy with 
 God brought down to a contest with you. If they 
 revile you, do you bless them. Expect not to be 
 useful, but at a cost of feeling, ease, or money. 
 Try every way that is lawful and wise. Encourage 
 and aid those who shew any desire to flee from the 
 wrath to come. Do all you can and in as private 
 and modest a way as possible. Sow not sparingly. 
 If men were but governed by an enlightened self-love, 
 they would hardly be as penurious as they often are. 
 " So quickly has the wheel turned round, that many 
 a man has lived to enjoy the benefit of that charity, 
 which his own piety projected and consummated." 
 In the very exercise of benevolence there is a bless- 
 ing, which is worth far more than all it costs. The 
 joy ol doing good is one of the purest and most 
 pleasing of all our affections. To do good from 
 pure love is to be like God. But watch providence. 
 To run uncalled and not to run when called are two 
 things more nearly allied in temper and in guilt 
 than is commonly supposed. Dr. Pavson says : 
 20 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 225 
 
 "What God calls a man to do, He will carry him 
 through. I would undertake to govern half a 
 dozen worlds if God called me to do it, but I would 
 not undertake to govern half a dozen sheep unless 
 God called me to it." And keep in your own sphere. 
 "As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a 
 man that wandereth from his place." When Nero 
 entered the lists to write poetry in competition with 
 Lucan he was ridiculous and his life was embittered. 
 When Henry the Eighth undertook to confute Luther, 
 he burnt his fingers, and the reforming monk laughed 
 him to scorn. Let no man, in doing good, under- 
 take what he cannot do well. The frogs may swell 
 themselves till they burst, but they will never be 
 oxen. And let not the oxen try to become little as 
 frogs. It is no glory to a king, a senator, or a min- 
 ister of Christ to excel in fiddling or in jesting. It 
 is well to know what you can do, and what it befits 
 you to do. When Cyrus of Persia and Jackson of 
 America did the duties of a private soldier, it was 
 to animate their troops by example. What is your 
 proper place in the church of God, and in all labors 
 of love? Find it out. Never leave it. Many a 
 useful and honorable teacher of a Sabbath School 
 loses all his influence by attempting to preach. Many 
 souls may be won to Christ by an humble, laborious 
 colporteur, who would be a burden to the church if 
 he attempted some higher calling. " Earnestly 
 covet the best gifts ;" but give not your great work 
 for something above you or beneath you. There 
 should be a place for every church-member, and 
 every church-member should be in his place. 
 
226 how god's people may 
 
 5. If you would advance rapidly in divine attain- 
 ments, you must be serious. Moroseness is a sin 
 and melancholy is no friend to piety. But serious- 
 ness is essential to great success in any thing, and 
 especially in religion. - In the days of Elizabeth 
 flourished that great statesman, Walsingham. In 
 old age he retired into private life. Some, who 
 relished merriment, visited him and rallied him on 
 what they called his melancholy. He replied : * * I 
 am not melancholy ; I am serious ; and it is fit I 
 should be so. Ah my friends, while we laugh, all 
 things are serious about us. God is serious, who 
 exerciseth patience towards us ; Christ is serious, 
 who shed his blood for us ; the Holy Spirit is serious 
 in striving against the obstinacy of our hearts ; the 
 Holy Scriptures bring to our ears the most serious 
 things in the world ; the holy sacraments represent 
 to us the most serious and awful things ; the whole 
 creation is serious in serving God and us ; all that 
 are in heaven and hell are serious, and shall not I 
 be serious too ?" A mind, soured with the world, 
 though it may be more unamiable and tormenting, 
 is hardly a greater enemy to piety than is levity. 
 
 6. When you have done all these things, and 
 whatever else seems called for, cast yourself entirely 
 and constantly upon the Almighty Father for strength ; 
 upon Jesus Christ for mercy, for atonement, for 
 righteousness and for all-prevailing intercession ; and 
 upon the blessed Holy Spirit for illumination, guid- 
 ance, purity and abundance of inwrought grace. Do 
 this at all times, praying with all prayer. "Whoever 
 at any time has gone to heaven has climbed up 
 
MAKE GREAT ATTAINMENTS. 227 
 
 thither on his knees. Nothing can be a substitute 
 for a devotional spirit. They may, and I suppose 
 they do live in heaven without what we call prayer 
 on earth. But on earth prayer is our vital breath. 
 Without it we die. 
 
 Whoever doeth these things shall never fall, nor 
 shall he be barren, nor unfruitful in the knowledge 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. He shall make his call- 
 ling and election sure ; and so an entrance shall be 
 ministered unto him abundantly into the everlasting 
 kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
228 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 Christians have made a wise choice. They have 
 cause to lament their folly in so long refusing God's 
 grace, and in having served Christ with so little zeal. 
 But no wisdom is comparable to the wisdom of the 
 just. The main-spring of piety is love to God, to 
 his Son, to his law, and to his service. This affec- 
 tion is not impaired, but strengthened by learning 
 that the service of God is accompanied by amazing 
 benefits and privileges. Should it be discovered 
 that a life of piety had no higher blessings attending 
 it than those which belong to a life of sin, there 
 would certainly be great sadness among the friends 
 of God ; and his enemies would shout aloud for joy. 
 The privileges of believers relate both to the pre- 
 sent and to the future. 
 
 The first great blessing conferred on believers is 
 the remission of all their sins. In the 103d Psalm 
 David puts this as the first of the benefits he re- 
 ceived. He was right. Health is not so valuable. 
 Life is not so great a boon. When God forgives, 
 he forgives all our iniquities. One unpardoned sin 
 would as surely sink a soul, as one leak will sink a 
 ship. Sin is like fire, of which a spark, no less 
 than a shovel full of coals, will blow up a magazine. 
 20* 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 229 
 
 One murder brings death as surely as twenty. The 
 great defect of all systems of false religion is that 
 none of them make any adequate provision to satisfy 
 divine justice, or meet the demands of an enlight- 
 ened conscience. The poor blinded devotee offers 
 his prayers, and sacrifices, and comes away with all 
 his guilt upon him. He mortifies his body by acts 
 of voluntary humility, and goes into eternity wish- 
 ing he had done more, or hoping that others will 
 pray him out of torment. Nothing speaks peace 
 but the blood of Jesus. That cleanseth from all 
 sin. So that there is no condemnation to them who 
 are in Christ Jesus. The handwriting, which was 
 against them, is all blotted out. 
 
 And God's people are not only forgiven ; they 
 are also taken into favor. By faith they lay hold of 
 the merits of Christ, and, for his sake, God regards 
 and treats them as righteous. Being found in him, 
 and not having their own righteousness, which is of 
 the law, but the righteousness, which is of God by 
 faith in Jesus Christ, they are not found naked. 
 Through the merits of Christ they have a right to 
 the tree of life. Angels in robes of innocence have 
 not so glorious an apparel as believers have in that 
 linen, white and clean, which is the righteousness of 
 saints. How can men expect to stand before God, 
 except with confusion and shame, unless they are 
 partakers of the righteousness of Christ ? In reli- 
 gious experience it would be no worse, it would pro- 
 duce no more distress to give up all confidence in the 
 divine faithfulness, than to let go all hold on the in- 
 finite and all-perfect righteousness of the Kedeemer. 
 
230 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 The truth of this remark is amply sustained by 
 Scripture, and by the testimony of God's children. 
 
 God's people are also made personally holy. Their 
 sanctification is begun by the Holy Spirit in regene- 
 ration, and by the same blessed agent is carried on 
 to perfection. In justification we are declared right- 
 eous in law ; in sactification we are made righteous 
 in fact. In the former righteousness is imputed ; 
 in the latter it is imparted. Christ will present all 
 his people before God without spot, or wrinkle, or 
 blemish, or any such thing. By his Spirit he makes 
 the King's daughter all glorious within. The beauty 
 of holiness shall be illustrious in all the redeemed 
 of the Lord. "Be ye holy, for I am holy, saith 
 the Lord." He, who has begun the work of faith, 
 will complete it with power. He i3 able, he is will- 
 ing, he is determined to do it. He has set his heart 
 upon it. " This is the will of God, even your sanc- 
 tification." 
 
 These blessings are a beginning, and but a begin- 
 ning of what God does for his people. Having done 
 thus much, he is thereby graciously pledged to do 
 more. And so he opens the store-house of his 
 grace and bestows those precious benefits, peace of 
 conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, growth in grace, 
 a blessed hope of eternal rest, power to resist temp- 
 tation and strength to hold on their way and be 
 faithful unto death. Even the ills of life are made 
 the means of lasting good to them. The thorn in 
 Paul's flesh kept him from spiritual slumbers and 
 spiritual pride, and the bufferings of the messenger 
 of Satan roused him to strong crying for help and 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 231 
 
 salvation. His infirmity gave a blessed opportunity 
 for the power of Christ to rest upon him, and so he 
 gloried in it. Indeed such are the arrangements 
 of the covenant of grace that all things work to- 
 gether for good to them that love God. The peace- 
 able fruit of righteousness is gathered in great abun- 
 dance from trees, whose buds are very bitter. The 
 scorn of the wicked makes the saints pour out their 
 tears unto God. Every pang is made the means of 
 ultimate pleasure. So that the saints may well 
 count it all joy when they fall into divers tempta- 
 tions. These produce a higher degree of patience, 
 experience, hope and confidence. 
 
 Nor is the victory doubtful. God is on the side 
 of truth and holiness. He is rich in resources, and 
 has pledged them all for the complete deliverance of 
 those, who make him their refuge. A child of 
 God, however weak, shall not be put down. " The 
 feeble among them shall be as David." The people 
 that do "know their God shall be strong, and shall 
 do exploits." It is as high proof of the folly as of 
 the malice of wicked men and fallen angels, that 
 they still unceasingly annoy the true people of God. 
 The great enemy was never yet able to pluck any 
 out of the hand of the Saviour. Many a time, in- 
 deed, where faith is weak, and the enemy comes in 
 like a flood, the timid believer says : "I shall one 
 day perish by the hand of mine enemy," yet this 
 same man shall soon shout, " Thanks be unto God 
 who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." "Death is swallowed up in victory." 
 
 Even that appalling event, the dissolution of the 
 
232 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 body, is followed by spotless purity and perfection, 
 and by a crown of glory. Of all the steps in the 
 exaltation of his people none is more admirable than 
 that taken at death. Then the believer goes from 
 pain, weakness, fear, conflict and death, to joy, rest, 
 victory and life everlasting. The public acquittal of 
 the day of judgment, the immortal vigor and resplen- 
 dent glory of a resurrection body, and the uninter- 
 rupted enjoyment of God to all eternity, will be but 
 fitting sequels to a life of faith and a death of hope. 
 Glory shall surely follow grace, and not a little of it 
 either. There shall be an "exceeding weight" of 
 it. Nor shall it be transient. It shall be eternal. 
 It shall never fade away. It is not measurable. It 
 is the glory of God, which shall be revealed in all 
 the saints. It is matchless, endless, topless, fath- 
 omless glory. The faculties of the greatest men, 
 so far as yet developed, seem to be incapable of any 
 adequate conception of a state of glory. This has 
 given rise to the opinion that as taste, reason and 
 judgment are faculties of the mind quite undeveloped 
 in childhood, so there are in all the saints undevel- 
 oped faculties, which on their admission into glory, 
 will be brought into exercise. It may be even so. 
 Perhaps most men are aware of having both percep- 
 tions and conceptions which cannot be expressed, 
 because they are so vague. Dr. A. Alexander says : 
 "There are probably faculties of the human soul, 
 not now exercised, which will be developed in hea- 
 ven." The same is taught by Durand, an able 
 French writer. He says: "De nouvelles facultds 
 dont nous n'avons aucune idee se develloppereront 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 233 
 
 sans cloute alor, pour nous, rendre capable, do con- 
 noissances plus tendues, ct plus transcendantes." 
 
 Whatever may be the truth in this matter, blessed 
 Paul tells us that "now we see through a glass, 
 darkly ; but then face to face ; now I know in part ; 
 but then shall I know, even as I am known . " Saints 
 "shall be forever with the Lord," and shall "behold 
 his glory, which he had with the Eather before the 
 world was." 
 
 True the attainments and condition of God's peo- 
 ple are now low. Christ himself when on earth 
 called them "little ones." This title is expressive 
 and appropriate, not merely in the case of those, who 
 in childhood believe in Jesus, and are little of sta- 
 ture and of feeble faculties. Such are included ; for 
 out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God often 
 ordains strength. But others are likewise included, 
 even all believers. In the esteem of the wicked 
 they are all " little ones." Sinners have always held 
 the saints in derision. They esteem and call them 
 the offscouring of all things. The whole vocabulary 
 of contempt has in every age been exhausted upon 
 them. Atheists, Nazarenes, Lollards, Precisians, 
 Fanatics, Fools are but a few of the odious epithets 
 bestowed upon them. The virtues of the Christian 
 character do not please the tastes of carnal men. 
 They despise the righteous. Ever since the founda- 
 tions of the New Jerusalem began to be laid, sinners 
 have shouted, "if a fox go up, he shall even break 
 down their stone wall." 
 
 The people of God are also in their own esteem 
 "little ones." They have the temper of a little 
 
234 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 child ; they are poor in spirit ; they think soberly of 
 themselves ; they choose a low place as most befit- 
 ting them. If others decry them, they answer not 
 in great swelling words. They have long used 
 such expressions as these: "Behold I am vile — I 
 am a man of unclean lips — God be merciful to me 
 a sinner — I am not worthy to be called an apostle — 
 I am less than the least of all saints — I am the 
 chief of sinners — wretched man that I am, who 
 shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" 
 
 God's people are generally, in fact, little ones, as 
 compared with many around them. Almost three 
 centuries before any of the Cesars took upon him 
 the yoke of Christ, Paul writes, "they of Cesar's 
 household salute you." Not many wise men after 
 the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are 
 called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of 
 the world to confound the wise ; and God hath cho- 
 sen the weak things of the world to confound the 
 things, which are mighty ; and base things of the 
 world, and things, which are not, to bring to naught 
 things that are. Plebeian blood, an humble birth, 
 poverty and shame are the common lot of nearly 
 all, who love the Saviour. 
 
 And the people of God on earth are "little ones," 
 as contrasted with the angels in heaven, who are 
 mighty and excel in strength. Believers are weak. 
 Like the conies they are a feeble folk ; their strength 
 is in their Rock. The glory of an angel lighted the 
 earth, but the saints on earth have no dazzling 
 brightness, no resplendent effulgence. 
 
 And in all things God's people on earth are but 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 235 
 
 as children in their minority. They think, they 
 understand, they speak, they enjoy as little ones. It 
 shall he so till they put away childish things and 
 cease from flesh and earth. 
 
 Yet feeble, few and little as believers are, they 
 shall he holden up, for God is able to make them 
 stand. Finally they shall be more than conquerors 
 through him that loved them and gave himself for 
 them. God will at last avenge their wrongs, over- 
 throw their enemies, and put all their adversaries to 
 shame. His power is made perfect in their weak- 
 ness. He is their God and strength and portion. 
 
 The same blessed volume which calls them 
 Christ's "little ones," styles them God's "hidden 
 ones." (Ps. lxxxiii.) In what sense are they hid- 
 den ? Not from the knowledge of God surely. The 
 Lord knoweth them that are his. All things are 
 naked and opened unto him. Nor are they hidden 
 from the care of God. It is unbelief which sus- 
 pects such a thing. "Why say est thou, Jacob, 
 and speakest, Israel, my way is hid from the 
 Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my 
 God." Jehovah says, "I know Ephraim, and Is- 
 rael is not hid from me." Every heir of grace may 
 sing, "Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my 
 groaning is not hid from thee." Saints are not 
 hidden from the care of God. Nor are they hidden 
 from the watch of angels. They are a spectacle to 
 angels. Their angels do always behold the face of 
 God in heaven, yea, they come forth and minister to 
 all them, who shall be the heirs of salvation. Nor 
 are God's people hidden in the sense of being covert, 
 
236 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 guileful and cunning. Though they are not osten- 
 tatious, they are not deceitful. Nor do they make 
 a secret of their love to Christ. They do not blush 
 to own him. Nor do they try to hide their iniqui- 
 ties from the eye of God. They have renounced the 
 hidden things of dishonesty, and do not walk in 
 craftiness. Nor do they pass through the world 
 without any mark upon them, by which they might 
 be known. They are the light of the world. 
 A city, set upon a hill, cannot be hid. In 
 none of these senses are God's people "hidden 
 ones." How then are they hidden? They are hid- 
 den in God. Every perfection of the Almighty is 
 a chamber of refuse to the humble. Thus David 
 says : " Thou art my hiding-place ; thou shalt pre- 
 serve me from trouble ; thou shalt compass me 
 about with songs of deliverance." Again, " Thou 
 art my hiding-place and my shield ; I hope in thy 
 word." And Solomon says: "The name of tho 
 Lord is a strong tower ; the righteous runneth into 
 it and is safe." Eternal wisdom, power, justice, 
 love, mercy and faithfulness, in short all divine per- 
 fections are towers of strength, where the chosen of 
 the Lord find shelter. He hides " them in the se- 
 cret of his presence from the pride of man ;" he 
 keeps them "in a pavilion from the strife of 
 tongues." 
 
 They are God's hidden ones also, inasmuch as 
 they have meat to cat, which the world knows not 
 of. They feed upon the hidden manna. The king- 
 dom of heaven in all their hearts is like unto leaven 
 which a woman took, and hid in three measures of 
 21 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 237 
 
 ineal, till the whole was leavened. They are hidden 
 because their true character is not known to the 
 world. Their master was unknown and so are they. 
 As his glory was veiled, so is theirs. The world 
 sees their strictness, their zeal, their humility, their 
 imperfections, but not their glory. 
 
 To the pious every ordinance of God is a hiding- 
 place. Thus says David: "In the time of trouble 
 he shall hide me in his pavilion : in the secret of 
 his tabernacle shall he hide me ; he shall set me 
 upon a rock." None but those, who have felt it, 
 can tell the peace and comfort of a child of God, 
 rejoicing in the ordinances of prayer, praise, preach- 
 ing, and the sacraments of God's house. 
 
 God's people are also hidden ones, as the book of 
 life, where their names are entered, is kept in secret. 
 It is in heaven. It is not exposed to the gaze of the 
 curious and profane. The enrollment is made by 
 God himself. 
 
 They are also in the esteem of many often buried 
 under the slanders and outcries of the wicked. The 
 smoke of calumny often obscures their solid worth. 
 Their best qualities are misnamed and their best 
 acts misjudged. But let them not fear. God will 
 bring forth their righteousness as the light, and 
 their judgment as the noon-day. Their motives 
 and principles are not understood by the world ; but 
 the Lord is their Judge. He will wipe off from 
 their names every foul aspersion. 
 
 The highest excellency of being a hidden one is 
 found in a union with Christ, in whom are hid all 
 the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To the 
 
238 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 Colossians Paul says : ' ' Your life is hid with Christ 
 in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, 
 then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Thus 
 is wondrously fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "A 
 man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and 
 a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a 
 dry place ; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary 
 land." This hiding-place has been sung and cele- 
 brated and resorted to by the saints ever since, the 
 days of righteous Abel, and shall be to all eternity. 
 
 God's people are also hidden by his providence. 
 David prays; "Keep me as the apple of the eye, 
 hide me under the shadow of thy wings." All 
 God's people are hidden by him. In vain does 
 Pharaoh seek the death of the infant Moses, when 
 God protects him. In vain do Jerahmeel and 
 Seraiah and Shelemiah seek to destroy Baruch and 
 Jeremiah, w 7 hen God hides them. His kingdom 
 ruleth over all. 
 
 Strange to tell, though God's people are un- 
 known, yet they are well known, and, in due time, 
 their characters shall be fully revealed. "The good 
 works of some are manifest beforehand ; and they 
 that are otherwise cannot be hid." The day will 
 declare it. Blessed be God ! He knows well the 
 difference between chaff and wheat. He will mani- 
 fest his hidden ones. Now but few discern the dif- 
 ference between the righteous and the wicked ; but 
 by and by the most dull shall perceive it. The day 
 is not distant when shouts and alleluiahs from the 
 righteous shall call forth groans, curses and screams 
 from their enemies. The ungodly will soon be say- 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 239 
 
 ing to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on ns and 
 hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the 
 throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." But 
 such a cry is desperate, and can bring no relief. 
 For there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, 
 where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 
 The hail shall sweep away their refuges of lies, and 
 the waters shall overflow their hiding-places. But 
 not so the righteous. They are safe, come what 
 will. God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, hath blessed them with all spiritual blessings 
 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. They are se- 
 cured against all perils. They are sure of all mer- 
 cies. Nothing shall ruin, nothing shall damage 
 them. The everlasting God is their exceeding great 
 reward and their unfailing portion. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. Thanksgiving is a most reasonable duty. On 
 the part of real Christians nothing could be more 
 obligatory. If the half they believe and hope for 
 shall ever be realized, they have cause for unceasing 
 songs. But when we remember that God will do 
 for them exceeding abundantly above all they can 
 ask or think, the motives to thanksgiving acquire 
 unparallelled strength. Besides, all these blessings 
 are secured to us, in Christ Jesus. They are the 
 price of his incarnation, the fruit of his agony, the 
 purchase of his tears and blood. As Christ, and 
 nothing else, is the end of the law for righte- 
 ousness to every one that believeth; as Christ 
 
240 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 and nothing else, can save a single soul of man; 
 so it is right that Christ who came, and his Father, 
 who sent him, and the Spirit, who anointed him, 
 should have all the honor and glory of man's salva- 
 tion. "Blessed he the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
 spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus ;" and let every 
 creature say, Amen. This doxology was written 
 by Paul, a prisoner. No chains, nor bars, nor 
 stripes could repress his adoring praises. No griefs, 
 nor calamities should repress ours. Let us crown 
 our God and Saviour in each of our songs. 
 
 2. Christians can well afford to let the wicked 
 triumph now. Their laughter is but the crackling 
 of thorns under a pot. It will take an infinite mind 
 to gauge the folly of living a life of sin. Many 
 think there is a wisdom quite above that of fearing 
 God ; but this delusion never passes the portals of 
 eternity, and seldom passes beyond the limits of tem- 
 poral prosperity. The poorest man in the world is 
 he, who is not rich towards God. None have so 
 much cause to be afraid of hell as those, who never 
 think of it, nor fear its dreadful sufferings. "Hell 
 is the truth seen too late." JIow dreadful it must 
 be to live in thoughtlessness and for the first time 
 awake to just apprehensions of our character and 
 destiny, when the clay of grace is gone forever. 
 Nothing surprised men more than the blessings, 
 which our Lord pronounced on the righteous wheiv 
 on earth, unless it was the w T oes he denounced 
 against some, who are apt to bless themselves in 
 their iniquity and compass themselves about with 
 21* 
 
THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 241 
 
 pride as with a chain. The former were such as 
 these : "Blessed are the poor in spirit — Blessed are 
 ye that weep now — Blessed are ye when men shall 
 hate you, and when they shall separate you from 
 their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out 
 your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake — 
 Blessed are the meek," &c. The woes are such as 
 these: " Wo unto you that are rich! for ye have 
 received your consolation — Wo unto you that are 
 full ! for ye shall hunger — Wo unto you that laugh 
 now ! for ye shall mourn and weep. Wo unto you 
 when all men shall speak well of you ! for so did 
 their fathers to the false prophets." It will he found 
 in the end that the very beginning of wisdom is the 
 fear of the Lord. 
 
 3. How reasonable it is to invite and persuade 
 all men to be truly and earnestly pious. Make the 
 service of God your business, and it will surely be 
 your delight. The door of mercy is now open, 
 therefore rise and enter. In an hour it may be 
 shut, therefore fear and tremble. speed your 
 flight to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the 
 sin of the world. If you are ever to be partakers 
 of all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, it must 
 be in Christ. Can you doubt the wisdom of giving 
 your heart to Christ and his service ? God's word 
 and providence and man's experience all point in the 
 same direction. One of the best ways of ascer- 
 taining the nature of things is to ask dying sinners. 
 They commonly speak clearly and uniformly. Not 
 one of them has ever pronounced gold, or earthly 
 honor, or carnal pleasure, of real value to a dying 
 
242 THE PRIVILEGES OF BELIEVERS. 
 
 man. Not one one of them has ever pronounced a 
 life of sin wise, or a death in sin desirable. Nor 
 do dying sinners ever testify to the value of their 
 strong delusions, even when they hug them fast. 
 The utmost error can do in that awful hour is to 
 make those embracing it sullen, or irritable. It 
 never kindles up the countenance with an unearthly 
 smile. It never gives songs hi the night. * * The 
 doctrine of the cross is the only religion for a dying 
 sinner." Nothing else bears the soul above the 
 world. Nothing else makes it strong in God. 
 Nothing else gives the loud shout of victory to the 
 poor soul of a dying man. 
 
GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS AND NATURE. 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 GOOD WORKS — THEIR BASIS AND THEIR NATURE. 
 
 Jesus Christ is not the minister of sin. "He 
 gave himself for 113 that he might redeem us from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar peo- 
 ple, zealous of good works." (Tit.ii: 1, 4.) The 
 true relation between God's mercy and man's holi- 
 ness is a weighty matter. He, who holds the true 
 doctrine respecting grace and works, has heavenly 
 wisdom. 
 
 In explanation of this matter the Scriptures 
 employ a great variety of figures. Among these 
 none is more expressive than that drawn from archi- 
 tecture. The whole church of God is presented as 
 a house of vast dimensions, and of great strength, 
 beauty and durability, having the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for the corner-stone, for a foundation. To his peo- 
 ple he is all and in all. He is the ground of their faith 
 and hope. On him they rest all their weight. He 
 is the Rock of ages. In. him centre all their desires. 
 From him are all their expectations. From him 
 spring all their good motives. In the business of 
 salvation he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first 
 and the last, the beginning and the end. He is the 
 only foundation. What he is to them he is to the 
 
244 GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS 
 
 exclusion of all others. lie admits no rivals in our 
 confidence and affections. He is Lord of all. Other 
 foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which 
 is Jesus Christ. There is none other name given 
 under heaven among men, whereby we must be 
 saved. He is the one and only Mediator between 
 God and men. His blood alone, his righteousness 
 alone, his priestly intercession alone are sufficient 
 for us. We need no other Saviour. There is no 
 other. No other can do us any good. All attempts 
 to find another are efforts to defraud the Son of God 
 of the glory, which is his duo, and will be so re- 
 garded by him. He that climbeth up some other 
 way, the same is a thief and a robber. 
 
 Christ is not only the foundation of all good hopes 
 and good results, but he is also the basis of all good 
 works. From him is our fruit found. His Spirit 
 gives us life and energy. His cross opens the way 
 for the acceptance of such good works as fallen but 
 regenerate men can perform. His love is the great 
 ruling motive and stimulus to a holy life. With- 
 out him we can do nothing. All works, which do 
 not spring from him, are dead works and have 
 neither vitality, nor acceptance. He, who would 
 be saved, must be willing to have Christ for his 
 wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and 
 redemption. 
 
 Unless our religion produces fruits of holiness, it 
 cannot be genuine. Practice is the very life of 
 piety. He, who feels and thinks correctly, will act 
 correctly. This is sound and true. 
 
 In God's word these things are made very plain : 
 
AND THEIR NATURE. 245 
 
 I. Iii order that a work may be a good work, it 
 is necessary that it be something required of us by 
 God. No alleged good intention, no amount of 
 zeal under pretence of religion can ever elevate any 
 human device to the dignity of a good work. He 
 who makes his people perfect in every good work 
 does it by enabling them to do his will. To prove 
 what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect 
 will of God is our great business. Uncommanded 
 observances in religion are at the best supersti- 
 tion. "Who hath required this at your hands?" 
 is the stern and solemn rebuke administered by God 
 to all, who invent, or practise any thing invented by 
 man, to honor God. Of such Christ says, "la 
 vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the 
 commandments of men." (Matt, xv : 9.) By an 
 ancient prophet God condemns those "whose fear 
 towards him is taught by the precepts of men." 
 (Isa. xxix: 13.) He who forsakes God's revealed 
 will as the rule of holy living, will find no natural 
 resting place, until he shall arrive at the height of 
 wickedness, reached by those who thought that they 
 did God service by killing his saints. Their first 
 and grand error was in determining for themselves, 
 independent of God's word, how they would serve 
 him. God gave us his law, not that we should 
 judge it, revise it, or amend it, but that we should 
 obey it. This law determines the whole matter, 
 manner, measure and motive of duty. It tells us 
 what to do, how and why, and how much to do. 
 The law of the Lord is perfect. It admits of no 
 improvements. God is the sole Lord of conscience, 
 
246 GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS 
 
 the only lawgiver in religion. Good works, there- 
 fore for the matter of them must be enjoined by 
 God. In doing them our object must be the ad- 
 vancement of the glory of God, and our motive 
 must be love to God. The whole must be done in 
 the strength of Christ. He is our life. His grace 
 is sufficient for us. By him we live, and conquer, 
 and reign. 
 
 II. It is possible for a good man so to live and act 
 that notwithstanding the imperfections of his ser- 
 vices, they shall be accepted of God. In other 
 words he may perform good works, acceptable to 
 God through Jesus Christ. Thus Paul teaches that 
 a man may build upon this foundation ' gold, silver 
 and precious stones,' by which beyond a question he 
 means good works which shall be pleasing to God. 
 It is true, sin is mixed with all we do. Our very 
 best actions have in their imperfection a cause of 
 humiliation, and so ground of condemnation. But 
 God, who graciously accepts the persons of be- 
 lievers, does graciously accept their sincere and hon- 
 est attempts to serve and please him. This acceptance 
 is abundantly declared in Scriptures. Thus the 
 Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. 
 There is indeed in these works no merit by which 
 a man may redeem his soul or purchase heaven. 
 They themselves gain admission only through the 
 merit of Christ. So teach the Scriptures, "Ye 
 also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, 
 an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, 
 acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. " (1 Peter, ii : 
 5.) So that it is true of all those, who have fled 
 
AND THEIR NATURE. 247 
 
 for refuge to Christ, that, " if there be first a will- 
 ing mind, it is accepted according to that a man 
 hath, and not according to that he hath not. For 
 God is not unrighteous to forget your work and 
 labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his 
 name." The merits of Jesus Christ cover such 
 works of God's people with a delightful perfume, 
 and their prayers and alms come up in remembrance 
 before God. So that Christ is altogether and every 
 way our Saviour. He saves our souls from wrath 
 and hell and sin. He saves our works from con- 
 demnation and eternal oblivion, which they richly 
 deserve, and makes them to be to us forever as gold, 
 and silver, and precious stones, and thus we have 
 treasure in heaven. 
 
 III. A truly good man, who really believes in 
 Christ, may so act that his works will be rejected 
 by God. They may be 'hay, wood- and stubble.' 
 This is a very solemn subject, and well deserves the 
 close attention of every one. A man, who in the 
 main trusts in the blood of Christ for salvation, 
 may so far lose sight of the gospel plan of salvation 
 as to go back to the law, and seek to commend 
 himself to God more or less by his works. Having 
 begun in the spirit, he may seek to be perfected by 
 the flesh. Having fled from the law at the first, he 
 may venture back hoping that now by the deeds of 
 it, he may perpetuate the divine favor towards him. 
 This was the great error of the Galatians, which 
 Paul so strongly reproved, and which brought on 
 them so many troubles. 
 
 Preaching the gospel is itself a good work. If 
 
248 GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS 
 
 rightly done, it shall meet a great reward. Even if 
 done with wrong motives, the truth preached may 
 save the souls of the hearers, but to the preacher 
 all will be hay, wood and stubble at last. Paul 
 tells us of some, who preached Christ of envy and 
 strife, and some also of good will. The one 
 preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, sup- 
 posing to add affliction to his bonds. Yet he re- 
 joiced that Christ was preached every way, whether 
 in pretence, or in truth. So a man may now preach 
 the truth, not for the love he bears to it or to Christ, 
 but for applause, for profit, or for some base end. 
 Such service may get its reward here, but it will 
 not gain any hereafter. Or a converte 1 man may be 
 led far astray into fanaticism, or superstition, and 
 may, with a blind and furious zeal, do things com- 
 manded, or, under pretence of serving God, may 
 do things, which God has no where commanded, 
 and so he may waste much of his life. The inge- 
 nuity and cunning of man work not the righteous- 
 ness of God, and never will be owned by him as of 
 any, the least value. It has been already shown 
 how utterly valueless are all superstitious or nncom- 
 manded observances. That a good man may go 
 very far astray the Scriptures clearly teach; and 
 observation and experience abundantly confirm. A 
 man's life may in this way be miserably wasted. 
 His work may be burned up and he sutler loss, but 
 he himself saved. The Scripture does not say that 
 a truly renewed man may so act that all his works 
 shall at last be rejected. But it does clearly assert 
 
 that he may adopt such erroneous views, be swayed 
 9.9 
 
AND THEIR NATURE. 249 
 
 by such unworthy motives, and propose to himself 
 such selfish ends as wholly to bring on an act, a 
 series of acts, a great part of his acts utter rejection 
 by God. They were not performed in the name or 
 strength of Christ. God's glory was not their end. 
 The love of Christ was not the constraining influ- 
 ence, that prompted them. Self-sufficiency, form- 
 ality, habit, or something, that implies no love or 
 fear towards God, determined all. Whereas Christ's 
 great question at last will be, What did ye unto 
 me ? What did ye out of regard to my authority, 
 my law, my example and my love ? 
 
 IV. The scrutiny, which all the actions of men 
 will undergo in the last clay will be thorough and 
 searching. It will be the scrutiny of God. Om- 
 niscience cannot be deceived. The divine majesty 
 will not be mocked. The holiness of God is un- 
 spotted. Our God is a consuming fire. All this 
 is clearly asserted in God's word. * ' Every man's 
 work shall be made manifest: for the day shall 
 declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and 
 the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it 
 is." It will not be by practising any deception on 
 himself or any of his creatures that God will dis- 
 criminate between the righteous and the wicked, 
 the works of the spirit and the works of the flesh. 
 God's people will not be saved, nor their works 
 accepted by connivance at sin, and folly, madness 
 and superstition. He is of purer eyes than to be- 
 hold iniquity. The righteous Lord loveth righteous- 
 ness. He is not and never will be, like a partial 
 parent, blind to the faults of his own people. It is 
 
250 GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS 
 
 not by shutting his eyes to their offences, but by 
 finding in Christ a full satisfaction, which they also 
 accept by faith, that he absolves them from g"iilt, 
 and takes them into his favor. Nor will he regard 
 as done unto him any thing that was not intended 
 for his glory. The grace of the gospel does in no 
 sense consist in trampling on law, in disparaging 
 holiness, in denying iniquity and justice. God has 
 already published in his word what will be glori- 
 ously manifest in the last day, that, while he freely 
 pardons the sinner, he condemns sin ; that while he 
 accepts graciously, he makes it manifest that it is a 
 gracious acceptance he grants to believers. As 
 gold, silver, and precious stones will stand fire, and 
 their true nature be manifest by being brought 
 under its action, so will the good works of God's 
 people be by the fires of the last day. And as hay, 
 wood and stubble are always consumed by a vehe- 
 ment flame, so will the essentially deficient works 
 of the righteous perish in the fires of the last day, 
 together with all the works of unregenerate men, 
 for "they that are in the flesh cannot please God." 
 " Their sacrifice is an abomination unto the Lord, 
 because it is offered with a wicked mind." 
 
 If these things are so, then 
 
 1. Let every man solemnly consider his ways and 
 inquire whether his present course of life is oris not 
 really pleasing to God. You are a professor of re- 
 ligion. You ought to be. It is right publicly to 
 own allegiance to God. How is your practice? 
 Does it comport with all that a profession implies ? 
 Does it in its uniform course and bearing agree with 
 
AND THEIR NATURE. 251 
 
 your clear and settled principles ? Or do you live 
 without any principles on some great and weighty 
 matters ? Do you know your Lord's will ? God 
 has declared that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." 
 This one declaration covers these two cases. It 
 clearly condemns those who willingly live in igno- 
 rance of their duty, and those, who, knowing what 
 is right, are not true to their principles. Do you 
 belong to either class ? Are you fickle, or are you 
 steadfast? Are you a pillar, or are you a reed 
 shaken with the wind ? ' ' They that trust in the Lord 
 shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, 
 but abideth forever." You visit the house of God 
 and shew some zeal in his worship. Why do you do 
 it ? Is it to glorify God, and seek your soul's edifi- 
 cation ? or is it to maintain the proprieties of life and 
 secure the respect of mortals ? Is your heart in it ? 
 Are the courts of the Lord amiable in your eyes ? 
 "When you are in your seat, where are your thoughts ? 
 Is your service rendered unto the Lord? 
 
 You give of your substance. Very well. If 
 piety takes hold of a churl it will make him liberal. 
 It will convert a miser into a philanthropist. But 
 then every man is not liberal from love to God. 
 Some are so from a natural generosity of heart, 
 some because they have been trained to it, some 
 because they wish to be well thought of by men, 
 and some because they expect to buy heaven with 
 their sordid pelf, despite their more sordid motives. 
 Why are you liberal ? Possibly you may have no 
 higher motive than to get rid of importunity. Do 
 you set the Lord always before you ? When you 
 
252 GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS 
 
 have clone a service to religion, do you dwell upon 
 it with self-righteous complacency ? or do you like 
 Neheiniah say, "Remember me, my God, for 
 good for this also and spare me according to the 
 greatness of thy mercy." To he lightly esteemed 
 of men for seeming to be a Christian, and to be re- 
 jected of God for not being one, is the righteous 
 doom of every self-deceiver. But should we even 
 be true Christians, yet what loss we may suffer by 
 neglecting a proper course of vigilance over our 
 ways and hearts. How mournful the thought that 
 some may live long and yet lay up but little treasure in 
 heaven. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you 
 like men, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of 
 his might. Keep your hearts with all diligence, for 
 out of them are the issues of life. It is possible to 
 err in engaging too much in outward observances, 
 but no man ever watched his own heart too closely. 
 Let your judgments and investigations of yourself 
 be impartial, thorough and scriptural, remembering 
 that they must all be reviewed and, if false, reversed 
 in the last day. Therefore inquire often and ear- 
 nestly whether you have any infallible signs of 
 grace, especially whether self-love has given place 
 to the love of God and man, whether self-justifica- 
 tion has yielded to self-condemnation, self-admira- 
 tion to self- abhorrence, self-seeking to self-denying, 
 whether your heart really approves of and loves the 
 whole law of God, whether you really hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness, whether you earnestly de- 
 sire to please God, whether your heart is habitually 
 
 towards the saints, the excellent of the earth, whether 
 
 22* 
 
AND THEIR NATURE. 253 
 
 God's service and honor hold the supremacy in your 
 affections and whether you hate vain thoughts. Es- 
 pecially what are your thoughts of Christ ? Do you 
 rejoice in his honor ? Are you afflicted when he is 
 reproached ? Do you chiefly care for his kingdom ? 
 Is he precious to you ? Do you love him above all 
 others ? Can you rejoice in tribulation for his sake ? 
 Is his will your law ? Is he the end of the law for 
 righteousness to you ? 
 
 2. The great end of our existence here is to pre- 
 pare for another and a better world. If men have 
 any use of gold, silver and precious stones here, 
 they will have much more need of imperishable 
 riches hereafter. If the gold that perisheth is of 
 any use, the enduring substance of the next world 
 will be of far more use. The gains of earth, though 
 honestly obtained, are miserable trash, compared 
 with the true riche3 of heaven. A residence on 
 earth, united with the curse brought on us by the 
 fall, has subjected us to employments, which to say 
 the least are commonly not very elevated. But our 
 voluntary debasement, our foolish love of trifles, and 
 our grovelling conceptions make us still more low 
 in most of our aims. God is not in all our thoughts. 
 We forget our everlasting home. We are so busy 
 in laying up treasure here that we fail to lay up 
 treasure in heaven. Yet this is our great business, 
 the very end for which every wise man lives. One 
 of the most difficult of all duties, is to keep eternity 
 in full view. What will all our pains and trials for 
 Christ's sake be to us, when we shall reach the ever- 
 lasting future ? Because "our life is a passage to 
 
254 GOOD WORKS, THEIR BASIS 
 
 eternity, it ought to be a meditation on eternity, and 
 a preparation for eternity." How poor will those 
 men be who toil and save and hoard, and go to eter- 
 nity without any righteousness to cover them, or 
 any shelter to protect them. We are in the habit of 
 regarding beggars on earth, as miserable, yet their 
 wants may be supplied. Beggars on earth may be- 
 come princes. But go poor to eternity, and your pov- 
 erty will not only come like an armed man, but it 
 will be perpetual. On the other hand, the righteous, 
 who are wise, and spend their lives and their all in 
 seeking to glorify God, shall have an everlasting 
 home, with God for their Father, and a kingdom 
 glorious beyond all conception. 
 
 3. All, who shall at last be saved, will not be 
 alike glorious. The joys and bliss of Paradise are 
 the rewards of grace and not of debt; yet they will 
 bear a relation to the service rendered to Christ on 
 earth. He, that soweth sparingly, shall reap also 
 sparingly. Behold we count them happy, who en- 
 dured cruel mockings, scourgings and deaths. There 
 is no good man who does not believe the faithful 
 martyr's crown very glorious. None of us may 
 ever wear one so effulgent. But while the righteous 
 shall shine as the firmament, they that turn many 
 to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and 
 ever, and as one star dift'ereth from another star in 
 glory, so also shall it be in the resurrection. When 
 this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this 
 mortal put on immortality, and death be swal- 
 lowed up in victory, and the people of God be 
 glorified together with Christ, the least of them 
 
AND THEIR NATURE. 255 
 
 shall bo wondrously glorious, but some will be as 
 stars of the first magnitude. 
 
 4. Well do we speak of the true system of reli- 
 gion as the Christian religion. It is Christian be- 
 cause Christ is the sum and substance, the author 
 and finisher of it. He is the way, the truth and 
 the life. "If we would stand, Christ must be our 
 foundation, if we would be safe, Christ must be our 
 sanctuary," if we live usefully, it must be by his 
 grace, if we die happily it must be through the 
 power of his resurrection. His doctrines are pure 
 truth, his example is without spot, his death was a 
 complete atonement, his promises are stable as the 
 pillars of heaven. None can resist his power, over- 
 reach his wisdom, or defeat his counsels. It is easy 
 to give too prominent a place to man. But it is 
 not possible to make too much of Christ. "To be 
 in him is heaven below ; to be with him and to be 
 like him, is heaven above." . Oh that all would be 
 his people ! Oh that all would take him for their 
 Saviour ! 
 
250 BITES VAIN COMPARED 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 RITES VAIN COMPARED WITH HEARTY PIETY TOWARDS 
 GOD AND GENUINE KINDNESS TOWARDS MEN. 
 
 It is a fond conceit of many that sin, and the 
 evils flowing from it, can be cured by the careful 
 observance of a ritual. The corrupt heart is averse 
 to real holiness. It loves to heal slightly its own 
 hurts. Some of the worst men of every generation 
 are punctilious in their attention to ceremonies. 
 They heed not the words of God, "I desired mercy 
 and not sacrifice." (llos. vi: 6.) In Scripture 
 great stress is laid on this truth. Our Lord twice 
 quotes these words; once to justify himself in hold- 
 ing familiar intercourse with publicans and sinners ; 
 and once to justify his disciples in plucking the ears 
 of corn on the Sabbath day. (Matt, ix: 13; xii: 
 7.) Tims he clearly teaches that in a conflict be- 
 tween the letter of the ceremonial law and the 
 spirit of the moral law, the former must yield. 
 God prefers mercy, kindness, goodness, charity out 
 of a pure heart to any rites, or forms of religion, 
 even when prescribed by himself. Conformity to 
 both tables of the moral law is of the essence of 
 true religion. He who loves the one will not hate 
 the other. Both demand the heart. Both claim 
 the will and affections. From no precept of either 
 
WITH HEARTY PIETY, ETC. 257 
 
 can we be dispensed. But in every age God has 
 instituted methods of public worship. These are 
 in themselves right. Yet in God's esteem our 
 attendance upon them is as nothing compared with 
 love and obedience to God and genuine kindness to 
 man, visiting the sick, clothing the naked, feeding 
 the hungry, comforting the distressed, counselling 
 the perplexed. If we cannot be in the house of God 
 without slighting the charities of life we must stay 
 at home. He, who under pretence of piety leaves 
 his sick wife or child to suiter alone, may join in 
 public worship even with a great show of zeal, but 
 he is not in the line of his duty. 
 
 The ceremonial of religion was never designed to 
 make war on the moral duties which we owe to 
 God or man, and all vie s of religion which elevate 
 the ritual above the practical, the formal above the 
 substantial, are erroneous. We may never sell 
 morality to buy religion. Every ordinance of God 
 was made for the good of man ; and a right inter- 
 pretation of Scripture can never justify either im- 
 piety towards God or injustice, cruelty or unkindness 
 to man. That we may see how true this is, let us 
 remember, 
 
 I. God is entirely beyond the reach of any per- 
 sonal benefaction from us. Even the Son of man, 
 who once became poor, is no longer within the 
 reach of human charity. Our goodness therefore 
 cannot extend to any person of the Godhead. Man 
 cannot be profitable to his Maker. But God has 
 constituted the poor, the dependent and the afflicted 
 of our race, his heirs and representatives. To them 
 
258 RITES VAIN COMPARED 
 
 we may give whatever our love to him prompts. 
 Thus our love to God has full though indirect scope ; 
 and opportunity of proving it is furnished to every 
 man. So that if a man see his brother have need, 
 and shut up his bowels of compassion from him, 
 the love of God dwells not in him. For if we love 
 not our brother whom we have seen, we cannot 
 love God whom we have not seen. (1 Johniii: 
 17; iv: 20.) 
 
 II. Every day God sets us an example of good- 
 ness and mercy, which he requires us to imitate. 
 He opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every 
 living thing. He sends rain from heaven, and 
 fruitful seasons, filling men's hearts with food and 
 gladness. He makes his sun to shine on the just and 
 on the unjust. He is good to the unkind and to 
 the unthankful. He requires us to be imitators of 
 him. (Eph. v: 1.) If we are not like God, we 
 cannot be saved ; and if we do not in our measure 
 act like God, we are none of his. (Matt, v: 44, 45.) 
 
 III. Even under the Mosaic dispensation, God 
 often declared a decided preference for a life of 
 hearty piety, usefulness, self-denial and justice, 
 over any devotion to prescribed forms of worship. 
 * 'To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the 
 Lord than sacrifice." (Pr. xxi:3.) The 50th Psalm 
 declares very fully the principles on which the judg- 
 ment of the last day will proceed. It announces 
 that no man will be condemned for the want of 
 attention to sacrifices and burnt offerings, and ex- 
 presses strong preference for thanksgiving, the pay- 
 ment of vows, prayer, obedience to the Word of 
 
WITH nEARTY PIETY, ETC. 259 
 
 God, honesty, purity, truth, charity and brotherly 
 kindness. (Ps. 1: 8-20.) 
 
 The prophet Isaiah lived in a time of general 
 defection from God. The state of religion was sad, 
 and the state of the nation threatening. All this 
 time great devotion to sacrifices and burnt offerings, 
 to new moons and the calling of assemblies and 
 appointed feasts was manifest, but powerless. The 
 remedy God prescribes is in these words : "Wash 
 ye, make you clean; put away the evil of your 
 doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; 
 learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the op- 
 pressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." 
 (Isa. i: 16, 17.) In his later writings the same 
 prophet shows how iniquities had separated the peo- 
 ple from God and their sins hid his face from them. 
 Blood-guiltiness, injustice, lies, perverseness, reli- 
 ance on vanity, violence and love of strife were the 
 real causes of the divine judgments. (Isa. lviii: 2-8.) 
 
 By the weeping prophet the Almighty hewed the 
 same guilty people. Theft, lying, murder, unclean- 
 ness, perjury, robbery, no less than idolatry reduced 
 their state so low that God actually forbade the pro- 
 phet to pray for them. (Jer. vii: 8-16.) Indeed 
 in the same chapter God says, "I spake not unto 
 your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that 
 I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concern- 
 ing burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thins: 
 commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I 
 will be your God, and ye shall be my people." 
 (Jer. vii: 22, 23.) 
 
 The prophet Daniel held forth this same strong 
 
260 RITES VAIN COMPARED 
 
 doctrine to the guilty Nebuchadnezzar: "Break off 
 thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by 
 showing mercy to the poor ; if it may be a length- 
 ening of thy tranquility." (Dan. iv: 27.) 
 
 Indeed thousands have gone through all the sol- 
 emn forms of religion, and yet have continued 
 enemies to God. However zealous we may be in 
 professions, all is useless if we lack self-denial, ben- 
 evolence, humility and a desire to do good. The 
 worship of God, however decent, will not profit 
 those who lie, and steal, and swear, and are drunken, 
 and practice extortion, usury, backbiting, tale-bear- 
 ing and tyranny. The unmerciful creditor and the 
 fraudulent debtor, who come and stand before God 
 and make either long or short prayers, are an 
 offence to the Almighty. One may pay close atten- 
 tion to all the outward forms of religion without 
 any genuine humility, or any spirit of true obedi- 
 ence, without ever heartily confessing or honestly 
 forsaking a single sin. 
 
 The great matter in religion is to get the heart 
 right. Till that is effected, nothing is right. A 
 beautiful story is told by the Rabbins: "There 
 came to sacrifice before the Lord a poor, penitent 
 Israelite. He had just risen from a sick bed, where 
 he had lingered for many months, longing and 
 fainting for the courts of the Lord. lie could now 
 scarcely sustain his tottering limbs; but he came 
 'with the people that kept holy day,' to witness the 
 m< ruing sacrifice. He heard those delightful words : 
 'Thou desircst not sacrifice, else would I give it. 
 Thou delightest not iu burnt offering. The sacri- 
 2-3 
 
WITH HEARTY PIETY, ETC. 2G1 
 
 fices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a 
 contrite heart, thou wilt not despise.' They were 
 like a cordial to his sinking spirit. The service 
 was finished. One after another brought his sac- 
 rifice, and was accepted and dismissed; but the 
 penitent had none ! At length he drew near, and 
 prostrated himself before the priest ; * What wilt 
 thou, my son ?' said the venerable man ; * Hast 
 thou an offering?' 'No, my father, the last night 
 a poor widow and her children came to me, and I 
 had nothing to give her but the two young pigeons, 
 which were ready for sacrifice.' 'Bring then, an 
 ephah of line flour.' 'Nay, my father, but this 
 day, my sickness and poverty had left only enough 
 for my own starving children, and I have not even 
 an ephah of flour.' ' Why, then, art thou come to 
 me, my son?' 'I heard them sing — 'the sacrifices 
 of God are a broken spirit.' Will he not accept 
 mine? God be merciful to me, a sinner!' 
 
 "The old priest was melted, and the tears started 
 in his eye, as he lifted the feeble man from the 
 ground. He laid his hands upon his head. 
 'Blessed be thou, my son! Thine offering is ac- 
 cepted. It is better than thousands of rivers of 
 oil. Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, 
 and give thee peace.'" 
 
 IV. In Scripture God often declares his high 
 estimate of the practical and spiritual above the 
 formal and ceremonial. Kindness to the poor and 
 defenceless, the widow and the fatherless, the 
 stranger and the oppressed, is according to Scrip- 
 ture more pleasing to God than all religious rites. 
 
262 RITES VAIN COMPAEED 
 
 Hear the decisions of his word: "As we have 
 opportunity, let U3 do good unto all men, especially 
 unto them who are of the household of faith." 
 (Gal. vi: 10.) "To do good and to communicate, 
 forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well 
 pleased." (Ileb. xiii: 16.) "Pure religion and 
 undented before God, and the Father is this, to visit 
 the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to 
 keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 
 i: 27.) More than once does God reprove the 
 Israelites for requiring widows and poor persons to 
 pledge their goods for money lent them, or for 
 necessaries sold them. If a man would please God, 
 let him not adopt religious cant ; but let him so act 
 that when the ear hears him, it will bless him ; and 
 when the eye sees him, it will give witness to him. 
 Let him deliver the poor that cry, and the father- 
 less, and him that hath none to help him. Let the 
 blessing of him that is ready to perish come upon 
 him ; and let him cause the widow's heart to sing 
 for joy. Let him be eyes to the blind, and feet to 
 the lame, and a father to the poor. (Job xxix : 11- 
 16.) Let him not despise the cause of his man- 
 servant, or of his maid-servant ; let him not eat his 
 morsel alone, nor refuse the fatherless a portion; 
 let him clothe the naked and cover the poor. (Job. 
 xxxi: 13, 16, 19.) 
 
 V. There is a great day coming when all men shall 
 be put upon trial involving their everlasting destiny. 
 Omniscience will preside. Ko escape to the guilty 
 will be possible. Men's real characters will then 
 come forth to the gaze of the universe. On that 
 
WITH HEARTY PIETY, ETC. 263 
 
 awful day, what things will, and what will not be 
 regarded by the -judge as evidence of love to him? 
 He, from whose lips each man shall receive the 
 award of eternal life or eternal death, has said much 
 about the points on which destiny will depend: 
 "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
 dom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me 
 meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink ; I was 
 a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye 
 clothed me : I was sick and ye visited me ; I was 
 in prison and ye came unto me." (Matt, xxv: 34- 
 36.) Nothing is clearer from many Scriptures than 
 that he shall have judgment without mercy, that 
 hath showed no mercy. (James ii : 13 ; 2 Sam. 
 xxii: 26, 27. Matt, v: 7.) 
 
 VI. All this reasoning and decision of Scripture 
 is right and fair. N"o wife, no husband, no parent 
 can be satisfied or ought to be satisfied with com- 
 pliments and civility the most precise and abundant, 
 if the heart is wanting. The most careful attention 
 to solemn rites in religion may leave the heart full 
 of pride, malice, ambition, worldliness, resentment, 
 forgetfulnes3, self-will, self-esteem and self-righte- 
 ousness. Men love show; God claims the heart. 
 Cain is quite willing to do anything demanded in 
 the way of mere ceremony, provided he is not called 
 upon to humble himself as a sinner before God. 
 The scribes and pharisces paid tithes of mint, anise 
 and cummin, but could not be brought to give due 
 attention to the weightier matters of the law, judg- 
 ment, mercy, faith and the love of God. (Matt. 
 
264 RITES VAIN COMPARED 
 
 xxiii: 23; xxii: 37-40.) One of the most diffi- 
 cult tasks undertaken by apostles themselves was to 
 teach the churches that neither circumcision nor 
 uncircumcision avaiieth anything, but a new crea- 
 ture and faith which worketh by love. Gal. v : 6 ; 
 vi: 15.) 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. Though men shall be judged by their works, 
 yet they shall not be justified for their works. 
 Grace and mercy alone save sinners. We do noth- 
 ing to merit God's compassion, and yet every man 
 shall be judged by his works. If a man shall not 
 by his deeds have proved his faith and his love, the 
 Lord will judge that he had neither of those graces. 
 
 2. ¥e should carefully guard against sordidly 
 baro-amine; with the Almighty for salvation. Love 
 
 CD CD O v 
 
 is the spring of all works acceptable to God. "Love 
 is the fulfilling of the law." "Though I give all 
 my goods to feed the poor and have not charity, it 
 profiteth me nothing." 
 
 3. When the Scriptures highly commend works 
 of mercy and kindness to the unfortunate and 
 afflicted as forming a chief part of the evidence in 
 one's favor at the last day; they commend not a 
 few isolated acts, performed in peculiar circum- 
 stances, when refusal would have covered one with 
 shame. A churl may have permitted a traveller to 
 lodge under his roof, but a churl was never "given 
 to hospitality." No doubt Judas gave alms, but he 
 cared not for the poor. The tenor of the life, not 
 
 23* 
 
WITH HEARTY PIETY, ETC. 265 
 
 occasional departures from our old habits, must 
 determine the character. Peter once greatly sinned, 
 but it was not his habit to deny his Master. None 
 more fearlessly professed his name at the risk of 
 life itself. 
 
 4. We may now see why some professors of 
 religion have so little comfort in their heavenly 
 course. They do but little good, and they get but 
 little good. They sow sparingly and they reap 
 sparingly. If one would be a bright and shining 
 light, he must lay himself out to serve God and his 
 generation. Of all Christians Paul says: '"None 
 of us liveth to himself." Would you have good 
 evidence of acceptance with God ? Study and pray 
 and labor to please him, and to be profitable to your 
 neighbor. 
 
 5. Beware of spoiling all your good works by 
 indulging vain glory and the spirit of ostentation. 
 Remember how sorely good Hezekiah suffered for 
 displaying the treasures of his kingdom. If possi- 
 ble, let not your left hand know what your right 
 hand doeth. One reason for this rule is that the 
 feelings of the beneficiary may be spared. 
 
 6. Proper observation and reflection will probably 
 satisfy any one that ordinarily it is best for every 
 man to distribute his own charity during his natural 
 life. Testamentary bequests are often of doubtful 
 character. In this land they seldom effect the ob- 
 ject of the testator ; or if they do, it is often at a 
 great expense to the feelings of those appointed 
 almoners. Greedy relatives commonly seize upon 
 all they can get. Nor does it look well for one to 
 
266 RITE3 VAIN COMPARED 
 
 hold on to his possessions as long as he lives, and 
 then hinder his poor kindred from enjoying them 
 by giving them to something perhaps designed to 
 perpetuate his memory. Deny thyself, not thy poor 
 heirs at law, is the Scripture rule for entering into 
 life. 
 
 7. What a happy world this would be if true 
 religion, as described in the Bible, universally pre- 
 vailed. If every man met in every other man a 
 brother and a friend, if the holy law of honor, 
 truth, justice and mercy were in full force, if prayers 
 and alms came up for a memorial before God from 
 all the inhabitants of earth, the joyful proclamation 
 might be made: "The tabernacle of God is with 
 men." No infidelity, no atheism, no form of error 
 could long hold out against such holiness. The 
 church would be clear as the sun, fair as the moon, 
 and terrible as an army with banners. God would 
 soon subdue her enemies under her. Tears and 
 wailings of the children of sorrow would cease to 
 cry for vengeance on their unfeeling fellows. The 
 work of God would go on rapidly until the king- 
 doms of the world should become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord and his Christ. From widows and 
 orphans would be heard the voice of thanksgiv- 
 ing and melody. Those who are now bound in 
 affliction and iron would come forth rejoicing. The 
 dying mother would no longer speak of leaving her 
 babe to the cold charities of the world. There would 
 be bread enough and to spare; and the reproach 
 of ages against religion would be gone. An outcry 
 against godliness would then be but impotent malice, 
 
WITn HEARTY TIETY, ETC. 2G7 
 
 the barking of dogs against the lights of heaven, 
 the foaming of waves against eternal rocks. 
 
 8. This discussion forces upon us the conclusion 
 that considering the amount of religious profession, 
 there is but little genuine piety in the world. Form, 
 fashion, feeling will save no man. There must be 
 religious principle. There must be holy living. 
 Godliness and mercy must enter into the vitals of 
 character. True religion is something very different 
 from popular belief. So far as we truly love God and 
 are kind towards man, we are Christians ; but no 
 farther. 
 
 9. Let us search and try our ways, and turn 
 again unto the Lord. Let us confess our faults one 
 to another and pray one for another. Let us break 
 off our sins by righteousness and by shewing mercy 
 to the poor. Let us see not how miserable but how 
 happy we can make every body around us. Let us 
 weep and mourn before God. Let us never rest 
 till we renew our hope in the blood of atonement, 
 in the great Sacrifice of Calvary. 
 
 10. How guilty are sinners ! If God asked them 
 to do some great thing, especially something that 
 would distinguish themselves, how soon would they 
 do it ! But when he says, Repent, believe, obey, 
 accept the grace freely offered, and then as you have 
 received mercy, show mercy to others, they reject 
 the salvation of the gospel. Such perverseness 
 must meet with sore reprehension. 
 
268 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 Human nature, without divine grace, is the same 
 from age to age. Depravity has no new forms. 
 What has been is still. One class of men are a 
 great grief to the pious, particularly to godly minis- 
 ters. They are those, who awaken hopes only to dis- 
 appoint them. At times they are serious, but soon 
 they are as thoughtless as ever. Their convictions 
 are sometimes strong but they are transient. They 
 form good resolutions but they break them. They 
 make vows and forget them. They turn their faces 
 towards Zion, but, like Lot's wife, they look back. 
 This is a practical subject and affects many. Let us 
 look at it in order. 
 
 I. Transient and temporary religious impres- 
 sions are common to many. — In fact lew if any 
 unconverted men are wholly without them. Pha- 
 raoh was often deeply impressed. He even asked 
 God's ministers to pray for him, and made a very 
 proper confession: "I have sinned this time ; the 
 Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked." 
 (Ex. ix : 27.) Yet he waxed worse and worse until 
 he perished in the Red Sea. So of Ahab, who 
 
INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 269 
 
 abounded in daring iniquity. Yet this guilty prince 
 was not without many deep and pungent impressions. 
 When afraid of coming judgments, he assumed the 
 attitude of a penitent, "rent his clothes, and put 
 sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sack- 
 cloth, and went softly." Nor was all this sheer 
 hypocrisy. Ahab was really alarmed. He had a 
 sense of guilt. His humility was real, though it 
 was not evangelical. God himself said, "Seest 
 thou Ahab, how he humbleth himself before me ?" 
 But he soon reverted to his old sins. He hated the 
 true prophets and sinned with the greatest greedi- 
 ness, until at length he ended his days miserably, 
 and the dogs licked up his blood as they had 
 licked up the blood of innocent men, his victims. 
 Learn a lesson from the history of king Saul, 
 of Herod to whom the Baptist preached, of Simon 
 Magus, who asked Peter to pray for him, and of 
 Demas, who once sent salutations to the churches. 
 All of these were the subjects of serious impres- 
 sions ; but none of them had any steadfastness of 
 character. 
 
 Two of the four descriptions of persons mentioned 
 in the parable of the sower illustrate the same truth. 
 
 In our own day, observation painfully' confirms 
 these general views. God sends sorrows on men, or 
 families, or nations; their spirits are somewhat 
 broken ; they think of the past ; a sense of ill- 
 desert takes possession of them ; they open the 
 Bible ; they read ; they go to the house of God ; 
 they are sad ; they send for their religious friends ; 
 they converse with them ; they determine to for- 
 
270 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 sake some sin ; they resolve to pray — perhaps they 
 do pray. But soon all comes to nothing. A few 
 years or months or weeks end all their concern. 
 They are no more affected. They are calm and 
 quiet. Like the hypocrites of whom Job speaks, 
 they do not always call upon God, but reserve prayer 
 for seasons of great distress. They become shy of 
 religious people. They go back to their old habits. 
 Some years since a pastor made this record of one 
 of his people : ' ' He was sick — he was near unto 
 death — and the world was receding from him — and 
 hope was like a dying taper — and sore as was the 
 body's agony, it was not like that pang the soul felt 
 when the prospect of parting was before it, and the 
 remembrance of the sunny clay and starry night, 
 and spring with all its awakened beauties, and the 
 charm of friendship, and the exultant feeling of 
 health, and the comfort of home and all that en- 
 chains to life, all to be left behind, came to his 
 heart. Oh ! it was a confused mingling of pain 
 and regret and dread. All was dark — all was wild. 
 He ' mourned sore like the dove — he chattered like 
 the swallow.' Then he cried unto God and peti- 
 tioned Jesus. And when his strength failed, he 
 moaned a piteous prayer, and said, ' Oh, if I might 
 be spared, if God would but raise me up, I would 
 sin no more, I would never forget his goodness. I 
 would be faithful, and my whole life should be a de- 
 monstration of my thankfulness.' God heard and 
 raised him up, and once more he went forth to the 
 world. But the promise he made to his Maker, he for- 
 got ; and in the oath, wherewith be bound his soul, he 
 
INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 271 
 
 perjured himself, and when one reminded him of that 
 which should have burned upon his memory, he smiled. 
 < My soul, come thou not into his secret, mine honor, 
 be thou not joined to his assembly.' " How often 
 does "ease retract vows made in pain as violent and 
 void." "What godly pastor has more painful solici- 
 tude or greater anguish, than when he sees those, 
 for whose salvation he labors, forgetting their vows 
 and promises made in sickness, or in other distress. 
 They may not smile at the mention of their past 
 sorrows and engagements. But they forget their 
 anguish and break their vows. They are "very 
 gracious when the pangs are upon them ;" but they 
 soon forget God that saved them from their troubles. 
 All over the land many have often felt deeply 
 under the preaching of the gospel. Tears have 
 dropped from their eyes, and they have gone away, 
 and been ashamed that they had wept. They al- 
 most formed, perhaps they expressed the purpose, 
 heartily to serve the Lord. It has seemed to them 
 foolish, dangerous and wicked longer to defer 
 solemn attention to their souls' affairs. To them 
 time has justly appeared short, eternity near, and 
 the s ul of priceless value. To them religion has 
 seemed to be a good thing — the one thing needful. 
 Their affections have been moved. Unusual sol- 
 emnity has come over them. But for fear or shame 
 they would have asked, "What must we do to be 
 saved ?" The stillness, the close attention to preach- 
 ing, and occasionally the silent tear show what is 
 going on. To many the word of God proves a dis- 
 cerner of the thoughts and intents of their hearts. 
 
272 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 Some are cut to the heart, and feel that they must 
 do one of three things, either give up their sins and 
 submit to God, or cease to frequent the house of 
 God, or find out some new method of controlling 
 their feelings. After almost every revival of reli- 
 gion, we find members tracing their first impressions 
 back to times when the ways of Zion languished, 
 but when the gospel was still faithfully preached. 
 The course of many is that of mad men. God 
 loudly calls ; they stubbornly refuse. Sinner, sin- 
 ner, is it not so ? 
 
 What shall be the result? "Will you awake out 
 of sleep, and arise from the dead, that Christ may 
 give you life? 
 
 II. All impressions and excitements of mind 
 
 ON RELIGIOUS MATTERS, WHICH ARE THUS SHORT- 
 LIVED, ARE WITHOUT ANY SAVING EFFICACY. To all 
 
 such inconstant souls God says, " What shall I do 
 unto you?" (q. d.) I cannot approve you — lean- 
 not count you as my friends — yea, you deserve my 
 frown and red — you mock me and trifle with me — 
 what punishment is too great for such? " Ye have 
 wearied me." " I am pressed under you." To all 
 such God says: "Be not deceive 1, for God is not 
 mocked," that is, God will not suffer himself to be 
 trifled with. Speaking of such Peter says: "If 
 after they have escaped the pollutions of the world 
 through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and' 
 overcome, the latter end is worse with them than at 
 the beginning, for it had been better for them not to 
 24 ^ 
 
INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 273 
 
 have known the way of righteousness, than after they 
 have known it to turn from the holy commandment de- 
 livered unto them. But it is happened unto them, 
 according to the true proverb, The dog is turned 
 to his vomit again, and the sow that was washed, to 
 her wallowing in the mire. (2 Pet. ii : 20-22.) 
 In the state of such persons there is something ex- 
 ceedingly alarming and dreadful. Their latter end 
 is worse than their beginning. And yet their be- 
 ginning was under the curse and pollution of origi- 
 nal sin. They were " by nature the children of 
 wrath even as others." But their latter end is still 
 worse. All serious impressions, all convictions of 
 sin, all resolutions of amendment, all sound reli- 
 gious instructions — not ending in a scriptural con- 
 version to God, sink the soul under heavier guilt 
 and into deeper ruin. They, and only they, " that 
 endure to the end shall be saved." 
 
 ," The fearful soul, that tires and faints, 
 And walks the waj T s of God no more, 
 Is hut esteemed almost a saint, 
 And makes his own destruction sure." 
 
 Wo temporary religious impression is saving. 
 
 HI. All considerations proper to such a sub- 
 ject URGE US TO STABILITY AND PERSEVERANCE IN A 
 
 religious course. — The transcendent importance of 
 religion itself demands our whole hearts during our 
 entire lives. If religion is any thing it is every 
 thing. If it is of the least importance, it is of infi- 
 nite moment. If it is worthy of a thought, it claims 
 the highest degree of attention. If man has a soul 
 
274 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 that shall outlive the blazing sun in the heavens, no 
 effort to save it can be too great, too resolute,, too 
 persevering. Though an infidel, yet Hume had the 
 sagacity to see, and the candor to say, that admit- 
 ting the immortality of the soul, the damnation in 
 Scripture threatened against one wicked man was a 
 greater evil than the destruction of a thousand ma- 
 terial worlds. He spoke correctly. It is an un- 
 varying rule of wisdom to attend to our interests 
 according to their relative importance. But what 
 interest rises to such amazing magnitude as the sal- 
 vation of the soul ? One soul is worth millions on 
 millions of worlds. In the pursuits of literature, of 
 science, of gain, or of ambition, our zeal and devo- 
 tion may easily be excessive. Not so in scriptural 
 endeavors to save the soul. The prize for which we 
 run is worthy of all diligence, of all sacrifices, of all 
 earnestness. To save the soul, the eternal Son of 
 God humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
 the death of the cross. The value of the soul does 
 not vary. "Why should our efforts to save it be 
 vacillating ? In the bloom of youth, in the cares of 
 middle life, in the infirmities of old age, in public 
 and in private, in sickness and in health, our souls 
 are always of infinite value. Should not our efforts 
 then be persevering ? Oh that men would ask the 
 price before they barter away their souls for toys, 
 their eternal life for fleeting joys, the hope of 
 glory for the hope that maketh ashamed. 
 
 Nor are the dangers and difficulties in our way so 
 variable as to justify relaxation in vigilance and fer- 
 vor. The enemies of our souls are cunning, nume- 
 
INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 275 
 
 rous and powerful. Nor can we tell the day or the 
 hour of sorest trial, for the peril is often greatest 
 when we are least apprehensive. Carnal security is 
 a dangerous and alarming token for evil. In view 
 of our dangers and enemies, inspired men say : 
 "Be vigilant, be sober, for your adversary the 
 devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom 
 he may devour." 
 
 Nor should we forget that the principles and 
 claims of the divine government are the same, and 
 therefore our service should be zealous and constant 
 at all times. Whatever our obligations were to 
 God yesterday, the same are they to-day, and the 
 same shall they be for ever. There are no days set 
 apart by God for the indulgence of carelessness or 
 of any other sin. To the pious soul his service is 
 the keeping of a jubilee. All other service is 
 bondage and drudgery. It is therefore merciful as 
 well as just in him to hold us firmly and perpetually 
 bound to cleave unto him with purpose of heart. In 
 no way can we escape his service for an hour but by 
 desertion and dereliction. We owe him all we have 
 and are. Nor can our sacrifices for him ever be 
 equal to his claims upon us. No good man ever 
 desires a discharge from his obligations perpetually 
 to love and obey. Whatever cause the godly man 
 has to be pleased with the character of God, the 
 person of Christ, the work of the Spirit and the 
 duties of religion, is permanent. There is no rea- 
 son why he should be much engaged in religion to- 
 day, and heartless in it to-morrow. 
 
 The very nature of a religious profession implies 
 
276 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 the same thing. Christ authorizes the enlistment of 
 no men in his service for a hundred days, for six 
 months, or for a term of years. Once a Christian, 
 always a Christian is the law of enrollment. " The 
 righteous shall hold on his way." 'Tis the hypocrite 
 that follows the Lord, but not fully. 'Tis the self- 
 deceiver that makes some reserve. 'Tis the double- 
 minded that intends by and by to take his fill of 
 sinful delights. The man, whose heart is really en- 
 gaged to God, asks the privilege of offering himself 
 a whole burnt-offering. His language is : 
 
 E'en if I might make some reserve, 
 
 And duty did not call ; 
 I love my God with zeal so great, 
 
 That I would give him all. 
 
 The spurious professor intends to do as little as 
 possible, because he acts by constraint. The gen- 
 uine follower of Christ desires to withhold nothing 
 because he is impelled by love. 
 
 Continually recurring mercies call for our best 
 services. There is excellent theology in the couplet : 
 
 Streams of mercy never ceasing 
 Call for songs of loudest praise. 
 
 A sense of the hourly goodness of God seems to 
 have taken possession of David. He said his devo- 
 tions should be paid < morning, noon and night.' 
 And as though that were not enough he said : 
 " Seven times a day will I praise thee." A heart 
 in such a mood would not waver like a wave of the 
 sea. Its course would be steady and onward. "To 
 be afraid of a little sin, to be conscientious about 
 little duties, and to be thankful for small mercies 
 24* 
 
INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 277 
 
 are good evidence that we are in a gracious state." 
 Nor is a true Christian at any loss to find mercies 
 both great and small. They are scattered all along 
 his path. "By reason of use his senses are exercised 
 to discern tokens of the Lord's kindness through 
 life." Load him with chains and he is thankful 
 that the throne of grace is accessible. Feed him 
 on the plainest food, and he blesses Gocl that his 
 bread and his water are sure. Shut him up in a dark 
 dungeon, and he sings: "The Lord is a sun and a 
 shield. He will give grace and glory; and no good 
 thing will be withhold from them that walk uprightly." 
 Such a man will find new and mighty motives to 
 cheerful and persevering obedience in the darkest 
 hour and under the thickest clouds. In the night 
 season God will be his song. His meditation of the 
 Most High will be sweet. 
 
 Thus it comes to pass that the more the pious 
 man knows of God and his service, the more is he 
 pleased with them. Nothing offends him. No 
 commandment of God is grievous to him. Even 
 the work of self-denial, by reason of use and the 
 help of grace, becomes pleasant. Flesh and blood 
 rebel ; but grace triumphs. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. Immortal soul, what is the character of your 
 religious impressions ? Are they stable ? Are they 
 transient ? Are you dying unto sin ? Are you alive 
 unto righteousness? Are you strengthened with 
 
278 INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 
 
 might in the inner man ? Is yottr profession unwav- 
 ering? Are yonr convictions of personal unworthi- 
 ness deeper and deeper ? Do you wish them to be 
 deeper still ? Has yonr former seriousness of char- 
 acter given way to levity ? Do you often and sol- 
 emnly think of eternity ? Has your liveliness in re- 
 ligion been followed by dull formality? Is your 
 goodness like a morning cloud ? or is it like the ris- 
 ing sun that shineth more and more unto the perfect 
 day ? These are solemn questions. Be honest with 
 yourself and upright with God in your answers. On 
 what rest your hopes for eternity ? 
 
 2. And, now, unconverted man, do you not see 
 the worthlessness of much that you have been trust- 
 ing in as a ground of hope ? Your occasional 
 twinges of remorse are no substitute for abiding 
 spiritual convictionof sin. Your temporary parox- 
 ysms of grief for sin can never take the place of 
 ingenuousgodly sorrow. For some of your grosser 
 faults, when exposed or reproved, you have been 
 ashamed for a time ; but that will avail nothing un- 
 less you " remember, and are confounded, and never 
 open your mouth any more because of your shame, 
 when the Lord is pacified toward you for all that 
 you have done." (Ezek. xvi: 63.) Prayers you 
 have doubtless at some time offered, but they will do 
 you no good unless you have a heart to "pray always 
 with all prayer in the Spirit, and to watch thereunto 
 with all perseverance." Efforts you may have made 
 to save your soul. But such efforts ! so fitful, so 
 sluggish, so unproductive of lasting good. He, 
 who in the study of any science, or the practice of 
 
INSTABILITY IN RELIGION. 279 
 
 any art, or profession, should imitate your efforts in 
 religion, yourself being judge, would be guilty of 
 superlative folly. Come forth at last, and give your 
 heart to God. " Then ye shall seek me and find me, 
 when ye search for me with all your hearts." You 
 must sell all that you have, if you would buy the pearl 
 of great price. God forbid that on any subject the 
 Lord's ministers should deceive you. But when all 
 is at stake, when the salvation of the undying soul 
 is directly involved, deception is cruel murder. It 
 is but common honesty to say to you that if you love 
 father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, ease, 
 houses, lands or life more than Christ, you cannot 
 be saved ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken 
 it. ye, whose goodness is as the morning cloud 
 and the early dew, come and make an everlasting 
 covenant with God that shall never, no never, no 
 never be forgotten. Come and embark for life, for 
 eternity in the best of causes, under the best of mas- 
 ters, and with the sure hope of the best of rewards. 
 
280 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 There is much said in the Bible about standing 
 and falling. To stand is to endure, 'be steadfast, or 
 gain the final victory. To fall is to lose ground, 
 lapse into sin, or perish. 
 
 The lapses of God's professed friends present a 
 mournful subject of contemplation. But sad as it 
 is, it may do us good to reflect upon it. 
 
 I. Professors of religion, and even good men 
 may openly and shamefully sin. — It is not surpris- 
 ing that false professors should fall into sin. They 
 have no religious principle to sustain them. It is a 
 wonder that they give so little pain and trouble to 
 tbc church as they often do. Take the case of De- 
 mas. For a long time and in considerable peril, he 
 professed the faith of Jesus. He seemed ardently 
 attached to the person of Paul and to the doctrine 
 of the Gospel. He was associated with the pious 
 Luke. He united with others in sending greetings 
 to the Colossian church. All this looked very well. 
 Yet in a time of no peculiar danger, when the 
 church had comparative rest from persecution, sud- 
 denly he forsook Paul, being overcome by covctous- 
 ness. Tradition says he became a priest in a heathen 
 temple, where he could get gain. It is wonderful 
 
THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 281 
 
 that he did not much sooner manifest his worldly 
 spirit. Unhallowed nature may go very far in its 
 professions, and yet may fall away without any 
 strong temptation. We are poor creatures. Our 
 strength is weakness ; our wisdom folly. We have 
 no might to do good. Any church may have a 
 Demas. He who has not the root of the matter in 
 him may at any time fail in his profession. 
 
 But truly pious people also may fall into open and 
 shameful sin. God has given us many and solemn 
 warnings on this subject. We are commanded to 
 give the more earnest heed to these things, lest at 
 any time we should let them slip ; to be sober and 
 to be vigilant ; to watch and pray lest we enter into 
 temptation. We are even exhorted not to talk 
 about some things. The bare mention of them 
 might excite to sin. Many Scriptures urge precau- 
 tion and carefulness and circumspection. It was a 
 merciful arrangement in Israel that as the passover 
 was to be celebrated with unleavened bread, the 
 Jews were not allowed to keep leavened bread in 
 their houses, nay nor even leaven itself, lest they 
 should be tempted to make fermented bread and so 
 transgress the ordinance of their God. 
 
 To put the matter beyond all doubt, the Bible 
 gives us instances in which good men have wounded 
 their consciences and given gainsay era a weapon 
 against religion. The Bible tells us of the drunk- 
 enness of Noah and of Lot, of the prevarication of 
 Abraham, of the deception of Jacob, of the sins of 
 Moses, of Eli, of David and of Solomon. The 
 New Testament informs us of grievous disorders in 
 
282 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 different churches, especially in Galatia and at Cor- 
 inth. Even good men in the enjoyment of high 
 privileges may greatly err. They may fall from the 
 truth. They may err from the right ways of God. 
 
 II. There are reasons why God permits his 
 people thus to FALL. — One is that he may destroy 
 their spiritual pride. This is a great foe to grace 
 and to God. Men may even say that pride ill be- 
 comes them, that they have nothing to be proud of, 
 and that they ought to lie in the very dust and cry, 
 Unclean. Yet the approaches of pride are so insidi- 
 ous, that even good men are sometimes terribly under 
 its influence. When this is so, it is frequently unavail- 
 ing to warn them with words. Therefore to save 
 their souls, God withdraws his supporting hand, and 
 lets them go, and down they come. Because the 
 heart was lifted up, God fills it with labor and sor- 
 row. Thus "when pride cometh, then cometh 
 shame." (Prov. xi: 2.) "Pride goeth before de- 
 struction and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov. 
 xvi : 18.) It is a great thing when we go astray, 
 that God fills the soul with its own ways and makes 
 it hate itself for its want of humility. The Lord is 
 determined to stain, mar and bring down the pride of 
 man. (Isa. xxiii: 9; xxv : 11; Jer. xiii : 19.) 
 Sooner or later he will do it. If he has purposes 
 of mercy towards us, he will adopt painful remedies 
 if mild ones will not answer. The work of sancti- 
 fication cannot go on in any heart where spiritual 
 pride reigns. To destroy such evil in the heart, 
 God sometimes lets the proud fall. 
 
THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 283 
 
 The falls of Christians are sometimes permitted 
 to destroy their self-confidence. This is strikingly 
 illustrated in the history of Peter. He was not 
 willing, even for a moment, to doubt his own firm- 
 ness and constancy. The like often happens to 
 others who trust in themselves that they are strong, 
 or faithful, or courageous. " When Ephraim spake 
 trembling, he exalted himself in Israel ; but when 
 he offended in Baal, he died." (Hos. xiii: 1.) 
 "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool." God 
 will teach men that lesson, cost what it may. Some 
 good men, however, are of so sanguine a tempera- 
 ment and are so much inclined to a secret leaning 
 on their own virtues, resolves and energies, that 
 severe and painful lessons are necessary thoroughly 
 to put them on their guard. It is a great mercy 
 when the Lord teaches us habitually to feel that no 
 flesh shall glory in his presence, and that whatever 
 good is in us, is the fruit of divine grace. The 
 self-confident do not relish those statements of 
 Scripture which make them take shame to them- 
 selves, and give glory to God; such as, "What I 
 am, I am by the grace of God;" "The weak 
 brother shall be holden up; for God is able to 
 make him stand;" "Now unto him that is able to 
 keep you from falling and to present you faultless 
 before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy ; 
 to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and 
 majesty, dominion and power both now and ever." 
 The self-confident knows not half the sweetness of 
 such Scriptures; but if other measures fail it 
 is kind in God to let them fall, that they may 
 
284 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 learn to look away from self to the God of all 
 grace. 
 
 Sometimes God permits his people to fall that he 
 may teach them more fully to give up the world. 
 Even good people may attempt to form alliances so 
 that they may receive the praises and smiles and 
 advantages of worldly men. In vain are they 
 warned that it is impossible to serve both God and 
 Mammon, to hold fast the friendship of the world 
 and the favor of God. They vainly think they see 
 a middle way whereby they may secure the good of 
 both worlds. They court the world ; it smiles ; 
 then they yield a little ; thus matters proceed until 
 they find theni3elves enthralled and the ungodly 
 laughing at their weakness and contemning their 
 piety. It is sad indeed when the children of God 
 so walk as to mar their profession by an exposure 
 of their cupidity and by rendering their integrity 
 doubtful. At such times conscience is severely 
 wounded. But it is better to have our sins exposed 
 here than when it is too late. 
 
 Sometimes God permits his people to fall that he 
 may make them tender and charitable towards their 
 brethren. When a professor is harsh towards an 
 offending but apparently penitent brother, he is 
 committing a real sin and may soon fall into even a 
 greater error. When men will not show forgive- 
 ness to others till they are painfully made to feel 
 the need of it themselves, it is a mercy in God by 
 any means to work in them kindness of heart. 
 TiH'haritable tempers prove any one far out of the 
 way. As no man is more often ded by pride in 
 
THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 285 
 
 others than the proud themselves ; so no man needs 
 a kind construction of his conduct more than he 
 who is slow to show pity. If God loves such, he 
 will make them sensible of their own errors. In 
 some effectual manner he will teach them their vile- 
 ness, insufficiency and need of pity both from God 
 and man. i 
 
 The same tenor of remark may be applied to any 
 sin under the power of which one is brought. God 
 lets some fall to cure their distrust in Jehovah, their 
 forgetfulness of him, their ingratitude for his mer- 
 cies, their covering of their own iniquities, their 
 selfishness and unchristian timidity. It seems like 
 a strange course to let a man get worse in order to 
 make him well ; yet some are slow to send for the 
 Great Physician till they see that they are ready to 
 perish. Some will not let Christ put to death their 
 lusts till they become outbreaking. Such a course 
 of treatment is very painful. Every good man 
 who has had experience in this thing has found it 
 so. Waters of a full cup were wrung out to him. 
 He was made to smart for his transgressions. He 
 was a loathino; to himself. His bones were broken. 
 Some have lain deserted by God for a long time ; 
 and some seem never to have recovered their reli- 
 gious happiness to the day of death. Yet this was 
 better than to live in sin till one should stumble on 
 the dark mountains. 
 
 Another reason why God permits his people to 
 fall is that the wicked may have an opportunity to 
 exhibit their true characters. On such occasions 
 they speak reproachfully, and ordinarily utter much 
 
286 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 wickedness. The clay of judgment will show how 
 perverse, profane and malignant have been their 
 speeches at such times. God proved Pharaoh by 
 the plagues of Egypt ; God proves all men by his 
 prolonged mercies ; and he tries his enemies by let- 
 ting them see the falls of even good men. If 
 David must ascend the mount of Olives weeping, 
 Shimei shall be there to curse him. 
 
 The falls of God's people promote holiness in 
 their brethren, not by a direct influence but by the 
 power of divine grace. At Corinth the church had 
 become somewhat cold and disorderly. One of the 
 members fell into gross sin. At that time Paul 
 wrote to them. For a season his Epistle made 
 them sorry. It is still true that when one member 
 errs, his brethren have great anguish. But this is 
 profitable to them. Paul says: "Behold, this self- 
 same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, 
 what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clear- 
 ing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what 
 fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, 
 yea, what revenge." (2 Cor. vii: 11.) Well may 
 it make one watchful when his fellow stumbles, 
 Well may each one search his heart and implore 
 the scrutiny of omniscience when his brother, in 
 whom he confided, has erred from the path of 
 rectitude. At such times the pious hear Christ 
 saying, Will ye also go away? will ye also wound 
 me in the house of my friends ? will ye also be 
 high-minded and not fear? will ye not learn to go 
 softly before the Lord? Such a fall brings into 
 exercise pity, compassion, christian sympathy, kind- 
 
THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 287 
 
 ness and forgiveness towards him, who has sinned 
 and repented. Thus God sometimes makes such a 
 fall the occasion of increase of grace in various 
 ways. This is all owing to his sovereign power and 
 amazing love. Blessed be his name forever. 
 
 III. If we would not fall we must take good 
 heed to ourselves. — Heed is care, attention, cau- 
 tion, wariness, circumspection. He who having 
 treasures walks among thieves is careful what he 
 does. If any one christian grace more than an- 
 other enters into this heed, it is that excellent 
 quality, holy fear. Bunyan says, he had some- 
 times wished that the whole keeping of the town of 
 Mansoul had been committed to godly fear. This 
 grace at once so calm and so solemn, so watchful 
 and so opposed to sin, is a grand preservative 
 against falling. Carelessness, light and inconsider- 
 ate conduct naturally lead to error and to anguish. 
 
 Of course a very high estimate of the value of 
 spiritual and everlasting things has no little to do 
 in keeping us from falling. When that which is at 
 stake is felt to be infinite, in fact to be our all, it is 
 not possible for us to think slightly of its loss. 
 The Saviour says, "Let no man rob thee of thy 
 crown." If we lose the crown, we shall with it 
 lose the kingdom. When one walks through the 
 grass or the grain infested with poisonous serpents, 
 he takes every step with caution, he looks before, 
 behind and on either side, lest he should be bitten. 
 If one is placed on an eminence, supplied with 
 weapons and told to keep a strict watch, and he 
 
288 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 shall easily repel all attacks made upon him ; the 
 danger is that after awhile he may he thrown off 
 his guard, may say to himself that all is well, and 
 thus be overpowered. The christian is furnished 
 with the panoply of God, is told that he will be 
 assaulted, but is assured that if he will do his duty, 
 he shall never fall. For a while he obeys orders, 
 fights the good fight of faith, but in some unsus- 
 pecting moment, he falls asleep on his post, and at 
 such an hour as he thinks not, the enemy surrounds 
 him, and he is led captive by temptation. If he 
 had known the number and strength of his foes, 
 he would not have acted thus ; or had he known 
 the hour when the assault would be made, he would 
 have been on the alert. 
 
 This heed is specially called for, w T hen we have 
 first recovered from a fall. Having gained one 
 advantage, the adversary will soon make another 
 assault. What has been done, may be done again. 
 Without special care, the soul will relapse and the 
 second fall will be worse than the first. If you 
 have fallen once, remember that you may fall again. 
 He who is once conquered proves that he is not in- 
 vincible. A second fall will probably wound the con- 
 science very deeply. • 
 
 We should be very careful to walk circumspectly 
 immediately after the reception of special blessings 
 from God. "When thou hast eaten and art full, 
 then beware." Religious raptures are sometimes 
 succeeded by fleshly frolics. Satan's first attack on 
 Christ w r as soon after the voice from heaven had 
 said, "This is my beloved Son," and just after the 
 25* 
 
THE FALLS OP GOOD MEN. 289 
 
 Holy Ghost had descended in a visible form to rest 
 upon him. Recent refreshments in the Lord, and 
 recent observance of ordinances, so far from forming 
 a defence against the attacks of Satan, rather ex- 
 pose one to them. The cunning pirate lets a fleet 
 of ships empty or in ballast pass by him, but gives 
 hot chase to the rich merchantman. 
 
 When one is about to engage in any new and special 
 work for the glory of God Satan often endeavours 
 to gain an advantage over him. The son of Sirach 
 gave the sum of many a Scripture warning when he 
 said: "My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, 
 prepare thyself for temptation. " A good beginning 
 is of great importance. If the adversary can prevail 
 on us to take a first false step he will hope to 
 have a continued advantage over us. 
 
 In short there is no situation in which this heed 
 is not called for. Occasions of stumbling are pre- 
 sented so suddenly, the enemy is so subtle, he ap- 
 proaches us under so plausible appearances, he so 
 well knows our peculiar weaknesses and besetting 
 sins, that he who is not continually on his guard is 
 liable to be hurried away into sin in such a manner 
 as to render him miserable through life, and to do 
 an injury to Christ's cause which long years may 
 not be able to repair. How all eyes are turned to 
 the sun when eclipsed. In like manner but with 
 malicious joy, the wicked gaze at the church, when 
 instead of shining fair and clear, dark spots obscure 
 her brightness. Then the profane wag the head, 
 reproach the Saviour, and say that all religion is 
 vain. Thus they confirm themselves in error and 
 
290 THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 
 
 rebellion. Let him that thinketh he standeth take 
 heed lest he fall. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. All those affections, sentiments, opinions and 
 practices, whose nature is to beget carelessness and 
 unguarded conduct, are un scriptural. If even our 
 joys and hopes make us heedless, we are better 
 without them. If we have so conceived of the 
 gospel as to judge that its fulness and promises ren- 
 der watchfulness unnecessary, we quite mistake its 
 true nature. If we esteem the influence and opera- 
 tion of the Spirit and grace of God as authorizing 
 us to pursue any course of conduct agreeable to our 
 carnal nature, we are certainly turning our liberty 
 into licentiousness, and perverting the richest mer- 
 cies of God. "Let him that thinketh he standeth 
 take heed lest he fall" — lest he fall into open and 
 shameful sin — lest he fall never more to rise. Paul 
 says, "I keep under my body and bring it into sub- 
 jection: lest that by any means, when I have 
 preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 
 (1 Cor. ix: 27.) That which is at stake is of infinite 
 value. A man may lose an eye or an arm and yet 
 have an eye and an arm left ; but if he lose his soul, 
 all is gone, and gone forever. 
 
 2. The perseverance which God requires is per- 
 severance in holiness — fidelity unto death. Though 
 God may overrule tbe falls of his people to his 
 glory and their good, yet let no man tempt the 
 Lord, or suppose that it is not perilous for him to 
 do aught presumptuously. 
 
THE FALLS OF GOOD MEN. 291 
 
 3. We may be greatly mistaken in our estimate 
 of the efficiency of causes, both good and bad. We 
 may think ourselves safe when there is but a step 
 between us and ruin. Paul was much delighted 
 with himself when he was persecuting the church 
 to strange cities ; yet had he died the morning he 
 set out for Damascus, he would have been forever 
 undone. 
 
 4. Though all professors of religion may err, 
 yea, though all of them were insincere, yet that 
 can in no wise excuse or profit the unregenerate, 
 who have not assumed the christian profeesiou. 
 Every one of us must give account of himself unto 
 God. Hypocrites and unbelievers shall have their 
 portion together. 
 
 5. When men shall be taken from present scenes 
 and circumstances, and have their abode among 
 eternal realities, their views of things will be vastly 
 changed. Nothing will seem very evil except sin. 
 Nothing will wear the stamp of very great value 
 except holiness. We shall find that we have mis- 
 erably overestimated the present and underrated 
 the future. 
 
292 
 
 SELF-DECEPTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SELF-DECEPTION — IT IS EASY — THERE IS MUCH OF IT. 
 
 The word of God, good practical writings on 
 religion, the polite literature of the day and com- 
 mon observation unite in begetting the persuasion 
 that there are many self-deceivers in the world. 
 Every thinking man must admit that the subject is 
 of great importance, involving our best interests. 
 The following positions are easily sustained : 
 
 I. Self-deception is easy. — The mind itself is 
 subtle, and all its operations rather concealed from 
 our view. The soul was formed for contemplating 
 G( d, his works and ways, rather than for looking at 
 itself. The science of mental philosophy makes 
 slower progress than almost any other science. lie 
 who made the soul and he alone understands it per- 
 fectly. It is probable that holy angels in heaven 
 study their own character unspeakably less than they 
 do the character of God. 
 
 Moreover, sin itself begets self-deception. " Men 
 love darkness rather than light." "The heart is 
 deceitful above all tilings and desperately wicked ; 
 who can know it." Sin always darkens the under- 
 standing. Huge volumes of smoke and darkness 
 have risen from the bottomless pit and settled over 
 
SELF-DECEPTION. 293 
 
 the mind so that man is altogether brutish in his 
 knowledge, and vain imaginations are ever floating 
 in his mind. Men have eyes but they see not. In- 
 ordinate self-love also blinds the mind. You can 
 undertake no more unwelcome task than to convince 
 a man of his own errors. Men are lovers of them- 
 selves more than lovers of God. They riot in care- 
 lessness. How seldom does an unrenewed man ob- 
 serve a day of self-recollection. It is a great tax 
 upon one's time to sit down and investigate his own 
 heart and conduct. Or if such a thing is attempted, 
 what is more common than greatly to slight the 
 work ? 
 
 Then, too, familiarity with any deformity, and 
 especially with sin in ourselves, mightily diminishes 
 our ideas of its odiousness. Frightful as death 
 itself is, familiarity with it is found often to harden 
 the heart. Much more do we become callous in re- 
 gard to that which is morally wrong. 
 
 Moreover, the meltings of nature and the melt- 
 ings of crace much resemble each other. The faith 
 of the understanding in some things is not wholly 
 unlike the faith of the heart. Self-confidence some- 
 times gives as much composure as the confidence of 
 faith. Voluntary humility often puts on as coarse 
 sackcloth as gospel humility. False hopes give joy 
 as well as a good hope through grace. Morbid sen- 
 sibility often weeps as much as true penitence. 
 Scrupulosity often looks like tenderness of con- 
 science. 
 
 Systems of education, which have in them finesse 
 and insincerity, greatly add to the power of these 
 
294 SELF-DECEPTION. 
 
 things. We may conceal our sentiments and prin- 
 ciples from others, until we ourselves hardly know 
 what they are. Many systems of polite education 
 are full of hypocrisy. 
 
 Moreover the god of this world blinds the minds 
 of them that believe not. Although not omni- 
 scient, yet he knows much that is in our hearts. He 
 is skilled in deceiving ; he is very daring ; he as- 
 sailed even Christ ; he quotes Scripture with great 
 readiness, (Matt, iv: 6.) He is dreadfully malig- 
 nant. Innocence is no barrier against his wiles. 
 He entered Eden itself. He has no compassion on 
 the weak or the ignorant. He assumes every ap- 
 pearance from that of a roaring lion to that of an 
 angel of light. False religion probably pleases 
 him as well as total irreligion. He has great power 
 in deluding men and making them think they are 
 something when they are nothing. He rules in the 
 hearts of the children of disobedience. Under his 
 influence men call good evil, and evil good. He is 
 very busy ; he never misses a sermon or a prayer- 
 meeting. He corrupts our secret devotions. He 
 closely watches his prey and tightens his cords. He 
 is often most busy with us when we least think of 
 his presence. 
 
 Men help to deceive each other. The world is 
 full of errors on all subjects connected with piety. 
 False opinions prevail. The wise, the rich, the 
 powerful and the honorable greatly influence those 
 around them. The learned possess vast power, but 
 even the rude and the poor terribly corrupt one an- 
 other. There is hardly an error in doctrine or 
 
SELF-DECEPTION. 295 
 
 morals concerning which the opinion of some great 
 one mny not be cited in approbation. So it has 
 come to pass that almost all vices and errors have 
 good names, and every species of sin is palliated. 
 Especially does the world universally approve and 
 commend alow standard of piety. "Many de- 
 ceivers are entered into the world." (2 John, 7.) 
 Then the heart is all ready for these temptations. 
 "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool." (Prov. 
 xxviii: 26. ) ' 'They return but not to the Most High." 
 (Hos. vii: 16.) All this is abundantly taught in 
 Scripture. "The pride of thine heart hath deceived 
 thee. " (Obad. 3. ) " Take heed that ye be not de- 
 ceived." (Luke xxi : 8. ) " Let no man deceive him- 
 self." (1 Cor. hi: 18.) "Be not deceived." (Gal. 
 vi : 7.) "Let no man deceive you with vain words." 
 (Eph. v: 6.) "Be ye doers of the word and not 
 hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 
 i: 22.) "Little children, let no man deceive you." 
 (1 John hi: 7.) 
 
 II. There is much self-deception in the world. 
 This is true in all respects. How many mistake their 
 calling through an erroneous view of their talents. 
 Every profession has many such. For every office 
 aspirants without qualification are numerous. Many, 
 who would otherwise be respectable, make them- 
 selves ridiculous by claiming qualities or abilities of 
 which they have not the semblance. How many 
 are deceived about even their manners. If they 
 saw how offensive they were, surely they would not 
 retain them. But the heart is much more subtle 
 
296 SELF-DECEPTION. 
 
 than the mind or the manners. Some men will allow 
 you to criticize their gifts, or their ways, provided 
 you will not impeach their moral qualities. Indeed 
 the more you tell an outrageous ma.i that his con- 
 duet is intolerable, the more outrageous docs he 
 become. None calls more loudly for acquittal than 
 the mean and the uncandid. It is well worthy of 
 note that the best men in the world have always 
 lamented their liability to self-deception. They 
 know that they are apt to think more highly of 
 themselves than they ought to think. How many 
 have vainly supposed themselves possessed of more 
 grace and strength than their subsequent experience 
 evinced. Some who imagine that their souls are 
 like Mount Zion, that they will be faithful unto 
 death, that their zeal will be quenchless, that their 
 hopes will always be bright, are soon found quiver- 
 ing like leaves, forgetting their vows, overcome 
 witli languor, and ready to sink into despondency. 
 
 All Christians testify that before conversion their 
 views of themselves were very erroneous. " I was 
 alive without the law," tells the whole story. And 
 even after conversion, not only individuals but whole 
 churches have said, "I am rich, and increased with 
 goods, and have need of nothing," when the Lord 
 saw that they were "wretched, and miserable, and 
 poor, and blind, and naked." 
 
 Those developments of character, called changes 
 for the worse, give us like warning. When young, 
 the Emperor Nero seemed truly solicitious to make 
 his people happy. lie was kind, compassionate and 
 condeseending. He was tender and generous. So 
 26 
 
SELF-DECEPTION. 297 
 
 men esteemed him. So doubtless lie esteemed him- 
 self. But as circumstances changed and his real 
 principles gained strength, he butchered his own 
 mother, set fire to Rome, and exercised cruelties 
 which have made him infamous for ever. Ilazael 
 furnishes another example. When the story of his 
 wickedness was read to him by the mouth of pro- 
 phecy, he exclaimed, * ' AVhat, is thy servant a dog 
 that he should do this great thing ?" (2 Kings viii : 
 13.) So true is it that even wicked men, moved 
 by the power of conscience, may express abhor- 
 rence of sin, and yet they may soon commit it. 
 
 Whoever has had much to do with those sinners, 
 who have been left to perpetrate great crimes, has 
 seen how difficult it is to convince them of their 
 wrong ; and the Bible abounds with proofs that the 
 worse men are, the better they commonly think 
 themselves to be. When the Jews were terribly 
 apostate from God, had wearied him with their 
 words, had robbed him, had used stout words against 
 him, they yet cried, " Wherein have we wearied 
 thee? wherein have we robbed thee? what have 
 we spoken so much against thee ?" (Mai. ii : 17; 
 iii: 8, 13.) The world is full of Pharisees and 
 Pharisaism. Saul of Tarsus thought himself an 
 excellent man when he was murdering the saints. 
 
 Many have thought that they had the very spirit 
 of martyrs, when on fair trial they openly renounced 
 Christ. When bloody Mary ascended the throne, 
 a general fear of persecution was excited. The 
 pious and humble Saunders expressed to Dr. Pen- 
 dleton apprehensions lest in time of temptation he 
 
298 SELF-DECEPTION. 
 
 should wound Ms own conscience by some act of sin- 
 ful timidity. On the other hand, Pendleton spoke 
 confidently of his ability to resist unto blood. The 
 time of trial came. Out of weakness, Saunders 
 was made strong, and died in the faith ; while Pen- 
 dleton drew back, renounced his principles, and 
 received the mark of the beast. He who thought 
 he had the very spirit of Stephen had the spirit of 
 an apostate. 
 
 Others, who have supposed themselves fully pre- 
 pared for the hour of ordinary death, have discov- 
 ered their mistake when it was too late. Death 
 came, and ah ! what fear, ah ! what trembling, ah ! 
 what anguish, ah! what amazement, ah! what des- 
 pair! The annals of our race are full of such 
 records. 
 
 The history of every wicked man who ever thought 
 himself fit for heaven, shows how apt men are to 
 deceive themselves. The number of such is im- 
 mense. In the time of our Saviour, the great body 
 of the Jewish people bore this character. Every 
 general persecution has detected many such. The 
 loose, careless, worldly lives of many professors now 
 on earth, prove the same thing. The tree is known 
 by its fruits. " He that doeth righteousness is right- 
 eous, he that committeth sin is of the devil." (1 
 John iii: 7, 8.) 
 
SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED — THE SIGNS OF IT — THE 
 DANGER OF IT. 
 
 The former chapter showed how easy it is for 
 men to deceive themselves, and that many are ac- 
 tually self-deceived. Let us now consider the signs 
 and dangers of self-deception. 
 
 III. The signs of self-deception are many. — 
 When a professor of religion is wise and prudent in 
 worldly matters, but not shrewd or discerning in 
 the things of religion, he is deceived. "All thy 
 children shall be taught of the Lord." (Isa. liv : 13.) 
 If we lack spiritual discernment, we lack the Holy 
 Spirit; and "if any man have not the Spirit of 
 Christ, he is none of his." (Rom. viii: 9.) Jesus 
 Christ laid clown gross spiritual blindness as a mark 
 that men were not of God. (Matt, xvi: 2, 3.) 
 
 Another sign against many professors is, that 
 though when sick, or afflicted, or terrified by con- 
 science or by judgments, they engage in prayer; 
 yet because they have no genuine spirit of devotion, 
 they soon find it irksome. ""Will the hypocrite de- 
 light himself in the Almighty ? will he always call 
 upon God?" (Job xxvii: 10.) 
 
 The whole religious experience of self-deceivers is 
 fitful and transient. Dr. Payson says that such do 
 
300 SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 
 
 not repent any more after a hope of forgiveness 
 springs up. But the true christian never is more 
 broken-hearted than when his hope of forgiveness 
 is strongest. Self-deceivers often feign tenderness 
 and liveliness in the things of God beyond what their 
 experience will justify. 
 
 They are uniformly more afraid of suffering than 
 of sin; of denying themselves than of denying 
 Christ. When liberty, property, character or life 
 is endangered by a christian profession, their fears 
 are dismal. (Isa. xxxiii: 14.) Sooner or later the 
 rain descends, the floods come, the winds blow and 
 beat upon their house, and great is the fall of it. 
 
 Self-deceivers also judge harshly and severely. 
 They are keen to discern small faults in others, and 
 slow to perceive great faults in themselves. (Matt. 
 vii : 3-5.) Those professors, who live under the 
 power of covetousness and are not careful as to the 
 means employed for accumulating, who esteem their 
 wealth, their time and their talents their own, who 
 are cruel in their dispositions and bring malice into 
 the service of God, who are ready to promise and 
 slow to perform, who abound in professions and 
 in failures, who hide their sins under specious pre- 
 tences, who are strict in the ceremonies of religion, 
 but easily pass by faith, justice, mercy and the love 
 of God, may be sure that they are deceiving them- 
 selves. (1 John ii : 15; Ex. v: 2; Ps. xii: 4; 
 James i: 20 ; Matt, xxhi: 2, 3, 5, 14, 23.) The 
 same is made manifest when men commend the 
 pious dead and hate the pious living among them. 
 (Matt, xxiii : 29, 30.) 
 26* 
 
SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 301 
 
 The good of self-deceivers is commonly over- 
 acted. When they would be liberal they are prodi- 
 gal ; when they would be economical, they are 
 stingy. Instead of being humble, they are mean ; 
 instead of being noble, they are proud. In them 
 dumpishness takes the place of seriousness, levity of 
 cheerfulness, cringing of courteousness, stubborn- 
 ness of decision, laxity of moderation, bitterness of 
 zeal, stolidity of calmness, superstition of devotion. 
 Whatever they do is overdone. They carry their 
 principles to rank extremes. If they sing, they 
 sing too loud ; if they pray, they pray too long ; if 
 they commend, they become fulsome ; if they re- 
 prove, they break the head. Instead of prudence 
 and discretion they have craft, cunning and sly 
 reserve. Without faith they are presumptuous; 
 without hope they are confident ; without meekness 
 they are tame. They are bitter in favour of charity 
 and fierce for moderation. 
 
 " Some men carry on a kind of coasting trade in 
 religion. In the voyage of life, they profess to be 
 in search of heaven, but take care not to venture so 
 far in their approximations to it as entirely to lose 
 sight of the earth ; and should their frail vessel be 
 in danger of shipwreck, they will gladly throw their 
 darling vices overboard, as other mariners their trea- 
 sures, only to fish them up again, when the storm is 
 over. To steer a course that shall secure both 
 worlds is still a thing unattained as yet, either by 
 the divine or the philosopher, for the track is dis- 
 coverable only by the shipwrecks that have been 
 made in the attempt." 
 
302 SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 
 
 Many deceive themselves by supposing that they 
 are pious because they love to go to church. If the 
 services of the sanctuary are properly conducted, 
 they are delighted. The music puts them into a 
 very pleasant state of mind. They admire the gifts 
 of their pastor. In manner they are very devout. 
 "With solemn step they leave the house of God. 
 Not an unjust criticism escapes their lips. Even 
 pungent preaching pleases them. The most awful 
 truths do not disquiet them. Such were Ezekiel's 
 hearers, of whom God says: "They come unto 
 thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee 
 as my people, and they hear thy words. And lo, 
 thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that 
 hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an in- 
 strument." Where is the failure here? All looks 
 well. God tells the whole story in brief : "They 
 hear thy words, but they do them not." (Ezek. 
 xxxiii: 31, 32.) Some go still further: "They 
 seek God daily and they delight to know his ways, 
 as a people that did righteousness. They ask of 
 God the ordinances of justice. They take delight in 
 approaching to God." (Isa. lviii : 2.) Education, 
 conscience, love of society, self-righteousnss or 
 something else than the love of God constrains 
 them to be present and stirs up their emotions. 
 One may be called a christian, may rest in the gos- 
 pel, may make his boast of God, may know his 
 will, may approve the things that are more excellent, 
 being instructed out of the Scriptures, may be con- 
 fident that he is a guide of the blind, a light of them 
 which sit in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, 
 
SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 303 
 
 a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge 
 and of the truth, and yet know nothing of true reli- 
 gion. (Kom. ii: 17-20.) 
 
 Self-deceivers often rely more on the estimate 
 given of their state by some partial or charitable 
 person, than on the clear, unmistakable decisions 
 of Scripture. It is amazing how far some men will 
 go to learn the opinion of a pastor, or a parent, or 
 a neighbour. Some pastors and some people very 
 unwisely persuade others to join the church. There 
 seems to be a great vanity in swelling numbers. 
 But the opinions of our fellow-men can never settle 
 the question of our piety. The church of Sardis 
 had a name to live — a good reputation among men ; 
 but he, whose prerogative it is to judge the heart, 
 pronounced them "dead." 
 
 Others deceive themselves by making their pros- 
 perity the test. Ephraim said, "Yet I am become 
 rich, I have found me out substance. In all my 
 labors they shall find none iniquity in me, that were 
 sin." (Hos. xii: 8.) Yet all the while he held 
 the balance of deceit and loved to oppress. Pros- 
 perity can never establish piety. God often gives 
 great success to the worldly schemes of carnal men. 
 
 Others think they are certainly the children of 
 God because they are so afflicted. Sickness, bereave- 
 ment, loss of property, loss of public favor, any 
 form of tribulation is enough to satisfy them that 
 they are on their way to heaven. They regard each 
 pain as having some merit. But they are strangers 
 to holiness of heart ; they are never conformed to 
 the image of God. 
 
304 SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 
 
 Others deceive themselves by judging that they 
 are as good as their neighbours. In this they may 
 be mistaken ; but if not, their neighbours may still 
 be living in sin. Oh that men would wisely say as 
 did the apostles: ""We dare not make ourselves of 
 the number, or compare ourselves with some that 
 commend themselves ; but they, measuring them- 
 selves by themselves, and comparing themselves 
 among themselves, are not wise." (2 Cor. x: 12.) 
 
 IV. In religion self-deception is dangerous, 
 and, if persisted in, ruinous. What profit is there 
 in it all ? One may for a time gain a little popular 
 applause, though that would be rather a dark sign. 
 lie may have an increase of public confidence, but he 
 will probably soon lose that. He may obtain some false 
 peace of conscience. The foolish virgins slept as 
 soundly as the wise. But an earthquake will soon 
 shake the soul to its foundations. All these sem- 
 blances of good are short-lived. At the farthest 
 death will take them all away. A good name, pub- 
 lic confidence, solid peace of mind and all other 
 advantages of a profession of religion can be much 
 better secured by sincerity than by self-deception* 
 What constant effort the selt'-deceiver must put 
 forth to keep up appearances, to act a character not 
 his own, and conceal the character belonging to 
 him ! lie smothers the fire in one place, presently 
 it breaks out in another. He hardly mends and 
 daubs one part of the wall until another is ready 
 to fall down. His whole life is vexation to no good 
 purpose. In death, if not before, he finds his profit 
 
SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 305 
 
 to be pain. "For what is the hope of the hypo- 
 crite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away 
 his soul?" (Job xxvii: 8.) "The joy of the 
 hypocrite is but for a moment." (Jobxx: 5.) In 
 the end he will fall into his own pit and entangle 
 himself in his own net. At death his day of grace 
 forever closes, his opportunities of salvation end, 
 and he becomes the receiver of endless wo. His 
 very insincerity brings upon him as the Saviour 
 said it should, "the greater damnation." In eter- 
 nity his shame will be perpetual, his wounds incura- 
 ble, his guilt overwhelming, his ruin everlasting. 
 All the hopes he ever cherished will become his 
 tormentors. His self-righteousnss will clothe him 
 with confusion. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. The eternal happiness of many a man depends 
 upon his entirely giving up his present hope of hea- 
 ven. This will be the first step towards salvation. 
 "What one thinks he has, he will not seek after. It 
 is asking a great deal to request a man to give up 
 his hope and lay a new and solid foundation. Very 
 few men, who have come into the church, have ever 
 ceased to hold fast the lingering delusion that all was 
 right. Many professed new conversions are of very 
 doubtful character. False hopes please the carnal 
 heart. Yet continuing to hold them is adding sin 
 to sin. The self - deceiver disbelieves all that God 
 has said on the subject in his holy word. In so 
 doing he impeaches the divine veracity. He must 
 
306 SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 
 
 terribly mistake the divine character, when he sup- 
 poses that the Most High can delight in one whose 
 soul is filled with such vile affections as are contin- 
 ually in exercise in his bosom. i i Sound conver- 
 sions are rare; but the instances of false hopes 
 being forsaken, are still more rare," says Edwards. 
 
 2. It is a blessed thing that our salvation does 
 not depend upon knowing ourselves perfectly, hut 
 on our being known of God. (2 Tim. ii: 19.) 
 With what joy does the believer come, and humbly 
 appealing to Omni science say: "Search me, God, 
 and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts : 
 and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead 
 me in the way everlasting." (Ps. exxxix: 23, 24.) 
 An honest desire to know the worst of our case 
 and to secure the scrutiny of Him who searches the 
 heart is no bad sign in a professor of religion. 
 
 3. If we are thus in danger of being deceived, 
 how watchful ought we to be over our own hearts. 
 We wrestle against flesh and blood, against princi- 
 palities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in 
 high places and against the rulers of the darkness of 
 this world. We must watch all our opinions, all 
 our doctrines, all our practices, all our words, all 
 our thoughts and feelings. Jealousy over ourselves 
 is seldom excessive^ unless the mind has become 
 diseased. Who ever heard of a dying saint lament- 
 ing that he had put too strong restraint upon his 
 own lasts, or had served God with too much 
 carefulness ? 
 
 4. The fundamentals of character in all unregen- 
 erate men are the same. The ordinary non-pro- 
 
SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 307 
 
 fessor has no more love to God, no more faith in 
 Jesus Christ and no more indwelling of the Spirit 
 than has the self-deceiver. He does not indeed pre- 
 tend to what he has not, but then he has not that 
 which would make his profession of piety sincere. 
 Neither of them has forgiveness ; neither of them 
 has experienced a change of heart. Both of them 
 are on their way to ruin. Whatever may be their 
 present estimate of themselves, they are preparing 
 for a dreadful overthrow. The poison of sin is 
 working death in them. 
 
 5. It is a great mercy that we have the Scrip- 
 tures in our own language. Our translation is a 
 good one and the Scriptures are clear. They point 
 out the way to the skies and the way to the pit with 
 great discrimination. Let us test all our opinions, 
 hopes and feelings by this unerring rule: " Prove 
 all things ; hold fast that which is good." 
 
 6. Let no man blame religion for that to which 
 religion is most opposite. All insincerity and self- 
 deception are frequently but very erroneously put 
 down to the score of piety. It might as well be said 
 that the sun was the cause of blindness, that cour- 
 age was the parent of cowardice, patriotism of trea- 
 son, truth of falsehood and love of hatred. A good 
 tree does not bring forth evil fruit. Heat is no more 
 apt to expel cold, than is true religion to drive away 
 insincerity. True piety is the sole, sovereign rem- 
 edy for self-deception. The truth is simply this : 
 Christ has on earth a true church. Satan has also 
 a kingdom in this world. These princes and their 
 hosts are utterly opposed. But Beelzebub frequently 
 
308 SELF-DECEPTION CONTINUED. 
 
 sends into the ranks of Immanuel some of his true 
 followers. They come in as spies, or under some 
 strong delusion. They profess love to Christ. His 
 people are not of a suspicious temper. They more 
 readily distrust themselves than others. They ordi- 
 narily take men upon their profession This proves 
 that they are charitable ; but a seif-deceiver is yet 
 an unbeliever, a tare growing in the midst of wheat. 
 So that neither Christ, the Bible, nor true piety can 
 fairly be held responsible for the self-deception of any 
 man. 
 27 
 
MODERN MISSIONS. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 The history of evangelization for the last hundred 
 and twenty years is full of instruction. In most of 
 its enterprises, the beginnings have been small. A 
 few dollars for the treasury, and a few friends for 
 counsel and prayer, have been all that could be 
 found for a start. This is God's ordinary plan. 
 From the acorn comes the oak. The kingdom of 
 heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. No wise 
 man will despise the day of small things. The 
 human race have commonly begun existence in 
 embryo. But one pair ever escaped the weakness 
 and helplessness of infancy. 
 
 In how many cases has God put great honor on 
 poor, plain, young, modest men. Some such have 
 belted the globe with a hallowed influence. It 
 was so with Samuel J. Mills. God delights in 
 taking the poor from the dunghill and setting him 
 among princes. What honor did he put upon 
 Harriet Newell! What a change in the history of 
 men and families would be made by striking out 
 all that is connected with missions ! 
 
 Labors for the spread of the gospel have been 
 extraordinary schools for the minds, hearts and 
 
310 MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 manners of men. Perhaps no men have evinced 
 more decided growth in all the elements of great- 
 ness than many foreign missionaries. To be fit to 
 rule and raise his people, Peter the Great entered 
 a ship yard on wages. To avoid hindrances to the 
 gospel, Paul became a tent-maker. To teach the 
 Hottentots to build houses, Vanderkemp wrought 
 in a brick yard. Rather than not go to China, 
 Milne was willing to take the place of a servant. 
 Hardship is the road to eminence. i 
 
 Many missionary undertakings have presented to 
 natural reason the most painful discouragements, 
 yet they have succeeded. 
 
 " Germany sent forth 
 Her sons to bear the truth to farthest north, 
 And plant sweet Sharon's rose 
 On icy plains and in eternal snows." 
 
 There it has greatly flourished, and its sweet odors 
 have been wafted from Greenland over all the earth. 
 The same people carried the gospel in its power to 
 Surinam and many other places. Take from the 
 Moravians their missionary exploits, and their glory 
 is departed. How the islands of the sea have 
 waited for God's law, and their poor inhabitants 
 been raised and made to rejoice in his salvation. 
 There are now on earth hundreds of thousands of 
 converts from heathenism. Nations have been 
 born unto God. Ninety millions of copies of God's 
 word have been sent out into all the earth. People 
 who seemed doomed to extinction, have been raised 
 to thrift, comfort and increase. The Stockbridge 
 tribe of Indians, who at one time were reduced to 
 
MODERN MISSIONS. 311 
 
 one hundred and twenty-eight souls, are more than 
 doubled in numbers, and quadrupled in wealth. 
 The whole history of modern missions proves the 
 truth of Elliott's saying : * * Prayer and pains through 
 faith that is in Christ Jesus, can accomplish wonders." 
 
 Beyond all other causes, missions have advanced 
 the interests of literature. Under their influence, 
 spoken tongues have become written languages. 
 They have produced more grammars and lexicons 
 of strange languages than all other causes. They 
 have filled the world with translations of all the 
 inspired writings, and of many of the choicest pro- 
 ductions of gifted men. The great Dreamer is 
 showing many heathen born pilgrims the way to 
 the Celestial City. The Dairyman's Daughter is 
 read by the Hindoo with as much zest as by the 
 farmer of America. The printing-press is at work 
 day and night. Millions of readers have been 
 raised up and taught to know much that concerns 
 their well being. 
 
 Whatever has been done in this cause has been 
 in the face of the fiercest opposition. The enemy 
 has practiced all his old arts. He has resorted to 
 scorn and slander, contempt and violence, persecu- 
 tion and murder. But the cause moves onward. 
 The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. 
 At one time the cry is, "If a fox run along that 
 wall, it will fall down." At another, the cry of 
 treason and rebellion has been loud against the best 
 of men. But God holdeth his enemies in derision. 
 
 All who have lived for the spread of the gospel 
 have been remarkably sustained in spirit and in 
 
312 MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 personal happiness. Who ever received a murmur- 
 ing, melancholy letter from a foreign missionary? 
 Trials they have had, but God has not forgotten 
 them. Often have they been troubled on every 
 side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in de- 
 spair; persecuted, bnt not forsaken; cast down, 
 but not destroyed. Above most, they have learned 
 in whatsoever state they are, therewith to be content, 
 and to rejoice in tribulation. "Doing good is the 
 only certainly happy action of a man's life." 
 
 Modern missions have remarkably evinced the 
 power of the distinguishing truths of the gospel. 
 Christ crucified is still the great theme for the 
 preacher, who would bring men to know, love, 
 fear and obey God. Christ is the power of God 
 and the wisdom of God unto salvation. The East 
 and the "West Indies, the high latitudes of the 
 North, and the warm regions of the South Seas, 
 furnish like testimonies to the power of the preacher, 
 who stands crying, Behold the Lamb of God, that 
 taketh away the sin of the world. There is no 
 Saviour but Jesus. There is no truth that can 
 save, or heal, or help, but in him. The lessons 
 taught mankind on this very subject by the labors 
 of many good men have been of the highest 
 importance. 
 
 Missions have also shown that genuine piety is 
 ever the same. However diverse people may be 
 in manners, color and government, if the grace of 
 God takes hold of them, it makes them all in their 
 measure like their Saviour. The martyrs of Mad- 
 agascar have shown the constancy and benevolence 
 27* 
 
MODERN MISSIONS. 313 
 
 of those who suffered under Nero and Domitian. 
 The desire to make known God's love to sinners 
 appeared in Africaner, after his conversion, no less 
 truly than in Paul the Apostle. The joy in Sama- 
 ria does not seem to have surpassed that at many a 
 mission station, when the Holy Spirit was poured 
 out. If in early times sound conversions were mani- 
 fested by holy living, so were they in Brainerd'a 
 poor Indians. 
 
 The reflex influence of missions has been most 
 happy and most powerful. They bless all that love 
 them, or give to them, or pray for them. "What 
 reading, and writing, and speaking, and parting, 
 and meeting, and giving, and receiving, and hoping, 
 and believing, and praying, and praising have had 
 their rise in this blessed cause. What illustrations 
 of Scripture we find in missions. Such texts as 
 the following seem to have new meaning: "It is 
 more blessed to give than to receive." "He that 
 watereth shall be watered." "Thy bread and thy 
 water is sure." What a chasm would be created in 
 our best religious biography, if we should have 
 to give up at once the memoirs of all modern 
 missionaries. 
 
 The conclusion is that we should all have more 
 zeal in this cause. It is more worthy of our love 
 and efforts than we have ever thought it to be. 
 Help on this cause at any sacrifice of ease, or plea- 
 sure, or property. "Make to yourselves friends of 
 the mammon of unrighteousness : that when ye fail, 
 they may receive you into everlasting habitations." 
 
 Our obligations to our Redeemer are infinite. He 
 
314 MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 has called us to his kingdom and glory. He has 
 already done great things for us. He has promised 
 to do great things in days to come. "We have pro- 
 mised much in our religious profession. We have 
 but a little while longer on earth to do any thing 
 for his cause. ' ' The night cometh when no man 
 can work." We owe him all. Let us give him all. 
 I know not who is the author of the. following 
 poem ; but I commend its sweet spirit to all : 
 BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH. 
 
 Behold, a royal bridegroom 
 
 Hath called me for his bride ! 
 
 I joyfully make ready and hasten to his side. 
 
 He is a royal bridegroom, 
 
 But I am very poor ! 
 
 Of low estate he chose me 
 
 To show his love the more ; 
 
 For he hath purchased for me 
 
 Such goodly rich array — 
 
 Oh! surely never Bridegroom 
 
 Gave gifts like these away. 
 
 When first upon the mountains 
 I in the vale below, 
 Beheld him waiting for me, 
 Heard his command to go. 
 I, poorest in the valley, 
 Oh I how could I prepare 
 To meet his royal presence ? 
 How could I make me fair ? 
 Ah, in his love he sent me 
 
 A garment clean and white, 
 And promised broidered raiment 
 
 All glorious to his sight: 
 And then he gave me glimpses 
 
 Of the jewels for my hair, 
 And the ornaments most precious 
 For his chosen bride to wear. 
 
MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 First in my tears I washed me— 
 
 They could not make me clean ; 
 A fountain then he showed me, 
 
 Strange, until then unseen I 
 So close I'd lived beside it 
 
 For many weary years, 
 Yet passing by the fountain 
 
 Had bathed me in my tears. 
 Oh ! love, oh I grace, that showed it, 
 
 Revealed its cleansing power ! 
 How could I choose but hasten 
 
 To meet him from that hour ? 
 
 I said, delay no longer; 
 He surely will provide 
 
 All for the toilsome journey 
 Up the steep mountain's side. 
 
 He sought me in the valley- 
 He knows my utmost need ; 
 
 He is a royal Bridegroom, 
 I shall be rich indeed. 
 
 Rich in his pardoning mercies, 
 Bounties that never cease — 
 
 Rich in his loving kindness, 
 Rich in his joy and peace. 
 
 So then I took the raiment 
 And the jewels that he sent, 
 
 And gazing on his beauty 
 Up the hillside I went. 
 
 And still with feeble footsteps, 
 
 And turning oft astray, 
 I go to meet the Bridegroom, 
 
 Though stumbling by the way. 
 I soil my royal garments 
 
 With earth when e'er I fall; 
 I break and mar my ornaments, 
 
 But he will know them all. 
 For it was he who gave them; 
 
 Will he forget his own ? 
 Ah ! for the love he bore me, 
 
 He called 1 will he disown? 
 
 315 
 
316 MODERN MISSIONS. 
 
 He sent his Guide to guide me ; He knew how blind, how frail 
 The children of the valley — He knew my love would fail. 
 He knew that mists above me would hide him from my sight ; 
 And I in darkness groping would wander from the right. 
 I know that I must follow slow, e'en when I fain would soar ; 
 That step by step, thus upward my Guide must go before. 
 Keep close, dear Guide, and lead me — I cannot go aright ; 
 Through all that doth beset me keep, keep me close in sight! 
 'Tis but a little longer ; methinks the end I see : 
 Oh ! matchless love and mercy, the Bridegroom waits for me— 
 Waits to present me faultless before his Father's throne, 
 Kis comeliness my beauty, His righteousness my own. 
 
THE RIGHT TEMPER, ETC. 317 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 Every one must have observed that very different 
 degrees of success attend the studies of those en- 
 gaged in inquiring into sacred things. Nor is this 
 difference always decided by natural talents, nor by 
 literary acquirements. "Wholly sanctified to the 
 glory of God, these are truly important ; but relied 
 upon, they augur but a splendid failure. The his- 
 tory of the Church abounds in mournful illustrations 
 of the danger of leaning on these things, and of 
 forgetting the necessity of other and higher qualifi- 
 cations. 
 
 That the study of the Bible conducted in a wrong 
 temper, will be productive of little or no profit, is a 
 truth commonly admitted by serious people. Surely 
 the Scriptures so teach. Moreover, a wrong tem- 
 per is itself criminal, and should be avoided, if it 
 were no hindrance to one's progress in knowledge. 
 The want of a right temper produces more miscar- 
 riages in the lives of theologians than all other 
 things united. The whole history of theological 
 studies does not tell us of one who kept his heart 
 with excessive diligence. The reason is that out of 
 it are the issues of life. 
 
 There is reason for believing that many fail in 
 their studies because of the power of prejudice. 
 
318 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 Nothing is more opposed to docility, or to our ad- 
 vancement in learning than a state of mind fore- 
 armed against the truth. Impartiality, essential to 
 high success, is difficult of attainment. Prejudices are 
 judgments for or against things proposed to our 
 minds without investigation, or at least without 
 sufficient foundation. They result from education, 
 from temperament, from sectarianism, or from some 
 sin indulged. Even when prejudices are in favor of 
 the truth, they have no saving efficacy. Sanctifica- 
 tion is not through the strength of our prejudices, 
 but through the belief of the truth. Prejudices 
 against the truth often prove fatal, overriding strong 
 convictions, and causing the entire and sometimes a 
 bitter rejection of doctrines essential to salvation. 
 When one is in such a state that he will not examine 
 evidence and truth with a good degree of imparti- 
 ality, it is certain that he will go astray. When 
 men come to God's word, not to be taught, but to 
 teach, not to learn the mind of the Spirit, but to 
 find some way of supporting error, or of evading 
 unwelcome truth ; when with avidity they seize any 
 thing favoring their dogmas, but carefully avoid 
 whatever wars against their preconceived opinions, 
 they effectually exclude themselves from the high 
 way to any large attainments in divine truth. The 
 light that is in them thus becomes darkness. Except 
 so far as sanctified, the human mind is enmity against 
 God, against his nature, his will, his word ; so that 
 "the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
 Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; 
 neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 319 
 
 discerned." Some indulge prejudices against par- 
 ticular books of Scripture, and others against par- 
 ticular doctrines of God's word. Such are often 
 found following vain and wild notions. One says : 
 "The Scripture is so penned that they, who have 
 a mind to know, may know ; they, who have a 
 mind to wrangle, may take occasion enough of offence, 
 and justly perish by the rebellion of their own 
 minds ; for God never intended to satisfy men of 
 stubborn and perverse spirits." Richard Baxter 
 says: "Fame and tradition, education and the 
 country's vote, do become the ordinary parent of 
 many lies ; and folly maketh us to fasten so fearlessly 
 in our first apprehensions, that they keep open the 
 door to abundance more falsehoods ; and it must be 
 clear teachers, or great, impartial studies of a self- 
 denying mind, with a great blessing of God, that 
 must deliver us from prejudice, and undeceive us." 
 It requires no humility, no faith, no grace of any 
 kind, to be ah earnest partisan of any dogma or 
 sect. Whatever our education may have been, we 
 will find it no easy task to eradicate prejudices. It 
 is a great mercy when God enables us to lay aside 
 "foretaken opinions," and to sit down with prevail- 
 ing candor to the study of his truth. 
 
 Such are the weakness of the human mind and 
 its liability to err that nothing is more reasonable 
 than unaffected modesty in every student of Scrip- 
 ture. The greatest proficients in every branch of 
 knowledge have been tenderly conscious of their 
 own weakness and liability to err. The books 
 are full of commendations of this virtue in all the 
 
320 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 walks of life. Bruyere has well expressed the views 
 of many when he says: "Modesty is to merit, as 
 shades to figures in a picture, giving it strength and 
 beauty." This is true. But modesty is not a mere 
 ornament. It is of essential use in the conduct of 
 our studies. It should therefore be unfeigned. The 
 Scriptures lay great stress on this matter. "Seest 
 thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more 
 hope of a fool than of him." " Trust in the Lord 
 with all thy heart; and lean not unto thine own under- 
 standing. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and 
 lie shall direct thy paths." Our Lord chiefly refers 
 to this modest estimate of ourselves, when he says : 
 "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
 as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." He, 
 who is grossly ignorant of his own faults and defi- 
 ciencies, who greatly overestimates his abilities and 
 attainments, will hardly advance in anything good 
 or great. He, who has real piety and much know- 
 ledge of himself, must be lowly, far removed from 
 flippant self-conceit. 
 
 Such subjects as God's nature, counsels and gov- 
 ernment; as man's dependence and freedom, his 
 obligation and destiny; such themes as time and 
 eternity, life and death, sin and holiness, heaven 
 and hell, are not to be justly understood by the 
 proud and self-sufficient. Let men hear and read, 
 "not to contradict and confute, nor blindly to 
 believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and 
 discourse, but to w T eigli and consider." We might 
 almost as well not meditate on divine things at all 
 as to think in the self-sufficiency of a proud heart. 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 321 
 
 If one has a great idea of himself, the presumption 
 is that it is the only great idea he is likely ever to have. 
 But let not these remarks be misunderstood. Let 
 no one cultivate servility of mind. Contempt for 
 the faculties God has given 113 is as unfriendly to 
 success as self-conceit. Dr. Taylor of England gave 
 to his students this wholesome advice : 
 
 "I. I do solemnly charge you, in the name of 
 the God of truth, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who is the "Way, the Truth, and the Life, and before 
 whose judgment-seat you must in no longtime appear, 
 that in all your studies and inquiries of a religious 
 nature, present or future, you do constantly, care- 
 fully, impartially, and conscientiously attend to evi- 
 dence, as it lies in the Holy Scriptures, or in the 
 nature of things, and the dictates of reason ; cau- 
 tiously guarding against the sallies of imagination, 
 and the fallacy of ill-grounded conjecture. 
 
 "II. That you admit, embrace, or assent to no 
 principle, or sentiment, by me taught or advanced, 
 but only so far as it shall appear to you to be sup- 
 ported and justified by proper evidence from revela- 
 tion or the reason of things. 
 
 "III. That, if any time hereafter, any principle 
 or sentiment, by me taught or advanced, or by you 
 admitted and embraced, shall upon impartial and 
 faithful examination, appear to you to be dubious or 
 false, you either suspect, or totally reject such prin- 
 ciple or sentiment. 
 
 "IV. That you keep your mind always open to 
 evidence; That you labor to banish from yourbreasts 
 all prejudice, prepossession, and party-zeal; That 
 
322 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 you study to live iu peace and love with all your fel- 
 low-Christians, and freely allow to others the una- 
 lienable rights of judgment and conscience." 
 
 If any man would be a master in the knowledge 
 of God's word, let him at all hazards maintain inde- 
 pendence of thought and freedom of inquiry. It is a 
 miserably jejune interpretation of our Lord's prohi- 
 bition to call any man master, father, or Rabbi, that 
 he was forbidding us to give literary titles to men 
 eminent for their learning, age, or services. He 
 designed to warn us against blindly following the 
 opinions of men, as many in his day did. We have 
 but one Master, even Christ. Implicit faith is due 
 to the words of God alone. When he speaks, it is 
 the height of wisdom to bow down our souls, and 
 receive every declaration as true. He, w 7 ho made 
 the mind, has rightful authority over all its powers. 
 But all propositions set forth for our embrace by 
 men, however many, learned or venerable, are fit 
 matter of inquiry, not only as to their import, but as 
 to their accordance with the truth of God. Let 
 every man cautiously settle and firmly hold all his 
 religious principles. The Bible encourages modesty, 
 not servility of mind. Paul says : "Prove all things ; 
 hold fast that which is good." Think for yourself. 
 Be firm as a rock ; but be not stubborn as a mule. 
 Embrace truth and yield to evidence. David says : 
 "I have stuck unto thy testimonies." In theology 
 merely human authority cannot have too little, as 
 divine authority cannot have too much weight. 
 Lord Bacon well says : "Disciples do owe unto mas- 
 ters only a temporary belief, and a suspension of 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 323 
 
 their own judgments, till they are fully instructed, 
 and not an absolute resignation, or perpetual cap- 
 tivity." The Biblical student cannot exalt Christ 
 too much. He is King and Prophet, lie is God's 
 beloved Son. Hear him. But beware of blindly 
 following any man, any body of men, any school, 
 any Church. In malice be children, but in under- 
 standing be men. When a truth is settled, be not 
 easily moved to surrender it, nor even to doubt its 
 truth. And let no one allow himself to be beguiled 
 into a fickleness, respecting even the terms of theol- 
 ogy. A late writer says: "The progress of lan- 
 guage is uttering aloud against 'them that call evil 
 good and good evil, that put bitter for sweet and 
 sweet for bitter.' And in view of the evils which 
 the use of language can produce by weakening or 
 confounding moral distinctions, does it not become 
 the sober, honest, religious portion of the world, to 
 stick to the old terms by which the indignation of 
 men against sin has been conveyed from of old, in- 
 stead of diluting the power of truth and blunting 
 the edge of reproof by an inoffensive, but inane 
 word, which circulates in good society?" What is 
 here said of terms to express our ideas of right and 
 wrong is fully applicable to all religious subjects. 
 
 There is not a more important qualification of a 
 student of divine things than profound reverence for 
 all that is sacred. Seriousness is not enough. So- 
 lemnity is necessary, and that united with holy fear. 
 He who jests, he who trifles, he who feels no solemn 
 awe may well doubt the reality of his piety. When 
 God was about to call Moses, and make him a great 
 
324 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 prophet, lie first appeared to him in the burning 
 bush. Aud when Mo3es "turned aside to see," 
 God said, "Draw not hither," q. «., remain at a 
 reverential distance; "put off thy shoes from off 
 thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy 
 ground." "And Moses hid his face." So let 
 every man do. Divinity is holy ground. "Sanc- 
 tify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your 
 fear, and let him be your dread." "To this man 
 will I look, even to him that is poor and of a con- 
 trite spirit and trembleth at my word." Two classes 
 of persons commonly show a shocking irreverence 
 for divine things. One is composed of fanatics, the 
 other of the authors or abettors of fundamental 
 heresy. Their tempers lead to their errors and their 
 errors are best supported by their tempers. Too 
 much solemnity and holy reverence cannot be exer- 
 cised by any who would advance in the knowledge 
 of the truth. In the study of the Bible, irreverence 
 is profaneness. God's truth will profit no man who 
 is incurably addicted to levity of mind respecting 
 divine things. Of all dispositions none is more un- 
 friendly to the successful study of religious truth 
 than a fondness for jesting with sacred things. 
 Luther said: "Whom God w^ould destroy, he first 
 permits to sport with Scripture." "When Pilate 
 said, " What is truth ?" he could not have asked a 
 graver question. But his conduct immediately 
 after showed that he could have asked no question 
 in a less reverent state of mind. 
 
 In Jewish Bibles the frontispiece has that saying 
 of Jacob upon his vision of God at Bethel: "How 
 28 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 325 
 
 dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the 
 house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" 
 Remarking on this, Owen says, "So ought we to 
 look upon the word with a holy awe and reverence 
 of the presence of God in it." 
 
 In his judgment of Scripture, Cranmer says: "I 
 would advise you all, that come to the reading and 
 hearing of this book, which is the word of God, 
 the most precious jewel, and most holy relic that 
 remaineth upon earth, that ye bring with you the 
 fear of God, and that ye do it with all due reverence, 
 and use your knowledge thereof, not to vain glory 
 of frivolous disputation, but to the honor of God, 
 increase of virtue, and edification both of yourselves 
 and others." 
 
 It is, I think, Palgrave, who says : "It is of great 
 importance that we should resist the temptation, fre- 
 quently so strong, of annexing a familiar, facetious, 
 or irreverent idea to a Scripture text or a Scripture 
 name. Nor should we hold ourselves guiltless, 
 though we may have been misled by mere negli- 
 gence or want of reflection. Every person of good 
 taste will avoid reading a parody or travestie of a 
 beautiful poem, because the recollection of the de- 
 graded likeness will always obtrude itself upon our 
 memories when we wish to derive pleasure from the 
 contemplation of the original. But how much 
 more urgent is the duty by which we are bound to 
 keep the page of the Bible clear of any impression 
 tending to diminish the feeling of habitual respect 
 and reverence toward our Maker's law." 
 
 Of all the dispositions requisite to success in the 
 
326 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 study of religious truth, none is more important 
 than a sincere, constant, and ardent love of truth. 
 "No qualification is before this. He, who loves his 
 own opinions because they are his, or is greatly 
 attached to views which are of high esteem in his 
 sect or party because they are a Shibboleth, is a can- 
 didate for shame and error. Without strong love 
 for the truth, no man has ever made any considera- 
 ble progress in knowledge. It is indispensable. 
 Nothing can compensate for the want of it. It has 
 been a prominent trait of every good man's character. 
 Job says : * * I have esteemed the word of his mouth 
 more than my necessary food." David says: "My 
 soul breaketh for the longing it hath unto thy com- 
 mandments at all times." "How sweet are thy 
 words unto my taste J yea, sweeter than honey to 
 my mouth." "I love thy commandments above 
 gold, yea, above fine gold." Solomon says: 
 "Buy the truth and sell it not." "If thou criest 
 after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for under- 
 standing ; if thou seekest her as silver, and search- 
 est for her as for hid treasures ; then shalt thou un- 
 derstand the fear of the Lord, and find the know- 
 ledge of God." = Peter says: "As new born babes, 
 desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may 
 grow thereby." The love of truth is a sure pledge 
 that God will bless and guide us in our quest after 
 stores of knowledge. When one is ready to "re- 
 ceive the engrafted word with meekness," then it is 
 both easy and pleasant to teach him. This is one 
 of the most pleasing characteristics of those who 
 have been recently and thoroughly regenerated. 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 327 
 
 Genuine young converts greatly love the truth. It 
 is their chief qualification for advancing in discov- 
 eries of the way of life and the rule of duty. 
 
 Another state of heart very important to every 
 learner is patience, producing caution and delibera- 
 tion. A hasty spirit is wholly unfriendly to sound 
 learning. The minds of many rush with impetu- 
 osity toward conclusions. They seem to be impa- 
 tient of all delay, or to regard it as a derogation 
 from their just estimate of themselves to ask them 
 to tarry long in the premises of any subject. Yet 
 observation shows that conclusions hastily adopted, 
 are often as hastily abandoned. Even it* we reach 
 the truth, but in a rash manner, it can hardly be 
 as a pillar of beautiful proportions in our thoughts, 
 nor can we be half so sure that it is truth to be 
 relied on in all exigencies, as if w T e had reached it 
 by more careful steps. Let reasonable doubts pro- 
 duce uncertainty, and let us suspend our judgments, 
 until time has been given for further prayer and in- 
 vestigation. Such a habit may leave us for a while 
 unsettled about some matters of great interest. 
 Very well. Jesus said : " What thou knowest not 
 now, thou shalt know hereafter." And Faul said: 
 "We know in part, and we prophesy in part. But 
 when that which is perfect is come, then that 
 which is in part shall be done away." 
 
 In all lawful pursuits a spirit of diligence is of 
 great importance. Thus spake God of old: "The 
 book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth : 
 hut thou shall meditate therein day and night, that 
 thou mavest observe to do according to all that is 
 
328 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 i 
 
 written therein : for then shalt thou make thy way 
 prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." 
 The Bereans are commended because they searched 
 the Scriptures daily. The great law of acquisition 
 in knowledge is, a little at a time and often repeated, 
 " The hand of the diligent maketh rich." Pious 
 men of old have set us a good example in this res- 
 pect. One says, " how love I thy law 1 It is my 
 meditation all the day." 
 
 " Meditation, to the book of revelation, is like 
 the microscope to the book of nature ; it is sure to 
 discover new beauties." Many a difficulty is cleared 
 up by diligence, while the slothful finds himself 
 daily plunged into greater embarrassment on many 
 points. Are not learners of all degrees of culture 
 ofien tempted to think too high a price, in the way 
 of diligence, toil and hardship, is exacted of them ? 
 But the fact is that after all that is done to arouse 
 them many are but half awake. Let him who 
 would have religious truth dwell in him richly spare 
 no pains, but maintain severe habits of thought and 
 inquiry, denying himself allluxuriousnessand effemi- 
 nacy, and subjecting all his powers to a wholesome 
 discipline. 
 
 It is no less true that genuine lixebj faith in the 
 divine testimony is essential to large success in any 
 student of the Bible, otherwise the mind will all the 
 time be feeding on forms and losing the substance ; 
 it will be gathering shells and losing the kernels of 
 things. We must "walk by faith." In proportion 
 as any human character has shone illustriously, it has 
 been remarkable for freedom from blind credulity 
 28* 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 329 
 
 on the one hand, and on the other from carping 
 scepticism. There never was a truly great, nor any 
 safe mind, that believed without evidence, or refused 
 to believe upon sufficient evidence. One of the 
 greatest perils in the way of any student of religious 
 truth is just here. The principle of faith is as 
 easily vindicated as any other principle of our na- 
 ture. The right exercise of it is a solemn duty en- 
 joined by God in many ways. He, who docs not 
 firmly believe and hold what he has learned of 
 divine truth, will be like a wave of the sea, tossed 
 to and fro, a poor unstable thing. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance to every man that 
 he maintain habits of just moderation in his judg- 
 ments of divine things. He, whose mind is fond of 
 rank extremes, and who believes that repulsiveness 
 is a mark of truth, will pretty certainly hold and 
 teach error. I am free to say that any view of 
 divine truth, which disinclines those, who abound 
 in godly fear and humbleness of mind, to admire 
 and adore, is not safe or true. Even the grand and 
 awful doctrine of the divine sovereignty, when rightly 
 viewed, is well suited to beget thanksgiving and 
 adoration, as we learn from that saying of our Sa- 
 viour — Matt, xxi : 15, 16 ; Luke x : 21. 
 
 If one would become mighty in the Scriptures 
 and rich in the truth, he must have the spirit and 
 delight in the duty of prayer. No act that man 
 can perform is more capable of full vindication before 
 the bar of reason than that he should pray for 
 divine illumination. His intellectual dependence 
 on God is absolute. Left to himself, he must 
 
330 
 
 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 fatally err. How often did David cry, "Teach me 
 thy statutes ;" "Open thou mine eyes that I may 
 behold wondrous things out of thy law ;" " Give me 
 understanding;" "Incline my heart unto thy testi- 
 monies." The pious Thomas Boston thus lets us 
 into the secret of much of his success in his studies: 
 "I spread the Hebrew Bible before God, and cried 
 to the Father, that, for the sake of his Son, he 
 would by the Spirit shine on it, into me, give light 
 into, and discover his mind in the word; that he 
 would give me life, health, strength, time and in- 
 clination to the study, and a blessing thereon ; that 
 he would teach me how to manage that work, and 
 would pity me as to sleep, having been somewhat 
 bereaved of sleep since I was determined to that 
 work." "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of 
 God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth 
 not." Even great poets often open their works by 
 crying for help from God. Thus Milton says : 
 
 "And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer 
 
 Before all temples the upright heart and pure, 
 
 Instruct me, for thou know'st. , . . 
 
 . . • • What in me is dark, 
 
 Illumine; what is low, raise and support." 
 
 From the life of the venerable Thomas Scott it 
 appears that over every passage of Scripture he lias 
 lifted up his heart in prayer. The result is a very 
 remarkable commentary, which has been read with 
 profit by millions of people. McCheyne says : 
 " Turn the Bible into prayer. Thus, if you are 
 reading the first Psalm, spread the Bible on the 
 chair before you, and kneel and pray, <0 Lord, 
 give me the blessedness of the man that walkcth 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 331 
 
 not in the counsel of the ungodly. Let me not 
 stand in the way of sinners. Let me not sit in the 
 seat of the scornful.' This is the best way of learn- 
 ing the meaning of the Bible, and of learning to 
 pray." 
 
 In prayer be not faithless but believing. ? \ The 
 breath of prayer comes from the life of faith." 
 Let your prayer for light and teaching be fervent. 
 4 ' God hears the heart without words ; but he never 
 hears words without the heart." "Never expect to 
 go to the throne of grace without having some 
 stumbling block thrown in your way ; Satan hates 
 prayer, and always tries to hinder it." 
 
 Bishop Hall, who made such progress in the 
 knowledge of divine things, tells us how he gained 
 by prayer : 
 
 "After some whiles meditation, I walk up to my 
 masters and companions, my books; and sitting 
 down amongst them with the best contentment, I 
 dare not reach forth my hand to salute any of them, 
 till I have first looked up to heaven, and craved 
 favor of him to whom all my studies are duly re- 
 ferred ; without whom I can neither profit nor labor. 
 After this, after no over great vanity, I call forth 
 those which may best fit my occasions, wherein I 
 am not too scrupulous of age; sometimes I put 
 myself to school to one of these ancients, whom 
 the Church hath honored with the name of fathers ; 
 whose volumes I confess not to open without a 
 secret reverence of their holiness and gravity; 
 sometimes to their later doctors, which want noth- 
 ing but age to make them classical ; always to God's 
 
332 THE RIGHT TEMPER FOR 
 
 ! 
 
 book: — that clay is lost, whereof some hour3 are 
 
 not improved in those divine monuments ; others I 
 
 turn over out of choice — -these out of duty.' 1 
 
 Let no man forget that religious truth is not 
 merely to fill a niche in his system, nor to furnish 
 the means of entertainment to himself and his 
 friends. It is all intended for practice. It must 
 first be proposed to our minds, then loved, embraced, 
 and finally reduced to practice. Practice makes 
 sure our knowledge in a way that nothing else does. 
 This is true in the exact sciences and in the useful 
 and ornamental arts ; above all is it true in regard 
 to divine things. A malicious mind cannot be ex- 
 pected to make rapid progress in an understanding 
 of the boundless mysteries of love. A worldly 
 mind is ill suited to scan the glories of spiritual 
 things. Practice is not only the life of piety, but 
 it is essential to any sure progress in wisdom. There 
 is no greater folly than that which stalks to hell 
 with the lamp of truth burning before it all the 
 time. Well did David say, "I will keep thy stat- 
 utes." And Jesus Christ has informed us that 
 practice has much to do with progress in learning, 
 when he says; "If any man will do his will, he 
 shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.'' 
 That is a truth illustrated in the life and experience 
 of every converted man. The apostle James also 
 says: "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers 
 only, deceiving your own selves. For if a man be 
 a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like 
 unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 
 for he bcholdcth himself, and goeth his way, and 
 
A STUDENT OF THE BIBLE. 333 
 
 straightway forgettcth what manner of man he was. 
 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, 
 and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful 
 hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be 
 blessed in his deed." How can he understand the 
 place charity should occupy in a system of practical 
 truth, who carries grudges and old hatred in his 
 bosom ? How can he know the connexion between 
 Christ's poverty and our riches, whose soul is never 
 drawn out to the needy, but trusts in uncertain 
 riches ? 
 
 Of course the whole spirit and temper of every 
 learner of divine truth should be evangelical. A 
 mere legalist is as wide of the truth, as he is far 
 from holy living. If Jesus Christ is not the Alpha 
 and the Omega of our theological system, it matters 
 little what else is in it. A " Christless Christianity" 
 is as false in theory as it is powerless in practice. 
 

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